The Light of Ascension
The misunderstanding. “Back already?” “Yes, we’re back.” Without any structures around us, just a vast and perfectly flat plaza, we suddenly found ourselves standing there. This must be the Return Plaza.
“It’s already dark out, nyang!” The sun was setting. The entire world was dyed in a deep crimson. The fading red glow slipping between the buildings and the pure white light bursting from the back of my contractor’s head blended together in a truly beautiful sight… Wait. What?
“Oooooh!” “Is that the contractor?” “Nya-nyang!?” As if she had somehow acquired firefly DNA, the contractor began emitting her own light. Even though the sky had grown dark, she shone alone like a stage spotlight, drawing the eyes of the adventurers who had just returned and were now staggering around the plaza.
“Is that…?” “The light of ascension!” Ascension, huh. From the looks of it, it seemed my contractor had leveled up. Whether the Goddess had highly evaluated her for solo-hunting an entity of a higher tier than herself, or whether the feats I had achieved by exploding those entities as her familiar had been distributed to her, I wasn’t sure. But one thing was certain: this was something worth celebrating.
Should I throw a level-up party or something? I, who had only ever experienced “parties” as a child when we pushed desks together for snack parties at school, found myself seriously pondering the question, What exactly is a party?
Like moths drawn to a streetlamp, adventurers had already gathered around the contractor and were beginning to offer their congratulations one by one. The scene looked exactly like a bunch of veterans crowding around to watch a newbie, which I found oddly amusing.
“Haha! Congratulations, kid!” “Whoa, you look so young too. That’s amazing!” “Ooh…”
The praise and encouragement came from genuine hearts, not empty flattery. Though she looked a bit dazed, the contractor didn’t seem to mind the attention. She puffed out her chest proudly and secretly enjoyed the interest.
“Leveling up on your very first expedition! This is an exceptional case, nyang!” “Indeed. In all of Bastion’s history, there have probably only been about thirty such instances.”
Jackson nodded in agreement with the highly excited Sion’s words. But… thirty times? Wasn’t that a bit too many to call it “exceptional”?
“To be precise, this is the thirty-third time, nyang!” “You know that much?” “This body is the thirty-third, so of course I remember it, nyang!” “....”
So that’s what it was. No wonder she kept emphasizing how exceptional it was. This self-important cat really…
“...Hm?” I looked away from Sion, who was now rattling off the names of every record-holder for the shortest time to level up—thirty-second, thirty-first, and so on—and reflexively turned my head at the presence I suddenly felt behind me.
“Ahem.” Ah, the contractor had arrived. With both hands on her hips and her shoulders raised higher than usual, she looked different from normal. A confident smile naturally spread across her lips, and her eyes glowed red, reflecting the sunset. The light effect from her level-up seemed to have ended; the glow behind her head had gone out.
“Sir Raven. It seems I’ve grown stronger.”
She stared at me with eyes full of expectation. She’s still just a kid. I gazed at her quietly, then gave a small smile and gently patted her head.
“Yes. Well done.”
“Hmph.” As if the praise was exactly what she had wanted, she smiled in satisfaction and quietly leaned her head into my hand. But as time passed, the tips of her ears turned red and her head dipped lower. She seemed a little embarrassed.
But then—
Flap! “Kkyu kkyu!” “...?” “Sir Kkachi?”
Kkachi suddenly burst out from the contractor’s robe and wrapped itself around my hand as if marking territory. Did it think I was hitting her? The way it cradled the contractor’s head like a mother bird protecting its young was incredibly solemn. I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even speak and just stared blankly at Kkachi when Sion’s urgent voice came from the side.
“E-everyone! We should probably run now, nyang! Ahh, why did I forget! It’s been so long since I last went into the dungeon. I completely spaced out, nyang!” “Huh?” “What are you suddenly talking about, you thief.”
“The Adventurer’s Guild is about to close for the day, nyang! If we dawdle any longer we might be too late, nyang!” “Then can’t we just go tomorrow?” “The maseok extracted from entities must be taken to the Adventurer’s Guild as quickly as possible for special coating, nyang! Otherwise the mana will leak out and their value will drop, nyang! In just one day you’ll lose at least ten percent of the base purchase price, nyang!” “...Ten percent!?” “That… would be problematic……”
It looked like we were going to have to run after all.
Seeing the lights still on, it looks like we made it in time. The distance from the Return Plaza to the Adventurer’s Guild wasn’t far, so we arrived just in time.
—Ding-a-ling. When I pulled open the closed door, a clear bell chime and the sweet scent of fruit welcomed us. The floor still had a bit of moisture on it, as if it had just been cleaned. The thought that we were about to dirty this place again filled me with guilt.
“The Goddess’s blessing even shows the time, nyang!” “...It really has every function imaginable.” “Huff… huff… everyone… wait for me… ughhh.” “Kkyu!”
While Sion and I arrived first and were having a light conversation, the contractor came stumbling in behind us, drenched in sweat. Even though I had matched my pace to hers and run as lightly as possible, she looked like she was about to die, as if she had been running with a full military pack. It seemed leveling up didn’t dramatically increase one’s stamina.
Or maybe her stamina had increased, and that’s why she was able to run that much. Hmm. Since I didn’t know her base physical condition, it was hard to judge. I should have made her do some light jogging in the morning before we went into the dungeon.
—Crackle. Hm? I was thinking that I should test her base stamina tomorrow or the day after when a strange sound suddenly brushed past my ear.
“...?” “Why are you acting like that all of a sudden, crow?” “It’s nothing.”
When I looked outside, I saw that the windows were covered with a ridiculous number of flying insects. One of them must have slipped in when we opened the door. Feeling a bit grossed out, I lightly brushed off my mask and checked if any bugs had gotten on my coat. Thankfully, there were none. If there had been, they would have become Kkachi’s nutritious snack.
“Kkyu?” What do you mean, kkyu? You’re a bird, aren’t you? Can’t you eat bugs? “Kkyu kkyu!” Apparently they were its favorite food. Yeah, of course a bird should eat bugs.
“Kkyu kkyu kkyu! Kkyuk!?” “You’re being noisy.”
I firmly shoved the chattering Kkachi, which had been perched on the exhausted contractor’s shoulder, back into her robe. Then I waited until she caught her breath before slowly walking toward the counter.
“What the hell is that………” “A… female………” “No way………”
It seemed we really were late; the counter area was completely empty. From the murmuring sounds coming from inside, it looked like the staff had been resting just before closing time. Was I going to play the role of the troublesome customer again today? It left a terribly bitter taste in my mouth. I was practically craving something sweet.
Click. Click. Wanting to finish as quickly as possible and leave promptly, my steps grew faster and faster. As I approached the counter, a familiar face came into view. A receptionist with a ponytail, a lovely smile, and adorable dimples. When we came yesterday she had looked quite tense, but now her expression seemed much more relaxed. She must have gotten used to the job. That was good.
“Hello there! What business brings you here?”
The receptionist greeted us kindly as we approached. Honestly, I had been slightly hoping to harvest some fear, but I felt nothing at all. Don’t tell me the reason she stuttered yesterday wasn’t because she was scared, but because of the smell? Well, if there was the stench of rotting corpses right in front of her nose, there was no way she could speak normally. I felt sorry for troubling such a kind receptionist and, without thinking, my mouth opened.
“...I’m sorry for startling you yesterday (because of the smell). It’s a belated apology, but I hope you’ll accept it.”
“Ah…!”
Was she surprised because the plague doctor-headed monster had suddenly apologized? The receptionist’s eyes widened like full moons.
“...T-to think I had such terrible thoughts about a kin with such a kind heart……”
Thud! She lowered her head and muttered something for a moment before suddenly slamming her forehead against the table and began apologizing to me in return.
“Mister Raven! Regina Gura must not be the one receiving an apology! Regina Gura is the one who should be apologizing! The one at fault is Regina Gura!”
Huh?
“Regina. Calm down, nyang. Why are you suddenly acting like this, nyang?”
Sion, who seemed to be on friendly terms with the receptionist named Regina Gura, naturally called her by name and asked what was going on. Regina Gura flinched, then jerked her head up and began pouring out words in a rush.
“Regina Gura! Mistook the benevolent demon Mister Raven for a disgusting entity based solely on his appearance! Regina Gura is a hopeless demon full of prejudice! A stupid idiot who can’t even recognize her own kind!”
Listening carefully, it seemed the receptionist named Regina Gura was a demon like me. But because her Profile Viewing ability hadn’t worked, she had briefly mistaken me for an entity. Well, if she had checked my identity and it came up blank, it was understandable to be suspicious. Especially if that blank belonged to a crazy person cosplaying as a plague doctor.
“But! When I tried again today, it worked! Yesterday Regina Gura’s physical condition was not normal! I apologize once more! I am sorry!”
“There’s no need to be so apologetic.”
I wasn’t even particularly angry. After all, it was my own fault for looking like this. The fact that she had only been suspicious and hadn’t reported me to the guards was already something to be grateful for.
“I also caused you distress with my stench, so let’s just call it even and forget about it.”
“I-is that really okay?”
Yes. So please stop with the apologies and process our exchange as quickly as possible. The value of the maseok is dropping by the second.