Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Sewer
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"Yes. Mr. Yuseong... You've applied for the D-rank promotion exam, and your main weapon is a sword, right?"
"Yes."
That day when Karen assigned me the task of promoting to D-rank adventurer.
I didn't hesitate and headed straight to the guild to apply for the promotion exam. Three days had passed since then, and today, upon hearing that the request for the exam and the party members had been decided, I came right to the guild.
'Just in case, I've prepared thoroughly.'
Over the past three days, instead of visiting the library as part of my daily routine, I'd researched the promotion exam and prepared for the request.
I'd cleaned my equipment, memorized some precautions for partying up, and even bought a ridiculously expensive potion while my hands shook...
'What kind of potion is the size of a Bacchus and costs 2 gold?'
For reference, the potion I bought for the first time in my life cost a whopping 2 gold.
And that was for a low-grade one, not even a premium product!
'If I think of it as a spare life, I can kind of accept it...'
No. Honestly, even accounting for that, it's hard to swallow... but I have to think that way to soothe the sting a bit.
If Karen hadn't advised me that it's good to always carry at least one potion if I have some spare coin, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.
"The others have already arrived, so I'll guide you right away."
Following the staff member who was guiding me with a businesslike attitude through the guild interior, I felt a slight pounding in my chest.
'Still, this is my first group request.'
After two years stuck at E-rank, I'd secretly harbored a romantic notion about group requests that D-ranks and up take.
The process of adventurers syncing up to overcome crises. The friendships that naturally bloom in that process...
It was probably more than half bravado, but from my position, having listened to D-rank adventurers boasting their exploits in the tavern now and then, I couldn't help but admire those situations.
'And... this is a bit personal, but women too...'
And recently, after meeting beautiful women like Laila and Karen back-to-back, I felt my interest in the opposite sex growing.
So, if possible, it'd be nice if there was a woman in the party...
"Here they are."
Finally, following the guild staff's guidance, I came face-to-face with the members who'd be taking the promotion exam with me.
Hmm. Excluding me, three in total. And their outward appearances...
-Bulk. Bulk.
'Hmm. Extremely well-trained bodies.'
-Shing...
'Swords at their waists.'
-Rustle.
'Calluses on their hands, one hand resting on the scabbard.'
Hmm. Perfect. Truly perfect...
"A four-warrior party..."
No balanced composition or anything—just a pure frontline-only four-warrior party.
All made up of burly men, too.
.
.
.
"Hahaha! Yeah, most adventurers think of the standard party with archers, priests, or mages when they hear 'adventurer party'!!"
The man taking the D-rank promotion exam with me.
The guy who introduced himself as Ricar laughed heartily and slapped my shoulder.
He said this was his second try after failing the promotion exam last time.
"But unless it's an archer, why would priests who use holy power or mages who cast spells be stuck at D-rank... no, even E-rank?"
Thanks to that, Ricar—who already had experience doing requests as a party—shattered my illusions about adventurer parties.
When people think of adventurer parties, they imagine the standard setup: frontline jobs like swordsmen or martial artists who fight up close, backline firepower like archers or mages, and support like priests who heal allies' wounds or thieves who disarm traps.
But Ricar chuckled that that's only for 'proper' adventurers.
"We're just E-ranks at best, even if we're taking the promotion exam. At E-rank level, there are no mages or priests."
"I see..."
"Kuhahat! Though I hear there are a few priests and mages among D-ranks... Once you promote to D-rank, go find them!"
With surprisingly good affinity, Ricar kept talking nonstop on the way to the request site.
In contrast, the other two party members stayed silent.
I'd briefly shown disappointment at first and ended up as Ricar's chatter partner, feeling my ears ache a bit but looking at him with curious interest.
"Hm? Why are you staring like that?"
"No reason. First time seeing a beastman up this close."
Different from ordinary humans.
Sharp fangs, elongated snout. And thick gray fur.
Ricar. He was a male beastman with wolf-like features.
"Is that so? You must've seen other races, but beastmen are pretty common throughout the Terra Kingdom?"
"Well, I've seen a few, but as I said, never this close... or actually talked to one."
"I see. Well, this is my first time seeing someone with black hair like you."
Having seen a beastman—who bore some animal traits—up close for the first time, I observed Ricar with considerable curiosity, and he looked back at me with equal intrigue.
"I heard that after black-haired people were persecuted long ago for reminding folks of the Evil God, they're rare on the continent now."
"...Yeah."
Hearing Ricar, I gave a wry smile and lightly touched my hair.
Now that two years had passed, I took it in stride, but beastmen were actually more common here than black-haired people like me.
I hadn't seen anyone else with black hair besides Karen recently.
'Well, just rare enough to be fascinating.'
Black hair was persecuted in the past, but now it's just uncommon—no discrimination against it, thankfully, whether because time has passed or whatever.
"Hey. Looks like we're here?"
"Hm..."
One of the party members who'd been quietly listening—Koron, he'd introduced himself—interrupted and pointed somewhere.
Looking that way, our party members all grimaced identically.
"...Damn. Even for a promotion exam, is it okay to post something like that as a request?"
"They probably use unpopular requests like this to fill promotion slots. Still... yeah, it's nasty."
Koron and Haksen—the other guy—frowned deeply, grumbling as they recalled the request details.
And behind them.
Ricar, whose beastman senses gave him a sharper nose than humans, and I, whose senses had sharpened since my body changed, clutched our noses and dry-heaved.
And for good reason, since the request we'd taken was...
"Fuck. Sewer cleaning...?!!"
The dirtiest, most filthy place collecting the city's waste.
The sewers.
.
.
.
Where people gather, all sorts of filth naturally arises. And in densely packed cities, facilities to handle that filth are a must.
Riville had such facilities too—the sewers sprawling underground throughout Riville were one of them.
-Squirm... Squirm...
"Urk... Fuck. First time seeing slimes that color..."
"Damn. Shouldn't have eaten breakfast...!"
Wrapping cloths around our noses and entering the sewers, our party spat curses at the slimes wriggling inside.
Cursing my overly sensitive nose, I grimaced and asked the party members while recalling the promotion exam request details.
"We don't need to touch these guys, right?"
"Yeah. The smell and color are bad, but... these aren't variants. Our job is strictly to deal with the variant slimes."
Slimes. Weaker than even goblins—the lowest of low-grade monsters.
These viscous, gelatinous monsters have low aggression and no real threat, so they don't even get extermination requests.
But even these harmless, feeble monsters have one trait: they eat anything indiscriminately.
Roadside weeds, rotten flesh on abandoned corpses... even animal excrement.
Humans noticed this trait and used slimes to build filth-processing facilities.
Riville's sewers were one such facility, designed to let slimes consume the city's waste.
City filth flows into the sewers, where the slimes eat it all.
In the process, slimes excrete a slimy liquid that's usable as quality fertilizer.
However, occasionally, slimes that consume too much evolve into superior variants...
"That's when requests to deal with them go out to adventurers."
"You know quite a bit?"
"Didn't I say I failed the promotion exam last time? It was the exact same request."
"Ah."
"The party I had then flat-out refused to work in this shithole and bailed, so I failed."
Listening to Ricar's surprisingly detailed knowledge of sewers, he shuddered and shook his head, perhaps recalling that experience.
Then, with an oddly earnest expression, he looked over us party members, including me.
"What about you guys? You won't bail on the request too...?"
"No way. Smells like dogshit, but... easier than other promotion requests."
"I'm not quitting either. Fail once, and you wait months for a retake."
"Good! What about you...?"
Koron and Haksen shuddered at the horrific sewer stench but showed their will to proceed. Feeling Ricar's gaze, I voiced my intent to continue as well.
It's disgustingly filthy, but if you can stomach that, the request itself is pretty easy.
"The variants... I mean, the superior slimes are all weak, right?"
"Yep. Not ones that ate special food—just sewer shit-eaters, so even evolved, they're limited. Plus, basic purification magic circles in the sewers mean no suffocation worries. Just the smell is brutal."
"That's the biggest problem, though... Sigh. Let's go."
If I could, I'd ditch this stinky request and wait for another, but to get the reward Karen mentioned, I need to promote to D-rank now.
'And these party members seem decent.'
Honestly, after applying for the promotion exam, my biggest worry was getting weirdos in the party.
Like the bandits I met before, or someone who stirs conflict among allies, or just an asshole...
Even back on Earth, a wise man said that in any group of five, at least one is trash.
In that sense, I expected at least one troll—someone who causes trouble—in our party...
'Surprisingly decent.'
Ricar's talkative, which is a minor flaw, but he seems good-natured. The other two are quiet but focused on the request without needless sniping.
Unlike my worries, my first party members were flawless except for the all-warrior composition.
With decent party members and an easy request, no way I'm throwing away a D-rank shot over smell.
"Alright. Let's go."
Like Karen taught me, I drew my sword, took a stance ready to swing anytime, and advanced.
"Urk...!!!"
......The nausea, I can't help.