The building in which the Southwind Tavern is located is a multi-storey stone building, but the part of it that is usually open to the public has its own hall on the first floor.

In the case of a regular tavern, the rest of the premises, except for the first floor of the premises, are usually rented out for those who need them. It is said that some high-end taverns set up in tourist destinations always present an astonishing sequence of reservations for rooms with a view.

However, this is not possible at the Southwind Tavern - of course, there aren't many empty rooms available for rent in the building, which houses the Mercenary Administration's offices. The house was almost filled.

For most of the low-level mercenaries, their scope of activity here is limited to the hall on the first floor and the office of the eldest sister's head ←wan←shu←ba,a▽nsh↑uba. There is no doubt that Curt is also one of these people, and he does not have to, and of course the most important thing is not to have the opportunity to go to the upper room.

It has been said that the Iron Mercenaries are the backbone of all the mercenaries attached to the Administration, but it is undeniable that they are also the most numerous—even more than the Bronze Rank, who has just become a full-fledged mercenary. There is no doubt that they all belong to the grassroots group that is busy on the front line.

Generally speaking, upgrading from Bronze to Iron only requires a certain amount of work performance. Whether they've been acknowledging difficult tasks all at once, or they've been busy with simple tasks for years, they can level up as long as they have accumulated enough experience.

To put it bluntly, it's just an affirmation of their hard work.

But if a mercenary is not satisfied with the current treatment, he wants to rise from an iron-level mercenary to a steel-level mercenary. Then it's not that simple. First of all, he must not only have a certain amount of work, but also show that he has more abilities than his peers - and most importantly. They also have to do many different kinds of work to prove that they can judge and act calmly no matter what the situation they face.

All in all. It is the need for mercenaries to become all-rounders who can cope with various situations, which may be one of the reasons why there are so few people who can rise from the iron level mercenaries. Because Curt always refuses to accept certain tasks, he has never been able to complete the assessment of the promotion.

The eldest sister once said that if Curt wasn't so picky about the task, then with his ability, he might be able to mix to the level of about silver in the management office. However, his pathetic performance appraisal made it impossible for him to even move up the steel ranks, let alone the subsequent ranks.

The eldest sister is the head of the tavern part, and is also the contact person of the mercenary management office to ordinary mercenaries. As a public official, she was almost always responsible for some basic tasks when she worked at the first level. The more cumbersome tasks are often accessible only to those at the top.

When a mercenary has passed the test and become a steel level, he is eligible to go to the second floor to accept more advanced tasks assigned by the top management. In other words, only members of the Steel-level mercenaries and above had a chance to get here—it was a bit strange for Curt to set foot here.

"It's incredible. ”

Curt muttered in a low voice, looking curiously at the closed doors around him: "I didn't expect that a low-level mercenary like me would also have the opportunity to come to the upper part." Hmph, sometimes it's true, I can't figure out what's going on in the heads of those guys up there. ”

From the moment he stepped onto the second floor, Curt noticed that the materials used for the surrounding walls looked much more sophisticated. The wall panels seen along the way are polished to a fairly smooth finish, revealing a faint aroma from the wood. Although I don't know the specific material. But Curt only had to look at it to know that the finely polished planks were far more expensive than the cheap panels that were haphazardly pasted to the four walls of the first-floor tavern hall.

The decorations placed near the walkway also seem to be made by famous artists, and those plaster statues and paintings have an inexplicable sense of high price. Although Curt is not quite able to understand the value of a work of art. But at least the introductory cards that are inserted on the side will tell people like him about them.

If Lizzie comes with him, she may be able to focus on the hidden Rubik's Cubes in the corridors. However, Curt could only barely feel the vague magic flowing through the walls, and they flowed slowly in some strange trajectory. A huge Rubik's cube was formed. The trails of the mana reveal a slight eagerness in the steady, and they may be part of the building's defensive structure.

However, Lizzie did not follow Curt at this time. Because Vikas said that the people in charge above asked him to go over by himself, Liqi, who had nothing to do with the mercenary management office, naturally could not go with him. So she had to stay in the hall on the first floor. Use your magic to check the spells on the mercenaries, trying to find a break through the spells that bind their wills and allowing them to return to reality.

"It's really luxurious, these things are not cheap, right? ”

Curt said half-jokingly: "Although the mercenary management office is an official organization, it is just a larger militia group after all. Thinking about it this way, this place really has nothing to do with us low-status iron-level mercenaries. I'm afraid that only the big people who have entrusted some difficult tasks and those who can solve their problems - only they can come and go freely. ”

If the hall on the first floor gives people a cheap and approachable feeling, the decoration here can be regarded as decent in the table Xiàn belongs to the mercenary management office. Walking on such a walkway, people can't help but mind their identity, and even their words and deeds become restrained.

A civilian who doesn't have much money in his pocket will naturally feel uncomfortable when he is surrounded by a group of things that are more expensive than his entire wealth. However, there is an intimacy to the scenery in front of him, all the decorations are uniformly coordinated, and the sense of nobility revealed in the stability does not make people feel overbearing—at least, Curt himself does not hate the atmosphere.

He, who had been disturbed by the two visions caused by the spell, finally felt a rare relief when he walked up this passage. Unlike the hall on the first floor, this place didn't seem to be affected too much by the strange spell of the Eye of Truth, and it barely remained in a stable state.

For the first time, the gap in the horizon became almost negligible under the influence of Lizzie's spell, which made Curt's nerves, which had been tense, finally relax. But he knew very well that the rest time would not be long before it would end for various reasons, and he could not really rest yet.

He could feel the strange magic in the air still elded him and Lizzie. However, apart from the two of them, it was fearless, and the interior of the Southwind Tavern had long been infiltrated by this magic, and they lurked everywhere, creating unsolvable dreams.

These spells are all part of a vast spell that the Eye of Sight uses to weave a paradoxical dream that leads the mercenaries to fall into it. While there was no sign of damage to the place, it was undoubtedly infiltrated by the spell everywhere.

"Hehehe, Mr. Leinster, don't say that, I heard from the eldest sister that your recent work has made the adults in the upper echelons notice your abilities. Vikas, who was walking in front of Curt, said, "Maybe you'll be coming to these places more often when these things are over." ”

The implication is that some people in the upper echelons of the administration seem to have noticed Curt's existence in the light of recent events, and it seems that some of them have the idea of promoting him out of the ordinary. If it is put on ordinary mercenaries, this is undoubtedly a happy thing, but Curt feels that something is wrong.

"Is that so, should I prepare a line of thanks?" smirked and said what seemed to be a joke, but Curt's mind was already thinking about his own treatment, "Or are those big people above already thinking about what to do with me?"

Be cautious and don't be too noticeable, this is what Curt has always been. He really didn't expect that some recent events would make some of the key people above pay attention to him, an "ordinary iron-level mercenary", and he also became quite interested.

Perhaps this was doomed from the beginning, and it is thanks to the recent chaos that it has dragged on until now. After all, he was directly commissioned by Cruise François, and it was almost impossible not to interest some people who were always following the "wind of the twelve" at all times.

"Please don't say that, Mr. Leonster. ”

Vikas's expression suddenly became a little nervous, he looked left and right for a while, and said in a low voice: "Anyway, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for exceptional promotion, although the eldest sister didn't say anything, but I think she will definitely let you cherish this opportunity." ”

By the dim light on either side, Curt caught a glimpse of some panic in his eyes. This slightly neurotic man seems to live in fear all day long, but this look is different from the vague fear of the past, it seems vivid and sharp.

Vikas seemed to be fearing something—not just the thing, but a little worried about Curt discovering his fears.

But he didn't say anything, but pretended to be relaxed and led Curt to a large wooden door in the deepest part of the second floor, pointed to the door and said to Curt in a low voice: "This is it, Mr. Leinster's Lord is waiting for you inside, please come in, he doesn't like to wait too long." ”

It was a heavy wooden door painted black, and in the upper left corner of the door frame, there was a small gilt plaque with a line of small letters written in beautiful handwriting.

- Third Office. (To be continued......)