Two men rushed me with their swords; I activated [Blink], teleported to the right side, and used my foot to trip one of them up. He went face-first into the wall and collapsed.

His buddy spins around and tries to thrust his short sword into my lower abdomen. I dodged to the side and met his stomach with my knee. He instantly folded and fainted. I might have used too much power in that knee kick, but I was pretty annoyed that I fell for their ambush.

I turned around to face Clint, who fell back onto the ground, shaking to his core. He must have thought that I would have other valuables like that sword I sold. I still couldn't believe I trusted a random person so hastily, especially when the security in this world is so low.

Getting violent is not my nature, but the earth's modern values do not apply here, and I have already killed some people. But they were bandits who kill others, so I was putting a stop to them and protecting the innocent lives of the villagers. It's like what they say: when in Rome, do as the Romans do. I gave Clint a good beating and left him with his unconscious buddies. Don't worry, he won't die, and nothing was broken, just that some people might scream when they see him.

I went back onto the busy streets, and instead of following random people, I asked for direction every time I wasn't sure.

I finally arrived outside a grand building and could hear the loud buzzing noise of drunks. Every time someone enters or exits, the smell of alcohol escapes. This is the Mercenary Guild.

I opened the door and walked in. On one side, there was a bar filled with people drinking, despite it being the morning. On the other side were several counters; I stood in line waiting for my turn.

Usually, in these isekai novels, the main character would get ganged up on by drunken mercenaries.

"Oi brat, get out of the way before I knock ya out."

With what has happened to me so far, I wouldn't be surprised. Though it would be on my isekai adventure tick list, it could spell future trouble for me.

"Hey! I'm speaking to you!"

But then again, if Kumo is considered a national threat, I should be on another level, meaning I shouldn't have any problems with most people in this world.

"You asked for it!"

I suddenly realised someone was shouting behind me. I turned around to see a fist travelling towards me. My mind couldn't react in time, but [Natural Defence] kicks in.

My head moved to the side; I could feel the power behind the punch as it skimmed past my head. The fist belonged to a battle harden looking, bald man. His body wasn't as muscular as Geryon, the bandit whose head I blew off accidentally, but it was still considerably well built.

All of a sudden, my fist took off and flew into his face. Thankfully his head didn't explode. Instead, he was launched into the air and crashed down onto the bar.

"Guys, look, Baktius, just got beaten up!"

"Woah, the Baktius? That kid must be strong."

"Hey, no fighting inside the guild! I will deduct points; hand over your tags now!"

A female guild employee rushes over the counter and rips off the metal tag around Baktius's neck. But something catches else, my eyes swinging back and forth.

"A tail?"

The words leave my mouth, and two brown triangular shapes suddenly raise upright on top of her head.

"Cat ears?"

Hold on! This is a real catgirl! A cute, brown-haired catgirl. Her cat ears and tails were the same colour as her hair.

"Yeah, you got a problem with beast people?"

"Uhhh no, it's just that I've never seen a beast person before."

"Well, get used to it, now hand over your guild tag."

"Guild tag?"

"Yeah, the thing that you got when you registered."

"Oh, I haven't registered yet."

The fierce expression on the catgirl's face suddenly disappears, instead is replaced with surprise, including everyone else in the guild.

"Wait, you're not registered?" she asks.

"Umm, no, that's why I'm here," I replied, confused why they were shocked that I wasn't registered with the guild yet. "Can I register now?"

"Oh uh yeah, sure, follow me."

The catgirl recomposes herself and leads me to the counter, completely skipping the queue. The ten or so people in line looked at me with annoyed expressions.

"Please, fill out this form. Would you like a scribe?"

I took the form and remembered that I don't know this world's language, even though people still understand me. But for some reason, I can read and understand all these unknown characters. The problem was writing.

"Yes, please," I said with a slight embarrassment; however it would seem like this world's literacy level is pretty low, so the catgirl didn't seem surprised.

"I need your name and your method of fighting?"

"My name's Masato, and I use a spear and a bit of magic."

"A bit of magic, that's rare."

"Really?"

"Yeah, most magicians are hired by the country or the church. Are you sure you want to register as a mercenary? You can probably get a decent paying job, depending on what kind of spell you can use."

"Nah, I'd rather not become a soldier; wars are not my thing. I want to travel a bit, you see?"

"Hmm, that's understandable."

What I told her was part of the truth; I wanted to explore the world with my new powers; however, I realised that I could be forced to join a nation's army and fight in their wars if my abilities were to be discovered.

I was kind of late to realise it, so I have to make sure that people like Lilliana, Rolph, and all the people who know a bit about my abilities, especially about Kumo, stay quiet about it. Of course, I'm not going to kill them to silence them, just going to give them a bit of warning.

So by joining the Mercenary guild, I can complete quests, earn money, and Skill Points without being controlled by nobles or royals. Of course, the guild would have some power over me, but as long as I didn't attract any unwanted attention, I would just be another mercenary working for a living.

"Here's your guild tag. Do you want an explanation of how the guild works?" said the catgirl, whose name I still don't know, as she handed me a metal tag that has a single character F on it.

"Yes, please."

According to the catgirl guild employee, the mercenaries were separated into seven different ranks. She even had a little board to show me.

Rank F ← Me

Rank E

Rank D

Rank C

Rank B

Rank A

Rank S

"As you've only just registered, you will be starting from the lowest rank. There are many various types of quest which the guild accepts and release for mercenaries. You can only accept quests that are your rank or one above. But there is a breach of contract penalty if you fail the quest. So please be careful of that."

"How do I rank up?"

"By completing each quest, you earn points; each rank requires a certain amount. Please note that from Rank C and above, you will need to complete an exam."

"I understand; what are the types of quests are there?"

"As for quests, there are four classifications: harvesting, subjugation, bodyguard, and unique. Subjugation quests can include killing monsters or bandits; normally, you do not need to prove anything since your guild tag can track your kills. But for monsters, I recommend bringing back the body, so its materials can also be harvested and sold."

"Gotcha, thanks for the advice. Well, I killed some bandits recently. Can you see how many of them have bounty rewards?."

"I understand; if you give me your tag, I will go and check."

"Thank you," I said as I handed back the tag.

She then turns around and inserts my tag into a small box whilst looking through pieces of paper, which I assume were the current bounties. I wanted to see the rest of the process, but my attention was drawn to her brown tail swinging back and forth.

>>

"Sure.."

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