The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-176

Chapter 176: Dogs Have Gotten All the Good Names

He lost his bearings upon hearing about the required qualifications for a wizard. He had never thought of such a bizarre thing aside from the need to bluff about who he was in The Plane of Dreams. He now realised the stories in movies, TV and novels were not meant to be taken seriously. In the real world you need an ID to get around, he thought.

It was his inexperience. Every veteran would have known it: without an ID, you could not even move around in Warring States period, let alone in the another world…

Becky noticed the change of expression on Hao Ren’s face. She glanced at him suspiciously. “Don’t tell me you don’t have the ID with you. Or, you lot aren’t real wanderering wzards…”

“We’re not escapees!” Nangong Wuyue had vast experience as a wanderer. She had stayed near customs checkpoints as well as police stations several times (even if she wanted to get a passport she would not have been able to because of her racial identity). She knew what to say when she sensed Becky’s suspicion. “Our circumstance is a little special. But, what I can tell you is that we’re not bad guys—have you ever seen bad guys that are so happy go lucky?” said Nangong Wuyue as she pulled Lily in front. The werewolf maiden’s eyes were darting around spiritedly. She was clueless on what the others were talking about. As she was pulled ahead by Nangong Wuyue, she was a little stunned and asked, “What’s going on?”

Lily’s genuine expression of innocence was convincing. She was forever destined to not be an antagonist, thanks to her temperament. She was the kind of sunshine girl that always implied innocence and wrongful prosecution; in her positive worldview, the biggest crimes she had ever committed were evading fares and nipping small dried fish from Rollie…

However, Becky was looking at Y’zaks. “Please don’t get mad if I say this big brother—”

Y’zaks quickly tidied his shirt and smiled kindly. “Actually I’m a good—”

“Please, please don’t smile!” Becky jumped back a step. “You look more like a good person when you’re not smiling.”

Hao Ren wondered how the loose-tongued Becky had survived till this day—she would have been beaten to death before elementary year three under normal circumstances.

“It shoud be okay to register as a wandering wizard.” Becky’s glance switched between the music box and all of them as she was on the horns of a dilemma. “The mercenary population is a big melting pot. If you study it closely, you might even be able to find some prison escapees from other countries among them. After all, it’s the deadliest job. Qualification shouldn’t take priority. As for being a wandering wizard…no matter how strong you are, you can only register a basic team, and you aren’t going to get jobs from the elites—we’re talking about the loss of a great deal of money here.”

Hao Ren was completely careless about the restrictions while Lily curiously asked, “What are wandering wizards?”

“Those who were expelled from the Wizard Association and the country for various reasons. These expelled wizards won’t be getting any membership or support from all associations. They can only wander around looking for their own sorcery ingredients. Some have unortodox inheritance and banned skills, which cannot be registered, some are exiles, which resulted from accidents; all-in-all, they’re considered volatile elements no matter where they are. Of course, mercenary associations don’t care about all of this as long as they’re capable and reputable.”

After a brief discussion, they agreed to register under “wandering wizard”. At least, that way, they would have a legal identity as a mercenary, which without, would prove difficult for them to move around in this world. What’s more, Hao Ren thought, if during the registration process they were requested to perform a fire ball skill or something to prove that they were real wizards, Y’zaks would come in handy for the task.

As a town adjoining the steppe, Lamberg had a mercenary organisation. Becky led these muddleheads to a long and narrow building, Northwest of the town. This was the office of the mercenaries.

The mercenaries in this world were a loosely-organised community. They had no common creed or a recognised management system. The so-called mercenary associations were unlike what Hao Ren had imagined in terms of having binding power. They were more like a bridge between the mercenary and authority. For that matter, the associations were semi-governmental, archives offices, which were primarily responsible for mercenary registration and act as mission platforms. The military, one of the shareholders of the association in each country, had a mandatory deterrent effect on the mercenaries but, no direct control over them—after all, there was no way to exert any meaningful control.

So, one thing was obvious: each country’s mercenary association was independent from the others.

Due to their interfacial role with authority and military of the various countries, the mercenaries could not form into an international organisation—there was no concept of internationalisation in this world after all. The registered mercenaries only had semi-nationality. They were unlike anything depicted in many stories, where they could roam freely. They were restricted by where they were registered. Of course, that did not mean that these mercenaries were confined to one place; it was common for these fight-for-money mercenaries to travel worldwide, carrying out their missions with some local restrictions.

All the messy regulations were meaningless to this group of five. All they wanted to do was go to the Beinz Blood Lake and at the same time, obtain legal identity for convenience.

The mercenary registration counter looked more like a bar with a few staff standing behind a long row of tables. Because this place was just an outpost, most service windows were concentrated at the bar. As the mercenary registration window and mission-handover window were close to each other, Hao Ren could clearly see the actions at the mission-handover counter while Becky was busily registering the rookies: a girl with a pimply face reported back with a cat she found on behalf of the town mayor; a burly guy reported back with a severed head, which he claimed to be of the leader of a new freedom army; a slender maiden reported back with good news of the successful suppression of conflict in the south; while a middle-aged man said he was from Red Cherry Restaurant, delivering lunch…

What a life a mercenary had.

The registration was easier than expected. With some hints and help from Becky, even the thrash fabricated by Lily passed the process—the counter staff just confirmed her name and occupation, and ignored the rest. Hao Ren curiously asked, “Won’t you suspect if the information’s fake?”

The staff was a chubby female. She glanced and rolled her eyes at Hao Ren. “How can you say that? Even if the details are fake, let it be as long as it matches what the employer pays for. We even have a big guy, a Tier Three mercenary, registered himself as Julia, and he looked just like this big dude beside you.”

As her voice trailed off, a burly guy nearby with black hair stood up and pounded the table. “My f**king name’s Julian! If you make fun of me again I’m going to smash your counter.”

Hao Ren was dumbstruck.

What a life a mercenary had.

After all personal details were completed, the chubby girl asked Hao Ren, “What type of registration is this? ‘Team’ or ‘Individual’?”

Before Hao Ren could reply, Becky shouted, “‘Team’, ‘Team’! I’m the special advisor!”

“I thought you’re a lone wolf? What a surprise to see you mingle with others.” The chubby girl gave Becky a curious glance. Becky replied with a smirk: to say she was bought over by a music box, and she was stealing a ride to the Beinz Blood Lake was too embarrassing.

“Name of the team?” The chubby girl asked as she was filling up yet another form.

Hao Ren excitedly nudged his company. “Hey, let’s quickly think of a cool group name.”

Vivian was the first to suggest. “Bloody Tooth Mercenary Group?”

The chubby girl pointed to a glowing, metal board with a metal pen. Then she said, “Name’s taken.”

Nangong Wuyue thought for moment. “Wave Breaker Mercenary Group?”

“Name’s taken.”

Y’zaks muttered. “Blade of Twilight Mercenary Group?”

He nudged Hao Ren in the arm and explained, “It was the team name of the brave ones. They nearly fought to my doorstep. They left a deep impression on me.”

But, the name was also taken.

Lily frowned as she said, “Snow Wolf Mercenary Group?”

“Name’s taken.”

“Snow Dog Mercenary Group?”

“Name’s taken.”

Lily was flabbergasted. “What? Taken?”

“Snow Wolf, Snow Dog, Snowland Wolf, Snowland Dog, even Sleigh Dog and Sled Dog have all been taken. There are too many new mercenary registrations and the old ones aren’t dead yet so, it’s hard to get a name.”

Hao Ren did not expect such a situation could happen in this foreign world. He banged the counter and said, “Damn it, dogs have gotten all the good names!”

“Aha, this name’s still available.”