The Discarded Son's Skill Market

"Oh, they certainly are strange," he thought. "Although I think it’s because they inject themselves with some kind of substance."

This time he remembered another woman. She had green eyes, long blonde hair that she always wore in a ponytail, and full armor made of some expensive metal.

Jennie. Possibly the most powerful woman in the kingdom. Her muscles are prominent, but they don’t detract from her feminine beauty—rather, they enhance it. She’s so beautiful that even old Roger is hopelessly in love with her.

But she has one rule: her muscles are natural, unlike those of the female mercenaries who, for some reason, inject themselves with substances to look more imposing...

"I don’t think you’ll ever turn out like that, though I don’t think they’re weird." Zaid said this with a chuckle after giving it some thought. "But I think that if you built up some good muscles, you’d look more like Lady Jennie."

"The National Lady?" Alice blinked several times in shock.

"Yeah. But smaller," Zaid joked.

Although Alice tried to imagine herself with muscles, she couldn’t quite picture it... Well, she was a mage. She’d hardly ever build muscle.

However, seeing that Zaid didn’t find it strange that she wanted to enlist there, she smiled.

"Do you think they’ll accept me?"

Zaid thought about it. In her Beast Mode, she’d surely pass with flying colors, but was it possible for her to pass in Rest Mode?

"I saw her fight in her Rest Mode, and she’s not bad at it. She’s skilled in martial arts and has excellent control over her magic. Maybe she lacks a bit of determination, but she gains that when she enters her strongest mode..."

"You shouldn’t have any trouble." He nodded.

She felt noticeably more relaxed and nodded. "Let’s go, then!"

They finished eating and headed to the mercenary guild.

"Go see the receptionist. I’ll catch up with you in a minute," Zaid told her, and Alice did as he said.

Zaid stepped away to check the bulletin board. He’d brought back many items from the forest that might come in handy for completing some missions. That was the good thing about contractors posting the materials they were looking for—if someone already had them, they could save themselves the trip.

Although he doesn’t find the idea very appealing—since it’s the only way he has to go hunt beasts—he decided to do it this time because he managed to obtain some Rank D items that could help him level up.

His current plan is to reach Gold or Platinum Rank so he can go out without the guild’s permission or accompanied by a contractor.

Looking through the mission board, he found several missions he could turn in right away. He accepted them all, but he had a lot of materials left over.

"Should I come back for more later?" he thought, and turned to leave.

But just then, someone walking nearby spoke to his companion. "We’ve already posted everything we have on the bulletin board. Now we just have to wait for a contractor to show interest in something and get in touch with us," he said.

"Are you sure that works? I’m not sure that’s the right way to use the bulletin board..." His companion questioned the approach.

"It works! I’ve done it five times already, and it works. Just post it there at a good price when you’re available, and they’ll come to you."

Zaid’s eyes lit up. That’s right—there was that way!

Zaid ran over to the bulletin board next door and posted an ad listing everything he had and their respective prices. He included the exact date he hunted them and all the necessary information to show that he was the one who hunted them.

That way, he could not only sell everything but also level up once the guild registry showed that he had sold so many items from Rank F, E, and D beasts.

After that, he followed Alice, who had gone ahead and was already walking toward the Training Center.

.

"Just come with me, Miss. I’ll take you to my boss or someone important in my department so they can test you. I promise you’ll be satisfied!" A handsome young man smiled as he tried to grab Alice by the shoulder to guide her inside.

Zaid frowned as soon as he arrived and raised his hand to stop him immediately.

Alice had already taken two steps away, so he would have missed his attempt to grab her, but Zaid... moved almost instinctively.

"Hm? Who do you think you are?" The handsome young man growled and turned angrily, ready to scold whoever was stupid enough to get in his way.

However, her eyes lit up at that moment. "It’s you." She recognized Zaid at a glance.

Zaid recognized him, too. It was that student of Master Frank’s, Finn.

"Alice doesn’t like to be touched, Mr. Finn," Zaid said, stepping closer to Alice to protect her. "If you want to take her somewhere, please keep your distance. It’s not rudeness—that’s just how she is."

Although Finn frowned—especially at seeing Zaid so close to her—he smiled. "Are you two together? I understand, Miss Alice. My mistake. I just wanted to show you inside."

Zaid simply nodded and looked at Alice. "And the receptionist?" he asked.

"He told me to follow Mr. Finn inside," Alice whispered.

"I see." Zaid realized that Finn had specifically asked the receptionist to do that. He couldn’t blame him for being so careless; after all, he surely didn’t want to offend someone as talented as this.

Although he was standing in a spot with few passersby, everyone who walked by took a glance or two at him before moving on. He was quite the celebrity.

"Mr. Finn, if it’s too much trouble for you, I can take Alice from here. Go back to your usual work," Zaid said. He didn’t think Finn would stop them, so he started walking alongside Alice.

"Wait." Finn stopped them, though. "I promised to take her, so I’ll do it. If you don’t want to waste time or have other things to do, then go take care of them—you probably have missions to deliver, right? I’ll handle the rest."

"Haha, don’t worry, Mr. Finn. I have plenty of free time, and I can’t leave her alone. There are a lot of reckless and malicious people who’ve been bothering her lately, you know?"

Finn clenched his jaw at her comment, but nodded. "All right. Then follow me. Anyway, there are a few things I need to discuss with you."