The Kicked Out S-Rank Appraiser Creates The Strongest Guild

This was the headquarters of an adventurer guild, Golden Hawk.

On the top floor of the large stone building, an Appraiser, Laurent, was summoned to the Guild Leader’s office.

Right now, he was being expelled.

“It’s a pity that we have to part ways, but there’s not much we can do about it. The guild has its own circumstances as well. With your current performance, we can’t allow you to stay in the guild,” Guild Leader Lucius said.

It was ruthless.

They had squeezed every drop out of Laurent’s skill, [Appraisal], while gathering guild members.

Laurent’s Skill, [Appraisal] was the real secret behind the guild’s rapid rise.

Discerning and refining the members’ hidden skills was Laurent’s specialty.

Once, this was a guild that couldn’t even compare to the city’s mid-tier guilds, but now, Golden Hawk had become a massive guild that boasted over a hundred members, with scores of top-class warriors, mages and healers.

Whenever the guild made progress, Laurent hid in the shadows, offering Lucius a flower*.

(T/N: A Japanese proverb. Refers to someone giving or sharing credit with another.)

In essence, when it was Laurent who should be credited, he yielded it to Lucius. When it seemed like he would be the one in the limelight, he pushed Lucius forward. Whenever Laurent was about to be promoted, he gave way so that Lucius could be promoted first.

Because of that, Lucius had gradually pulled ahead, while Laurent remained a normal guild member.

Moreover, Laurent’s skillset was specialised for appraisers, so his basic stats were unusually low. It was so low that he couldn’t even do most of the low-level missions as an adventurer.

Yet, once he’d fulfilled his purpose, they tossed him aside like yesterday’s trash.

Laurent glared at Lucius with resentment.

However, he had never been good at arguing with people, and he could only wear an expression of slight discontent. In the heat of the moment, his next words were stuck in his throat.

As soon as Lucius sensed the defiance in Laurent, his broad smile vanished, his face turning stony. “You look like you’ve got something to say. But see here, your latest results are a mess, you know? Deanna-kun, read out his results for this month.”

“Yes, Guild Leader.” Lucius’s private secretary Deanna came forward, file in her hand.

She was a beautiful woman, tall and slender, but she gave off an icy feeling.

Even now, as she faced Laurent, her gaze was as cold as ice.

“Here are his monthly results. In the ranking of Monster Subjugation, he placed 98th out of 100 members. In Item Procurement, he was ranked 76th. In Quests Cleared, he ranked 86th,” Deanna said, holding back a smile.

“There you have it.” Lucius looked sinister as he rested his chin on his clasped hands. He threw a brief glare in Laurent’s direction. “It’s one thing if you’re a new member. But it’s ridiculous for a veteran of five years to have a ranking like this. All this time, I’ve protected you out of consideration for our long friendship. However, with these pitiful results, I cannot do so any longer. If I continue to be partial to you, it will set a terrible example for other guild members who have yet to meet the strict quotas.”

For this, Laurent also had a lot of things he wanted to say.

Lucius had clearly set him up for failure.

He had put him into parties with members of the lowest level, who clearly had job types unsuited for the quest, and they also refused these parties the provision of necessary items critical for the situation.

There was no concise proof, but if Lucius wanted to, he would have managed it somehow.

Laurent had protested against this many times.

Yet each time, Lucius had shown his broad smile and said, “Unlike before, I’m in a prominent position now. I need to consider the entire guild. I can’t just favor you only.”

And despite his words, he freely made accommodations for the people he liked.

Lucius handed over a pouch filled with gold coins. “A farewell gift, at the very least. Retirement fund. For someone as pathetic as you, this is probably more money than you could ever expect to see. Take it and get the hell out of this guild now.”

Lucius’s hangers-on, including Deanna, giggled.

With his severance pay in hand, Laurent bolted upright and fled out of the Golden Hawk guild.

——

With the guild behind him, Laurent headed toward the Quest Reception that provided jobs for adventurers.

Though he had been expelled from the guild, he couldn’t be depressed forever.

The severance pay he’d gotten would be gone in the blink of an eye*.

(T/N: The literal translation here is ‘in the time it took for him to say, “Ah!” If you watch any anime at all, you know exactly what that sound is like. This sounds unnatural though.)

From here on out, he was a solo player, and jobs wouldn’t come to him of their own accord.

He would have to find work by himself.

When he went to the reception desk to see if there were any quests he could do by himself, his former colleague, a guild member from Golden Hawk was there.

Startled, Laurent ended up hiding in the shadow of a pillar.

He could hear the receptionist’s delighted voice. “Ara, aren’t you Jill-sama from Golden Hawk? Thank you for your patronage, as always. A quest came in that is just right for you, Jill-sama.”

Jill was one of Lucius’s favorite adventurers.

She was a highly sought-after rookie adventurer.

Despite her young age, she was already considered a B-rank adventurer, and she was expected to only go further in the future.

There were rumors of whether she would be one of the first S-rank adventurers to come out of Golden Hawk.

Naturally, she was also one of those Laurent had found as talented.

Though as soon as she’d risen into prominence, Lucius had immediately snapped her up.

Now, it was beyond Laurent to even speak to her.

The receptionist was exceptionally cordial from beginning to end, receiving her as a guest of honor. When she left, the receptionist even made it a point to emerge from behind the counter to open the door and see her off.

Nor did the receptionist forget to call out to Jill’s back. “We humbly await your return!”

The people lingering and chatting in front of the Quest Reception building glanced at Jill’s figure and started whispering.

Long after Jill had left the doors of the Quest Reception building, Laurent went to the reception.

——

“Oh. Yes, yes. You’re the appraiser, Laurent-san, right?” As soon as the receptionist saw Laurent, she gave a huge sigh and responded in quite a dull manner.

Young and pretty, she had an air of innocence about her, but she wore her feelings plainly on her sleeve.

It was a sharp contrast to her earlier attitude toward Jill.

She had already known about Laurent’s expulsion from Golden Hawk for a while.

This was a blatantly cold reception, unlike when Laurent had been affiliated with Golden Hawk.

“I don’t know if there’s a job suitable for you… Probably not, I’d say. I think you’re wasting your time, but do you still want me to take a look?”

“Yes, please.”

“Ugh. No getting around it, I guess. What a pain,” she said very reluctantly as she pulled out the Quest List. “Oh… Too bad. There’s nothing here for you, Laurent. I’ve tried my best and looked over this list from top to bottom, but there’s absolutely nothing. Too bad. So I’m sorry, but could you please go home for the day? I’d love to help you, but I have to deal with other people too. Anyway, see you next time.”

Her attitude literally screamed that he was uselessly taking up her time, and as though she was chasing him away, she kicked Laurent out from the counter.

As Laurent was about to exit the door, the receptionist’s cheerful voice bounded to him once more. “Hm? Jobs for those with an appraisal skill? Yes, yes, there are plenty of jobs available!”