Chapter 24

Ranking Up and the Guild Head’s Story

After all that, we headed back to the Adventurer’s Guild with the commission tickets . Suitably, it was slowly beginning to become dark outside .

Do most people finish their business by evening? It looked like there were less people than yesterday .

“… Well, how did you do? Was it impossible after all?”

Then there was this Receptionist-san . Was that it? Remembering the newcomers’ faces on the second day of being registered, I wonder if I should care?

“No, we properly finished . Here . ”

“… … You certainly did . More so, with a high evaluation…?”

Receptionist-san’s face knit in a frown .

“Congratulations, you can rank up . Do you wish to rank up?”

“Eh-?”

Ranking up… that means going to Rank-F from Rank-G, I guess .

“The requirement for ranking up from G to F is to do ten commissions, of which subjugation commissions count twice . In the case of high evaluations, it counts twice yet again… Additionally, the rabbit subjugation asked for three or more, thus was counted as a completed request for every three animals… Therefore, with those, you have met the rank-up requirements… Do you wish to rank-up?”

“Ah, yeah . ”

“Then, your Guild Card please . Sorry for the inconvenience . ”

When Meat and I handed over our Guild Cards, Receptionist-san withdrew to the back room .

… Ranking up on the second day of being registered, I wonder if we’re standing out? Though I instinctively wanted to rank up, I wonder if that was a bad choice .

No, if we get F-Rank we can accept the [Ordinary Cave] survey commission .

If we accept the survey commission, it wouldn’t be strange to ask for more detailed information about the [Ordinary Cave] .

While we waited on seats at a table, the Receptionist-san came back .

“Kehma-sama, and… Meat-sama . The Guild Head wished to interview you . This way, please . ”

Yep, she was definitely hesitant to address Meat with ‘-sama’ just now . It felt like she did it because it was her job .

I wonder if she thinks she’s my slave . Still, I think someone who can properly work and clearly address someone passes the wick .

However, I’m a bit afraid of the Guild Head zeroing in on us…

But I can’t refuse, there’s no choice but to go .

Following in behind Receptionist-san, we headed to the Guild Head’s room… it had a splendid door with a plate saying “Guild Head’s Room” at the top . When Receptionist-san knocked, a rough voice came from inside .

“Yeah, enter . ”

“Excuse me . ”

When the Receptionist-san entered the room, there was an old man with a stocky build . He had tanned skin stereotypical of an adventurer, a white mustache that felt confident and seasoned, and impressive eyes that shone like a carnivore’s .

“I’m Gin, the Guild Head . I heard of you guys from Silia . ”

I guess Silia is Receptionist-san? That’s the first time I heard her name .

The Guild Head stared at Meat, who was standing still .

“… Jou-chan, what do you think of An-chan here?”

“He’s Goshujin-sama . ”

“… Is that so . ”

Meat answered immediately .

The Guild Head patted Meat’s head and nodded slowly . Unlike his dignified appearance, his smile gave the impression of a good old man .

Then, he turned around towards Receptionist-san .

“Well, it’s fine then, oi, Silia . Do the rank up process properly . ”

“Eh-, y-yes…”

“Silia and Jou-chan, please go outside . I want to talk to this fellow here for a bit . ”

Being told to leave by the Guild Head, Silia left the room with Meat… I also want to leave though . Probably can’t, though…

“… Goshujin-sama . ”

“It’s alright, wait outside . ”

Meat nodded and went out .

Making sure the two left the room, the Guild Head opened his mouth .

“She seems to be quite attached . ”

“Yeah . She’s cute . ”

“… What relation do you have with that Jou-chan?”

It was like he was probing, no, he was definitely probing with that remark .

Crap, I’m getting thirsty .

“What, do you mean?”

“I wouldn’t find it off if you said you were siblings, for example . ”

“We are beastkin and human, after all . ”

“Could be step-siblings . So?”

Ah, that could definitely have been the case . I didn’t think about that .

“Sorry, but she’s a slave I picked up by chance . ”

“… How many years ago?”

“… If we’re talking about years, it was just this year . ”

“She got that emotionally attached after a year!?”

“S-sorry, I should have said I picked her up last week . ”

“Oi, what did you use . What magic tool did you use, spit it out . ”

Hiii-, it became dangerous that quick-!?

“No… I picked her up when she was dying, so…”

“I-is that so…? No, I’m sorry . Actually, that child… might be my grandchild . ”

Oooooi, don’t stop at that . I-I can’t respond!

“There’s a possibility you might also be my grandchild…”

Shock! I’m the grandson of another world’s old man!?

No no no, no way . I should still have parents and a grandpa in Japan .

“Why do you say that?”

“My father is the hero of another world . My hair was black like yours way back when . ”

“Heeh… is that so?”

Indeed, from the feeling I got from that Kami-sama I vaguely remember, it didn’t feel like his first time . It was more like he’d done it several times .

The important information he said was there was another world’s hero .

“To put it briefly… My son’s whereabouts became unknown ten years ago . Since then, when I see youths with black hair, I can’t help but feel they may be my grandchild… that’s all . In reality my grandchild may not have been born, but even if my son is no longer alive, I want to know his last moments… I would be thankful if you have any information to tell me . ”

“… If I get any information I will bring it to you . ”

“Thank you . ”

The Guild Head bowed lightly .

The tense atmosphere abruptly dissipated . I realized saliva had been accumulating in my mouth, so I wet my throat gulping it down . Haaaah, though I was going to die there .

“However… though I was thinking that when I heard the report about the Jou-chan from Silia… by no means did I think her master would also have black hair… Her name, Meat, did you give her it?”

“… I heard the name from her herself, so I left it as is . ”

“Is that… so . It can’t be helped if it’s like that…”

The Guild Head drew out a long sigh .

“As a friendly connection between those who share the same black hair, let’s accommodate each other a bit . If there’s anything, let me know . ”

*

Upon exiting from the Guild Head’s room, Meat was waiting just beside the door .

The Guild Head’s grandchild… a hero’s great-grandchild, huh… I don’t think that’s impossible, considering her excellence .

However, I don’t know to what extent the Guild Head’s story was true . There wasn’t any evidence after all . Even if he his father really was a hero from another world like he said, I’d like to see some evidence .

I mean, it’s strange that it was because of my black hair . If they’d summoned a foreigner it could have been blonde hair, for it to be so conveniently Japanese… I don’t even know if he was from the same world in the first place .

Hmm, I want a magic tool that can detect lies too…

Taking Meat back to the guild’s lobby, Receptionist-san brought out our Guild Cards .

“Here they are, they have become F-Rank Guild Cards . Please confirm this . ”

The cards we’d received did have F-Rank written on them . Having finished passing the cards over to us, Receptionist-san quickly returned to the counter .

Yep, with this we should finally be able to survey the [Ordinary Cave] .

I immediately began to look for the “Dungeon [Ordinary Cave] Survey” commission ticket .

… Huh?

I couldn’t find it, did I overlook it…?

“Not, here…”

“It’s not here… Then, that means… someone else accepted it…”

Crap . What now?