/
Exploring the Ruins [Part 1]
The man who appeared at the back of the ruins was a rather stern-looking man with short gray hair, a good-looking stubble beard in his early thirties, and wielded a ridiculously large two-handed sword.
But I did not know how old he actually was. Nobles
or rather, people with strong magic power appear young in appearance and would have radiant skin.
“Miss, the way you’re dressed
are you an adventurer? These ruins are managed by the Knights. It is not a place for adventurers to enter without permission.”
“What? This place is the site managed by a commercial guild, no?”
“Huh?”
According to the uncle, he entered the site through the Knights’ Guild-controlled entrance and had been hunting down a growing herd of Minotaurs for the past few weeks along with members of the Knights’ Guild.
“My men and I were chasing them, but we got separated. I didn’t think there was a passage left that led this way.”
“So that’s why Minotaur came up here, too.”
“Sorry to have bothered you unnecessarily. Hey, you there.”
“Yes, sir.”
The uncle approached an ordinary adventurer who had been attacked by the Mino-tan before.
“I’ll write you a note. Please deliver it to the Adventurers’ Guild. This road will be blocked. The knights will take care of the situation later.”
“
I understand.”
The ordinary adventurer received the letter written by the uncle, a handkerchief with his family crest on it for identification, and a silver coin as a reward. Then he fled towards the entrance.
“Well.”
The uncle turned to me and smiled like a naughty boy.
“You beat the Minotaur, didn’t you, young lady? That’s quite a feat. Now, can I ask you a question?”
“
What is it?”
I had a bad feeling about this, so I took a step back.
“Oops, it’s nothing strange. You killed it with that long sword, didn’t you? And I noticed that you are a Magician. Would you be interested in working under me from now on?”
“Huh
?”
The uncle said that he was separated from his men, but he wanted to take care of the Minotaur, who had driven him to this point. But it was too much for him to take care of alone, so he wanted to hire me as an adventurer because I am capable of defeating it.
“
I can’t do it for too long.”
“I was not planning on taking this long into the night, either. I just want to get this over with before morning. I don’t want the hassle of hunting them down all over again.”
“I’d be happy to do it if it’s worth it, but
 is that okay with you?”
“What?”
“”I’m a half-elf, remember?”
I brushed back my black hair, revealing my long ears.
As
The uncle was a friendly man, but he was a nobleman in this country where human race supremacy prevailed.
“Oh, beautiful ears. I used to be a curious adventurer myself. Now I have become a nobleman, so I don’t mind, you know?”
“Nn, I see.”
And so, I ended up staying with him, exterminating Mino-tans until morning.
The reward was one large gold coin for persevering. The uncle was disappointed that he had no more money to pay for drinks.
“You said you had subordinates, Uncle. Are you a distinguished person?”
“I was just swinging my sword, and before I knew it, I already had subordinates. Oh, you can call me Bert. As for you, missy
”
“I go by [Witch] at the guild.”
“Witch, is it? Well, I guess I’ll just call you missy. Nice to meet you.”
We proceed to the depths with such small talk while Bert and I cut down the two Orcs we encountered in a single blow.
“Missy, you have a very skilled hand. That long sword is spectacular, though.”
“Bert-san also has a good two-handed sword.”
“I prefer this because I can still smash enemies with it even if it loses some of its sharpness. I’ve been telling my son to use two-handed weapons, but he’s a classy brat that only uses a one-handed sword.”
“You have a son?”
“He’s a cheeky little boy. Oh, it’s another Minotaur.”
“Hmm.”
We encountered a single Mino-tan who seemed to have strayed.
“Oryaa!”
[Gwwwuuuoooooooooooo!]
Bert slashed with his sword, which was parried by the Mino-tan with its two-handed ax.
“Hoooorrrraaaaaa!!!”
Bert’s arm muscles swelled up and pushed Mino-tan’s huge body back while I snuck up behind it and thrust Ridil to its heart area.
Uncle Bert was pretty strong. He would be higher than level 40, by my estimation. Was this the level of a knight in the royal capital? Compared to the knights of our frontier territory, this would be unparalleled.

If there were many knights like Uncle Bert in the Royal Capital, I wouldn’t underestimate them.