Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta Boku wa Raisede wa Jimi ni Ikiru ~ - Chapter 11

“Oh my goodness! Father!”

Miss Celia burst into Viscount Grimoa’s office looking flustered.

“What is it, Celia?”

The Viscount looked at her with a surprised expression on his face.

“I-it’s! The disastrous future with the town overrun by monsters has disappeared from my Foresight!!”

“What!?”

Both Viscount Grimoa and I unintentionally sprang up at the unexpected and unbelievable news.

“No matter how many times I looked until noon, all I could see were images of ruin, but when I just looked, they were completely gone!”

“S-so the territory!?”

“Everyone was living peacefully!”

“Oooh!!”

Viscount Grimoa shouted from excitement, his hands in fists, then collapsed back down into his chair.

“This, right after we hired that man… my decision was correct.”

“Aug-dono must have heard you Sir and defeated the cause of the disaster.”

“Mhm, as expected of a man who slew a Dragon. We’ll have to raise his reward.”

A peaceful atmosphere that hadn’t been felt in the office for a number of weeks descended upon us.

As expected of an A-Rank adventurer, he had caught wind of indications of a disaster just from negotiating with the Viscount and had independently acted upon that feeling.

With this action, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to be promoted to S-Rank soon.

◆ ◆

“Ah, Rex-san! Perfect timing!”

We had just returned to the adventurer’s guild after having defeated the demon when Elma-san, the receptionist lady, called out to me.

“What’s the matter, Elma-san?”

“Sorry to have made you wait so long. The Dragon and Evil Boars’ auction payouts have finally arrived.”

Ooh, I’ll finally get the payments for the Green Dragon and the Evil Boars!

But then, they’re just a green Dragon and Evil Boars after all, so I’m not expecting all that much.

“Also, we have also received the Lord-sama’s payment for the Evil Boar, so I’ll give you that as well.”

“Ooh, that’s gonna be a huge amount of money, big bro!”

“I wonder. It was just a Green Dragon, after all.”

“Huh… like I said, that’s not how it is?”

Eh? What do you mean, Elma-san?

“Anyway, I’ll be handing over the auctions’ payout, so please come to the reception room with me.”

“We’re not doing it at the reception window here?”

“Auction payouts tend to be large, so we hand them over in a separate room so others don’t hear the amount as a measure against trouble.”

“Eeh, but then I won’t know how much big bro got!?”

“Even if you’re close, you shouldn’t forget at least the minimum level of politeness. Alright Jairo-san, leader of Team Dragon Slayers?”

“Gyaah! Don’t call us thaaaaaaat!!”

That team name having become a part of Jairo-kun’s embarrassing past, he writhed around.

“I’m fine with them coming?”

“Eh? Is that really all right?”

Elma-san said, glancing at the still-writhing Jairo-kun.

“He’ll ask later anyway, so he might as well hear it now.”

“As expected of big bro! You’re so generous!”

Ah, he’s already revived.

“…All right then. This way please, everyone.”

Elma-san guided us to the guild’s reception room.

Once we were all inside, she closed the door and then locked it.

Those are some strict security measures.

“Now then, I will hand over the auctions’ payout.”

Saying so, Elma-san put a large bag on the table.

The table creaked.

Then, she put a small bag on the table as well. A smaller amount of money?

“This is the total sum for the Dragon and three Evil Boars up for auction as well as the Evil Boar the Lord-sama bought: twenty white-gold coins.”

Twenty gold coins? That’s less than I was expecting.

“Huuuuh, isn’t twenty gold coins too little?”

Jairo-kun, who seemed to have thought the same thing, leaned back in his chair with a disappointed look on his face.

“No, Jairo-san. It’s not twenty gold coins.”

Norb-san said, correcting Jairo-kun.

Hmm? But she said twenty gold coins, didn’t she?

“It’s twenty white-gold coins.”

White-gold coins? Umm… isn’t that the name of a special gold coin that’s issued when paying in gold coins would be too complicated?

“How many gold coins is a white-gold coin?”

“Erm… I think it was…”

Norb-san tried to recall how much it was at Mina-san’s question.

“It’s ten-thousand gold coins.”

“““““TEN-THOUSAND GOLD COINS!?”””””

We all shouted in sync at the shocking amount of money.

“And since there’s twenty of them, converted to gold coins, that would be two-hundred-thousand.”

“Two-hundred-thousand gold coins!?”

I’m a little surprised!? It’s such a different amount of money it makes all my other earnings pocket money by comparison!?

“T-that’s a hell of a lot of money…”

Elma-san began explaining the details to us.

“We put each part of the monsters up for auction separately. Scales, bones, skin, internal organs, core, and so on. For the Dragon, which is said to have no useless parts, almost everything was sold for a large amount of money. A bidder would be proud to have just one. And many people apparently wanted the more valuable parts, so much so that the bids rose with a staggering speed.”

With staggering speed!? Just how much did they all want that Green Dragon!?

Hmm, is that it? That for a monster only on the level of a Green Dragon, materials in good condition are rare, so they fetched an unexpectedly high price!?

In the sense that they were popular with enthusiasts.

“And since the Evil Boars’ fur wasn’t all cut up, and could thus be put up for auction whole, the greater nobles bid for them without casting an eye on the price.”

Wow, the way rich people spend their money is amazing.

““““…””””

Jairo-kun and the other three were also speechless.

“But still, that’s an amazing amount of money.”

“The part paid by the Lord-sama is also large.”

“By the Lord-sama?”

“Yes, it includes the suppression rewards for the Dragon and the Evil Boars.”

“Suppression rewards?”

“Yes, subjugating a Dragon and Evil Boars rampaging in the Lord-sama’s territory are ‘Actions that contribute to the safety of the land.’ Therefore, the reward includes a suitable price for defeating them as well.”

“The Lord-sama did something like that…”

“Well, it’s still an unnaturally large amount of money…”

Elma-san said, tilting her head as if thinking something.

But I still think it’s amazing.

I’m moved to think that there’s a noble like that who thinks about the people.

It seems there are also good nobles out there.

“Then, I’ll gratefully accept.”

“You really are awesome big bro! D-Ranks don’t usually earn this much money!”

Shouted Jairo-kun, having recovered from the shock of the two-hundred-thousand gold coins.

Well, true, this amount of money surprised even me.

Being an adventurer is really profitable.

“I said the total sum was twenty white-gold coins, but the money here has already had the guild auctioning fee of 8%, or in this case sixteen-thousand gold coins, deducted from it. The smallest we could make it was eighteen white-gold coins, as well as the four-thousand gold coins left over from the auctioning fee in this big bag here.”

Ah, so the big bag contains the change from the auctioning fee.

The change was four-thousand gold coins…

“Right, if the money is too much we can have it stored in the guild bank.”

So she’s telling me to leave it here.

“Ehm, I have a magic bag, so I’ll be fine.”

Saying so, I put the rewards in my magic bag.

“That’s a pity…”

Muttered Elma-san with utmost regret.

“Well anyway, if you have any more large monsters in the future, please do come sell them here at our guild! It will cost a small fee, but if you put them up for auction, they’ll fetch quite a good price!”

“The guild just wants that fee.”

“!? …Whatever are you talking about?”

Elma-san froze for a moment at Mina-san’s retort, then immediately went back to her calm expression.

Hmm, she’s a pro.

“Ah, speaking of large monsters…”

I told Elma-san about the Cursed Viper I had defeated earlier.

“So you want to sell it?”

I hunted it, and it would make money, so I was going to sell it.

“You just hunted those Evil Boars and now you’ve got another large monster… hmmm, this is a good deal!”

Elma-san was filled with spirit.

She must really like her job.

“But it’s a cursed monster? Is that all right?”

Meguri-san asked.

“That’s right! They can’t dismantle it if they get cursed!”

“Don’t worry. Cursed Vipers’ curses disappear once they die.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah, it’s similar to body strengthening magic’s Cursed Boost, something like what Jairo-kun unconsciously did with releasing healing mana. It’s basically the monster version of that.”

“No wait, didn’t you just say monster from the Demon World?”

Elma-san asked, shaking for some reason.

“Yes, a demon summoned it through a gate it had made.”

“A demonnnnnnn!?”

Elma-san screamed.

“Aah, yes, see, that’s how people usually react.”

“Yeah, it’s a very natural reaction.”

For some reason, Mina-san and Meguri-san were happily nodding to each other.

“Oh right, in the documents I once read about the monsters of the Demon World, the Cursed Viper was… P-please wait a bit! Is that all right! I’ll go call my superior, so please wait!”

As soon as she said that, Elma-san flew out of the reception room to go somewhere.

And, a few minutes later, she returned with a man in tow.

“Hey, Elma, what d’you mean emergency? And who’re these kids?”

The man seemed to have been brought here without having the situation explained to him, so he was quite confused.

“I… will… explain… that… now…”

Elma-san said out of breath; she must have really hurried.

Then, once she had gathered her breath, she began speaking.

“Rex-san, this person is this adventurers’ guild’s guild chief. This problem exceeded my authority, so I had him come down.”

“Guild chief!?”

No way, a big shot made his appearance!

“Oho, I’m Berkeley, the guild chief, nice to meet you!”

He greeted us in a friendly manner.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Rex.”

“I-I’m J-Jairo!”

“I’m Mina.”

“Meguri.”

“I’m Norb, nice to meet you.”

“Oho! So, Elma, what is it? I’m quite busy.”

He was called down mid-work. Sorry about that.

“All your work seems to entail anyway is drinking and gambling, no? You’re a former A-Rank adventurer, so please at least do your job seriously at times like these.”

“Former A-Rank?”

As I reacted to Elma-san’s words, Norb-san next to me whispered in my ear.

“It’s common practise to have people who were once A-Rank adventurers be the adventurers’ guild’s branch chiefs.”

“Hee, really.”

“That’s right, I’m awesome. Gahahahaha”

Thank goodness, he seems to be a good person.

“Sorry to spoil your good mood, but a Cursed Viper has been spotted near town.”

“A Cursed Viper? Weren’t those…”

“A-Rank Danger Level monsters who inhabit the Demon World.”

“Ah yes… wait, WHAT!?”

A second later, the guild chief raised his voice in surprise.

“Why is there a monster from the Demon World above ground!? Elma! Hurry and send out an emergency request to the adventurers!!!”

“The Cursed Viper has already been defeated, so please calm down.”

“Right! Then, I’ll be going to the church and the magician’s association to tell them about the emergency… wait, WHAT!?”

The guild chief shouted again with a shocked look on his face.

“Furthermore, the presence of a gate to the Demon World and a demon has been confirmed.”

“What!? A demon in this era!? Was it real!? No anyway, it has something to do with the Demon World, so I’ll have to hurry and report this to the nation so they can get the army ready.”

“Both the gate and the demon have been repelled.”

“So everything’s over already then!?”

Hmm, what a serious person.

“…Elma, stop with this bad joke already. I’m the guild chief, okay?”

Huh? He thinks it’s a joke?

“Umm, it’s true. If you want the Cursed Viper’s remains, I have them with me.”

I’d feel bad if Elma-san were labelled as a liar.

But the guild chief should believe her if I show him proof.

“That’s right, that’s right! Big bro would never tell lies!”

“A Cursed Viper’s carcass… all right then. Bring it to the dismantling site round the back. …It’s probably just a variant of a Big Viper anyway.”

Hmm, he really doesn’t believe us.

◆ ◆

Following the guild chief, we arrived at the dismantling site behind the guild.

“Hee, so this is what a dismantling site is like?”

“It’s our first time entering one.”

“I’m not surprised. The only ones who can usually come here are high-ranked parties who hunted some big monster. Anyway, hurry and bring your catch over.”

Since I was being hurried by the guild chief, I immediately took the Cursed Viper’s body out of my magic bag.

“Here you go.”

“What do you mean ‘Here you go’, Cursed Vipers are bigger than a house, you little… wai- whaaaaaat!?”

The guild chief was surprised by the Cursed Viper I had taken out of my magic bag, but as far as I knew, it had a pretty normal size for Cursed Vipers.

“Y-you!? W-where the hell did you take that out from!?”

Ah, so that was it.

“From my magic bag.”

“Magic bag!? Aren’t those Lost Items!? Where’d you get something like that from!?”

Lost Item? What. This is just a normal magic bag, dude.

“I brought it with me from home, like normal?”

“What kind of home is thaaaaaaaaaat!?”

Back home, everyone in the village had one ‘cause they were useful for everyday activities.

“Huu…”

Perhaps he was tired out from shouting so much, because the guild chief was breathing heavily.

“…And that’s how it is, guild chief. So could you please believe us now?”

Said Elma-san to the guild chief, with the face of someone trying her best to suppress a chuckle.

“Elma, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Eh? I’ve been reporting properly ever since he came in with a subjugated Dragon. Weren’t you the one who didn’t listen to my reports?”

“No way, so this kid’s the newbie who defeated a Dragon!?”

The guild chief looked at me with a shocked face.

“That’s right, and, if you had done your job properly every day, Rex-san would have come to your attention earlier. So, please actually do your job from now on.”

The staff around us nodded along.

“Shit, they’re conspiring against me, these bastards.”

Do the two of them not get along?

“So then, guild chief.”

“Yeah, I get it, he defeated a Dragon alone, and now there’s the remains of a monster from the Demon World right in front of me. I believe you. Rex, was it? You killed the demon, right? Where are the remains of the gate and the demon’s corpse?”

The guild chief asked me, his attitude having changed completely.

It must be the power of an A-Rank adventurer.

“I threw both the gate and the demon’s body into Otherspace, so I don’t have them.”

“…Seriously?”

The guild chief scratched his head as if troubled.

“Is something the matter?”

Was the way I defeated it wrong?

“Well, if we had its corpse, we could report to the country and call attention to it, but without that, I wonder if the big shots will believe us.”

Ah, nobles can be like that too.

Without any physical evidence, they’d just assume we had faked it and were just trying to fill our pockets by creating a sense of crisis.

I had suffered a lot from the same thing in my previous life too, so I knew all too well.

“But we saw it! Big bro’s magic cut the demon in two and then sucked it in.”

“I also saw it. It was amazing magic.”

“The demon had an even more frightening killing intent than the Cursed Viper there. I thought we’d all be killed.”

“I swear on the name of the church that it is the truth.”

Jairo-kun and the other three swore that what I had said was the truth.

They’re all such good kids.

“Well, we have the body of a monster from the Demon World, so we can freeze-store it and take it to the army. That should make them feel a little worried at least.”

“I’m sorry I threw away the evidence.”

Recovering things thrown into Otherspace was a little difficult.

“It’s fine. The important thing is that there were no casualties. Leave the troublesome stuff to the grown-ups.”

Ooh, as expected of a grown man!

That is a reliable adventurer for you!

“And, I think you know this already, but no one’s to speak a word about this. Demons are a matter that will make the whole country mobilize. So don’t go around sowing seeds of anxiety.”

As expected of the guild chief, he thought of what would happen in the future too and made an appropriate decision.

“Wait! Isn’t that making it like what big bro did never happened! That’s not fair!”

Jairo-kun protested to the guild chief.

“It’s fine, Jairo-kun. Thinking about ordinary people’s lives comes first.”

“But!”

It seemed like Jairo-kun wouldn’t be happy even if I said it was fine.

What a kind kid.

“Don’t worry. I’ll add the reward for it to this thing’s price we’ll be paying him. Also, since you defeated a highly-dangerous monster, Rex, I’ll make you a B-Rank adventurer.”

Eeh!? Me, a B-Rank adventurer!?

“Ooh! Wow! You’re B-Rank now, big bro!”

Jairo-kun shouted excitedly.

“I’d actually like to make you A-Rank, since you defeated a monster of that rank, but if a guy who just became an adventurer gets his rank raised so quickly, others will accuse you of using connections or cheating to raise your rank. Your rank will be raised this time due to completing a dangerous designated request from the guild.”

“I see, it’s the same as when I became D-Rank.”

I didn’t want to be dragged down by jealousy.

“Yes, that’s right. We are also frustrated by this. But it’s all right, Rex-san, you’ll definitely rise to A-Rank soon.”

Elma-san encouraged me with a smile.

“Moreover, I want you to go get your rank raised ASAP and then enter a Danger Zone.”

“““A Danger Zone?”””

Jairo-kun, Meguri-san, and I were all confused by the name we had never heard before.

“It’s an area low-ranked adventurers shouldn’t enter.”

Norb-san explained.

“Danger Zones are places that are so dangerous that countries and the adventurers’ guild forbid civilians and low-ranked adventurers from entering them. Danger Zones have three ranks, B, A, and S. The only ones who can enter a Danger Zone are adventurers of at least the same rank as said Danger Zone.”

“So, you can’t enter unless you’re B-Rank.”

“So you’re saying that you made Rex B-Rank because you want him to explore a Danger Zone?”

“You got it, Missie.”

The guild chief confirmed Meguri-san’s point.

“Danger Zones are, literally, dangerous places, but the results you get there will definitely be recorded in your achievements as an adventurer. And if you traverse the zone, you’ll definitely get a rank up.”

“If I traverse the zone?”

The guild chief nodded at my question and continued.

“There’s a danger zone that I want you to resolve quickly, as it’s an ongoing and growing danger that will harm humanity in the future. Like, for example, you all know about the Land of Corrosion where the whole area is just a big swamp of poison, right?”

“I’ve heard of it.”

“Mhm, I’ve heard of it too.”

“I heard they were looking for a way to purify the Land of Corrosion in the church too.”

“Huh, there’s something like that? Whoa.”

“There is!”

Oh dear, it seems only Jairo-kun didn’t know.

But still, to think there were such dangerous areas in this day and age.

Quite horrifying, if you ask me.

“The swamp there is expanding year by year, and it is said that it will eventually grow to the point where it will swallow up human settlements. So, the country is looking for a way to solve problematic places where the only thing people can do is abandon and quarantine it.”

Hee, it’s almost like the story of adventurer Kadoku who saved a village from a monster’s encroaching curse.

It might be insensitive of me, but I’m getting a little excited.

“So please do your best to traverse the Danger Zone. Because when you do, you’ll be officially recognized for your efforts!”

“The guild chief’s irresponsible expectations aside, all of us at the adventurers’ guild have high hopes for you, Rex-san. Unfortunately, these activities are too important to be evaluated openly, the guild has properly evaluated them in private, and will continue doing so in the coming future.”

Elma-san and the guild chief looked at me with eyes full of expectation.

This is kinda embarrassing.

“I don’t know how far I’ll get, but I’ll try my very best!”

◆ ◆

“Ooh! Damn, way to go Aug!”

“Hehhee. It’s called skill.”

Having finished talking to the guild chief, we returned to the lobby, where Aug-san and other adventurers were talking in loud voices.

“What happened, Aug-san?”

“Oho, Rex! How’s it going?”

“Well! I defeated a snake monster today!”

“Really! Good job!”

Aug-san patted my back in a good mood.

“You seem really happy, did something happen?”

“Oho, it’s good that you asked! Come look at this!”

Saying so, Aug-san pointed at a boar monster.

“Huh? That’s an Evil Boar?”

“Indeed! I was doing monster suppression and happened to run into it! It was quite a tough one, but he was no match for my one-hit-kill!”

“Amazing! You’re so cool, Aug-san!”

“Fufun, well now. To be able to subjugate a B-Rank monster on my own, I’ve also become stronger.”

“I’d assume it was thanks to that armour, right?”

The surrounding adventurers said half-teasingly and half-jeeringly.

“Shut up! Luck is also a skill!”

How nice, a relationship where they can playfully quarrel with each other while laughing.

“That’s right, tools are just tools after all, what defeated that monster was Aug-san’s skill!”

“…Hee, that’s very nice of you to say!”

“I know, but, it’s in such a good condition!”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

Yes, I get it. This stunningly small, Evil Boarlet.

If he roasted it, it would become amazingly soft and delicious!

Normally, Evil Boarlets were protected by bloodthirsty adults, so one rarely ever saw them.

To still be able to find one, as expected of Aug-san!

“Today’s gonna be another great day of drinking!”