It crumbled into pieces the moment you picked it up — the rye grains still retained their original shape. The milling technology must still be immature. Because the rye retained its shape, the bread itself was heavy and moist, like it was wet. The fact that it wasn’t fluffy like white bread (no bran expansion) was probably why it felt so moist.

Ah, I wish I could at least put sliced cheese or prosciutto on it. But since I couldn’t, I put the fried egg on top and ate it.

Iferasky got a carrot. She was crunching on it happily.

After she finished eating, she looked toward my lower body.

If she could talk, I’d want to ask her whether my dick or the carrot tasted better.

I wonder if she’d blush and say, "Masaharu’s penis..."

"Thank you for everything despite being so busy."

"No need to thank me. This is the church’s role."

"Really?"

"Yes. Helping those in need is the very reason the church exists."

I see.

I had assumed churches just prayed from morning till night or sent healers to hero parties, but apparently not.

"I’m looking for short-term day labor type work. Is there an Adventurer’s Guild in this town?"

"Day labor? Adventurer’s Guild?"

Huh?

It didn’t register. Leaving aside the accidental "day labor," the Adventurer’s Guild didn’t click?

"Um... You take requests to subjugate monsters and such..."

"...Eh? Subjugate monsters?"

She looked completely lost.

I explained the typical features of guilds as seen in fantasy works.

But after listening, Rafilia still shook her head, saying she had no idea.

"Then what do you do if monsters appear near the town?"

"Subjugating monsters is the lord’s duty. In exchange for paying taxes, citizens receive protection from the lord."

W-well, that makes sense. Since the lord handles military and political affairs, maintaining security in the town and highways is natural. That’s what taxes are for, after all...

But in isekai stories, an Adventurer’s Guild is mandatory. No matter how close the food and culture are to medieval Europe, the one thing you can’t make realistic is the lack of an Adventurer’s Guild. The Adventurer’s Guild is every man’s romance. What the hell is this world’s god doing?! If you’re going to reincarnate a Japanese person, at least put them in a world with an Adventurer’s Guild.

Don’t tell me the Dragon God was just a chronic masturbator and there are no decent gods in this world?

This is bad. I didn’t hear anything about there being no Adventurer’s Guild.

I was planning to at least take some E-rank requests like gathering medicinal herbs for a few days to earn some money...

"Um, when people need medicinal herbs, what do they do?"

"If you come to the church, we’ll provide some. We grow them in the garden."

Oh, right.

I recalled reading in some book that in the Middle Ages, churches also served as hospitals and grew medicinal herbs and vegetables in their gardens.

"Moreover, we have researched medicinal herbs for many years and inherited that knowledge, so it’s more reliable to rely on us than to ask adventurers to gather them..."

That’s true. If an amateur in medicine asks an amateur adventurer to gather some random grass, there’s no guarantee it’ll actually cure the illness. If there are professionals, it’s better to ask them.

Come to think of it, there’s no need to request grass growing around the town from a guild. In real life, those "fetch quest" errands that packaged console games add to extend playtime don’t actually happen, so there’s no need for an Adventurer’s Guild...

But still, if there’s a system where you can check quest progress, I’d want 100% completion. There might be rare items you can only get from fetch quests or special events...

Perhaps our conversation was boring, because Iferasky had already laid her head on my thigh and fallen asleep.

"Um... Taking medicinal herbs from land owned by the king or lords without permission is illegal, and there may be cases where the workers’ guild holds the rights. Skinning monsters and selling the hides without authorization would also infringe on the rights held by the tanners’ guild... So what you call adventurer guild quests just sound like violations of third parties’ rights. Besides, taking treasure from a labyrinth on the lord’s land is definitely a crime..."

"I... see..."

Now that she mentioned it, picking up items from a dungeon is basically the same as trespassing on private mountain land in Japan and stealing matsutake mushrooms or wild vegetables... And on top of that, an armed group capable of defeating boars and bears... Yeah, that would definitely be a police matter.

What the hell is going on in this world?

Status Open is only usable by Lucia so far, there’s no Adventurer’s Guild, the residents aren’t stupid enough for me to steamroll them with my knowledge, and it’s not kind to reincarnators at all...

"Um... What you’re talking about might be the knight order or mercenary groups?"

"Eh?"

"They don’t go looking for herbs or take personal requests to subjugate monsters, but they are groups of people with combat skills. They form master-servant contracts with the king or lords and maintain public order in the town or subjugate monsters."

"M-maybe that’s it."

"However, I’m not very familiar with the details... The gatekeeper from earlier might know more. He is a knight under the king, dispatched to protect this city."

"Understood. I’ll ask the gatekeeper."

One step forward.

If there’s a mercenary group with no long-term obligations, I’ll earn some money there.

Once I have money, I’ll return the clothes to the gatekeeper, hire someone to take me to Iria, and report that I’m safe. As for what comes after, well, I’ll figure it out.

My only real goal is to take Lucia’s virginity anyway, so I’ll just go with the flow. If there’s no Adventurer’s Guild in this world, I can just start one myself.

---

I carried Iferasky back to the borrowed room and put her to bed, then headed toward the castle gate.

The fortified city was about the size of the Tokyo Dome. Even though I got lost a few times, by sticking to the wider main roads I eventually reached the gate.

Thankfully, Gatekeeper A was still there.

"Oh, it’s you from earlier."

"Thanks again for before. Um... I want to earn some money, so I’m thinking of joining a mercenary band or the knight order. I don’t really understand how it works, so could you explain it to me...?"

"Sure, no problem."

Whether he was just bored and had time to kill or simply liked explaining things, Gatekeeper A kindly taught me all sorts of things. He was a good talker, so I just stayed quiet and listened.