The Promotion Quest
"Yu! No! Aaaaaaaa!"
The moment I stepped into the guild, Meruru came barreling toward me, her enormous ears flapping.
She'd just finished receptionist training and was being put on actual duty — today was her first day reporting to the guild.
"Hey! People are watching! Get off!"
Meruru hopped up and clung to my back, locking both legs around me. I could feel every gaze in the guild turning our way.
"My, you two are as close as ever."
Tina smiled as she looked at the two of us.
"Meruru? You seem to have some free time on your hands."
A short remark, aimed squarely at Meruru. And astonishingly, Meruru glanced around, read the room, and climbed down off my back of her own accord, slipping back behind the counter.
That Meruru, actually listening? What on earth had happened during receptionist training?
Anyway, the reason I'd come to the guild today was to accept the promotion quest that would let me advance to Bronze Rank.
"Please sign here, and here as well..."
Tina laid several documents on the counter and kindly pointed out where I needed to sign. The guild really did make you sign a mountain of paperwork for anything you wanted to do. What a pain. I signed immediately, without so much as glancing at the tiny print.
"Tina, is that everything?"
"Yes. This time, Yunoa, you'll be participating in a monster subjugation campaign."
A monster subjugation? Out of nowhere? Even if this was a promotion quest, they were assigning something like that to a Novice Rank adventurer like me?
When I made a puzzled face, Tina explained the request verbally.
"Large-scale monster dens have been appearing all over the continent lately. So the guild has been mobilizing adventurers to clear out any dens that have formed too close to villages."
"You're saying I'm supposed to clear out a large-scale monster den?"
"Oh, you'll just be joining the subjugation party. The actual fighting will be handled by other adventurers. You'll be providing rear support along with the others — supply work, for example..."
Figures. So they wanted me to join as a gofer, doing the party's grunt work. Well, I didn't have any complaints about that at this point. Being sent to the actual front lines of a monster subjugation would have been far worse. If that had been the case, a Novice adventurer like me would have been nothing more than a meat shield.
"A Gold Rank adventurer will be joining the party this time, so it should be a valuable experience. If the operation wraps up without any major issues, you'll undergo a rank evaluation and be promoted to Bronze Rank."
"Sounds good. So where do I go and what do I do?"
"You really didn't read a single word of the paperwork, did you."
Tina let out a small sigh. Seeing that, I felt a twinge of guilt that I should have at least skimmed a few lines — but it couldn't be helped. What adventurer actually reads every document a receptionist hands them? At least, I'd never seen an adventurer in this guild take more than ten seconds between receiving papers and signing them. They'd probably sign without looking even if the guild replaced every document with a waiver signing away their own bodies.
"Sorry. I just couldn't get any of it to register."
"Haa... It's fine. Everyone does it."
Tina looked a little tired. Receptionist work must not be as easy as it looks. Then again, they do say service jobs run on ground-up sanity.
"Tomorrow, wait at Kubel's northern gate, join up with the subjugation party, and set out. As long as you follow instructions on-site, there shouldn't be any problems."
And so I ended up joining a monster subjugation party as my Bronze Rank promotion quest.
"Hey! You there, pal! Help me get these crates onto the wagon!"
"Yes, yes! Coming!"
"Hold it, young fella! You're strong — grab one more!"
A burly bald muscleman stacked another crate on top of the one I was already carrying and clapped me on the back as a signal. Having joined the monster subjugation party for my promotion quest, I was at the staging area helping load supplies onto the party's wagons.
Around us, various adventurers loitered near the wagons, chatting and watching the laborers and me haul cargo. In practice, Novice adventurers weren't even treated as real adventurers.
"Hahh..."
The amount of cargo going onto the supply wagons was enormous. It included provisions for people who couldn't venture far from their villages because of the monsters. The subjugation party numbered thirteen adventurers including me. The ones actually participating in combat: twelve.
I'd heard the adventurer serving as party commander was a Gold Rank — a celebrity that nobody in the guild didn't know. Of course, I had no idea who they were.
"Whoa! Pal, adventurers really are something else! That strength of yours is no joke!"
The bald muscleman praised me as I came back from loading the wagon. I was genuinely grateful I'd built up my strength with Mana Conversion. When this guy first walked up and put me to work, I'd thought I was finished. The workload would have wrecked an ordinary person with no mana in their body — they'd be laid up after a single day.
But once I actually started lifting, aside from not being able to see in front of me from stacking so many crates, it was easier than I'd expected. Given enough time, I could have filled the entire supply wagon by myself without the other laborers. That's how sturdy my body had become. Even the men with muscles bulging all over struggled to move a single crate, while I hoisted two at a time — no wonder the bald foreman was singing my praises. If adventuring didn't work out, I could always make a living as a porter.
"Ah, Yunoa!"
Just as I tossed the last crate onto the supply wagon, a welcome voice called from behind me. It was Oren, the Bronze Rank adventurer.
"Oh? You're joining the monster subjugation too, Oren?"
"I'm more surprised that you're here, Yunoa."
Fair enough.
"I'm Novice Rank, so as you can see, I'm just a gofer."
"If you're done working, come sit over here and rest. The party's about to set out."
Oren glanced over the supply wagon situation, then said that to me. I took him up on the offer, sitting with him and talking until the party departed.
"The world's gotten grim lately. Monster dens cropping up even close to villages. I heard one village was overrun by hundreds of goblins and reduced to ruins. Even weak monsters like goblins become a serious problem when they gather in those numbers."
"You're going to fight the monsters directly this time, Oren?"
"Yes. The vanguard will be Gold and Silver Rank adventurers, of course. Bronze Rank adventurers will probably handle the cleanup from the rear."
So even the party's roles were divided by adventurer rank. Oren said it with a self-deprecating tone.
If you're talking like that, where does that leave me? Bronze Rank adventurers are perfectly respectable adventurers — have a little more confidence.
That thought crossed my mind briefly, but Bronze was Bronze, so there was nothing to be done. Once this quest was over, Oren and I would be the same Bronze Rank. Oren, who'd always looked so strong and so cool to me, and I would officially be equals.
The world you inhabit changes what you can see. Before I registered as an adventurer, I'd admired the profession itself. After becoming one, I'd admired Oren. Once I promoted to Bronze Rank, what would I see ahead of me? There was no knowing until I'd become it.
"I heard the commander of this subjugation party is a famous Gold Rank adventurer."
The mood was starting to sink a little, so I changed the subject. Oren nodded and spoke.
"Ah, a female swordsman named Mireia. You don't know her?"
"No, first I've heard of her..."
"Between the Mana Conversion last time and this — did you grow up in some deep mountain somewhere?"
"Ahaha..."
Not a deep mountain. A different world.
The female swordsman Mireia... I hadn't even seen a Silver Rank adventurer fight yet. How strong would a Gold Rank be? I was honestly curious. Even watching Bronze Rank Oren fight a pack of slimes had been impressive enough for me. I couldn't even imagine what a Gold Rank adventurer charging into a monster den would look like.
If I was lucky, maybe I'd get to see it with my own eyes. No — I was joining as a gofer, so I probably wouldn't get the chance. A shame, that.
"The commander has arrived!"
Just then, someone shouted from where the adventurers were gathered. I looked toward where everyone's gazes had focused and saw a black-haired woman approaching.
"That's her. That's Commander Mireia."
Oren jabbed me in the side with his elbow. Gold Rank adventurer and subjugation commander, Mireia. Wearing skirted light armor, a longsword at her hip, she walked toward the head of the party with no expression on her face. Her black hair fell to her waist, and though she wasn't particularly muscular, she was a beauty who stood tall for a woman.
Honestly, looking at her appearance alone, it was hard to believe she was the commander of this subjugation party. But judging by the adventurers' gazes and reactions, she was clearly the real deal. The adventurers who'd been busy chatting in clusters just moments before fell silent as one the instant she appeared, as if they'd rehearsed it, and a few small gasps of admiration even slipped out.
Commander Mireia inspected the supply wagons, checking their condition, then mounted a horse waiting at the entrance and took the lead. The wagons that had been standing by followed her. The other adventurers mounted horses or climbed onto wagons and fell in behind.
"Let's go."
Oren climbed onto the rearmost supply wagon and held out a hand to me. I took it and hauled myself up.