The voices of cheering resounded through the city.

An Orc settlement had appeared in the immediate vicinity of the city they lived in. It was natural that there would be a parade for the subjugation force that went to defeat it.

「Hey, look at the person sitting at the drivers seat of the first carriage. That’s the leader of the A rank party Axe of the Thunder God, it’s Elk」
「I know. ……Rather, hey, over there!」

While nodding to the words of the man next to him, an unexpected existence entered his eyes.

An eagle’s upper body, a lions lower body and huge wings on it’s back. In other words, it was a ……

「Griffon!?」

They had gone to subjugate Orcs, why had they brought something even more brutal back? Although the question entered his mind for a moment and he almost ran away on reflex……the nape of his neck was caught by the man next to him who had known Elk.

「Hey, what are you doing. We must escape fast!」
「Calm down. It won’t attack people because that Griffon is a tamed monster.」
「Haa?　A tamed Griffon?　Was that a joke!?」
「It’s no joke. Think carefully about it. If that Griffon were a normal monster, why would it be walking next to the carriage together.」
「……」

If you thought about it carefully, it was possible to understand that the man was right. However, the presence of the Griffon was to overwhelming.

「You, what do you know?」
「Ah. Have you really not heard of the story about the rank D party Claws of the Hawk getting beaten up in front of the guild by rookie who just registered?」
「Now that you say it, I remember hearing such a story……」
「To tell the truth, I was at that place. So, I mean, the rookie that beat them up had tamed a Griffon. That’s the Griffon.」
「……Really?」
「Ah. That Griffon also walks around the city quite frequently. Try looking around carefully. Can you see anyone running away?」

As the man heard that, he looked around, most residents were certainly not trying to run away. On the contrary, they seemed to be explaining to those who were trying to run from the sight of the Griffon. So, like himself.

Instead, there were people among the residents looking at the parade that were throwing dried meat at the Griffon.

And the Griffon was splendidly catching the flying dried meat in his beak, swallowing it as it was, he was delighted and gave a happy『Gururururu~』cry.

「……What?」
「A, ahh. Even then, a rookie taming a Griffon……I can’t imagine it.」
「I also though that at first. It’s probably also the same for the people who saw the Griffon walking through city for the first time. However, I haven’t heard any stories of that Griffon actually harming anyone. In addition, it has an amazing popularity with the street stall merchants who sell food. ……Well, it’s also the owner of the Griffon who buys their goods like crazy regardless of the expense.」
「Those merchants are amazing……」

It it were him, he would likely have run away if a Griffon came as a customer. Thinking so……he suddenly noticed something.

「Hey, wait a minute. Didn’t the owner of the Griffon just register with the guild?　Did he participate in the Orc subjugation force?」
「Now that you said that, it’s likely……Well, maybe the Griffon was there to deal with the Orcs?」
「Ah, I see. ……That’s great isn’t it. Though I don’t have a Griffon, if I became an adventurer by taming a strong monster, I can just leave the combat to the monster and profit.」
「Idiot. Do you think he can only tame monsters?」

While smiling wryly, he lightly knocked the guy’s head.

『Kya~, look this way Onē-sama!』

At the same time, they heard such voices.

「Ouch, go easy on me……So, who is that?」

While looking at the appearance of some girls who were raising a shrill voice at a woman in the parade, he asked the man next to him.

「That’s certainly……the C rank party Scorching Wind, led by Milein. As you can see, a lot of the talented younger people treat her an older sister.」
「Onē-sama, is it.」

In this way, the Orc subjugation force parade continued until they arrived at the guild.

 

 

「Ah, I’m tired.」

Moving through downtown in full view during the parade, Elk gave a deep sigh as he finally got to the front of the guild and got off the carriage.

Contrary to his energy after fighting against Orc all night, fatigue could be seen carved into his face.

「Kukuku~. It’s hard being popular.」

Hobbes gave a wry smile at Elk’s state as he also got down from the carriage.

「Ke, you must have been comfortable being inside the carriage.」
「There’s no helping it, because only two people can sit in the driver’s seat. The residents of the city who see you, the leader of Axe of the Thunder God, will no longer be frightened by the threat of Orcs.」
「……I know. But can’t I complain?　To begin with, this is out of character for me.」
「There’s no other choice. After all, it was a direct nomination personally from Margrave Rowlocks, the lord of the city of Gilm.」
「Fun~!」

As Hobbes turned away from Elk’s childish face, he spoke up to the other members of the subjugation force who were coming down from the other carriages.

「Everyone, you’ve worked hard. Thanks to you and the parade, the Orc threat has passed for the city. Well, for now, we will disband here. You don’t need to worry about the reward, you will be able to receive it from the guild reception desk by tomorrow. With that, the proof of subjugation parts from the Orc can be sold at five silver coins instead of the usual three silver coins, as said before. In the same way, high ranking species can also be sold at higher prices. However, remember that selling at that price is only because of the reward for the Orc subjugation.」

Everyone nodded to those words, afterwards, everyone scattered to the tavern, the inn, the weapons shops and to second hand dealer shops.

As for Rei, as he was going to go to the nearby dining area and food stalls with Set to fill their bellies……

「Rei, could you stay for a moment. We have to talk.」

He was stopped by Hobbes.

「Guru~?」

What’s wrong?　After stroking Set’s head and petting him lightly, he turned his eyes to Hobbes.

「Didn’t you say the rewards would be given tomorrow?」
「That’s for the other people. No, you will also receive your reward tomorrow but that doesn’t matter……I would like to talk with you about your rank for a moment.」

Though he seemed to think a few seconds about those words, he immediately took out several sandwiches from the Misty Ring and petted Set’s head.

「Sorry, I have a little business to do. Eat these while waiting at the usual spot Set.」
「Guru~……」

Leaving Set, who was slightly dissatisfied, Rei and Hobbes entered the guild.

Set who saw off their backs, gave a small cry and went to his usual spot with a sandwich in his mouth.

 

 

「Ah, Rei-san, Welcome back.」
「Rei-kun?　It’s good that you’re safe.」

As Rei and Hobbes entered the guild……or rather, seeing Rei, Lenora and Kenny called out with happy, smiling faces.

「Sorry, but I have to talk with Rei. You can enjoy your reunion later.」

Hobbes said that to the two people and went up to the second floor in the guild, Rei followed after raising his hand lightly in greeting.

As Kenny saw off their backs, she was genuinely relieved and let out a big sigh.

「Ah, that’s good. Rei-kun was fine.」
「Yes, though that’s certainly something good……」
「Lenora?」
「Orcs, weren’t there quite a large number people in the subjugation force?　Though a detailed explanation will be given later, I’m sure that some didn’t make it back.」
「……It can’t be helped if it can’t be helped. There is a inherent risk in being an adventurer and they knew it when they registered with the guild.」
「Well, though that is so……the number of faces I’ll recognise will drop a little.」

Lenora let out a small sigh.

To begin with, fighting was assumed to happen for adventurers working with monster subjugation, exploring labyrinths or merchant escorts. Though there are also gathering requests, most of them can be easily done by the people themselves without the need to post a request. As for the main requests for the guild, they were mainly things that were too dangerous for the client to do themselves.

Since such danger is present, naturally, there would be adventurers who would die doing their work. Though that was understandable, Lenora still couldn’t completely accept it.

「Come now, in any case, didn’t most of the people return?　Then be a little bit more happy. It’s because of that that your body is so poor.」

Poor, though Lenora twitched at those words, she feigned calmness and started to speak.

「I’m not particularly porr. Normal, I’m just normal. Average. I think it’s better than a body that is used to curry favour with men.」
「……Ara~, I wonder who that is?」
「Well, I’m not pointing out to anyone in particular, do you have any ideas?」
「That’s right, absolutely. That’s why they say that women with small chests are also small minded people. Mm, mm, I feel sorry for Rei-kun who has to be partly under such a woman. If I were you, I would stick to him and talk about and do various things and whatnot.」
「Kenny, really, you!」

In this way, the two people started playing around like this as usual. However, the sad atmosphere which covered Lenora earlier had disappeared and had returned to the usual Lenora.

 

 

「Please sit.」

It was the same room where the story of the Orc subjugation force had been heard. Right not, Rei was faced opposite to Hobbes.

Because the first time he entered the room was with the Orc subjugation force, Rei felt that with only two people, the meeting room was wide and dull.

After sitting in the offered chair and facing each for several tens of seconds, Hobbes spoke up to break the silence.

「There’s various debriefing to be done after this……even with regards to Dark Night’s Star. But to say it bluntly, your rank will go up to rank E tomorrow.」
「E is it. Even it went up, I thought it would surely only go up to F.」
「Hmph. Given your achievements, E rank isn’t possibly enough. Transporting supply goods, Set guarding during the journey, executing your role as a mobile unit during the night attack. And above all, defeating the Orc King. With this many achievements listed, there’s no way you would only go up one rank. At any rate, if you were C or D and not G rank then maybe. In addition……」

Hobbes hesitated to say something at the end. Rei who saw that had a wry smile in his mind.

(Hush money regarding Dark Night’s Star……is that it.)

In the situation that could be considered a crisis for the city of Gilm, he had attacked an allied party for his own reasons. If you think about how this could lead ot a poor reputation and a loss of trust with the adventurer guild, Hobbes’ actions couldn’t be considered strange.

「Well, because it seems to be common to apply to the guild for a rank up after handling a certain number of requests, it is less troublesome to jump over multiple ranks at once, I have no complaints.」
「Ah, I’m glad you said that. Because you’ll be going to take the rank up test to D rank in the near future, please keep that in mind.」
「……What?」

Rei asked again, not believing Hobbes’ words. As if he had expected that response, Hobbes repeated it again.

「I said, therefore, you will be receiving a rank up test in the near future.」
「I see, the guild is quite generous. Do they want me to rank up three ranks in one go?」
「Well, something like that. I mean, when thinking about your ability tame and Set, your ability is closer to B rank……I hope that will convince you of your D rank.」
「That’s just what I hoped for……is that okay?」
「It’s fine. In the first place, it’s strange that a person that can beat an Orc King one on one is in G rank.」
「……I understand. So when is the rank up test?」
「Who knows, it’s difficult for me to say. It’s something for the upper echelon and officials to decide and not me.」

Though he said that, Hobbes has the feeling that the date for the field examination wasn’t far away. Everyone knows that the employees of the adventurer guild are always short on manpower, above all……

Hobbes thought about the letter in his chest pocket. The letter was received from the messenger from Gilm as the Orc subjugation force was returning. There were words praising the Orc subjugation force and information about the parade from just before. And it was also written to promote Rei to rank E and introduce him to the rank up test as soon as he got to the guild.

(Even though I let several people with information leave earlier, this is too fast. Rei’s ability is certainly B rank……and would be comparable to the poorer A ranks. However, this move is……)

Hobbes himself had written about the rank improvement to rank E in the letter he had sent back to Gilm, I was also intending to propose the rank up test to rank D to the upper echelon. However, he had only judged so because he had been in the same request as Rei, he hadn’t thought that the upper echelon, who hadn’t even been debriefed, would be making a move so quickly. In other words……

(The guild master and the upper echelon have an interest in Rei. ……No, thinking about it, is it the lord?)

Though originally, he wouldn’t be able to assert that that was possible, Rei was accompanied by an A rank monster, Griffon. Thinking about it, he couldn’t say for sure that it was impossible.

「Well, anyway, I understand the information. So it’s a good thing for me to take the rank D test so soon?」
「Ah, that’s the intention.」

Nodding to Hobbes words, Rei stood up from his seat.

Seeing him off, Hobbes felt that Rei would make a pleasant disturbance in the city of Gilm.

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