<h4>Chapter 521: What a Commercial Fleet Is</h4>


    After we left Rhyn’s stall, we were on our way to the adventurer’s guild. But on the way, I was still worried about that girl with the eye patch.


    『I wonder if she knew I used appraisal on her?』


    「Rhyn?」


    『Yeah』


    I thought I was mistaken, but something was still bugging me.


    「She’s amazing then」


    In the first ce, our training in the ins had strengthened our stealth and concealment abilities considerably. We have also been able to suppress any hint of our use of Appraisal more than before.


    I’m so confident that if our opponent didn’t have a high-level Appraisal Skill, they wouldn’t be able to detect it.


    Even Amanda had to concentrate very hard to notice it after all. And even if she did notice, it was only to the extent of giving her an ufortable feeling like “Did look at me?”.


    From what I could tell, Rhyn wasn’t very strong. Even though her senses were sharpened, her movements were only amateurish, and her magic power was low. If she was an adventurer, she must have been a ranked F or E


    To be frank, I hadn’t expected to be noticed. In fact, she didn’t have any skills that would allow her to notice appraisals perfectly, and her status would not allow her to somehow notice them through intuition or feeling like a strong person.


    That’s was supposed to be though, but――


    『…This is just making me lose my confidence』


    Appraisal was a very useful skill. It was necessary to train daily to use it quietly when the timees.


    I’ve practiced a lot against the magic beasts on the ins. And I’ve be proficient to the point that they can hardly detect the presence of my appraisal even against those with high sensing abilities. And I was now in the middle of practicing it on humans.


    However, I wouldn’t use it on a King or a Guild Master. The only people I will use it to are ordinary people in town or travelers passing by on the road, who are unlikely to notice my appraisal.


    No, there is still a small chance that they will notice. There’s even a chance that they might have the Appraisal Perception skill by ident. But if I said that, I wouldn’t be able to use my Appraisal skill out of fear.


    But it would be foolish to seal off this skill because of the fear of being caught using Appraisal and then fail when the timees. That would be just in stupid.


    There is no such thing as failure when ites to just activating Appraisal. However, using it in conjunction with the Stealth skill to suppress the presence when the skill was activated requires a certain amount of practice.


    This was a world with a game-like system, but it doesn’t work the same for everyone, but the more you train, the better you get.


    Appraisal too, you have to use it to get better at it.


    It’s not that I forgot what Diaz said, okay? It’s just that he warned me that if I used appraisal on royalty, I might be guilty of disrespect. He didn’t tell me not to use appraisal. Rather, he advised me to use it well.


    I was going to follow that advice and use the appraisal on the easiest no-risk opponent possible to practice on.


    I’m still worried about Rhyn. I think I’ll refrain from practicing appraisal on humans for a while.


    As I was thinking about this, I quickly saw the sign for the Adventurer’s Guild.


    「Excuse me―」


    「Yes, wee to the Adventurer’s Guild!」


    When we entered the guild in Kiarazen, the receptionist greeted us with a smile.


    「Are you―…going to take a request?」


    「I came to see the requests」


    「I see, you’re an adventurer huh? Are you alone?」


    「Nn」


    「Huh? But that’s strange」


    「About what?」


    「You didn’t just stick with themercial fleet, did you?」


    「Commercial fleet?」


    「You don’t know? Maybe, you were born in a foreign country huh?」


    「Nn」


    「I see. Themercial fleet is――」


    The Onee-san then exined it to us. Themercial fleet was arge fleet of ships that traveled around Lake Vivian. Aah, Lake Vivian is that hugeke from before.


    There were severalrge towns and cities on the shores of theke, which wasrger than a small country, and the fleet was said to be making regr trips to these ces.


    Their work was diverse, ranging from trading to buying and selling local products. They provide transportation for adventurers and travelers. Fishing and purchasing materials in the dangerous central area of theke. They also provide entertainment such as circuses and minstrels and even regr checkups by doctors.


    「I can get that much on ship?」


    「It’s not on one ship. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called a fleet, would it?」


    「Then, there’s a lot of ships?」


    「Yes, a lot. I don’t know the exact number, but there were more than 10rge ships. I think there are also more than 50 small and medium-sized ships」


    「Hoo―」


    That’s great. There are probably more people there than in a small vige.


    「They’ve been around thiske for hundreds of years, you know?」


    「Hee―. Who started it?」


    「 Something is interesting about it. I don’t know if it’s a lie or not, but this Lake Vivian used to be a sea」


    「The sea turned into ake?」


    「The story goes that this was originally a smallke and that theke and the seabined to form argeke. Lake Vivian was named after that smallke」


    「What do you mean?」


    「Hmmm. I don’t know the details, but it seems that theke and the sea were connected by a natural disaster, and then a part of the ground rose and separated this part from the sea, forming theke as we know it today. The merchant of the fleet said that themercial fleet began when the trading ships that were left behind on thekeside gathered together to protect themselves from monsters」


    「Are they staying in theke forever?」


    「I mean, they can’t just leave a ship like that behind, right? It wouldn’t be strange if they just stayed there right?」


    A ship was an expensive thing, so it was a valuable asset. If it was a trading ship that could sail the open sea, it was much more expensive than the cargo it carries. I don’t know whether the captains of the trading ships were the owners or hired hands, but they probably didn’t have the option of leaving the ships behind and returning to their countries.


    But to live, they had to work. I don’t know if they had enough conscience not to beke bandits, or if they couldn’t make a living as bandits because of theck of prey, but they consideredke viges as ports and started trading.


    Well, they must have thought of various ways to earn money, since they would not be able to earn enough money just by visiting thekeside viges. They must have thought of: transportation, fishing, escorting, entertainment, and trade. As a result, it would not be surprising if it became what was now called amercial fleet.


    「So, themercial fleet is full of adventurers who are just starting in this area. They have safe jobs like carrying cargo, and they can watch and learn from the work of the senior adventurers」


    It is said that it ismon practice for adventurers around thiske to first train in themercial fleet.


    「So there are quite a few adventurers of your age in themercial fleet, you know?」


    「Hee」


    It might be unusual to find a ce with so many child adventurers. However, if there was little danger to their lives and they could receive guidance from senior adventurers, it might not be a bad ce to work.


    「The fleet will wee you with open arms」


    「Is that so?」


    「If you ingratiate yourself with them at the beginning, you could be a good customer for themercial fleet when you grow up. If you grow strong enough, you can be hired as an escort. They have a great advantage of having the support of adventurers after all」


    It was like a big business moving on theke. I’d like to see it once, whether we ride it or not, and it seems that Fran felt the same way.


    「Thatmercial fleet. Where can I find them?」


    「Oh my, are you interested?」


    「Nn」


    「Let see… I think the main force is in the east this time of year. I don’t know exactly where they are though. But the squadrons, which are small ships that go around the viges,e at least once a week」


    「Okay」


    This town is located just south of theke. East of here is also in the direction of the Academy of Magic we’re heading to.


    The Academy of Magic was still quite far from theke, but I heard that the self-governing territory around it also borders theke. This might give us a chance to see arge fleet of ships first.


    「Hey, did youe from the Kranzel Kingdom by yourself?」


    「Nn. But how did you know I’m from Kranzel?」


    「Well, that’s because there are no adventurers in Raidos. If that were the case, the only foreign adventurers that woulde to this area would be from the Kranzel Kingdom」


    「I see」


    「It’s the first time I’ve seen a girl your agee alone, but I think it’s good to be part of amercial fleet. After a year you’ll be able to be a full-fledged adventurer」


    「Nn? I don’t really want to stay there though」


    「Huh? Didn’t you said you’re interested before?」


    「I just want to see it」


    「Aah, I see. But it’s not life-threatening, and I’d definitely rmend it. There’s also a branch of the guild in themercial fleet, so you can still rank up in there」


    A guild branch in a ship? That was amazing. Not only was it arge moving merchantpany, but apparently it seemed to be a moving town.


    「Even a kid with G or F-rank can hopefully rank up one rank in a year. We’ve umted the know-how to nurture the adventurers, so they can grow safely」


    So, you’re saying that they’re going to assign us a job to train adventurers? That might indeed be a good system. They might be tied to themercial fleet, but if they’re going to be working in this kind of work, that connection is rather a plus.


    「I’ve also heard that when someone bes a high-ranked adventurer and has had enough of working in there, they often leave the ship」


    「But I’m fine」


    「Huh? But why?」


    「This」


    Fran shows her guild card to the Onee-san, who clearly thought that Fran was just starting.


    「…? The usual ck card color is…」


    G & F-ranked adventurer cards are copper, E & D cards are ck, and C & B cards are silver. Apparently, this guild only had adventurers of rank D or lower, and they were not used to seeing Fran’s B-ranked adventurer card.


    「Eeeeh? I-it’s real? It’s real, isn’t it? Y-yeah, it’s the real thing! It’s real!」


    「So noisy」


    As soon as she finally realized that this was the real thing, the Onee-san screamed out. Immediately after, she went upright.


    「I-I-I apologize for my attitude from before! I’ve been talking down of you!」


    「Nn?」


    「I-I’m so sorry!」


    She seemed to be terrified of her. It was the first time that she had been reacted to so intensely before she had even shown her ability.


    「A, awawawa…」


    She was obviously flustered. And it seems she won’t be able to listen to us properly for the time being.


    「…?」