ME c0022

Chapter 0022 Rank Up

Translator: Tseirp

 

“Lude’s achievements have been recognized and you will be ranked up.”

 

The day after we subjugated 40 Gray Wolves.

 

That was what Illumi told me when I showed up at the Adventurer’s Guild.

 

“Huh? I have ranked up already?”

 

“You have already done quite a lot of non-subjugation requests, so the guild has decided that you are strong enough since you have shown that you could subjugate this many Gray Wolves.”

 

I thought I would have to complete two or three more subjugation requests, but it seemed that our results this time had been recognized as sufficient.

 

“You did it, Lude!”

 

“I’m a D-rank adventurer…”

 

I never thought I would be able to rank up so quickly.

 

I couldn’t raise my rank for such a long time so I was deeply moved by the news.

 

“Now that you are D-rank, you can now accept even higher-ranked requests!”

 

“Wait a minute. Isn’t it too early to move to the next rank?”

 

Even though she was just congratulating me earlier, she had already moved to the bulletin board and was looking for the next request.

 

Shouldn’t there be something more emotional, such as celebrating being ranked higher or enjoying the promotion?

 

“Eh? You’re aiming for S-rank, so why are you happy with a D? In the first place, it’s strange that Lude is at such a low rank. Next, it’s time to aim for C-rank!”

 

“O-oh”

 

She was right. If I’m aiming for S-rank, it wasn’t the time to be happy with just that.

 

As expected of a former S-rank adventurer, her mindset is different. I have to be more ambitious like her and aim for greater heights.

 

“Look, Lude! There’s a Baphomet subjugation request!”

 

The request that Elisha pointed out was to subjugate a goat monster with devil-like wings.

 

“That’s a C-rank subjugation request, isn’t it? We won’t be allowed to take that.”

 

“Don’t you know? Once you reach D-rank or higher, you can accept requests one rank higher than you.”

 

“Eh, really!?”

 

“It’s written in the guild rules.”

 

Elisha flipped through the pages of a thick book from the guild’s bookshelf.

 

The entry she pointed at with her thin finger was certainly written like that.

 

“It’s true. I didn’t know that.”

 

I didn’t know there was such a rule because I was an E-rank for so many years.

 

“These rules were made when I was active, but I’m relieved that they still exist.”

 

Perhaps that rule was added to quickly raise the rank of extraordinary adventurers like Elisha. Somehow I felt that was the case.

 

“Then I guess there’s no problem accepting a C-rank request.”

 

“Yes. That’s why I recommended subjugating a Baphomet.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

If I can accept C-rank requests, I figured other requests were easier to do.

 

“Baphomet has skills related to magic!”

 

Elisha’s reply made me realize the intent behind her recommendation to subjugate a Baphomet.

 

Because I could acquire magic-type skills by eating them.

 

With more members able to cast magic, the pure strength of the party will undoubtedly jump up.

 

In that case, it would be better to acquire such skills early.

 

“I see. Then let’s accept that request――geh, the place where it will appear is in the new labyrinth?”

 

Looking over the request, the place where the Baphomet appears will be the Aberio New Labyrinth.

 

There was an anomaly with the appearance of the Minotaur, but since that incident, no other Minotaur was encountered, and now the labyrinth was being explored normally.

 

“Is there a problem?”

 

“I have some bad memories of that labyrinth. Well, it’s not a problem.”

 

“Really? That’s great then.”

 

She did just assist me to rank up.

 

I couldn’t say that I don’t want to go because it’s a place where I had a bad experience.

 

Defeating the Baphomet and gaining magic skills were necessary for me to become stronger.

 

Peeling off the request form, we submitted it to Illumi, who was working at the counter.

 

“Even though you just got promoted to D-rank, why are you suddenly taking on a C-rank request…”

 

Illumi looked like she was looking at a difficult person.

 

I must have seemed crazy to them as receptionists, asking to take on a request one rank higher than my new rank, given I had just ranked up.

 

“There shouldn’t be any problems in the system, right?”

 

“… Well, we are aware that the abilities of the two of you are outside the D-rank category, so there should be no problem.”

 

Elisha looked like she wanted to argue, but Illumi approved the procedure without any hesitation.

 

Perhaps she knew about Elisha, or maybe Lancarse told her something.

 

If it was another receptionist, there was a high chance they would make it difficult for us or outright refuse it, so I was thankful Illumi was there.

 

 

After sitting through a rocky carriage ride, we came to the foot of the Aberio Mountains, with the new labyrinth in the same state as before.

 

“Heh, so this is a newly formed labyrinth. But I don’t see much activity?”

 

“A Minotaur appeared on the upper floors a while ago. I heard there haven’t been any further abnormalities since then, but many adventurers are probably cautious and aren’t exploring it.”

 

Aside from the parties strong enough to slay a Minotaur, an encounter with a Minotaur would be hell for those who aren’t capable of that.

 

Unless a miracle like what happened to me occurs, you won’t be able to survive that encounter.

 

“It’s a disaster for the adventurers who encountered the Minotaur appearing on the upper floors. Rest in peace.”

 

“Hey, I’m still alive alright?”

 

Elisha clasped her hands together next to me, so I retorted.

 

“Huh? Could it be that the adventurer who encountered the Minotaur was Lude…?”

 

“That’s right. By the way, my level at that time was 7.”

 

“… Why are you still alive?”

Elisha looked at me as if she was looking at an undead.

 

“The Minotaur crashed me through the labyrinth wall and we fell into an abyss.”

 

Since it was a good opportunity, I told Elisha about what happened in the abyss a little while ago.

 

I fell to the bottom of a labyrinth that no one knew about and faced roaming monsters that no ordinary adventurers could stand up to.

 

“I see. That’s what happened.”

 

“Is that even possible in a labyrinth?”

 

“Well, it’s a labyrinth, so I can’t say for certain that it can’t happen.”

 

To me, it was an absurd event but if Elisha said so, labyrinths must have powers that are still a mystery to us.

 

“Hey, could you show me where?”

 

“Sure. I’ll guide you.”

 

The Baphomet would appear on the 15th floor.

 

It wouldn’t be too far out of the way for us to stop by the path where I encountered the Minotaur.

 

Thus Elisha and I headed to the scene of the incident on the 4th floor.

 

On the way, we encountered monsters several times, but single-digit level monsters weren’t any threat to us and we easily repelled them. Elisha and I arrived at the spot on the 4th floor.

 

“There’s a large hole behind this wall that leads to an abyss?”

 

“Yeah”

 

When I nodded, Elisha began to touch the wall to examine it.

 

“How is it?”

 

“… I don’t sense any magical tricks or traps.”

 

“Really?”

 

I also hinted at the existence of the abyss to Lancarse and he mounted an investigation, but couldn’t find it. He mentioned that even when they used magic to destroy the wall, there was no large hole leading to an abyss.

 

“Perhaps it was a hidden floor that could be entered only once some conditions were met.”

 

“Are there such floors?”

 

“In the past, when I was exploring with my party, we entered such a floor. At that time, there was a very strong floor master, and we had to defeat it to escape, so it was tough.”

 

“That’s terrible.”

 

A floor master is a powerful monster that protects that floor.

 

Deeper down the labyrinth, the labyrinth places such monsters to keep intruders away.

 

It defers among labyrinths whether there is a floor master for each floor or at every 5 or 10 floors. In some cases, they could only be found on the last floor.

 

In the Miasma Labyrinth which I often dive into, I hadn’t seen the floor master yet, so I was a little afraid of that aspect.

 

“I’d like to investigate a little more, but I’m afraid of falling into the abyss, so let’s not do it.”

 

“Yes, please. I’ve had enough of that place.”

 

Elisha in her prime might be able to survive, but now her status had dropped considerably due to her level down. At that time, it was just a series of miracles that I made it out alive. With our current ability, it will be difficult for us to even survive the fall.

 

“Now that my curiosity has been cleared, let’s head to the floor where the Baphomet is.”

 

“Sure”

 

We didn’t solve any of the questions regarding that incident, but we decided to resume our goal as originally intended.

 

 

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