Birth of an S-Rank Summon!

An S-rank summon was born!

A beast-human. A summon that mixed the traits of a human and a wolf.

From the start I hadn't been greedy—I'd expected B-rank at best. Of course, B-rank was no low rank. But for a summon created by an EX-rank ability user, B-rank was at least something worth hoping for.

And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yet, from the very beginning—S-rank?

S-rank was a being that could be called a national-level power. Just look at my father, the chairman of a massive conglomerate who had declared me cut off. An absolute existence that drew people simply by existing, whom others followed of their own accord.

And that kind of being stood right before my eyes—tail swaying, sending me an affectionate smile and gaze.

"Master. What is my name? I don't know my own name. I want Master to give me a new one!"

A name? Every time I looked at a wolf with purple fur, there was one I'd already decided on. It felt like gazing at a beautiful night sky. So the name was...

"Luna. That's your name."

"Awoo-woong! It feels good! From now on, my name is Luna."

She seemed to like it—howling like a wolf and standing her tail straight up.

Every quirk that could appear had been attached.

The good ones I understood clearly enough. But the bad ones? Appetite I could accept—but obsession, affection deficit, and frustration?

I had a feeling that if I didn't keep giving her attention, she might darken or explode.

"Master! Tell me what I should do for you!"

Luna stepped closer then and bowed at the waist as she asked. People said ordinary beasts reeked. Luna was different. She smelled so good it felt like standing in a flower field.

Anyway, I had created an S-rank summon who obeyed me—I had to put her to use. And since Luna had just asked me to tell her what to do, there happened to be the perfect task.

Starting with Luna, I needed to create even more varied summons. For that, I needed money.

Where did the money that mattered to hunters come from? Dungeon conquest. The items that appeared in the process of conquering dungeons. Items with miraculous effects traded for hundreds of millions at minimum.

There was just one problem. To trade such expensive items, the Hunter Association kept a close eye on them. If you weren't a well-known hunter or affiliated with the Hunter Association, they got suspicious.

Of course my identity would be revealed someday. Nothing in this world lasted forever. But by then I needed to have built enough wealth and power that no one could touch me. I had to rise to a position where even the father who had disowned me would be helpless against me.

"Master! You look like you're worrying about something. I can worry with you!"

Luna said then. She had already come right up close, lightly biting her lip as if hesitating about something. The drooping wolf ears and tail were a bonus that made her emotions even easier to read.

"Do you have some kind of good idea?"

At my words Luna immediately stood her tail straight up.

"Woong~ There are other beast-humans besides me. We parted long ago, but I feel like we can meet again! They want to receive Master's power together with me!"

A translucent window floated up and laid out the important information inside.

"Rabbit and cat and fox?"

"Yep yep! That's right, Master. I want to fight in harmony together. I'm sure Master will lead us well. Because Master is a strong male!"

Male? The word choice felt a bit suspicious somehow, but... I'd let it slide for now.

Anyway, I now had a goal I hadn't known about. Make money and create the remaining beast-human type summons. But I had no idea where to find the souls that matched what the status window had told me. I had a rough idea about the fox, but where were the cat and rabbit?

Since the status window had told me they existed, I had to find them. Naturally there was a high chance they'd all come out as S-rank like Luna. And if the four of them combined their strength on top of that? That alone would be on the level of a national power.

"Will the other beast-humans follow me well like you?"

"Of course! We are drawn to and follow strong power. The others will also see Master as a dignified, strong male!"

Then there was no need to hesitate. Secure capital while creating beast-human summons.

The problem was still capital. No matter how much others saw them as mere ornaments, collectors were everywhere. This world had plenty of rich people who wanted to flaunt their wealth.

And even miscellaneous items from dungeons carried high base prices. I'd disposed of everything I owned and only managed to create Luna. If I created with the remaining capital, a low-rank summon would likely come out.

Still, would it be better to make one more summon to support Luna?

I was thinking that when Luna, who had been looking at me while spinning her tail in circles, spoke.

"Master's worries are my worries! Master. You can order me to do anything!"

"Right. Hmm... First of all, I don't know your basic skills?"

According to the status window she was definitely S-rank. But I didn't know how she'd be in actual combat.

"Physical combat and assassination? That's your specialty?"

"That's right, Master. I have trained my body. Thanks to this outfit with Master's tastes in it, you can see my figure, no?"

As she said that, Luna swayed her upper body. Was that confident expression confidence in her skills—or confidence in her figure?

"Alright. Then I'll tell you about one dungeon—can you conquer it without anyone noticing?"

"I'm confident. Tonight I'll use the darkness to conquer the dungeon. Master. Where should I conquer?"

Luna showed a thoroughly confident attitude. But then—gurgle—with a rumbling sound, Luna plopped down right there.

"I'm hungry. Master. A cool male takes care of the meals for a female like me!"

No matter how lacking I was in many ways, I wasn't so lacking that I'd leave my summon hungry. Since she was a wolf, I decided to feed her meat for dinner.

As the son of an S-rank hunter and chairman of a major corporation, of course I'd eaten plenty of luxurious food—but honestly what suited my mouth better was...

"Mmm! Crispy skin and juicy meat. And the seasoning goes well too. The sweet-and-sour radish on the side is the best!"

I'd ordered chicken. I'd ordered a ton just in case, and true to being a wolf she munched away and ate quite a large amount.

"Master! It's so delicious I'm happy! Power is surging up like crazy."

"Yeah. I'll buy you lots more delicious food from now on, so eat as much as you want."

"Mmm! As expected Master is a capable male! I am a female who likes males!"

The word choice was a bit off, but she liked it so that was fine.

Even without the explanation from the translucent status window, I could tell from her happy expression and wagging wolf tail.

With her motivation fully revived now, I thought of a certain dungeon in my head. I let Luna ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eat until she was full. I let her rest until darkness fell over the city and the dazzling nightscape began to appear. And at last I found a dungeon that was perfect for Luna to clear, and that would help me the most.

"Master! I'm full and I've rested enough. It's dark now so I want to move quickly! I want to see Master happy!"

Looking at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the highly motivated Luna, I showed her my laptop screen. I brought up the dungeon information along with a detailed 3D GPS location.

"Treasure Hunter's Essence? Alone with wisdom and courage. Obtain the treasure with only physical ability? Is this the goal?"

"Yeah. You can enter alone, and attacks are absolutely not allowed. Item use is also banned."

In short, sneak in, steal the treasure located deepest inside, and the dungeon is conquered. An unrevealed treasure. Countless hunters had challenged it to obtain it.

The problem was that challenges had continued for five months, but not a single hunter had succeeded in conquering it. Even S-rank ability users found it extremely difficult to clear because it tested pure physical ability rather than attacks.

"You'll use your special physical abilities to bring back the treasure. How about it? Think you can do it?"

"Hmph! I want to just push through everything with force. But if that's what Master wants, I'll do my best!"

Saying that, Luna began stretching her body this way and that.

"You also can't let anyone find out you're my summon. And I'd prefer if they didn't find out you're a wolf beast-human either. How about it?"

"Of course I'll do that. I'll move stealthily, and even more stealthily!"

Having said that, Luna glanced at the half chicken remaining.

"Once I successfully complete the command Master gave me and return, I'll eat the remaining chicken. Then I'm off."

Without hesitation Luna opened the window and left. She leaped as if plunging into the city's nightscape. At first I could see Luna, but in the blink of an eye her form vanished.

Since Luna was S-rank I wasn't worried, but honestly my expectation of success was fifty-fifty. There were plenty of dungeons that could be cleared with S-rank power. It didn't matter if she couldn't conquer it right away.

"Haa... I'm tired."

Was it because I'd been through something special? Or because of my ability? Suddenly I felt a wave of fatigue wash over me as a man alone. I roughly cleaned up the house and lay down on the bed.

If you wanted to quickly learn about hunter-related incidents or news, the Hunter Gallery was perfect. I passed the time looking at various information and posts. Sure enough there was news about me stepping down as guild master, but it didn't get much attention. Maybe because I was a guild master with no abilities?

Parachute. Was doing well. Incompetent. Comments like that were lined up in a row. A slightly bitter feeling. I decided to just ignore it and checked other posts.

While searching for information to create a partner summon for Luna... suddenly a thought occurred to me.

I was the first to possess an EX-rank ability that surpassed S-rank. But so far no one knew this fact. However, if a dungeon was conquered, a notification went out to all ability users.

-Rank ability user successfully conquered such-and-such dungeon.

Messages like that. Of course you could choose not to send them if you didn't want to, but most people sent them to announce their achievements. If Luna conquered the dungeon, would my rank show up by any chance?

I'd been so busy today, with so much to think about and decide, that I'd missed this part. As a slight unease settled in...

Luna had truly succeeded in conquering an extremely difficult dungeon. But why is it that ominous premonitions are never wrong?

Suddenly the Hunter Gallery exploded with posts related to EX-rank.