Goblin Governance Association

"Look who's here, Messenger Ryan!" The moment Gagnor entered the inn, he heard a rough, booming voice.

Following the sound, he couldn't help widening his eyes.

A sturdy middle-aged man who was a full two heads shorter than him was leaning against the stairs and drinking. His thick brown beard was soaked with liquor around his lips, clumped into strands.

Is this... a dwarf?

Ryan had clearly guessed what he was thinking. "That's right. He's a dwarf, rarer in South Sea Town than rats that have never slept with cats. You can call him Grim."

Gagnor had heard of the dwarf race in both his past and present lives, but this was the first time he had seen one with his own eyes.

After all, humans held absolute dominance over the Falaro Continent. The other races—whether the savage Orcs, the cruel trolls, the beautiful elves, or the sturdy dwarves—were all weak and outnumbered minority races. Most could only huddle in remote regions poor in resources.

Ryan had apparently just made a local joke, causing many people in the inn to burst into laughter, while the dwarf Grim rolled his eyes.

But Grim seemed to suddenly notice something. His expression instantly turned solemn, and he walked over to Gagnor and said earnestly, "I salute you, devout devotee."

"?" Gagnor was taking his pack off his back and couldn't help freezing at those words.

But he quickly realized what was happening.

Grim had seen the Raymond Necklace around his neck, worn smooth with no edges left, and mistaken him for a devout follower of Mosa.

Gagnor didn't know what to say, so he could only offer a blessing in return. "May the light be with you."

"Are you staying at the inn?" the innkeeper asked as he came over.

Ryan said, "Yes. Gagnor is my friend. He just arrived from out of town and needs somewhere to stay."

The innkeeper nodded. "Fifty copper coins a day, including two simple meals."

"That works."

Gagnor found the price acceptable, and the surroundings of the inn were quite good as well.

Ryan seemed to have something to attend to. After giving Gagnor a few more instructions, he prepared to leave.

"By the way, Ryan, do you know where I can turn in Goblin ears?" Gagnor suddenly remembered that he still had six Goblin ears in his bag.

They would start to stink if he didn't exchange them soon.

"The Hunter's Guild. It's just to the east, not far from here." Grim was the one who answered.

Ryan nodded as well, then said, "I'll come see you tomorrow. Get some good rest here today."

After Ryan left, Gagnor booked a room and put down his luggage. Then he took the six Goblin left ears and went out.

Guilds, or associations, were an important type of organization in the Falaro world. Although they were not as authoritative or prestigious as the church, their influence was also widespread.

One important reason was that professional levels were assessed by the corresponding guilds.

The number of sections in a person's Holy Name was also their level—and a more fundamental level at that—but the vast majority of people were unwilling to publicly reveal their complete Holy Names.

Even the church tacitly allowed low-level priests to conceal part of their Holy Names.

Of course, there were actually two fiercely opposed factions within the church. One believed that Holy Names were private and that everyone, including priests, should be allowed to conceal part of theirs. The other believed that only the impure would conceal part of their Holy Names, and that true, pure followers of Mosa should openly reveal their entire Holy Names.

For now, however, the "privacy faction" held the upper hand, while the "purity faction" was suppressed. Thus, most people and organizations tacitly accepted that Holy Names could be concealed.

Moreover, some noncombat professions had little to do with Holy Names. Therefore, professional levels could not rely entirely on Holy Names and also had to take various assessments into account. Professional guilds were responsible for conducting these assessments.

To raise their professional levels as high as possible, most professionals would work hard to meet the guilds' assessment standards. Some would even resort to underhanded methods to obtain higher ratings. Although this would not make them stronger, it could help them gain additional fame and wealth.

Gagnor arrived at the Hunter's Guild in South Sea Town.

The Hunter's Guild building looked ordinary enough, but above its entrance hung a huge and eye-catching Great Antlered Deer Head. A bow was strapped across the deer head, with an arrow hanging from the bow. Together, the three formed the Hunter's Guild's emblem. Old Darryl had an insignia just like it at home.

Several hunters had gathered inside the guild, making the place quite lively.

"Are there still spots left for Regnus's trap lecture?"

"That guy's been to seven Tidal Lands..."

"I've already learned Multishot. I'll definitely pass the Level Three Hunter assessment this year!"

"I heard a Level Ten Hunter is coming to South Sea Town for a visit. Is that true?"

Listening to the hunters' discussions around him, Gagnor approached someone who appeared to be a guild steward. "Hello. Could you tell me where I can submit Goblin ears?"

"The Goblin Governance Association officer is over there." The other man pointed.

"Thank you."

Gagnor followed the direction he had indicated and found the Goblin Governance Association officer, then handed over the six Goblin ears.

"Hmm, six Goblin left ears. Two silver coins each, for a total of twelve silver coins." The officer accepted and inspected the Goblin ears, then handed the twelve silver coins to Gagnor. "On behalf of the Pope and the Duke, I thank you for your contribution to Goblin control and prevention!"

Weighing the twelve silver coins in his hand, Gagnor was delighted, but he couldn't help feeling a little puzzled. "The Pope and the Duke?"

"You didn't know? The Goblin Governance Association was founded with funding from the church and the monarchs of various countries." The officer smiled. "Otherwise, who would spend shiny silver coins buying something useless like Goblin ears?"

Gagnor nodded in understanding.

He really hadn't known much about this. He had only heard that Old Darryl bought Goblin left ears. He hadn't expected there to be a Governance Association behind it.

Gagnor spent one silver coin at the Hunter's Guild to buy a "Hunter's Handbook." Then he went to the Apothecary Guild and spent two silver coins on an "Apothecary Handbook." After that, he returned straight to the Eagle and Whistle Inn.

That night, he lay on the bed, flipping through the two handbooks while considering his future.

He yearned for Ascension to Godhood, and the first thing that required was leveling up—leveling up constantly.

The best way to level up was to fight monsters. His own experiences had already proven that. Killing one Goblin gave ten experience points, while killing a Level Two priest gave one hundred.

If he wanted to fight monsters, joining a mercenary company or becoming an adventurer was undoubtedly a good choice.

Mercenaries should be better than adventurers.

After all, to a certain extent, adventurers were simply unsupervised mercenaries without pensions.

But mercenaries had their own drawbacks. As a type of soldier, they also valued discipline, and Gagnor didn't like being bound by strict discipline.

Besides, he was somewhat afraid of death.

That wasn't quite accurate. Having experienced death once in his previous life, Gagnor took life and death more calmly than ordinary people. But he definitely wasn't willing to take excessive risks for a mercenary company. Shooting arrows from a distance would be fine; as for charging into battle, they could find someone else.

It would be great if he could fight monsters without any risk.

Sigh, I'll just go to sleep for now. Anything is possible in dreams.

Gagnor decided to ask Ryan about it properly tomorrow. Then he pulled up the covers and instantly drifted into a dream.