24-Episode 23: I've finally noticed.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea.

I had a quick look at the C-rank requests, so I remember a little about what they were about.

I believe there was a request to kill goblins.

But before that...

'Let's buy Aelyria's weapons. The best ones possible.'

The reward for the earlier request is 5 silver coins per request.

You did 100, that's 50 gold pieces. I think 500,000 yen sounds more reasonable.

Anyway, with this much money, you should be able to get some pretty good weapons.

I visited the weapons shop where I had suppressed a fire before.

'Oh, it's you, Yuki! I'm glad you showed up.

'It's been a while since ....... Today I need you to prepare a sword for Aleria to use. The budget is 50 gold coins. Can you do it?'

'What are you saying to the owner of a weapon shop! With 50 gold pieces, I can get you a much stronger weapon. Wait a moment.'

The shopkeeper retreated to the back of the store and returned in a few minutes.

'This is a sword I just bought today. This weapon has a little secret.

'A secret?

'It's embedded with a magic stone. It's not powerful enough to fight against humans, but it should be powerful enough to fight demons.

'That's convenient. But will 50 gold coins be enough for that ......?

'It's for my benefactor Yuki. I'm willing to push myself a little.''

'I see. ...... Thank you so much for your help. I'll take good care of it.

I was able to get a sword for Aleria.

It was a pleasant miscalculation to get a better one than I had expected, but it didn't change what I had to do.

The goblins, according to the guide, are nesting in a cave at the edge of the Karlon Plains.

There are many nests, but we will try to hit one of them.

I'm going to hit one of them.

'Is it really safe for me to walk in front of you ......?'

The entrance to the cave.

Arelia is standing in front of me, holding a sword.

'If not, I'll help you. But I'm sure you'll be fine. Just have faith in your own strength.'

'...... I understand!

Aleria gave up and stepped into the cave.

Just to be safe, I'll put a 'divine blessing' on Aleria. And just to make sure, I'll have the magic sword Berserk ready to swing at any time.

The moment you take a step...

Kiki kiki kiki!

As if they'd been waiting for me, goblins came flying out. There were two of them.

The goblins look just as I imagined, green and holding clubs in their hands.

I won't touch them.

Leave it to Aleria.

'Yes!

Aleria swings her sword sideways.

--She hits the goblin in the gut, killing him.

The goblin behind her becomes an obstacle and brakes her momentum.

Aleria did not miss the opportunity.

This time she swung her sword down and hit him in the head.

Kiki, Kiki, Kiki.......

In the blink of an eye, she succeeded in dispatching the two goblins.

This is partly due to the effect of the Divine Blessing that I granted.

However, it is not essential.

Originally, Aleria's status was high.

'I ...... was able to defeat ......?'

'That's quite a feat. What do you think? Did you find out that you're strong enough?''

'I can't believe it! Youki, what do you mean? Is it because of this weapon?

'Well, I'll give you a hint: different countries have different ranks for adventurers.

'Different countries?

'Actually, I've heard that an E rank adventurer in the Empire is a C rank by Kingdom standards. The higher the rank, the less difference there is, but since the evaluation standards are different, it means that C-ranked monsters in the kingdom are not as strong as Arelia thinks.

'I see. ...... So that's what you said!

'In addition, the fact that you were able to cross the border from the empire to this country means that you might have been able to defeat demons stronger than C rank without knowing it.'

'What do you mean?'

'Before reaching some village, you must have passed through a place with few people. But the demons in such places are often strong.'

'It's true, I think the demons were stronger in the less crowded places. ....... It was a battle on the edge.

'The demons in remote places are stronger. It's not so much ...... that people don't live in places where there are strong demons.

That's pretty much how it was in the game.

The monsters near the village are weak. But the further away they are, the stronger they become.

An update to counter inflation will make them super strong! But I suppose that at the root of the game, the developers had such a realistic idea.

'Do you think an adventurer who has defeated such a strong demon and arrived at the kingdom is weak?

'I don't think so! ...... I see, I'm actually strong! But I was easily caught by the bandits. ......'

'Well, no matter how strong you are, there's always someone better. It means that the bandit was skilled enough to be able to afford to capture Arelia unharmed.

Capturing her is more difficult than defeating her.

And if you want to capture her without damaging her, the difficulty rises.

But if that's the case, is Yuki ...... able to finish off that bandit in an instant?

'Hmm, did you say something?'

'No, no, ......! I just thought that youki was amazing! But I'm also confident that I can move up in rank. Thanks to you, Yuki.

'そうか,それなら良かった'