The Gatekeeper Chapter 8- Better Than Gold.

I guess this ought to be enough.

I grab the horns of the demonic wolves as Mirae-san directed. I lost track of time as I hunted the demonic wolves. I could understand why the guild would recommend to hunt them in parties rather than alone. But my strength and speed were more than enough to kill them without being the target of their fierce retaliation. It probably took me more time to actually find the wolves, than to kill them. I managed to avoid excessive blood stains, but my hands are feet are covered in fresh red blood. The demonic wolves, black in colour and about twice the size of the wolves from my world, had one other appearance change, they had big silver horns on their foreheads. Getting a wolf's horn indicates that it has been hunted, it appears that the horns are the source of the wolf's mana.

I grab the horns in my hand as I don't have a bag or any such storage options.

I decided to practice magic the day after as it is getting late and I have to get these horns to the guild.

I turn towards where the city's west gate is and run with all my might. The ground beneath my feet is destroyed, leaving a large hole, I soar forward with inhumane speeds while nearly burning off my clothes becuse of the friction created by the air.

It took about 30 seconds for me to reach the guild from my position in the forest. The time displayed in the clock outside the guild was 7 PM.

So it took me 30 minutes. Beasts are really hard to find.

I enter the guild with the horns in my left hand. I am mostly untouched, but my shoes are already on the verge of tearing up from the sole. The blood that was dripping from my hand and feet was blown away while I was running as it was fresh and hadn't dried by then.

I walk towards the same direction as I previously did, and after spotting Mirae-san and Shirley-san in the exact same position as before, I walk towards them briskly.

There are no customers in front of her right now, that may be the reason for why Mirae-san is talking to Shirley-san with a blooming smile on her face. As I come closer, I start to pick up bits and pieces of their conversation. I say close, but I am still about 10 metres away from them. Sounds like they're discussing the tragedy that occured in the vicinity of the village that was destroyed by the berserking dragon.

Wonder if I can summon a dragon...

I stop my entrail of thoughts, which seem to be getting out of hand and step up in front of the counter. Mirae-san turns her chair and faces me while adopting her professional att.i.tude. Only my abdomen and my face would be visible from the chair on which she is sitting on. I carry the horns in my left hand and while not revealing them yet.

"h.e.l.lo again, Mirae-san."

She says in a warm voice.

"Oh, Toru-kun. Seems like you were unable to complete the request. Well, that's to be expected. The forest which houses the demonic wolves is about twenty kilometres from here. It would take a whole day for even a Gold rank adventurer to complete this request on his own. I apologize for sending you out on such an impossible mission."

She seems to be genuinely upset. While Shirley-san in the back appears to be checking her wallet, Mirae-san bows her head in apology. I say to her in a tender voice.

"I appreciate your concern Mirae-san, but I actually completed the mission. Here you go, these are the horns of the demonic wolves. Looks like I am better than a Gold Cla.s.s adventurer, doesn't it?"

While speaking, I lift up my hand and drop the contents on the table. Looking at which, Shirley-san clumsily drops her wallet, copper and silver coins start rolling around in all directions while Mirae-san is left dumbfounded. Her eyes widen as she examines the silver horns on the table to confirm their authenticity.

"T-This, how can this be!?"

She leans back into her chair with her eyes widened, Shirley-san is still collecting her dropped money. I look over them with a warm gaze. Looking at them like this made me chuckle.

"I don't dislike this display, but I would prefer if I could get the money. I want to rent an inn as soon as possible."

Hearing me say this, Mirae-san, as if regaining her rationality, started working on her desk with her face down.

She stopped in the middle of stamping some papers and looked at me with a keen gaze.

"Please hand over your guild card."

"Surely."

I respond to her professional voice with a stoic voice of my own. She then examines my guild card, stamping on the card with a stamp of about the same size as that of the card. The ink spreads and is then 'consumed', as if the card was sponge.

According to the explanation I got from Mirae-san when I previously came here, the ink is made from the combination of light and dark magic. It is used to add points, t.i.tles, records, achievements etc to the guild card.

"We are done. Here is your card and the payment for your job."

I receive the card and 2 gold coins.

She continues by saying.

"You may want to bring back certain parts of the beasts you slay, they can be sold for money as well. For example, the wool of the demonic wolves you hunted can be sold for a pretty hefty price in the winters. Surely, we will buy it off of you at the market price, but you are free to sell it to the shops themselves or use it at your own convenience if you wish."

"Thank you Mirae-san. I will keep it in mind. I bid you farewell, I'll be seeing you soon enough."

I bow to her sincerely. I wished to say goodbye to Shirley-san too, but she seems busy rolling on the ground.

I exit the guild and make my way to the inn that Mirae-san recommended. It seems to be fairly close to the east gate of the Capital. I walk towards the inn slowly as I take in the scene of the surrounding shops, pubs, restaurants and other facilities.

This world is beautiful.

Comparing these surroundings to my previous neighborhood seems like a joke, these surroundings are truly impeccable.

I reach the inn that Mirae-san mentioned. It seems to be pretty well-maintained. The building is beautiful with all of its outer structure made from bricks of white colour. It has 5 floors with many windows facing me. The entrance is also pretty big and grandiose while being decorated with flowers. Many carriages are parked outside the place. There appears to be stable at a distance as well.

It looks to be a place frequented by travelling merchants.

I enter the inn with my ragged shoes and commoner-like clothes. I walk through the hallway and reach the reception desk.

There are no other customers beside me in the main hall. Guess they're all sleeping or something.

I walk up to the desk where a girl who looks to be younger than me with pink hair and brown eyes, wearing a uniform which looks to be of this inn as there are the words 'Moonlight River' written across it, is sitting with a smile on her face.

Let's get my game face on.

She looks at me with a professional smile as I initiate the conversation.

"Good Evening. My name is Toru and I would like to rent a room for a couple of days. Mirae-san from the guild recommended this inn. Would you mind helping me out?"

With a warm smile on my face, I ask the receptionist.

"Mirae-san did… Okay. A room with all three meals would cost 3 silver coins but since you were sent here by Mirae-san, it would be 1 silver coin for you."

2 Gold coins? That's 2000 Yen discount!!

"That would be very helpful. Thank you. I would like to rent the room for 5 days for the time being."

"That would be 5 silver coins. And my name is Rin."

I take out one of the gold coins from my shirt pocket and hand it to Rin.

She does some quick doc.u.mentation and hands me 5 silver coins as change. The concept of signature doesn't exist here, you have to register your mana instead. There is a screen-like device on which you have to place your hand and slowly leak your mana into it. Considering I have infinite mana supply, I have to be careful not to leak too much or I will be exposed. I have to keep it in the limit of a normal human's. I leak a little bit of my mana and as soon as it registers, I immediately suck all of it in again.

"Thank you for choosing us, Toru-san. Your mana signature has been registered."

Rin says with a delighted expression.

Containing mana is easy enough but releasing it only to a certain level requires a lot of precision. If I release too much, people may notice and I will be considered abnormal. I have to practice this as well.

"Oh yeah, it is time for dinner. You may want to head to the dining hall for dinner. You can find the other customers there as well."

So there's where the other customers are at.

"Thank you. I'll be heading over then."

I take my room key. As I don't have any luggage, I headed directly to the dining hall instead of going to my room. I take a seat and eat by myself. I can hear people whispering among themselves about me. The men and women have polar opposite takes on my appearance. I pay them no heed as I get my meal from the self-service buffet and stuff my face until I am full.

After the meal, I head towards my room. My room is on the 5th floor, surprisingly enough, there is a concept of an elevator here as well, It seems to be powered by wind magic stored inside the elevator in some way. It doesn't bother me much and I make it to my room. I insert the key in the keyhole and rotate it twice. The door opens smoothly without making any sound. The room is unexpectedly large and well-maintained. There is a bed big enough to accommodate 2 people, a couch, and a small table. The bathroom contains a medium-sized bathtub.

At least they have a bath which I prefer.

All my worries about finding nothing but a shower are shattered.

I take a long bath and enter the bed at around 10 PM. This is a little unusual for me, I usually sleep at around 12 AM because of my job.

I am really beat. Let's just get some rest and get to the magic tomorrow. I am really hyped about trying my hand on magic.

With these delightful thoughts crossing my mind, I finally enter a deep slumber.