TalentPlus!: Talent + Effort = Strongest Capture Target!!!

As soon as I said that I wanted to become a receptionist, everyone around me became surprised.

"I'm sorry, did I hear that wrong? Could you please say that again?" (Receptionist)

"I wanna work as a receptionist here!" (Lyle)

"I-is that right? You want to work as a receptionist in this establishment?" (Receptionist)

"Yup." (Lyle)

"Hey Lyle, are you sure? If you want a job, just go ask around town. There's bound to be a job that you can do." (Oliver)

"I'm sure! It has to be here!" (Lyle)

"Uhm, Lyle, I don't know if you understand it, but you're talking about working as a receptionist for the adventurers guild in the City of Rand, the busiest branch, as a minor. Do you understand the absurdity you're talking about? You, a minor, doing this arduous job, are you serious?" (Oliver)

"I understand just how hard it is, and I'm pretty sure I can do it." (Lyle)

"Uhm, could you do me a favor Lilith?" (Oliver)

Ah, so the receptionist's name is Lilith.

"Oliver-san? What do you mean?" (Lilith)

"Could you at least consider the kid?" (Oliver)

"Huh, why are you so invested in this kid?" (Lilith)

"Because Finn wants to 'help' him. You do know how Finn is when it comes to 'helping' kids." (Oliver)

"That is true, but what do I get out of it?" (Lilith)

When Lilith-san asked Oliver-san, he replied by whispering in her ear. She then started to blush and nodded.

"Sigh, fine, I'm pretty sure it'll be quick since you're just a kid. My shift will end in about an hour, so wait for me till then. Since I just so happen to be free, I'll oversee you taking the written test. If you somehow pass the written test, then I'll personally oversee you taking the practical test." (Lilith)

"Sure!" (Lyle)

I dunno what deal Oliver-san proposed, but that works out for me. 

"Well, we'll be staying here for a while, so I guess we could wait with you. We're just waiting for our reward from our last mission, and it normally takes a while to process those." (Oliver)

"You don't need to, but thanks I guess." (Lyle)

"Ah, in hindsight, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. Well, I'll go first. My name is Katsuragi Hina or in this continent, Hina Katsuragi. As you can tell by how my name, I'm from the Eastern Empire. Anyways, I'm an archer. Oliver who you already know is the leader and a mage. Finn is our resident blockhead and our main vanguard." (Hina)

"My name is Lucas Flinn, but people call me Luke. As you can see, I'm the party's cleric." (Luke)

"My name's Shin, but you can call me Shin-nii. As for my surname, I don't have one. I'm an orphan who coincidentally he's up in the same orphanage with our resident blockhead." (Shin)

"Oh and I almost forgot, we have another party member who isn't here. She's actually about your age Lyle.  Her name is Reina Lostbelt, and she's a sixteen-years-old swordsman. She's actually very strong. Apparently, she's the youngest swordsman to ever reach the wall at the age of 13, but she doesn't want to make it public. We have no idea why, but it seems like she doesn't want any attention." (Hina)

Wait a minute, I thought Friggs was the youngest person to ever hit the wall. Maybe the person in question is lying.

"Why are you guys so sure about that? Maybe she's lying and that's why she doesn't other people to know. Isn't that suspicious?" (Lyle)

"At first, we thought so too, but the guild master confirmed that fact. You see, the guild master has a special ability called truth perception. He can detect whether someone is lying or not. When we brought her to the guild master, he confirmed it. Even we didn't believe it at first, but we soon dismissed our suspicions when we saw her perform." (Hina)

"She's so strong that the guild master considered promoting her directly to B-class even though she only registered a week ago. She quickly said no because it would look very suspicious and would draw a lot of attention towards her. For now, she's an E-class. Because of that, she can't actually join our party until she reaches C-class because everyone in our party is B-class. So for now, she's solo and doing E-class missions. We're just letting her live in our party's house." (Luke)

"Anyways, Lyle, are you really sure about this entire receptionist thing? Honestly, I don't think you'll pass. I think the chances of you passing are as slim as the chances of Hina getting married." (Shin)

"What did you just say? Come over here you brat!" (Hina)

"Ah, ouch, stop, ahhhh!" (Shin)

"But what he's saying does make sense Lyle-kun, if you really need money that badly, I could lend you some for now." (Luke)

"Ah, I'm not in any financial trouble Luke-san so don't worry." (Lyle)

"Then why do you want to work as a receptionist here?" (Luke)

"Cause it seems fun!" (Lyle)

"What? What are you talking about? How can being a receptionist be fun?" (Luke)

"Well for starters, observing adventurers is fun to me. I find that adventurers are interesting and diverse, unlike my stiff noble classma—er, pretend you didn't hear that." (Lyle)

After accidentally letting that out of my mouth, Luke-san who seems to be the only one who caught what I said leaned into my ears and whispered.

"I think I can understand why you came here now. I can understand, I am a noble too after all." (Luke)

He then removed his mouth from my ear and gave me a mischievous wink as if he was saying that he wouldn't tell anyone else.

During our conversation, Lilith-san approached me and told me to follow her. Apparently, we were so lost in conversation that time had passed by so quickly without us noticing. She walked into a room and closed the door once I was inside. She then gave me two sheets of paper and a quill. 

"This sheet over here is the questions for the written test and this sheet over here is where you write down your answers. There are ten questions, and each question is worth a maximum of 10 points. The passing score is 75 points. You have an hour to answer the questions. Your time will start in three, two, one, start!" (Lilith)

After the countdown, I start answering the questions. 

"Done!" (Lyle)

"W-what! It's only been about 10 minutes. Are you sure about this? Wait no, you probably didn't even answer it properly. Hand it over." (Lilith)

When I handed over my answer sheet, Lilith-san started reading through my answers. As she kept on reading, her eyes started to widen, and when she was done, she stared at me in disbelief. She then spoke.

"This will be checked by the guild master himself. For now, you stay here while I bring your answer sheet to the guild master." (Lilith)

I then nodded in agreement and waited in the room while Lilith-san stormed out of the room. After 5 minutes, Lilith-san entered the room and told me to follow her to the guild master's office. After a short walk, we arrived at the guild master's office. As we entered the office, we were welcomed by a man who resembles Oliver-san.

"Come Lyle-kun, it seems that we have to talk." 

I then sat down on a chair facing the guild master.

"Now first of all, my name is Xavier Wick, the guild master of the adventurers guild's City of Rand branch. From what I've heard, it seems you are acquainted with my younger brother Oliver and his party." (Xavier)

"Yup, I met them just earlier today. The big grizzly bear went up to me and talked to me." (Lyle)

"Grizzly bear? Oh, you must mean Finn. Hahaha, I must admit, that nickname truly does fit him." (Xavier)

"Anyways, why did you call me here? Did I do anything wrong?" (Lyle)

"Nope, on the contrary, you achieved something great. In my eyes, you have achieved a perfect score in the written exam, and in just ten minutes. I called you here to inform you about this and at the same time, interview the person in question. From our conversation, it seems as if you are perfectly qualified for the job." (Xavier)

"It's this the practical test that Lilith-san had told me about?" (Lyle)

"No. Normally, one would have to undergo a trial run before being approved, but after talking to you personally, I can say without a doubt that you are qualified. In short, you got the job. Can you start tomorrow?" (Xavier)

"Yes!!!" (Lyle)

When I exited the office, I was greeted by Oliver-san's party. 

"Yo kid, how'd you do?" (Finn)

"I did it! They're gonna let me work from tomorrow!" (Lyle)

"Wait a minute, if you passed, and I said that entire thing about Hina getting married, then does that mean that Hina has a chance? Hey Hina, congratulations! You won't die single!" (Shin)

"Y-you brat! Come over here!" (Hina)

As soon as Shin-san started making fun of Hina-san again, ka girl my age approached the party. When I looked at her, I thought that she was the most beautiful person I have ever seen, no, the most beautiful person to have ever lived. It felt as if time had stopped, as if we, no, she was the only person in the entire world. After a while, I realized that this might be the first time I was ever interested in a girl. At that moment, my heart was telling me that she was the one, that being married to her would be the one thing I wouldn't regret. Without even thinking it through, I had apparently done something that couldn't be taken back.

"PLEASE MARRY ME!!!" (Lyle)

"W-what! W-who are you!" 

That moment was the very first meeting between me and my wife.