“Eh? They’re not?”

I was back at the guild, reporting the success of the gold rank advancement quest I did with the Air walkers, and I just asked about them on a whim; since it did tick me off a bit.

“Um, do you have any information about the gold ranked party called Wolf dragons?”

“Yes? Wolf dragons? Oh, them. Yes, they’re just silver ranked, but they go around saying that they’re gold ranked, many people have raised their doubts to the guild.”

“Silver ranked? But what about the Curas extermination they performed? “

“Ah, they were confirmed to be in the area, but it is too rash for the guild to promote them just because they were in the area, and the fact that the messenger they sent didn’t even have a single proof of subjugation of the Curas, their request for promotion was denied”

Oh, I see. If there weren’t any proof of subjugations, then in the end, the guild can only conclude it as fake.

“But, since the achievement was huge and the Curas menace was almost wiped out, the guild decided to conduct an investigation in order to find out the actual adventurer, who did the task.”

Actual adventurer huh. Wait, don’t tell me—

“So, without further ado, congratulations for promoting to Silver rank, Yuuya san!”

She says so, with her usual business smile, and extends her hand.

“Please give me your adventurer card so that I can update your promotion.”

“Eh? Ah? Um, why me? How did I get promoted?”

“Well, the guild did a preliminary investigation, and discovered that on the third day after the extermination, a suspiciously high amount of Curas material was sold to the guild shop, as testified by the manager. We tracked the adventurer to be you, Yuuya san. Also, since you completed a gold ranked quest, albeit with a gold ranked party, your promotion was just a matter of time”

That old shopkeeper san! I love you! I’m silver ranked now! And those Wolf dragons are nothing but self proclaimed Gold ranks! Mwahahahahaha! This day, could it get any better?!

The onee san takes my guild card, and places it under the Luxor stone. The stone glows, and shines brightly. After the light dies down, she hands the card back to me. A silver card. Yipee!

NameYuuya NakajimaTitleChaos KingRaceHumanGenderMale[tr]Level29RankSilver

“But, are there different methods other than completing five higher level quests to promote oneself?”

“Yes, there are two methods. The first is, to hunt with a higher level party, and successfully make a significant contribution. The party you travelled with, Air walkers has recognized your role, and so it was successful. The last method is the achievement system, implemented by the Guildmaster, Johnathan, that when an adventurer reports an achievement far surpassing his own rank, he can be promoted. And he implemented the system as a surprise, so that adventurers who risk life and death to complete such a quest will feel glad on doing something and being rewarded suitably for it.”

“I see”

I bid the onee san farewell and exit the guild, heading to the shop. Achievement system eh? Well, truth be told, I was glad when I got promoted for doing it. Uehehehe

“Ah, old man!”

“Isn’t it the laddie?”

“Thanks for the helping hand old man. Thanks to that, I became silver ranked!”

“Ou! Good! Those Wolf dragon brats were full of themselves anyways, so it’s a reward for me too”

“Then, I’ll be leaving Ravenblack soon. Take care of yourself, old man”

He looked shocked. What? Is it that surprising? After a while, he recovers and bids me farewell, and that I should take care of myself too. I depart to the inn, in order to inform Mili.

I head to the Roaches hometown, and head in.

“There you are Yuuya san!”

A completely unexpected person greets me. Standing there was—

“Maria san? What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been searching for you of course. How difficult do you think it is to track you down? Luckily, some people told me that they’d seen Mili chan near this area, and I found her! You didn’t even tell me where you lived! You’re so mean, Yuuya san!”

M-Mili chan? When did you become so close?

Now that I look closer, I can see that Mili is under her arm, squealing delightfully, and spreading her arms like she’s swimming. Unexpectedly, she’s still a child huh?

She notices me, and immediately goes real red, upto the tips of her pointed ears. She escapes from Maria’s hold and runs into the inn, up the stairs. Hehe, too cute.

“When did you get here Maria san?”

“Un? A few hours ago”

“I see. So what brings you here?”

“I want you to… um…. Teach me…”

“Teach you? Teach you what?”

“Yuuya san helped me get stronger, and thanks to you, I could even help my friends out. So, um… I want to get stronger!”

“Huh….”

I could only reply as such to the deeply blushing girl before me. Seriously, she has to rein it in. Otherwise, I might seriously fall for you, you know!

“So, you accept!?”

Her eyes turned bright, and expectant. Too bright!

“Aha. I’m sorry Maria san, but I’m leaving Ravenblack tomorrow. Today will be the final day I spend here, since I’m heading to the capital tomorrow.”

“Th-the capital? Ugras?”

“Yes. I have to search for my friends, so I can’t stay around here for a long time.”

“I-I see”

She gets depressed, and stares down. I guess she really wanted to be stronger. Not like I don’t empathize with her.

“Th-then, I have a solution!”

“A solution?”

“Yes! Yuuya san, party up with me!”

Maria, it’s supposed to be the other way around you know…

“Why?”

“Then, I can also come together with you, and then I can get stronger…”

But still, a companion eh. Not a bad idea, considering that my skills are mostly close range. Maybe a long range fighter will be unexpectedly welcome.

“It’s not a bad idea, but…”

“But?”

“I dunno… I’m not really sure, Maria san”

“C-Ca-Call me Maria!”

She looks super embarrassed saying it, stuttering and looking down at the floor, with her hands behind her back.

“Eh? Fine. I’m not really sure, Maria”

My reply surprises her, but then she recovers, and begins talking again.

“B-b-but isn’t it fine, Y-y-yuuya?”

Unexpectedly, calling me without honorifics was real tough for her, since she’s gasping and coughing now. I feel bad now.

“I’ll ask Mili and tell you?”

“Mili approves!”

Mili? I thought you ran away? I thought, looking at the bright red face hiding in the corridor, peeking out.

“Well then if it’s okay with Mili, I’m fine with it too, I guess”

“Yes! Nice to meet you! I’m Maria Chris, an archer.!”

“Yuuya Nakajima, Sl-Swordsman”

Too close. I almost revealed it. I need to get a better idea about the situation of Slayers before I go public, if I go public at all.

“Yuuya sa-Yuuya, what’s your level?”

“Level?”

“Yeah, it’s written on your adventurer card, isn’t it?”

Level? Such an RPG like term came out. I take out my card, and examine it. As expected, there’s no leve-

No. That word, it seems suspiciously like level, although it reads, Rivel. Is my reading not too good?

“Ah, well it’s 29.”

“TW-TW-TWENTY NINE?!!!”

Maria is shocked, and yells. Everyone turns to her, shocked at her outburst.

“Haha, I’m just level 9 Maria. I was just kidding”

She calms down, but still looks suspicious. Figures.

“What’s your level, Maria?”

“It’s it’s 14”

14? So, isn’t it fine? Then am I super weak ?

“Is 29 a really outrageous level?”

“Yes, a holy knight would be more than level 20 I guess.”

“I see. We shouldn’t just stay around here and chat I guess. Why don’t you come upto our room, Maria”

“Eh? Ah yes.”

We all head up into the room, and sit down. Mili and Maria on the bed, me on the chair.

“Well then, Maria , my level is quite literally 29”

“EH??!!!!”

She was shocked, and it took her a while to calm down. It makes me feel quite good about myself when I think about myself as a super strong entity.

“Yuuya, aren’t you strong enough to become a Black gold rank?

“Maybe. Not important. What’s important is to plan our route.” (Mili)

Mili is back in adult mode, although she does look a bit red. Her eyes have turned cold and calculating, like a genius scientist’s.

“Yeah. We need to get to Ugras, right?” (Yuuya)

Mili spreads out a map, and starts pointing to a spot.

“Yep. The safest route would be—“ (Mili)

“Forget about it. We need the toughest route. Our strength now is still far too low. And once we go through enough hardships, our party teamwork will go up too. I’ll be the vanguard, and Maria will be my backup. Mili will be the strategist, in case something goes wrong” (Yuuya)

Everyone nods.

“Speaking about party, what exactly is our name?” (Maria)

“Fumu.. a valid question” (Yuuya)

“Name, huh?” (Mili)

“How about, Master of the skies?” (Maria)

“What’s with that name??” (Yuuya)

“Ehehehe” (Maria)

Maria san, she’s a terrifying girl.

“How about, Adventurers?” (Mili)

“”Too plain”” (Maria & Yuuya)

Mili falls, depressed. I guess it was a critical hit.

“Why don’t we just keep it as, um… Dusk hunters?”

I suggested the name of a game I used to play, and surprisingly, they accepted it.

“Well then, Maria can go and register our party, and I have to go to a certain place.”

“YeS!” (Maria)

“Mili, you get ready, alright? We’re leaving tomorrow”

“Un!”

And so, The Dusk hunters were formed, with two members, me and Maria.

The sun was setting by the time I set out, and the streets were filled with people selling merchandises. Slowly, dances and bards came out, and performances started. By night, the entire Ravenblack was filled with music and dance.

I wonder what’s going on. Might be some festival for all I know.

I move through the crowds of people, moving towards my target, the tavern. ISn’t it common knowledge that taverns are the spot to get information?

I head into the Bear’s claw, a popular tavern. I went to the counter and ordered a glass of Miirial extract, a comparatively weak alcohol. I guess its okay for minors to drink in another world. I keep my ears open as I sit at the bar, keen to get any information about heroes or summoning.

The bartended gives me a small glass of a thick yellow liquid. I chug it down. The sweet taste spreads through my mouth, and down my throat. I order another, and wait for the next batch.

Seventeen glasses later, the bartender was staring at me, shocked. Even I was shocked. Even if it’s a weak alcohol, seventeen glasses and not being the least bit intoxicated is too weird. I head out of the tavern after my eighteenth glass of the sweet juice, since my actual objective was never accomplished. The capital might be a more probable place of obtaining info about this.

I head back to the inn and slump onto the covers, tired. Tomorrow, we’re leaving Ravenblack. A lot of stuff happened after we came here I guess. Some good, some bad, but still, it felt good. I nod off, into a deep sleep.