Black Haired King Chapter 5

「Heh, there are so many requests here.」

I, who had registered as an adventurer at the receptionist, went to the request board. The F rank requests I can take include things like cleaning the sewers, picking up garbage, babysitting, and walking someone’s pets.

For rank E people, they’d go out of town to collect medicinal herbs or mushrooms; subjugating white rabbits and goblins was also within the work range of E rank.

「Maybe I can do the white rabbit one…」

I took the white rabbit subjugating request from the board.

ーー
White Rabbit Subjugation
Continuous Request
Please subjugate the white rabbits, a type of very fertile monster. White Rabbit meat is edible, so please retrieve their bodies. Thank you for your work.
Reward: One copper coin for one white rabbit body.
ーー

I wondered what it meant by “Continuous Request”. I decided to try asking the receptionist. The counter of the woman from earlier was available, so I went to ask her.

「Excuse me, miss」

「Ara, did you decide on a request?」

「Yes, about that, I think I’ll go with ‘White Rabbit Subjugation’, but what does it mean by ‘Continuous Request’?」

I held out the sheet of paper that I took from the request board.

「Ah, ‘Continuous Request’ means that it can be repeated many times, in contrast to other requests that are limited to 2 times. White Rabbits and Goblins can be found in the forest one hour of walking away from this town, and they reproduce very fast. That’s why the requests to subjugate them are ‘Continuous Request’. If left alone, they’d attack the fields and harm the villagers. Therefore, they must be regularly exterminated.」

I see. It would be troublesome if they laid waste to the fields. Moreover, if it takes an hour to get there from here, it would take 2 hours round trip (…..you don’t say) … Un, the Sun won’t go down for another 6 hours, so it’s possible for me to return.

「I understand, I’ll take on this request」

「Very well, please lend me your Guild Card」

I handed over my guild card as told by the reception onee-san. She brought out a crystal from under her desk and held the card above it. I wondered what she was doing.

「Right, with this, you’ve accepted the request. Also, you must renew the registration every five times you complete the request」

She said while returning the card to me.

ーーーー
Redius – F Rank
Birthplace – Gremond
Primary Weapon – Sword
Magic Element – N/A
Accepted Request(s):
White Rabbit Subjugation
ーーーー

The information I wrote down during registration was there. And then, the request that I just accepted was also written on it. Pretty convenient, I must say. That crystal was probably a magic tool. I wasn’t sure, since the only magic tool I’d seen was the one which produced water for Gelman to bathe in back at home.

「Thank you very much. I’m off.」

「Yes, do your best.」

I bid farewell to the receptionist and left the Guild. As expected, n.o.body approached me because of my hair color. However, I picked up some stories about a war from their whispering.

I did hear my sister talk about this. It appeared that this kingdom, Albast, was in preparation to go to war with its western neighbor, the Britaris Kingdom. It was unknown when the war would start, but they were recruiting soldiers and preparing weapons for it.

A war, huh… If I was stronger I would’ve partic.i.p.ated, but, as I was now, I would only die in vain. I wondered if it was alright if I cast the matter aside, since it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

Thinking about such things, I walked away from the Guild. I only needed to drain the white rabbit’s’ blood before bringing them back, so I wondered if I could go without buying a disa.s.sembling knife. … As I think about it, isn’t this the first time I’m going to kill a living being? I’m not too sure if I can do it…

Before I knew it, I’d already reached the gate. I wanted my temporary identification papers back, so I went to look for the guard from earlier. …Ah, I see him.

「Excuse me」

「Ahn? Aren’t you the boy from earlier? Did you register?」

「Yes, I did. Here.」

I showed him the guild card that I received just a while ago. The guard took the card and confirmed it.

「… With this, you’re good to go. Present this card whenever you come through this gate. Here, your large copper coin」

「Yes, Thank you very much. Then, I want to go subjugate some white rabbits but, which direction is the forest in?」

「White rabbit, huh. That forest is about 2 kilometers east from here, well, be careful. Not only are there white rabbits there, goblins and wolves also show up too. Beginners like you kid, they get surrounded by wolf packs and get turned into wolf feed.」

Wolves huh. Wolves living in a pack was it? That’s scary.

「I understand, If I see one, I’ll run immediately.」

「Well, not like it matters. Hurry up and go now, you’re interrupting my work.」

Says the guard who swiftly started scolding me. True, there are people gathering up behind me. I quickly say my thanks to the guard who taught me various things despite what he was saying.

2 Kilometers from here huh. I guess I’ll just go and run like I always used to do in the morning.

How to catch a white rabbit…now that I think about it, what do they even look like? I don’t even know. Before I knew it, I’ve been running for 10 minutes.

「Here, I guess?」

There was a forest next to the serviced highway. Every tree was at least 3 meters tall, and there were many of them growing. The forests diameter is about 3 kilometers or so?

「Alright, Let’s go in.」

I was a bit nervous while I was entering the forest, I bore a sense of expectation towards what kind of animals were living here.

「Ara, aren’t you the boy from before?」

A voice sounded from behind me. I turned around in that direction.

「Y-You’re the miss that guided me to the guild!」

That’s right, it was the one who showed me the way when I didn’t know how to get to the guild. Just like when I first met her, she’s dressed lasciviously, with leather armor on top and 2 daggers at her waist.

「You also came for a request, boy? Just like me, huh?」

The woman started to laugh. She was not like my elder sister but, she was very pretty nonetheless. ANd then…

「This kid, huh?」

…2 men were standing behind me, 1 of them was about 2 meters tall, and had brown hair. He was carrying an axe on his back. The other man had gentle looks had golden hair, and on his waist he had what I think was called a rapier? He was holding a thin sword in his hand.

「Yes, this is the one.」

「True, for a black haired, his clothes are pretty…」 (wait, is this r.e.t.a.r.d wearing good clothing?)

The 3 of them were talking to each other but, I couldn't really hear them. I wonder if it’s ok if I leave?

「Ummm.」

「Ah, Sorry. So, what request did you come here for, boy?」

「Eh? Ah, I came here to subjugate some white rabbits.」

「Ahh, White rabbits, huh. Those are pretty nimble so they’re kind of difficult to catch right? If you’d like, would you like my help?」

Saying so, the onee-san bent over to my eye level. Uhh, since she’s at eye level, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s… While I was frowning.

「B-but, miss, don’t you have your own request to do?」

「We’re here to subjugate wolves, so we need to head further into the forest. That’s why, let’s go together. I’ll teach you with great care.」

At this point, I thought she was a good person since she helped me before, so.

「I’ll probably trouble you but, please treat me well. To tell you the truth, I don’t really know anything about white rabbits.」

I asked the onee-san to help me out. At this time, the men behind me were laughing, but I didn’t realize it.