A 1-vs-4 fight. Moreover, it was four experienced D rank adventurers against a rookie who had literally just registered at the Adventurers Guild that very day.

If anyone thought about it normally, the winner of the fight was obvious. However, the actual conclusion was the rookie shutting out the four D rank adventurers in a clean sweep.

Of course, the onlookers had various theories as to why Rei had won. Half the spectators were convinced by his display of skill, while the other half remained in utter disbelief. In their eyes, the absolute authority of an adventurer’s rank was deeply ingrained.

Some people understood that for Rei to be accompanied by an A rank monster like a Griffon, he must possess significant personal ability. As for the non-believers, they simply couldn’t accept that a boy who was only 165cm tall, neither large nor muscular, could achieve such a one-sided victory.

While being watched closely by the surrounding crowd, Rei called out to his partner.

「Set.」
「Gururu~!」

With a joyful cry, Set left his spot and trotted over, passing the wagered items he had been fiercely guarding to Rei as the prize for the fight.

First, Rei re-equipped the Misty Ring onto his right arm, then he returned the mithril knife to the sheath at his waist. Tucking his own money pouch back into his robes, he grabbed the heavy bags of gold that Vargas and his party had bet and stored them all inside the Misty Ring.

(I’ll just invite unnecessary trouble if I start counting the money in front of so many people. I’ll confirm how much they had on them when I get to the inn later.)

Someone in the crowd loudly clicked their tongue. Hearing it, Rei glanced over and instantly recognised the man who had made the sound.

「Well, is that good enough for you?」

The voice belonged to the same guild staff member who had stepped out of the guild earlier and designated the area for the fight. Having watched the entire brawl, he spoke up at the appropriate time. Rei simply shook his head at his words.

「No, give me a little bit longer.」

He replied shortly to the man. Sequentially, he moved over to the unconscious adventurers and picked up the dropped long sword, the two daggers, the bow, the scattered arrows, and the heavy battleaxe, storing them all into the Misty Ring.

「……I don’t think it’s really necessary to take their weapons as well.」

The guild staff member called out reprovingly, but Rei just shook his head in silence.

「In the first place, these people picked the fight, and the agreed-upon terms of the bet included their entire fortunes and properties. They should be grateful and thanking me for not stripping the clothes right off their backs.」

In truth, there were a few other reasons why he didn’t want to strip the men completely bare, but he kept those to himself.

「……Well, alright. The guild’s official policy is to not intervene in personal conflicts between adventurers. Though I don’t think I really need to confirm it again, standard procedure means I have to check. Are you Rei?」
「Ah.」
「And you’re hoping for a rank up from H to G?」
「That’s right. If I have sufficient combat knowledge, I heard it was possible to rank up from H to G on the very first day?」
「Certainly.」
「So, considering I think I just adequately displayed my combat ability in that battle……is the rank up approved?」
「I have absolutely no complaints. A rookie who just registered with the guild knocking out an entire D rank adventurer party single-handedly……honestly, even though I saw it with my own two eyes, it’s still unbelievable. However, since I did see it, I have no choice but to believe it.」

Intrigued by the words of the man who was smiling wryly, Rei observed him closely. He looked to be in his late thirties or early forties. Judging by the prominent scar on his cheek and his muscular build, he was likely a former adventurer himself. His height was about the same as Vargas, around 190cm.

Urged by the man to re-enter the guild to finalise the paperwork, Rei turned back towards the building, completely disregarding the curious gazes of the spectators.

By the way, upon seeing Rei head back inside, Set returned to his designated waiting spot and comfortably lay down again.

Naturally, the residents of Gilm were quite happy with this arrangement, and even though the spectators were deeply curious, absolutely none of them were reckless enough to try and meddle with Set.

「We’ve already entered the guild, but what about those guys lying unconscious outside?」
「As I said earlier, the guild strictly does not intervene in problems between adventurers. Now, hand me your guild card.」

Following the man’s instructions, Rei handed over his newly minted guild card. As the man walked further inside to process the promotion, Rei took another look around the guild. The patrons who had witnessed the commotion outside now looked at Rei with clear expressions of astonishment and newfound respect.

Among the onlookers, one man slowly approached Rei.

Rei immediately remembered him. He was the lone sober member who had been drinking with Vargas earlier, the one who had distanced himself and chosen to drink alone when Vargas picked the fight.

「That was incredibly surprising. After all……what can I say……well, it feels like everything just fell perfectly into place.」
「……And you are?」
「Runo. Though I think you already know, I’m the guy who formed a temporary party with those fools who just picked a fight with you.」
「……Temporary?」
「Yes. Those guys mentioned that their recent request was going to be tough. That’s the only reason I temporarily joined their party as an assistant. I honestly wonder what the hell they were thinking, getting involved with a monster like you. If I had stayed with that party, I definitely would have suffered for it.」

Monster. Hearing that specific word, Rei’s cheeks twitched slightly.

It wasn’t that his feelings were hurt by being called a monster. In the first place, Rei himself considered his new, magically crafted body to be somewhat monstrous. However, that was only because Rei intimately knew the true performance limits of his body. The people inside the guild shouldn’t have even noticed Set’s existence outside, let alone grasped Rei’s true nature.

「A monster, huh. Why would you call me that? It can’t be……just based on my appearance, right?」

He watched Runo closely, making sure not to miss any suspicious movements.

However, Runo quickly shook his hands defensively, clearly showing he had no hostile intentions.

「Oi oi, don’t look at me like that. When I said that, I was just being honest about what I saw.」
「……So?」

Prompted by Rei’s cold stare, Runo continued, a bead of cold sweat forming on his brow.

「To begin with, the entire reason I partnered up with Vargas was because I possess an extraordinary type of eyes called Magic Eyes.」
「Magic Eyes?」
「Ah. ……Though even if I say that, it’s not a powerful combat-oriented Magic Eye that lets me enchant or petrify things just by looking at them. My Magic Eyes only have one specific ability. I can clearly see magic power.」
「Seeing magic power……is that it?」
「Ah. As for why I was working with Vargas this time, there is a dungeon a few days’ travel from here, and one of the lower levels is filled with hidden magic traps. For the purpose of safely clearing it, my eyes were absolutely necessary. So, earlier, when I looked at you with my Magic Eyes……the sheer quantity and dense concentration of your magic power honestly can’t be described by any word other than ‘monster’.」
「……I see. You’ve convinced me, for now.」

Nodding in understanding, Rei’s interest quickly shifted towards the mention of a dungeon.

A dungeon. For various reasons, when immense amounts of magic power gather in one location, a physical existence can form through the materialisation of a magical ‘nucleus’. A monster that absorbs the dense power of this nucleus becomes the ‘boss monster’ of the dungeon. Unless this boss monster is defeated, the scale and depth of the dungeon will continue to gradually expand.

Once the boss monster has been defeated at least once, the overall scale of the dungeon becomes permanently fixed.

Furthermore, due to the dungeon’s inherent nature of accumulating dense magic power, it was a common occurrence for ordinary beasts that wandered inside to rapidly mutate into dangerous monsters. Additionally, whenever the total number of monsters within the dungeon dropped below a certain threshold, the nucleus would either teleport new monsters in from outside or physically manifest entirely new ones to repopulate the floors.

Though a dungeon completely disappears if its dungeon nucleus is destroyed, the valuable materials and the monsters it created do not vanish. Adventurers aiming to strike it rich gather the rare drops, and since wealthy merchants constantly travel to purchase these materials, the potential profits far exceed the inherent dangers.

(A dungeon……he said there are a lot of monsters inside. Heading there sooner or later with Set isn’t a bad idea. It’d be a great place to secure some decent skills, too. The only problem is that with the sheer size of the Death Scythe and the destructive nature of my fire magic, I can only afford to fight alongside Set if there’s enough open space.)

As Rei was pondering this in his head, the man who had taken his guild card finally returned.

「What’s this? You seem to be getting along surprisingly well with Runo, even though he formed a temporary party with Vargas and that rowdy bunch.」
「Gran, don’t say unnecessary things. Because I was temporarily associated with Vargas, I had a lot of trouble clearing up the misunderstanding just now.」
「Runo is the same as always. Rei, I’ll tentatively introduce Runo as a highly capable adventurer. Basically, he serves as a fighter, can use some basic attack magic, can cast minor healing magic, and is an incredibly convenient fellow to have around because he also possesses some thievery skills.」

The man, Gran, casually explained Runo’s capabilities as he handed Rei’s updated guild card back. Listening to the description, Rei muttered quietly.

「In other words, a jack of all trades, but a master of none.」
「……Well, no, it’s not entirely like that. I wonder if I explained it poorly.」
「There’s no doubt this guy is incredibly convenient to have in a party. Hey, why don’t you form a party with Runo?」

Gran unexpectedly recommended that Rei should form a party with Runo.

Actually, Gran had massive expectations for the newcomer, Rei. His abilities were clearly outstanding, as normally a rookie wouldn’t be able to take down four D rank adventurers in such a laughably one-sided fight. However, Gran suspected Rei might have severe problems with interpersonal relationships, considering he immediately got into a violent brawl with a veteran party right after registering. Therefore, although Rei’s combat abilities were undeniably powerful, Gran hoped that Runo would be able to help smooth over his rough edges and improve his interpersonal skills if they worked together in the same party.

「Sorry, but I intend to work solo for now. Besides, I already have a reliable companion.」

Rei refused frankly. In the first place, the most valuable material harvested from a monster was its magic stone. However, Rei’s primary goal was to feed those magic stones to Set and the Death Scythe to facilitate their growth. If he was in a party, disputes over splitting the loot, especially the magic stones, were guaranteed to happen.

「……Well, certainly, things would be much more relaxed if you had a Griffon as a companion.」
「Griffon?」

Because Runo had been sitting inside the guild the entire time, he naturally hadn’t heard any of the commotion regarding Set outside.

Gran noticed his confusion and a wide grin spread across his face.

「I see, you don’t know since you were drinking alone inside when Vargas went out to fight. Rei over there has actually tamed an A rank Griffon.」
「……Seriously?」

Runo asked in utter disbelief. Rei simply answered with a curt nod as he securely placed his newly updated guild card into the Misty Ring.

「Now then. Since the rank improvement has been officially updated, I must get going soon. I still need to secure a room at an inn.」
「I see. It’s a pity you won’t party up……by the way, have you already decided on an inn?」
「Yes. I was told by a guard captain named Ranga to head to the Dusk Wheat Pavilion. Actually, I heard it was the only inn in the city that has the proper facilities to take care of Set.」

Gran nodded approvingly at Rei’s explanation. Gran knew perfectly well that the Dusk Wheat Pavilion was the only inn capable of accommodating a Griffon. If Rei hadn’t already decided on an inn, Gran was going to recommend that exact place.

「I see. You seem to already know your way around. After stepping out of the guild, just head straight to the right until you see a large sign saying ‘Dusk Wheat’. You’ll recognise it immediately when you see the symbol of a sunset over a wheat field.」
「Ah, thank you.」

Thanking Gran for the directions, Rei finally left the guild. Watching Rei’s retreating back, Gran couldn’t shake the premonition that the city’s future was about to become very noisy in a variety of ways.

「Guru~」

When Rei approached the waiting area, Set opened his eyes and gave a happy, rumbling cry.

「Sorry to keep you waiting. Since the only place that can accommodate you seems to be the Dusk Wheat Pavilion, let’s head there quickly.」

Rei spoke softly while stroking the smooth, feathery coat on Set’s back……

「Gururu~」

Having never been separated from Rei since the moment he was born, Set was quite dependent on him and affectionately rubbed his large head against Rei’s chest.

After indulging Set with affection for about ten minutes, they finally left the guild plaza and headed down the street.

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