A few days have passed since I had a friendly cook off with Gerd-san. Currently, Yuna and I are taking a quest to subjugate a Shadow Bear on the same mountain range we subjugated a Bicorn more than a week ago.

Normally, it would take us a week in order to be promoted to the next rank, but since D-rank quests and above are rarer, it would probably take us more than two weeks to be promoted to C-rank.

It's already been two weeks since we've arrived at Galderia. And with our routine being almost the same every time, time seemed to pass very quickly.

Come to think of it, I'll need to pay Helen-san again to extend our stay. I should probably remember that... No, I'll definitely remember it. I have my 『Memory』after all.

「This is the place.」Yuna

「I don't see any bears around... Yuna can find it with your 『Detection』?」Grey

「I'll try.」Yuna

Yuna activated her ability and searched for the mana signature of a Shadow Bear. With that ability of hers, even if the target is half a kilometer away, we could locate them quickly.

I was waiting for Yuna's response when she suddenly flinched and the look in her eyes suddenly turned serious.

「Grey, I've located it, but...」Yuna

「But what?」Grey

「There's another beast near it, and it's something at B-rank.」Yuna

B-rank... that's much stronger than the Orc King we've fought previously. This might turn out to be a big problem if not addressed quickly.

「Do you know what it is?」Grey

「I've never felt this mana signature so I'm not sure. But I don't remember there being a beast stronger than C-rank on this mountain range.」Yuna

「Same here. We should report this to the guild. But subjugating it comes first, we wouldn't want it to attack villages while we're gone, after all. So, where is it?」Grey

「It's currently located about 340 meters away, at your 10 o'clock.」Yuna

「Alright, let's head there.」Grey

With the beast's location at hand, Yuna and I headed there at high speeds, allowing us to arrive there in less than 5 seconds.

When we arrived, we saw a gigantic wolf covered in dark grey fur, feasting on the corpse of what seemed to be the Shadow Bear on the quest.

『Appraisal』.

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【〔Beast〕】

【Species】Fang Wolf

【Sex】Female

【Age】23 (Adult)

【Status】Healthy, Agitated, Hungry

【Mana Capacity】960 【Mana Quality】B

【Combat Power】1,577 【Threat Level】B

【Attribute】Wind 【Magic Control】78%

【Physical Enhancement】71%

【Intelligence】88

【Description】

A canine-type beast infamous for being overly violent and incredibly fast. They are endemic to the Malagura Forest, and will attack everything that enters its territory indiscriminately. When it senses danger, it will run as fast as it can and destroy anything on its path. The pelt of the Fang Wolves are known for its sturdiness and are multiple times stronger than iron.

-----------------------------------

This feels familiar... its status board... it's very similar to the Demon Hound from a year ago. And it doesn't seem like a coincidence...

Should I tell Yuna about it?

「Something wrong?」Yuna

「No, nothing.」Grey

No, I should wait before I gather more evidence. Telling her something without confirming whether it's true or false will just cause some trouble. For now, I should keep it to myself.

But before anything else, we should probably defeat this Fang Wolf before it can cause any harm to the surrounding villages.

The problem is it's speed. If it notices us, it might run away and destroy a village while escaping. I need to finish it in one shot.

「Yuna, I'll handle this.」Grey

「Sure...?」Yuna

Without wasting any time, I gathered a clump of mana on my palm while making sure the Fang Wolf wouldn't notice it. Concentrating it slowly but surely.

This should be enough...

「《Piercing Gale》!」Grey

A dense sphere of air, the size of a bullet blasted off from the palm of my hand and towards the Fang Wolf's temple.

By the time the wolf noticed the spell, it was already too late. The spell has already pierced its head and destroyed its brain. Without even struggling, the Fang Wolf fell to the ground and crushed the carcass of the Shadow Bear.

「You sure finished it quickly.」Yuna

「Well, I wanted to test out how strong I've got.」Grey

「I also wanted to test my strength...」Yuna

「Then next time we find a strong opponent, it will be your turn.」Grey

「That's a promise, okay?」Yuna

「Yeah.」Grey

Phew... Looks like Yuna has yet to realize that something was off with my decision. I need to keep it that way.

After I stored the corpse of the Shadow Bear and Fang wolf into my 『Storage』, Yuna and I finished our remaining quests then headed back to the guild to report what had happened.

「A Fang Wolf?」Gaston

「Yeah, we found it at the same location as where the Shadow Bear from the quest was located. Also, when we arrived, it was feasting on the Shadow Bear from the quest.」Grey

Right now, Yuna, me, and the guildmaster are in the guildmaster's office, talking about the appearance of a Fang Wolf on the west side of the Karatios Mountain Range.

「That really is strange... I can't imagine a Fang Wolf traveling hundreds of kilometers just to hunt food. There shouldn't be any decrease in the number of preys at the Malagura Forest.」Gaston

I'm thinking the same too. It's just too suspicious to be an accident. There are just too many things which don't make sense.

I already know how things will go, but just in case some things have been changed, I should probably ask the guildmaster first.

「By the way, how will the quest be handled? We haven't subjugated the Shadow Bear ourselves, so...」Grey

「Well since something unprecedented has appeared, and you have eliminated it, it will be treated as a success and you will receive additional points. Just show this to a receptionist and they will know what to do. Also, it would be nice if you could sell the Fang Wolf materials you have to the guild.」Gaston

「Alright, we'll do just that.」Grey

Looks like it's still the same as 3 years ago. I guess only the registration exams have changed.

Knock Knock Knock

Just shortly after the guildmaster handed us a letter , a knocking sound can be heard coming from the door.

「Guildmaster, we have something to discuss with you.」Kris

And judging by the voice, it looks like it was Kris-san. Come to think of it, weren't he on a quest with Aria-san at the capital? Did they finish it already?

「Come in.」Gaston

With the guildmaster's consent, Kris-san, along with Aria-san entered the room and took the seats in front of us.

「Oh, you have guests...? Oh! It's the rookies!」Kris

「Kris, they have names. At least try to remember them.」Aria

「I do remember! It's... Jin and Sanya!」Kris

「Haah... You're hopeless...」Aria

And just like a week ago, Aria-san kept on rebuking Kris-san. As for me, I'm still wondering how they became lovers. No matter which angle I look at it, they don't seem to be the type of people who get along with each other.

「Nice to see you again, Grey-kun, Yuna-chan.」Aria

「I feel the same, Kris-san, Aria-san.」Grey

「Un, good afternoon.」Yuna

「So, what are you two doing here? Reporting on something?」Kris

Hmm... I wonder if it's alright to tell them about the Fang Wolf incident. It will be bad if I reveal something that's supposed to be confidential.

Should I ask the guildmastー

「We're here to reー mphhmhpomf...」Yuna

Before Yuna could reveal the topic of our discussion, I managed to cover her mouth and prevent her from doing so.

Phew... That was close. I totally forgot how honest Yuna was.

「Ah, so it's confidential. I apologize for asking.」Kris

「I'm glad you understand.」Grey

Haah... Thankfully, Kris-san is quick on the uptake. Well, he's been an adventurer for 8 years so this might be something normal for him.

「So, what did you two want to discuss? You're not just here to chitchat, now are you?」Gaston

「Ah, rightー」Kris

「Kris.」Aria

Kris-san was about to start talking about what he wanted to discuss when Aria-san hit his flank with her elbow.

Oh, right...

「Guildmaster please excuse us.」Grey

「Yeah.」Gaston

After the guildmaster gave a nod, Yuna and I exited the room and left the three to discuss things on their own.

「Hey Grey, why did you cover my mouth? Don't you know that's rude.」Yuna

But as we were heading towards the lobby, Yuna was pouting about what I did to her earlier. I should probably explain it to her before she gets mad at me. Though, her pouting face is quite cute too.

While we travelled back to the reception desk, I explained it to Yuna why I did that to her. I also explained why she shouldn't be overly honest.

「So things discussed with the guildmaster shouldn't be told to other people. Is that what you mean?」Yuna

「Yeah...」Grey

Well... it's not just the discussions with the guildmaster, all important talks shouldn't be told to other people. But I guess it's fine to just leave it like that for now...

Hmm... I wonder when this girl will be able to keep secrets...

Come to think of it, she hasn't told anyone about my abilities and that special dungeon. Maybe it's not that she can't keep secrets, but it's just that the way she weighs the importance of topics is a little off.

Well, whichever it is, I'll make sure to teach her at her own pace. Rushing things would just make things worse after all.

「Oh, are you two done with your discussion with the guildmaster?」Tilda

When we arrived at the reception counters, Tilda-san immediately greeted us with a question.

Before we knew it, Tilda-san had become our personal receptionist. And for some reason, every time she has free time, she uses it on observing us.

Seriously... couldn't she find a more interesting hobby? Being observed really feels very uncomfortable.

Anyway, we should probably answer her question before she tries to delve deeper into things.

「Yeah. But right now, he's discussing another topic with Kris-san and Aria-san, and I think they will take quite some time before they finish.」Grey

「I see... So about you quest...」Tilda

「Ah, the guildmaster said to just hand this to a receptionist.」Grey

「A letter?」Tilda

After I handed Tilda-san the letter the guildmaster handed us, I left Yuna to deal with the quests' completion while I sell the quest items we have.

For more than a week, this has been mine and Yuna's routine. In the morning, we would take quests and get the payment from the dismantled beast corpses, we then finish the quests we picked before the sun sets, and after that, Yuna would deal with the quests' completion while I deal with selling the quest items. This was something we had repeated every single day.

「Oh, lad. You here to sell more quest items?」Bartolos

「Yeah, but we might need to use the cold storage again today.」Grey

「I see...」Bartolos

Knowing the meaning behind my words, oji-san left the counter without uttering a single word, and led me to the cold storage once again.

Every time we got ourselves a corpse of a D-rank beast or higher, we would always use the cold storage as to not damage the materials even further and to keep the meat from spoiling.

We also do this to keep it a secret from other adventurers. Since the guild often gets noisy everytime there's a mention of high-ranking quest items.

When we arrived at the cold storage, Oji-san immediately urged me to retrieve the beasts corpses from my『Storage』.

「Lad, you never cease to amaze me. Who would have thought that you would bring out a Fang Wolf's corpse from your 『Storage』... Just thinking how you managed to subjugate this monstrosity makes my spine shiver.」Bartolos

「Haha, we just got lucky...」Grey

「And on top of that, this one was killed in a single shot. With a subjugation properly done like this, I'm sure these materials would fetch a ton of money.」Bartolos

「So, how long will it take before we can get the payment?」Grey

「With something like this, even if we use half of the guild's manpower, it will still take us twoー no, three days.」Bartolos

「I'm not on a rush to get the payment, so please take your time. It would be bad if you neglect other adventurers just to finish dismantling our kill.」Grey

「Right... Then how does next week sound?」Bartolos

「Fine by me.」Grey

After negotiating with how to deal with the Fang Wolf's corpse, oji-san and I left the cold storage and dealt with the other quest items we got.

I then met up with Yuna after I finished dealing with selling every quest item we got. And according to Yuna, it seems that we earned more than 3,000 points because of what happened with the Fang Wolf.

Having dealt with our adventuring jobs for the day, we left the guild and went back to the Rabbit's Den where I paid Helen-san to extend our stay. We then ate a hearty dinner before going back to our rooms and then retired for the day.

But even though I'm really exhausted from everything we did for today, I can't seem to fall asleep. This might have been due to that Fang Wolf incident.

Haah... I just hope that my suspicion isn't right.

CHAPTER 16 END