Chapter 17 Rank up

　The sisters spent several hours gaining practical experience with slimes.

　It took a while to defeat one, but they were able to defeat it without fail.

　As for me, I was defeating a Horn Rabbit a little far away.

　Not only did I want to level up, but I also wanted to increase the subjugation reward.

　This time I decided to hunt more than usual.

"Take this!"

　My fist hit Horn Rabbit, sending it flying, and it fell to the ground motionless.

"Alright. This is the 30th one."

　Originally I was planning to keep it to around 10, but today I decided to kill 30.

　It might raise suspicions again, but this time I had a secret plan.

　As I put the corpse in my inventory, I heard a voice from far away.

"Ah, there you are! Zest! We're done!"

"Oh. Thank you for your hard work. I'll head over."

　Approaching the two, Lapis had a satisfied smile.

"How about it? I was able to defeat 10 slimes as instructed!"

"I was also able to defeat 10 as well. It took a while though..."

"Good job, well done. Now it's just a matter of getting used to it. It doesn't matter how much time it takes, the priority is to defeat them."

　Perhaps because they were doing an unfamiliar task, both of them looked tired.

"Well, shall we go back soon? We need to report to the Adventurer's Guild."

"Yeah. I'm tired."

"yes"

　We decided to start walking toward the city.

　On the way, Finne seemed to notice something and started talking to me.

"Um. What is Zest-san's weapon?"

"Hmm? What happened all of a sudden?"

"N-no. You weren't there when we were fighting the slime, right?"

"Well, I was hunting horn rabbits."

“At that time, it felt like you didn't have a weapon..."

"What are you talking about? The weapon is right here."

　I showed Fin my left fist.

　She stared at it blankly....

"...Uhhh W-where is it?"

"Is there something on your hand? What is that?"

"This is a 'knuckle'. This is a hand-to-hand combat weapon."

"Eh, eh!? Were you defeating them with something that small?"

"Of course. Is that really that surprising?"

"Well, you can fight well with something like that..."

　The knuckles I'm equipped with belong to the hand-to-hand combat type, and are the type that fit in the fist.

　It would be nice to fight with a sword, but today I decided to fight this way.

"What are you talking about? This is also a fine weapon. All hand-to-hand combat weapons are like this."

"W-why did you try to defeat them with that?"

“Because it’s fun.”

"Eh, yeah..."

　Hand-to-hand combat types have a very short reach and require close contact with the enemy, making it a little more challenging.

　However, they are more agile than any other weapon, making them enjoyable to use.

　So, I plan to stick with hand-to-hand combat for a while.

"Do you guys want to try it too? It'll be fun."

"Ah, I'll pass..."

"I'll refrain..."

"I see"

　It's a shame. It's fun though.

　While having such a conversation, we arrived at the adventurer's guild.

　Once inside, I headed to the reception desk to report.

"Excuse me. We've finished the subjugation, so we'd like you to appraise it."

"Welcome nya~. Oh, it's Zest-san, nya. Thank you for your hard work today, nya~!"

"Y-yes."

　This person called Reimi has completely remembered my name.

“Then I want you to place a subjugated monster at the assessment location nya.”

"I got it"

　Moving away from the counter, I went to the area for appraising monsters.

　Now, I just need to take out the corpse from my inventory...

"That's all we have"

“Wow, there are quite a lot today nya...”

　Thirty Horn Rabbits, so it piles up to a considerable mountain.

"You defeated so many while we were fighting against slimes..."

"That's amazing..."

　Both of them couldn't hide their surprise.

"B-but you were able to defeat so many... It's rare for an F rank to achieve such results..."

“What are you making a fuss about?”

「！！」

　A rugged old man appeared from the back.

　That person was the branch chief of this adventurer's guild.

"Ah, uhm. I'm in the process of assessing the monsters these people subdued..."

"HM"

　After looking at the pile of dead bodies, the old man started glaring at me.

"It's you again. Did you do this?"

　Will it still be suspicious?

　But I have Lapis and Finne.

"No, no. That's outrageous. I worked hard with these kids! Right, both of you!"

"Eh!? W-what are you talking about!? I didn't do anything--Mogomogo!"

“Hey, Finne! The three of you worked together to defeat us, right?”

"Yes!? Eh, uh.........That's right. The three of us... did our best...?"

　Good insight and helpful. Lapis had her mouth covered though.

　Yes, this is my secret plan.

　If I were alone, it would be suspicious, but I thought it would be more persuasive if it was three people working together.

"HM……"

　The old man looked at us for a while.

　Well, what do you think?

"Well?"

"...No. It's nothing. I'm sorry for interrupting you. I asked you to continue with the assessment, Reimi."

"Y-yes, nya."

　The old man retreated inside without saying anything else.

　Phew. safe.

　I managed to get through it.

　It was a good idea to form a party with three people. From now on, I think I can increase the number of subjugations a little more.

"Mogomogo..."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I'll let you go now."

"Pfuh. Really...what's going on..."

"My bad. I didn't explain it to you. I'll tell you the details later, so can you keep quiet now?"

"I don't really understand, so I'll stay quiet..."

"Ahaha..."

　There was a slight accident, but I was able to complete the appraisal without any problems.

　After receiving the reward at the reception, Reimi mentioned something that caught my interest.

"Yeah. I think that's enough, nya."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Zest-san. You have achieved sufficient results nya. Therefore, we have decided to upgrade you to E rank nya!"

“R-really?"

　It went up so easily.

　I thought it would take a little longer...

“Is it possible to rise in rank so easily?”

"F rank is a little special, nya. F rank is also a test period to see if you can survive as an adventurer, nya."

“Does that mean...the real thing starts from E?”

"You can think that way, nya. You can't move up from E rank unless you complete a certain number of requests, nya."

　I see.

　Come to think of it, the specifications were that you couldn't accept requests if you were F rank.

　So in other words, F rank was... treated as less than an adventurer.

　Probably, but I feel that F rank has the highest mortality rate.

　It was really at the bottom...

"That's great! Congratulations Zest!"

"Congratulations. Zest-san, you can achieve a higher rank!"

"Yeah. Thanks, everyone."

　Well, what I will continue to do will not change.

　I'll just keep getting stronger.

TN: Happy late new year guys and Merry Christmas, sorry its late, sorry i cant update because my laptop start to acting out, hope you get a great life this year

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