I'm not going to be able to get a single hair out of the wyvern. I'm sure you'll be able to find a great deal more to say about this. Naturally, the flames I spat out did not leak to the outside world.
　There was only one person who could do this.

''It's too late........''
No, I was just wondering if you might be able to take it down.

　Sorry about that!
　I stare at him as he lands from the sky. Don't be selfish, His Majesty the Sadist!
　Due to the use of illusionary magic, his appearance was completely different, but the way he laughed was the same. No wonder.

''Target Lock. [Come, Light, Goddess Healing, Mega Heel]

　His Majesty releases a recovery spell. Miu and the others who had fallen down begin to stand up, even though they were unsteady on their feet.
　In no time at all, the wound on my right hand, which had been covered in blood, has closed up. My ankle didn't hurt either.
　But I still have no strength, or perhaps my head is dizzy and I can't stand up, and I fall on my ass right there.

I'm running out of magic. Who taught you that kind of all-out technique, at all........ [Transfer]

　You seem to be returning your words, but it was your fiancé who taught me, General.
　The magic transfer spell used by His Majesty made my consciousness clearer. I jumped up and tried to move my body, but there was no problem. Alright, resurrection!

All right, everybody feeling better?　As you know, the test is over at this point. You can continue with the request itself, but I won't help you. Of course, you'll have to take care of this one too.

　The wyvern is rampant in a translucent ward in the shape of a cube. I can't even hear his voice. He's extremely angry, I can tell.

"I'm out. I'm going down. I don't want to die for nothing.

　Mr. Surges, who was now in a tattered robe, was the first to raise his hand. Rose and Miu-san then raised their hands as well.

It's a shame about the reward, but life is worth living. I'm going down too.
Me too.

　Abelto and Dom, who had seen Miu and the others raise their hands, followed suit.

''We're going down too. We've already experienced enough of our own incompetence.
You're not very good at it.

　They both chuckled dryly and looked at Garon with a sideways glance.

'Me too ... down. It's frustrating, but I don't have the power to take down a wyvern ... we don't have.

　Garon murmurs in disappointment as he grips his sword. He must be chewing on his own helplessness. It's still better to be able to admit that.
　As I was sensing this feeling, His Majesty's gaze now turns to me. Oh, me too, huh?

I'm not going to be able to get away with it. I'm going to surrender!
It's so light.

　His Majesty murmurs with a bitter smile, but I guess it's no use gossiping here.
　His Majesty snaps his fingers.

''Release.''
'Glufgaaaaaaaaaa!

　The wyvern is released and its rage echoes around the area again.
　Everyone except for you and me is bracing themselves, but before you know it, an old man is standing in front of the wyvern with a drawn sword in his hand.
　The first thing you need to do is to get your hands dirty.　That's Restia's first king?　When did you get here I didn't notice you at all!　What's more, Karina's standing next to you, too!　Oh, my God, these people!　I'm more afraid of cutting off any sign of you than of a burglar!

It's been a long time since I've dealt with a flying dragon. Let's see if we can teach everyone how to defeat this guy.

　When Grandpa the First King said that, he disappeared in an instant.
　In the next moment, Grandpa had gone behind the wyvern. Then he cuts off its tail from the root under the single sword.

''Gaaaaaah!
''First, I'll make it impossible to fly. I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world. This will make it impossible for you to balance yourself, and you won't be able to fly properly.

　Wobbling, the wyvern tries to escape into the sky, but it quickly falls headfirst to the ground. I see.
　Then he stands up and slices off the wyvern's clawed toe.

"This is the easiest place to do it. It's thinner than the others, and if you cut it off, you won't be able to attack with your claws. And lastly.

　With a thump, Grandpa lightly leapt and flashed his sword, and the wyvern's head easily flew in the air. Ugh!
　As you can see, there are several sword flashes, and then an arm wing was dropped from his torso and his torso was sliced in half.
　In just a few seconds, the guy who was giving us all absolute strength and fear until a moment ago was easily cut into pieces.
　This is the gold rank.

"Well, well, this is the worst way to beat him.


　We were shouting at the same time. What's the worst way to take it down?

The best way to kill them is to kill them with a single blow. A single stab to the brain or heart. Of course, you'll need the right kind of weapon.

　That's right, but........ I didn't realize until then, but that sword my grandpa has is a crystal sword. A sword made from fragments of flames. No wonder I thought it was so good at cutting. I wonder if it was made by His Majesty?
　Even if I had that sword, I wouldn't be able to hunt it as gloriously as I did. If you slice and dice unnecessarily, you'll lose more value as a material.
　As we were stunned, His Majesty turned to look at us.

''Well, the results of your rank-up tests, unfortunately they are all green.
...Is that because you failed to make the request?

　Abert opens his mouth at His Majesty's words.

'Well, there's that too. I'm making sure of all of your actions. And also what each of you did after everyone was split up in the guild. First of all, no one went to the guild's data room. I guess that's a big deduction. If we just did a little research, we could have gotten more information about this, Firelizard, and this.

　Oh, sure. We were told that the guild has such a facility when we registered. It's important to prepare well in advance.

The other thing we need to do is to coordinate with each other. Even with opponents that I've never partnered with before, with a little more thought I should have been able to get around.

　Maybe it was the time of the Blood Liger. At that time, everyone was so self-conscious about themselves that they didn't have time to think about anyone else, you know.

'Do you think they took care of their weapons at night?　I'm afraid that when the time comes, you won't be able to use it, right?
Huh....

　Garon lowered his gaze awkwardly at His Majesty's words. Probably his shield had been damaged in the Blood Liger fight. I didn't notice that, that's why it happened. I was also talking to everyone else and didn't take care of it. I'm sorry.

As for the last wyvern, you'd be wrong if you thought we were out of luck. If I had been observing carefully, I could have predicted why the Fire Lizard didn't eat the Firewheel Grass even though it was there, or why the Fire Lizard, which prefers to act alone, was acting in a group, and so on. Well, this is a dead end when we didn't collect information from the guild.

　I noticed it, at least.　It was too late, though.
　We should watch him more carefully.... Ah.........this is what the chieftain always tells me. ''Think and act more carefully.

''There are many other details, but we have determined that none of the three of us have reached the blue rank. That's a shame.''
''No, I think it's a proper decision. If this wasn't a test, we would all have been devoured by this wyvern. Just the fact that you taught me how to be an adventurer was worth it for me to take this test.

　Abelto uttered an auspicious word. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way, but they didn't say a word.

It's not exactly a shame, though. 'The wyvern there, you can do what you want with it.
Huh?

　The words of our grandfather's mouth widened our eyes. Huh?　What?　You're giving this wyvern to us?　You sure?

You sure you don't want to?

　Your Majesty interrupts in surprise. Stop it!　Don't say anything!

I don't mind. Their equipment must have been damaged by this test. This is a lowly dragon, and since I chopped it into pieces, the value will go down considerably. But after that, it's not that much money.
I'm sure it would still cost five white gold coins...

　Five platinum coins!　If you divide it by seven, it's about a third of the first reward.　The first reward was two white gold coins for each of us, so seven of us turned fourteen into five.
　That's a lot of money for us. Well, if we buy new equipment, will we have that much money left?　
　Everyone seems to be happy about it. The test was disappointing, but it would still be a good start for a green-ranked adventurer.
　We then split up and began to dismantle the wyvern. Karina-sama taught us in detail how to handle the dragon, though, so we managed to finish it off.
　In the meantime, I dug out the Blood Liger material that Dom-san had buried. If I sold this too, it would make some good money.
　This is how I got a lot of materials, but of course I can't easily carry them to the guild. But I know someone who can easily carry these things around.

Ji.......
Okay, okay, stop looking at me like that.

　That's your Majesty. That's so sweet.
　His Majesty uses storage magic to erase the pile of materials with a poi-poi. Everyone rolled their eyes, but they were even more surprised when he was brought to the guild in an instant with transfer magic afterwards.
　I know how you feel. You're a walking insane, our Majesty.




　After I finished assessing the materials at the guild, I divided the paid money into seven equal pieces, seven gold coins each, and I had one extra piece.
　This could have been divided into smaller pieces as well, but at Abert's suggestion, we decided to use that money to eat together, so we went straight to the tavern.
　The tavern is right next to the guild, though, so it's less than a minute's walk away.
　I was the only one old enough to not drink alcohol, so I had to drink fruit juice, but I ate my food with gusto, because I didn't get a chance to do so often. You don't get this opportunity very often.

"What are you going to do now?
What's going on?

　As I was nibbling on the seared chicken, Miss Rose came up to me. Miu was also sitting next to me.

It's a good thing we got together like this, and we were talking about having a party for a while, and I was thinking of having a party for a while, too. And we were thinking about you, too.

　Ah. I see. So that's what we were talking about earlier. When I glanced at the table beside me, Dom-san and Garon were comparing drinks. Aberto was laughing and watching them as they drank it, while Mr. Sarges was drinking silently.

'Are you teaming up too, Miu?'
Hm. Rose asked me to come with you.

　I see. It's interesting, isn't it? But....

I'm sorry, but I think I'm gonna have to pass.
Why not?　It's a safer way to earn money than being alone!
'Nah, I signed up as an adventurer to begin with, it's just a temporary thing. I don't want to do that for a living. It's a good idea to make some money now and then.
'Oh really then I shouldn't force you to ask him out. It's a job where lives can be at stake...
Shame.

　Rose and Miu-san looked disappointed, but they laughed and pulled back. I'm sorry, but I have a group of friends called the Brünnhild Knights. It's not bad to be an adventurer on your days off.

I'm not going to be able to tell you that. ─ But we are in Brunhild, so give us a shout if you see us. ─ We're in Brunhild, so if you see us, give us a shout, and we'll be happy to help you. I have a very broad face, despite my appearance.
Yeah, I'll let you know when that happens.
"Hm.

　We laughed and made another toast. I think the best reward for this job is making friends. I hope you'll be able to meet Shizuku and Nagi soon.

''Oh, by the way, I didn't get paid for the explosive bombs!
You're...
A miser?

　No, you don't!　Whoever laughs at a copper, cries at a copper!　You've got to pay me the right way!
　I looked at the guys next to me, who were already drunk, to charge them.




■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■




That's all.
'Hmm. I'm glad no one said they were going to stop being adventurers after this one. The wyvern was unexpected.

　I patted my chest at Tsubaki-san's report. Most of the dragons that were around that island followed Ruri and left. I didn't realize that there was a different dragon living there than the one that Karina-san's sister had killed.
　There may be others that stay around, so I'll have Ruri look around once in a while.

''I think I've learned a lot about the flame, too. She didn't seem to think too deeply about it...
'Well, someone who could naturally blend in with people like that would be perfect for an infiltration mission. I'd appreciate it if you could sneak in a little more.
Don't worry, I'll discipline you from tomorrow.

　Discipline. It's not a dog.

The first thing that comes to mind is that that is the 'element' of the flame, not the skill of the ninja. If you are able to use it properly, there is nothing to complain about.

　Well, you know. It's not a high level of skill, it's just natural. But even so, I think it's amazing that he has the ability to easily get into the bosom of his opponent.

You can't use the technique he used on the wyvern. If you don't have the proper equipment, your fists will be crushed, and if you fall over every time after that, it's useless.
"As you wish.

　With those words, Tsubaki-san's presence disappears. You could have come down from the ceiling. Is it called stylistic beauty?

'Is the hard talk over?'
Sorry for the wait. Sorry to keep you waiting.

　Mr. Galen was sitting on the sofa opposite me, drinking tea and laughing. On the table in front of him was a mass-produced smart phone. I gave it to him as a thank you for this time.
　It's a good idea to have a smart phone with you, because you're the brother-in-law of Restia's current king, Hilda's brother-in-law, Reinhardt, who also has a smart phone, and Galen said he wanted to have a conversation with Hilda, so that's why it was convenient for him. But.

I'd like to remind you once again, you can't take a voyeuristic picture, right?
A skeptic... Do I look like I would do such a thing?
I wouldn't have to remind you if I couldn't see you.

　I'd like to believe Galen's words, "In the name of the knight," he said.

'You just have to ask their permission to do it properly, don't you?
'No ... well ... yes ...'
By the way, are there no more pictures of the girls' "onago" that you got in "Glabia" before?　Don't you have one?

　Why do you say it twice? No, I have, but........
　Oddly enough, a crime?　It's better than being run into. I pick out some racy gravure photos from the sea of the internet and send them to Galen's phone.

'Woohoo!　Yes!　Yes!　You're so spiffy!

　As I looked at Galen-san, who had a prodigal smile on his face with the bridge of his nose, I knew that I couldn't let the new adventurers see this appearance. The dream is destroyed.

''Fuyu-dono!　Lord Winter's Night!　Hilda told me that they have a moving picture called 'Doga'!　Do you have their own diagrams, too, by any chance?

　Very clever!　Aren't old people usually so dull with these machines?　Isn't the erotic power beyond that?
　After that, I got fed up with Mr. Galen's really persistent requests, so I downloaded some movies and sent them to him.

"Hohohoho. I can't get enough of this!　Shake it up, shake it up!

　The video-obsessed hermit is pleased. You know, the sound is leaking out........
　I took out the earphones I had the doctor make for me from [storage] and handed them to Galen-san.



　A few days later, Galen-san sent me close-up photos of various women's breasts and asses (wearing clothes, of course), and I felt very delicate.
　I wonder if she really has permission to do this....
　I thought about throwing the photos I got sent to me together in the trash, but I kept them just in case. Just in case. Yeah, just in case.