Roble’s spear fell to the ground with a metallic clang.

At the same time, Stee, who had been watching their fight anxiously, pulled herself together as she spoke up.

「I-It’s over! The winner is Rei!」

As could be imagined, Roble couldn’t help but silently admit defeat after having his weapon knocked aside and the huge blade of the Death Scythe held against his neck.

「You’re strong.」

「Well, yeah. I’m a C rank……no, a B rank adventurer, so I have to be at least this strong.」

「……Hmph, you’re a sarcastic bastard. But, I do have to admit that you are definitely better than me in combat. ……Congratulations on your B rank promotion.」

The battle seemed to have succeeded in clearing Roble’s mind of his complex emotions of jealousy, hopefulness, admiration and dislike. With a small smile, he lightly slapped Rei’s shoulder, which was covered by the Dragon Robe.

「Your skill was also amazing. If it had been an ordinary adventurer or I had an ordinary weapon, I might not have been able to handle that Penetrating Fang.」

「Hmph, good that you know that. You didn’t seem to have any trouble parrying it though. You weren’t serious yourself, were you? You didn’t use your throwing spear or magic.」

Roble sounded regretful, but there was a smile on his face that belied his words.

Seeing his smile, Rei shrugged his shoulders.

「I told you, didn’t I? I would only have been in trouble if I were an ordinary adventurer or had an ordinary weapon. I don’t consider myself ordinary and the Death Scythe isn’t an ordinary weapon either.」

Saying that, Rei stored the Death Scythe into the Misty Ring.

Seeing that, Roble picked up his spear from the ground with a sigh.

(When I used it before, I wasn’t able to suppress the kickback from the Power Slash, so my wrist was hurt. But this time there wasn’t any kickback. Was it because I’ve gotten used to the skill? Or was it simply because I used Power Slash against a spear? ……If possible, I hope it’s the former.)

Watching Roble, Rei thought to himself as he covered his head with the Dragon Robe’s hood.

The people who had been watching the fight between Rei and Roble looked at him with some surprise, seeing that he had taken the trouble to cover his head with a hood in the middle of this summer weather.

And, this was right after fighting as well.

However, it was probably because they didn’t know that the Dragon Robe had the ability to maintain a constant temperature within itself.

Cool in summer, warm in winter. The Dragon Robe had a rather simple temperature regulating effect as a magic item. However, it was still an extraordinary item.

If it’s effect was found out by others, there would be people from all over the Mireana Kingdom as well as neighbouring countries who would want it.

「Yeah, I fought and I fought. I fought with all my strength and it was refreshing, I don’t care that I failed the rank up test. Besides, I’m still C rank, so I can accept B rank requests if Stee is with me, as it’s only one rank higher.」

Roble looked at Stee with clear eyes and a smile.

Stee had a slightly surprised look on her face as she caught Roble’s gaze.

「Damn it, I can’t stand this. I’ve got to find a good woman somewhere.」

「A lover, huh. ……That would be nice. Me too, one day……」

「Oh? What about me then?」

「Well, you’re an adventurer, the same as me. To start with, you’re not my type of guy.」

With conversations like that, the adventurers around them returned to the guild.

「Alright, I won my bet! ……But, I didn’t win a lot of money.」

「That’s right. In the first place, Rei was the favourite, right? Think about the odds. But, at least you’re not like that guy.」

「Roble……I bet on you, why did you lose……」

「Yeah, he put a big bet on Ons during the rank up test. I guess he got what he deserved. Anyone in a party with him is going to be miserable.」

Those who won were in a state of joy while those that lost were left in sadness.

 

「Hm? You’re back?」

Residence spoke up when Rei and the others returned to the meeting room on the second floor of the guild.

He had half expected the results, so Residence didn’t ask who had won or lost.

「Huh? Where did the nobles and Ons go?」

When Stee asked why Residence was the only person left in the meeting room, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

「They are already done with their business here, so they went home. They are nobles, so they have many things they have to deal with. Same for Ons.」

「……The nobles aside, Ons should at least have said goodbye.」

Stee sounded somewhat sad.

Although Ons had been mostly silent, Stee might have felt a certain closeness after having he had worked together with them and helped them out at times.

With a small smile on his face, Residence handed over guild cards back to Rei and Stee.

「This is……」

Looking at her guild card that was handed back, Stee murmured to herself as she confirmed the B ranking that was on it.

It was the same for Rei, who without much though, looked at the rank that was written on his guild card.

「As of right now, both of you are B rank. In particular, Rei now holds the record for the shortest time to reach B rank after registering with this guild, so you might be in for some trouble. However, please also remember that as B rank adventurers, which means you are now considered first rate, highly skilled adventurers. Also, as I said when I said that you passed, Rei’s B rank is provisional. Keep in mind that if you recieve a request from a noble, the guild may step in to assist.」

Rei nodded at Residence’s words.

For Rei, having someone dealing with the nobles for him was a welcome help and not a detriment.

Stee must have also felt that she had finally reached B rank and had a smile on her face.

Next to them, Roble opened and closed his mouth several times as if he wanted to say something before eventually deciding.

「Why don’t we celebrate Stee and Rei’s promotion to B rank after this? I know I failed, but it’s still good to celebrate.」

「……Are you sure?」

「Yeah, it’s for Stee……and Rei too. Let me celebrate with you. I’ll treat today.」

「You okay with that? I may look like this, but I still eat a lot.」

「I’ll take care of it. I might have failed this exam, but I”m still a C rank adventurer. I’ve earned a good amount of money, so there’s nothing to worry about.」

At Rei’s question, Roble slapped his chest.

Stee laughed at her lover’s response as she watched on.

「Thanks. Then, we’ll see you in the future.」

Like that, they were about to leave the meeting room when a voice called out to Rei from behind.

「Wait a moment. Actually, I still have something I want to talk to Rei about.」

「Something you want to talk about?」

「Yes, I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but there are a lot of nobles in this city who would like to recruit you to serve under them. Or make a connection with you.」

Roble and Stee were both surprised to hear about nobles wanting to recruit Rei.

However, Rei shook his head without hesitation.

「I’m sorry, but I don’t plan to stop being an adventurer.」

「I know. Until recently, there were a lot of them who asked if I could set up a meeting with you.」

「Huh?」

「It seems your friend has given you a helping hand. Most of the nobles have given up and quite a few have already left he city.」

The figure of Marka passed through Rei’s mind when Residence said that friend had helped him out.

「Then, I shouldn’t have any business here anymore, right?」

「No, there are still some who want to meet with you. Even if it was impossible for Duke Quent……」

「So troublesome.」

Rei muttered to himself, but it seemed like Residence had the same thought. He shrugged his shoulders slightly as he spoke.

「It’s no surprise considering that you’re a B rank adventurer and have a title. And, I’m not saying you have to meet them one by one. We’ll do it all in one go, so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.」

「All of them at once? No, that’s certainly a good thing, but……do they know that? I don’t want to get dragged into trouble with a bunch of nobles, you know?」

「Yes, there are no problems. Of course, they all wanted it to be at their own residences……but, if they kept pushing like that, Rei would dislike them and run away, is what the guild master told me.」

「……Oh, is that so.」

Rei understood the feeling well, if nobles continued to pester him to join them, he would definitely run away.

「Because of that, the guild master suggested they all meet up together for a single meeting. We all know how it’s going to end, be we don’t want the nobles to feel uncomfortable when they have to talk with you. Anyhow, we are currently settling the date with the nobles. Once that’s done, you’ll only have to meet with them once. Is that okay?」

Rei already felt that it was going to be troublesome after hearing what Residence had to say. Not only Roble, even Stee looked at Rei with a pitying gaze.

「That’s all I needed to talk with you about. You may go. ……Oh, wait.」

As Rei and the others were about to leave the meeting room, they were stopped by Residence again.

Rei gave a sigh as he turned around when he felt something fly towards him, which he caught on reflex.

Feeling hard metal in his hand, he opened his palm and saw a gold coin.

「What’s this?」

「Ahem, well, a gift to celebrate your promotion. It should be enough for you all to eat and drink as much as you want.」

Needless to say, it was Roble, who had declared that he would be paying for their promotion celebration, who was the most happy.

He had been worried if he had enough money as it wasn’t just Rei and Stee, but also Set.

「Thank you very much, I appreciate it greatly.」

「Thank you.」

「Thanks.」

Roble, Stee and Rei left the meeting room after saying their thanks.

Seeing them leave, Residence couldn’t help but look up after they had all gone out of sight.

(……I had been planning to give them a silver coin, why did I give them a gold coin……)

Residence’s thoughts changed to thinking about saving after realising his unexpected mistake.

 

 

Even though it hadn’t been much, Roble, who had collected his reward for hunting the Bicorns in the rank up test from the counter, said that the celebration would be his treat as he raised his cup with a smile and spoke.

「Well then, let’s celebrate Stee and Rei’s B rank promotion……cheers!」

『Cheers!』

The three of them tapped their glasses with each others as they followed Roble’s cheer.

「Congratulations!」

「Even though you failed this time, Roble, do your best next time!」

「I love you Stee. I want you to go out with me!」

In order to celebrate their promotion in the guild’s bar, the adventurers who had heard the results of the rank up test also threw out words of celebration, comfort and love.

「Who’s the one who just confessed to Stee!?」

「Calm down. He’s drunk, it’s just a joke.」

Stee stopped Roble from reaching for his spear, that was propped against the table while Rei watched with a smile as he drank some watered down wine.

「Rei-kun, congratulations on passing the rank up test.」

Rei heard a voice call out to him.

Looking around, he saw Kenny.

She was offering a plate with a huge pie on it, giving off a fragrant smell.

「It looks delicious, thank you……don’t you need to work?」

Rei couldn’t see the counter from where he was sitting, but he could definitely imagine Lenora being angry.

However, Kenny smiled in response to Rei’s question.

「It’s fine. It’s not so busy during this time of the day and I’ve already finished my work. That said, I’ve only got 5 minutes.」

Surprised that the serious Lenora had allowed Kenny to take a break from work, he quickly reached for the pie that Kenny was offering.

Because it had already been cut with a knife, he just took out a slice of the pie……

「Ooh? ……It’s amazing.」

The moment he saw the filling through the pie crust, he smelled the rich aroma of meat.

It wasn’t a dessert pie but a savoury meat pie.

As soon as Rei took a bite, the crispy pie crust and buttery aroma spread through his mouth. The next moment, he enjoyed the taste and texture of the large meat chunks.

Normally, meat pies were filled with minced meant, but the meat pie that Kenny had brought had the meat cut into small pieces so that they could be fully enjoyed. It was closer to diced meat than minced meat and was paired with mushrooms and onions.

「Ehehe, this is a dish that has been passed down my family. I prepared it this morning for Rei’s promotion celebration.」

「……Even if were going to celebrate my promotion, it might not have been here, right?」

「I had thought of that, but then, I could also just bring it to wherever you were going to celebrate your promotion later. What do you think? My cooking is quite good, right?」

Kenny gave Rei a flirtatious look as it looked like Rei had enjoyed her cooking. Rei’s attention was completely on the pie.

(There’s onion in this, is that okay for Catkin? No, I guess the fact that the recipe has been passed down Kenny’s family for generations means that it’s probably okay.)

Rei brought another piece of the pie to his mouth as he thought about that.

The party continued late into the night after that. Everyone in the bar dug into the Lemrace meat that was brought out by Rei to celebrate and a large amount of food was also served to Set as it was all paid for by Residence and Roble. By the end, Roble’s wallet was looking quite lonely.

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