Another month had passed. During that time, Isaac devoted himself entirely to the education of Zeke and his younger sister, Genie.
As a result, the guild members had taken care of all the guild’s income-generating requests. However, this was reaching its limit. Although none of the members openly showed it, Isaac, who was always attentive to his guildmates, could clearly sense their exhaustion.
Zeke was now eight years old. While it was much too early for him to take on a full-fledged request, Isaac figured that if he accompanied him as an assistant, focusing on supportive tasks, it wouldn’t be a big issue. He nodded to himself.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“What’s this about all of a sudden?”
“Yeah! Don’t just brush it off with words, give us something!”
“Alright. I’ll give you performance bonuses and time off.”
“Wait, really??”
Heroes received their work through the guild. Naturally, they handled dangerous tasks and were paid, but a portion—sometimes as much as 30 to 50 percent—went to the guild as a fee for brokering the request.
Isaac, however, had set the guild’s fee at just 20 percent, and on top of that, he rewarded diligent members with bonuses and time off to rest and recharge.
This was a rather drastic policy that Isaac had impulsively implemented out of guilt for focusing so much on the newcomers. However, it was a shock to everyone, especially Sophia, Hans, and even Ras.
“To be honest, I’m a bit worried.”
“You don’t need to worry.”
“How can I not worry?! If you give out all these bonuses, what’s going to be left for the guild?!”
“Why wouldn’t anything be left?”
It made sense to be concerned, especially for people like Ras and Dig, who were still relatively new. But Sophia and Hans were more like Isaac’s business partners. If the guild went under from being too generous, it would cause major problems for everyone involved.
Ras, too, shared in the concern. After all, the guild couldn’t afford to go under now. Whether Isaac understood their worries or not, he just smiled and replied.
“Aren’t you all what’s left?”
“Uh… what?”
“Besides, the fact that you’ve worked hard over the past few months is undeniable. It’s the master’s job to reward that.”
Isaac’s words were true. During the two months he had spent focused on Zeke, the guild’s finances would’ve collapsed if the others hadn’t been diligently handling requests.
Hans and Sophia, and particularly Ras, who had shown exceptional performance, had kept the guild in good standing. The guild’s finances were now secure, and their ranking had risen, allowing them to receive even more requests.
Although it was still too early for Zeke to tackle a request alone, if Isaac took him along and taught him bit by bit as an assistant, it wouldn’t be much of an issue.
“You’ve all worked hard. Take a good three days off.”
“A sudden vacation… I wasn’t expecting this.”
“It’s kind of awkward, isn’t it?”
“Isn’t it obvious what men and women should do when they have free time together?”
“OF!!!”
Sophia’s face turned bright red, and she let out an indignant shout. Seeing her reaction, Isaac couldn’t help but smile. After all, it was a time for celebration. Three days off should be more than enough for a break.
“Wow! A vacation! Does that mean I can also take three days off?!”
“You can’t.”
“Why not?!”
“While everyone else is handling requests, take a good look at what you’ve been doing.”
Of course, Dig was the exception. If Dig had made any effort to match even half of what Sophia and Hans had done, or at least half of what Ras had accomplished, Isaac might have considered granting him time off for his efforts.
However, Dig had spent most of his time slacking off. Despite receiving subtle hints from those around him, he had ignored them completely and only collected his salary from the guild.
So, it was only natural that he wouldn’t be rewarded. While his peer Ras had seen his salary increase due to his hard work, Dig was still earning the same as the new recruit Zeke.
“To embrace everything just because we are family is negligence. Helping one realize their mistakes and correcting them is the best form of training. That is what being a mentor is about.”
Isaac’s words, though neatly packaged, struck the guild members like arrows to their hearts. They realized that Isaac genuinely cared for them as family.
Despite not being able to break Isaac’s strong resolve, they set off for their three-day vacation. Dig, grumbling, remained behind to keep watch over the guild.
“The guild feels so quiet all of a sudden.”
“Most of them are on vacation.”
“So, do we continue training today?”
“No, from today onward, the training will be up to you.”
“Does that mean…?”
With a questioning look, Zeke watched as Isaac held up a parchment.
“It’s your first request.”
***
<In the name of Lord Fragach of Sallen, I hereby commission this request.>Despite the grand name and ornate parchment, the actual rank of the request was only D. This was because Sallen was not a particularly dangerous land. In fact, it could be considered one of the most livable places, at least for now.Isaac observed Zeke, who was reading the parchment next to him. Zeke blinked and asked,
<In the name of Lord Fragach of Sallen, I hereby commission this request.>Despite the grand name and ornate parchment, the actual rank of the request was only D. This was because Sallen was not a particularly dangerous land. In fact, it could be considered one of the most livable places, at least for now.Isaac observed Zeke, who was reading the parchment next to him. Zeke blinked and asked,
“Master, how do you read this part?”
“Let’s see… It says, ‘I would like you to deal with the pests targeting my daughter.’”
“Pests? Does that mean monstrous creatures?”
“Well, something like that.”
Isaac couldn’t bring himself to explain it in detail. It was still too early for Zeke to understand; he would figure it out in time. Zeke pointed to the D-rank on the parchment and asked,
“What does this D-rank mean?”
“Ranks indicate the danger level of the request.”
“Does a D-rank mean it’s very low?”
“Basically, it’s the lowest rank.”
Ranks range from F to S, but F-rank requests are handled directly by the state or territory, making D-rank effectively the lowest within Gideon. Of course, not all escort missions are low-ranked; many are at least B-rank. However, this request was unusually low-ranked.
The reason was that Sallen was a very safe territory. This request was essentially a matter of hiring a hero for the lord’s daughter. Isaac thought to himself,
‘Preventing pests from bothering the daughter while also showing her what a real hero looks like—this isn’t a difficult request.’
Sallen was protected by a holy knight order, ensuring absolute safety from monsters. Moreover, the land was blessed with bountiful crops and abundant resources.
At least, that’s how it appeared on the surface.
The carriage carrying Isaac and Zeke finally entered Sallen. Outside the window, the view of vast, beautiful mountains and a sea that seemed to stretch endlessly was breathtaking. Zeke exclaimed,
“Wow, it’s incredibly beautiful…!!”
“Sallen is often called a blessed land. They say all the resources in this land flow abundantly.”
“So it must be really great, right?”
“If you live without knowing anything, it might seem that way.”
As Isaac’s bitter tone puzzled Zeke, the carriage crossed the moat and entered the castle gates. Despite the awe inspired by the vast sea view, Zeke was speechless once they entered the castle. He was overwhelmed by the grandeur and massive size of the castle walls.
The walls were enormous and majestic, as if they would not permit any invasion. A red banner fluttered on top. Isaac clicked his tongue.
“I’ve never seen a castle this massive before.”
“Master, is this your first time seeing such a castle?”
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