Compared with the Adventurers Association, Blood-Cast Fortress really did seem rather amateurish. It lacked any clear, authoritative set of rules. Even setting aside its constantly changing policies, the official orders and restrictions on quests often left adventurers scratching their heads, unable to fathom what the officers in the fortress were trying to do.
The current situation was no different.
The inexplicable, drastic reduction in quests recently had forced many adventuring parties that should have been out on missions to linger around Blood-Cast Fortress. With the recruiting squads returning as well, the number of adventurers in the area had nearly reached that of major adventuring hubs like River Valley Town. They had assumed the authorities had some sort of plan, only for the restrictions to be abruptly lifted and a mandatory assignment system introduced. For a time, adventurers throughout the fortress questioned the decisions of its leadership, and complaints rose from every corner.
But the sunk costs were already there. Given adventurers' spending habits, traveling to the border from Anluan Province and the surrounding provinces alone had cost them a fair amount. After arriving at Blood-Cast Fortress, they found prices here every bit as high as in other areas where large numbers of adventurers gathered.
No matter how much resentment they harbored, the adventurers ultimately complained with their mouths while obediently heading to the Military Merit Office to collect their quests.
Fortunately, Blood-Cast Fortress had not gone completely off the rails. Although its garrison commander had been missing for days, a few of his subordinates were still capable of stepping up and making relatively sensible decisions.
The Military Merit Office's quests were indeed assigned on a mandatory basis, but the assignments given to each adventuring party clearly took their past records and demonstrated combat strength into account.
Absurd situations such as