Victor began filling out a form. The class he wrote down was mage. In truth, he was a swordsman, but since he also used magic and relied on it often, he ended up being considered a mage. Even so, his skill with a blade far surpassed his ability with magic.
Vans was an alchemist, yet alchemical practice required knowledge of magic, so he also listed mage despite his class being alchemist. Eris was a mage as well, though her abilities were focused more on support. Niko was clearly a mage. Lysandra was a fighter, but since no such class existed, she registered as a rogue.
The receptionist read through all the forms and asked whether they intended to form a group. They confirmed that they did.
"You're going to have trouble. No group succeeds with four people from the same class."
Even so, she registered the five of them and formed the group.
"You can read the rules in this document. If you have any questions, you may ask me. What you need to know is that you start at F rank. After four gathering missions within one week, you are automatically promoted to E rank. To reach D rank, you must complete twenty five successful E rank or D rank missions within three months. You need at least one mission every fifteen days to maintain that rank. At D rank, you must complete fifty missions of the same rank or one rank above within four months. Once you meet the requirements, you will take a promotion exam for C rank, and the number of missions doubles with each rank up to A rank, with the time limit extended by one additional month each time. For all ranks above E, you must complete at least one mission per month to maintain your rank. Promotions to S rank occur once a year and are only available to those who have been A rank for at least two years."
She handed each of them their cards.
"Thank you for your attention," Victor said as he stood and gave her a slight bow.
She watched him in silence. His behavior stood in sharp contrast to the brutality he had shown earlier, even if it had been in self defense.
Afterward, Sandra led them to an inn. They rented one room each, all paid for by Victor. He went to Sandra's room and paid for both days. He placed ten silver coins on the table. She thought it was far too much, but he insisted, and in the end she accepted.
"What do we do now?" Vans asked.
"We need more information, so we'll go to the merchants' guild. I'll register there and try to gather what I can. We also need to talk to people and build connections. I want you to try selling some potions to a potion shop. We need to learn about the quality of the weapons here, and also the strength of the Kingdom's army. I remember very well that the Empire valued strength. I don't know if they still think the same way."
Vans and Niko left in search of potion and magic item shops. Eris and Lysandra went to examine the weapons. Victor went out with Sandra to see the city. He stopped in front of a statue of the Hero that stood at the center of town.
"It was thanks to him that the Demon Lord was defeated."
Victor did not understand and asked her to repeat herself.
"You don't know the story of the Demon Lord?"
"I know a little. Could you tell me the whole story?"
"Almost three hundred years ago, the continent was at war. The Demon Lord wanted control of the entire territory. They were winning, but the Hero's party managed to kill the Demon Lord and bring peace back to the continent. Since then, we have lived knowing we would no longer be attacked by him, and because of that all the countries were able to rebuild. There are still some conflicts, but they are much smaller than the ones we had before."
Victor did not like what he heard. The Hero had lied, and because of that the humans were not preparing for the attack.
"Did the Hero bring any proof of the Demon Lord's death?"
"Yes, he brought back a head. It was kept in the Castle. Everyone at the time celebrated when they saw it. Today it is stored somewhere inside the Castle, but no one knows exactly where."
Victor grew curious about whose head it truly was, but he understood how difficult and dangerous it would be to find out. Invading a Castle was no simple task. There were always many guards, and someone was always watching for intruders. Using force was never wise, since the invader was always at a disadvantage.
There was only one way to enter without trouble, to be invited. Yet that was even harder. It was not enough to be important. One would need the full trust of the nobles and the King to move freely within the Castle. It was an impossible plan.
The five of them gathered in Victor's room at the inn.
"The Hero really was a terrible person. But I have a question. Why would he do something like that?" Vans asked.
"Selfishness, or simply fame. Even so, he won and could have told the truth. Something must have made him change the story. Or maybe it was just a way to create peace and stability, but the rulers know the real history. Or maybe they don't," Lysandra said.
"In the second case, they are at a disadvantage. Even if they grow stronger, there is still a sense of peace. Despite conflicts between nations, there is the reassurance that no one powerful enough exists to conquer the entire continent. In the first case, it is even worse, far worse. They have no idea what awaits them. It's sad," Victor said.
"Are we going to do anything?"
"No. I gave them the advantage, and somehow they refused it. So we will do nothing."
"Something that might be related, and I noticed this, is that potions have not improved at all over the years. They are still made the same way and have the same quality as before. Our potions, which also have not improved, are still far superior to the ones humans have. I managed to sell some to a few shops," Vans said.
"The weapons have not changed either. They still have quality, but mythril has become even rarer and more expensive. That makes it harder to find weapons made from it. We can sell some. That way we can gather more information in the market."
Victor liked Lysandra's idea. The more products they sold, the more information they could obtain.
After the monster stampede, a great deal of mythril had appeared in the dungeon. They had a large stock of the metal and could sell it. Victor did not see it as a problem, even if it meant giving humans stronger weapons.
Victor began writing a letter, and Niko created a bird shaped golem to deliver it to the Tower.
He wanted Vesta to organize several item bags filled with mythril. But he would not sell it yet. He felt he needed to explore the city further and visit the merchants' guild, which he had completely forgotten about.