While waiting for Ryuujin to appear at the Adventurer's Guild, Catherine questioned the guild staff about what they knew of him.

This man - it would be more accurate to call him a "boy" since he's said to be 16 - registered as an adventurer three years ago. However, he apparently only took on safe jobs like herb gathering.

He was 13 when he registered, so that was understandable. However, he had never leveled up from level 1, which was another reason why he didn't get any work. Staying at level 1 with no class or skills, he was apparently scorned by other adventurers as incompetent.

However, despite only being a herb gatherer, he worked diligently every day for three years. He was timid but polite and kind, so the staff didn't have a bad impression of him. Especially Leyla, the receptionist, had been concerned about him ever since he registered as an adventurer, as she was the one who handled his registration.

All the guild staff felt sympathetic towards Ryuujin because of the cruel treatment he received from the former guild master.

However, something had changed in Ryuujin after he participated in the dungeon raid and was abandoned.

It seems that Ryuujin, who had only gathered herbs, was tricked into joining the raid.

The raid, which ventured into the dungeon's depths, was a failure due to a dragon. The adventurers who participated in the raid apparently used the boy as bait to escape.

They cut his leg tendons so he couldn't run and gave him a self-destruct stone, disguised as a barrier stone, and left him behind. It's a terrible story.

Catherine initially thought that the adventurers who participated in the raid should be punished. However, all of them vanished from the city.

There are rumors that Ryuujin killed them in revenge, but can an F-rank adventurer really kill multiple C and B-rank adventurers? No, that's impossible.

Rumors are unreliable. It's more likely that the adventurers left the city because they were ashamed, or because they feared being punished, due to Ryuujin's return.

Afterwards, Ryuujin took the rank-up exam and passed. However, for some reason, his registered rank remained "F", which is the initial rank for beginners.

He passed the exam without any problems, and even defeated several C and B-rank adventurers alone.

So why is he still F? When Catherine asked Leyla about it, she learned that Ryuujin was actually registered as "G" at the time of his registration. Despite passing the exam, Daniel, the former guild master, had only allowed him to raise his rank by one level.

Catherine was dumbfounded. While the initial G rating was understandable, if he passed the exam, and had the ability to defeat B-rank parties, then at the very least, he should have been ranked E.

Daniel then banned Ryuujin from accepting any requests and also forbade the guild from buying materials from him. (The reason for this punishment was unclear. Daniel made some nonsensical claims, like Ryuujin had something to hide, or that he was cowardly.)

Denied the opportunity to sell his materials to the Adventurer's Guild, the boy went to the Commercial Guild.

As a result, all the valuable dragon materials ended up in the hands of the Commercial Guild. This was a huge loss for the Adventurer's Guild.

And to further exploit Ryuujin's inability to accept requests, the Commercial Guild started offering material gathering requests to adventurers.

With a dragon hunter available for hire, it was only natural for the Commercial Guild to secure his services.

Eventually, other adventurers, attracted by the better conditions offered by the Commercial Guild, began migrating over. This resulted in the current situation.

Later, Daniel apparently tried to offer Ryuujin a rank-up. However, Ryuujin was still angry about the guild's treatment and refused.

His reaction is understandable, considering the story.

Daniel has already been severely punished. Hearing this might appease Ryuujin. It may take time to earn his trust, but that's something that can be achieved with future effort.

For now, Catherine instructed the staff - including not only the receptionist but also all the other staff and the few adventurers still frequenting the guild - to direct Ryuujin to the guild master's office if he shows up. This should prevent any misunderstandings.

However...

Ryuujin never appeared, no matter how long they waited.

He had completely stopped showing his face at the Adventurer's Guild recently.

Catherine assumed he was busy with requests from the Commercial Guild.

Considering the former guild master's past actions, it's not surprising that Ryuujin would have lost faith in the Adventurer's Guild.

Therefore, Catherine sent someone to Ryuujin's house to inform him about the guild's summons.

But...

Ryuujin still didn't come.

Catherine, running out of patience, even sent the guild staff to fetch him.

However, they were met with responses like,

"I'm busy," and "Don't call me like you're some big shot."

So, he's become hostile towards the Adventurer's Guild...

This is bad!

A very bad situation indeed!