“Due to a massive outbreak of ‘Alairis’ that are ravaging the Popol Fruit, we need exterminators. There are simply too many, so we would like as many Adventurers as possible to help. Koiwa Farm.”
Koiwa Farm, known for cultivating Popol Fruit, which has a sweet peach-like exterior and a soft, subtly sweet, carbonated taste inside, sprawls out so wide that one cannot grasp its entirety at a glance. Indeed, it was clear that a single Adventurer would struggle to handle this alone. Thus, we found ourselves alongside numerous Adventurers, working to eliminate the Alairis monsters.
【Alairis x4 has appeared! HP 24】
【Rua’s attack! Average damage of 500119! Alairis x4 defeated!】
These monsters were hardly a challenge. They might be slightly stronger than Cave Rabbits, but even a novice Adventurer wielding a sword could manage to hunt them. The real issue was their numbers; there were easily over thirty in sight. They seemed to breed rapidly, and if left unchecked, they would multiply exponentially. At first, I had been eagerly engaged in the hunt, but the sheer volume was starting to wear on me. After all, I was C-Rank, so I should be able to take on more challenging quests. Why had I ended up participating in this?
“If the farm’s crops are damaged, the prices of fruits in the market will skyrocket.”
Ah, it was Roel. She sounded quite reasonable, but I suspected her motivation was more about her appetite. The prospect of strawberry picking, apple picking, and the chance to indulge in whatever she liked had her eyes sparkling with excitement. It was indeed tempting, but had I known it would be this tedious, I wouldn’t have joined from the start. Of course, I could finish this in an instant. A single spell could wipe them all out. However, that would mean the farm would also be destroyed, so that idea was dismissed. Still, if I truly put my heart into it, I could clear this up in no time.
“Since there are beginner Adventurers here, you shouldn’t take them all down by yourself, Rua-chan.”
If she hadn’t said that, I wouldn’t have realized. I couldn’t just rob them of this perfect opportunity to level up. So, I continued to hunt them down, albeit at a slower pace.
“Ugh!”
A startled cry escaped an inexperienced Adventurer who had inadvertently found himself surrounded. I couldn’t ignore that, so of course, I rushed to help. The fresh-faced Adventurer, who had just received a new sword, stood there in shock for a moment, staring at the remains of the Alairis before finally thanking me.
“Are you Rua? Wow, you’re smaller than I expected!”
While I continued hunting out of habit, a party of three girls approached me. I wondered how they knew my name.
“We heard that it was a girl who captured Grundom, and we were so happy! It’s amazing that you’re a girl too. It made us feel like we could do our best!”
I see, it seemed that the news of my encounter with Grundom had spread further than I thought. To this D-Rank girl party, I must have appeared as a beacon of hope. They seemed to be fledglings as well. I was still C-Rank myself, so I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased, but it felt nice to be praised.
Before I knew it, the number of Alairis had significantly decreased. We finished clearing them out in the afternoon. Koiwa, the farm owner, wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel around his neck and repeatedly thanked us.
“Wow, thank you all so much! Thanks to you, our crops are safe from devastation!”
The farm staff bowed their heads in gratitude.
“So, we can pick as much fruit as we want now, right?!”
The voice that spoke without hesitation belonged to Ord. So he had participated too; I should have pretended to mistake him for an Alairis and struck him down. A dark thought crossed my mind for just a moment.
“Sure, sure. But only in the designated area, okay? The rest is for shipping, so don’t touch it.”
“Slurp.”
I never thought I’d hear someone say ‘slurp’ out loud. It turned out to be Roel.
The scene had transformed from one of frantic hunting to a peaceful atmosphere. The Adventurers, who had been bloodthirsty in their pursuit of Alairis, were now engrossed in fruit picking. Roel’s voracious appetite made it seem like she might devour every fruit in the farm.
“Rua-chan, aren’t you going to eat?”
“Roel, you should finish the grapes in your right hand before reaching for anything else.”
Even though I had eaten enough, she still seemed eager to consume more.
“Hey! You all seem to be doing well!”
A loud voice interrupted us. Ord, with a basket full of fruit hanging from one arm, barged into our circle.
“Man, I’ve been working hard since then. I finally reached Level 7. You’re still at Level 6, right? Well, keep it up! Humans should take it slow and steady!”
“Yes, I’ll do my best.”
I couldn’t tell if Roel was being sincere or just brushing him off. Quite a bit of time had passed since then, and logically, there was no way she would still be at Level 6, so what was he talking about? Roel had leveled up to 10 during the ore excavation.
“Oh, there you are! Rua-san!”
It seemed the trio of girls had spotted us. They too were carrying baskets full of fruit.
“Can you tell us more about the Grundom hunt?”
“Uh, well, it wasn’t exactly a hunt, more like an ore excavation…”
“Shall I regale you with a thrilling tale? The rescue of the injured!”
“No, thank you.”
Ord was coldly dismissed.
“We’re still C-Rank too, so we’re probably not that different from you.”
“That’s not true! We’re still D-Rank and Level 2! Not long ago, we were in danger on the second floor of Avangarde Cave. We were attacked by a swarm of bats, and we ran out of healing potions… If you hadn’t taken down Grundom, we don’t know what would have happened to us…”
“I thought maybe this wasn’t for me. But hearing about your exploits gave me courage.”
The girls praised us in unison. The polite one was Ai, the energetic and cheerful one was Mai, and the quiet little one who hadn’t spoken a word was Mi. They were the Three Sisters. Their classes were Axe Fighter, Archer, and Healer, respectively. They introduced themselves. The slender girl was carrying a heavy-looking axe, but it seemed a bit much for her. Now that I thought about it, I had seen her earlier, but she hadn’t hit any of those nimble Alairis. I wondered if there was a reason for that or if she simply hadn’t thought it through.
“Mi-chan is a Healer too! I’m a Healer as well!”
Roel spoke to Mi with a sense of camaraderie, but Mi hid behind her sister. She must be at that age where she was shy around strangers.
“If you’re aiming for A-Rank, you’ll eventually have to take the A-Rank Rank Promotion Exam.”
“Rank Promotion Exam?”
“To become A-Rank, you have to pass the exam held once a year. Apparently, over 500 B-Rank Adventurers gather every year with permission from the Guild.”
I felt like I had heard something about that before. Just hearing the word ‘exam’ made me break out in hives. I had thought I could become A-Rank just by completing requests.
“We’re C-Rank, so that’s still a ways off for us.”
“That’s true, but… exams sound unpleasant. Why do we have to do something like that?”
“A-Rank is recognized by both the Guild and the Kingdom. It carries that much weight.”
Mai explained with a somber expression. Could someone like me, who struggled with reading, really pass?
“And every year, the examiners are… huh, what is it?”
Mi tugged at Mai’s arm, prompting her to bend down to hear what she had to say.
“Oh, it’s already that time… Rua-san, Roel-san, we have urgent business, so we’ll take our leave here. Sorry!”
“That’s right, we don’t have time to play…”
The Three Sisters hurriedly exited the farm. Their demeanor suggested that whatever urgent matter they had was of great importance. It felt like a lie that we had just been enjoying ourselves moments ago.
“That was strange.”
“Yeah, but I hope they do well.”
With baskets overflowing with Popol Fruit, we headed home.
///
“Ugh… I’m exhausted.”
As Gantetsu walked through the long corridors of the castle, he felt the weight of fatigue. The hunt for that mysterious monster had proven more ferocious than it appeared, and even he, with his battle experience, found himself occasionally thrown off balance. How many of those monsters were still out there? He knew he shouldn’t think this way, but he didn’t want to face them again. Yet, as an A-Rank, it was his duty to do so. Even knowing that, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was meant for something more than this. He had once chosen the path of an Adventurer, filled with dreams. Now, it felt more like he was a convenient errand boy for the kingdom.
“Where on earth did that monster come from?”
“You don’t need to think about that.”
Unbeknownst to Gantetsu, Shinbu had silently appeared behind him. Gantetsu instinctively turned around and took several steps back.
“That just ended my life once, didn’t it, Gantetsu-san?”
“Cut out the bad jokes.”
“Even an A-Rank like you can’t afford to be that careless.”
“Gantetsu, I heard you went to Queemil recently too.”
“What of it?”
“You only took down one monster. There were five of them over there, right? So what were you doing? Did you really have time to be dealing with a Poison Salamander?”
“That was an emergency. I couldn’t just ignore it.”
Shinbu suddenly closed the distance between himself and Gantetsu. With a swift motion, he lifted Gantetsu’s chin with his fingers, almost as if mocking him for his inability to react. He then gently stroked Gantetsu’s jaw with that same finger.
“Talk is cheap. Show your strength instead.”
Gantetsu couldn’t help but groan under the piercing gaze hidden behind Shinbu’s flashy glasses.
“I took care of three of them. And you? Just one? Aren’t you supposed to be A-Rank? Or are you using your age as an excuse?”
“S-Sorry.”
“Old soldiers should just retire.”
Shinbu was right; even though he had gone to Queemil, he had achieved almost nothing. But it was also true that he couldn’t overlook the Poison Salamander. He was supposed to be an Adventurer, yet he felt like he was being used by the country. Shinbu was a genius. In less than a year since starting as an Adventurer, he had passed the A-Rank promotion exam and quickly joined the ranks of the elite. It made Gantetsu feel pathetic for having worked hard for so long. No matter how much Shinbu teased him, he couldn’t muster a retort. He didn’t want to admit to feeling inferior, but he knew he couldn’t compete with this man. Deep down, he accepted his defeat.
“The last one was picked up by that long-faced captain, it seems. Meanwhile, the old man…”
Before Shinbu could finish his sentence, Gantetsu turned on his heel and walked away. Shinbu chuckled before watching him disappear down the hallway.
“A lower-tier A-Rank is quite pitiful.”
Pointing at the distant figure of Gantetsu with a flourish, the pink-clad man also vanished from the corridor.
Monster Compendium
Alairis
HP: 24
A pest that acts in groups, often causing significant damage to crops. Its sharp front teeth can crush even hard nuts. With a very high reproductive rate, it can quickly multiply unless completely eradicated.