CH 66

TL: Yuki

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◆ Avangard Castle Town Maison Hotel ◆

「 Ok, so here’s the problem. Do B-rank adventurers get free designated accommodations? 」

「 Ummm…… Ah, over here. I think so 」

「 Don’t help! I mean, you just wrote down you thought of!

The free stuff starts at A rank! It’s the same with this hotel we’re staying in now, you know?」

It’s been a month and a half since I stayed in the Kingdom of Avangard. Siegel recommended that we stay at this hotel, but it’s free for A-rank people and discounted for us. Well, that’s what the current situation is, it seems.

Even so, they said it was cheaper than the usual accommodation, but I don’t feel like I was deceived. It was certainly much nicer than the inn we had stayed at during the festival, and the rooms were much bigger. There is also a food service that brings food to your room if you need it.

I’m facing the biggest crisis of my life right now: the A rank promotion exam, which apparently includes a written exam. I was told that the passing score is over 90%, and that almost half of the students fail the exam every year.

「 Roel, if this is an adventurer’s exam, why is it hosted by the Kingdom of Avangard?」

「 When you reach A rank, you not only get the backing of the guild, but also the support of this country.

Of course, it seems that they’ll be asking us to do things on a national level that we B-rank adventurers wouldn’t be normally asked to do. 」

There’s something different about being an adventurer, after all, and I wonder if I’m going to be forced to do something that the country’s soldiers would do if they were A-ranked. It’s a question I’ve had for a long time. I’ve been wondering about this for a while now. Tifelia-san seems to be exclusive to this country, and even though she is an adventurer, she doesn’t seem to be adventuring that much.

Originally, I wanted to become an adventurer so that I could go to Ikana Village, but now I think that being an adventurer is not so bad. But now I think being an adventurer is a bit of a pain. And my anxiety about the exam is just increasing it.

「 Roel, I’m getting sleepy already……」

「 It’s been less than ten minutes. 」

「 I don’t want to do this, this is hell. I can’t even read, how am I supposed to pass this test?」

「 So you’re giving up on being an A Rank?」

「 Hey, how are you guys doing?」

The person who knocked on our door was Siegel. We are staying in the same hotel, but the other guy is staying in a very expensive room called Royal something. When Roel let him in, Siegel looked at me and smiled as if to say, “I knew it”.

I wondered if he finds it amusing to see me leaning my head against the round table, looking like it was the end of the world.

「 Hey, are you still depressed about that? It’s just a sword.」

「 Oh, Siegel-san, don’t remind her when she has just recovered from that.

After that, even during the request to defeat the monsters, she remained in a daze even after being attacked by two Wolfang!」

「 No, I think it’s amazing that you’re still fine to do something like that…… Even one of those things could destroy a B-rank party.……」

That’s right, in short, it shouldn’t matter as long as you can defeat the monsters. You can’t protect anything if you don’t have the power to do so. I said something like that to Roel once, and she gave me a kick for not being reasonable.

「 I’m sorry. I’m going to get some air 」

「 You are trying to slack off again!」

「 No really, I’m at my limit. I feel like my head is burning up.」

「 Roel, a person who doesn’t use their head on a regular basis is more fragile than you can imagine. Let her go for now.」

It sounds kind of humiliating, but I can’t say anything back. I asked this Siegel what kind of questions would be asked, and he ended up buying me something like a collection of 10,000 past problems. He said that these days they run out of material for the questions and often bring in questions from the past, so it’s easier if you memorize them. That’s how I ended up in this situation.

「 Okay, come back again later.」

「 Hmmm. I’m tired too, so I’ll join you. What about you, Siegel-san?」

「 Well, I have some business to attend to. I’ll leave you two for now, so get along well.」

*Knock *Knock

I wonder who’s visiting here again. We’re going outside anyway, so let’s open it.

「 Yes, who……」

As soon as the door opens, the tip of a fruit knife is thrust out in front of me. Just before it reached the tip of my nose, I grabbed the thin hand holding the knife. I was expecting resistance after that, but it took an unexpected turn. The knife easily fell out of that hand. I let go of the hand and retreated, disappointed at how weak my opponent was.

Its whole body soon emerged from the door. It slumped forward and then fell down into the room.

「 That, that hurts……」

「 Ah, that person is……」

It was someone from the hotel. A middle-aged woman in a beautiful dress-like uniform and was carrying an apple and the knife she had just dropped. She was now lying on the floor of our room. She must have been in a lot of pain, because she couldn’t get up and was rubbing her knees. She seemed to have protected her head in a hurry.

「 Oh, oh no! Um, are you hurt?!」

「 No, no, I’m sorry about that.…… Um, here’s an apple and a knife.……」

「 O, okay?」

「 Um, a guest asked me to bring an apple and a knife……Ah!」

The middle-aged woman hurried out of the room and looked at the door. I wonder if she checked the room number. But still, what the hell. You’ve suddenly done something dangerous. If it wasn’t for me, you would have been stabbed.

「 I’m sorry! I’ve got the wrong room! That’s strange.……」

After apologizing furiously, the woman left, looking unconvinced. It was a brief commotion. Roel and Siegel had seen the whole thing, but no one had time to say a word. Even after the little storm had passed, no one said anything for a while.

「 Ryua-chan, that was a close one……」

「 Yeah, if you’re going to carry a knife, you should be careful」

「 Someone asked the front desk for an apple and a knife, but ended up in the wrong room.

Hmmmm……The next room? What kind of person is the one that asked for that 」

When the three of us peeked through the door, we saw a woman knocking on the next door. She seemed to be calling out several times, but there was no answer. We persisted patiently, but she finally gave up and went back.

「 Is the person not home?」

「 I don’t know. She almost stabbed me to death with a knife, you know.

seriously, she was not even sorry about that at all……」

「 If somebody was almost stabbed to death, of course that same person won’t be happy about it 」

He glared at Siegel, who had said it jokingly. I don’t want to get stabbed for a simple screw-up. Can’t they just say sorry at the very least though? I was pretty pissed off, but I couldn’t bring myself to complain.

◆ Avangard Castle Town Adventurer’s Guild Free Space ◆

I visited this place to check my level and found it to be quite cool and comfortable. Roel said it’s a great place to study if you don’t mind having a lot of people around. I’ve been studying in my hotel room, and I’ve been falling asleep, so they’ve been trying to deal with that as well.

【 Ryua Ｌｖ：９９９ Class: Fighter B Rank 】

【 Roel Lv：67 Class：Priest B Rank 】

「 When did I become so strong……」

「 Maybe it’s because I’ve killed a lot of golems.」

「 Yes, thanks to you, I can now use all kinds of magic. The other day, I was able to play a big role against the Wolfang!」

Seeing as how the not-so-strong fire rod was able to burn to death two Wolfang that could devastate a B-rank party, it seems that her magic power alone has increased considerably. In addition, there is a wide variety of healing spells that can heal a wide range of people, and spells that temporarily prevent abnormal conditions.

But I’m not affected by abnormal conditions, and even that golem didn’t hurt me, so there’ no use for a priest to support me at the moment. It’s best not to get hurt, though.

「 If you look closely, you’ll see that some of them are studying, just like us.」

「 See, everyone is desperate, and Ryua-chan has to do her best too.」

「 I’m feeling sleepy again……」

I concentrated in my own way. The string of letters, the march of sentences, lulled me to sleep again.

「 Here, this is for sleepiness 」

「 Ah, thanks……」

I was about to collapse when a cup of warm coffee was placed on top of me. I didn’t really like coffee because it was bitter, but I was grateful for the thoughtfulness. It was a guild member, walking around handing out coffee to everyone who was working hard.

I took a sip and drank it down. The cup I was holding fell out of my hand.

「 U, ugh…….*Guho……*Guho! Haaa……Haaa……」

「 Ryua-chan?!」

My entire tongue was numb, and my entire body was numb, from my throat to my stomach. The pain and discomfort felt as if I had swallowed strong acid. Yes, this is poison. A poison that could irritate me to this extent. My throat tingled and I wanted to ask for water.

Roel rubbed my back and I finally realized what was going on. Everyone was looking at me in surprise, but they were also holding coffee cups. I don’t know if they’ve drunk it yet or not. I’m not a big fan of poisons, but this one is pretty strong. I haven’t suffered from a poison in about ten years. I had a hard time with it when I was first diving in the Cave of Abyss.

It’s been easier since I’ve developed a resistance to poison, but I never thought I’d get it here.

「 Roel, don’t drink that……」

「 U, Un, are you alright though 」

「 Everyone else is in danger!」

I looked around, and although there was a lot of buzz, no one seemed to have been poisoned in the same way. That’s why everyone seemed to be wondering what was going on.

「 Um, what have you done!」

「 You’re the one who poisoned this coffee!」

「 Eh?! Me!?」

「 Excuse me, let’s see.……」

A middle-aged adventurer with the air of a seasoned adventurer intervened. He was dressed like a wizard or a swordsman, and I couldn’t imagine his class. The middle-aged adventurer smelled the coffee that had been spilled on the table.

「 Odorless. If it wasn’t for the acid, what the hell would this be……I’ll look into it 」

「 What the hell, poison? No way 」

The uncle took out some kind of tool that I had never seen before and began to work on it, sipping coffee. If you look closely, you can see a clear bottle-like object hanging from his waist, and you can tell by the atmosphere that he seems to know a lot about poisons.

「 Ryua-chan, are you all right? I can’t even believe that someone would poison you? 」

「 I’m fine……」

「 This is a dragon slayer, isn’t it? A single drop will kill even a dragon instantly……The fact that it’s odorless makes it ring a bell, but it’s a super poison that’s nearly impossible to find now 」

The man from earlier shouted in surprise. I can almost imagine what he’s feeling when he looks at me after finding out about that. I understand though, I’m surprised too.

A guild member is being accused by several adventurers. She’s desperately trying to protest, but it seems to be turning into a quagmire.

In the end, it seemed that the guild members were just handing out coffee out of the goodness of their hearts, and they insisted that they had not poisoned me. It seemed that nothing was in the other people’s coffee, but only in mine.

If it was a real incident, I would have been taken away by the soldiers, but the guild members were crying and protesting, and I myself was fine, so I let it slide.

There was a lot of fuss about this and that, because a poisonous substance that is not normally available was used. In the end, a lot of soldiers showed up and there was a lot of commotion, and we were released near evening. I was almost stabbed at the hotel, and now this, today was strange. It seems that a hotel room is the best place to study quietly.

◆ Avangard Castle Town Central Street ◆

「 It’s been a disaster already……. That person doesn’t look like he really did it, and I don’t understand why they even do it 」

「 Right……I’m kind of tired. But I’m glad Ryua-chan is okay.」

We walked back to the hotel. I wondered if someone had asked her to poison me. If that’s the case, then she’s lying, and who in the world would do even do such a thing.

After all, it’s best to sleep in your own room on days like this. If someone came to visit me, I wouldn’t have to open the door, and if I kept my own drinks, I wouldn’t be poisoned.

「 Fuaaah……still, I’m very much curious as why they tried to poison me 」

I was about to yawn widely when something fell from the top of the building under repair. Several wooden pillars and logs, fell in pieces, as if they had been turned upside down.

The wooden pillars crashed into the ground one after another with a dry sound as I left the area with Roel in my arms. Fortunately, there was no one else in the area but us. The fall came from the top of that three-story building.

When I looked up, I saw a man who was working on it turning pale and looking down. I may have accidentally dropped it while working, but if it hadn’t been me, someone would have died.

「 Ooi! Are you alright! Is anyone hurtー!」

A few people came down in a hurry and started checking their surroundings. When I approached them, they shivered.

「 I’m sorry! I was trying to be careful, but somehow my hand slipped…… Hey! Everyone, clean this up right now! 」

After a brief apology to me, the people working on the project quickly went to gather the scattered wooden posts.

Yes, something is wrong with me today. On days like this, it’s better to stay in bed or study. After all, there’s only a month and a half left before the exam, and Roel must be really excited about it. Of course, she wouldn’t allow me to slack off.

「 Roel, I’m getting really tired of this.……」

「 Ryua-chan, you’ve had a rough day. Let’s take a rest for today.」

「 Eh, really?」

「 If Ryua-chan hadn’t been so sturdy, she would have died from the poison, you know?

You’re right. I can’t let you overdo it.……」

I was thinking that it’s a good idea to have a little mishap once in a while.