CH 108

“I tried to see if my training had paid off, but it seems there's no going back on anything now.”

Translated by Dawn

“I tried to see if my training had paid off, but it seems there’s no going back on anything now.”

“Hmm. Is this outside of the barrier…?”

After saying goodbye to Nagartinya, I escaped the barrier she said she had put up. According to her, the time difference between the outside world and the inside resulted in me returning to the time before I went inside, and I was returned to the way I was three years ago.

However, since three years was the time inside the barrier, only three hours had actually passed in the outside world. And if I had returned to the state I was in three years ago, I would now be twelve years old again. Naturally, this was the state I was in before waking up.

“For now, I’d like to fight the monsters nearby and see how my training pays off.”

During my training, I had no opportunity to fight with others other than Nagartinya because I mainly practiced with her or practiced muscle training, meditation, etc. Therefore, although I could get a concrete figure of my strength, I did not know the actual practical value of my strength.

“Nagartinya says this is the 250th level…”

According to her words, there were up to 300 levels in this Orargrand dungeon, and her home base was set up on the 250th level. Whether there really were that many levels were a mystery, but if this were true, I would like to reach the deepest level someday.

While I was thinking about this and searching for monsters, I got a reaction from the Sense Manipulation. It seemed that there was a group of Goblin Kings. Yes, a group of Goblin Kings.

After a short while of walking through the cave-type dungeon, a spacious area came into view. In that area, dozens of Goblin Kings were crammed together.

“Gyagyagyaaaaaa”

“Okay, let’s try it with these guys. First, let’s try this. [Ice mist]”

To see how strong I had become, I used my often-used Fog Magic – Ice Mist. The surrounding temperature suddenly drops, and the entire area was transformed into a silvery-white world.

No monster had ever survived this magic before, but as expected of monsters in the lower levels, even though they were damaged by this level of magic, they apparently did not get frozen.

“Gyagyagyagya!!”

“Hoo, so they can survive that. Then how about this? [Shaked Icicle]!”

The Goblin Kings are attacked by ice lasers released from my hands. No matter what rank A monster the Goblin King was, its body froze in front of the overwhelming Ice Magic, and in the blink of an eye, an ice statue was formed. The scene was then completed with dozens of ice statues standing on the spot, but there was one being that still survived.

“Gugooooooo!!”

“I see, it’s a Goblin Emperor…”

What appeared there was a goblin about one size larger than the Goblin King. Among the Goblin Kings, there was a so-called “Goblin Emperor” who was said to be able to evolve only for a select few. This being was the Goblin Emperor.

As the highest-ranked goblin among the goblin species, it was classified as an S-rank goblin, and some individuals might even be classified as SS-rank goblins.

“Seems like you were the head of the Goblin King’s pack. In honor of that, I give you the right to eat the stones I throw with my greatest strength.”

I then picked up a pebble, slightly larger than a ping-pong ball, and threw it with all my might at a side throw. The stone quickly reached a speed exceeding the speed of sound and hit the Goblin Emperor right between the eyes as if sucked in. The overwhelming speed of the pebble pierced through the Goblin Emperor’s skull with ease, creating a small wind hole between his eyebrows.

“Gu, gugoo…”

“H-huh?”

There was no way that a creature with a windpipe between his eyebrows could continue to sustain his life, and he just collapsed on his back and stopped moving. It stopped responding to Sense Manipulation, and when I confirmed that all the monsters present at the scene had been annihilated, I couldn’t help but let out an involuntary gasp at the sight of it.

“Wow, it seems I’ve completely quit being a human being…”

I wished to become stronger, but my mind was filled with worry as to whether my life would really be hindered now that I had become this strong, but I gave up and solemnly put the goblin carcasses into Storage.

Then I tried fighting S- and SS-ranked monsters such as the Elder Scorpion King, Jewelry Kingslime, and Grande Wyvern, but I crushed them almost in a single blow.

Although I felt that I had become too strong, the fact that even this was not far behind that Nagartinya almost made me feel overwhelmed, wondering how strong that loli baba was.

At any rate, I was glad to know that I could fight monsters at the 250th level without any problems and decided to return to the surface through the transfer portal of the safety zone that I had finally found.

~~~

Although it was nice to be back in the town, time-wise it was still only a little past noon. Three years ago……or rather, today, I had seen off Gyrmzak and the others first thing in the morning, delivered the goods to the Greg Trading Company, and immediately headed for the dungeon, so I still had plenty of time to spare.

“If this is so, maybe I should have stayed in the dungeon a little longer……”

Even if I said such a thing, I had no choice but to return, so I decided to visit the Adventurers’ Guild for the time being.

The Adventurers’ Guild was as bustling as ever after a three-year absence, and not much had changed. Well, it would be more unusual if something had changed in such a short period of time since only three hours had actually passed.

“Oh, Rolando-kun, welcome back. You’re quite early today, huh?”

Murian spotted me and immediately called out to me. ……Hmm, after three years, I’m very emotional to see her, the boobs glasses.

The purpose of coming to the Adventurer’s Guild this time was……nothing, in particular, I had spent some time in the barrier Nagartinya set up, so I just kind of came here because it had been three years since I had felt this sensation.

Come to think of it, I thought about buying some of the monsters I hunted when I came back to the outside world, but I realized that I would have trouble answering the question of where I got those, so I decided to put it on hold for the moment.

“Just, you know, to see what’s going on…”

“Oh, I see. Oh, by the way, the guildmaster said to call Rolando-kun when you get here.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll go meet him.”

I came here without any particular purpose, but when I went to the office because the guild master wanted to see me, she suddenly declared.

“Starting today, I’m promoting you boy to A-rank adventurer.”

“Wha!?”

I could not hide my surprise when Isabella suddenly declared so. Why would I be promoted to A-rank at this point in time? What in the world have I done?

“I don’t quite understand what you mean. Why am I being promoted now?”

“Because of the timing. Think about it. It has been a while since you came to Orargrand, and in this short period of time, the total number of monsters you have brought to the guild has exceeded 5,000. Most of the monsters delivered to the guild are in the C-rank range, including the bosses that appear at each level. Considering the contribution to the guild and the ranks of the monsters delivered, I judge that it is safe to promote you to A-rank.”

Isabella’s words made me think. I wondered if there would be any problems with being promoted to A rank at this point in time.

I had a feeling that there would be a few problems if I considered them in my past experiences, but I thought that if I became a high-ranked adventurer, it would be a good thing to have something when dealing with nobles.

After the incident with Count Greedy, I learned that having a certain level of status was not necessarily a bad thing, and I was beginning to think that I should welcome a promotion that did not draw unwanted attention. Well, I decided that it was just my imagination that I felt a contradiction in terms of a non-prominent promotion…

“I don’t have a problem with me getting a promotion to A-rank, but is there more to it than that?”

“As I thought, you understand it quickly. Actually, there is a request that I would like you to do for me, and the lowest rank for that request is A.”

“What is the request?”

“To procure materials from a Goblin King.”

“Goblin King?”

Somehow, I smelled a whiff of opportunism, but upon hearing the details, the reason was surprisingly legitimate. According to Isabella, a monster laboratory in the royal capital was in need of Goblin King materials for biological research, and this request was to procure those materials.

Well, if it was Goblin King, I had several dozen in stock, so I could deliver as many as I wanted… But, the problem was how do I explain it?

“Old lady, the Goblin King is not a target to be subjugated, but only to procure the materials, right?”

“Yes, since the Goblin King isn’t doing anything wrong.”

“Then it just so happens that I have the Goblin King’s material……or rather, his carcass in its entirety.”

“What do you mean? The Goblin King is supposed to be the boss of the 30th level, but you haven’t reached that level yet, have you?”

In my mind, I wondered how I could explain this to Isabella, but since it seemed impossible to give a satisfactory explanation without telling the truth, I fudged it without mentioning any details.

“Well, things have been a little bit complicated. I could explain it to you, but you wouldn’t believe me, so please don’t ask me about it.”

“What really happened?”

“I’m exercising my right to remain silent.”

What’s that?　Well, if you have the Goblin King’s carcass, it should be quick. Please deliver it immediately.

Isabella also sensed that something was up with me, but sensing my reluctance to talk about it, she didn’t pursue the matter any further. As an adventurer, I was obligated to report the incident to the guild, but they would only think I was joking because of the content.

I then took the Goblin King ice statue out of storage at the dismantling site, completed the delivery, and left the Adventurers’ Guild after completing the A-rank promotion procedures.