Chapter 28

I have no idea what went wrong, so I start recalling everything in chronological order.

However, as soon as I mentioned that the guild had revised the evaluation of the delivery of the Rumatsugumi herbs, Fred looked up to the sky and said, "Starting from there, huh?"

"…Sorry, I should have double-checked the details here…"

"No way! Fred, you did nothing wrong! Even though you gave me so much advice, I couldn’t make use of it… Besides, trying not to stand out was my personal situation…"

Fred had done enough checking. He probably judged that my actions as a new adventurer were blending in because the evaluation was "Pass." I think that was a reasonable judgment.

"No, I knew that the 'minimum level' Liana was asked for wasn't normal, but I couldn't confirm it with my own eyes because I had other requests to handle…"

We were about to start a mutual apology fest, but Fred cut it off with a bright voice, "No, no. Let's stop apologizing about this. Okay?"

With that, we decided to go eat. Indeed, what happened can't be helped, and if we had to blame someone, it would be that male staff member. However, it's not that I shouldn't care. Naturally, I need to reflect on how I should have handled the situation. While we were both saying we were at fault, I felt sorry for Anna, who was a bit flustered on the side, and tried to change my mindset.

I mentally checked the contents of my wallet, which had a bit of extra money thanks to my recent hard work on requests, and decided to take them to a restaurant with private rooms, saying, "I want to treat you both as a celebration of my return."

"Speaking of the delivery of the Rumatsugumi herbs, if it's just 'Pass,' I thought I could just grab and pull them out and it would be fine."

At the restaurant, while waiting for the food, the topic of the earlier conversation came up again, and we started discussing examples. I was curious about what actions I should have taken as a "normal new adventurer," so I asked.

"…If you do that, you won’t be able to collect the most potent part of the herb, right?"

"That’s true. New adventurers usually don’t know that the tip of the root of the Rumatsugumi herb is important. Rather, what would get an 'Excellent' rating…?"

"There’s a life magic spell for tilling the soil, right? I used it to carefully dig up the roots without damaging the side roots and brought back the long roots, protected and intact."

I did exactly what the request asked for, which was to dig up the roots as long as possible without damaging them. When I said this, Fred’s face twitched.

"Using life magic to dig that deep is amazing… I bet it was delivered in a pristine condition like a specimen… No wonder the Alchemist Guild appreciated it and even made a special request…"

Hearing this, I realized that not only was I not acting naturally as a new adventurer, but I had done something completely out of the ordinary, and I felt down.

"No, no! Liana, you didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t be upset!"

"That’s right! If you were a noble, you could have easily gotten a gold or even a platinum rating! Getting a silver rating is a sign that you successfully suppressed your abilities!"

"Y-Yes, thank you. …But Anna, I think you’re overestimating me a bit…"

I quickly changed my words to avoid apologizing again. I want to change my habit of apologizing all the time.

But Anna’s confident assertion that she wasn’t overestimating me made me laugh. I think she’s being too biased. A platinum rating… it’s embarrassing but also nice to hear.

"I also think Anna’s evaluation isn’t an exaggeration… The guild and Liana’s understanding were probably off. I think they were suggesting tasks thinking that even half of what you did would be good enough."

"Is that so?"

"Just a guess based on the request content… You were producing results far beyond their expectations, so they kept suggesting more difficult tasks."

So that’s it. The difference in understanding. I thought, "This is something I can do," because the requests were suggested after consulting with me. …But everything I did, thinking it was the minimum, ended up drawing unnecessary attention.

I was always striving for high standards, which I never reached. Even though I knew my family’s expectations were unreasonable, I couldn’t intuitively understand what would make me stand out.

I realized that the standard I considered passing was based on the evaluations I received from my family, and it felt like I was deliberately pushing myself to face this.

"Right… Let’s celebrate! Getting a silver rating within a month of registering as an adventurer is a remarkable achievement, something you’d only see in the beginning of a hero’s tale."

"That’s right, let’s celebrate, Miss Liana."

Feeling that they were genuinely happy for me, as if it were their own achievement, I felt truly happy for the first time about this matter. I had been feeling heavy in my heart because I was recognized but also stood out, and I felt like I had failed.

"So, Liana, there’s no need for you to look so apologetic. It’s a wonderful thing."

"…Yes, thank you…"

His kind words, which seemed to see right through my thoughts, were so gentle that I ended up leaning on him.

Just for today. Just for a little while. Because they said it was a celebration.