chapter 21

“Congratulations, both of you! You are now B-Rank!”

“Huh…?”

It was almost as if there were question marks above our heads when we heard Lulu-san say that.

“Yes, your adventurer rank is now B!”

But why?

“Wait a moment! Haven’t we just become adventurers?”

“Regardless of that, due to the dungeon you mapped out, as well as your role in defending Shielin Town, my superiors saw it fit to render you both B-Rank.”

Seriously…

So that was the reason?

The gazes from my surroundings felt needlessly painful…

But anyway, we ended up becoming B-Rank.

After leaving the Adventurers’ Guild, we went to the plains to level up.

Right now, I was level 32, while Meryl was level 28.

“We’ve been leveling up rather steadily, huh?”

“Yep.”

Ever since the battle of Shielin Town, I hadn’t gained any new skills.

However, I got to strengthen my body, so it wasn’t all that bad.

“We’ve leveled up just enough now. Let’s head back.”

Meryl nodded in response. However, as we headed back to Izuruli City, several people stood in our path.

“Wait just a moment, classless guy.”

Who were these guys?

“You’re somewhat in the way, standing there…”

“Being in your way is the point, though.”

“…and? Who the hell are you guys?”

Exhaling as though they were bothered, the man answered.

“We are the guild ‘Pandemonium’.”

Pandemonium…

Of course, I’d heard from other adventurers that there were guilds dedicated to taking money and items from others…

“I see. And what does your guild have to do with us?”

The men laughed at my insistence.

A man who seemed to be their leader answered me while laughing, “Nothing, I’ve heard all about you. Someone without a class who’s living the life.”

Eh…

What’s with this accusation…

“Guys living the life like that ought to be put in their place. This world isn’t a place for brats like you to be sticking their noses in!”

Who’s the one living the life here?

“But we’re a kind guild. Suppose you give us all your gold and items, and… right. If you hand over that blonde girl too, we’ll let you run off.”

The man then pointed a finger to Meryl.

I could see Meryl making a reluctant expression at the side of my vision.

“…I see. I won’t have a problem with that.”

My reply caused the men to burst into laughter.

“Right? Right? This kid ain’t half bad at listening!”

These guys were totally set on teasing me.

“I’m glad to hear that. But I don’t like evil scum like you people.”

“What…”

“There’s nothing for you to do here. Either go back quietly, or I’ll beat the crap out of you.”

This time, I sneered and laughed at them, and challenged the lot of them.

“You bastard. Don’t look down on us just because you got lucky! Alright, then! We’ll kill you, then take your girl, your gold, and your items!”

Enraged, the leader raised his voice and ordered his underlings around. Then, while screaming, they attacked me.

I told Meryl to take a step back and then used Gravity.

Being pushed down by the skill, the men sank into the ground.

“Let me tell you something. As soon as you had designs on my allies, I already decided to crush you.”

As they saw the underlings sink into the ground, the leader’s men were overcome with shock.

For some reason, Meryl seemed to be filled with joy behind me.

“Well, I won’t kill you. But as the leader, I think there should be a distinction between you and them.”

I took out my revolver and aimed the barrel at him.

“Gh…! Don’t look down on me, brat!”

As his anger peaked, he glared at me and swung a knife at me.

However, before the knife could hit me, I used Reflect to create a screen of light. The knife ricocheted and embedded itself into the leader’s foot.

“Ah… Gyaaaaaa!”

While screaming in pain, he fell, then rolled around on the ground.

Not caring about him, I kept the gun aimed at him.

With that, the man stopped rolling and looked at me with a look of horror, screaming in a high pitch with teary eyes.

Well, it wasn’t like I was planning on shooting him or anything.

For a moment, there was silence, and then a swirl of flames blazed towards me.

I dodged it with Atomization and pointed the barrel of my gun at the source of the flames.

A red-haired man with an orange headband stood there, holding a sword with a red blade.

“What’re you up to all of a sudden?”

“Silence, scoundrel!”

Huh?

The man in the headband raised his voice at my question.

“Huh? Scoundrel? Me?”

“That’s right! You sank many people into the ground, and on top of that, you stabbed this man in the foot, and pointed your gun at him… there’s no way you couldn’t be a scoundrel!”

This guy greatly misunderstood the situation.

“W-wait! We were attacked by those people! Aruto-kun was fighting to protect me!”

Meryl pleaded to clear up the misunderstanding.

Hearing this, the guy with the headband crossed his arms and pondered for a moment.

Some seconds later, his eyes opened with a flash.

“No, the injured ones aren’t bad guys!”

Nope, it was utterly useless.

This guy was a complete idiot.

“Why’d it come to this… Let’s talk-“

“T-that’s right! He was about to kill me! Help!”

The leader of Pandemonium, who had been watching stunned, spoke up.

“Ah! You bastard!”

Quit your crap, I was about to say something, but I was interrupted by the flames.

When I looked back at the man in the headband, I saw his sword’s blade covered in flames.

“The number one rule of Crimson Blaze is to always help out those in need!”

Crimson Blaze?

I feel like I’ve heard that guild’s name before…

“My name is Glenn Abiss! The leader of the Crimson Blaze… defeater of villains!”

Glenn Abiss, the man with the headband, slashed at me.

However, I protected against the attack with Enzetta.

“Jeez… you’re too hotheaded to listen!”

“That’s what I’m good at! Thanks for the compliment!”

“I wasn’t praising you!”

I pushed Glenn away with a considerable amount of force, causing him to be sent flying back. He exquisitely regained control and landed steadily on the ground.

“Let’s do this,” he said while putting the tip of his sword into the ground. The blade of his sword was, once again, covered in flames.

“Flame Pillar!”

As he said that, several pillars of fire came out of the ground and towards me.

“Splash!”

I calmly used Splash, and the two attacks collided with each other, resulting in steam.

Then, he raised his sword upwards, and the flames on his sword moved towards its tip, before forming a ball of flame.

“Fireball!”

The fireball shot towards me.

However, I also held flames in my fist.

“Fire Punch!”

My fist of flame caused the fireball to vanish.

“You… even have flame-based skills?”

This idiot wasn’t half bad.

So this was what the head of a guild was like!

“You aren’t just all talk.”

“Right, but I’ll win with the next move!”

“Good… I’m getting fired up!”

Both my Enzetta and his sword were enveloped in flames, and with vigor, we sprinted toward one another.

“Uoooooo!”

“Haaaaaa!”

Just as Enzetta and his flaming sword were about to score direct hits…

“Thrust!”

A blue slash flew out, and we got knocked back just as we noticed it.

The slash scraped the ground between us and disappeared.

Hm…? I’ve seen this slash before.

Glenn and I looked at the person who made that slash.

“What’re you doing in the middle of these plains?”

The one sending those slashes was Veig, as expected.

“Who the hell are you!?”

“Veig-san!?”

Veig laughed with Meryl, and walked towards us soon after.

“I came here because of the ruckus. I didn’t know you were here, Aruto. I thought you didn’t like trouble?”

“…somehow, I ended up getting into a troublesome situation.”

Seeing me smirk, Veig smirked too.

“That aside… what were you doing?”

After looking at me, Veig shifted his focus to Glenn.

“Ah… Well…”

I gave Veig a quick rundown of what was happening.

Then, he shook his head a few times as if convinced of something.

“I see. Um… Glenn-kun, was it?”

“What!?”

This guy was pretty arrogant even towards a knight like Veig…

“What he’s saying is true. You probably don’t know, but he’s the guy that defended Shielin Town from an army of monsters.”

“Shielin Town… Wait, doesn’t that mean you’re the guy that’s gotten pretty popular lately?! The classless one?!”

Was that meant to compliment or to insult me?

“Ah, I see.”

I nodded at Glenn’s inquiry, and he promptly kowtowed.

“O-oi!?”

His actions greatly confused Veig and myself.

“I’ve lost so much face! I, Glenn Abiss, have had my life’s fill of misfortune! Please, forgive me!”

This wasn’t your life’s fill of misfortune or anything.

Well, this guy wasn’t someone I had malicious intent towards…

“Raise your head. The misunderstanding has been cleared, so it’s fine.”

Hearing this, Glenn raised his head, smiled brightly, and thanked me.

“By the way, you must be pretty strong to be able to deal with that monster, Aruto.”

“Really? It’s kinda embarrassing, hearing a knight say that.

“Oi, who are you calling a monster!?”

Ah, I get it.

I get it, so stop making that face that says, “it’s you.”

At the time, we forgot about that guy…

“You bastards! Don’t forget about me! You made a fool out of me… I’ll show you hell this time!”

Angry at being forgotten, the leader of Pandemonium pulled the knife in his foot out, and rushed at us with a knife.

…Hah…

Dumbfounded by the sight, the three of us began moving.

Using Thunder Blast, I pointed the barrel of my revolver at the leader.

Veig followed up with Slash, and Glenn followed up with a fireball.

“Come at us!!”

After that, the sounds of gunfire, crashes, and fire resounded along the empty plains, along with the screams of the leader of Pandemonium…