Avangarde Castle Town – Hotel Maison
“Alright, here’s a question. Do B-Rank Adventurers get free accommodations at designated lodgings?”
“Um… Oh, it’s this one. Yeah, they do.”
“No, they don’t! You just knocked your pen over to decide that, didn’t you? Free stays start at A-Rank! Even the hotel we’re staying at is like that!”
It had been a month and a half since we arrived in the Kingdom of Avangarde. I had considered returning to Queemil for a while, but the thought of making the long trek back and forth through Kizel Valley was daunting. So, we decided to stay in this town until the exam day. Thanks to Seigel’s recommendation, we ended up at this hotel, but while A-Rank Adventurers stay for free, we only received a discount. According to the current question, that seemed to be the case.
Still, they said it was cheaper than what regular guests would pay, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had been tricked. The hotel was undeniably much nicer than the one we stayed at during the festival, and the rooms were spacious. They even offered room service for meals if needed.
However, more pressing than that was the fact that I was facing my greatest crisis yet. The A-Rank Promotion Exam included a written test, and I was warned that the passing score was over 90%. Every year, nearly half of the candidates failed, and that was terrifying.
“Roel, why is the Kingdom of Avangarde hosting the Adventurer’s Exam?”
“When you reach A-Rank, you not only get support from the Guild but also assistance from the kingdom. Of course, there are also national-level tasks that B-Rank Adventurers like us wouldn’t normally be assigned.”
It felt like something was off about being an Adventurer. Once I reached A-Rank, would I just be forced into soldier-like duties? That was a question I had pondered for a while. Tiferia seemed to be tied to this kingdom as well, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that Adventurers weren’t really adventuring anymore.
Originally, I had set out to reach Ikana Village, but now I found myself thinking that being an Adventurer wasn’t so bad after all. That made my anxiety about reaching A-Rank even greater. And my worries about the exam were even more overwhelming.
“Roel, I’m starting to feel sleepy…”
“We’ve only been at it for ten minutes.”
“I don’t want to! This is hell! I can’t possibly pass this when I can barely read!”
“So, are you giving up on A-Rank?”
“Hey, how’s it going?”
The knock came from Seigel. He was staying at the same hotel but in a much more expensive room, something royal or other. When Roel let him in, he couldn’t help but smirk at me, as if to say, “I knew it.”
I had my head resting on the round table, looking like the world was ending, and apparently, that was quite amusing to him.
“Still down about that incident? Just like a sword, huh?”
“Come on, Seigel. I finally got over that, so don’t bring it up again. Even during the monster subjugation request, I was still dazed after being attacked by two Wolfangs!”
“Honestly, being okay after that is impressive… One of those could wipe out a B-Rank party.”
Right, the point was to defeat the monsters. Knowledge about these kinds of questions was nice to have, but in the end, if I didn’t have the strength, I couldn’t protect anything. When I mentioned this to Roel before, she had playfully hit me for being so logical.
“Sorry, I need to get some fresh air.”
“You’re slacking off again!”
“No, really, I’m at my limit. My whole face is getting hot.”
“Roel, you know, someone who doesn’t use their head regularly is more fragile than you’d think. Let her go.”
It was a somewhat humiliating way to put it, but I couldn’t argue back. When I asked Seigel what kind of questions would come up, he said he had bought a collection of a thousand past questions. He mentioned that lately, they had been running out of new material, so they often recycled old questions, making it easier if you just memorized them. That explained my current predicament.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Hmm. In that case, I’m tired too, so I’ll go with you. Seigel, do you want to join?”
“No, I have something to take care of. You two enjoy your time together.”
Knock, knock.
I wondered if someone else was coming. Since I was going outside anyway, I decided to open the door.
“Yes, who—”
As soon as the door opened, the tip of a fruit knife was thrust toward me. Just before it could reach my nose, I grabbed the slender hand holding the knife. I anticipated some resistance, but the unexpected happened. The knife slipped from her hand as if it had simply fallen away. I was taken aback by how weak my opponent was and instinctively let go of her hand, stepping back.
She swayed and then stumbled into the room.
“Ouch…!”
“Oh, this person is…”
It was a hotel staff member. A middle-aged woman in a beautiful dress-like uniform was holding an apple, and the knife that had just fallen to the floor. She seemed to be in considerable pain, struggling to get back up while rubbing her knee. It looked like she had at least managed to protect her head.
“Oh no! Are you hurt?!”
“N-no, I’m terribly sorry… Um, here’s the apple and knife…”
“Y-yes?”
“I was asked to bring an apple and knife to the guest… Ah!”
The middle-aged woman hurriedly dashed out of the room, glancing back at the door. Perhaps she was checking the room number. What was going on? That was a dangerously reckless thing to do. If it had been someone else, I could have been stabbed!
“I’m so sorry! I went to the wrong room! How strange…”
After apologizing profusely, the woman left, looking bewildered. It had all happened in an instant. Roel and Seigel had witnessed the entire scene, but no one had a chance to say a word. After the small storm passed, we remained silent for a moment.
“Lua-chan, that was close…”
“Yeah, if someone’s going to carry a knife, they should be more careful.”
“Someone must have requested an apple and knife at the front desk but ended up here by mistake. Hmm… Was it the room next door? I wonder what kind of person they are.”
As the three of us peeked through the door, we saw the woman knocking on the neighboring door. She called out several times, but there was no response. After persistently waiting, she finally gave up and walked away.
“Maybe they’re not home?”
“I don’t know. More importantly, that woman almost stabbed me! It’s not just a simple apology; it’s ridiculous…”
“If you got stabbed, that Zangiri guy wouldn’t be able to rest in peace.”
I shot a glare at Seigel, who had made a joke. Getting stabbed due to a mere accident was unacceptable. An apology wouldn’t suffice. I was quite angry about it, but I didn’t feel like complaining.
Avangarde Castle Town – Adventurer’s Guild – Free Space
I visited the guild to check my level, and it turned out to be quite cool and comfortable here. If I ignored the crowd, it was the perfect study spot, as Roel had pointed out. Since I tended to doze off while studying in the hotel room, this was a good alternative.
[Lua – Lv: 999 – Class: Fighter – B-Rank]
[Roel – Lv: 67 – Class: Priest – B-Rank]
“When did I get this strong…?”
“Maybe it’s because I’ve defeated quite a few Golems.”
“Yeah, thanks to that, I can use various spells now. I even did great against the Wolfangs the other day!”
With a Fire Rod that wasn’t particularly strong, I had managed to incinerate two Wolfangs that could have wiped out a B-Rank party. It seemed my magical power had significantly increased. Plus, I had a variety of healing spells that could heal people over a wide area and temporarily prevent status ailments.
But status ailments didn’t affect me, and I hadn’t taken any damage even against that Golem, so I hadn’t had a chance to show off my skills as a Priest. It was better to avoid injuries altogether.
“Now that I look closely, there are people studying hard like us.”
“See? Everyone’s desperate. Lua-chan, you need to work hard too.”
“I’m getting sleepy again…”
I concentrated as best as I could. The lines of text and the parade of sentences were lulling me back to sleep.
“Here, this is to wake you up.”
“Oh, thank you…”
Just as I was about to doze off, a warm cup of coffee was placed in front of me. I didn’t particularly like coffee because it was bitter, but I genuinely appreciated the thoughtfulness. It was someone from the guild, walking around distributing it to everyone working hard.
I took a sip, and just as I swallowed, the cup slipped from my hand.
“Ugh… cough… cough! Hah… Hah…”
“Lua-chan?!”
My entire tongue tingled, and my throat and stomach felt like they were on fire. It was as if I had swallowed something highly acidic. This was poison. A toxin potent enough to affect me, someone with resistance. My throat burned, and I desperately wanted some water.
With Roel gently rubbing my back, I finally grasped the situation. Everyone around me looked surprised, but they were all holding coffee cups. I couldn’t tell if they had already drunk from them or if they hadn’t touched them yet. I’m not particularly knowledgeable about poisons, but the one I just encountered was quite potent. It had been nearly ten years since I last suffered from poison. Back when I had just started exploring the Abyss Cave, I struggled a lot.
Once I developed a resistance to toxins, things became easier, but I never expected to be poisoned here of all places.
“Roel, you can’t drink that…”
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine with this one, but…”
“Everyone else is in danger!”
Looking around, I noticed that while there was a commotion, it seemed no one else had been poisoned in the same way. Everyone was clearly puzzled about what was happening.
“Um, what’s going on here?”
“You’re the one who put poison in this coffee, right?!”
“Wha-?! Me?!”
“Excuse me, let me see…”
A middle-aged adventurer with an air of experience interrupted us. Dressed in a manner that could be either a wizard or a swordsman, his class was hard to determine. He leaned over to sniff the spilled coffee on the table.
“No smell. It’s not acid, so what could this be… Let’s investigate.”
“What’s going on? Poison? No way!”
The uncle pulled out some unfamiliar tools and began scooping up the coffee. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a transparent vial hanging from his waist, suggesting he was well-versed in poisons.
“Lua-chan, are you okay? Is it really poison?”
“I’m fine, but…”
“Th-This is Dragon Slayer Poison! Just a single drop can kill a dragon instantly… I suspected something was off due to the lack of smell, but this is an ultra-venom that’s nearly impossible to obtain now.”
The uncle exclaimed in shock. I could imagine the emotions swirling within him as he compared the poison to my expression. I understood; I was surprised too.
The guild member was being bombarded with accusations from several adventurers. They were desperately protesting, but it seemed like things were spiraling out of control. In the end, it turned out that the guild member had only distributed the coffee out of goodwill, insisting that no poison had been added. Apparently, no one else’s coffee had anything in it; it seemed I was the only one targeted.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a serious incident warranting military intervention, but since the guild member was on the verge of tears and I was unharmed, I decided to let it slide. The use of such a rare poison caused quite a stir. Eventually, a large number of soldiers arrived, and the chaos continued until I was released later in the evening. Between the incident at the hotel and this one, today felt particularly strange. It seemed that the best place to study in peace was still the hotel room.
◆ Avangarde Castle Town, Central Street ◆
“What a disaster… It seems that person really didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m completely confused.”
“Yeah… I’m feeling a bit worn out. But I’m glad Lua-chan is okay.”
We trudged back to the hotel. I wondered if someone had asked that person to put poison in my drink. If that were the case, it would mean they were lying, but who would do such a thing?
On days like this, it’s best to just stay in my room. If someone comes to visit, I can just not answer the door, and if I secure my own drinks, I won’t have to worry about being poisoned again.
“Yawn… Why do I have to deal with poison?”
Just as I was about to let out a big yawn, something fell from a building under repair above us. Several wooden beams, resembling logs, came tumbling down as if they had been knocked over.
I quickly scooped up Roel and dashed away from the spot as the beams crashed to the ground with a dry thud. Fortunately, it seemed there was no one else around us. The beams had fallen from the top of a three-story building.
Looking up, I saw a worker peering down, pale as a ghost. They might have accidentally dropped something while working, but if it had been anyone else, there could have been fatalities.
“Hey! Are you okay? Is anyone hurt?!”
A few people hurried down to check the area. As I approached, one of them flinched.
“I’m so sorry! I was being careful, but my hand slipped… Hey! Let’s clean this up right away!”
After a brief apology directed at me, the workers hurriedly began gathering the scattered beams.
Yeah, something feels off today. On days like this, it’s definitely better to quietly stay in my room and study. After all, there’s only a month and a half until the exam. Roel must be gearing up for it too. There’s no way she’d let me slack off.
“Roel, I’m really worn out…”
“Lua-chan, you’ve had a tough day. Shall we just rest for now?”
“Really? Is that okay?”
“If you weren’t so tough, you would have died from that poison, you know? I can’t push you too hard…”
I thought to myself that sometimes it’s worth experiencing a little misfortune.