Chapter 49

After taking frequent breaks, we returned to the town of Romane.

Unlike the way there, which was filled with phrases like "Shall we take a break soon?" and "Ah... I might be getting a bit tired. No, no, I'll carry this part, Mia!" Mia often suggested taking breaks.

I had Mia carry the black bear's fur and the luggage, but it seemed even she was struggling.

Once we arrived in Romane, we moved to the Adventurer Support Office to write the report for this mission.

But do we really have to write these things every time?

Apart from being considered for rank advancement, the reports are shown to other adventurers and scholars with the adventurer's permission, and sometimes even published as adventure books for sale.

"Mia can write it! I want to try writing it once!"

...If I leave it to Mia, it might end up needing a rewrite.

Well, we'll see when the time comes.

If she really wants to do it, I might as well let her try.

It might hinder my rank advancement, but so far, I haven't seen much benefit from my rank.

As I told Maisen, I can always raise it when it becomes necessary.

At least, I managed to hunt a B-class designated Griffin.

From what I've heard, various rights are recognized starting from B-class adventurers.

However, ranks above B-class seem to be used to add prestige to adventurers employed by nobles.

It's probably not something an ordinary person can achieve just by putting in a little effort.

"Alright, go ahead and write whatever you want!"

"Yay! I'll write it so Abel looks super cool, leave it to me!"

"O-Okay... I'll be looking forward to it."

I drank the fruit juice sold at the rest area while watching Mia write the report.

"Ah, write my name as Yamasan."

"...Shouldn't you apologize to the staff and re-register? It will definitely cause problems later."

That's not an option.

I've sworn to make Yamasan the most famous magician in this world.

It's a joke, but I'm not going to back down easily.

...As expected, the report was filled with onomatopoeia, but the meaning should still be clear.

The office is pretty busy, so the staff probably won't bother to reject the report.

I doubt they'll ask for a rewrite... probably.

I had Mia rewrite the description of the black bear at my suggestion.

From the staff's perspective, it's important to confirm whether this bear is really the rumored mutant.

It's best to write this part clearly.

"How is it! How is it!"

Mia showed me the report after finishing it.

"It's... good, it has a sense of speed."

"Right! The staff will be so moved that they'll definitely turn Abel's adventure into a book!"

Is that what you were aiming for?

"That's... tough. I mean, we just went on a short trip and came back."

"No! It will definitely work! I wrote it so cool!"

"Y-Yeah... sure..."

...Let's not dig any deeper.

Let's just take it to the reception, exchange the ear and fur for money, and submit the report.

When I stood up, I noticed people around us looking at us.

"...Hey, aren't those the ears and fur of the rumored 'Black Demon of the Head Eater'?"

"No way. ...But there's no other bear of that color, right? It's a lie, a scrawny kid couldn't have hunted it."

"But it moves slowly, so if the conditions were right and it was trapped, it might have been possible."

"But still, such a..."

Murmurs and whispers reached my ears.

I just used magic to cut it from behind.

It might have been possible to trap it in a pitfall, but...

"Did he just pick up a corpse? Or maybe the demon was weak..."

"Maybe the rumors were exaggerated, and it wasn't that big a deal. I heard of a magician who spread rumors and hunted the monsters himself to become the lord's aide."

"Maybe he painted the ears of another monster black? I heard someone did something similar and ended up in jail."

...Faking it, faking the damage, or stealing credit.

The fact that these examples keep coming up shows that the adventurers here are not very good.

Or maybe it's just Romane, and the rest of the world is different.

"Seems like we've become famous, huh?"

Mia smiled and showed the fur to the people around her.

Famous? More like standing out in a bad way.

They're throwing a lot of accusations at us. Is she happy about this?

On the way to the reception, a drunk man blocked our path.

He was a middle-aged, chubby man with a bald, shiny head.

"You two look lively. Is that the rumored monster? Hey, hey."

The middle-aged man walked unsteadily with a bottle in his hand, his face flushed with alcohol.

But his eyes were sharp and dangerous.

I tried to ignore him and motioned for Mia to keep moving.

"Y-Yes, yes! Yama... this Yamasan hunted it! He hit it with one strike, right in the head! It was really, really cool! Hehehe... But, it might just look similar, so we're not sure if it's the rumored monster. Probably is, though! Probably is!"

This kid is hopeless.

I can't really talk, but she's the type who doesn't recognize malice.

She's completely carried away, thinking she's being praised.

"...One strike? Well, you must have been lucky. I'm not like that, but there are a lot of people here who are desperate to raise their ranks. You'll be a good target for their jealousy. I'm not like that, but just a friendly warning."

"Wow, such an ugly person."

Hey, you just stepped on a landmine.

The drunk man's eyebrows are twitching.

"Abel... Yamasan is amazing, so you have to be careful of jealousy like this!"

"Well, I'm not like that. I'm just giving you a friendly warning."

...You're really obvious about trying to pick a fight.

But this is really troublesome.

I've heard that C-class and above often serve nobles, so it's not surprising if there's some competition.

I can understand why people might be jealous of someone who suddenly rises from the bottom, but they could practice their sword skills instead of making a fuss.

Do I have to deal with people like this every time I hunt a monster?

I hope I can exchange the items smoothly.