Book 4: Volume 4 Chapter 1, Promise

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Riku calmly cut down the two tigers before him. They were Hail Tigers. Although technically classified as a monster, it was designated as beginner-level because it only attacked by striking with its sharp claws.

 

With Riku’s current abilities, even if two tigers attacked simultaneously, he would have no problem dealing with them. After handling the Hail Tiger, Riku tried to take a breather, but the next moment, he heard his companion’s voice.

 

“Riku! Right!”

 

At the same time as he heard the voice, Riku noticed another Hail Tiger approaching from his right. Hurriedly, he turned in that direction and prepared for the Hail Tiger’s attack.

 

However, the Hail Tiger was easily defeated by his companion’s Spell before Riku needed to engage it. With the abilities of Riku’s party, beginner-level monsters were almost never a problem.

 

After confirming that his teammate’s Spell had taken down the Hail Tiger, Riku finally released a deep sigh. One of his teammates approached him.

 

“That’s unusual. You’re so distracted.”

 

He was probably referring to the Hail Tiger from earlier. Riku was aware of this and looked chagrined.

 

“Sorry. I let my guard down,” Riku said, glancing in a certain direction.

 

Noticing, his teammate said with a wry smile, “There is no point in worrying about it endlessly, right? Just think of it as part of the test and accept it.”

 

“I know. I know,” Riku replied.

 

As he spoke, a complicated expression crossed his face as he continued looking at a different group. Riku was observing a party of six people and one horse.

 

The party was not trying to gather anything or defeat any monsters. They were simply watching Riku and his party’s actions. In short, they were supervising.

 

That said, they had no dangerous purpose. They were simply accompanying them to evaluate Riku’s party’s rank increase. Riku and his party were currently ranked E.

 

This test was to elevate them to D rank, but the party accompanying them as examiners were an unusual group. One of the members was eating some of the snacks he had brought with him.

 

While he was at it, he casually offered the same thing to the wolf beside him. The wolf began to eat it eagerly.

 

Watching it with amusement, he spoke his thoughts on Riku and his party’s battle earlier. “Well, it was going well until halfway through. But I suppose points will be deducted for getting distracted there.”

 

“Well, you are quite impressive for even noticing that, are you not?” said Gazeran, head of the Crown Adventurer Division, with a wry smile.

 

Incidentally, it was Kousuke who shared his thoughts before Gazeran. The two were supervising Riku’s rank-up examination, observing their hunt.

 

* * *

 

So why were Kousuke and his companions pretending to be supervisors? The story goes back a few days.

 

Kousuke was lounging in his relaxation area when Gazeran came by for a personal visit. Unlike Schmidt, Gazeran would occasionally visit on official business, but rarely for personal reasons.

 

Although, in Schmidt’s case, it could be said that his hobby of examining the magical tools Kousuke had created was combined with practical benefits. Regardless, Kousuke was perplexed by this unusual situation as he headed toward Gazeran.

 

“Gazeran, you said it was for personal business. Is something wrong?”

 

Gazeran gently raised his right hand in response to Kousuke’s question. “No, nothing serious. It is nothing significant. Lately, I have been entrusting much of Crown’s work to my subordinates. I have had a ton of free time for myself.”

 

“That is good to hear,” Kousuke thought this from the bottom of his heart and smiled at Gazeran.

 

Gazeran had been supporting Crown’s rapidly expanding Adventurer Division as its de facto head, but his workload was not small. In the past few years, he had finally had the time to train several successors and executive candidates.

 

With them steadily developing, Gazeran had also been finding more free time recently.

 

“Yes, thank you for that. So, since I had some free time, I thought I would use it to retrain my dulled senses.” Gazeran said with a grin.

 

Kousuke understood what Gazeran was trying to convey. Things like physical strength and muscular conditioning can be retrained, even if one were confined indoors. However, the senses one develops on the job could only be honed by being in the field.

 

Since taking on the role of department head, Gazeran had noticed that his senses had been declining. He thought he would undertake a subjugation mission to recover them.

 

“I see. That sounds good,” Kousuke nodded, understanding what Gazeran meant.

 

Kousuke had conquered many Towers before, so he knew all too well that the atmosphere on the ground was important.

 

“Right? So, since I have come all the way here, I thought I would fulfill a promise I made to you some time ago.”

 

Kousuke blinked involuntarily when Gazeran said this. He then released a small chuckle. “You are bringing that up now? You really have a good memory.”

 

“Yes. I will never forget,” Gazeran puffed out his chest as he said this.

 

The promise Gazeran referenced was one he had often made to Kousuke when Crown had just been created. That promise was that, if he had the time, he would like to form a party with Kousuke and undertake a subjugation mission together.

 

At first, he would mention it every time they met, but as he grew busier, he gradually stopped even saying it. Kousuke thought Gazeran had long since forgotten, but it turns out Gazeran had not.

 

Recalling the past, Kousuke nodded quickly. “Of course I promised. I will accompany you anytime.”

 

It was clear that Gazeran was busier than Kousuke at the moment. With Gazeran’s invitation, Kousuke had no reason to refuse. For his part, Kousuke would very much like to form a party with Gazeran, who now had one foot in holding a legend status.

 

Gazeran smiled at Kousuke’s answer. “Haha. That is good to hear. As for the members, we will definitely need to call on our old pals… which one of you will come?”

 

Gazeran looked at Kouhi and Mitsuki, who appeared to take this for granted. Gazeran, bypassing Kousuke to confirm with the two, nodded in agreement.

 

“The party composition will work out somehow, but the question is, what should we do?”

 

Gazeran crossed his arms and groaned. He did not have that much time to spare, so there were only a limited number of options. The safest option would be to accept a request and undertake monster hunting, but he was considering what else he could do.

 

It was at that moment that Riku used the teleportation portal to come to Kousuke with information about the rank-up exam. It was only natural that Gazeran, who had been struggling with his options, would seize this opportunity and accompany them.