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“That’s how the merits are, because my adventurer’s rank is not high. I have no choice but to keep accumulating achievements.”

No matter how strong a person was, their guild’s rank didn’t rise easily. This was because achievements and corresponding trust were demanded from the high-ranked. Even if the person was a former knight or a noble, the treatment didn’t change.

From Celica’s explanation before, even a chosen one had their first rank go from G to F, or otherwise, to E.

“I’ll end it quickly, because I want to make it to C rank at least. What will Cuore do after this?”

“May I go with you too?”

“I don’t mind, but it’s goblin subjugation, you know?”

“It’s all right. For my remaining work, because I don’t know how long it takes, I’ll do it later.”

“What work?”

“It’s the investigation of the place where the duel was fought the other day. I always go to confirm whether or not the forest has restored itself after a battle is fought in Larua Grand Woods. Because the scale of the fight was quite huge this time, the damage of the forest increases too. Even though I should increase the number of people for the investigation, the monsters that appear in the Larua Grand Woods are deadly for an ordinary adventurer. So, even if the request was given out, it won’t be easily accepted. I have to go, especially because it was after the fight of Shin-dono and Girard-sama this time. When strong people fight, a plant that doesn’t naturally grow there might appear for some reason. Besides, this investigation is not possible to finish before Shin-dono finishes his request and comes back, so I’m going to postpone it.”

And, though many plants with a high medicinal property seem to appear, they wither after a certain period, so it is said that they don’t grow after that.

“I see..Hey, may I go together with you for that investigation too?”

“Eh? Ah, no, but it’s possible..”

Cuore had a puzzled look at Shin who suddenly offered to go together. She might have been surprised because it was work that did nothing except for looking around.

“Sorry because it’s so sudden. For once, I wanted to see the place as the person who fought there.”

It didn’t mean anything would change if he examined it. Still, because it was beyond recognition from the scenery last time, Shin wanted to look again at the place where he had fought against Girard.

“I understand. What about Schnee-dono and Tiera-dono?”

“Since I don’t have business elsewhere, I will go with you two.”

Schnee decided to accompany without any hesitation.

historical

“Um, I’ll go too. As the forest was noisy during the fight, I have no idea what happened to the state of the spirits as well.”

Tiera seemed to have been wanting to go to the forest after a long time as well.

◆◆◆◆

Shin and his group left the guild and headed toward the southern gate of Elden.

After leaving the gate and advancing for a while, there were almost no people around. Since their destination place was nearby, they went on foot whilst almost everyone else traveled by wagon. Because very few passersby moved along the highway, they were travelling a different direction from Shin and his party, who were going to the forest.

“Over here.”

Shin changed directions, as he perceived a monster’s presence. They were moving inside the forest at a speed similar to when moving in a plain, but no one was falling behind.

There were the elves Schnee and Tiera, the beast Cuore, and the monsters Yuzuha and Kagerou. It could be said that these members were specialized at moving inside a forest.

Wild animals ran away once Shin and his party approached. Since they didn’t hide their presences, they might be deemed as dangerous beings.

“――Found it!”

Shin, who activated both【Clairvoyance】and【Through Sight】, discovered a group of goblins moving in the forest.

Their height was about 140 cemels, and their skin was greenish. Compared to humans, their head was about twice as big; the structure of their face was ugly. Some of them were holding daggers or short swords in their hands. Five of them were around level 20, and only one was level 31. The one with highest level appeared to be their leader, as it was holding a wooden shield.

Cuore also offered to cooperate, so they decided to kill one per person as they moved closer.

After confirming that all members had entered the range of attack, each of them took out their weapons. Throwing daggers for Shin and Schnee and bows for Cuore and Tiera. Needless to say,Yuzuha and Kagerou used claws and fangs.

While Tiera and Cuore drew their bows together, Shin and Schnee wielded daggers in their hands. Yuzuha and Kagerou were crawling so that they weren’t noticed, and they approached without making a sound.

Schnee Tiera Cuore

“..Now!”

At Shin’s voice, daggers and arrows ran through the forest.

The daggers that Shin and Schnee threw penetrated the heads of the two goblins who were walking in front. Then, without any time for them to react, arrows pierced the heads of the two in the back.

As for the remaining two, their necks flew away from the claws of Yuzuha and Kagerou.

Even if it was natural for them, it was an instant kill. The ears were cut as proof of subjugation, and after gathering them together in one bag, they were stored in Shin’s Item Box.

Though this was already proved when he was shopping in the town, if several things are collected and put in one place, the items could be stored in the Item Box as one item. Turning it into a card was also possible.

However, the card became impossible to separate when the card was materialized into pieces.

“The request is completed. Then, shall we go to Larua Grand Woods too?”

Including the travel time, it was only one and a half hours since the time they took to complete the request, and they had enough time left to head towards Larua Grand Woods.

“Alright then, let’s go. There are two ways, crossing the forest as it is, or using the main road. Which one would you like to go?”

“Cuore is used to the forest, and since we won’t be a hindrance, it might be nice to go with crossing the forest, right?”

“Kuu!”

As if to say “Agreed”, Yuzuha barked. Similarly, Kagerou, who was next to Tiera also barked.