The Rookies

The William Tell Overture began playing loudly right next to my bed.

That's kinda loud... I should've chosen the song a little more carefully.

"Nhh... 'Sup?" I was a little disoriented, since I'd been woken up by the

sudden call, so I groggily answered the phone.

"It's happening! He's finally here!"

Sue's voice was just as loud and intense as the William Tell Overture that had

been playing a few moments ago... I wondered what had her so chirpy so early.

"...What's happening...?"

I yawned a bit and rubbed my eyes before asking for clarification.

"The baby! He's here! I have a little brother!"

Sue's voice was so full of vigor and joy that it took me by legitimate surprise.

Wait... A baby? Duke Ortlinde and Ellen's?!

"Amazing! Wow, so he's a boy? Congrats."

"Mhm!"

Ellen, Sue's mother, had gone into labor just a little bit after midnight. The

child was born without any complications a little while after. The birth didn't

have any complications, so they were happy and healthy.

With that, the Ortlinde house also had a successor in place. If the child was a

girl, then it was likely that my child with Sue would be the one to succeed

Ortlinde's name, but that wasn't necessary anymore. The duke didn't know it,

but it was actually highly likely that my kid with Sue was going to be a girl, so I

didn't think he'd be getting a successor from me anyway...

I calmed down Sue a little bit before ending the call. I couldn't fault her joy,

though. She'd been talking about how she wanted a little brother for ages... But

frankly, I wasn't in the right mindset for such excitement. I was sleepy.

A little while later, as I was getting dressed, Sue sent me a photo of herself

holding the little baby. Apparently his name was Edward, Edward Urnes

Ortlinde. Little Ed.

Edward was the name of Sue's late grandfather on her mother's side. He was

the one who could use the [Recovery] Null spell.

"Guess I'll prepare them a gift..."

I wondered what to give them. Maybe a baby stroller with a [Prison] around it

that makes it indestructible? Nah... Bit much. Maybe something like the baby

bottle I gave Yamato... I could give them a combo set with a bottle and a

stroller, or something. Ohh, maybe I can give them the handheld printer I gave

the Refreese princess. They'll surely wanna be taking a lot of photographs, so I'll

give them one of those and a photo album. That sounds like a nice enough

gesture.

After I left my room, I went to find Yumina and brought her to the Ortlinde

estate.

"Sue was pretty happy, huh?"

"Well, whenever she's with us she only has Renne as far as people who are

younger than her go. She's probably happy that she's an older sister now."

We'd returned from the Ortlinde estate in no time at all, and were now

enjoying a peaceful teatime date on the balcony. Sue had managed to calm

herself by the time we'd visited, and she even had a surprisingly calm and

elegant air about her. She was probably ready to be a good older sister.

While it was nice to see Sue being all well-behaved, a selfish part of me still

missed her usual boisterous self... I hoped it wouldn't be a permanent change,

but even if it was... Sue was still Sue.

The family was happy with the gift I'd given them and immediately asked me

to take a family photo of them and Leim. That was the first photo in what I was

sure would be a long sequence of photos that tracked little Ed's life. I was glad

to give them the first piece.

"Mm... It's a pain to have a little brother who always gets into trouble, you

know?"

"It's a pain to have an older sister who eats my cookies without asking!"

I glared at Karen, who had appeared out of nowhere and started eating my

food without permission.

"Don't sweat the small stuff, Touya... Your hair'll fall out, you know?"

"That's not gonna happen!"

I'm not gonna go bald, you jerk! The alchemy lab has a hair-growth serum

specifically to prevent that! As we squabbled a bit, my smartphone began to

ring. It was Relisha from the guild.

"Touya speaking. 'Sup?"

"It's Relisha. Pardon my intrusion, but I wanted to talk a bit about the

adventure academy we'd discussed."

Oh yeah. I forgot about that. The adventure academy was a facility we'd

thought up where trainee adventurers would learn about everything they

needed to become an adventurer, from practical techniques to mental prep

work. We'd been planning it for a while, and it seemed like they were finally

ready to move ahead with it.

Relisha wanted to hear my thoughts on it from an adventurer's perspective,

so I headed right over. I felt bad leaving Yumina to deal with Karen, but it would

probably be okay.

I walked through the gates into the castle town. It'd been a while since I'd

gone in on foot. The town was a lot livelier than it was when it was first

founded. I found myself instinctively smiling when I saw that everyone in town

seemed to be really happy, too.

Brunhild sat right on top of the trade route between Belfast and Regulus, so

we had a lot of merchants, adventurers, and travelers passing through. In a

sense, my Duchy was like a hub for all walks of life. Passing through Brunhild

only took a few hours, so people who were dead-set on their destinations didn't

stop by the castle town. But even keeping that in mind, our inns were still fully

booked often.

I think part of the draw was that Brunhild had a lot of things other nations

lacked, including capsule toys and ether vehicles that could be found at the

Strand store. Our food was also a melting pot for cuisine, various delicacies

were gathered in this nation. We even had meals that you could only really find

in Eashen. Hell, if you paid the entry fee, you could even go through to the

beach on the dungeon islands. Unless they were on urgent business, pretty

much everyone coming through the trade road stopped here to see what we

had to offer. Thanks to their patronage, we made a ton of revenue.

I peeked into the tavern next to the guild, looking for Suika. I reasoned that if

the little gremlin was in there, I'd be able to pick her up on the way back.

Alas, the horrible little creature wasn't there. I feared for the safety of

whoever she was drinking alongside instead.

I headed to the guild, and the receptionist led me up to Relisha's office right

away.

"Sorry to call you out on such short notice."

"It's all good. I was pretty much free anyway."

I sat down opposite Relisha and started hearing her out.

"So, as you know the current guild ranking system works like this. Black rank

at the bottom, then purple, green, blue, red, silver, and gold at the top. But we

want to add a new white rank at the very bottom. All new guild members will

be placed in this white rank."

Hmm... Okay. New rank under black, got it...

"The white-ranks will be put through basic training by the adventure

academy. But obviously, not all white-ranks are going to be at the same level of

skill. If one of them thinks they should have a higher rank and doesn't need to

sit through the academy, then they can take a ranking test for a nominal fee."

That made sense enough to me. If a person felt they were good enough, it'd

only be fair to give them a chance to prove it and take on higher-ranked jobs off

the bat. I'd already had the whole thing where some guys picked a fight with me

just because they were higher-ranked, so that seemed like a good idea. It'd save

me trouble, too. I didn't want to have to come in and beat up every

overconfident idiot who rolled into town.

"So who'll be teaching at the academy?"

"Various retired adventurers and a few active ones will come in for

demonstrations. After finishing the two-week course, they'll automatically be

ranked up from white to black."

"Do white-ranks have to attend the academy?"

"Nope, it's optional. If they want to take on quests and slowly rank up that

way, it's fine too. But white-rank quests are typically gonna be stuff like chores

or simply finding herbs. Any monster-hunting quests would probably be easy,

too... Something like hunting individual wood-spiders, or lone-horned rabbits."

Newbie adventurers often loved going monster hunting. If they did tough

missions over and over again, they'd put themselves in danger without even

realizing it.

There was a large number of rookies who didn't heed that kind of advice, and

recklessly did whatever they wanted.

That was one of the reasons why the academy was so important. The

veterans would be able to give the newcomers a fighting chance. If they didn't

heed advice even after all that, they'd only have themselves to blame. We just

wanted to prevent casualties on average.

"And what about the fee?"

"Enrolling in the academy will have a fair price attached to it. They'll be split

into various classes that cover different things, but the price should be fair.

We're working on it."

It'd be tough for them if they were grouped up with a teacher that went hard

on them, but I had a feeling that such hardships would come in handy down the

line.

"The ranking test will be judged by several instructors. Since the test is to

judge the skill of our new recruits, the only ones who can take it are whiteranks."

Typically, an adventurer who wanted to rank up would be judged on how

many quests he's cleared, the difficulty of said quests, how many he's failed,

whether he's started trouble before, etc. Those factors would then be

converted into a point-based system, and those points would be referenced to

see if the adventurer could rank up or not. You could even have your rank

decreased if you weren't careful.

Failing quests a lot, arguing with clients, committing crimes, or ignoring guild

guidelines were all grounds for demotion. But most cases simply had the person

expelled from the guild instead. Letting adventurers like that stay with the guild

just made everyone look bad. If a person ended up getting their rank decreased,

it would only be because the Guildmaster believed they were capable of

redemption.

"So we're building the academy in the southern plain, right?"

"That's right. It's already about seventy percent done. Although, there was

something I wanted to talk to you about..."

Relisha frowned slightly. I wondered what the issue was.

"That other world merge you mentioned... When that happens, what do we

do? People like Norn will surely want to join up with us, and they'll bring those

Gollem things with them. When that happens, do we judge them based on the

strength of the individual, or their Gollem partner?"

That was definitely a reasonable concern. Even if an adventurer was a total

newbie, they'd be able to clear high-ranking quests with a sufficiently powerful

Gollem.

"I think you should judge them on their own strength. Treat the Gollems as

equipment. They could be taken away from their owners, or break down. If that

happens, they might get a new Gollem, and we wouldn't want to fluctuate their

rank based on what Gollem they happened to be wielding."

"Very well. Norn herself is actually quite skilled, I saw it with my own two

eyes. Her Gollem was powerful as well."

I pitied those dumbasses who'd gotten their asses beat by Norn, since she

looked like a little girl. But still... I worried about Norn. She was a capable

adventurer, but she still only had the physical capabilities of a six-year-old. She

couldn't afford to overdo it.

"Which other countries are you going to be building the academies in?"

"Ah, well. Right now, we're in talks with Belfast, Regulus, Roadmare, and

Lestia. Brunhild's academy will be the first, however. We'll be able to use it to

iron out the kinks and refine the process."

As my conversation with Relisha continued, I asked her something I'd been

wondering.

"This isn't exactly related, but where's the Guild HQ located? And who

actually runs the guild?"

"You'll have to forgive me, but the location of our headquarters is a secret

that can't be divulged to anyone. There's also no leader as far as the guild goes.

Only several Guildmasters such as myself that serve as trusted administrators."

Hmm... I wonder if the Guildmasters are all species with long lifespans like

elves or fairies. Maybe some of them are even older than Leen... I think I recall

Doctor Babylon saying that the guild even existed during her time.

Hell, it was even possible that some of the original Guildmasters could still be

in place, but I didn't think that was especially likely.

"Actually, um... Your Highness, or rather... I'd like to speak to you as the gold

adventurer, Mochizuki Touya. I have a request."

"Hm? What's up?"

I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I asked her to continue.

"Actually I was wondering if you could act as an examiner for the first ranking

test. I won't ask any more of you afterward, but I'd like you to do it the first

time."

"Hmm..."

Guh... This is kind of a pain in the ass, honestly. I guess I can gauge people's

strength pretty decently... But the people who apply for the ranking test are

gonna be people who are already self-confident. I want them to accept

whatever I say, ideally... But I have a feeling I'll just get people pissed off at me.

Still, the final call is the guild's in the end. They'd need to put up and shut up.

Taking those things into account, I was ready to accept on a condition.

"Can I hide my identity? You just want me to judge their strength, right?

There's no need for them to know who I am, is there?"

"That's understandable, but... I was hoping that we could use your identity as

a gold adventurer to have the people taking the test accept their results more

easily. I also wanted to use you as an example of not judging a book by its

cover."

Relisha stared at me quietly. Aw, c'mon... You wanted to use me as an

example? I mean, I guess it's fair... I don't exactly look strong or anything.

"Would you even be able to hide your identity, Grand Duke? There are plenty

of people who know how you look, and I see you walking around town often.

Would you be donning a mask, perhaps?"

"Ah, nope. I did that kind of thing once but it didn't prove popular. I can use

[Mirage] to change my appearance on command, see?"

I quickly looked up a random person online and synchronized my appearance

to match theirs. Height, weight, and general body shape were a bit awkward to

change with [Mirage], though. Since a person would be able to put their hands

through any part that extended past my actual body.

If I magicked myself up a disguise and introduced myself as a red or even

silver adventurer, then that would be more than enough.

"Very well, then. I think this'll be okay. But if I am honest, I really was hoping

to add a little more importance to the whole affair by including a gold

adventurer."

Relisha sighed softly after speaking. Hmm... Geez... Now I feel kinda bad, don't

look at me like that... Wait, I have an idea!

"Why don't I bring along the other gold adventurer to help out instead?"

"Hwuh...?" Relisha blinked a few times in confusion.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Sorry to bug you out of the blue like this."

"Ohoho. Think nothing of it, nothing at all. Life as a former king is rather dull,

let me tell ya. I'd also like to see how my little Hilde is doing."

The former king of Lestia, Galen Yunas Lestia, chuckled softly as he spoke. He

was the only other gold adventurer in the world, and also happened to be

Hilde's grandpa. He looked like an innocent old man with a walking stick, but

that gentle appearance concealed his true power. Putting aside people like me

and Hilde, who were imbued with divinity, he was definitely among the

strongest people in the world.

"Eek!"

"Ohohoh. Mm... Not bad at all."

The receptionist at the guild cringed and clutched at her rear. This was the

only downside to the old man. He was a relentless lech.

"You're the same as ever, Master Galen."

"How could I stop, Ms. Relisha? It's the secret to my old age, I'll have you

know. If I ever stopped doing what I do, I'm sure I'd fall down dead in seconds."

...Maybe defeating him wouldn't be so hard after all. Relisha shrugged and

rolled her eyes as she continued to talk with Galen.

I thought for sure that he'd immediately try to touch her or something, but

that didn't seem to be happening. Given that they already seemed to have been

acquainted, I wondered if he'd ever tried to have a go at her in the past.

The old man apparently had a method to his madness. He claimed that he

would never touch a woman that he had touched before. He also only went for

girls over twenty, so Yumina and the others were safe from his leery gaze.

I'd gone to Lestia through a [Gate], explained the situation, and then brought

him back to Brunhild's guild. I'd gotten permission from King Reinhard first, of

course. There were a few Lestian knights here as escorts, but they were

probably actually here to keep him in check. He was far stronger than any of

them, anyway.

"So you want me to fight the newcomers or something?"

"No, I'll be doing that. You should just give your personal evaluations of

them."

The ranking test had three examiners. The old man and I made two. The third

examiner was a silver adventurer. I'd also be changing my appearance and

disguising myself as a red or silver-rank.

Then Galen, as the gold-rank, would pass final judgment. Nobody would be

able to object, given his status.

"Why should you hide your identity, sonny? Is it really that much of an issue?"

"We're a much smaller country than Lestia is. There's a chance I could run

into the examinees in town, and I wouldn't want them to hold it against me."

"Seems like you're making a big deal outta nothing. Not like anyone holding

anything against you means anything, does it?"

He sort of had a point... But I also felt like people might have an issue with the

country's leader wasting time on guild affairs.

Even I was aware of the fact that I played it pretty fast and loose for a

monarch. I kind of knew that I was making Galen go out of his way, too. I did

promise that I'd show up to judge Lestia's eventual ranking test, but that didn't

really feel like appropriate compensation either.

"Mm... So what are you testing them on? Just strength alone? Or are you

going to examine their other assets?"

I wondered that as well. There was more to it than mere fighting, after all.

Most adventurers who prided themselves on physical force and just beat their

way through everything typically found themselves staying in blue-rank.

Without any more complex form of thought, they just couldn't get up to red.

There was quite a wide gap between blue and red rank. Red-rank missions

were often given out by foreign nations, as well. If some random guy who had a

bad attitude was granted red-rank status, it could cause diplomatic issues.

That was why each and every red-rank had the personal approval of their

relevant Guildmaster. It definitely wasn't a simple feat. Apparently, my own

red-rank promotion went so smoothly because of how I contributed to peaceful

relations between Belfast and Mismede.

In terms of strength, I was fine, too. I'd killed the Black Dragon by that point,

and had no issues with stuff like mithril golems. I was approved in an instant.

A lot of adventurers who had trouble in their careers were blue-rank, too.

Those that failed to rise up to red ended up taking out their frustration on their

guildmates, and they often had their licenses revoked as a result. Personally, I

thought people like that never had what it takes to become red-rank in the first

place.

"In general, I think the qualities would be determined by whoever's

examining, but Master Galen has a point. Judging on fighting power alone isn't

right. The guild rank doesn't just reflect combat ability, after all. It's up to the

examiner to pick out these finer aspects, as well."

"Mmh... So we need to think of the test criteria ourselves, then?"

"Yes. But we'll obviously oversee it and make sure it all fits."

We definitely did need to take their combat power into account, at any rate.

If we just handed out ranks to anyone willy-nilly, then we'd cause a lot of

problems down the line.

After all, the people we increased the ranks of would be tied to us from that

point on.

As I was about to open my mouth, there was a knock at the door.

"Guildmaster, the third examiner is here."

The receptionist bowed her head before smiling and letting another person

in. The third one was a silver adventurer, right...?

I looked at the doorway and blinked in confusion. I was completely taken

aback.

"Karina?! Sis? What're you doing here?!"

"Hm? I was called here, wasn't I? Didn't you know I was coming?" The one in

front of me was the god of the hunt, Karina. She looked the same as ever, her

light armor strapped to her body in various places, and her emerald-green hair

tied up.

"What?! The third one's you? When did you hit silver-rank?"

I knew that Karina had registered as an adventurer, but I didn't know that

she'd climbed so high. I thought she was just trying to hunt stuff at her own

pace, so I didn't expect her to have reached such a high level...

"I hunted most of the prey I could get my hands on, so I ended up going to the

dungeon islands. There just happened to be a Dragon in the area at the time, so

I killed it after accepting the quest from the guild. The whole ranking-up thing

was basically just a bonus."

"You killed it... with just a bow and arrow?!"

I knew that she was first-class even without her divinity, but the fact that she

could shoot down a Dragon was seriously impressive...

"It's no big deal. All you have to do is aim for the right tendons to ground it.

Then, when it's on the ground, you just have to slit the right vein open with a

machete. Easy peasy."

Hitting a tendon with an arrow and then piercing it is still kind of insane...

Damn, I didn't know I had a silver-rank so close at hand... Wonder if she'll be the

third gold before long.

"Wait... is this girl your sister?"

"Oh, no... I said sis, but she's actually my cousin. Karina, this is the former king

of Lestia, Galen."

"Eheh, nice to meet you."

"Hohohoh... You certainly must be a member of the grand duke's family...

There's not a single blindspot or opening on you at all."

Galen sighed quietly as his fingers wriggled. He must've tried groping her. I

remembered that he'd tried to do it to Karen and almost got pulverized. Given

that Karina's physical abilities were far higher than Karen, the old man didn't

have a chance.

We quickly briefed Karina on the ranking test and carried on from there. We

were quite the line-up, I almost felt bad for the examinees.

"So, how do we judge them?"

"Judging them on fighting alone isn't right, but they still need to be strong. I

think all ranks green and under can be based on brute force alone." That was

reasonable. If a person applied for the test, it meant they were self-confident.

We'd need to be sure who was actually confident, and who was just arrogant. If

the participants weren't strong enough to reach green rank, then the test

would basically be done.

"So what if we see someone who makes the criteria for green rank?"

"Then we'll have them take a quest and judge them based on how they

handle it. We need to see their priorities."

"Seems reasonable..."

We all slowly cobbled together the details of the first ranking test.

A month later the adventure academy opened its doors.

The academy would stand as a cornerstone to the skills and knowledge any

adventurer should know. Weapon handling, monster identification, survival

skills, and other basics were all to be taught. Basically, anything that a more

experienced adventurer would consider second nature. In other words, we

raised a school that would raise inexperienced people into equipped and ready

rookie adventurers.

This place basically didn't have much to offer to people who were already

experienced due to different fields. Former knights, or game hunters, were the

people who'd be jumping straight into the ranking test. Ultimately, the

academy was created to prevent inexperienced people from dying needlessly. It

wasn't made to help people who already knew the basics.

In the end, the student roster wasn't very big. There were only a few young

boys and girls. After two weeks of education, they'd be automatically put into

black rank and sent out into the world.

The first ranking test would also be allowing black-rank members to

participate, as a way of appeasing the newcomer adventurers who had just

applied before the opening of the academy and the introduction of the white

rank.

There were people from other ranks who wanted to join as well, but

ultimately the whole point of the test was to gauge the potential of people with

no real adventuring experience.

The guild's official statement said there was no need to re-evaluate anyone

who had enough guild experience already.

There were twenty-seven applicants for the ranking test. A little more than I

expected. The examinees had all been assembled within the academy's training

field, and after a small introduction from Guildmaster Relisha, the test began.

"Welcome to the ranking test. First up, we have a few introductions in order. I

am Galen. I'm no longer in service, but I'm a gold adventurer. This young lady

here is Mochizuki Karina. Karina is her given name. She's a silver adventurer,

and quite impressive. And this young man here is, er... Regin Leif. He's a red

adventurer!"

Before I ascended to gold, Galen was the only one who had reached that rank.

He was a legendary hero who had married into the Lestian royal family. His

name ended up turning quite a few heads, so most eyes were on him. But

Karina, with her strong body and dashing good looks, attracted a fair share of

attention as well.

I'd used [Mirage] to turn myself into a generic-looking guy with brown hair

and a normal face. I didn't want to leave too much of a deep impression. There

were a few people in the crowd that looked up at Karina and I with unhappy or

even irritated faces. Seemed like they had issues with a woman or a young man

having such high ranks.

"First things first, a basic strength test. You'll be fighting against Regin for one

minute. You can use whatever kind of weapons you're used to."

Once Galen stopped speaking, one of the examinees raised his hand.

"Shouldn't we be using training weapons for this? A lot of us use weapons

that could cause serious harm."

The speaker was a young man with long brown hair, he vaguely gestured

toward a bald-headed older man that stood nearby. The older man grinned

slightly and folded his arms.

The older guy wore a tiger-stripe vest, tanned skin, and a huge battleax

hanging about his waist. He kind of looked like a bandit. If something like that

hit a person head-on, they probably wouldn't get back up. Judging from the

smirk plastered on its owner's face, he knew that quite well.

Galen looked to me for guidance, so I took a step forward.

"It doesn't matter what kind of weapon you use against me. You can use

magic, as well. I won't make a single offensive motion until five seconds before

the end of the match. I'll be playing defensively. Also, I'll be wielding this."

I took out a small weapon that barely extended beyond seventy centimeters

in length. It was flimsy and made of wood. A basic cypress stick.

The participants in the crowd ended up having mixed reactions, but they

could easily be sorted into two camps. There were those who relaxed at the

sight of the stick and those who became enraged.

Some were relieved because they were glad they weren't going to be beaten

too badly, while the others were probably upset that they were seemingly being

looked down on. The bandit-looking guy with the battleax looked especially

pissed-off, though. He was glaring at me furiously.

"So, who's first?"

"Heh, pretty interestin' gimmick. I'm up first, pal."

As I'd expected, the bandit-looking fella came stomping right up. I didn't really

mind who came first, so I nodded toward him. The man's irked expression

twisted into a grin as he gripped his battleax in both hands.

"Alls I gotta do is beat ya down, right? That'll make me tough as one a' them

there red-rankers, right?"

"Well... it's not just strength alone, but yeah. If you beat me down, we'll

recognize you have at least red-rank strength. But are you sure you wanna use

that thing? There's still time to change your weapon out."

"Pssh. You getting' cold feet after seein' me ax? Thought you was hot shit,

didn't ya?"

Yeah, this guy's definitely no good. He has no tact about him at all. Karina,

seemingly seeing this guy's nature just as clearly as I had, sighed softly and left

the area.

"Eat this!"

The man swung down his battleax toward my head. I was honestly a little

taken aback by how readily he'd gone for the lethal shot.

I sidestepped and avoided the shot, resulting in the battleax lodging itself in

the ground. In terms of physical strength, he was definitely pretty up there.

"Tch... Don't get cocky!"

The man continued swinging his ax over and over again. But each swing took

far too much time to come at me, and as such, I had no difficulty avoiding them.

I could see clearly where his attacks were coming from. It was actually kind of

boring. Plus, he was rapidly running out of stamina. I could see his breathing

was strained after only a few swings. The man definitely wasn't good at using

his own weapon.

"Thirty seconds left."

Karina muttered over in our general direction. The lack of interest in her voice

was palpable. She wasn't even watching the fight, she was just staring down at

her phone. Though that might've been because she was keeping a close eye on

the stopwatch app.

"Get over here already..."

"You weren't prepared for this of all things? My build isn't heavy, and neither

is my weapon. Didn't you think it might be hard to hit me? There are fastmoving monsters out there too, you know? If you aren't versatile with your

weapon choices, you'll just die out there."

His battleax was actually a pretty solid hunting weapon, but he definitely

should've brought in a side weapon like a machete.

I even tried to warn him subtly before the fight began, but he ignored me. He

wasn't thinking about how to hit me, he was only thinking about the act of

hitting me. That was why he'd never ever get a shot in.

"Gh... B-Bastard... You...!"

"Five seconds left."

"Time to wrap it up, then."

When Karen told me how much time was remaining, I immediately jabbed the

stick into the side of the man's head.

"Gwauugh!"

The rough-looking guy, who was almost certainly twice my size, stumbled

backward uncontrollably. He fell on his back and rolled a few times before

coming to a stop. His eyes had rolled into the back of his head.

I didn't even hit him especially hard... He definitely didn't have much in the

way of training. I was honestly disappointed in him.

"He's purple."

"Mhm, purple."

"Purple it is."

The three of us agreed right away. He had a bit of strength, so I was fine to

have him start higher than black. But he wasn't quite strong enough to make it

to green-rank. Purple was best for him at this point because I figured if he took

on more than three lone-horned wolves at the same time, he'd probably get

himself killed.

Thus, that man's run with the test was over. A few guild staff members picked

him up on a stretcher and carried him off to the academy's infirmary.

"So, who's next?"

I smiled as I called out to the rest of the entrants.

◇ ◇ ◇

"That's it, then?"

I'd just finished up the mock battles against all twenty-seven attendees. Not a

single person had even managed to lay so much as a finger on me. All that really

meant was that there wasn't a single applicant who was on gold-rank level,

though.

Of the twenty-seven, only seven of them were what I'd considered worthy of

green-rank. The other twenty failed to reach that level. Thirteen were assigned

to black-rank, while seven were assigned to purple.

The blacks and purples would be ending their tests there. They'd be able to

leave after handing their cards over to the guild staff and recording their

promotions.

Galen turned to the seven we'd judged worthy of green-rank.

"Very well... There's only seven of you here now. You're all considered to be

at least on par with a green-rank adventurer. But all that really means to us is

that you pass in terms of combat proficiency basics, nothing else. Adventuring

takes more than just strength, and there are many different kinds of quests.

There'll be quests that you excel at, and quests you underperform on."

Adventurers needed to be aware of what did and didn't work for them. In my

case, I couldn't stand escort missions.

It was definitely difficult to do missions for complete strangers without issues

cropping up now and then. There were also certain employers who'd be rude or

snappy, too, so we needed to be sure they'd be able to handle it. Plus, there

were also times where adventurers would have to work with others, and that

could cause trouble now and then. Other times they went well. The mission

where we met Sue went relatively smooth, for example.

"Let's imagine there was a monster right in front of you. If you were a knight

or a blade for hire, perhaps you'd want to strike efficiently to bring it down

quickly. You'd want to stab it through the heart, or crush its head... right? But

does anyone here know why an adventurer shouldn't actually do that?"

A small-statured girl raised her hand in response to Galen's question.

"Oho. You know, little missy?"

"Yes! If we killed it like that, it could damage valuable parts that we could

have otherwise sold as resources."

"Ohohoho, exactly! If a certain creature's pelt is valuable, but you burned its

fur with Fire magic, then you made a mistake! If a horn used for crafting is

shattered or damaged, then it's not going to sell for nearly as good a price!

Adventurers need to consider the monetary value of their prey, but not to the

extent that you'd put your own life at severe risk."

The girl flashed a self-assured and proud grin, but I just glared daggers at her.

I'd specifically told her not to stand out in particular... She seemed to notice,

since she looked away and started innocently whistling. What a pain she was...

Her hair was cut short and a little bit messy. She wore a small scarf and

clothes that allowed for easy mobility, which was good given her role in

Brunhild. She was one of our intelligence corps members, Sarutobi Homura.

I wanted to have a woman on the inside during the ranking test, so I had her

join the entrants after getting permission from Tsubaki.

Since she was basically a spy, I asked her to keep quiet and pay attention...

But the girl was probably just a little bit too excitable for her own good. Given

that she was a ninja, you'd think she'd be used to staying still... Karina glanced

over at her and then sighed in my general direction. I'd told Galen and her

about Homura in advance.

"So here's what'll happen. We're going to have you all accept a quest as part

of the ranking test. The client will be the guild itself. It's a full quest, all filed

through the proper channels. That means you'll be rewarded if you succeed.

But if you fail, it'll also be marked on your record as well. Remember to take

care out there."

If you failed a quest, it damaged your credibility as an adventurer and affected

how the guild saw you. Even if two adventurers were of the same rank, the

guild would typically favor the adventurer with the cleaner track record of

success.

One of the people in the group, a young man, raised his hand. It was the long-

haired man who'd asked the question about weapons earlier. He seemed the

patient and methodical type.

"Will this quest be classified as a personal mission?"

"It won't. It's a party mission, which means that you'll all shoulder the burden

of success or failure together."

Galen's words made the group murmur in surprise. Homura didn't have much

of a reaction, since she was informed ahead of time, but there was also another

person who didn't seem all that bothered.

She was a cat beastwoman who was probably from Mismede. She looked to

be in her early twenties and had black hair. Her black cat ears poked out from

her hair as well.

She wore light leather armor with a heavy knife at her waist. Her cat tail was

tipped with white and flicked around behind her. Her outfit was clearly based

around being speedy. She focused on agile slashes during the mock fight as

well.

As I looked the girl over, a man from among the seven spoke up.

"Hold on now... Doesn't that mean if someone here acts as a dead weight and

fails, then we all fail?"

"That's correct. You'll all be sharing the burden."

"Tsk... That's ridiculous..."

The man grumbled quietly. He was almost two meters tall and had a pretty

buff physique. He looked to be close to thirty and occasionally itched at his

vibrant red hair. He wore armor that covered his torso and upper arms. He also

had his hands, legs, and midsection covered securely as well. His weapon of

choice was a broadsword.

I remembered being impressed when I fought him. He was definitely at least

in the top two when it came to strength in the group. He was definitely used to

fighting against people, so he had probably worked as a knight or hired blade

before applying for the test.

"I wonder who the dead weight'll be, hm? Depending on the quest, we might

not need any meatheads..."

"You sayin' somethin'?"

A woman sent a few biting, teasing words in the man's general direction. She

wore a sleeveless vest, and a pair of shorts with a heavy belt tied around them.

Her right shoulder bore a snake tattoo, and she wore a whip around her waist.

She wore her dark, greyish hair tied up around the back of her head in order

to keep it out of the way. She seemed to be in her early twenties.

Her arms were folded as she sidelong glanced toward the red-haired guy. Her

chest already threatened to burst out of her shirt, but her folded arms just

pushed them up even more. They were big... Really big...

Galen was already staring her up and down with a predatory gaze, despite his

soft laughing. He wasn't even blinking...

"You're sayin' someone as tough as me is dead weight?!"

"You definitely seem good at fighting folks, but how's that gonna help us

against monsters or beasts? You should go stock up on antivenom before we

head out, or you'll bite the dust fast."

"Wh-What...?"

Seemed like the guy hadn't even considered the possibility of poisonous

attacks. That wasn't a huge deal, though. Low-ranked adventurers typically

didn't get quests to kill poisonous creatures, and if they ever did, they'd be

warned by the guild staff about it.

"Good grief... We're going to be in a party, aren't we? You two shouldn't be

squabbling already."

The long-haired man from earlier stepped in between the two. He seemed

fairly unassuming at first, but he was actually pretty powerful. He was at least

on par with the red-haired guy. I wondered if he was of noble descent, given his

general behavior... But his gear was all banged up and dirty. The only thing his

sword had going for it was how resilient it was. It was possible he was from a

disgraced noble family.

"Huh? Why do I gotta listen to someone like you...?"

"Because we're sharing the burden. Emphasis on sharing. This isn't an issue

that's just yours anymore."

"Just so you all know, you can drop out here and now. You'll be placed into

the guild as a green-rank member, and start taking quests tomorrow."

Everyone went quiet in response to Karina's words. All seven of them were

strong enough to be judged as green-rank, so we'd be fine with them stopping

and simply going into the guild as-is.

"I got no plans've steppen oot, lassie. If ye pests wanna clear oot, then go fer

it. But I'm stayin' reet put."

A dwarven man suddenly spoke up. He looked like a typical dwarf. Massive

beard, short stature, broad shoulders. I had no idea how old he was. Even

young dwarves tended to have big beards, and the older ones often lived much

longer than a hundred years.

He wore a heavy battleax on his back and a little hatchet at his waist. He used

both weapons well during the fight against me.

He probably came from the kingdom of Ryle. I wondered if he had

connections to the team of dwarven technicians and engineers I'd met some

time ago.

"I don't intend on quitting here and now, but I'd like to hear the quest details

before I actually lock myself into it."

Another man from the group raised his hand. He looked to be in his late

twenties and had a fairly stern face. He didn't particularly stand out in any kind

of way, except for his fanciful brown coat and the staff in his hands. It wasn't

like Galen's cane, it was a legitimate magical tool, a staff to aid in the casting of

spells.

The well-used staff had two spellstones embedded in it. One was brown, and

the other was yellow. Respectively, they represented light and earth, and he

wielded spells from both schools.

He'd used a lot of magic during the mock battle against me. He'd managed to

chain together good spell combos like [Earthbind] and [Light Arrow], but took

an awful lot of time to focus. He wouldn't be able to win against anyone with

sufficient experience against mages. I'd pretty much been able to dodge all of

his spells, even if they were set up well.

His abilities were much better suited to fighting monsters or beasts, rather

than people. He was basically the opposite of the red-haired guy.

"Mm... It seems fair to ask for more details, very well. The quest is to take

place on the dungeon islands through Brunhild's teleportation gates. You'll be

tasked with heading to one of the islands in particular and obtaining some

spinfire weed from the mountains to the northernmost region. Look here."

Galen held up an illustration I'd prepared. It was a grassy herb with blazing

red leaves that spiraled off in a few different directions.

"You have three days to find it. There are a few dangerous monsters in the

area, so you'll be granted two platinum coins each."

Hearing that caused a few of the group to open their eyes wide. I could

understand why. Two platinum coins were basically close to two-million yen.

Getting that much for only three days of work was unbelievably good.

This quest was deliberately designed to be a little too difficult for greenrankers. We'd also included our ninja and made sure there'd be no casualties

during the quest either.

Also, the quest reward was irrelevant to whether or not they were promoted

further. Even if they didn't do well enough to be judged higher than green,

they'd still get their coin if they succeeded.

But obviously, if they failed, that'd be a mark against their permanent

records, too...

When all was said and done, nobody dropped out. Though they had a few

individual issues, they ultimately agreed to take on the challenge as a sevenstrong party.

The guild staff went around to collect their signatures, and the Guildmaster

gave the go-ahead. With that, they'd formally taken on the quest.

The ninja girl, Sarutobi Homura.

The stoic catgirl, Mew.

The red-haired warrior, Garron.

The busty tattooed girl, Rose.

The young man with long brown hair, Abert.

The rough-around-the-edges dwarf, Dom.

And finally, the all-too-serious mage, Surges Partes.

Aside from Homura and Surges, none of them had surnames. This was pretty

common amongst adventurers. They were usually dirt-poor commoners who

never knew their birthrights, or just didn't get surnames. Though there were

also those that hid their family names for whatever reason.

A lot of beastmen and demi-humans didn't have surnames either. Or rather,

they just used the name of their clan or where they were born as their

surnames instead.

"The guild will cover your fee for entering the dungeon island zone, but any

other costs need to be incurred on your own backs."

"Huh? You aren't even gonna give us rations or nothin'?"

"We already told you, did we not? We filed this as a proper quest. Why would

the client care enough to put aside provisions for whoever decided to take it?"

"Tsk."

Garron rolled his eyes in response to Galen's words. That definitely varied by

client. Some of them would provide supplies, while others wouldn't care

enough. There was also the option for the adventurer to negotiate before

taking a quest, but ultimately it boiled down to "Don't like it? Don't take it."

I almost forgot to tell them one other thing.

"You'll be followed by an invigilator from the guild."

"Huh?! What for?!"

"This is still part of the ranking test. They'll be there to judge you all

individually. But don't try to show off, either. If you end up failing because of

that, you're gonna get hefty negative marks."

I answered Rose as best I could. I didn't know why she was so surprised. The

whole point of this was to evaluate them in the field.

If things got too bad, the invigilator would also step in to help them. It's true it

was a proper quest, but it was also a test. I didn't want anyone dying on my

watch.

"Any other questions?" The cat-eared girl, Mew, raised her hand slowly.

"Tell me about the weed."

Some of the other wannabe adventurers looked confused as to why she asked

that, but I just grinned toward Karina and Galen. Mew was more perceptive

than I'd expected.

"Spinfire weed is a plant that grows in high altitude areas, typically appearing

between summer and fall. It has a strong aroma, which lends itself well to spicy

seasoning in food. The monster species known as the Fire Lizards adore eating

this plant... which means that wherever you find it, you'll surely find a Fire

Lizard nest."

When I finished speaking, some of the test participants had already gone

white in the face.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

■ Sarutobi Homura

Aha... I expected something like this. I did not expect the grand duke to

concoct an easy test...

Most of the other participants did not seem all that shocked, but some did.

Fire Lizards were giant lizards with copper-colored skin. They had the unique

property of releasing a burst of flame all around their bodies when enraged.

The Fire Lizard's body-slam technique was especially dangerous when combined

with its flaming skin ability.

In Eashen, the creature was actually known as a Great Blazer, but I had never

seen one before. There had never been any near my village.

Hmm... I was told this mission was not going to be too difficult. I probably

should have switched out with Shizuku or Nagi...

Then again... That means I get two platinum coins too, right?! Ehehe... If I had

that much money... I could eat all kinds of lovely snacks! I guess this is actually

good news. I got pretty lucky!

I grinned slightly, but the grand duke glared at me. Even though he had

changed his outward appearance, his actions were still pretty much the same.

Don't worry, geez! I will do my job properly, I promise!

Matters pertaining to the guild were not exactly explicitly related to Brunhild,

but I was a member of the knight order, which was more like the grand duke's

private security force. Thus, all I had to do was follow my orders! I was just glad

that the grand duke did not give us particularly hard jobs.

If you ask me, boss-lady Tsubaki is the one who gives us the hard jobs. She

works us to the bone! With such a harsh attitude, it is not any wonder that she is

still single... Eek! What was that feeling just now?!

I looked around in confusion, feeling a rush of killing intent directed right at

me. Oh gosh... I do not know where... but the boss-lady is here somewhere... She

is so darned scary, e-eep! How can I tell that she is glaring harder now?!

"...Are you quite alright?"

The cat-eared girl turned to me with a look of concern. She must have noticed

that I was sweating a lot.

"A-Ahaha... I am fine, yes! Very fine, thank you!"

"...Okay." The cat-eared girl turned back to face the three examiners.

Gradually, the killing intent aimed my way wore off.

Please don't kill me... I assumed that she was going to be the invigilator that

the grand duke had mentioned...

Still, that girl... Mew-san, seemed to have been worried about me. It was

possible that she had just found me suspicious, but she seemed to be quite a

nice person.

Internally, I noted, "Mew +1" on my mental scoring sheet... But it was not like

her empathy was a good indicator of her skills as an adventurer.

"The seven of you have until sundown in three days to deliver the spinfire

weed. That'll mark your quest as complete! Good luck."

The three examiners, the grand duke included, headed off. And then, the

Guildmaster followed suit. Now, all we had to do was get to work.

◇ ◇ ◇

The grand duke was gone, so it was up to us seven to figure out how to

proceed.

"Shall we all make our preparations before meeting in front of the portals in

an hour or so?"

"Hold it! When'd you start giving orders?"

Abert started forming a plan when Garron cut in and started yelling. Guys like

him were definitely annoying, I did not like it one bit.

"I'm not giving orders, I'm just trying to help. Or do you want to figure out our

next course of action?"

"There's no need for that. All we need to do is get to the island and grab that

grass as soon as possible, right? I can do that alone. I don't need you guys

dragging me down."

This guy was sounding more and more like an idiot.

"You dumb? If you fail, then we fail together. I'm not gambling two platinum

on you."

The tattooed woman with the giant chest... or rather, Rose, started speaking

down to Garron. Her way of speaking was a little cruel, but I generally agreed.

Nobody was going to leave the hope for such a large amount of cash with

someone they only just met.

Surges-san, the staff-wielding man, began walking away. He completely

ignored the others. I wondered what was up with him.

"One hour, then. In front of the portals. See you there."

He muttered quickly before walking off. He was just as selfish as Garron, but

not quite in the same way.

The dwarf guy, Dom-san, then sternly walked off on his own. After that, Mew-

san walked off as well.

"In an hour, then."

"Gh..."

"Hmph."

Garron, Rose, and Abert also parted ways. They probably realized that they

were wasting time. I shook my head slightly and planted my hands on my hips.

"These guys certainly seem like a whole lot of trouble..."

"Adventurers are often quirky people with strange personalities. The higher

the rank, the more eccentric they are."

"I see, I see... That makes sense. Guess that explains why the grand duke is

ranked gold already."

"Karina, don't just say whatever... That doesn't make sense at all."

"E-Eep, Grand Duke?! And Karina-sama?!"

I turned around to find the grand duke and his cousin Karina standing behind

me. The grand duke had undone the spell on him and looked like his usual self. I

quickly doubled back and bowed my head to him.

"Wh-Wh-What do you wish of me?"

"Nothing major, just wanted to wish you luck. You should know already, but

your main mission here is to observe them in action, right? Don't help them out

too much just because you want the quest to go well, even if you become their

friend."

"O-Okay."

That is a little rough...

"What exactly constitutes too much?"

"Like... if you became the main star of the party or something. Just don't do

anything too extravagant. You can't afford to stand out. You need to be stoic

and quiet, like a ninja."

Stoic and quiet?! I'm basically the worst at that!

"Oh, this too. There's three days worth of food in here, as well as some

medication. It has [Storage] enchanted on it, so it can hold a lot."

The grand duke created a small magic circle in the air, then pulled a bright

green rucksack out from it.

Apparently, it was magically enchanted to have enhanced storage capacity.

Plus, it was not heavy at all! I loved it. It also looked adorable.

"Can I keep this?"

"I mean... I basically gave you these supplies for the mission, yeah. Oh... you

mean the rucksack itself? Sure, I guess."

"Yippee!"

Ehehe... Shizuku and Nagi are gonna be so jealous.

"Just remember to report in occasionally. Hide your smartphone, too. Don't

let the others catch you with it."

That was obvious! The only people in Brunhild with smartphones were those

who had important jobs, people in positions of power, or those that had a

connection with the grand duke.

Connections were not just family-based, either. That also extended to his

friends. The innkeeper of the Silver Moon had a smartphone, and so did Renne

the maid.

Of those three categories, I fell into the important jobs bucket. We ninjas

were exactly that.

Anyone aware of the smartphone's existence would also know that anyone

who had one was closely associated with the grand duke of Brunhild. That

generally meant they would not mess with you.

After all, this world was full of rumors about the grand duke. Some talked

about how he mercilessly crushed the coup in Regulus, some said that he

caused a beam of light to vaporize the former leader of Yulong, and others said

that he had placed the king of Sandora in an infinite torture chamber. Those

rumors sounded pretty silly to me.

"Alright, then! As Brunhild's Intelligence Corpswoman, Sarutobi Homura! I will

do my best!"

"Mhm, give it your best shot. Keep up the good work."

The grand duke smiled and nodded. I am gonna do my best!

About an hour later, all seven of us were gathered at the portal. Everyone had

some extra stuff with them. Dom-san the dwarf had the most, and I had the

least. Or rather, what appeared to be the least. It was only a small rucksack on

the outside.

"Don't go askin' us to share food with you later. You should've packed

better."

"Do not worry about me, hehe... I do not plan on making you give up anything

you have, heh..."

"Tch... Cocky little brat."

That guy was really annoying. I grinned and winked at Garron, but he just

shrugged and turned around toward the portals. He clearly thought he was

tough with that shield on his back.

"Let's move, then."

Abert carried on after Garron. Rose, Dom-san, Surges-san, and Mew-san

headed off toward the portal too.

There were three portal gates that led to the dungeon islands. Each gate

connected to a different island. We were aiming to go through the portal that

led to the island that housed the Amaterasu dungeon.

"...Will you be okay without food?"

"Mm? Oh, I will! I am going to be fine, I promise."

"I see..." Mew-san spoke up softly as she walked by my side. Her voice was

more than a little distant, but she still seemed to be worrying about me.

It seemed as though the guild had already gotten in touch with the

gatekeepers. Once they checked our guild cards, we were let through without

any issue.

The gatekeepers were also members of the knight order. They knew me

because I ate meals with them, and also from seeing me around town.

They pretended not to know who I was until the others went through the

portal. After that, they grinned and flashed a thumbs-up at me. I could feel their

motivation. I shot them a thumbs-up back, hopefully communicating that I was

gonna do my very best.

As soon as I passed through the portal I came out into a mausoleum building

and smelled the sea breeze drifting through. It wasn't exactly an enclosed

building or anything, it was basically a circular platform with a roof, supported

by pillars instead of walls.

...I feel a little embarrassed that I never came to one of these islands before... I

had always been too busy with missions or training to come to the dungeon

islands. Not to mention the fact that I could not swim, either... That actively

discouraged me from wanting to be near the seaside.

It is really hot here, though... But I also heard that it gets really cold at night...

I did not know there were places with such wild temperature variation...

"Alright, let's head to the area with the weed. There should be a bridge

around here."

"No shit. Nobody needs you callin' the shots."

Garron grumbled in Abert's direction again. Abert heard him, but didn't

respond much.

Surges-san took a map out from his breast pocket and mulled it over.

"...About a kilometer to the north or so. The bridge'll lead us to the little

offshoot island with the spinfire weed."

The dungeon islands were actually made up of about seven islands. The three

main islands were the ones with the dungeons on them.

Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and Susanoo were actually just the names of the

dungeons, though.

The islands were named by the grand duke. There was Sunday Island, Monday

Island, Tuesday Island, Wednesday Island, Thursday Island, Friday Island, and

Saturday Island. They had kind of weird names, but I was not in a position to

complain.

Amaterasu Dungeon was located on Sunday Island, Tsukuyomi Dungeon was

located on Monday Island, and Susanoo Dungeon was located on Wednesday

Island.

So, with that knowledge in mind, we were on Sunday Island. The spinfire

weed we needed was located on Tuesday Island.

It was the second-largest of the seven islands and also happened to be

connected to Sunday Island by a bridge.

We walked for a short time before the bridge finally came into view. It was

made of stone and stretched off far across the water.

"That's amazing."

"I heard that the grand duke of Brunhild built this bridge. It's supposed to be

enchanted with Fortification magic so it can't wear down easily."

"I heard there's a barrier in place around it. Something about preventing

beasts and monsters from approaching it. It's certainly something special..."

Rose, Abert, and Surges-san all spoke out in awe when the bridge came into

sight. All seven islands had been connected with bridges thanks to the grand

duke. It would certainly take a while, but it was very much possible to walk over

to any of the islands.

Only Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday Islands had portals installed on them,

though. So if you walked off to an island without one, you would have to trek all

the way back.

"Quit gawking, morons. Let's go."

"Shut up, bigmouth. We're going!"

Rose snapped back at Garron's provocation. I really wished that he would

think a little more before talking.

We all walked atop the bridge. The view was so nice that I found myself

focusing on it instead of the group, and ended up trailing a little bit behind the

party as a result.

It is so hot here... Is that not a heat-haze over on the other end of the

bridge...? Wow... I reached into my bag and grabbed a water bottle. After

unscrewing the cap, I greedily chugged it down.

Whew, that hit the spot... That was so cold, too... Ahh... According to the

grand duke, anything within my rucksack was frozen in time. That meant things

would remain at the same temperature as they were when they were put in.

Food would not rot or spoil, either. You could not put living things inside,

though... But small animal corpses would probably be fine.

I put my bottle back in the rucksack, but caught sight of something in the sky.

...Is there something flying above Tuesday Island? Wait... That cannot be...

I covertly triggered my mystic eye, taking care to ensure the other party

members could not see what I was doing.

My mystic eye gave me the power to see things at a distance. I could also see

through relatively simplistic obstacles in the distance, too.

The vision in my right eye magnified until... What the...?!

I saw a Dragon. It had glimmering scales that faintly pulsed with light. Its tail

was long, and its wingspan was broad. It looked like its forearms were fused

with its wings, which meant it was more of a Wyvern.

Wait... Wait... Why is there a Dragon on that island?! Wh-Wh-What do I do

here?! Wyvern or not, a Dragon is still a Dragon, right?! There is just no way our

party can hold our own against it. If I had my knight order gear, and Shizuku or

Nagi on standby then maybe... But not like this!

I had heard that before I joined up, several members of the knight order

fought against a whole Dragon army. They only managed to win because they

used everything they had and had the support of the grand duke. I wondered

how I would fare against even one of them.

Given that Tsubaki was overseeing all of this, I needed to inform her right

away. I pretended to wipe sweat from my forehead as I covertly typed a

message on my smartphone.

Beep

▼Wyvern in area. Pls advise.

A reply came by pretty quickly.

Beep

▽No issues with Wyvern. Continue mission.

What...?! Does she mean we have to take it out ourselves? I guess being able

to react to new dangers on the fly is definitely a good trait for an adventurer to

have, but this is a little ridiculous.

"Y'alright, lassie?"

"Oh, I am fine, thanks..."

"Divven't keep yer feelins to yerself. We'd be in a reet bad pickle if ye

collapsed're summin."

Dom-san, the dwarf, spoke to me with mild concern on his face. He was a

little rough around the edges, but he seemed sincere.

It was the same with Mew-san earlier, too... It was likely that they considered

me in need of babysitting since I was the youngest.

I looked up and saw that the Wyvern was gone. With any luck, it was just

passing by, and would not show up again...

We headed off the bridge and stepped onto Tuesday island. Since we were no

longer on the bridge, that also meant we were no longer protected by its

barrier. Magic beasts or monsters could leap out at us at any moment.

Surges-san paused for a moment and took out a magnetic rock to determine

his location. They sold those kind of goods at the Strand company store, but my

smartphone was a lot more accurate in terms of positioning.

"It'll be over there. Pretty sure the spinfire weed is located in that area."

He pointed his staff over at a rust-colored mountain in the distance. It was

really far away. I was not entirely convinced we could even make it there in a

single day. Suddenly, I sensed something.

"Something's coming." Mew-san spoke before I could, alerting us to the

incoming danger.

Everyone took a combative stance and glanced around the area. A few bushes

ahead of us rustled here and there. Something was alive in there.

In a flash, an animal leaped out from the shade. We all relaxed when we

realized it was just a little deer.

"Damn it... Got scared for a second..."

"Ahaha! That scared you? Are you a baby, meathead?"

"Shut it!"

Just as Garron and Rose started bickering, the cute little deer in front of us

died. It was crushed between the jaws of a massive beast that had leaped out

from behind it.

We could only stare on, shocked and horrified, as the sound of crunching

bones and the smell off fresh blood weaved themselves through the air. The

little deer's head fell to the ground with a wet splat.

The monster, its mouth entirely glazed with blood, looked over at us. It had a

lion-like head, a mouth lined with sharp fangs, and a striped body. Its mane was

a bloody red, and its eyes were pure gold.

"A Blood Liger!" Rose identified it in no time at all.

Blood Liger? Uh... That's a magic beast that lives in the mountains and, uh...

Uhm... Oh geez... Aaah... boss-lady explained this once, right?! Why did I not pay

more attention back then?!

"Groarrrrgh!"

The Blood Liger roared furiously at us, which was typically not a good sign. We

quickly came to our senses and readied ourselves for battle.

"Get back, it's—"

"Haaah!"

Rose called out, but Garron completely ignored her and charged right at the

monster. He slashed downward at it, but it deftly avoided his attack. The Blood

Liger quickly followed up with a massive swipe of its paw.

"Hah... No chance!"

Garron held up his shield and blocked the monster's attack. He stood his

ground, taking a hit that would have surely sent me flying. I was a little

impressed.

"I said get back!"

"What?!"

Rose called out again, just seconds before the Blood Liger released a spew of

fire from its mouth.

"Gwaaaah!"

Garron was engulfed in flames and forced to fall back. The Blood Liger

attempted to pounce on top of Garron, but Dom-san threw his hatchet. His

reaction times were incredible.

The Blood Liger leaped back, just narrowly avoiding the flying hatchet.

"Keep away from it! Those things can breathe fire, that's what I was trying to

say!"

Oh, right! They can totally breathe fire! I knew that!

Surges-san started chanting and wound up casting [Rock Crash], spawning a

hefty boulder from nothing above the Blood Liger's head. Unfortunately, he

didn't quite time it right, and the beast leaped to the side. The boulder

shattered against the ground as it made impact.

"Don't you have a faster spell?!"

"I need to focus on incantations to cast! Don't ask me to do the impossible!"

Abert thrust his blade toward the Blood Liger as he complained about Surgessan's abilities. Rose then jumped in from behind and used her whip to grab the

monster's attention.

"We'll handle this for now. Go help that brash moron!"

Surges-san ran over to Garron and started casting Healing magic on him.

"Ey, lassie! Dinnae swing yer whip around here! I'll hit ye by accident!"

Dom-san was about to bring his battleax crashing down on the Blood Liger,

but Rose's whip ended up getting wrapped around him. The situation was really

bad. They could not co-operate at all.

I took out a few pointy bo-shurikens from inside my clothes and tossed them

toward the Blood Liger's head. One of the bo-shurikens embedded in the

monster's eye. I wish I could have taken credit for such a great shot, but it was a

pure coincidence...

"Graaaaaagh!" The one-eyed Blood Liger turned around and charged right at

me. But I was not about to let him catch me so easily.

I jumped up and grabbed a tree branch, then swung around it once and

leaped to another. The Blood Liger was chasing after me, but I was leaping from

branch to branch with ease. This was my special Sarutobi jutsu, the leaping

monkey style.

Once I was far away from the rest of the party, I stopped on the ground and

unsheathed my ninjato blade.

It wasn't all that fast, in all honesty. Compared to Moroha-sama, it moved like

a slug. I could easily read its movements. So long as I avoided the flames, I was

sure I could kill it myself.

But that was a bad thing. I was told not to stand out, and I definitely could not

kill the first major enemy of the quest alone...

I had no idea what to do. The enraged Blood Liger shambled toward me,

various liquids spewing from its mashed eyeball.

"I definitely should not kill it alone..."

My job here is to make sure that everyone else gets to kill it! I took out a tiny

bottle of liquid and splashed it over my blade.

"Grarrrgh!"

"Hup!" I jumped to the side and nicked the Blood Liger's shoulder with my

weapon, just enough to make a shallow cut. That was all I needed. Now, all I

had to do was wait for the poison to take effect.

The liquid I had applied to my weapon was a toxic extract from one of

Eashen's death frogs. It was a poison that paralyzed the body and slowed down

respiration. The more the target moved, the faster they would be affected. It

just looked like lethargy at a glance, but it was far more deadly.

I just had to go back and let the others finish it off.

Just as I turned, I saw Mew-san appear from the treeline. She jumped down

and slashed at the Blood Liger. Her blade struck true, lopping its meaty tail off in

a matter of seconds.

"GYRAAAUUUGH!"

The Blood Liger turned around, screeching and spewing flames at Mew-san.

Abert suddenly appeared from nowhere, jumping in front of Mew-san to block

the flames with his shield.

Not smart, Abert...

"...O-Ow! Ow!"

Though he managed to block the flames for a short while, he quickly winced

in pain and threw his metal shield to the ground. That much was obvious. What

was he expecting to achieve by trying to block something hot with a conductive

item?

Surges-san charged in and cast [Light Arrow] from the rear guard. Three shots

rang out, but only one of them landed a hit on the Blood Liger's head.

The Blood Liger started to shudder and tremble. I did not know if that was a

result of the magic attack making a direct hit, or the poison I had inflicted

earlier. One thing was for sure, though. It was growing weaker.

"Hah!"

"Eat this!"

Rose's whip reached out and wrapped around one of the Blood Liger's

forelegs. At the same time, Dom-san jumped in and dug his battleax deep into

the beast's other foreleg.

"Grauuugh?!" The Blood Liger's eye narrowed. I could see the anguish and

rage contained within the beast as it wobbled from side to side and fell to the

ground.

Abert, Dom-san, and Mew-san brought their sword, knife, and battleax down

upon the monster. I just stood by and watched it happen.

"Outta the way, idiots!"

Garron finally caught up with us, running straight toward the Blood Liger. He

brought his heavy sword up high above the feline's head.

The sheer brute force behind the swing crushed the creature's skull,

shattering it along the muzzle and obliterating its mouth.

The Blood Liger, well and truly suiting its name at this point, finally stopped

moving.

"That's what you get, bastard!"

...Man, he just stole the kill even though he did not actually do a thing... Geez.

He had made another mistake, too.

"What the hell did you do that for?!"

"Huh?! Whaddya mean?! I killed it!"

Rose raised an angered voice toward Garron. I was pretty tired of seeing them

fight, but I understood why someone as discerning as Rose would understand

his error.

"A Blood Liger's incisors are extremely valuable items! You just crushed them

into dust, so now they won't sell for anything at all! You pigheaded oaf, you just

cost us a serious score!"

"Guh..."

I knew all that. It was not just specific to Blood Ligers, actually. Any kind of

magical beast incisors of that size and sharpness could fetch a pretty penny, but

Garron's reckless attack had smashed these ones to little bits.

The larger the fang, the higher the value as a crafting ingredient. But if they

were broken, then they were useless. Item value was one of the main things an

adventurer needed to pay attention to when fighting.

Mew-san gently eased the remaining teeth fragments out of the Blood Liger's

mouth. She then expertly de-clawed its paws, as well.

"I'd want the pelt as well, but we can't bring it with us..."

"Mm? Why not? If we can sell it off, we'll help you take it apart."

"Lugging around a Blood Liger pelt would put unnecessary strain on the rest

of the mission. The scent of its blood would attract other monsters to us as

well." Rose grumbled quietly in response to Abert's question.

This tattooed, busty woman certainly knew a lot about handling wildlife. She

was probably a hunter or poacher before she decided to become an

adventurer. I felt a little bad, since I could have used the rucksack I had received

from the grand duke to safely store the pelt without any issues...

"Just bury the pelt, aye? We kin git it on our way back!"

Dom-san shrugged and spoke pretty matter-of-factly, prompting Mew-san

and Rose to start skinning the creature. Nobody wanted to get in their way, so

we all stood back and watched.

"Can we harvest it for food?"

"Sure. You enjoy the taste of old boots?"

Abert asked another question, which resulted in a dry response from Rose.

The meat of a carnivore typically tasted pretty bad. It was usually stringy, too.

There were rare exceptions, of course. Dragon meat actually tasted incredible...

But it was not as if I got to eat that regularly or anything.

Abert and I looked on as the two girls harvested the Blood Liger, while Domsan, Surges-san, and Garron sat down nearby. Once the two finished, we buried

the pelt and skin beneath a large tree a bit away from the corpse.

Dom-san carried the teeth fragments and the claws. Once the mission was

over, we all agreed to split whatever the materials sold for.

"Let's carry on. Nightfall is soon, we need to reach the base of the mountain

by then."

Abert was right. It was dangerous to travel in the wilderness at night. Monster

attacks intensified under the cover of darkness, and it was easier to get lost in

low light.

We quietly continued on toward the foot of the mountain. We kept on going,

taking out small creatures that got in our way. Eventually, we came to a sudden

stop as a shrill, bird-like chirping resounded all around us.

"What is that?! A monster?!"

"It's a Horolo Bird. It's a magical beast, but not one that'll be a threat. It tries

to scare predators away with its noises..." Mew-san spoke casually while

continuing to walk ahead. That was enough for us all to calm down, and we

carried on after her. Rose quickly caught up to Mew-san and began engaging

her in conversation.

"You sure know a lot about magic beasts."

"I was born in Mismede, in a village close to the Sea of Trees."

"Ahhh, makes sense. I used to work at the hunter's association up in the

imperium, so I know about the kinds of magic beasts you find up that way...

Can't say I know all that much about southern ones, though."

That made sense. Rose's knowledge about magical beasts made more sense

now that I knew for sure she was a former hunter. I wondered why she changed

her career path.

"You're from the east, right? I'm assuming based on your clothes."

"Huh?"

Rose turned around and threw a question my way. She probably thought it

would be easier to talk to me and Mew-san since we were the only girls.

"Y-Yeah! I was born in Eashen."

"Eashen, eh? You sure have traveled quite far... Isn't the grand duke of

Brunhild from Eashen as well? Is that why you came here?"

"Ah... Y-Yes. That is why!"

I sounded a little bit stilted, but I was not exactly a great liar.

The grand duke was not actually from Eashen, but that was a pretty common

rumor at this point.

Brunhild was formed when the grand duke received a plot of land from

Belfast and Regulus, and brought in the ninja clan headed by Tsubaki. After that

the Elite Four of Takeda came in with their men as well, so Brunhild was almost

completely founded by the Eashenese people.

The architecture and food of Brunhild were also somewhat Eashen-like, which

contributed to the misunderstanding. That did raise the question of where the

grand duke actually came from, though. I wondered if it was Yulong, but I did

not believe he would let his homeland decay like that.

"Ah..."

"Something wrong?"

Mew-san, who had been leading us, suddenly came to a stop. Rose stopped

too. The cat ears atop Mew-san's head started twitching.

"Water flow... We're near a river."

"A river?" Rose turned and had Surges-san check the map.

"There's a river on the map, yeah. If we move along it upward, we'll reach the

mountain's base."

Surges-san looked over the map before speaking to Rose. We all had a copy of

the island map, but Surges-san had the most detailed one available. The pricier

the map, the better the information.

Heh... But the map on my smartphone was actually a lot more accurate! It

even showed our location in relation to everything else. I could not use it,

though. We eventually reached the river and started heading upstream.

Walking by the river had its perks, but also its downsides. Magical beasts were

living beings as well, so they would eventually need to drink water. That meant

there was a slightly higher chance of running into one by a fresh water source.

But one of the pros was that it was a clear area, which meant we would have a

good line of sight against any enemies in the area.

We kept on walking along the riverside, without encountering a single magical

beast at all. I was surprised at our luck.

The sun sank before we reached the base of the mountain, so we decided to

make camp a little bit away from the riverside. We picked up some dried

branches and leaves, before setting up a small campfire.

"Where are you headed? It's dangerous to go alone."

I tried to sneak away from the fireside, but Rose caught me out.

"J-Just going to, uh... take care of some business."

"Ohh... I get it. Stay safe!"

Rose smiled and waved me off as I headed deeper into the woodland.

I was not actually going to use the bathroom, I was going to eat. But once I

saw what meal was in my rucksack, there was no way I was going to eat it in

front of the others. I climbed up to the top of a tree and took it out of my bag.

"...If I ate this in front of the others, Grand Duke... they would suspect me

immediately."

The right half of the ornate bowl I'd taken out was filled with rice. The left half

was filled with thick cully, which smelled really nice and spicy... There was also a

lovely fukujinzuke relish atop it... I couldn't mistake this dish at all. It was a hefty

serving of delicious cully rice.

Our grand duke was certainly a strange guy, giving me something so good.

"Ah... This tastes so good!"

Cully rice was a masterwork of mealtime deliciousness. But I had implied to

Rose that I was relieving myself, so I could not sit back and enjoy it leisurely.

That being said, it was actually pretty nice just wolfing it down as fast as I

could... It was truly delicious, after all.

I finished eating and drank from my water bottle, then sent an update to the

grand duke. No issues so far... Sent...

It wasn't like there were not any small issues, though... The Blood Liger fight

honestly gave me some cause for concern. They kept getting in the way of each

other, after all.

I was not exactly expecting stellar teamwork from such a ramshackle party,

but being able to adapt was a valuable skill for adventurers to have. I could not

say for sure that it meant they would fail, but it was not exactly promising.

I decided to hurry back to prevent any strange suspicions or

misunderstandings.

My tummy was well and truly filled. I headed back to the campfire and lay

down on the grass a little bit away from the others.

All the others were eating the food they had brought. In terms of travel

provisions, adventurers usually brought dried meats, smoked fish, legumes, and

dried fruit since they kept well. But this was a short mission, so there was some

bread and fresh fruit as well.

"Mm...? I smell cully..."

"I don't smell anything. I guess you're just missing food from your homeland.

Anyone would if they had to eat bread this gross."

Mew-san started sniffing the air. Her nose twitched. Rose tapped her on the

shoulder and grinned.

Mew-san turned her head and stared me down. I pretended like I did not

notice. Beastpeople had strong noses... I was worried she had exposed me. I

looked over at the others and found Dom-san was stirring a pot of meat and

veggie soup. He even had some alcohol with him.

Abert walked over to the dwarf and folded his arms.

"Really? Drinking? What if we're attacked in the night?"

"Divven be a fool, laddie! Booze is jus' water tae a dwarf. Ye gonna banish me

drink frum me?"

Abert just sighed and shut his mouth. Dwarves were certainly heavy drinkers,

but I knew another short person who could drink them all under the table.

That girl was surprisingly adept at staying sober even if she looked drunk to

outsiders. I had a strange feeling that she was capable of controlling her

sobriety, but I had no way of proving it. Either way, she had beaten several

dwarves in a drinking contest once and it left me terrified of her power.

She managed all that despite looking like a girl far younger than me... The

grand duke's family was made up of strange, scary people.

Abert turned from Dom-san and started to address everyone else.

"We need to keep the fire going all night. How're we gonna handle the rota?"

I covertly checked my smartphone for the time. It was around eight o'clock at

night. It would be about nine hours until sun-up.

We decided to split it with two people on watch, then two people on watch,

then three. We did not just want one person on watch, because if they fell

asleep then there would be nobody keeping an eye out on the situation. With

two or more people, we would have our bases covered.

I briefly wondered how we were gonna get paired up, but Rose just dragged

me and Mew-san into a group of three with her... I certainly was not

complaining.

After that, it came down to deciding how to split up the men. We figured it

would be troublesome if Abert and Garron joined up together, so we decided

that Dom-san and Garron should be one team, while Abert and Surges-san

would be another team.

Then, we had to decide the order. We settled on the girls guarding first, then

Abert and Surges-san, then Dom-san and Garron. Abert and Surges-san got the

worst of it, since they had to wake up in the middle of the night.

The night dragged on, which meant it got a lot colder. The others took out

heavy fur capes and draped them over themselves as they settled in for sleep.

We three girls took out our capes as well, draping them around our shoulders.

We would be able to reach the weed we were after by noon the next day,

assuming all went to plan. Ideally, there would not be any Fire Lizards or

anything, either. Adult Fire Lizards could reach pretty huge heights, and they

liked to move in big groups.

I looked up and found Rose scanning the area.

"Mm? Something wrong?"

"No, I'm just wondering if that guild invigilator might be out there... I can't

sense anyone, so I was wondering if they're actually watching us."

She is. Fufu... You fool! I might not be the invigilator, but I am right here!

Tsubaki is definitely out there too, but she would never let a novice adventurer

like you detect her presence.

"I bet there's one out there, yeah. Probably from Brunhild's intel corps...

Someone way beyond adventurers-to-be like us."

Mew-san voiced her suspicions. She was certainly perceptive. Rose responded

by quirking a brow and tilting her head in surprise.

"Why would someone from Brunhild's government be involved in this? Isn't

this just a guild thing?"

"One of our examiners is related to the grand duke of Brunhild. That's what

I'm basing my suspicion on, anyway. Plus, we're doing the mission on Brunhild

territory. I imagine they'll have someone keeping an eye on us in case things get

dangerous."

...You are very keen-sensed, Mew-san. Rose glanced around a few more times,

but ultimately gave up on looking for anyone else. She turned back to Mew-san.

"So that means if things go bad, we'll be saved?"

"Maybe. But that means we'd fail the test. No rank increase, no reward, no

glory or satisfaction."

"That'd be bad... But I'm honestly a little relieved. That means we'll be okay

no matter what."

"You should not put all your stock into being saved by invisible others."

I interjected a bit into their conversation.

"Yeah, you're right. If someone is watching us, then they're probably just

tasked with monitoring us. They'd probably only step in if things were

extremely dangerous. Maybe they'd cut in if we were gonna lose a limb or have

permanent damage done to us, but I'm not so sure they would swoop in if some

mediocre level of danger appeared. Maybe if a monstrous beast of

unprecedented strength appeared, but we shouldn't rely on them."

"You have a point. There's no guarantee they'll save us, so we shouldn't count

on it."

Mew-san and Rose nodded. There was still a chance we could suffer major

injury before Tsubaki stepped in. Then again, that was why I was there to begin

with. I would be able to buy precious time in an emergency.

"Mm... Adventuring really is dangerous, huh?"

"You can make a lotta cash, though. If we succeed here that's two whole

platinum."

"That is definitely nothing to sniff at... Wonder what I should buy."

I briefly fantasized about spending my money.

The knight order wages were not exactly luxurious, but we definitely got a lot

of perks to make up for that. We could use the gaming room whenever we

wanted, and we were even fed for free. The grand duke provided our basic

living needs, so the relatively low pay did not really bother us since we could

use it for disposable income.

Now and then the grand duke put extra cash in our pay packets as a bonus,

too.

I wondered if the reward for this quest was his way of paying me a bonus...

"The pay's so good it's almost suspicious..."

"They probably want us to buy good equipment with it afterward. Because if

we get promoted, then we'll be getting quests that are higher in difficulty, so

we'll need—"

"Kin a dwarf not git some shuteye roond 'ere?! Ye lassies gotta stap yer

jibberin'!"

Dom-san's irritated yelling overpowered Rose's voice. The three of us sighed

quietly and looked at each other. Perhaps we had been a little too loud.

We continued looking out for danger, quietly this time. Eventually, we started

up a conversation again, but made sure to use gentler voices.