Chapter 76

"By the way, Tao said he accepted a request to exterminate ghouls."

Having returned to the castle through spatial transfer, I suddenly recalled my conversation with Tao. Ghouls, which possess the undead attribute, are quite tough and, rather than being a problem if eliminated, would likely be appreciated.

"There might still be a request left, so I'll go to the Adventurer's Guild."

Once I made up my mind, I decided to act quickly. I immediately headed for the Adventurer's Guild.

"Hmm, ghouls, which are undead creatures, are resistant to magic. We should accompany you."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you with my life, Lloyd! ...I mean, Master!"

It seems Silfa will also be coming along this time. Given that we're going to the Adventurer's Guild, Renge alone wouldn't be enough.

Well, that's fine; I want Silfa to help with my experiments this time too.

"Oink!"

Good boy, Shiro. I took Shiro, Renge, and Silfa with me to the Adventurer's Guild. As soon as we entered, I caught the eye of the receptionist.

"Aaaaaah! It's Lloyd-san!"

The receptionist let out a loud cry and leaned over the counter.

"It's been a while! You should come more often! Lloyd-san is far too talented to remain at D-rank! If you came more often, you could easily reach A-rank, don't you think!?"

"Well, not really."

"Kyaaah!"

The receptionist then faceplanted on the counter. She's quite flustered.

"Don't worry, receptionist. Lloyd-sama is here to accept a request this time."

"Oh! Really!?"

"Yeah, are there any requests for ghoul extermination?"

"...Ghouls, you say. Indeed, we've received reports of damage to the city over the past few days, and the guild has received requests. Please wait a moment."

The receptionist went to the back and returned with a few sheets of paper.

"Here are the request forms. Lloyd-san can choose any of them, as they are suitable for your rank."

I flipped through the request forms. The North Great Cemetery, the back alleys of the East, the Dane Great Bridge connecting the east and west of the city... Hmm, they seem to be quite widespread.

"I'll take them all."

"All of them!?! That's fine, but if you fail to complete them, there will be a penalty! In the worst case, you might even be demoted! Are you sure you're okay with that!?"

"Yeah, I'm fine with it."

There aren't many undead creatures around here. It's better to take them all before other adventurers do.

"Hmm, with Lloyd-san's skills, you should be able to take care of ghouls quickly. Completing this many requests should get you to C-rank. It would be a shame if you changed your mind after coming all this way. Hehehe, even though Lloyd-san only comes occasionally, you always do a good job. If you keep this up, you might reach A-rank in half a year, or even a year..."

The receptionist muttered to herself and cleared her throat.

"...Ahem, understood. Normally, D-rank adventurers can only take one request at a time, but this time it's an exception."

"Thank you."

"I have high hopes for Lloyd-san. Aim for A-rank and do your best!"

The receptionist nodded with a smile and started filling out the request forms, humming a tune.

Good, I have my test subjects. This should allow me to conduct my holy magic experiments.

"Hey, receptionist, favoritism isn't a good thing, you know."

"Yeah, you're supposed to take one request at a time. We were trying to take that request too, you know."

I turned around to see two men standing behind me.

"Hey, brat, you caused us trouble the other day, didn't you?"

...Who are they? I don't remember them at all.

As I tilted my head, one of the men approached me.

"This brat is putting on a dumb face! Did you forget about tearing our pants? Huh!?"

"And then, using some kind of trick, you sent us flying to the top of a rock mountain with some weird magic! It took us a whole day to get down! I can't take it anymore! I'm going to kill you!"

"Lloyd!"

Renge tried to intervene, but Silfa stopped her. Why? When I looked at Silfa, she shook her head, indicating it wasn't necessary.

Yeah, that's fine. If I intervene, Renge might get hurt.

As the men tried to grab my collar, a magical barrier blocked them.

"Wha...! What the...!?"

"You're kidding me!"

The other man raised his fist and punched, but the automatically deployed magical barrier blocked it.

"What did you do?"

"It's just a magical barrier."

"A magical barrier, you say! There's no way a magical barrier can be that fast and strong!"

It's true, though.

Is it really that surprising?

"Truly, such people exist in every world. They don't understand the difference in power."

"Damn angel, you're no different..."

Jiriel and Grimo were muttering to themselves.

Hmm, this might be a good opportunity to test the purification effect of holy magic on humans. It apparently doesn't harm the body, but I'm curious if it works as an attack. If I use the weakest version, they probably won't die... probably.

I activated the purification holy magic 'Faint Light' on the two men.

"Uuuuuuuhhhh!?"

The men stiffened, fell back, but quickly got up as if nothing had happened. Phew, a relief.

As I was relieved, the men suddenly knelt before me.

"Truly, we are deeply sorry!"

Everyone in the room was taken aback by this sudden action.

"We were out of our minds just now! We were overwhelmed by dark emotions and couldn't help but get angry when we saw Lloyd-sama..."

"Yes, but now we feel as clear as a sunny sky! What a disgrace we were to Lloyd, who is trying to exterminate the ghouls plaguing the city! How many requests he takes is no issue! We sincerely apologize for our rudeness!"

What's going on? They're completely different from before.

"Holy magic has the effect of purifying evil hearts. Lloyd-sama's power must have purified their hearts."

"Whoa, purification, but it's like a complete personality breakdown..."

"Normally, it shouldn't have such an effect... but with Lloyd-sama's power, it's no surprise. Truly impressive."

Grimo was taken aback by Jiriel's explanation.

Indeed, changing someone's personality is a bit too much.

Since I don't know how far 'evil hearts' extend, it's probably best not to use it on humans.

"Um, isn't it bad to take too many requests at once?"

"No, no, there's no problem!"

"Yes, we never intended to take the requests in the first place. We were just trying to cause trouble."

"Oops, we shouldn't be a hindrance to Lloyd-sama. Let's take our leave here."

"Have a good day."

The two men left with bright smiles.

Yeah, holy magic is indeed dangerous.

It's no wonder its use is strictly regulated.

"The ghoul extermination requests are difficult but have low rewards, so few people take them. Taking multiple requests is a bit against the rules, but it's not prohibited. With Lloyd-san's skills, you can handle them, so it's fine to take a few more."

"Is that so? Then I won't hold back."

"...However, some of those who took these requests have gone missing. I think Lloyd-san will be fine, but please be careful."

"Got it."

I bid farewell to the receptionist and set out to exterminate the ghouls.