The Impossible Organization

"Adventurer's Guild..."

Hades never expected such an institution to exist in this world. According to the laws of social development, the emergence of an Adventurer's Guild was fundamentally impossible.

Besides, wasn't this just a temp agency for day laborers?

In his original world, there were many such organizations. They served the wealthy (quests), while formal workers were either affiliated with companies (guilds) or sought work (quests) on their own.

Of course, these people didn't always do legitimate work. Some engaged in illegal activities like theft, murder, or retaliation—they would do anything for money. Many such individuals also carried out attacks or kidnappings targeting the wealthy.

In his original world, there was no shortage of people who couldn't survive without money. Since they were going to die anyway, they might as well take a gamble; perhaps they could turn their lives around.

They could be called bounty hunters, hitmen, or mercenaries—in short, they took jobs, did the work, and got paid.

To a nation, these people were destabilizing factors with no benefits; they were targets for suppression. As long as a nation existed, such organizations would always be a thorn in the side of the rulers.

Especially in an ancient social environment, if such an organization were to grow and develop, it would transform into another organizational structure: a state.

With so many people gathered in an Adventurer's Guild, in an era without firearms, it wouldn't be impossible to overthrow a lord and establish a country.

This was what Hades found strange. Was the King of the Re-Estize Kingdom insane to allow such a violent institution to exist within his borders?

Especially since this world possessed magic—unless the King had absolute confidence that even if they gathered so many people, they couldn't stir up any trouble, how could he sleep soundly at night?

When the attendant introduced the Adventurer's Guild to him, Hades clicked his tongue, feeling as if he were listening to a tall tale. As a member of the wealthy class in his original world, even if his grades weren't great, he had still received a higher education.

He wasn't lacking in cognition; he had picked up bits and pieces of knowledge regarding humanities, history, politics, and science.

Regarding the Adventurer's Guild the attendant described, his first reaction was that the attendant was still annoyed and was pulling his leg.

Forget about a fantasy world with magic; even in his original world, he had never heard of any historical period where such an organization could exist. The progression of society dictated that such an organization simply couldn't exist.

Wasn't this just a ruler looking for trouble? Unless the Adventurer's Guild was supported by the state.

However, Hades watched the attendant and didn't think he was lying, so after obtaining the map, Hades headed toward the Adventurer's Guild.

Although the Adventurer's Guild appeared frequently in literature, such an institution was almost impossible to exist in reality.

Would there really be enough quests to support adventurers? Organizations had to focus on sustainable development, and the only thing the Adventurer's Guild seemed to produce was combat.

Did this world have so many places requiring combat? Besides, weren't there national armies? The group of burly men who arrived at the village earlier were likely the national army.

Hades didn't really believe Nigun's nonsense about that burly man being a traitor, but he didn't want to dwell on it at the time; after asking for his name, he had sent them away.

Therefore, it was truly strange that the Adventurer's Guild had existed for two hundred years. How could an institution that only produced combat sustain itself? They weren't an army supported by the state—could they really be those kinds of day-laboring odd-jobbers?

Following the map's directions, Hades soon arrived at the Adventurer's Guild: a building with white tiled eaves, well-crafted double doors, and an entrance with a few steps.

He stepped forward and pushed open the doors, looking inside impatiently. The spacious hall was filled with rows of benches where some people were sitting. Opposite the benches was a row of counters, behind which stood women who appeared to be receptionists.

On the wall to his right was a huge wooden board covered with messy papers detailing various things. Next to the board was an L-shaped staircase leading directly to an open second floor, which appeared to be decorated more luxuriously.

Hades's entry didn't attract anyone's attention; everyone was busy with their own affairs. Only the receptionist behind the counter glanced at him twice, but she lost interest in an instant.

He didn't mind. To better hide himself, he had taken off his divine-tier equipment and placed it in his inventory, while also putting on a necklace that could change his appearance.

Since he wanted to blend in with the locals, he naturally couldn't wear that low-key yet luxurious divine equipment. Although he knew Momonga hadn't seen him before he died, it was better to be safe than sorry.

If an emergency occurred later, wouldn't that set of divine equipment be a major identifying feature? He couldn't just abandon that gear, and in his current situation, he couldn't craft another set of divine equipment.

Although he had a backup set of legendary-tier equipment, the style was a bit too eye-catching. Rummaging through his inventory, he barely managed to piece together a set of relic-tier equipment that wasn't too conspicuous and matched the local style of dress.

Doing this might carry the risk of being ambushed and not having time to change gear, but Hades wasn't too worried. In the YGGDRASIL shop, there was a pay-to-win item sold for one-click gear swapping—the Small Wooden Stick.

By using pre-set equipment, one could bypass the gear-swapping time just by snapping it.

He had hoarded many of these pay-to-win items. Not only did his main Warrior character need them, but his Undead and Elf characters did as well. Because of racial weaknesses, the Undead needed different equipment to deal with different situations.

As for the Elf, because it was a production class, the need for gear swapping was even greater. Different equipment only boosted the crafting effects of certain types of items; although production classes didn't have a hard requirement for rapid swapping, Hades just hated the hassle.

In short, this should be relatively safe. His face was masked by the disguise necklace—also a pay-to-win item. While a Magic Caster's illusion magic could provide a disguise, it could be seen through.

This necklace, however, truly changed one's appearance. It had three slots, and even an Undead could disguise themselves, though for an Undead, everything below the neck would still be skeletal.

Hades had pushed the concealment of his identity to the extreme. Even if one appearance was exposed, he could change to another and swap his gear. If "Ainz Ooal Gown" wanted to find him, it would only happen if he chose to reveal himself.