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The Royal Palace was located at the depths of the intersection between street number 1 and 1st avenue— to be more precise, it was located at the edge of the southeast region of this huge city domain. The reason for this was that the royal capital had expanded northwestward from the Royal Capital, which stood with the Rune River behind it.

The main branch of the Explorer Association, on the other hand, was at the intersection of street number 4 and 4th avenue— pretty close to the main road that pierced through the center of Runerelya in all four general directions.

Therefore, branch offices were established in four locations, including the eastern part of the Royal Capital close to the Royal Academy which was located near street number 4 and 4th avenue.

Needless to say, it was the Explorer Association\'s East Branch that I was planning to visit. However, under the recommendation of Riyad-senpai, I ultimately switched from there to the main headquarters in the heart of the Royal Capital.

"When a student of the Royal Academy — a future pillar of the kingdom — wanted to register to become an explorer, the custom was that one of their top brass would be dispatched from the association\'s main headquarters to look over the proceedings.

But of course, if you don\'t mind receiving the warm welcome of the branch manager of the East Branch for around two hours, which is the time it would take for them to send a magic bird to the main branch to call a big shot of theirs, we can go there too. So?"

As soon as I heard Riyad-senpai\'s nonchalant words, I immediately changed the direction of my stride toward the main branch.

Even for the other side, doing all that for a nameless brat like me from a far-off rural territory would be a waste of time. And of course, I wasn\'t so free to waste my time engaging in needless pleasantries.

◆◆◆

The Explorer Association\'s main branch was a sparkling three-storey building, built of a material that bore a semblance to concrete. As we passed through the entrance, the first thing that jumped into my vision was the single counter placed at the center, with two female staff, dressed in calm blue uniforms, sitting side-by-side.

The way they carried themselves was almost similar to top-class companies\' receptionists. My gaze roamed around but didn\'t see any other explorer except us.

"The atmosphere here is quite different from what I imagined..."

"Hnn? What did you think it would be like?" Senpai asked with a pure look of curiosity.

"Well, I expect us to be showered with the gazes of senior explorers — who would be drinking on the floor even at noon — as if they were assessing us as we pass through a shabby-looking wooden door that would make a creaking sound.

Then, one of the senior explorers— who just happened to be a somewhat famous explorer with a crude personality and an alias like <Johnny, the rookie crusher> — would immediately snap out to pick a fight with us, shouting \'This isn’t a playground for you brats, shoo-shoo!\' Even if you try to appear modest, the other party would just get bolder. In the end, things would escalate, and then I would have no choice but to fight back. The aim was to make it clear who was superior, or even if I lost, to at least show my determination and get them to let me through— well, something like that?"

I explained the cliched troupe to senpai.

"Is that what happens in the Rovenne territory? How is the public order there? Do none of the staff attempt to stop it?"

Hearing my make-believe fantasy troupe, senpai showed his concern about the public order of our territory.

"No, got it all wrong, senpai. I didn\'t mean that was the case in our territory......

The situation would play out with the staff member just sighing under their breath, letting out an exasperated \'Not again\', and then ignoring the ruckus. Alternatively, there might be a bald, muscular, tough-looking former explorer turned staff who would step up to shout something along the lines of \'You\'re being too noisy, bastards! Go and fight somewhere else if you have so much energy!\' and then join the fight for some reason. And in the end, they would do something like a drinking contest with everyone. Something like that."

"...I\'ve made up my mind to never visit the Rovenne territory\'s branch in my life. I don\'t think I can handle that sort of ritual— Good afternoon."

......It seemed like senpai now thinks that our Viscount territory was more of a bandit\'s den.

"Welcome to the main branch, Riyad-sama. It appears you have just come back from harvesting. How can I help you? Have you discovered a new kind of variety?"

The receptionist, seeing senpai\'s outfit that seemed to scream \'I just returned from collecting materials\' politely inquired. She even seemed to remember his name and how he looked. I wonder how many explorers in this vast city does she remember......?

"Even the reception is different from what I imagined......"

"...I\'m here to sell materials, and my junior from the Academy is here to register as well so I tagged along."

Senpai said, ignoring my murmuring.

"Riyad-sama personally coming to assist in registration...? Excuse me, may I hear your name?"

The receptionist politely inquired, perfectly maintaining her business-like polite smile. Her gaze was slightly tinged with an appraising look. Hmm? Did Senpai happen to be someone famous?

"I\'m Allen Rovenne, a recent entrant to the Royal Academy. I\'m a country bumpkin who hardly knows anything about the situation here so I requested Riyad-senpai to accompany me. I hope for your cooperation today."

I greeted the receptionist lady and introduced myself. While recalling the key points to be careful of in such scenarios that I learned from the \'How to Pass an Interview\' book, I bowed my head in courtesy.

Just as I was about to perform a 30-degree bow, I caught sight of the other receptionist lady — who had been sitting next to the receptionist lady dealing with us — vanishing to the 2nd floor with a quick pace.

"Welcome, please come this way."

The receptionist led the way, ascending the stairs with grace. Hmm, wouldn\'t this leave the reception unattended......?

◆◆◆

Pushing open the heavy wooden door with brass fixtures, the receptionist lady guided us to a 20-tatami-sized room located on the 3rd floor. It was quite a huge reception room with a subdued interior, but in the name of decor, there were just two three-person sofas placed on either side of a low table in the center of the room.

From a Japanese person\'s perspective, it was nothing more than a waste of space. But I guess this was what you\'d call extravagance, huh?

"Please wait here."

Leaving these words, the receptionist left the room.

"? What are you doing standing there, Allen?" Senpai asked me curiously as he put down the bamboo basket he was carrying on his back and sat down on the sofa.

"It seems like a big shot is sure to come, giving the grandeur of this waiting room. Leaving aside senpai, I don\'t think I, who have no achievement under my belt, should be waiting while relaxing on the sofa with legs stretched out."

I was here through the good graces of Senpai— who seemed to have quite a reputation within the association. The last thing I wanted to do was to embarrass senpai here.

"...Is this also a part of the \'bow\' spirit?"

As expected of the senpai I admired, he was really quick to understand the situation. I nodded.

"Thank you for waiting."

We waited for around 10 minutes while I continued to stand in attention when the receptionist lady, who had left for upstairs, pushed open the door. However, she didn\'t enter the room and left after saying thank you. Instead, another person entered the room.

The person had a truly kind and friendly look, giving off an atmosphere more like that of a pleasant government worker than an explorer. However, despite his somewhat chubby physique, there was no flaw in his demeanor...... \'I see, so it\'s that kind of pattern, huh?\'

Since I was being accompanied by senpai, I expected it would be a veteran-looking middle-aged man with white hair neatly tied back coming out to thoroughly interview me. But it seemed I was wrong. However, I couldn\'t let my guard down yet.

If anything, this seemingly ordinary-looking demeanor was all a trap to shrewdly create a relaxed atmosphere to lower the guard of students, and then using his smooth words and slick tongue, he would pry out all their information. He must be the so-called interview specialist for sure.

And while candidates were immersed in their fantasy, thinking \'Thank heavens! I can easily play this examiner on the palm of my hand\', and then confidently present themselves, the result they would get as they waited at their homes was the same vexing canned phrase \'It\'s regretful to say you were not selected this time\'— \'Hmph, you must think that I\'m gullible, but you have no idea how many times I\'ve been tossed such heartless canned phrases, and how many interviews I had taken during my job-hunting days. Recalling my previous life, I realized it was all just a huge waste of time. Even the application forms I filled up took a lot of time, you know?\'

I didn\'t think I would fail at something like registering as an explorer but in any case, I couldn\'t afford to make a fool of myself in front of my senior. I recalled the euphoric sensation I felt when I finally scored a homerun by stealing the job offer for a first-class food company after piling up my rejections in the three digits. At that time, the market had been facing a setback following the real estate collapse of a foreign superpower dubbed the "Once-in-a-century downtime" era.

Editor Note - I laughed as I realized the MC took half the chapter explaining the adventurer\'s guild troupe in isekai novels. And dang, that rant about canned responses dug out some old memories. Most of my applications didn\'t even get sent rejection notices. Only the really big companies would waste time sending you a letter saying you didn\'t make the cut.

T/N - Ah, the harsh truth of life.