Chapter 90

"Congratulations, Gaston! After a thorough review, your previous achievements and report have been recognized, and your promotion from Quasi-D-Class to D-Class has been approved! All of us staff members are looking forward to your continued success!"

The receptionist, making a victory pose, called out to Gaston. The receptionist looked quite young, not much older than me. Besides, it was the first time I had seen her face.

She must be a new employee who doesn't know Gaston's usual behavior. She was genuinely congratulating him, but the staff member behind her, who was organizing documents, was watching their interaction with a suspicious look.

Today, Gaston was unusually quiet. He stood in line, shoulders slumped, and walked weakly, occasionally letting out a sigh as if he were deeply troubled by the loss of his sword.

However, after a thorough review, his achievements and report were recognized...

Probably that's the standard line, but it made me feel uneasy, considering how much he had been cheating.

"Sure, Gaston! I always thought you were too big for Quasi-D-Class!"

A small man standing next to Gaston flattered him.

"...Yeah, that's right."

Gaston's response was low in energy. He seemed like a completely different person from the one who used to be so obsessed with his rank.

"By the way, Gaston, what happened to that huge sword?"

"...Ah, yeah, sure. Well, I can handle monsters just fine with my bare hands."

"Wow! Sure, Gaston, I'm impressed! Of course, your fists are harder than any mere metal!"

What should I do? I'm starting to feel genuinely sorry for him. I haven't done anything bad to Gaston, but I feel a lot of guilt.

"...Bilabrow."

"Huh? What's up, Gaston?"

"Nothing. Nothing..."

Gaston glanced at me sideways and slowly shook his head. Ah, he's really hurt. I hope he doesn't start resenting me... but he doesn't seem to have the energy for that.

It's okay, Gaston. I'll raise your rank as promised, so stay strong.

"Abel? What's wrong?"

Meara, who had been stroking the new Shooting Wyvern (the bow I made last night), looked at my face.

"...Ah, no, I was just thinking I need to work hard."

"Right! Meara also wants to test the power of the reborn Shooting Wyvern! I'm sure it will be a great help to Abel!"

She gripped the bow and spoke with enthusiasm.

Thanks to the money the Gordon brothers collected from Gaston last night, we had a lot more financial freedom. Meara seemed eager to learn archery, so I decided to buy better materials and make a proper bow for her, rather than using the old, worn-out one. I had made bows before with the Maren tribe, so I could make one to fit Meara's height as long as I had the materials. I bought the best materials I could find and worked all night to make it.

By the way, Meara didn't want to discard her old Shooting Wyvern, so I first said, "The string is worn out, so it's hard to aim," and replaced the string. Then I said, "The wood seems to have a short lifespan, so it's better to replace it," and replaced the body. This is known as the Theseus' paradox. I wanted to believe that the soul of the Shooting Wyvern was carried on.

"Next, are we going to the forest?"

"Yeah, I want to go to the forest. I'm still worried about the ongoing abnormalities there. This time, I want to investigate them thoroughly."

I added a brief analysis of the ongoing abnormalities in the forest as a postscript to the end of Meara's report. I thought that if it reached the ears of the important people at the Adventurer Support Office, they might take some action, but it was just a report from an adventurer, so I didn't expect much. Besides, from the way Gaston and the receptionist were interacting, I doubted the reports were even being read properly. It wouldn't be surprising if they were being neglected.

If possible, I wanted to investigate it myself, but that's fine too.

"Also... I want to look for a tree with a good amount of magic in the depths of the forest."

"A tree with magic?"

"Yeah, compared to when I was in the village, I haven't carved any Ortems at all. My fingertips are tingling."

Ortems can't be made well without using trees with high magic power. The trees near the Maren village all had high magic power, but the trees here didn't. I felt how much the village had been blessed when I touched them.

"I don't expect to find a good tree just by going a little deeper into the forest. It's more of a goal to see if I can find one."

Even if I found one, I would either have to carry it back or carve Ortems and leave them there. The World Tree Ortems can be summoned through transfer because they are a massive source of magic. I don't expect to find a tree with World Tree-level magic in this forest.

While I was talking to Meara, someone called out from behind us.

"The forest, you should avoid it."

It was a familiar voice. I turned around and saw Maizen's face.

"It's been a while, Abel, Meara. I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but the forest is not recommended right now."

The moment I saw Maizen's face, the scene I saw at the guild a few days ago flashed in my mind. It was when Maizen's party member, a woman, kissed another man in broad daylight, even though she had a boyfriend in the party. I lost my words and fell silent.

"Oh, it's Maizen."

...Meara, who had immediately reacted, seemed to have decided that the incident was just a case of mistaken identity.

"Why shouldn't we go to the forest?"

"Something dangerous was found in the forest. Rumor has it that the lord's private army is heading there today because of it."

"Something dangerous?"

"Yeah, don't be surprised. A huge hand made of clumps of earth. Adventurers call it the 'Hand of God.' I didn't believe it at first, but I saw it myself. We all ran away, trembling."

...Isn't that the thing I used on Gordon? Meara seemed to realize it too and closed her mouth.

"I could tell it was ominous from a distance. I'm not good with such things, but I felt a kind of malevolent destructive impulse."

I made that. Was it that ominous?

Eh, and the lord's private army is moving because of that? Why? It's just a slightly raised clump of earth. If this gets out, will I be held responsible for unnecessarily mobilizing the private army?

"O-Oh, really? B-But Meara doesn't think it's ominous or destructive, Meara doesn't."

"Yeah, I see. I heard they're trying to keep the information from getting out, but it's too big to hide. Anyway, you shouldn't go. Something terrible must be there. Even Abel would find it tough to deal with."

I made that.

"Thank you for the warning... Yeah, I'm starting to feel scared, yeah."

I was about to leave, but I couldn't help asking about the party. I was really curious.

"Hey... How's the party doing? I heard the two of them were dating. Have they been getting along badly recently? I mean, hypothetically..."

"Oh, Tida and Risha, you mean."

Maizen's expression darkened as he said their names.

"Recently, the atmosphere has been bad. They argue over small things, and I have to play the mediator. They used to get along so well, but something has changed. I'm trying to come up with ways to fix it..."

It's probably impossible to fix. They should just break up. The words were on the tip of my tongue. Should I say it, or should I keep quiet... It feels like I'm pushing over a stick someone is desperately trying to support.

"Wow, really... Is it just a rut? They seemed so in love... It's kind of sad."

When it came to love stories, Meara got very interested.

"Well, I'll try to use my charisma to bring them together. Actually, I've been promoted from Quasi-E-Class to E-Class. I want to boost our party's achievements from here."

Maizen smiled and scratched his head dramatically.

"Right. But if the party's atmosphere is bad, maybe you should consider reorganizing it..."

"N-No, it's not that bad. I'm sure it will get better soon. After all, I'm here! I'm confident I can be a good mediator..."

...His half-hearted bravado was pitiful. Maizen, are you going to get a hole in your stomach someday?