Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 42

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Chapter 42 – Promotion

“Uhhhh… ahhh… I slept so well today, too…”

While cracking my neck and shoulders, I wash my face in the courtyard of the inn and go to the cafeteria.

When I was an employee, I didn’t get this much time to sleep, so maybe this is a better life than I thought.

“Good morning…”

“Good morning. I’ll have breakfast ready soon, so sit down and wait for it.”

“Yes… Ah, while you’re at it, can you bring me some fruit water, please?”

“Aiyo! You’ve got a nice tan, and you’re starting to look like a hunter!”

“Hehehe.”

This tanned skin is mainly due to yesterday’s river trip…

Well, I don’t need to explain why.

Even hunters work hard!

“Here you go!”

With that, I look at the usual breakfast set plus last night’s leftovers on the table in front of me and think back to yesterday.

“(The three of them’s first experience at ‘Kaari’ was interesting in many ways…)”

Mei-chan seemed to know about the restaurant, and when I showed her around, she shouted, “Eeeeeehhhh! This place is so expensive!”

Zink-kun was also puzzled by the price of “9,000 beeke.”

I knew it would be like this, so I pushed their shoulders and forced them into the restaurant, telling them that I would treat them to a meal.

“Hou… You’re here already, huh?”

With this provocative owner in the background, I explained that “Kaarii” was a dish commonly eaten in the place where I lived.

I told them that it was spicy…so spicy that it would make them breathe fire, but that the delicious taste that followed would be addictive, and all three of them accepted the challenge of the unknown with gulps in their mouths.

And when the food arrived, the three of them naturally burst into flames. No, me too; that’s why there are four of us.

Zink-kun’s face turned bright red, but he endured it desperately, and Mei-chan cried and trembled while holding her spoon.

Potta-kun was sweating so much that I was afraid he would die of dehydration if he didn’t stop.

But no one stopped.

I don’t know if it was the high price of the food or the lingering taste that attracted them, but all four of us ended up finishing the meal.

“I’m sorry, there might have been a better place to celebrate, but I don’t know about that. But it was a new experience, wasn’t it?”

I asked, drenched in sweat, and all three of them silently nodded their heads, so I guess it was a good life experience.

This is not the kind of place you can just walk into and say, “Let’s try it.”

The three of them gave me mixed looks as I quickly paid the bill, but in the end, they said, “Thank you! I’ll brag to my mom!” “Thanks, I’ll brag about it too!” “It was hard, but I’m glad I did it; thank you!” I was glad to hear them say that, and it was worth the effort.

I was a little worried about the three of them walking home with unsteady steps, but I had told the innkeeper that I was going to have dinner again, so I hurried back to the inn and had more dinner.

“I’ve been eating a lot lately. Well, at this age, they say you’re a glutton, and that’s good, right? I move around so much…)”

I found myself finishing breakfast, so I checked my plans for the day and continued.

First, I had to go to the guild to withdraw money, and then I had to stop by Roddy-san’s place to check out the information on the materials available in the Rocker Plains.

After that, I should go to the weapon shop, Paisa-san’s place, to buy a weapon and armor.

Then, I should go to the church to choose a profession.

Oh, I also need to go to the store to buy poison potion.

I think I have to do more and more things to finish this in one day.

Then there will be no time to dawdle.

I’m sorry for the slight pain in the middle of my bottom.

I hurried to the Hunters’ Guild.

▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽

“Hey! Why haven’t you been around lately?”

“Huh?”

It is still early in the morning, and while the hunters are still arguing about their requests, Amanda-san, the receptionist, calls out to me.

The senior hunters all turn around at the sound of her voice… Please give me a break because I will stick out…

“No, Roddy-san told me that I could save my rewards. And when I found out that the baskets were in the dismantling area, I went straight to borrow them. I checked the request board first, but there are no urgent requests to subjugate the monsters in the Great Palmera Forest, are there?

That’s right.

If there were an urgent subjugation request, I would come here, but there are only permanent subjugation requests in the Great Forest of Palmera.

There might have been some emergency requests while I was away, but with the permanent requests, there was no need to accept them in the first place, so I did not stop by here.

I would have just asked the receptionist to bring me a basket from the dismantling site, but it would have been better to rent it directly from the dismantling site myself.

The skewered meat I had for lunch was also available at a shop near the south exit, so I bought it there and ate it on my way to the forest.

“T-That’s true, but still… there’s something I want to tell you from here, too, you know?”

“Eh? What is it?”

“Goodness… Loki-kun’s stable record of defeating monsters has been recognized, so your promotion to F-rank has been approved! …6 days ago!”

“I-is that so?”

Come to think of it, I forgot all about the Hunter rank…

Since I have special approval for F-rank applications, I’m not in any trouble right now, and on the other hand, even if they approve the E-rank, I still don’t think I’ll go for it.

“So that’s why. Give me your guild card. I’ll update it.”

“Ah, y-yes, sorry… and I would also like to withdraw all the money I deposited…”

“The full amount?”

“Yes, please…”

Oh… I’m afraid of Amanda-san being in a bad mood… She’s like my mother in this world… If I say something like that, I might get beaten up.

And a few minutes of waiting.

The new guild card was handed to me with a leather pouch that seemed very heavy, and I couldn’t tell the difference from the old one except that it was made of the same iron-like material and had a large “F” written on it.

“Does that ‘F’ on it mean it’s an update?”

“Yes. It means that Loki-kun is an F-ranked hunter, so if people ask you to do something other than kill monsters, you can prove it by showing them your guild card. So, like I said, don’t lose it, okay?”

“Yes, of course, but… I thought there would be more changes to the card itself, like changing the material it’s made of.”

“I can do that. It’s just that you’ll have to pay extra for it.”

“Huh?”

“Of course, the guild is a business, and it’s not a big burden for E-ranks, but it would cost a lot of money to distribute ore cards assigned to D-ranks and above.”

“Distributed ores…? I’m very interested in that!”

“Ara? Do you want to ask Onee-san about it? Do you want to know more about it?”

“Kuh… I want to hear it…”

“It can’t be helped now, can it? Even if you don’t have anything to do with it, it’s still good for you to come here, isn’t it, Loki-kun?”

The summary of the hunter rank is exactly what you would expect.

G Iron (commonly known as Iron Rank)

F Copper (commonly known as Copper rank)

E Bronze (commonly known as Bronze rank)

D Silver (commonly known as Silver rank)

C Gold (commonly known as Gold rank)

B Magic Silver (commonly known as Mithril rank)

A Black Steel (commonly known as Damascus rank)

S Vajra (commonly known as Adamant rank)

The cards are sorted in this way, and it is also possible to make cards from ores according to each hunter’s rank.

If there is a request, it seems that after receiving an iron card, the guild will begin production, and when production is complete, the card will be provided in exchange for the one you already have.

However, the hunter is responsible for the cost of the materials.

If you don’t want to pay for the materials, you can use the iron card that is usually provided to prove it, so you should be patient.

If you’re an S-rank hunter, the letter “S” on the iron card… is a very boring story.

“How’s that?” Amanda-san said, puffing out her chest, and I replied, “It’s pretty much as I expected!” to which Amanda expressed her frustration.

“But realistically speaking, it’s sad to see a high rank with an iron card…”

“It’s okay; high ranks have money. Wouldn’t it be a disaster if we had to offer free ore cards based on rank? That burden will fall on the lower ranks.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. In order to produce the ore for the cards, the overall request fee will decrease, and the rate at which they will accept requests that are too difficult for their abilities for the money will also increase. As a result, the probability of death will increase. On the other hand, even if the reward for the higher ranks is slightly lower, it won’t make any difference to the financial situation of the higher ranks because the amount of the reward is several orders of magnitude higher than that of the lower ranks.”

“I see… Then that means you can get it wherever you can.”

“That’s right. First of all, the quality of the cards is mostly for the higher ranks. Loki-kun, when you get from ‘G’ to ‘F,’ you don’t want to show it off, do you?”

“I-I don’t think so at all. Even if I reached an ‘E,’ I don’t think it would change people’s perception of me as a low-ranked person.”

“Not all, but most hunters feel the same way. So, it’s a disservice to low-ranked hunters to worry about the quality of the cards. We don’t give special treatment to a few high-ranking hunters. The Hunters’ Guild’s idea is to pay them a higher fee to fulfill their requests.”

Hmm. I have to agree with their logic.

The Hunters’ Guild has a surprising way of thinking about things.

I guess you could say that they value low-ranked people.

But――

“I’m very convinced, thank you very much. But there is one point I don’t agree with, or rather, I feel a little uncomfortable with.”

“Hmm? What point?”

“Is S-rank really the highest rank in the Hunters’ Guild?”

I was wondering about that.

The highest rank is S-rank, which is nothing to think about―Adamant rank.

I’m sure it’s the hard-looking rare ore commonly referred to as adamantium or adamantine.

Certainly, it is an ore that is out of reach for the chick hunter.

However, when I was told that adamantium is the best ore, it didn’t seem to fit.

I don’t know if I’m wrong or not――

“Why did you think that?”

“No, it just kind of fits. Is Adamant the top ore? I wondered.” [T/n: He probably refers to Orichalcum.]

“Well, it’s not like we’re hiding it… There used to be a higher rank. But there is none now. The correct answer is that there are no hunters who can become one.”

“I see… that clears things up a bit.”

“You want to know about the ranks that don’t exist anymore?”

“Well, that’s part of it. However, it’s probably too high for a newcomer to worry about when I just made it to F-rank, so I’ll ask for more information when I’m close to reaching it.”

“Fufu… That’s right. When that happens, come to Onee-san. It’s not something young kids know much about, so I’ll tell you more about it when you’re older, Loki-kun.”

“Hahaha, only the body grows fast. The problem is the rank.”

“Well! It’s enough for the body to grow bigger! Come and ask me about it! Come to Onee-san!”

Oh, this is bad… Suddenly, I could smell the stench of a demon coming from Amanda-san.

“I-I have a lot of plans today, so if you’ll excuse me! See you next time!”

“Hey, wait! You should take it easy once in a while!”

Hearing Amanda-san’s shouts, I run to the passage leading to the dismantling area.

I have a lot to do today!

But still… there are no hunters of that rank, huh?

So, it can be said that there are only a few people who can become a skilled hunter.

“(I wonder if it’s the hero Takuya… He’s probably the only one…)”

Will I meet him one day?

I wonder if it would be impossible since the other party is supposed to be a prince.

With this thought in mind, I went to see Roddy-san, the head of the dismantling site.