Chapter 16: Ranking Bonus
After checking the rankings, Salina-san told me to come to the counter.
With the adventurer rankings, if you rise rapidly, you get a bonus according to how much you’ve climbed.
Apparently, this is to raise morale by making adventurers compete with each other.
For the Guild too, it’s more reassuring to have stronger adventurers complete quests.
So, everyone works day and night, trying to shoot up the rankings all at once.
But, I’ve never heard of a case where someone jumped from the very bottom to 5th place all of a sudden.
If something like that happened, how big of a bonus would one get?
“…Eh, th-this… are you serious…!?”
I was speechless looking at the amount on the document Salina-san handed me.
I’ve received a fair bit of money up until now, but this is seriously overwhelming.
Because… I can’t even tell how many digits there are.
“Uhm… ones, tens, hundreds, thousands… ten thousands… uhm…!?”
No matter how many times I look, the numbers don’t change.
Surely, I’m not dreaming, am I?
Could everything since yesterday just be an illusion…!?
――――――――――――――
《Payment Slip》
Pay to: Loin Canberras
Details: Adventurer Rank Bonus
Amount
97,800,000G
――――――――――――――
“Um… Salina-san, are you teasing me…?”
I looked at Salina-san’s face again.
But Salina-san just gave me her usual sun-like smile.
“No… this is correct.”
“Seriously…”
I’m starting to get a little scared, though…?
Am I going to get attacked by ruffians after leaving the Guild later?
“Th-this… does everyone get this much…!?”
Where on earth do they secure the funds for such a huge amount of money?
No matter how big this town’s Guild is, wouldn’t this put them in the red?
“No… this amount is just for you, Loin-san.”
“R-right… Why so much…”
I’m worried that Salina-san’s salary might decrease because of this.
Well, in that case, I’d like to step up and say I’ll support her, but…
Even joking aside, this is insane.
“Well, this is an unprecedented case, you see… The Guild never anticipated such a massive rank-up… Even the highest bonus recipient until now only climbed about 100 ranks at most. It’s like a flaw in the system, or rather… well, Loin-san is just off the charts… and because of that, the multiplier went haywire, leading to this…”
“Hah… I see…?”
Well, that’s probably true.
They probably never even imagined such a ridiculous rank-up was possible.
This time, it was the result of various achievements piling up, like the giant Golem and the Demonite Ore…
But, even if that’s fine, I’m worried about the Guild.
It would be a problem if the Guild went into the red because of me.
“Salina-san, where are the funds for this coming from…? Honestly, if I can’t be sure this Guild will be okay… I really can’t accept this kind of money.”
“Ah, ah…! That’s fine, you know? Please don’t worry.”
“Eh…?”
“Payments in cases like this aren’t made directly from this Guild, but from the Guild Management Association. In other words, it’s the large parent organization that oversees all the guilds. So, you don’t need to worry about the funding.”
“Oh, I see.”
“The higher-ups at the Guild Management Association are quite well-paid, so it should be fine even if Loin-san receives this much. Besides, the Association headquarters also receives support from the country and such, so please don’t mind.”
I see… that’s a relief.
No, it’s not a relief…!
Even if you say that… what am I going to do with all this money!?
Well, I’ll think about that later… Things are going to get pretty hectic from now on…!?
“Things have gotten… pretty incredible, haven’t they?”
“Y-yes… My head can’t quite keep up anymore.”
Moreover, since I’ve become an S-Rank adventurer, I can take on S-Rank quests from now on.
They say S-Rank quests bring in a lot of money, so what’s really going to happen?
As Salina-san and I were talking like that at the counter,
the inside of the Guild started to get noisy again.
It was even more commotion than when I first came in.
An existence that would cause more of a stir than me, who is 5th in the adventurer rankings.
Which means—
“Hey! It’s the Hero Party!?”
“Seriously…? I’ve never seen them before!”
“Don’t they look kinda angry…?”
“It’s rare… It’s the Hero! They hardly ever show their faces at the Guild!”
—The strongest existence, reigning at the top of the adventurer ranks.
Adventurer Rank 1: Alester Lyos
Adventurer Rank 2: Elena Rouge
Adventurer Rank 3: Geord Lark
Adventurer Rank 4: Momoka Franbel
People called these four—
“The Hero Party…!”
And just like that, the S-Rank party led by Hero Alester Lyos was heading straight for me!
Wh-what’s going on…!?
Hero Alester is a flashy young man with spiky blond hair.
He carries a very typical-looking cape and sword, and has a narcissistic vibe.
Alester came right up to me, stopped, and said.
“Are you… Loin. Canberras…?”
“Ah, uh… Yes, I am, but…”
What could the Alester Lyos possibly want with me?