The inn's front-desk girl, who had inadvertently become our cupid, introduced herself as Anya. After guiding us to the farthest room on the second floor, her face still a bright red, she hurriedly scampered off.

"Eh-heh-heh," Rio giggled.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she was grinning like a child who’d just received their favorite treat. Seeing her so happy made me feel that confessing in the heat of the moment was actually a pretty good idea. Past-me, the loner, would’ve been envious.

"You seem happy."

"I am."

I sat beside her, only for her to pull me into a tight hug. Being smaller than her, I somehow felt like I fit snugly into her embrace—a fact I found deeply regrettable.

Before long, we were leaning into each other, sharing a soft kiss. The sensation was strangely familiar, as though it wasn’t the first time.

"Something on your mind?" Rio asked, noticing my contemplative expression.

"Well… It doesn’t feel like this is our first kiss."

"Oh, probably because of when you almost died after that black-cloaked group attacked us," she said with a teasing smile. "I had to give you medicine mouth-to-mouth, you know."

"S-seriously?!"

To think I didn’t even remember my first kiss… Unforgivable!

"Ha-ha, you’re so cute," Rio said, her laughter making the situation even more embarrassing.

Wait—cute? Me? I’ve never been called that in my life! Maybe this is one of those "only-your-lover-thinks-you're-cute" things. Yes, that has to be it. No way a stranger would find me cute.

"A-ahem. Anyway, we’re about to run out of money, so we should find a way to earn some quickly," I said, desperately steering the conversation away.

"True," Rio nodded. "Master mentioned that the Adventurer’s Guild is probably the quickest way to get started."

"We’ve still got some daylight left. Let’s head there."

After locking the room, we dropped the key off at the inn’s front desk. When we asked Anya’s mom, the innkeeper, for directions to the guild, she gave us a knowing, teasing smile—one that seemed to say, Ah, young love.

Back on the main street, we headed away from the gate and further into the city. Before long, we spotted a five-story building adorned with a sign depicting a magic circle, a sword, and a shield.

"This must be it," I said.

"Probably," Rio agreed. "The innkeeper said it was the only five-story building in the area."

"Let’s check it out."

Brimming with anticipation for the clichéd isekai guild encounter, we stepped inside.

Though it wasn’t overly crowded, every eye in the room immediately turned toward us. At the back was a large counter staffed by about ten receptionists. On the left stood a wooden board covered in papers, presumably quest listings, while the right side featured standing-height tables for socializing.

We approached an unoccupied receptionist.

"What can I help you with today?"

The receptionist was an elf woman, her sharp ears peeking through golden hair. Her expression was professional but her beauty was undeniable. Come to think of it, every receptionist here seemed to be a stunning woman.

"Can we register with the guild?" I asked.

"Certainly," she replied, though her expression briefly flickered with confusion. "May I ask your age?"

"Sixteen," I answered.

The adventurer at the neighboring counter turned to gawk at me, and even the receptionist blinked in surprise.

"Ah, I see… My apologies."

Her surprise puzzled me. Was there an age restriction? Master hadn’t mentioned anything, but maybe he hadn’t thought it relevant. Given my short stature, I probably looked like a kid.

"I’m sixteen too," Rio added, stepping forward.

"Understood," the receptionist said, recovering her composure. "Please fill out this form."

The form had fields for name, gender, age, race, and occupation, along with a section to list any special skills or talents.

"You only need to fill out your name," the receptionist explained. "The rest is optional, though it can help when forming parties. If you don’t know your occupation, we can assess it here for 100 flons."

I politely declined the assessment fee and began writing. One handy feature of this world’s summoning magic was automatic language comprehension, including reading and writing. Truly convenient.

We both wrote only our names, "Shu" and "Rio," leaving out our surnames to avoid suspicion. My occupation field remained blank since, well, I was still jobless.

"Thank you for filling this out," the receptionist said as she took the forms. "While we prepare your guild cards, let me explain the rules."

She detailed the guild ranking system:

• G Rank: For those under twelve, limited to city-based requests.
• F Rank: Age twelve and older, includes gathering requests outside the city.
• E Rank: Eligible for combat and extermination requests.

D Rank was considered the mark of a fully-fledged adventurer.

It dawned on me why the receptionist had asked my age. She probably thought I was under twelve...

"Here are your guild cards. If you lose them, a replacement will cost 100 flons," she said, handing over metal plates with our names and ranks engraved on them.

"Good luck!" she added with a warm smile.

And just like that, Rio and I became adventurers.