An Institution That Shouldn't Exist

"The Adventurers' Guild..."

Hades hadn't expected an institution like this to exist in this world. Judging by the natural course of social development, an organization like the Adventurers' Guild should never have come into being.

And wasn't this thing just an agency that paid people by the day?

In his old world, there had been plenty of organizations like this, serving the wealthy by taking on their jobs. Workers with more legitimate occupations had companies or unions to affiliate with; otherwise, they went around looking for work themselves.

Of course, not all of them did legitimate work. Some took on illegal jobs, such as theft, murder, and revenge. They'd do anything for money, and plenty of people like that carried out attacks or kidnappings targeting the wealthy.

In his old world, there was no shortage of people so poor they couldn't survive. If they were going to die anyway, they might as well take a gamble. Maybe they'd turn their lives around.

They could also be called bounty hunters, assassins, or mercenaries—whatever you wanted to call them. The point was that they took jobs, did the work, and got paid.

To a nation, these people were a destabilizing force with no benefits whatsoever. They were targets to be suppressed. As long as a state existed, organizations like these would always be thorns in the rulers' sides.

Especially in the social conditions of the ancient world, if an organization like this ever grew large enough, it would transform into something else: a state.

If so many people could gather and join the Adventurers' Guild, then even without firearms, it wasn't impossible for them to overthrow a lord and establish a country.

That was what Hades found so strange. Was the king of the Re-Estize Kingdom crazy? Why would he allow such a violent organization to exist in his own country?

Especially since this world had magic, too. Unless the king was absolutely confident they couldn't cause trouble even if they gathered in such numbers, how could he sleep soundly every night?

As the attendant told him about the Adventurers' Guild, Hades couldn't help clicking his tongue. It sounded like a fairy tale. As a member of the wealthy class in his old world, he might not have been a very good student, but he'd still received a higher education.

His knowledge wasn't especially limited. He'd picked up at least a little about the humanities, history, politics, and science.

His first thought, when the attendant described the Adventurers' Guild, was that the attendant was still angry and was messing with him.

Forget a magical New World—even in his old world, he'd never heard of an organization like this existing in any historical period. The course of social development made its existence impossible.

Wouldn't this just be the rulers making trouble for themselves? Unless the Adventurers' Guild was backed by the state.

But the attendant didn't look like he was lying, so after getting a map, Hades headed straight for the Adventurers' Guild.

Adventurers' guilds might have been common in works of fiction, but in reality, an institution like this was almost impossible.

Were there really enough jobs to support so many adventurers? Any organization had to be sustainable, and the only thing the Adventurers' Guild seemed capable of producing was fighting.

Were there really that many places in this world where people needed to fight? Besides, weren't there national armies? The group of burly men who arrived later at that village had probably been the kingdom's army.

Hades hadn't believed much of what Nigun said. He'd thought the burly man was their traitor, but given the situation at the time, he hadn't wanted to get dragged into a lengthy argument. After asking his name, he'd sent them on their way.

So the fact that the Adventurers' Guild had existed for two hundred years was truly bizarre. How could an organization that only produced fighters sustain itself? They weren't an army maintained by the state. Could they really be day laborers paid by the day?

Following the map, Hades soon arrived at the Adventurers' Guild. It was a white building with tiled eaves, a well-made double door, and a few steps leading up to the entrance.

He went forward, pushed the door open, and eagerly peered inside. Rows of benches stood in the spacious hall, with a few people seated on them. Across from the benches was a row of counters, with women who appeared to be receptionists standing behind them.

On the wall to his right hung a huge wooden board covered in haphazardly arranged pieces of paper, each bearing some kind of writing. Beside the board was an L-shaped staircase leading directly to an open second floor, which looked to be more lavishly decorated.

Hades's entrance attracted no one's attention. Everyone was busy with their own affairs. Only the receptionists behind the counter seemed to glance at him, but they lost interest almost immediately.

He didn't pay it any mind. To blend in better, he'd taken off his set of divine-class equipment and put it in his backpack. He'd also put on a necklace that could alter his appearance.

If he wanted to blend in with the locals, he obviously couldn't walk around wearing that set of understated yet luxurious divine-class equipment. He knew Momonga hadn't seen him before he died, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

If something unexpected happened later, that set of divine-class equipment would be a major identifying feature. He couldn't just abandon it, and in his current situation, he couldn't make another set of divine-class gear.

Although he had a spare set of legendary-class equipment, its style was a little too eye-catching. After rummaging through his backpack, he'd managed to put together a set of relic-class equipment that wasn't too conspicuous and resembled the locals' style of dress.

Doing this might leave him vulnerable to an ambush before he had time to change equipment, but Hades wasn't too worried. YGGDRASIL's shop sold a cash-shop item that let you change outfits in an instant: the Small Wooden Stick.

Once you'd preset your equipment, all you had to do was snap the stick to change outfits without any delay.

He'd stocked up on plenty of these cash-shop items. They weren't just for his main Warrior character; his undead and elf characters needed them, too. Because of their racial weaknesses, the undead needed different equipment for different situations.

As for his elf, that character had a crafting class, so he needed to change outfits even more often. Different equipment only improved the crafting bonuses for certain types of items. Although crafting classes didn't strictly need to change equipment quickly, Hades found it a hassle.

All in all, this should make him fairly safe. His appearance was concealed by a disguise necklace, which was also a cash-shop item. A Magic Caster's illusion magic could disguise someone, but people could see through it.

This necklace could actually change his appearance. It had three slots, and even an undead could use it to disguise themselves. The only problem was that, for the undead, everything below the neck still looked like a skeleton.

Hades had gone to the greatest lengths to hide his identity. Even if one appearance was exposed, he could switch to another and change his equipment. "Ainz Ooal Gown" would never find him unless he revealed himself.