Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha

Chapter 2: Rina the Adventurer (Part 1)

“…Yah!!”

Swinging her weapon at a Skeleton was a young girl, whose voice

seemed to ring out with more force than her swing.

The quality of her gear, or lack thereof, was the first thing that

jumped out at me.

The girl was clad in cheap armor, complimented by

an equally cheap one-handed sword.

She was definitely a new Iron-

class adventurer.

It was perhaps worth noting that I was very familiar with my fellow

adventurers, at least those who resided in Maalt.

This girl, however,

was not a familiar face—hence my assumption.

Although Iron-class adventurers would one day surpass me and

were viewed as nothing more than potential rivals, I made sure to

remember their faces and get to know them better—if only because

that was a way by which I could prevent the endless stream of

adventurers eager to make fun of my lack of talent.

I made it a point to

befriend them then and there, in addition to memorizing their social

positions and connections, before going our separate ways.

It was interesting to note that while I had absolutely no talent for

adventuring, I was instead blessed with a good memory and street

smarts, allowing me to easily outsmart any Iron-class adventurers who

Where up to one no-good plot or another.

As a result, my cunning was

known even to higher-ranked adventurers in Maalt, and I was mostly

left alone.

This was also perhaps due to the fact that Maalt mostly

hosted adventurers of good character.

In addition, I also made a point to knock a good sense of morals into

ill natured adventurers from the start of their career.

This had longterm effects, eventually snowballing into an overall improvement of character amidst the adventurers of Maalt.

This was one of the reasons

why I had not been asked by the guild to put down my sword all this

time, despite being stuck in one of the lower adventurer ranks for

almost a decade.

Put simply, I was adequately scheming—in a good way, of course.

I shifted my attention back to the young adventurer.

Not only was

she dressed in a complete beginner’s outfit, her prowess also left much

to be desired.

In fact, she actually seemed a little weaker than I had

been in life.

This was perhaps an unfair comparison, however—any Bronze-class

adventurer was easily leagues above that of their Iron counterparts.

I

was, after all, able to defeat a Skeleton without too much trouble.

Although I wouldn’t call it easy, I was definitely capable, given the fact

that normal townsfolk would be saying their prayers after

encountering a Skeleton.

Even Iron-class adventurers had to group up

in twos or threes to easily defeat one.

As such, my continued solo expeditions should at least paint me as

being somewhat capable—although not to an extent that I could be

proud of.

It was with those thoughts in mind that I deemed the girl who stood

before my eyes to be irredeemably weak.

Although she seemed to be

putting up a valiant fight against her skeletal foe, all it took was one

mistake for her foe to shift the tide, after which she would most

definitely lose. That was the extent of her powers.

However, no matter how green, an adventurer was an adventurer.

In the event of her slipping up, she could easily escape—and then that

would have been that.

I was not too worried about her well-being; at least, that was what I thought.

Hey, now.

Upon closer inspection, the situation seemed a lot more dire than I had originally made it out to be.

As if not completely thinking about

the possibility of defeat, the young girl pressed on, attempting to

overpower her foe.

Her efforts, however, were in vain. Obviously lacking the

appropriate stamina, the adventurer began to fall back, unable to keep

up with her foe’s attacks.

This was a potentially fatal situation, given

the fact that she was currently in a narrow labyrinth path with no

obvious routes of escape.

As the Skeleton continued pushing the girl backward, she suddenly

stopped.

“…Huh?!”

The girl’s back was now literally against the wall, and it would

appear that she had only just noticed this.

I shook my head. This was the trap that befell adventurers who

failed to inspect their surroundings carefully.

A swordswoman of her

caliber, in turn, would require some space to move and swing her

blade.

In other words, the adventurer’s fate was sealed the moment

she had trapped herself carelessly.

As if noticing this, the Skeleton she had been fighting advanced

upon her, eagerly raising its arms and motioning to strike her with its

bare hands.

While the Skeleton was not armed, it was, at the end of the day, very

much a monster.

If that blow connected with an adventurer that did

not sport much in the way of defense, they would surely pass out.

What’s more, if the blow landed in a critical spot, they might even end

up being instantly killed.

It went without saying that a normal person

could not hope to endure such a blow.

Basically, if the Skeleton’s attack connected, the girl would die.

All I

could do was accept that fact as I came to this conclusion.

Though, I did not mean to say that I could simply accept the girl’s

death as it was—I simply meant that I had intended to continue my

observations, as appearing before her would entail all sorts of risks.

Although I’d been caught up in the heat of the moment prior to

arriving at this spot, I had finally calmed my mind upon seeing a

living, breathing human.

Even if I were to appear before her now, she

would think of me as nothing more than a monster; a conversation

was beyond my wildest dreams.

It was beyond me to simply leave the girl to die, however.

Although I was now physically a monster, my heart remained that of

a human. Unless the person in question was some sort of terrible

scoundrel, I would definitely, at the very least, attempt to help them.

To me, this was the right course of action: a senior adventurer

protecting the life of their junior in the unforgiving harshness of the

labyrinth.

This was why I did what I did.

“…GAAAAAAH!!!”

To distract the Skeleton from its prey, I jumped out from my corner,

roaring as ferociously as I could.

I was not so sure if my plan would

work, as it was a half-gamble to begin with, mainly owing to the fact

that I was currently a Ghoul.

Not being an expert in monster behavior, I had no idea just how

much attention a monster would give to a loud noise generated by

another. The monsters that I had fought up until now did seem to

register me as an enemy, though, as they immediately readied

themselves for combat upon laying eyes on me.

Maybe something

about me made me different from other monsters, with the monsters

in question noticing as much about me, as well. This was why I did as

such—if anything, my plan should have a high rate of success.

It did not take long for me to see that my gamble had paid off.

Stopping midway through its attack, the Skeleton instead turned and

faced me, before rushing in my general direction.

The girl’s eyes opened wide at this development. It would seem like

she had intended to slay the Skeleton where it stood, with it having

shown its back to her. However, the girl seemed too overcome with

shock, and merely stood frozen in place.

There simply was no choice: I drew my sword, running toward the

enemy. Although I had originally intended to save it, I began

channeling spirit into my sword. I had to end this quickly with a

decisive blow.

After evolving into a Ghoul, I became aware of the fact that spirit

attacks could now be used quite a few times without me running out of

energy—so I supposed one attack now would not hurt my reserves too

much.

Raising my sword in a well-trained motion, I put my body into the

blow, swinging my sword down with considerable force. It was a clean

stroke, deeply engraving into my opponent’s bony body.

In a split

second, the Skeleton severed into two neat halves, breaking into

numerous fragments as what remained of its body hit the ground.

“…Amazing… ”

The female adventurer, stunned, could only continue staring at the

remains of what had been the Skeleton mere seconds ago.

I couldn’t blame her. Although Skeletons were weak monsters in

general, few adventurers in my class could easily split them in two.

Anyone would be surprised; yes, even me.

That was indeed amazing.

Huh.

Was I always this strong?

That was how I felt after slaying the Skeleton. I stood silently for a

while, pondering about what had just occurred.

It seemed like I was now even stronger than before. If I kept

growing at this rate, my goal of eventually evolving into a Vampire

seemed within reach.

I felt a ray of hope in my heart—although I was

perhaps getting ahead of myself a little too much.

With that thought, I was jolted awake—

The girl was still where she stood. Surely she was more important

than my internal monologues.

Was she hurt?

Although I had motioned to speak, it felt like something was caught

in my throat, and I was immediately reminded that I was nothing

more than a Ghoul.

If I had carelessly approached her, she would

certainly run; that would not do.

Then…what should I do?

Turning to look at the girl, I found her with her sword raised,

staring at me in fear.

It did not seem like we could come to terms so easily.

◆◇◆◇◆

“S-stay away!!”

That was the girl’s response as I approached her with an

outstretched hand, a stray “Vaaaahh…” escaping my lips as I

attempted to speak.

Again, I could not blame her. There was perhaps not a single person

alive who would not be alarmed if a Ghoul approached them in a

labyrinth with its arms raised.

Come to think of it, it was also strange for something like a Ghoul to

be present in the Labyrinth of the Moon’s Reflection in the first place.

This was due to the simple fact that Ghouls were of an even higher

class than Skeletons, and they did not simply appear randomly in a

place so commonly frequented by lowly ranked adventurers.

If one did appear, it would surely be due to some sort of irregularity

at the lower levels, or be a unique monster governed by one of the

labyrinth’s mysterious rules.

In those cases, those monsters would be

seen as special, and they were more often than not a lot stronger than

their normal counterparts.

If a beginner were to encounter a monster like this, their death was

almost guaranteed—hence the girl’s cautiousness.

In fact, it would be

strange if she were not on her guard.

Although it would seem strange for me to do all that despite being

aware of how I would look to a normal being, that was not what I

intended to do.

If anything, I wanted to greet and speak with her

casually. However, I was still not used to this body—though I could

somehow fight in it, speaking appeared to be excessively difficult.

Due to the fact that I had trained my body for the past decade, and

knew of my movements and weaknesses well, I could easily

compensate for and fix any issues that arose from my newfound body.

However, talking was another issue altogether. I never really

practiced speaking to begin with, and what I had assumed to be a

simple task was turning out to be more difficult than I thought. As a

result, my words were instead mangled into a series of half-roars, and

there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

To make things worse, there was the issue of my body being that of a

corpse.

Further exacerbating the issue was the fact that this

adventurer in particular was a young girl. Although I was shocked at

her defensive posture and words, there was, again, not much I could

do about the current state of affairs.

More than my potentially disgusting appearance, however, was the

fact that I was a Ghoul—that was probably enough for her to raise her

blade against me.

Probably.

Be that as it may, I had to establish a form of communication one

way or another.

This was the reason I stopped at her words and

instead stood in place, desperately trying to form my incoherent roars

into words.

“Vaa… VAAAaa… Ge… Gellow… Aagghh… Ahh… Ah am… Ven…

Ventt… VENTT!!”

“Eek!!”

The sudden increase in volume further perturbed my already

incoherent words, causing the poor girl to jump up in fright.

I was not discouraged, however. If anything, I felt that giving up

now would be an incredibly bad idea.

For example, if I had simply given up and left, the girl would surely

escape.

She would then report my existence to the guild, which would

then classify me as a special monster of sorts, which would then lead

to the guild dispatching strong adventurers to dispose of me.

That was a turn of events I definitely wanted to avoid.

Although I had become somewhat stronger from fighting and

defeating numerous other monsters, there were many other

adventurers out there who were stronger than I was. If someone like

that were sent to hunt me, my life would end for a second time.

That was why establishing some sort of communication with this

girl was of utmost importance. At the very least, I had to convince her

that I was not a threat.

Although the option of killing the girl to silence her remained open,

I could not bring myself to do it—I was, and still am, human, after all. I

truly could not do something like that.

If the girl were a bandit or some sort of criminal, perhaps I could

entertain the notion. However, she seemed to be a scared adventurer

fighting for her life, and I could not see her as anything else.

Even if it

were for my own benefit, I could not bring myself to take away her

future—not from one as young as herself.

This was why I tried my damnedest to speak.

“V… Veeassee… ! Vis… Visten… Vu me… Ahh… Not… Enevii…”

I continued repeating my incoherent words. The girl, in turn,

surprised at my actions and lack of hostility, seemed to start listening.

“Ah…? It’s…talking…?”

“Ves… Vess… Aie amm… Rentt! I… Adv… Venturer…”

Maybe it was to be expected that things would be a little different

with someone to actually speak to.

Slowly but surely, my speech

became more coherent.

Clarity gradually crept back into my voice—its once dry and raspy

roars now sporting some degree of clarity. At the very least, it was

clear enough for her to vaguely understand me.

“Adven… Adventurer? You? An adventurer?! Um… Were you once

an adventurer… Maybe…?”

“Ves! Ay… Adv…venturer! Nam… Name… Rentt!”

“Mister Rend?”

“Rentt… Ren…tt! Ren…tt… ”

“Ah, Mister Rentt…”

It would seem that she had gotten more used to me.

It occurred to me that this girl held a somewhat gutsy disposition.

Although she continued to firmly grasp her weapon, she did not seem

to mind that she was currently engaged in an otherwise normal

conversation with me, a Ghoul.

A normal adventurer would have

simply struck out at me, or looked for an opening to escape.

“So, Mister Rentt… Your appearance… Is that some sort of

disguise?”

“No… No. I…died… ”

Although her eyes widened at my statement, her expression slowly

transitioned to that of pity as I continued my story.

“Ah… S-something like that happened, huh… No matter how you

put it, you DO look like a Ghoul… Hmm. But I have heard stories of

people becoming undead monsters after death. Although I’ve never

heard of someone keeping their personality and memories…”

The girl’s observations rang true. While cases of undead monsters

preserving some part of their memory after death did exist, it would

mainly be such memories influencing the monster’s behavior and

mannerisms.

They were, as such, not considered to have the same

mental clarity and sentience of a normal, living person.

The reverse also held true—legends speaking of individuals who, through highly advanced magic, managed to reincarnate themselves as

undead monsters with their consciousness intact and functional.

Sightings of them, however, were few and far between. Needless to

say, I hadn’t encountered such a being myself.

In other words, a Ghoul like myself, who was fully capable of

coherent speech, logic, and reason, was no longer a rare occurrence,

but instead an impossible one.

I found myself at a loss—I had no way to explain why I had ended

up this way. I did have a hunch, however. If I had to guess, the Dragon

that ate me definitely had something to do with it.

Other than that, however, I inferred that I was, for all intents and

purposes, a regular Ghoul.

But that was not something I could simply tell this girl.

More importantly, I needed her to understand that I was very much

sentient, and capable of reason.

After all, securing a source of

cooperation and eventual aid was first on my agenda.

I had to make it back to Maalt at any cost. And for that to happen, I

had to enlist this girl to assist me—which was why I said as such:

“…That… I… I also… D-don’t…know. But… I… I live!”

“I-is that right? You… You live? That’s a little strange coming from

you… But you’re definitely not a normal monster… And you did save

my life. Oh, yes, you did! So, thank you very much!”

As if realizing this fact midway through her speech, the girl thanked

me, still holding her sword as she did so.

I responded in kind.

“D… Don’t… Worry. About… It. Advent… Turers. Help… Each

other…”

“Um… Is what you’re saying really true? So, I can leave? You’re…not

going to kill me or anything like that?”

I found myself more flustered than I should have been at the girl’s

question.

“I… I… Will not kill… Kill you. But… I would… Would like some…

Help.”

“P-phew! That’s a relief! I thought I was a goner there… But… Help?

A request…? Well… You are the person… Um. I mean, monster, who

saved my life… So I’ll hear you out! Well… I hope you don’t ask for my

blood or flesh or anything…”

“Of… Course. About my… Request. I need… C… Clothes… To wear.”

“…Clothes? To wear? Hmm. Ahh… Ahh. Right. I see.”

Saying so, the girl stared at me, as if she were closely inspecting a

biological specimen of sorts. Eventually, she nodded as she

understood my predicament.

“If you continued as you were…other adventurers might simply

mistake you for a monster and attack you… Hmm. Well, then, would a

robe or something to hide your body suffice?”

“Y… Yes. That… Sounds g-good… Thank… You. Here… Some m-

gold… Gold.”

The girl was probably an Iron-class adventurer who did not have

much in the way of income. Such was evident from her equipment

alone.

Although I was a somewhat lower class of adventurer myself, I did

not have many difficulties earning my keep, and still had the gold and

equipment I had on me prior to my unfortunate demise.

Some of my equipment remained on my person, though some other

items had been scattered around the clearing.

I did, of course, retrieve my belongings, and had performed the adequate checks for damage.

Detaching my coin-filled purse from my belt, I placed it on the

ground, retreating a few steps backward as I instructed the girl to pick

it up.

The girl, for her part, advanced slowly and cautiously before

finally bending over and picking up the bag, checking its contents.

“T-this is… Wow! You’ve made quite the fortune! I suppose you

were quite a famous adventurer in life?” asked the girl, surprised.

In truth, my wealth had been amassed by steadily saving across the

years, as opposed to me suddenly earning a large sum. The girl now

held my entire fortune in her hands.

On that point, however, I remained silent. I did not want to start

explaining my affairs—if I did, it would surely lead back to the Dragon,

one way or another.

Instead, I decided to redirect the conversation by

once again bringing up the subject at hand.

“C-clothes… Once you… Have them. You can… Use. The rest for…

Yourself. P-please.”

To those words, the girl had this to say:

“I… I understand. I guess you have been through a lot… But you

don’t seem like a bad monster to me. You know, if it weren’t for you, I

would already be dead… I, Rina Rupaage, daughter of knights, will

most certainly repay this favor in full. Please wait for me, Mister

Rentt…”

With that, the girl continued to back away, still holding her sword.

Soon after, she was gone.

It would seem like she was still somewhat afraid of me. But of

course that would be the case.

If anything, that was the correct course

of action that should be taken as an adventurer.

Adventurers who were

careless or too trusting were bound to end up dead somewhere, and

sooner rather than later.

I felt that she would one day become a skilled adventurer.

The problem now was straightforward: would she actually keep her

promise, or would she simply abscond with my money? Equipped with

my decade of experience with regards to assessing the character of

new adventurers, however, I felt that Rina would not betray me.

She

seemed a bit too serious and morally upright to do something like that.

Well, even if she did betray me, I suppose I would deal with the

fallout then.

If, as a result, a strong adventurer were to be sent after me, I had to

at least try and defend myself—I had to become stronger.

Or would it

be more appropriate to simply hone my hiding skills?

I felt silly at even raising the possibility of such a notion.

I suppose it

would just come down to becoming physically stronger in the end.

And so I continued hunting other monsters in the Labyrinth of the

Moon’s Reflection, all the while keeping those thoughts in mind as I

patrolled its halls.

◆◇◆◇◆

Rina Rupaage was a new adventurer, and a young girl at 17 years of

age. Her armor and weapons were visibly cheap—as were most of the

other items on her being. One could almost say that she looked

impoverished.

Upon closer inspection, however, certain points caused her to stand

out. Her beautiful blonde hair, which was well-cared for, seemed to

pair well with her bright blue eyes that held a hope-filled gaze.

If

anything, a dress and a more delicate manner of clothing suited her

much more than an adventurer’s outfit.

Her reason for coming to Maalt, a town on the fringes of Yaaran’s

borders, was clear: she had received information that two beginner-

level labyrinths existed near that town—at least, that was what she had heard in the capital.

After all, there were many skilled adventurers in the capital of

Yaaran, most of them proving to be quite strong. Due to this, it was not

the most conducive of places for a new adventurer who had yet to

make a name for herself. This was why Rina had set out for Maalt, in

search of a place where she could feel more comfortable.

She had also been advised by a staff member of the capital’s

adventurer’s guild that new adventurers were in demand at border

towns.

This introduced her to the various towns available—towns

where she could train while saving up some money. Rina, completely

taken in by the staff member’s description of said towns, eventually

made her way to Maalt.

Normally, adventurers based in the capital of Yaaran would not

relocate to a fringe town regardless of the amount of competition.

To

the greater half of adventurers, the capital was the place to be,

primarily due to the higher-paying quests available.

As such, most

would not want to leave the capital at all, and called those who had

been assigned to fringe towns “capital dropouts”—such were the

general sentiments of Yaaran’s adventurers.

Rina, however, did not feel this way. Due to her personal

circumstances, she very much preferred to leave the capital as soon as

she could; that was how Rina Rupaage found herself immediately

applying for an assignment in Maalt upon the staff member’s

recommendation.

It had been a day since Rina had reached the town of Maalt.

Although she had first set foot in Maalt filled with hopes and dreams,

she very quickly found her dreams shattered.

The reason for this was, once again, quite obvious. To a freshly-

minted adventurer like Rina, both of Maalt’s supposedly entry-level

labyrinths posed too much of a challenge.

Exploring them herself was

far too taxing, and while assembling a party was the best course of

action, no one had wanted to group up with Rina.

This was due to Rina’s gender, appearance, and possibly, her history.

That is to say, Rina was a woman, which automatically placed her a

rung under her male counterparts. To make things worse, she looked

far too delicate, and was equipped with the cheapest items money

could buy. In addition, it had hardly been a month since she became

an adventurer. It was easy for any seasoned veteran to simply assume

that Rina was “adventuring” as a hobby, and therefore could not be

taken seriously. An unfortunate, and perhaps discriminatory story.

In reality, Rina was perhaps a tier above the typical adventurer who

came to Maalt. In addition to being familiar with her weapon, she also

possessed a sincere and honest personality.

To one with an eye for

talent, such a combination of strength and will for her experience level

was rare—and if anything, Rina could definitely pull her own weight in

a party.

However, it would seem that Rina Rupaage did not have very good

luck. All of the individuals she had approached to form a party with

had jumped to erroneous conclusions regarding her abilities.

Under normal circumstances, the local adventurer’s guild would

employ several spotters, usually staking out at one watering hole or

another in search of new talent.

Of important note here, the spotter for

Maalt’s guild was none other than Rentt Faina.

In his absence, a

higher-leveled adventurer would spot in his stead. Unfortunately for

Rina, neither were present upon her arrival.

As a result, Rina, who was unable to find anyone else to adventure

with, ended up deciding to explore the Labyrinth of the Moon’s

Reflection alone.

Although the staff members of Maalt’s adventurer’s

guild had their misgivings, they had received reports of Rina’s

capabilities from the capital, and thus determined that the chances of

Rina losing her life in the labyrinth were low. This was why the guild

had allowed Rina to undertake a quest on her own, albeit with prior

words of warning.

To Rina, it would only be a matter of time before Rentt or one of the guild’s advertised adventurers came searching for her, so it would

probably not matter much if she had gone exploring on her own in the

meantime. While most of Rina’s assumptions were true, she would

have possibly made a different decision had she known more of the

outside world.

Rina was considerably sheltered. While she was capable of a large

variety of sword skills, most of these techniques were ceremonial in

nature, so they did not serve any purpose in actual combat. To make

matters worse, Rina did not have much in the way of combat

experience at all.

This was why Rina had ended up adventuring on her

own in the Labyrinth of the Moon’s Reflection, under the

recommendations of Maalt’s adventurer’s guild. Even though she

eventually ended up in a situation that very nearly claimed her life.

She had gotten off to a good start and had managed to defeat a few

monsters on her own, so she could have simply stopped then and

there, collecting what ingredients and magic crystals she could for a

tidy sum at the exchange. However, Rina overestimated her abilities

and decided to go further.

If anything, this was a mistake often committed by new adventurers.

While Rina was bound by many other rules and often treated as excess

baggage in parties, she used to have some fellow adventurers to party

with—and veterans, in turn, to offer her words of caution. However,

this was not the case in Maalt—and Rina had made a potentially fatal

decision because of that.

As a result of her actions, she had a close call with death at the

hands of a Skeleton—had the fight continued, she would have surely

lost her life.

But Rina was lucky; after all, she ended up crossing paths with

someone who had decided to help her.

Just as the Skeleton before her raised its arm for the final blow, a

savage cry pierced the air.

“…GAAAAAAH!!!”

Lifting her head at the sound, Rina could make out a silhouette at

the end of the passageway.

Just as she wondered who her savior could be, Rina found herself at

a loss for words, as what was standing in the passageway was a

monster much deadlier than a typical Skeleton—a Ghoul.

It also did

not appear to be a normal Ghoul—a complex-looking series of tattoos

were etched on its face, softly emitting a dim, blue glow.

Although Rina had not encountered many monsters in her short

career as an adventurer, even she picked up on the fact that the

monster before her was unique.

If anything, it was probably a special

monster native to this labyrinth.

There were a few different types of special monsters, including “rare

named monsters” and “rare monsters.” As their names suggested, they

were exceptionally rare indeed, and did not normally appear in the

labyrinth at all.

They also had unique features. To make things worse,

such monsters were much stronger than their normal counterparts in

most cases. If one was not adequately prepared, one’s life could easily

be forfeit.

Consequently, the Ghoul that appeared before Rina seemed to

possess traits that most special monsters did. While its features were

telling, the aura that emanated from its being was an even more

obvious indicator.

This is bad…

Such was the conclusion that Rina Rupaage had arrived at.

As if to compound her fears, the Ghoul charged toward the Skeleton,

the very same one that was about to take her life, and easily sliced it in

half with a single flash of its blade.

So clean were its movements that

Rina momentarily forgot the blade’s wielder was a Ghoul.

After calming down, Rina immediately realized that she was in a dire strait. It was now clear to her that she could not possibly defeat

this Ghoul, and that her life as an adventurer would now end.

Rina prepared herself.

However, it had seemed like Rina’s encounter with the Ghoul was a

good thing. For one reason or another, the monster that appeared

before Rina began to speak, eventually asking for her assistance. To be

more specific, the Ghoul had requested that she purchase clothes for

it.

Quickly agreeing, Rina hurriedly ran off in the direction of Maalt.

She had been speaking with a monster, after all. As an adventurer, it

would be common sense not to trust a monster, and to simply report

what she had seen to the guild. At least, that was how common sense

worked.

Rina, however, understood that the Ghoul had saved her life. As a

result, she felt like she had to repay the favor in some way.

While she was an adventurer now, Rina was once the daughter of a

proud family of knights.

◆◇◆◇◆

Rentt Faina did not return. Sheila Ibarss, staff member of Maalt’s

adventurer’s guild, felt that this was highly irregular.

Although Sheila had only worked at the guild for five years, and was

a junior compared to her colleagues, she had known Rentt for a much

longer period of time. Rentt was the first adventurer she had met when

she first started working at the guild.

While Rentt was younger then,

an adventurer 20 years of age, he had already been adventuring for

five years prior; even so, he was still a lower-Bronze-class adventurer.

It was plain to see that Rentt was not exactly cut out for the job.

Most adventurers who did not make the cut were content to quit adventuring after a few years. They would return to their hometowns or seek other means of employment upon realizing that they were

lacking in any adventuring talent or aptitude. Though it may sound as

such, it was not exactly a shameful thing, and a fair amount of

adventurers made such a choice.

Although there were fools who would accuse those who retired as

merely not working hard enough or unwilling to risk their lives, those

who knew better understood that adventuring was not a job to be

taken lightly. In response, those who were unable to understand this

were seen as fools themselves—such was the common sentiment

amongst most adventurers with good sense.

In other words, Rentt was already close to a suitable age for

retirement, and it fell upon Sheila Ibarss, who had been assigned as

his supervisor, to inform him of the news.

Sheila, however, resented becoming Rentt’s supervisor at the time.

The reason was not due to a personal dislike of Rentt. Staff members

of the adventurer’s guild had a duty to guide and assist adventurers

until their last days.

Looking at Rentt’s age and history, it was evident that he should soon retire as an adventurer—and it was also her job to unfortunately tell him as such. It was a job that someone had to do,

but also one that no one had wanted to do. Most of the time staff

members usually avoided such an assignment.

Sheila found herself somewhat depressed that her first job was to

dismiss an adventurer. But it would seem that Sheila worried for

nothing in the end.

To the adventurer’s guild of Maalt, Rentt was apparently exempt

from such considerations.

Although his years of experience and his simply being an adventurer (without much significant progress) did

make him a good target for retirement recommendations, he was seen

as too valuable an asset to lose.

This was due to the fact that Rentt’s

activities in and out of the guild had undeniably positive effects for

Maalt’s populace.

As such, it was determined that Rentt would not be promoted, but simply remain as he was for the time being.

In fact, the adventurer’s guild master of Maalt would scout Rentt

himself into the guild as a staff member should Rentt ever retire from

adventuring—such was Rentt’s value to the guild.

For starters, Rentt served multiple purposes, and he fulfilled

numerous roles in the guild.

Not only was he a good judge of aptitude in new adventurers, he also introduced them to party members who

would be a good fit. He also educated newcomers on the rules, common sense, and field knowledge required to properly explore a labyrinth. To complete the picture, Rentt also frequently foiled the plots of adventurers who were up to no good.

This was, by and large, basic knowledge that anyone could impart.

But due to a shortage of personnel actually willing to perform such

tasks, Rentt’s existence was a blessing to many newcomers to labyrinth

exploration.

Under normal circumstances, much of this work would fall to

representatives of the guild. Rentt, however, performed most of these

tasks free of charge.

Although the guild occasionally contracted him to perform these tasks, such occurrences were rare. Even so, Rentt went about his tasks happily and without complaint.

In addition, as a direct result of his endeavors, the death rate of new

adventurers in the surrounding labyrinths of Maalt fell greatly

compared to that of other areas.

The greater propensity for local adventurers educated by Rentt to follow laws and rules also translated to a better coexistence between local adventurers and townsfolk. It was perhaps obvious to say that Rentt was a rarity.

Sheila, on the other hand, was not a native of Maalt, instead

journeying to the capital to take the guild’s entrance exam. After

passing the test, she was dispatched to Maalt, which was quite

different from the hometown she had left behind.

In stark contrast, the adventurers in Sheila’s hometown were mostly

individuals of questionable character.

Despite there being good- hearted adventurers as well, they were as a whole not liked by the townsfolk, who were either reciprocatively unkind to or afraid of them.

While most adventurers there engaged in opportunistic, petty crimes,

some of them were outright full-time criminals.

Maalt, on the other hand, was radically different.

Adventurers in Maalt were trusted, and if any in their number were to perpetrate crimes, they would be speedily brought in by the hands of their fellow adventurers. Sheila, being Rentt’s supervisor, fully understood that Rentt Faina’s existence was the very thing that was responsible for the

positive morals of Maalt’s adventurers.

The reason for Sheila being introduced to Rentt, however, was not

simply to let her build experience on a hapless adventurer.

If anything, it was the opposite: Sheila, being new, would learn greatly from working with Rentt, whose experience in odd jobs and other thankless tasks made him a good candidate for imparting important knowledge —such was the decision of the guild.

Over time, Sheila learned much

from Rentt about the guild and about the desired traits in guild staff,

and she was now a highly-valued member of the adventurer’s guild of

Maalt.

The extent of Rentt’s guidance was by no means narrow. In fact, a

quick look around the various corners of Maalt revealed many new

adventurers, most of whom had been guided by Rentt’s hand. It would

not be strange if one of these new adventurers eventually rose to

Mithril-class, as Rentt himself often watched over his juniors,

ensuring they got the guidance they needed.

While Rentt dreamed of becoming a Mithril-class adventurer

himself one day, he also did put in the work—engaging in a strict daily

training regimen, unbeknownst to Sheila or other adventurers.

However, Rentt was more aware than any other individual when it

came to accepting that he had little talent for adventuring. If Rentt had

a sliver or shred of talent in his body, his efforts would surely have

paid off. Unfortunately, reality was not as kind. There was not much to

be done about the matter.

While Rentt could have simply teamed up with other strong adventurers and found fame as a united party, many local adventurers of Maalt knew of Rentt’s goal—his dream of becoming a Mithril-class

adventurer.

But Rentt did not seek to become such an individual because of fame.

No, he wanted to become a Mithril adventurer on his own power

and capability.

As such, depending on another individual, or a party of

adventurers, defeated that purpose In order to fulfill his dream, Rentt

had no choice but to press on, as unlikely as he was to succeed. After

all, that was the only path available to him.

As adventuring and fighting alone were the quickest ways to build

one’s strength, Rentt did exactly that. Other adventurers, in turn,

avoided partying up with Rentt outside of emergencies.

Maalt’s other adventurers did this out of consideration for Rentt, knowing of his dream. No matter how unlikely it would seem, it was not in their

interest to belittle Rentt’s quest for strength—even if the truth was

plain for all to see.

Rentt was, for the lack of a better word, weak. As such, other local

adventurers knew that death would knock on his door sooner or later.

But Sheila and the other adventurers thought that this possibility was

relatively low. Yet in the end, they let Rentt do as he pleased, not

saying a word as he continued his lonesome quest.

While Rentt was a Bronze-class adventurer and had the strength of

one, his knowledge and experience of adventuring was more than

enough to rival that of seasoned veterans. Even if he were somehow

faced with a dangerous foe, he would surely remain calm and make the

right decisions—at least, that was what the other adventurers of Maalt

thought of Rentt.

With all that said, however, one fact remained true: Rentt Faina did

not return.

Rentt Faina, the lower-Bronze-class adventurer who would enter

the same labyrinth at the same time every day, return to the guild at

the same time with similar ingredients, sign off his assigned tasks, and then be off to train elsewhere.

Such was the daily life of Rentt. This would happen every single day,

without fail, and yet—

No one knew where he had disappeared to.

Sheila was merely one of

many who were concerned about his absence.

Rentt…

Rentt Faina—

Please, be safe—such were the unheard prayers of Sheila as she

continued her daily tasks at the guild.

“Um…”

The voice of a young girl shook Sheila out of her thoughts. Raising

her head, she found that the owner of the voice was, indeed, a young

girl—and a familiar one at that.

The girl was a new adventurer who had been assigned to Maalt from

the capital mere days before.

Due to her arriving at a somewhat

unfortunate time, neither Rentt nor other senior adventurers were

present—and as such, she had eventually wandered off to adventure

alone.

Sheila recalled her name—Rina Rupaage. With that, she tidied up a

sheaf of papers in her hands, before lending an ear to what Rina had to

say.