Accompanied by Fleur, who had a question mark floating over her head, we headed to the Adventurer’s Guild. Now that I think about it, it’s been five days since I last showed my face there. If I had gone every day, I might have noticed something before Fleur approached us with the request.

“It’s noisier than usual, isn’t it…”

When we entered the guild slightly past morning, it was bustling with a fair number of people. It was the time when adventurers would find jobs and head out, yet the crowd didn’t seem to be thinning out anytime soon.

“Seems like everyone's talking about the monster that appeared in Fenrir Forest.”

As I had guessed, the guild was abuzz with the topic Fleur had mentioned.

On our walk to the guild, we managed to regain a bit of our composure.

“Hey, did you see the monster in the forest?”

“No, I didn’t. Was it that big?”

“I saw it! It’s the first time I’ve seen such a massive Silver Wolf!”

“I told you, it’s an evolved species!”

“It was over five meters tall!”

A huge wolf in Fenrir Forest—it’s undoubtedly that Sky wolf. The one we avoided by leaving the Great Dragon as bait…

We left it in the middle of the forest, so I never thought it’d come after us. According to what we heard in the village, the forest is abundant with food, and the Silver Wolves never leave it. But maybe that was only about the direction of the village?

“The delivery of lumber from the forest has stopped. Could you bring some in?”

“Our workshop doesn’t have any materials left, so we can’t move forward with our work. Please help us.”

“My workshop needs some too.”

“I’d like to request Fenrir Mushrooms.”

“I need Tenka Grass, but I guess that’s impossible…”

The request counter was crowded with people wanting to post collection jobs in the forest. From the looks of it, new collection requests for the forest were not being accepted. It seemed the guild had prohibited entry into the forest where the large monster had been sighted.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Until the identity of the rumored monster is clarified, the forest is off-limits. Please do not enter!”

The guild staff shouted reminders, warning everyone. A large notice was posted on the request board as well. If anyone entered the forest despite this, it would be at their own risk. Normally, a search party would be dispatched for missing persons, but in emergencies like this, no such efforts would be made.

“Currently, a B-rank adventurer party is investigating the forest, so please wait for their report!”

The guild staff continued their warnings. Even with an investigation, I doubted the cause could be identified… Thinking that we might be the reason made me feel uneasy.

Fleur approached the request counter and placed an order.

“I’m Fleur from the Rashiyu Merchant Company. I’d like to post a specific request. Is that alright?”

“Yes, as long as it doesn’t involve entering the forest. Alternatively, if it’s for B-rank or higher adventurers, entering the forest is acceptable. May I hear the details?”

“Of course. I’d like someone to check on the condition of the lumber storage site owned by the Rashiyu Merchant Company.”

“Uh, okay. Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Understood. Please wait a moment while we assess the rank for the request.”

“Thank you.”

As the staff member went to the back, Fleur turned to us with a somewhat apologetic look.

“I know it’s not ideal to rely on customers for something like this…”

“No problem. We haven’t taken on any guild jobs recently anyway.”

“So, in addition to the request, we should bring back some lumber, right?”

“Yes. The storage site is outside the forest, so the request itself should still be doable. If I included the recovery of lumber in the request, it might raise the difficulty level.”

At Rio’s question, Fleur leaned in closer to us and spoke in a low voice. Since we’re E-rank, it’s better to avoid anything that could increase the difficulty.

One could argue that she could have made the request directly without going through the guild, but such direct dealings are prone to troubles and not recommended. Going through the guild also helps with rank advancement, so it has its pros and cons.

“Oh, and don’t worry—I’ll provide additional rewards. If you’d like, you’re welcome to take down that monster as well.”

Fleur chuckled as she said this, but it felt strange to be regarded so highly. We’d been looked down on so many times before, after all.

“Thank you for waiting.”

As we were listening to Fleur explain the request in more detail, the staff member returned from the back.

“The request rank is E. Even with the report of an unidentified monster, since it doesn’t involve entering the forest, there shouldn’t be any issues.”

“Thank you. Then I’ll assign the request to Mr. Shu and Ms. Rio here.”

“Understood. It will take a little time to process the paperwork. Will you two be accepting the request on the spot?”

“Yes, please.”

It would be a hassle to accept it later, so waiting a bit now was fine.

“Here’s the key to the storage site.”

And so, we took on the request to investigate the Rashiyu Merchant Company’s lumber storage site.