Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Bronze Rank Adventurer Reti (1)
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We flopped onto the beds in our inn room as soon as we got back.
The only thing waiting for us outside was stress from the tax collectors' tyranny and the Lich Clan's dumped goods flooding the market.
"Haa... Sena. Mind if I borrow your slate for a bit? I wanna check the Adventurer Gallery."
"Sure thing, Reti! But charge it later and give it right back!"
I sprawled face-down on the bed and tapped at the Magic Slate's screen.
It was slower and clunkier than the smartphones from my past life in every way.
The posts crawled up at a snail's pace.
After waiting a few minutes, the responses started trickling in.
My gray tail flicked left and right against the bedsheet, mirroring my anxious heart.
"Reti, what's wrong? Your ears are drooping."
Sena, who had been polishing her shield on the bed next to mine, came over and stroked my head.
Her soft touch made my ears twitch involuntarily.
Ratkin instincts, I guess—scratching behind them felt amazing.
"Just frustrated. I posted a question on the gallery."
I showed the slate screen to Sena and Mani.
Title: [Question] Weighing Options to Escape Oakwood, Need Advice (Iron Rank)
Author: Anonymous (118.45)
Oakwood's market prices are totally wrecked right now.
The Lich Clan swept everything up—can't make a living here anymore.
Should I just bail to another city, the capital, Dungeonholm, or the borderlands?
I'm Iron Rank and on the verge of going bust. Need advice.
It was a pretty serious post.
If Oakwood was hopeless, packing up and leaving was the rational choice.
But the comments were utterly depressing.
LOL newbie's cute. You think it'll be different elsewhere?
Dude, wake up. The whole Winster Kingdom is crawling with Lich Clan right now. Dungeonholm? That's mage tower central—automata spin 3x faster there.
Border? Iron badge resets if you go there.
Just tough it out. Iron badges grow by enduring.
"...It's not just us, huh."
Mani clicked her tongue as she read the comments over my shoulder.
Her short, plump fingers brushed metal dust off her nose bridge.
"The Lich Clan problem isn't just here. Is the whole kingdom in chaos?"
"Yeah. And check this out."
I scrolled down, and a familiar username popped up.
pale_skeleton. It was that guy again.
Won't help anywhere else—just burns travel money. Moving now is perfect for dying on the streets. Better to rank up to Bronze here and clear higher dungeons for profit.
I replied with a follow-up question.
Thanks! Any idea when material prices will recover? No Lich Clan in upper dungeons?
Plus, only two or three Lich Clan guys showed up in Oakwood. Prices should stabilize by end of the week.
Cynical, but weirdly detailed advice.
Who the heck is this guy?
"Sounds like he's onto something."
Sena nodded.
Her folded white ears perked up above her head, then relaxed again.
"We only need a few more quests to hit Bronze Rank exam quota anyway! Fleeing now would reset our count!"
"True."
Mani pretended to flick an abacus.
"One answer: Hit Bronze, raid upper dungeons, make bank! Necromancers can hunt all they want—quest payouts are different!"
I sat up and stretched.
My stiff spine cracked satisfyingly.
I perked up my droopy ears and dusted off my floppy tail.
"Yeah. Let's do it! Bronze exam's right around the corner anyway."
The Hamster Wheel by the bed spun with a rattle.
[That's right! My apostle! Even a rat hole sees sunlight someday! Don't flee—charge straight ahead!]
We steeled our resolve once more.
First goal: Bronze Rank, ASAP.
It was really just a handful away!
Thud!
A rough leather pouch hit the guild counter's thick oak table with a heavy thump.
"Here you go. Ten Hopperbird beaks, and the delivery to the western outskirts herbalist is signed off."
Untying the pouch revealed a pile of sharp, curved beaks spilling out.
The quest we'd just completed targeted Hopperbirds.
Cute name, but they were pests that devoured crop roots indiscriminately.
The receptionist rubbed her tired, hollow eyes and counted the beaks with her quill tip.
"One, two, three... Ten confirmed. No chips, nice and clean. Signature checks out."
She pulled out my adventurer registration papers.
In the photo, I was wide-eyed from the flash.
The receptionist peeked out from the counter, whistling softly in admiration.
Even standing on a stool, our short stature made it tricky.
She had to do this to look us in the eye properly.
"Impressive, Reti."
"Any issues?"
"This completes your Iron Rank mandatory quest quota. Achievement rate versus time... wow, top 10%?"
"Lich Clan wrecked the market rates. Gotta hustle to eat."
"So diligent! In my receptionist career, I've never seen such brave, hardworking Ratkin adventurers. No flattery!"
She cracked a rare smile for the first time.
"Proceed with promotion now?"
"Yes! Everyone ready?"
I turned; Sena and Mani nodded.
"Yeah! Bronze means stepping up as a true performer!"
"For my ancestors, better inventions! Need deeper dungeon materials for that."
After filling out the forms, I climbed onto the stool and handed them over.
Some papers went to the guild master's office; others the receptionist took backstage.
Back there loomed a massive machine: the Magic Telegraph.
Placing the papers on it, it hummed low, glowing with mana stone blue.
The receptionist deftly worked levers and buttons.
Hiss!
Clack-clack! Tap-tap!
Gears whirred noisily behind the counter for a moment.
"Wild. That sends the whole stack to HQ?"
Sena and Mani had dragged stools over to peer at the spectacle.
"Yeah. Why didn't our mine elders install one? Would've made comms between mines and forts way easier..."
Mani grumbled wistfully.
Soon, a hiss and fading clicks echoed through the guild hall as the transmission ended.
"Once mandatory steps are done, the rest goes to capital HQ for approval. No exam for Iron to Bronze—remember that?"
"Yes. How long?"
"Admin takes time: two days fast, three max. You'll be Bronze promotion candidates—stay in Oakwood, don't stray far."
Three days!
It had been over two months since I woke as Ratkin girl Reti in this world.
The despair and terror from opening my eyes on that dungeon floor...
Those feelings had hardened into calluses on my palms and coiled in my tail's instinctive balance.
"Bronze Rank at last..."
New emotions welled up.
Sena, watching breathlessly beside me, tugged my sleeve and wagged her tail furiously.
"Whoa! Reti! Hear that? We're promoting! Real adventurers!"
"Still candidates, Sena. Don't drink the kimchi soup yet."
"C'mon! No more sewers or veggie farming! Real dungeons, real quests!"
Her red eyes sparkled with anticipation.
She wasn't wrong.
In Oakwood's low-rank market, crushed by Necromancers' skeleton automata dumping prices, Iron Rank survival was daily hell.
Bronze changed everything.
We'd qualify for major dungeons and ancient ruins with strict entry limits.
Becoming Bronze marked me as a true otherworlder, right?
"Yeah. Time to make real money!"
I clenched my fist.
We headed straight to Mani's workshop on the city outskirts.
Three-day wait—no slacking.
"We've got about two silver coins now."
Cramming into her tiny forge for room and board it was.
Anvil and furnace only, but what choice?
"Next up: real fights and exploration."
Goblin nest clearances, mid-tier monster hunts.
Ruins surveys, escorts.
Time to upgrade this lacking bowgun.
And learn what we lacked.
"Sena, can you teach me your techniques? Swordplay, shield work, fighting skills—anything."
Her red eyes widened, then lit with excitement.
"My sword and shield arts? Of course! It's Hearth Goddess Knight Order swordsmanship!"
"Knight Order style? Wait, can you teach me that?"
"No worries—learned it at the monastery to smite evil. Abbess said it's open to all! Let's start now."
Sena drew her sword and approached.
"Eek, right now?"
Her enthusiasm was oddly intense.
First issue: solved.