What does it mean that the Demon King was killed by a wheelchair?

However, House's daze only lasted for three seconds, because as soon as he stepped into the association's doors, he understood why the old man respected him so much.

The Adventurers' Guild lobby is divided into three parts: a reception desk, two quest board areas on the left and right sides, and two spiral staircases near the reception desk leading upstairs.

But in the very center of this Adventurers' Guild... there is something unusual.

Here stands a statue carved from black stone, about four meters tall. It is a man holding two long swords, with a flowing cloak behind him and long, lion-like hair.

However, this person and House have one thing in common.

That is... this guy is also in a wheelchair.

House's lips twitched as he looked over, noticing a line of small text inscribed beneath the statue:

"In remembrance of the Sword Emperor... Midil?"

Holy crap... So there really is a precedent for a wheelchair-bound swordsman in this world?

Could this guy be a time traveler too?

Before House could think further, a young girl suddenly walked up to him. The girl's face was comparable to Omia's, a top-tier beauty, but her clothing style was perhaps a bit outdated. Her faded puffy skirt had a slightly wrinkled neckline, and she had pale blue under her eyes. How to put it... this girl gave House the feeling of a living person who was almost dead.

"Sir, are you here to apply for an adventurer's certificate?"

"Yes...you're the receptionist?"

"It seems you've done your research beforehand," the young woman said with a graceful bow, her voice soft and pleasant, neither hurried nor impatient. "Please follow me."

The other person turned around and began to lead the way, while House silently gave a thumbs-up from behind. That's what a host should be like! That loud, yelling humanoid Deviljho should really learn from him!

The two walked around the association's lobby. The girl, carrying a stack of papers, came to a counter, and House sat down opposite her.

But House was a little puzzled as he looked at the girl organizing the documents.

Did I arrive too early today?

After taking a walk around, he discovered that, let alone adventurers, the association didn't even have a receptionist.

There are five reception desks in total, but four of them are empty. The only exception is the one sitting right across from me.

Seeing that the other person was still engrossed in organizing documents, House couldn't resist probing further:

"Um, my name is House, may I ask...?"

"Kiaran".

The girl didn't even look at House; she answered his question while tidying up her things. Well...

House wasn't really bothered by being treated this way, because he had often been treated this way when he was disabled in his previous life.

He was used to this kind of thing. People often say that it's best to be considerate of people with disabilities and give them more care and attention.

But that's not actually the case at all. The greatest way to show respect to people with disabilities is to treat them like ordinary people and do nothing else.

"Mr. House," Kiaran pushed three sheets of paper and a quill pen toward him, "if you want to become an adventurer, fill out this information."

"Hmm..." House took the pen, glanced at it briefly, and found nothing of note; it was mostly disclaimers.

As he signed, he asked, "Um, Miss Kiarland, I'd like to ask you a question."

Kiaran rolled her eyes silently, rubbing her dark circles under her eyes as if trying her best to control her emotions. Finally, she forced a smile that looked worse than a grimace.

"Speaking."

"Well..."

House had seen this look countless times—the caregivers in their facility who specialized in looking after incontinent elderly always had the same expression on their faces.

An expression as if the fire had burned out...

House asked, keeping his voice as low as possible, "Why are there so few people in our association?"

As he spoke, he looked around again. Apart from the two of them, there were only three or four other adventurers in the huge hall checking their quests on the quest panel.

Kiaran clicked his tongue, his eyebrows drooping helplessly: "Ah...you're right, what's the point of keeping an adventurer's guild running? It should just go bankrupt already..."

"?"

She stared coldly at the ground, her voice low and dejected: "They've all run away one by one, and I'm still like a fool. If I hadn't been kept waiting for my wages, I would have run away too."

As she spoke, she noticed House's shocked expression and changed the subject, explaining:

"Ah...it's nothing, please continue filling it out."

House awkwardly touched the armrest of his wheelchair. "Miss Chiarand, you seem... not in a good mood."

"Haha, I just feel like the cup is half empty." She scratched her head and said, "Mr. House, I advise you to reconsider. Do you really have to choose this time to become an adventurer?"

"At this time? What's wrong now?"

The moment House asked that question, Chiarand's expression was as if he'd seen an idiot; it seemed he'd used all his self-control to hold back from swearing.

"Are you not deliberately picking a fight? You genuinely don't know?"

"I... come from the far east and know nothing about the situation here."

Kiaran slammed his palm against his forehead: "Damn... he's still a complete rookie..."

"Listen carefully, the Kingdom of Oreg and the Kingdom of Tirnor are currently fighting together against the Monster Alliance. To put it simply, they are at war."

"But the situation is dire now. Two small countries, united together, can't even defeat a group of monsters... I don't know what these soldiers are good for. Since the soldiers on the front lines can't win, the two countries have started hiring adventurers as soldiers at high salaries."

"The pay was good, and the benefits were great, so who would want to be an adventurer? Everyone just ran off, damn it... even the receptionist ran away. I should have run away with her then..."

House thought to himself, "This is the first time I've ever seen an adventurer profession become a sunset industry in a Western fantasy world..."

However... in war, thinking about it this way, the reason I wasn't wiped out by that executioner was because the front lines were collapsing.

House keenly sensed that this was definitely not a simple matter, and quickly pressed for more details: "Um, could you tell me more about this part?"

Kiaran shrugged and casually tossed him a tattered newspaper: "Sorry, I don't have time. You can read the newspaper yourself. Just leave it here after you're done writing, and then you can go accept your mission."

After saying that, Kiaran crossed his arms, grabbed a book, and put it on his head, pretending to be deaf and dumb.

House was about to question Bull Demon about his professional ethics!

But then I thought, out of five receptionists, four have run away... Well, she seems to be quite well-mannered after all.

Helpless, House placed the completed document on the table, picked up the newspaper, and wheeled his wheelchair to the task board on the side.

However, things didn't go as planned. Most of these tasks involved physical labor, such as feeding livestock, finding cats and dogs, and moving boxes.

House wasn't unwilling to do these jobs, but the pay was just too low.

For example, one task was to help move thirty haystacks, but the final reward was only 10 copper coins, which wasn't even enough for a decent meal.

Moreover, considering that he would definitely have to fight someday, House focused his selection on combat-related commissions, since he could train himself while doing missions.

"Why?"

A conspicuous order form suddenly caught his eye:

Destroy the goblin's lair located in the eastern part of the Forest of Fallen Giants. Reward: 30 silver coins.

"Holy crap! That much money?"

House, blinded by greed, immediately tore off the commission document, but as soon as he did, he realized something was wrong...

[Client: Mr. Rudik the Goblin. Before starting the mission, be sure to go to the Church of Light in Yelo Village to speak with Father Rudik and learn the details of the commission. This is crucial!]