“Hah…… I have been trying to keep the kids as low profile as possible. Since they got a nickname, there’s no point in holding back their ranks, is there~?”


  “Allen-kun and Elena-san would stand out no matter how hard you tried to conceal them, no?”


  “.……”


  That’s true, isn’t it~ Allen and Elena easily attract attention even if quiet. They easily attract the eyes, don’t they? Why is it? Is it in their blood? Because of their divine lineage?

  “The children are still D-rankers, right?”


  “Yes, that’s correct.”


  “Well then, let’s raise them to C-rank right away!”


  “Nono, what are you saying!”


  “Since things have come to this, we should do the opposite and move up their ranks to obtain a firm position that won’t be meddled with!”


  “.……”


  Andy-san has a point. Now that the children have a nickname, it is inevitable that they will stand out. Then, is it no longer necessary to avoid the…… rank advancement that we used to avoid just because kids with a high rank were conspicuous?

  Hmm…… should I be proactive in getting them to move up the ranks then? The more people know they are strong, the less likely they are to mess with them…… Somewhat.

  “If it’s a C-rank, I can raise it immediately based on their past performance.”


  “N~…… what should we do~”


  There are those who would pick a quarrel simply because they are children, regardless of their rank. In fact, even I, an A-ranker, sometimes get tangled up with them. So, if I don’t count such people, I wonder if I can reduce the number of times it happens……?

  “You are troubled.”


  “.…… Indeed.”


  “Raise!”


  “Rank!”


  As I was struggling, Allen and Elena raised their hands and raised their voices.

  “That’s dangerous, so keep your hands down! Or rather, you should get off of Gizel-san already.”


  It is indeed a bad idea to let them sit on Gizel-san’s shoulders all the time, so I told the children to get off.

  “I’m sorry you had to go along with them for so long, Gizel-san. Thank you very much.”


  “”Ojichan, thank you.””


  “N, nah, I’ll do it anytime.”


  “”Really!?”


  “Yeah.”


  “”Yay!””


  Gizel-san, who acted as the children’s chair while I was talking with Andy-san and the others, almost without interrupting, wasn’t disgruntled and said he will play with them again.

  Every time we meet him at the Adventurer’s Guild, they will have a shoulder to lean on? Or rather, become their chair…… should I stop him? But I guess Gizel-san enjoys playing with the kids, so I wonder if I can ask him to accompany them more?

  “Gizel-san, please tell them clearly when they are too unreasonable.”


  “It’ll be fine.”


  Well, since we rarely come to the Adventurers’ Guild in the first place, it would be better to have Gizel-san say no properly when it is inconvenient rather than me trying to stop the kids.

  “And so, you guys want your ranks raised, after all?”


  “”Wanna!””


  I asked Allen and Elena again about their ranks. They replied without hesitation.

  Well, Allen and Elena would want to raise their ranks, wouldn’t they?

  “Then…… let’s raise it?”


  “”Yay~!””


  When I gave my permission, the children expressed their joy with their whole bodies.

  “If the kids get raised to C-rank, then Takumi-san’s party will be B-ranked! You will be able to accept A-ranked requests with no problem! Isn’t that a good thing!””


  Andy-san was overjoyed, too.

  “Andy-san, so that was your true intention! No, wait a moment, please. Even if the kids are C-rankers, the party will stay B-ranked, no!?”


  “No, they are competent enough, so it is possible for them to be B-ranked by the authority of the Guild Master.”


  “I told you! Don’t make use of your authority so thoughtlessly like that!”


  It seems that the reason Andy-san was enthusiastically promoting rank advancement to the kids was to raise our party rank.

  “No, it is the Guild Master’s responsibility to properly assess competence, not to mention recruiting talent! I do not use it lightly.”


  I glanced over at Keimi-san, but she didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping him.

  It seemed that Keimi-san was in favor of moving us up in rank.

  “Wait a minute! I was just thinking since earlier…… is it true that those kids are D-rankers about to be promoted to C-rank?”


  “It is the truth.”


  One adventurer, who was around and must have heard what we were talking about, asked a question. Well, it’s a natural question.

  And Andy-san responded to the question with a quick reply.

  “Kids like this are C-rankers? That’s absolutely not possible!”


  “You say that, but Takumi-san and his party of children have completed the required number of requests~”


  “That’s their brother’s achievement, isn’t it! It’s parasitism!”


  “No matter who’s the main achiever, the party’s accomplishments belong to all the party members, right? Even if it’s not those kids, it’s normal for there to be more or less differences in contributions within the party. Well, that becomes a problem when they get threatened…… or paid off…… but that doesn’t apply to them. After all, they are siblings.”


  Not all of the numerous adventurer parties are made up of only people of similar ability. When this is the case, it is only natural that the degree of efforts of each party member will vary within a party. Inevitably, the stronger party members protect the weaker party members. I don’t think we can call it all parasitism.

  “”Parasiwhat? What is that?””


  “Parasitism, it means to reap the benefits by relying on the strong without doing anything yourself.”


  Allen and Elena tilted their heads curiously, not understanding the word “Parasitism,” but raised their eyebrows in disgust when Keimi-san explained it to them.

  “Then, Allen is not~”


  “Elena is not either~”


  “Allen can fightmon!”


  “Elena, too! We can also find herbsmon!”


  “Fufu, that’s right. You two are doing your jobs well.”


  “”Yeah!””


  Well, in the case of our party, I think…… the kids are more active than me!

  Keimi-san looked at the protesting children with a smile. Ah, well, Gizel-san, too.

  “Certainly, if there was a newcomer who looked promising, I’ll bring them into the party to nurture them~”


  “Yeah, that’s true. But I could only raise an F-ranker to an E-rank in this amount of time, maybe just barely to a D-rank!”


  “Same here!”


  The other adventurers around us showed their agreement with what Andy-san was saying.

  However, only the adventurer who had complained was staring at us with a bitter look on his face.

  Judging by his age, is he an adventurer who can hardly move up from D-rank to C-rank? As I recall, up to the…… D-rank, you can move up in rank by doing common requests, but from the C-rank and up, there should have been some kind of exam or something.

  “Andy-san, what is the exam to move up to C-rank?”


  “The first step is a written test. After passing the written test, we will take the adventurer, together with the Guild’s official, to defeat the designated monsters and gather medicinal herbs.”


  “Heeh~”


  “Heeh~…… you say, Takumi-san, you have done…… you did not, did you?”


  “Yes.”


  In my case, I blew the place up and moved up to the A-rank~

  “By the way, what is the content of the written exam?”


  “The C-rank is about the knowledge required to be an adventurer. The B-rank exam includes more detailed knowledge, as well as questions on etiquette.“


  “Is etiquette an issue, too?“


  “When you reach the B-rank, you will receive requests for appointments from the nobility, you see.”


  “Oh, I see.“


  I will have to see the actual questions, but I think I can pass the exam. I think.

  I’m a little worried about my own etiquette, but the kids are being educated by Rebecca-san, so I have no doubt they would pass.

  “So that fella didn’t even take the exam! Isn’t he but a fake, then!”


  “He has been recommended by a Knight and an A-rank adventurer to move up in rank. If you also have a recommendation, I will quickly process your rank advancement.”


  Andy-san dismissed them.

  But for me, I thought it would have been better to take the written exam just in case, even if the practical exam was waived.