Driven by curiosity about the inner workings of the Guild Card, I paid a visit to the Adventurers' Guild to investigate.
Inside, the Receptionist was staring listlessly at a stack of documents.
"Hello."
"Ah, yes, yes, what business do you... wait, Lloyd-san!?"
Her gaze sharpened the moment she spotted me. She shoved her paperwork aside and practically flew over to the counter.
"You're fiiiiinally here! Honestly, Lloyd-san, you really should submit your own completion reports! Let me tell you, jumping straight to D-rank after a single quest is practically unheard of! Normally, you’d need at least three or four under your belt, but between Tao-san's report and my own persis—I mean, trust, I managed to force the promotion through. It’s only because we have such high hopes for you... Seriously, though, keep this between us. Heh-heh."
She spoke with terrifying momentum. For a secret, she sure was being loud about it.
I checked my card as she suggested. My rank had indeed jumped from E to D. I hadn't noticed at all. Not that I particularly cared; I wasn't planning on climbing the ranks anyway.
"Lloyd-san, you have a real talent for adventuring! Please, go out there, complete more requests, and raise your rank even higher!"
The Receptionist stared at me, breathing heavily with excitement.
"More importantly, Receptionist, I wanted to ask you about the Guild Card."
"How to use it? I'll tell you everything! Naturally, it serves as an ID and lets you view your status, but it has many other functions. You can charge it with funds to use as currency at restaurants, or rent adventuring gear depending on your rank. There are plenty of other perks, too, so rank-ups are highly recommended!"
She spoke with great pride, but that wasn't what I was after.
"No, I want to know how it's made."
"The manufacturing process!? ...Whatever for?"
"It sounds interesting. ...Is that a problem?"
"W-Well... not exactly, but..."
She fell into thought for a moment, then beckoned me closer and whispered, "Fine. I'll make an exception just for you, Lloyd-san. Follow me."
The Receptionist came out from behind the counter and led me to the second floor of the guild. When she opened the door, I saw a room filled with various Magic Tools, including printing presses and automatic scribes.
"This is where we produce the Guild Cards. We use enchanted ink to engrave characters onto special metal plates with high Magic Conductivity."
"I see. So this plate is the base. It looks like it’s been specially treated... possibly coated with some kind of chemical? There seems to be an incredibly thin, transparent film over it."
"Is that so? These are manufactured at the headquarters, so even I don't know the specifics."
I see. So they take the blanks sent from HQ and just input the data here. I'll try taking mine apart later. It’ll be fine; I can just say I lost it if things go south.
"...Lloyd-san, please tell me you aren't planning to take it apart. A replacement costs one gold coin, and your rank gets reset to the very beginning. Please, don't even think about it."
"I know."
So a replacement is one gold coin and a rank reset? That's not a problem at all. I'm definitely taking it apart later.
"Hm, what's this...?"
My gaze drifted to a stack of papers in the corner of the room. They featured sketches of faces and bounty amounts—wanted posters.
"Oh, you have a keen eye, Lloyd-san. Are you wondering why they’re tucked away here instead of being posted on the public floor?"
"They look too old to be new postings."
"Indeed. They were posted downstairs once before. We’d filed them away, but we’re preparing to put them back up soon. Do you want to know why? You do, right?"
"Not really."
Ignoring my lack of interest, she launched into her explanation after a brief pause.
"Actually, the people on these posters are all assassins who once terrorized the streets."
The Receptionist began her tale. I hadn't actually asked to hear it, though.
"'Ren of the Poison Moth,' 'Talia of the Hundred Scars,' 'Galilea of the Thread Spider,' 'Babylon of the Giant Rat,' 'Crow of the Dark Raven'... they were all major bounties worth over a hundred gold coins. However, their names vanished from the posters several years ago. The reason was the appearance of a certain man—Shadow Wolf Jade. He united those notorious criminals and formed the Assassin's Guild."
She was really starting to get worked up. I suppose she just had a burning desire to tell this story, but I really wanted her to wrap it up.
"Jade approached the Adventurers' Guild with a proposal. He offered to handle the 'dirty work' adventurers refused to touch, provided we retracted their bounties. We refused at first, of course. There’s no shortage of such work—corrupt nobles who oppress the people, or rogue adventurers who extort villagers for food and supplies... that paperwork was just gathering dust. It would have been a massive help if someone dealt with them, but we couldn't just shake hands with wanted criminals. The Guild is responsible for public order, after all. We turned them away. ...However, they went ahead and finished all those requests anyway. Not once, but repeatedly, using their own unique methods. They specifically targeted those trying to incite wars. It wasn't exactly a heroic way of doing things, but their actions saved countless lives. Even we couldn't complain. The public’s gratitude grew, and eventually, the perception of them shifted. People who once loathed them as cowardly assassins began to see them as a necessary evil. Voices calling for cooperation grew so loud that the bounties were eventually suspended."
She was speaking at an incredible, rhythmic pace. She was clearly enjoying this.
"Then, one day, Jade vanished. He disappeared into thin air without a word to anyone. Without their leader, the Assassin's Guild lost its restraint and returned to their old ways—robbery and sabotage. They don't commit murder, but they're back to being a menace. And thus, the bounties are being reinstated... that's the story."
"Huh. Interesting."
That was all I had for her. She looked smugly satisfied, but honestly, I couldn't care less. I just wanted to know how the Guild Card was made.