Right now, Yuna and I are traversing the mountains in order to complete our first quests and rank-up.

In order to get promoted, one would need to earn the required amount of points and pass the rank-up exam. Points are rewarded on completed quests and depending on their difficulty, the value will vary. Even if the quests fall into the same rank, the points awarded will differ. Failing quests will result in reduction of points, and if one fails the rank-up exam, one would only need to earn only half the required amount in order to retake.

And as F-ranks, we would need 600 points each to qualify for a rank-up exam. The easiest F-rank quests rewards 15 points, while the hardest quests will earn us 130 points. Also, since we're in a party, the points we earn will be distributed amongst the two of us.

In order to make sure that each adventurer can complete at least one quest a day, the guild imposed a system wherein an adventurer can take on up to 2 quests and a party can only do at most 5 quests a day.

Keeping that in mind, Yuna and I picked the quests that would earn us the most points. In the end, we got quests that would reward at least 35 points upon completion.

「Yuna, why don't we take a short break.」Grey

「But we're almost there.」Yuna

「I'm feeling a bit hungry. I want to have lunch.」Grey

「Just endure it for a little bit. Adults like us should be able to wait until we finish our quest, right?」Yuna

「Haah... looks like the curry will have to wait.」Grey

「Uu!」Yuna

That hit the mark.

Even if she acts all mature, I know she's weak against food. And since I promised her yesterday that I'll cook curry today, she must have been anticipating it.

Now, one more push and that should do it.

「And I even prepared the best ingredients I could. Haah... What a waste.」Grey

「Then... I guess it should be fine to take a short break.」Yuna

「But we're almost there, lunch break could wait.」Grey

「Aahh, but, we can't fight on an empty stomach, can we?.」Yuna

「I guess you're right. Then I'll prepare lunch shortly.」Grey

Hah! It's my win!

Now, I could finally have my curry and rice! Since I found rice on the marketplace yesterday, I've been anticipating having it.

Uuuhh... It's been so long since I ate rice.

With great vigor, I quickly but carefully prepared the rice and our main dish, curry. The familiar smell of rice cooking stimulated my appetite, I can't wait to eat it.

Quickly after I finished cooking, we ate our meal heartily. I was so happy I was able to eat rice again, I almost cried. Rice really is the best!

The meal was so delicious, there were barely any leftovers. And it looks like Yuna also enjoyed it, I'm glad.

After cleaning up after our meal, we departed shortly. And after traveling for less than ten minutes, we finally arrived at our destination. Our quest here will be to subjugate a Bicorn separated from its herd. It seems to be causing trouble for the villages nearby so they posted a quest for it.

「Grey, there it is.」Yuna

With Yuna's detection ability, we found our target pretty easily. The target was a massive jetblack horse with two horns protruding on its head, and it's current location was a few hundred meters away from us.

With our strength, we could easily kill it within a matter of seconds. The problem is, we need to present a proof of subjugation, in this case, it's horns. If I use a wind spell, the proof of subjugation might get shredded to fine powder.

Now... what to do? I could use a low level spell but it would damage it's leather. If possible I want to keep the damage to minimum. Hmm... isn't Yuna's assassination arts perfectly cut for this situation?

「Yuna, do you think you can take it down without damaging it too much?」Grey

「Hmm... it should be possible using my assassination arts.」Yuna

「Perfect! Then, I'll be relying on you.」Grey

「Okay. You can leave it to your reliable partner.」Yuna

Without wasting a breath, Yuna immediately performed her task.

Without making a single wound, she successfully snuck up on the Bicorn and when it lowered down it's head to eat grass, Yuna quickly appeared from behind and attacked its neck.

「『Swift Guillotine』!」Yuna

Before it even noticed, its head was already cut cleanly. Blood gushed out of the Bicorn's neck like a fountain, and shortly after, its massive body fell to the ground and created a loud thud.

Looking at the scene before me, I haven't really thought of it up until now but Yuna is someone no one would like to mess with. Especially since she just reached A-rank a few days ago during our journey to Galderia.

「Grey!」Yuna

「Coming!」Grey

After storing the beast's corpse into my 『Storage』, we continued our journey on fulfilling our quests. We defeated a horde of goblins, a boulder wisp, a lesser vulcan, and a school of black anglers, all within 4 hours.

With that, we have completed our daily quota. By the time we returned to the guild, it was already late in the afternoon.

When we entered the guild, there were a lot of adventurers reporting the completion of their quests.

「Looks like everyone's busy.」Grey

「Un, the guild is also quite noisy.」Yuna

Seeing how busy the guild was, Yuna and I decided to take some rest in the guild's waiting area. After half an hour, the number of adventurers dwindled and silence returned to the guild.

「Oh, Yuna-san, Grey-san. Good afternoon.」Tilda

When we approached the counters, Tilda-san noticed us, and even though fatigue is evident in her face, she still managed to greet us with a smile. As expected of a receptionist.

「Good afternoon, Tilda-san.」Grey

「Good afternoon.」Yuna

「Are you perhaps finished with your quests?」Tilda

「Ah, yes. We're here to report their completion.」Grey

「Oh, that was quick. Normally, it would take at least a day to finish an F-rank quest, but you two finished five in less than 6 hours.」Tilda

「Well, the opponents were quite weak. Although, Yuna did most of the work.」Grey

「Yuna-san did?」Tilda

「That's because Grey was afraid of damaging their materials.」Yuna

「I see... They do fetch quite the price after all... Ah, sorry, I was babbling too much, I forgot that we still have work to do. Grey-san, please present the proof of subjugation here and for the things that need dismantling, please go to the counters over there. 」Tilda

Tilda-san pointed to the counters in the side with male clerks assigned over them.

Beast corpses, monster drops, mana crystals, other items not needed as proof of completion are collectively known as quest items, and the counters Tilda-san pointed at deals with those kinds of items.

After I gave Tilda-san the proof of subjugations, I left Yuna there to deal with the completion of the quests, while I headed to the side-counters to deal with the monster drops and beast corpses.

It would be a good way to train Yuna's negotiation skills. I hope one day, Yuna will be able to do negotiations smoothly.

「Good afternoon.」Grey

「Oh, a new face?」Dismantler

「Yes, I'm Grey. I'm here to sell quest items.」Grey

「Well, isn't that the purpose of this counter's existence.」Dismatler

「Aah... you're right.」Grey

「So what kind of items are you selling, lad?」Dismantler

「Ah, I have a corpse of a bicorn, aー」Grey

I tried to grab the beasts' corpses from the 『Storage』, but the uncle stopped me before I had the chance to.

「Hey, hey, hold your horses, lad. Why don't we go to the cold storage before you drop off those quest items.」Dismantler

「Right.」Grey

We headed to the cold storage of the guild and when we arrived, the uncle asked me to drop off the beast corpses I got.

「Ohhh, now those are some excellent quality items you've got there.」Dismantler

「My partner worked hard to keep the damage to a minimum.」Grey

「You have a partner?」Dismantler

「Yes, she's currently dealing with the completion of our quests.」Grey

「I see... But I gotta say, you're partner got some skills to pull off powerful attacks without damaging the corpses too much.」Dismantler

The uncle was encircling the beast corpses and checking each of its parts for their quality. The leather, the hooves, the meat, he was checking everything.

「So how much will these fetch?」Grey

「That's hard to say right now. After all, we'll have to dismantle these before we can appraise it. Are you in a rush to get the money?」Dismantler

「Not really. Then I'll get the payment tomorrow」Grey

「Then it's settled. Now, you still have other items with you, right? Why don't we return to the counter.」Dismantler

We returned back to the counter and tabulated the price of the items we got. In the end, the uncle paid me a total of about 1,800 kiels.

「I'll be expecting excellent materials again the next time you drop by.」Dismantler

「Sure... Um...」Grey

「Bartolos, the name's Bartolos.」Bartolos

「Then, until next time, Bartolos-san.」Grey

「What's with the formality? Just call me Bart or something.」Bartolos

Just call him Bart or something, huh. Well, I've been calling him uncle in my mind this whole time, might as well stick to it.

「Then, I'll be in your care, oji-san.」Grey

「Haha. Now that's more like it.」Bartolos

After the exchange with oji-san, I went to where Yuna was and it looks like she was also finished on her end.

Today, we earned a total of 182 points. At this rate, we should be able to rank-up within a week.

We also earned a total of 5,450 kiels, including what I got from oji-san. And there will be another payment after the beast corpses get processed.

Hm? Is it just me or is earning money in Merusia pretty easy?

Little did I know that if you include the equipment repairs, the amount of time needed to complete a quest, the risk of death, and living expenses, this amount was cheap. Now, where and when did I learn this? That's a story for another day.

After claiming the rewards, we said our goodbyes to Tilda-san and oji-san. When we returned to the Rabbit's Den, it was already nightfall so after we finished dinner, we headed directly to our rooms and had a good night's sleep.

When morning arrived, the fatigue from doing quests yesterday was gone and was replaced with vitality. The bed here really does miracles.

I then went downstairs and ate breakfast with Yuna. After we finished eating our breakfast, we headed immediately to the guild to claim the payment and pick some quest.

「Good morning, oji-san.」Grey

「Oh, lad. I've been waiting for you. Here's your payment, 2,280 kiels, dismantling fee already reduced.」Bartolos

「Thanks.」Grey

Oji-san handed me a pouch with the payment inside. After that, we had a little chat with him and I introduced Yuna to him.

We were about to head to the quests boards when suddenly...

「Help! Help! T-There's a m-m... Haah... Haah...」???

... a man entered the guild and started screaming for help. The man was out of breath and was struggling to convey his message. Seeing this, Tilda-san and the other receptionist quickly gave him a hand.

「Please drink some water first.」Anon Receptionist 1

「T... Thank you...」Man

When a receptionist handed the man a water jug, the man received it and quickly emptied it. He must have been running for a long time.

「What's happening here?!」Gaston

Noticing the commotion inside the guild, the guildmaster went out of his office and asked the receptionists about the situation at hand.

「Haah... Haah... Please help! Our village... a horde of orcs are attacking our village! And it's being led by an Orc King!」Man

「An Orc King!?」Adventurer 1

「Hey are you serious!?」Adventurer 2

「That's a C rank monster!」Adventurer 3

「Is there anyone here who can defeat that?」Adventurer 4

Hearing the man's words, the nearby adventurers voiced out their worries. Not only them, but the guild staff were panicking too.

「Everybody, Quiet!!!」Gaston

With one order from the guildmaster, the once chaotic guild was enveloped with silence. Not one adventurer dared to defy the guildmaster's order.

「With a horde of orcs following it, it would qualify as a B-rank quest.」Receptionist 1

「On top of that, Kris-san and Aria-san aren't here right now. Guildmaster, what should we do?」Receptionist 2

「Ahhh... Damnit! There's only one way left... Tilda! Bring Grey and Yuna here, right this instant!」Gaston

「Y-Yes!」Tilda

Having no other options left, the guildmaster suddenly ordered Tilda-san to bring us to him.

Huh? Why us?

「Ah! Grey-san! Yuna-san! Please come here.」Tilda

Before I could even answer my own question, Tilda-san found us and called out to us. It looks like we have no other choice but to follow her.

「Guildmaster, I've brought them.」Tilda

「Hey, what's the big idea.」Grey

「Listen, you two. I need a favor from you and defeat that orc horde for me. Don't worry, I'll record this as a special quest so you don't have to worry about not having to receive the proper compensation.」Gaston

Hey, hey, hey, why are you pushing the problem to us? And why does it sound like it's already been decided?

「Guildmaster, are you serious!?」Adventurer 1

「They're just rookie adventurers!」Adventurer 2

「What are a couple of kids gonna do against an Orc King!?」Adventurer 3

「Guildmaster, are you out of your mind!?」Adventurer 4

「We would stand a better chance than them!」Adventurer 5

Hearing the guildmaster's decision, the adventurers quickly voiced out their complaints, but...

「Shut your traps! If you've got any complaints, then come here, and say it straight to my face!」Gaston

... with just one statement from the guildmaster, the guild became quiet again.

No one in the right mind would fight the guildmaster. Before Yuna and I came, it was a well known fact that the guildmaster was the third most powerful person in the guild, only next to Kris-san and Aria-san.

「You're all complaining about my decision when you don't even have the courage to face me.」Gaston

「Guildmaster, are you really serious about sending kids to defeat the orc horde? You know we'll be responsible if something goes wrong, right?」Receptionist

「Though they're both still young, even if I fight seriously, I won't stand a chance against either of them.」Gaston

And just like that, the guild was filled with voices of disbelief. Seriously, would it hurt him to hide the personal information of his adventurers?

「So are you two going?」Gaston

「You're still asking that after all you've said?」Grey

「It's just a bunch of pigs, nothing to worry about.」Yuna

「Then, I'll be counting on you two.」Gaston

After accepting the quest, we travelled east towards the village to complete a special quest given to us directly by the guildmaster.

Our next target, the Orc King!

CHAPTER 10 END