kanna"s [one of the few] list keeps getting longer isnt it
100% accuracy and grammatically correct not guaranteed. revisions, corrections and edits are periodically done
obligatory text dokudokushii
It is said that the worse a delicacy looks, the more delicious it is but I think appearance is important after all. Especially the color.
meshi no iro ka
One of the few strong points I have is my worries does not affect my day-to-day operation.
Its the next day after the bad-aftertaste parting with Real. With the small worry weighing on my heart, I"m heading towards the guild today as well.
But first things first, I enter the diner next to the guild. That"s because the ingredient I deposited yesterday should"ve been finished by now. I usually eat my deposited ingredient for lunch or dinner but for the dish this time around, it seems to be best eaten during breakfast.
「Just what kind of magic beast was it de gozaru ka? This one is a tad excited in antic.i.p.ation of it de gozaru yo.」
「fu fu fu Well, you"ll know it when you see it.」
Due to her accepting requests while focusing on the monetary reward, Chloe hardly undertook request for hunting edible magic beast. At the diner next to the guild, you can eat magic beast dishes as long as you have the money for it but the price is considerably more expensive compared to bringing in ingredients yourself. In order to repay her debt faster, she had only ever asked for [cheap, plentiful and subtle] dishes at the diner.
And so I stepped in to the scene and said to her [Ya can join me for both cheap and delicious at the same time y"know?]. She bit into my proposal without hesitation.
ーーーWith this, I obtained a fellow challenger.
When I entered the diner, its spa.r.s.ely populated with adventurers here and there compared to lunch time. We sit down promptly in an empty seat and I hand over the dish receipt I received yesterday to a waitress who came to wait upon us. The moment she took it from me, I didn"t miss her face cramping. The waitress immediately recovers her customer service smile but Chloe also noticed her slight change and now, she is anxious.
「………Kannshi, truthfully, just what kind of magic beast will be served de gozaru ka? This one is feeling rather nervous instead de gozaru.」
She"s probably experiencing the opposite of earlier excitement. No worries Chloe, I"m also sharing your anxiety. Well, I"d heard that its definitely delicious but its appearance leaves much to be desired.
「WaiーKanna shi, why are you looking at the distance de gozaru ka?! What kind of dish are you going to make this one eat de gozaru ka?!」
Just as Chloe"s anxiety reaches full throttle, the waitress delivers our food.
The dish itself is a common breakfast menu.
A set of soup and bread accompanied by a salad.
The bread is freshly baked from a local bakery while the salad is freshly picked from the farm.
And the main highlight is the soup made using the magic beast I brought in yesterday.
…………Appetizing aroma unimaginable from its appearance wafts from the vividly [purple] soup.
「PuーPurple! ! ? This one had only ever tasted red-colored or green-colored soup but never a purple-colored variety as one would expect de gozaru! This is not unlike a mysterious liquid used by witches in suspicious rituals de gozaru yo! What manner of soup is this de gozaru ka?」
「Its a [baron locust] soup.」
To put it simply, it was a giant gra.s.shopper-type magic beast with body length averaging around 1 meter. Except for its size, it has similar ecology to that of common gra.s.shopper. That includes its characteristic pest behavior. And as a matter of course, baron locusts can be often be found infesting fields of crops.
Incidentally, purple is the color of it"s bodily fluid. I was certainly surprised when I reached it"s page during my study session using the magic beast encyclopedia. It was written there as edible and I even double-checked the description with Cindy-san.
In any case, baron locusts" blood and meat contains lots of nutrients which are essential for human body. It is also ideal as a meal for the sickly because its gentle to the stomach and easy to digest.
「This poisonous looking soup de gozaru ka?」
「Correct, this poisonous looking soup.」
The waitress also affirms my explanation.
In the first place, few adventurers go out of their way to hunt [insects] as food ingredient. As for me, I"m aware about the existence of insect delicacies back on earth but I never actually tasted one myself. However, I got fascinated by the magical charm of magic beast ingredient and I couldn"t resist the temptation of [awful appearance] translates to being [delicious].
「Without further ado, itadakimasu.」
I put my palm together and slightly bow to convey my grat.i.tude for the meal. Usually I do this to convey my respects for the creatures that became my food but this time, I"m mostly praying for my well-being before eating this fad dish of mine. No matter how delicious and nutritious it was described to be, I can"t bring myself to believe those description when this purple is right in front of me.
「Rest a.s.sured de gozaru. This one will collect the leftover bones de gozaru kara.」
「Don"t say things that"ll make me even more anxious. ……Here goes!」
I hardened my resolve and swallowed a spoonful of the purple liquid. Sure enough, the taste is…………
「The heck, isn"t this misooo~? !」
To my surprise, this ominous looking liquid which doesn"t look out of place if used by a witch in a ritual is actually familiar to me back on earth. Just the right amount of saltiness coupled with its unique flavor envelopes my tongue, went down my throat and pervades my body through my stomach.
I see. For a tired body and a weakened stomach, there"s no dish that would be as [effective] as this one. Its too unexpected for the appearance.
「eh? Miso?」
Chloe who was wide-eyed after hearing my remark earlier personally taste a spoonful of purple soup to confirm. She took her time savoring the taste before allowing it to enter her stomach. Chloe comments with a complicated expression on her face.
「………How is this not a scam de gozaru ka? Having the taste of a high-quality miso despite this ominous appearance. While this one does feel nostalgic, this one could not fully accept it de gozaru yo.」
The soup was too visually horrific for her to be honestly touched. Even though its a soup with an excellent taste that I"d never experienced back on earth, its too horrible to look at. It looks so horrible to the point I wanna say it twice. Ah that was my third time.
The nomenclature of the locust-type magic beast was derived from ranks of n.o.bility and one rank above the baron is the [earl locust]. As an even bigger specimen than its baron counterpart, the earl boasts a body length averaging on 2 meters long. Continuing further, it also possess a higher rank as ingredient. However, compared to the E-rank Baron Locust, the difficulty of hunting an Earl Locust jumps up exponentially, earning its place as a C-rank magic beast.
Further above those two lies the [Marquis Locust] and the [Duke Locust] which are recognized by the guild as super dangerous magic beasts. To subdue either of them, B-rank and rank adventurers needs to form subjugation squad first, they"re that dangerous. If the correlation of size between baron and earl can be trusted, then I guess the marquis and duke will be dreadfully larger than its lower rank counterpart. Same curve can be applied to their appearance too (fourth time now), but they"re most definitely delicious.
Let"s hunt some baron if I"m in the mood for miso again. When I relayed my intention to Chloe, she got so conflicted. And after looking so agonized as if she was making the ultimate decision of her life, she squeezed out…
「This one would like to partake as well de gozaru…」
…and relented.
In Hinoizur, miso is a dish known to every household. A taste of home, so to speak. But outside of the country, there"s almost no place that treats it as food ingredient. It seems that the charm of nostalgic miso after a long time had won over her disgust.
After the chance meeting with the purple miso soup, we leave the diner and head for the guild next door. It appears that the catchphrase was not written as mere sophistry as warmth is spreading throughout my body with my stomach being the center of it. To sum it up, I feel great. If something could be done to the color, that soup will likely explode in popularity.
Chloe"s rank is higher than mine, so we tried to separate as we usually do for our own request rank. But I got hailed before we managed to. By Cindy-san, no less. Its quite unusual speaking to her outside the reception area.
「Kannsan, Lydeal-sama calls for your presence. If you do not have any other pressing matter, please head to her office immediately.」
「Basan called?」
「………What sort of trouble have Kannshi gotten into this time de gozaru ka?」
「Don"t treat me like I"m some sorta chronic troublemaker! Besides, last time was on you, wasn"t it?」
I broke into a clamor after seeing Chloe looking at me as if I"m a problem child.
「"twas but a joke de gozaru.」
So said Chloe, accompanied by her chuckle. This ookami-san is gradually getting less and and reserved with me huh…
「Oh not at all. Its not because Kannsan had caused disturbance of any kind.」
「R-Right.」
I got relieved knowing that I didn"t do anything unknowingly.
「Would it be permissible for this one to follow de gozaru ka?」
「If Kannsan does not mind, then there is no problem.」
And so, Cindy-san guided us to basan"s office. When we entered the room, we sit down on the sofa in the middle of the room without hesitation. Basan got seated the opposite of us as usual without particularly caring about our att.i.tude.
「Are you willing to be promoted to D-rank?」
Basan starts the conversation with that line. Chloe got surprised and replied before I can do both.
「Wasn"t Kannshi"s initiation as an adventurer less than a month ago de gozaru ka? This one does not doubt Kannshi"s ability but rather holds the opinion of the promotion being a tad hasty de gozaru ga.」
「I am aware that it would seem to be too early judging by his registration date. But if you properly look at the youngster"s track record on completing E-rank requests, you"ll be convinced as well.」
Saying so, basan hands over the doc.u.ment in her hand to Chloe. After receiving the paper and reading through it, Chloe opens her eyes wide in surprise for the second time. Looking from the side to peek at the paper, I can see my name written in the upper right corner. The rest of the paper had my completed requests along with its corresponding magic beasts listed in a bullet form. It looks like my track record since I started my activity as an adventurer.
「Completed request numbers more than 10. Moreover, with best possible evaluation for almost all of them. I am quite curious on the point that all of those hunting requests consist of only edible magic beast ne~」
「Kannshi… Just how much of a glutton are you de gozaru ka?」
Stahp, both of ya.
Stop looking at me with astonished expression, dang it. Especially you Chloe. Ya just ate together with this so called glutton y"know. Just where the heck did your grat.i.tude for the miso soup fly to?
「Presently, it doesn"t matter if the youngster is a gourmand or not. In the past, its not uncommon for adventurers with similar results to be promoted faster than usual. As such, I have come to a conclusion that the youngster has the minimum level of ability and mentality required for a rank-D.」
Apparently, my quest for hunting delicious food had resulted in me getting the highest possible evaluation. Being a gourmand was not my intention though.
「The moment I knew you are an acquaintance of Real, I don"t consider you to be just a normal person ne~. There"s not a shred of favoritism in my earlier words, mind you. Also, I"ve discussed this matter with other guild staff and we reached this conclusion based on impartial opinions.」
「It is normally difficult for an ordinary E-rank adventurer to achieve the best possible evaluation de gozaru kara na. Indeed. Without any room for doubt, with such a achievement, one would concur with a promotion de gozaru.」
Chloe said so while returning the papers.
「So, what say you, youngster? Considering your consistent top level evaluation, you are liable for an exemption from a promotion exam. If you agree to it, you"ll be D-rank right here and now.」
「eh? I don"t have to take the exam?」
「Promotion exam from E-rank to D-rank can be skipped depending on the track record of said adventurer. Thereafter however, will require you to undertake an exam, no exceptions given.」
As for the promotion test for C-rank, in addition to being evaluated in ability, the guild will also test various other aspects. Most of the low rank requests are commissioned by commoners or privately-run small store"s owners. But as you move up the ranks, the number of commissions submitted by n.o.bles and large-scale merchants increases.
Particularly so for B-rank and above whereby requests from the country itself may drop in unexpectedly. As a natural turn of event, the opportunity in which adventurers themselves negotiating directly with those sort of high-profile clients increases as well. For such an occasion, a certain degree of education is required.
Anyways, I"m not that interested in ranking up. I"m not seeking fame or wealth BUT I"m kinda attracted at the prospect of accepting delicious magic beast subjugation request at higher rank. After all, I"ve eaten almost all of the E-rank which can be found in the vicinity of Draknil. Naturally, my answer is clear.
「Please promote me to D-rank.」
「Right. Then hand over your guild card to Cindy. She will handle the promotion process.」
I take out two guild cards from my chest pocket and hand them over to Cindy-san. She accepts it reverently and proceeds to leave the office.
「Now then, that"s the end of the youngster"s matter. Since black wolf girl is also here, let"s continue with yours as well, shall we?」
「wafu? This one also de gozaru ka?」
The unexpected attention got Chloe tilting her head to the side.
「If I remember correctly, you came to this guild to reissue your card.」
「That"s right de gozaru.」
「It struck me as odd, so I had it investigated at length. Apparently, your acc.u.mulated track record was at the level of just one step before being qualified to take B-rank promotion exam.」
「In the end, it was all in vain as this one was penalized for not undertaking request for a prolonged period of time de gozaru ga………」
Chloe slumps her shoulder. The track record required for advancing to B-rank seems to be considerably harsher compared to from D to C.
B-rankers are purported as skilled adventurers. It is the height which all those who registered with Adventurers Guild aims for as it is a yearned after position. As such, appropriate track record is mandatory.
The even loftier height of rankers and above consist of those who transcends the limits of humanity. They are superhumans with talent and diligent effort combined together. As expected, few would seriously consider aiming at this height.
For better or worse, I can say with confidence that B-rank is a realistic goal.
「I have good news for you. Starting today, we will be recruiting dozens of C-rankers and above for a [raid].」
「Raid………de gozaru ka?」
Raid is a special kind of request posted by the guild that requires adventurers to form a group rather than undertaking it as individuals. Such a request occurs mainly when a magic beast outbreak needs to be exterminated all at once or conversely, when a single atrociously strong magic beast is beyond the capability of an individual. In a lot of similar cases, the urgency is higher than normal requests and accordingly, so does the recorded result and reward.
「A large goblin nest seems to have been discovered in a mountainous region a short distance away from Draknil. There are no towns or villages in the vicinity but unfortunately, magic train tracks runs through the region.」
「If this one remembers correctly, this one had heard that the magic trains was equipped with barrier magic tool to ward of magic beasts de gozaru ga.」
「Regrettably, it is less effective against intelligent magic beast. In addition, the goblins are smart enough to pile rocks on the tracks to obstruct a train in order to plunder supplies loaded inside it. That is the reason why magic train got damaged sometimes.」
「But even if goblins form a group, at most there should only be dozens, right? Isn"t it possible for a group of five or six adventurers to completely annihilate those numbers? Gathering dozens of adventurers on the other hand seems a bit too much.」
If its a raid request targeting C-rankers and above, then it has no direct connection with me who just got up to D-rank. Still, my casual comment got a reply from basan.
「I told you, didn"t I? It"s a large nest. Normally, it would be just as you said but the situation this time is worse because the sighting of a [superior individual] had been confirmed.」
「Superior individual?」
A prior request I took taught me that goblins as a whole, have difficulty expanding their number beyond a certain point. Hence, my train of thought which leads me to believe that this request is unnatural and was induced by some outside elements. I concluded with this time being an exception.
However, basan refuted me by saying this time"s case occurs naturally, albeit at an extremely rare rate. It was all due to the existence of a superior individual. This particular individual, which could also be called a mutant variant will rarely appear all of a sudden from an existing group of magic beast. Without fail, it possesses strength far higher than its normal variant.
The mutant is akin to being a king for their species and with the emergence of one, the species is unified under one banner of a single, powerful force. Large groups are then organized under said banner, which is normally impossible when there"s a bunch of village chiefs.
「The goblins are designated as E-rank but as far as the superior individual is concerned, its estimated to have B-rank level of strength. The goblin horde led by this particular individual is estimated to be at least around 500 goblins. My personal opinion is it will soar as high as 1000-strong.」
「A thousand huh………」
Its at the level comparable to the number of troops in small territories. When it comes to an individual who can unify that number, for a goblin, that is certainly exceptional. I am convinced now. A horde that large definitely warrants the formation of a raid.
「Even if its just goblins, challenging that number with just a few C-rankers, as one would expect, is much too heavy a burden. Hence, the formation of a raid. Besides, the magic train is a state-run operation. A response team will be dispatched from the empire as well, and our raid team is scheduled to join forces with them. In other words, the commissioner this time is the empire itself.」
In addition to the official reason of improving war potential to the utmost, the underlying reason is, leaving the defense of its" state-run facility wholly to adventurers will make the empire suffer disgrace.
「I"ll return to our previous topic. The raid this time is strictly for B-rank and above but we plan to accept C-rankers with certain amount of track record acc.u.mulated. Officially, the black wolf girl does not meet this requirement. However, my recommendation will render it possible. If its all right with you, why don"t you join the raid?」
「Am I allowed to de gozaru ka?」
「I was able to observe your movement during the duel and I conclude that you are qualified for the next rank. If you can achieve a substantial achievement during this raid, thereupon, your erased track record will be reinstated. However, bear in mind that this exemption by no means extends to the promotion test itself. You also need to pa.s.s a stringent test in order to rank up.」
Bewildered by the sudden opportunity dangling in front of her, Chloe lost her words.
「I don"t think this is a bad deal for you. After all, I"m not handing you the task of defeating the superior individual. That matter will be handled by those above B-rank. What is expected from C-rankers this time is the clean-up of any stragglers.」
「Is that so……de gozaru ka……」
The still bewildered Chloe now turns to me for a.s.sistance. I just shrug it off and offer my two cents.
「Why are you asking me? Isn"t it necessary for an upper rank adventurer to possess at least that level of decision making?」
「ka ka ka. If we consider just your advice alone, you youngster are already a full-fledged adventurer ne~」
「That is definitely not a praise ain"t it.」
I send a glower towards basan who"s laughing cheerfully. I know she"s not doing it out of malicious intent but its still really frustrating to be the target of a joke.
Chloe takes a small deep breath as she listens to basan"s laughter and p.r.o.nounce clearly…
「That request, this one will accept de gozaru.」
In response to Chloe"s determined gaze, basan wears a dauntless smile.
yatta ze chloe, omedeto na
im rather fond of chloe, mostly cuz ive been with her the most since starting this project. fite me XD
this is the last chapter of arc 5 ??