After finishing my discussion with the association president, I received a silver plaque, the proof of my B grade, and went home.

''Huh ... I'm terribly tired.

It's the most stubborn thing I've ever seen. It's true that I felt his greatness, so I don't blame him.

　As soon as we got home, we decided to gather in the living room to discuss the day.

　Christophe, the president of the association.
　When I heard the title of Association President, I had the impression that he was a stalwart, but when I talked to him, he was easy to talk to.
　But when he hit on something we didn't want him to know, I was a little nervous.
　You should be careful if you have the opportunity to talk to him in the future.

''But then again, I didn't expect you to ask me for a request so soon after I got a B-grade.

It was an escort request, wasn't it? Magic City Queres... what kind of place is it?

　What was written in the request form shown to me by Christophe-san was a request for an escort to the magic city of Queres.
　It's a B-rank or higher nomination, and the client seems to be a rich person living in the royal capital.
　The departure is 6 days later, just like when I came from Brunne to the royal capital by carriage, it's more than 10 days of travel.
　And the reward is 600,000 G.

　Wow, that's a lot of rich people. He's so generous.
　But are we, who were just promoted to B-rank, good enough to be his bodyguard?
　It seems to be no problem in terms of strength, but I'm worried about whether we can do it properly.

　And the magic city of Qures, the destination of this escort request.
　It's obvious from the name, it was a city where mages were mainly located.
　It looks like we'll finally get to see the mages of this world, and I'm curious about what kind of city it is.

''Hmm, good morning...''

Oh, Luna, you're up.

　Luna, dressed in her usual nightcap and nightie, came into the living room.
　She's rubbing her eyes and looking sleepy, as if she's still tired from yesterday.
　It's just as well, and while we're at it, I should tell her about the request for an escort.

　If I were to make an escort request, I wouldn't be able to come back for more than ten days.
　There would be other people's eyes on us, so we wouldn't be able to place the beacon at our disposal, so we might not have time to set it up on the road.
　If that happens, Luna would be home alone during that time.
　I'm not registered as an adventurer, and I can't take her with me.

''Hm, leave it to me while I'm away. I'll be responsible for guarding you while you're gone.

You can count on us, can't you? Oh, and you can have a bowl of rice for Moffoot, too.

'Yeah, I'm going to spend some time with Moffitt, so don't worry about it.

　Luna replied confidently with her arms crossed.
　She looks like a little girl, but she's very dependable.
　Of course I can't take Moffoot with me, so it's convenient for Luna to stay at home.
　Even now, when I get home, I receive the Moffoot that Noll was holding and love her while stroking her body.

'I'm worried about leaving Luna-san alone!　I will stay behind!

'What are you talking about? There's a priest in the house and he's pissed off that you didn't bring him along and escort him.

　As he listened, Sisha banged the desk with a bang and insisted on staying, rising from his chair and clenching one hand into a fist in front of his chest.
　Of course, I rejected such an opinion.
　There's no way you can have a priest in your party and not bring him with you.
　Besides, it's convenient because if I accomplish this request, Sisha will be ranked E as well.

''Le, even Luna-san wants me to stay, right?　Right?

No, not at all.

Uh....yeah...

　He understood that my persuasion was no good, and now he appealed to Luna herself to ask her to do it.
　She didn't even look at me, just stroked her Moffitt and answered, as if it didn't matter.
　Hearing the answer, Sisha quietly sits back in her chair and cries with her face down on the desk, sobbing with her mouth.

　Too heartless.........I thought I was getting a little closer, but I cut it off with a quick answer......
　Well, that's more helpful this time.

''It seems we have a few days until the date of the appointment, should I prepare something?''

''Hmm, for now, since I don't have any gacha-produced items at my disposal, I'll just buy a few things I need.

　Like the beacon, I'm going to refrain from using gacha-produced conveniences whenever possible in the public eye.
　It hurts that I can't get out the food from Gacha, but it's not an option.
　It seems that we will pass through a few villages on the way to Queres, but we'll take some food that will last for a while.
　I have a magic bag, so I don't have to worry about it going bad or anything.

Oh, come to think of it, this time you can lend me a horse, right? I think we'll need at least two horses this time.　I can ride one, but who will ride the other one?

I can't ride a horse. I'd prefer to be behind my brother, if I could.

You can't ride a horse, Okura-dono. The last time I rode--

'Oh, oh!　I can't hear you, I can't hear you!

　Noor was about to say something unnecessary, so I faked it out loud.
　Don't spread that embarrassing story around!

　This time we're going to ride our horses and escort the carriage too.
　If we can all ride, we can borrow four horses, but it's pretty much a given that Esther and I won't be able to ride.
　Two people riding each horse would be the limit, and we'd have to be able to control one more horse.
　
　I'm still traumatized from my last ride.

'Are you kidding me, what do you really want me to do?　I'll take the reins if you want.

What, you can ride a Sis-Ha?

I'm not as good as Mr. Noll, but I can ride. After all, I'm a priest, yes.

Well I'll take care of it then.

　Sisha looked up and said she could ride her horse.
　There is no trace of crying on his face at all. You lied and cried........

　More importantly, it looks like Cis-Ha can ride a horse, so that's a relief.
　But to be able to do close quarters combat and also ride a horse...what kind of a priest is that?

''Well, we'll just bobble through the preparations, but I'd like to do something else before we leave.

Oh, what else could I have done?

　I'll get my stuff together to go to the escort later, but there are some things I want to check first.

''I'll have to try using the synthesizer and check the skill upgrades you gave me when we attacked the labyrinth.

You've been given such a thing, haven't you? Could it be that our skills can be enhanced?

I think so.

　It's a SSR synthesizer from the gacha and a SSR skill up from the labyrinth reward.
　The synthesizer can mix the two things, and the skill-up seems to be something that can enhance skills in terms of its name.

　When I glanced at Esther to see if she would appeal to me like she did with the cost down, I noticed her gaze and smiled back.
　Then, I thought she would point a finger at herself again to emphasize it, but she didn't do anything in particular and kept smiling at me.

'You're not appealing this time, are you?'

'Even I can't be that selfish. It's important when it comes to choosing skills.

　It's important to say that cost reduction is important, but when it comes to improving your skills, it's not so easy.
　You're making good decisions on those things.
　This makes me want to strengthen them on the contrary, but that's not going to happen.

　When it comes to strengthening skills, I guess the first three candidates are Noor, Esther and Luna.
　I still haven't used Sisha's skills, and I don't think I need to enhance them right now.
　I'm a title changer, so it's almost as if I don't have the skill.
　Considering from the three of them who should I be?

　Noll's full power increases with the skill and he's almost invincible. He can't move for a while as soon as the skill ends.
　Esther's magic power increases and she can deal damage at once, even to opponents with high magic resistance and defense. After the end of the skill, she becomes sick and her magic accuracy and power decrease.
　Luna can deliver high-powered, single-shot attacks in a short period of time. But the more she uses it, the more her bloodsucking urge increases and she loses her reasoning.

　They're all too powerful, so I'm not sure what to do with them.
　Hmmm........should I strengthen Noor's skills here?
　Perhaps it could reduce the amount of stuckness after the end.
　It would be a big help if they could continue to fight after the skill.
　Estelle and the others will also have a reaction after the skill, but it's not so much that they can't move, so let's have them put up with it.

The first time I saw it, I was in the middle of a battle. It might help ease the pain.

I'm glad you're right. That really hurts....

　You always sound like you're going to cry like you're in real pain after activating it.
　That's what happens to Noor, who usually doesn't mind getting attacked, so he must be in a lot of pain.
　I hope it's at least a little less painful...

　That's why I quickly select Skill Up on my phone to target Nol.
　Then light floods out of the phone and is absorbed by Nole's body.

'How's that?　Do you feel any different?

Hmmm, I don't feel any different.

　I hold my hands open and move my body this way and that and Noll checks, but there doesn't seem to be any changes.
　After all, it's unlikely that I'll feel any changes until I activate my skills.
　There might be some changes in the status, let's check it out.

[White Silver Aura*2]
　Increases all stats by 3.2 for 12 minutes.　Reuse Time: 10 hours.

That's not so easy ... how high will it go in the end?

''But my body is still going to hurt if I use it.... I can't wait for you to strengthen it a lot!

If I can get rid of that headache too, I'd like to have it reinforced.

　When I checked Noll's skills, I saw that the time had been extended and the increase in ability value had increased, and the time to reuse it had decreased.
　What would happen if I enhanced one, or if I enhanced it to its maximum?
　This is going to make you want more skill development.

In the meantime, why don't we give it a try while we're at it to see what happens?

That's right. Well then, we will try it!

　Noor squeezed aside and shouted, and his whole body was enveloped in a white aura.
　I decided to ask him to check his skills since we have more time to reuse them and I don't plan to do anything else today.
　Besides, if I do it now, I'll know what would happen after using it if I didn't fight.
　Are you hurting your body because of that unusual movement, or does the skill itself have that effect?

'Oh, that's a Noor skill. That's awesome.

'You've never shown Luna anything like that before, have you?　Mmmm, isn't it great?

Yeah, it's cool.

　Luna applauds Noor's skills with a twinkle in her eye as she sees them for the first time.
　Noor feels good about the praise and seems to be proud and good at it.
　You always feel better when you use a skill, you're always excited.
　I thought Luna was cold too, but she likes this kind of thing.
　It's as if she's about to jump up and down, her whole body is glowing.

　After that, we all stare at Noor for a while, waiting for her skills to wear off.
　Finally, the white light that had been pouring out of her body subsided, and at the same time, Noll collapsed from her knees to the floor.

''Ouch, it hurts........ Why is that.........''

You're not moving and your body hurts without question.

'Are you all right, Mr. Noll? This should ease the pain a bit.

It was cool, but it looks like the fire is about to burn out.

　Noor crawls across the floor and makes a sound like he's about to cry.
　Sisha quickly rushes over to him and gets his upper body up and applies a recovery spell.
　Luna looks at the crumpled Noor and says something terrible, sober and terrible.
　Indeed, when you say that, it's starting to look like the glow of a sparkler when it burns out.

　In the first stage of enhancement, it doesn't seem to make that much of a difference.
　And what about the fact that Nol can't move, does that move have anything to do with it?
　If she was fine without moving, she could just use her skills to prevent attacks.

I'm sorry, you're going to have to be quiet today.

Ugh I shouldn't have done it, sir...

　After Sisuha's recovery, he sat Nolu down in a chair, which allowed him to move slightly.
　I'm really sorry about that.
　But we won't know until we try, and I don't blame you.

''Well then, I guess the next step is the synthesizer.

''That's actually quite something I've been looking forward to. It looks like we can mix and match equipment to enhance it, which should be fun.

I don't think I'm that convenient.

　I'm going to put the white box, which is a synthesizer, in the corner of the room and immediately try to mix something up.
　There is a partly black panel on the front part of the box, and it looks like something will be displayed here.
　Hmmm, let's try to put it in just right.

　First of all, I decided to put in the R-products' large sword and boots, which I don't care what happens to them.
　When I open the white box, there's a divider in the middle, allowing me to put things in on either side.
　It was clearly beyond the size of the box, but when I put the greatsword in on the left side, it turned into a particle of light and filled the left side of the box with light.
　Next, I put the boot into the right side and it turns into a particle of light and fills the right side of the box in the same way.

　Is this all ready?　Let's just close the lid for now.

'Huh?　We're not going to start?

Brother, do you see something displayed here?

　When I closed the box, it didn't work at all.
　When Esther told me to look at the black panel, I saw that [This material cannot be combined with each other] was displayed.
　Apparently, I can't mix these two together.

　Then after trying many things, I put in the equipment from the gacha and the dropped items dropped by the demon, and finally the black panel said [Would you like to synthesize?　Yes, No] was displayed.
　What I put in this time was a large sword and Stinger's poisonous needle.
　If I imagine the finished product, is it a poisonous greatsword?

　And when you press Yes, this time, would you like to spend 1 magic stone to prevent it from disappearing? Yes, No].
　Hmm?　Anti-annihilation.......one magic stone!
　What is this? Could it be that if you fail, your equipment disappears?
　No, it's not that unreasonable. It's not that unreasonable.

　This time I choose No, and the synthesizer starts moving.
　It rattles and shakes for a while, and then ding!　and then stopped with a sound.
　Then a letter appeared on the black panel.

[Failed. Equipment will disappear]

'Wow!　Seriously, he's gone!

　Surprised by the display, I opened the box and found that the light stored inside had disappeared.
　Not only the equipment, but also the materials disappeared with it.

"If you fail, it will disappear.......but it seems you can prevent it from disappearing?

'But it hurts to spend a magic stone for every time you do it.

　It's true that you can prevent it from disappearing, but like Esther said, it's a sober pain to consume a magic stone for each one.
　Moreover, just because it doesn't disappear, it doesn't increase the success rate.
　In other words, if you want to successfully synthesize them, you have to prevent them from disappearing and synthesize them again and again.

Better than annihilating.

If you try to synthesize a UR, annihilation prevention is a must.

　Luna and Sisha also say that annihilation prevention is absolutely necessary.
　I know it's important. I know it's important, but I'm hesitant to spend the magic stones.

　But how successful will the synthesizer be, and what will happen to the resulting product?
　I kept mixing my own Excalibur and Stinger's poisonous needle in order to resolve such questions.
　The anti-disappearance by the magic stone was only the original equipment, and the demonic materials used in the original equipment would disappear after each one.

　And the 14th time I mixed it.
　Finally, the black panel displayed 【Successful】 and the status of the synthesized Excalibur came out.

　------.
Excalibur☆29
　Attack power +3290
　Action speed +190%.
　State Failure: Poison (small)
　------

It's a bit of a waste after consuming 14 magic stones.

Don't tell me it's shabby!　We finally made it!

It's a shame, because if it were a behemoth horn, it would have a much better effect.

　d*mn, I never thought it would take me this long to succeed........
　Well, it's a good thing I found out that the success rate isn't very high.
　There were 60 magic stones left over from the labyrinth reward, and I'm still comfortable with 14.

　However, if this was a behemoth horn, it's a shame.
　The materials disappear after each round, so I can't comfortably mix in rare demon drop items.

　I was hoping for a major enhancement before requesting an escort, but it looks like that's not possible yet.