Since the early morning, I hurriedly ran to the Adventurer' s Office, a small branch near the slums.
The Adventurer' s Office is managed by the kingdom and is responsible for handling everything related to adventurers. Most of its duties involve facilitating tasks such as rank assessments, receiving requests, posting jobs, announcing dungeon locations, approving guild formations, and researching information, among other things.
However, it also has another role: apprehending adventurers who commit crimes.
Every office has staff available 24 hours a day.
I tightened my hood over my face before nervously walking straight to the counter. A cheerful young female staff member greeted me with a bright smile, even though her shift was about to end.
"Good morning! I' m Leggie, happy to assist you. May I know what you' re here for?"
"H-Hello, Miss Leggie. Um… I just became an adventurer, and… I' d like to find some work."
"Noted. Could I please see your adventurer' s card?"
I quickly patted myself down, only to realize I didn' t have enough money to get a card made—just the assessment.
"N-No, I don' t have it."
"It might have gotten lost, huh? You can always get a new one when you reassess your rank. In that case, could I have your first and last name instead?"
"Y-Yes, Calika Nehu."
"Alright, please wait a moment, Miss Calika Nehu."
The staff member entered my name into a crystal screen to check my information. It contained data on adventurers, monsters, beasts, missions, and more.
After seeing my details, she furrowed her brows, though her face still maintained a smile.
"Could you please lift your hood for me, Calika?"
I hesitated to uncover my face, afraid it might startle her, but Leggie stared at me unwaveringly. Gathering my courage, I lifted it for her to see.
Her smile vanished.
"Sorry, but we don' t have any work for a weak and hideous [Rank F] like you. Why don' t people of your rank just go look for jobs with your kind at the back of the office? Why even come here?"
Everyone knows that place—where some wait for work until they starve, and no one cares. I quickly bowed my head and pleaded humbly.
"P-Please, I beg you. Any job will do. I' ll take anything, just…"
Before I could finish, the staff cut me off with a cold tone, dropping all politeness.
"If I give you a job and you mess it up, do you know that the staff who assign jobs without properly assessing an adventurer' s ability get punished too? In serious cases, we could even get fired. Can you take responsibility for that? Because a [Rank F] like you isn' t even worthy of being called an adventurer."
"B-But, my family nee—"
"No buts. Let me be blunt: this office has no place for [Rank F] trash like you. It' s impossible, and it' ll never happen. Get out of here. My shift' s almost over, and trash like you is just blocking the path of progress for other adventurers. Simply put, if garbage like you didn' t show up, you' d already be indirectly helping this world."
I decided to bow and plead once more, but her voice turned even harsher.
"Get lost! Otherwise, I' ll consider you trespassing and disrupting the office! I' ll call the enforcement team to drag you to jail right now!"
Hearing that, I could only run out of the office in a panic.
Far from the entrance, I sat hugging my knees in an alley between buildings, trying to muster my courage before heading to the [Rank F] yard behind the office.
There were no buildings or shelters from the sun or rain—just an open space where about a dozen people of my rank sat or lay on the ground, mostly men.
For women, if they' re good-looking, they have plenty of options: waitressing, reception work, serving as maids in guilds or noble houses. Even if they' re truly talentless, they can still resort to selling their bodies, despite the loss of dignity.
The only [Rank F] women who come looking for work here are those abandoned by society and unwanted, like me.
There' s no sympathy here. Everyone sees each other as rivals—the more people there are, the less work there is to go around. I was constantly met with threatening glares.
But I truly had nowhere else to go, so I endured those stares, kept my head down, and found an empty spot at the far back to sit.
Since sitting there, I went home twice to prepare food for my older sister Tiara and younger sister Elda—breakfast and lunch.
The only food we could get without spending money was wild vegetables growing along the canal or grass near fences.
If you' re late to gather those vegetables, you miss out. If someone stronger shows up, you have to let them take it, or you might get beaten to death.
We didn' t dare forage for vegetables or herbs in the forest—it' s too deep and dangerous, requiring a skilled, high-ranking party to go in.
The outskirts of the forest had already been picked clean by villagers and low-rank adventurers, leaving nothing for someone weak like me.
On days we couldn' t find vegetables, we' d boil canal water to survive. If we were lucky, there might be leftover food scraps in the water.
The canal water is filthy, but to avoid starvation, we filter it with cloth and boil it longer.
The first time we drank it, my sister and I got diarrhea and fevers that nearly killed us.
But after a year of it, our stomachs adapted.
For Elda, though, we use rainwater. When that runs out, we have to buy clean water, which strains our finances even more.
As for firewood, we scavenge it from trash piles or the forest outskirts.
Since my dagger was stolen, we have no sharp tools left at home. When gathering firewood in the forest, I have to climb trees to break off small branches. If I' m lucky, I find some on the ground, though villagers usually take it all.
Life is tough, but I have to keep going—to repay Tiara and ensure Elda grows up strong.
As I sat lost in thought, time slipped by until evening approached, and still, no one had gotten any work. Everyone' s eyes showed a dull resignation.
I' d come back and wait again tomorrow. Even if I had to sleep here, I' d wait as long as there was a chance for work.
I stood up to hurry home and prepare dinner.
But the moment I did, the dozen or so people there stood too and rushed to the front.
A man in luxurious silver armor, carrying a giant shield and a sheathed sword at his waist, appeared. Even the scabbard looked so expensive I' d never touch something like it in my lifetime.
He seemed to be a leader, surrounded by over fifty adventurers, all in thick, sturdy armor, standing in a circle and showing him respect.
I wished I could be one of them. If I were, our lives would surely be so much happier.
The other [Rank F] people, aside from me, ran forward, knelt, and desperately offered themselves.
"I' m great at taking beatings, sir! My body' s tough—use me to vent your frustrations!"
"I can squeal like a pig and act like one too, milady! You' ll laugh so hard you' ll forget your stress. Please pick me!"
"I' m obedient like a dog, sir! You can leash me, order me to bark or wag my tail!"
"I can be a human shield, sir! I' m fat, with plenty of meat—I' ll block everything for you. Just a few coins for my little brother' s food is enough!"
"I' m good at licking boots, sir! I' ll clean every nook and cranny—pick me, and your boots will shine!"
And so on—things I' d grown numb to hearing. For slum-dwellers like us, if you can' t do this kind of thing, you wouldn' t have survived this long.
But the adventurers shoved everyone aside to clear a path, and the leader walked straight toward me.
"G-Greetings, sir."
I bowed humbly.
"You' re Calika, right? Even with your face covered, I can kinda recognize your voice."
"Huh? Sir… who are you? How do you know my name?"
"I' m your childhood friend, Etos. Remember me now?"
The moment he said his name, it clicked. Etos was my close friend from the house next door back in our old kingdom.
"Wow, you' ve changed so much! Tall, handsome, and so cool!"
"Haha, thanks! Getting to [Rank B] and founding a guild was no easy feat."
"Whoa, Etos, that' s amazing! You' re a guildmaster now?"
"Yep, I' m aiming to reach [Rank S] someday."
Etos replied with a warm smile.
It' s no surprise. Etos has always been kind-hearted since we were kids, getting along with everyone. He was so strong that even Tiara, who' d trained in combat for years, never beat him once.
Back then, he often dragged me out to play. And…
He even proposed to me once, saying we' d marry when we grew up. But that was just a childish promise. Now, I' m nowhere near worthy of him.
He' s probably found a beautiful fiancée by now. When they get married, my family and I will definitely go wish him well.
For now, I just need to focus on surviving with my family.
But this was a stroke of luck. If he' s a guildmaster, my family might have a way out.
"Hey, Etos, could I ask you for some work? Anything simple is fine—I just need money…"
Etos raised a hand to stop me.
"If you' re sitting here, that means you' re [Rank F] , right?"
"Yes, but I wouldn' t dare join your guild. Just give me a job, and I' ll do my best at whatever you need."
"Calika, don' t try to use our childhood friendship to leech off my weakness. I really hate lazy people who cling to others like you."
"…Huh!?"
"I' m only greeting you because we used to know each other. Or are you still deluded into thinking I' d actually marry you?"
"N-No, it' s not that! I mean, Tiara—"
Slap!
Etos slapped me so hard my head turned, and my nose started bleeding.
"Wake up, Calika. Take a good look at your ugly self. If you can' t see it, go stare into the canal water. Even if you offered yourself to me for free, I wouldn' t touch you. You' re not worthy of me, so stop daydreaming."
This was a huge misunderstanding. I quickly tried to explain.
"No! I just want a job to earn money to treat my family. I wasn' t thinking about that childhood promise at all!"
"Good. It' s smart of you not to think anything between us could ever happen."
Etos turned to take a clean cloth from one of his guild members to wipe the blood off the hand he' d slapped me with.
"But let me give you some advice. A [Rank F] like you will never survive. So, ditch that dying family of yours—it' ll save you food costs and let you breathe on this earth a little longer."
With that, he tossed the cloth at my face.
"Take it. Consider it compensation for me breaking that childish verbal marriage promise. From now on, you' re just a stranger. Don' t dare greet me or show your face again—I can smell you from here, and it makes me want to puke."
Then Etos turned and walked away.
I gripped the cloth and imagined throwing it at the back of his head, yelling, Don' t you dare look down on me! Who' d want a jerk like you as a partner? Even if you were the last man on earth, I' d never pick you!
But that was just in my head. If I wanted to survive, I had to know my place.
Our statuses are too far apart now. I shouldn' t do anything to upset Etos—it wouldn' t just be me who' d suffer.
I quietly picked up the cloth and tucked it into my bag.
"Understood, sir…"
Etos walked off with his guild members.
Everything returned to silence and despair.
People slowly shuffled back to their spots.
I waited another half hour, but there was no sign of anything.
I wouldn' t find work today. So, I decided to head home.
"Hey! [Rank F] folks! Lord Jaigia, leader of our [Radiant Fang] guild, needs people to help in a dungeon. Anyone interested, follow me!"
Huh!? A job?
"Sir, how many people do you need, and what do we have to do?"
"Lord Jaigia will decide that himself. Stop asking questions and come along."
Everyone hurriedly bowed in thanks and followed. I didn' t hesitate to join them.
I' d already told Elda that if I came back late, it meant I' d found work, and she should cook for herself and Tiara.
So, I joined without much worry.