âMm. I should also prove that Iâm not all talk and that Iâm useful as well. Iâm a Yellow Rank adventurer in this city. You can confirm this with the guild.â
He was implicitly asking us for our ranks by revealing his.
Yellow adventurers were basically portrayed as D Rank in the game. No color was the lowest rank (F Rank), Green (E Rank), Yellow (D Rank), Orange (C Rank), Red (B Rank), Black (A Rank), and White (S Rank). An absolute majority of the adventurers here were between F and E Rank.
Â
âTruly, that is impressive.â
I nodded. Yellow was enough to confidently call yourself a veteran.
There were only a few Black and White ranking adventurers throughout the entire continent anyway. Moreover, those individuals wouldâve been recruited into a knight corp or be acting as the leader of a high-ranking mercenary troop. They wouldâve basically been promoted up from a life of living at the bottom of the barrel as adventurers. Red was enough to make you the leader of a decent mercenary brigade.
It was only natural.
It was the same for assassins as well. Letâs say that thereâs an assassin whoâs capable enough to assassinate a knight with ease. Why would a talent like that stay as an assassin? They would probably quit immediately.
They would probably serve a lord somewhere and become their knight. Well, that was only for assassins who didnât have slave seals on their hearts like Jeremi.
Excluding an extremely small minority, the highest rank that an adventurer could realistically reach was Orange. In other words, C Rank.
Fabian was D Rank so he may not be the best, but he was still exceptional.
It may have been the same rank, but qualifications from a large city were more trustworthy than something gained from a small city. However, there wasnât only awe in Fabianâs eyes. There was also a tinge of doubt.
âIf it isnât rude of me to ask, I would like to know why adventurers from a distant city like Orleans came to a remote city like this. We may face life and death situations together later on, so please understand why Iâm asking this.â
âOf course I understand. Mr. Fabian, you are aware that there is a war going on in Frankia, right?â
ââŠâŠWeâre the first to be drafted. Aah, I understand now.â
Fabian stroked his hand over his bald head.
From the perspective of mayors, adventurers were a group of people that guaranteed a certain degree of strength that could be utilized immediately. It was almost certain that the adventurers would get forcefully conscripted while being told by the mayors that they would receive citizenship if they manage to perform meritorious deeds.
âYou came all the way here in order to avoid the draft, huh? Kuku. A little further from here is the Black Mountains, so itâs the perfect place to escape.â
âWe also happened to know how to speak Teutonic, so we were able to take refuge somehow. And now we were fortunate enough to encounter a commission like this during our travels. Hahaha.â
Fabianâs eyes became cold for a moment.
ââŠâŠTeutonic must sound rather crude for a Frank.â
âNo, that is not the case.â
âNonsense. You donât have to be modest. Teutonic is barbaric compared to Frankish. By the way, do you think you could sing me a song thatâs trending in Frankia? Itâs an opportunity to clean my ears since Iâm meeting a Frank.â
He was doubting whether I was truly originally from Frankia or not, so he was asking me to sing.
âWhy not?â
I smiled widely before I began to sing.
Î
From Bruno to St. DenisâHill of swords stained with tears and blood,I have only walked barefooted.
Let us march, sons and daughters of Frankia.Roar with your burning throats,your moment of glory has arrived.
From the scarlet castle to Ulm plainsBoeotia and Nemean.Listen to the enemyâs hellish screams,echo throughout the hills and rivers!
Raise the bloodstained flags of war!Raise the bloodstained flags of war!
May the enemyâs blood overflow \non our nationâs parched land!
Î
It was none other than the song I had composed myself, so I was able to sing it with ease. I couldnât remember the exact lyrics, so I adlibbed some parts, but songs were things that always changed as they were passed around.
âWow, you are a great singer!â
Fabian applauded. I was honestly far from being a great singer, but he was probably reacting like this as a way to apologize for doubting me.
The bald, one-eyed adventurer, Fabian, no longer pried into our background. There were many adventurers with tear-jerking stories after all. Fabian bought a total of 12 wheat beers that night and we received them all gratefully.
However, Fabian was completely surprised when I revealed to him that I was a spirit tamer. Spirit tamers were rarer than mages.
âIs that true? No, Iâm not trying to doubt you. But are you really a spirit tamer?â
âOf course. Here, let me show youâŠâŠ.â
I discreetly took something out from underneath my coat. It was a low-tier spirit. I had brought several sylphs with me so that I could disguise myself as a spirit tamer. Even now, there were two other sylphs latched on to me like sloths as well.Â
â Kya?
The sylph sat on my palm and tilted her head. Where is this, Master? It felt like she was asking me this. The sylph wouldnât understand even if I explained it to her, so I simply stroked her head with my finger.
â Kiha, kyaaah~
The spirit clung to my hand and rubbed her cheek against it. How cute!
A Demon Lordâs body mostly consists of mana, so theyâre very popular with spirits since they can only live in places with a dense amount of mana. Fabian muttered with his mouth agape as he watched us.
âI-It really isâŠâŠa spirit.â
His jaw was practically touching the floor. I gave him a grin before hastily putting the sylph away in my clothes again. I wanted to play with her more, but this wasnât the time or place for that. Iâll play with you a bunch once weâve wiped out all the adventurers, my sweet pea! Just wait a little longer.
âSo? Do you trust me now?â
âY-Yeah. Of course. How could anyone possibly doubt you when youâve shown such undeniable proof. Dear God, this is my first time ever meeting a spirit tamer.â
Fabian brought his glass of beer to his mouth absentmindedly. The glass was empty. He then realized he had done something stupid as he shrugged his shoulders.
âTo think I would find people as talented as you two. It seems my eye for people hasnât gone completely bad yet. Iâm almost certain that weâll succeed. Iâll be in your care.â
âIâm the one who will be in your care.â
We both ordered another beer before doing another toast.
I wonder if finding a Demon Lord when trying to look for comrades made his discerning eye amazing or horrendous. In any case, it didnât change the fact that it was still impressiveâŠâŠ.
\nââŠâŠItâd be foolish to not rest properly before entering a Demon Lordâs castle.â
Fabian shook his head.
âWe have no choice but to ask someone to let us stay the night.â
âHm. That would make us no different from those other adventurers.â
âWhat do you take me for? Iâm obviously going to pay a lodging fee. Letâs meet at the entrance of the village in the morning.â
Fabian grumbled as he walked off somewhere.
I feel bad for him, but Jeremi and I already have a place to stay. I headed to the entrance of the village with familiar steps. The house that used to belong to a hunter was now the village chiefâs home.
I knocked on the door. A manâs voice came from the other side.
âAah! If youâre an adventurer, then fuck off! If youâre a villager then fuck off even more! Not only am I not going to give you guys a place to stay, but I donât intend to chase the adventurers in your homes out either!â
I chuckled.
âParsi, itâs me. Your great ruler whom you take such pride in.â
âAh geez!â
The sound of things falling over could be heard from inside before the door soon opened. The person with the most aged eyes in the village was here, Parsi.
âI thought my balls would shrink waiting for you to come, Your Highness!â
âWhy are you acting up already when it has only been a few days?â
âThe village has flipped more than 10 times during those few days. Hurry and enter.â
I asked Parsi a question as I let him guide me inside.
âAll right, are the villagers a bit upset because of those adventurers?â
âA bit? Did you say a bit just now? Donât even say that. Theyâre basically screaming that they would rather go out shoving their balls in their eye sockets than let those adventurers take advantage of them.â
âIn other words.â
I sat down and laughed.
âThings are going very well.â
Parsi let out a deep sigh.
âYeah. Damn it, everything is proceeding just as Your Highness had planned.â