Chapter 168: Rank Up
“Whoa, this is quite the mess.”
As we returned to the inn from the never-ending festival, we were greeted by a scene of utter chaos. It seemed that the wave from the defeat of the Sea Emperor Turtle had flooded the first floor, leaving the basement in a terrible state.
“I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, dear guests. We’re currently cleaning up, but the situation is quite overwhelming…”
Labyris, an employee with rabbit ears sprouting from her head and a black choker around her neck, bowed her head apologetically.
“No, no, please lift your head. We’re not bothered at all,” I replied, feeling uncomfortable with her apology.
“The wave was caused by us, so we should be the ones apologizing,” Rio added.
“That’s right, the fault lies with us,” I echoed, trying to encourage Labyris to raise her head.
“W-wait, are you saying that the massive wave was… your fault?” Labyris stammered, her ears perked up in surprise.
With a bit of effort, I managed to get Labyris to lift her head. Watching her rabbit ears twitch was oddly heartwarming.
“Um, well, it was my magic that caused the wave…” Rio confessed, looking a bit sheepish.
At that, Labyris’s ears stood straight up with excitement. “Wait, could it be that you were the ones who defeated the Sea Emperor Turtle?!”
“Y-yes. So, I’m really sorry that the inn ended up like this,” Rio said, bowing her head once more, but Labyris grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look up.
“No, no! You are not at fault at all! In fact, thank you for saving the town! If the Sea Emperor Turtle had landed here, this inn would have been among the first to be destroyed…”
“Ah, yeah… that’s true…” I replied, considering that the damage could have been much worse. Still, I felt like there might have been a better way to handle things, but it was too late to dwell on that now.
“So please, don’t worry about it,” Labyris insisted.
“Understood,” I said, realizing that continuing to apologize would lead us nowhere. In situations like this, it’s best to slip a little extra money during payment.
“The second floor and above are unaffected, so please feel free to rest in your rooms,” Labyris smiled, encouraging us to head upstairs.
We wasted no time diving onto the bed, utterly exhausted from the day’s events. Before I knew it, I had drifted off into a deep sleep, waking up refreshed the next morning.
After having breakfast and gathering some daily necessities for Phonia and the others, we made our way to the Adventurer’s Guild. The Guild Master had summoned us, but I wondered what it could be about.
“Oh, Shu and Rio, you made it!” Lowell greeted us as soon as we ascended to the second floor.
“I was told by the Guild Master to come,” I replied.
“I’ll take care of the paperwork right away, so please head to the counter,” he instructed.
“Huh? What paperwork?” I asked, puzzled as we lined up at the empty counter. It was still early, so there weren’t many people around.
“Why, it’s the paperwork for your rank up! May I have your Adventurer’s Certificates?” he said with a smile.
“W-wait, rank up already?” I exclaimed, surprised. It hadn’t been long since we had just reached C Rank.
“Of course! Defeating the Sea Emperor Turtle is quite the achievement!” Lowell replied enthusiastically.
“Well, if that’s the case…” I said, removing the chain from around my neck and handing it to him.
“Oh, and may I have the tag for your Tamed Monster as well? We’ll need to replace it with a new one,” he added, pointing at Nil.
“Oh, I see?” I responded, realizing that Nil’s tag would also be changed.
Calling Nil over, I removed the tag and handed it to Lowell. The other adventurers, who had been watching us with interest, began to murmur among themselves. Some even started to pet Nil, who had somehow become quite the popular figure.
After disappearing behind the counter, Lowell returned holding a metallic plate.
“Here you go,” he said, presenting it to us.
The Adventurer’s Certificate we had been using remained unchanged, but the new metallic plate was now threaded onto the chain as well. It had a strange color that seemed to shift between silver and green, and at certain angles, it even appeared rainbow-hued. However, the surface was smooth and bore no inscriptions—just a plain metal plate.
When I appraised it, it revealed itself to be Mithril. I recognized it; it was the same as the Mithril Coins worth a billion Fron.
“What is this?” I asked Lowell, confused.
Straightening his posture, he beamed at us. “Congratulations, Shu and Rio! Your Adventurer Rank has been upgraded to S Rank! This Mithril Adventurer’s Certificate is the proof of your new status.”
“…Huh?”
Just as I was about to question how this was possible, cheers erupted from the surrounding adventurers.
“Now, about the Tamed Monster tag. Since your rank has risen to S Rank, there’s no need to pretend that Nil is just a Silver Wolf pup anymore. We’ll be exchanging the Tamed Monster tag for one that befits an S Rank,” Lowell continued.
“Wait, what?” we all exclaimed in unison, our expressions mirroring the shock of the adventurers who had been petting Nil.
“You can now proudly introduce Nil as Frozevitnir,” Lowell declared, and as the realization sank in, the adventurers who had been frozen in shock erupted into screams.