Inside the guild master’s office, Marina spoke about the rank up test for B rank.

  When Rei heard that, he gave a small nod.

  「Come to think of it, you did mention that last time.」


  Rei had been so successful that he had been given a title after the war with the Bestir Empire. He had even killed the Lemrace, which seemed to be somewhere between B and A rank. Considering that, it wasn’t a surprise that Rei had the chance to discuss the rank up test. In fact, by the time the war with the Bestir Empire had ended, Rei already had enough achievements to take on the rank up test.

  Still, the rank up test hadn’t been offered when he first returned to Gilm because of all the people who had been looking for him. If he had taken the rank up test at that time, the was no doubt that there wouldn’t have been few disturbances within the city.

  「Ara~ ara~, did you forget about that?」


  Marina gave an alluring smile as she used the tea utensils to make herself more tea.

  Despite Rei’s distraction from her gesture, he still replied with a small shrug.

  「Well, there was the matter of the Lemrace. I did forget about the rank up test though. 」


  「Hmm. ……So, what do you want to do? Do you want to hold off taking the test for now?」


  「No, if I can take it, of course I’ll take it. I had been hoping to increase my rank. In particular, requests for the subjugation of rare species and high ranking species of monsters are usually rank restricted.」


  「In that case, in some sense, that works out well.」


  「……What’s going on?」


  「Your current situation. You’ve been to Duke Quent’s residence yesterday, so you can guess what your current situation is, right?」


  Marina wet her lips with the tea before smiling with her eyes.

  Rei half understood what she was saying.

  After all, there were many eyes directed towards him. Of course, living in Gilm, Rei and Set were familiar with adventurers looking at them with longing, awe, affection and fear as well as gazes trying to gauge their strength from adventurers who had come to Gilm while they had been away. However, there were now also people watching him, waiting for the right moment to make contact.

  And, after his talk with Marka yesterday, it was clear what those people were thinking.

  「I have no intention of serving under anyone.」


  「I know that much, but even if others know it, they’ll still want to bring you over to their side. Besides, most ordinary adventurers would have conditions that they would definitely accept.」


  With a smile on her face, Marina spoke up again after putting down her cup of tea.

  「So, going back to the rank up test. The test is to complete a subjugation request alongside nobles.」


  「……What?」


  Rei was surprised by the task he had not been expecting.

  The rank up test to D rank had been testing if they could kill people and work well with others in a temporary party. However, now, the test was about completing a request together with a noble.

  Marina continued to speak despite Rei’s surprise.

  「You’ve probably heard about this before, but at B rank and above, you can receive requests from both nobles or from the kingdom……sometimes you might even receive requests from the royal family. You will need to decisions based on that understanding. I will let you know if you pass or fail based on your results. ……Originally, I had planned to ask some of the nobles who live in Gilm to assist in this test, but this time there are many nobles who are trying to get you to serve them. Because of that, this seemed like a good time to get some help from outside.」


  「May I ask why?」


  Getting Rei to work together with nobles who had come all this way to try to get Rei to join them seemed like something that would only cause trouble. At least for Rei.

  「They’ve come here to meet with you. Whether you accept them or reject them, you’ll still have to face them. ……Well, aside from that, there are also a few others.」


  「A few others? Am I not the only one taking the test?」


  「That’s right. Aside from you, there are also a few others taking the test. I have already been in touch with them.」


  「I see, so it had already been arranged for some time.」


  「That’s the way it is. The explanation of the test details will be in three days. Come to the meeting room of the seconds floor of the guild in three days before the bell rings at 9am.」


  Rei gave a small sigh as Marina told him with a smile.

  Now that he had come this far, he no longer had the option to back up. No, maybe he still could, but he realised that doing that would cause a lot of problems.

  「Okay, 9am in three days. I’ll just check this first, can I bring Set with me? I couldn’t bring him along in the last rank up test.」


  「Yes. Last time, the objective was to see your cooperation with others, so you weren’t allowed to take Set with you. This time, there aren’t any issues. ……That said, I think you know this already, but if tamed or summoned monsters cause any problems, their owner is responsible. You can bring him with you as long as you remember that.」


  Rei was surprised by Marina’s reply.

  Basically, it was a well known fact that if a tamed or summoned monster caused a problem, it was the owner’s responsibility unless there was some other clear reason. But when Marina told him that with some emphasis, he felt like she was trying to tell him something.

  (Is there any chance a noble or someone similar might try to do something to Set? Or will I be put in a situation where that will happen? ……No, there’s no point in me thinking about that now. This choice in itself might be what Marina was talking about.)

  Thinking to himself, he realised he was looking at Marina again.

  「By the way, may I ask how many other people will be participating in the rank up test?」


  「There will be three more people in addition to you. I hope you will work together with them to complete the test.」


  「……I see, I understand.」


  Rei was honestly happy that he wouldn’t be the only one taking the test, but there were also some parts of it that made him feel uneasy.

  Since they were able to take the rank up test to B rank, there was no doubt that they were skilled people. The question was whether he could work well together with them or not.

  This was a big problem for Rei, who wasn’t particularly good at openly socialising with others.

  「Well, that’s all I have to say for now. You’ll hear more details from the examiner in the meeting room three days from now.」


  「Ah, that’s fine.」


  Hearing that, he poured down the rest of his tea, which had now gone cold, down his throat before getting up from the sofa.

  「Ara~ ara~. It’s not good to drink the tea cold, even if it’s a delicious tea.」


  「Not really. The cold tea isn’t that bad considering it’s now summer.」


  Saying that, he took out some dried fish from the Misty Ring and put them on the table.

  「……This is?」


  Marina had no idea why Rei had taken them out. Rei shrugged his shoulders replied to the confused Marina.

  「A souvenir from Emoshion. It’s a dried fish I bought from a store in Emoshion that had a good reputation.」


  「……I see, thank you.」


  Marina had an indescribable expression on her face as she received Rei’s gift.

  After feeling like he’d been dancing in Marina’s palm ever since he entered her office, seeing her frown slightly at the smell of the dried fish, Rei finally felt like he had gotten his payback as he smiled and left the office.

  That said, Rei hadn’t given her the overnight dried fish purely to annoy her, it really was delicious. In fact, the overnight dried fish that Marina was currently looking at was a decently high class item that had cost Rei 5 copper coins each.

  「……I don’t know what he’s thinking. I don’t really like sea fish because the smell is so strong.」


  As Marina had been born in a forest as a Dark Elf, there was really only river fish around, so she had no idea what to do with the fish in front of her.

  That said, if you asked the fisherman from a port city like Emoshion, they would say that river fish had a bad muddy taste. This was all probably to do with the environments they had all grown up in.

  「Ah, Rei-kun. Have you finished talking with the guild master?」


  「Mm? Ah, yes. It was about my rank up test.」


  Kenny, who spotted Rei coming down from the guild master’s office, called out to him as her ears twitched.

  It seemed like she was wary of someone sexier than her, even if it was her own boss, because Marina was liable to mess around with Rei.

  However, her eyes went round at Rei’s response.

  「Eh? Rei-kun, are you going take the rank up test already!?」


  Her words were heard by everyone around them as the busy time period had just finished. Lenora, who was working next to Kenny, as well as all the other receptionists at the counter who hardly talked with Rei looked over in surprise.

  The guild staff weren’t the only ones surprised. Even though there were fewer adventurers around than when Rei first entered the guild, there were still some around. Even they looked over towards Rei in amazement.

  However, that was not surprising. Rei was currently famous for being the fastest adventurer to reach C rank after registering with the guild in Gilm. If he passed this rank up test, he would be the fastest adventurer to reach B rank since joining the guild as well.

  「Rei-san, are you really going to take the rank up test?」


  Lenora spoke anxiously when she heard that Rei, who she treated like a younger brother, was planning to take the rank up test.

  「Yes, fortunately, I have gathered enough achievements. Thanks to that, I was given the chance to take it.」


  「But……isn’t it a bit to early? Why don’t you gather more experience in C rank?」


  「Hey, Lenora. It was because it was judged that Rei-kun could move up to B rank that he was asked if he wanted to take the rank up test, right? In that case, there isn’t any problem.」


  「That’s true, but……」


  Even as Kenny replied to her, Lenora looked at Rei anxiously.

  Rei knew that Lenora was worried about him, so he replied with a small smile to reassure her.

  「Besides, this time will be different since I can bring Set with me.」


  「……That’s what I’m worried about. Basically, I’ve heard that the rank up test to B rank judges more than just the ability of an adventurer. Oh, of course your skills are judged as well. I’m just worried about what troubles might happen if Set-chan went with you……」


  He gave a small sigh. Set……anyone who worked with adventurers would know how valuable a Griffon would be. Yes, it was because Lenora understood that she was worried.

  Basically, since nobles were always involved in rank up tests to B rank, there were some adventurers who would become hostile with nobles after taking the test or parting with each other after a fight. The guild honestly wanted to refrain from dealing with such nobles, but it was impossible for them to completely exclude them as there were many which had varying influence over the guild in various ways.

  With that said, Glim, where Margrave Daska ruled, was in a much better position compared to the Royal Capital, where nobles had a strong influence.

  「That is to say, I think it’s too early to take the rank up test, but if you still want to take it, be sure to be very careful about working with nobles.」


  「I’ll remember that. If it makes you worry that much, I’ll be careful.」


  Rei himself had little respect for nobles. No, there were a few nobles he respected, but for those who thought of nothing but themselves, he had no good feelings or remorse towards them.

  In this way, Rei accepted his rank up test.

  On a side note, Rei gave all the guild staff sandwiches with a lot of seafood as a souvenir from Emoshion, it was very much appreciated.