Guild the Adventurer of the City of Guillum Ray continues to walk straight to the counter in the winter and the bar, which is more crowded than in front of the request board.
　After receiving a certificate of completion at Baron Cisne's, he came straight to the guild with Sett. Of course, the reason I visited the guild was nothing but to go through the process of upgrading.

"Oh, Mr. Ray," What can I do for you to-day? Unfortunately, Kenny is off to-day."

　Lenora calls out to Ray from across the counter. Kenny, also known as his partner, was probably free because of his holiday. There was something in his voice that made fun of me.
　Or if this was a season other than winter, I might have been too busy with adventurers to speak so lightly.
　Put a guild card and a certificate of completion on the counter with a smile on Lenora's usual stiff attitude.

"We have completed the request for combat training. Now my rank is C, isn't it?"
"Yes, that's right," I'll rewrite the guild card, so please wait a moment."

　He says so, seeing Lenora off as she heads to the back of the counter, and looking around him when she has nothing more to do.
　Kenny would have been the talker at a time like this, but he had no choice but to take a day off.

(Well, what if the guild card is renewed? Come to think of it, there was a magical stone of ice bird. Do you want me to soak it up outside the city? Not far away, given the possibility of dealing with winter monsters...)

"Excuse me, sir," By any chance...

　Ray is suddenly approached by the side as he thinks about his future plans.
　Turning to the voice, I saw a stout, middle-aged merchant-like man standing there smiling.

"Any business with me?"
"Yes. You're Mr. Ray, aren't you? I'm the leader of a company that you helped me out of Icebird yesterday."
"Oh, yesterday," I'm glad you're safe."
"Yes, I really don't know how to thank the adventurers of the town of Gilm, including Ray."
"Don't worry, I've got another magical stone."

　An unknown magical stone. When Ray uttered the word, the merchant's eyes shone sharply for a moment.
　This is because it was consistent with the information I had heard from an adventurer who called himself Mireinu as he entered the city yesterday.
　But the sharp light was also present only for a moment, and soon returned to its original soft color.

"What do you think of yesterday's thanks and dinner?" I should like to get acquainted with a promising adventurer like you."

　I nod to the merchant who invites me to do so with some hesitation. Even Ray had something to ask the merchant in front of him.

"Well, then save me a seat in the bar. I'll head to the bar when I finish my errands. "Oh, I don't like alcohol so much, so it would be helpful if you could order cold tea or juice."

　He was a merchant who twitched his eyebrows again, but he nodded a little and then headed for the bar.

"...a very poor merchant,"

　a muttering ray with his back seen off.
　a momentary sharp expression which he occasionally shows, though he was nothing but a wealthy merchant. The expression had led Ray to understand that the merchant was not as good a merchant as he looked.

(Isn't it possible that another man from the Westian Empire was sent in at this time of year? No, it's unlikely that he went out of his way to the city so flamboyant fashion? and the guards, from their experience, are wary of the hands of the Empire of Bestia.)

"Mr. Ray, thank you for waiting." ...Mr. Ray?"

　After rewriting the guild card, Lenora comes back to the counter and talks to Ray, but Ray is lost in his thoughts as if he hadn't heard the voice.

"Well... Mr. Ray!"

　Lenora screams louder than usual, pulling Rey's dragon robe hard over the counter.
　After that, Ray finally remembers Lenora's presence.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Just think about it. and the guild-card?"
"Yes, it's a guild card of rank C."

　Lenora says so and hands Ray a guild card.
　If you look at the guild card Ray received, it certainly has the letter Rank C on it.

"Well, the only thing that has changed is this rank, so it doesn't feel real."
"That's not the case," It's the youngest record up to Rank C of the city of Gilm. It's the shortest record. Of course, if you look at the whole kingdom of Milliana, some may be even earlier... but I think it's amazing that you got two of the youngest and shortest records in the city of Gilm in Rank C. Because this is a remote area, there are many adventurers changing hands. That's why there are so many people who want to be adventurers."

　Lenora continues to explain to Ray's words as if they were ridiculous. Ray looks at Lenora in surprise.
　Lenora, who is usually calm and composed, speaks so vigorously, except for her interaction with Kenny.

"Yes, Kohon. Excuse me. Anyway, Ray will clear up and become a Rank C adventurer from today. If you become a Rank C adventurer, you are already recognized as a veteran, so please be careful about that."
"Behavior? For example, what's wrong with it says.
"It's like a hawk's fingernail."

　That being said, Ray didn't know for a second what Lenora was saying. But within a few seconds, Ray himself recalls what he called the Goblin's Lobble.

"It can't be helped because they got involved, can't it? What do you mean to leave them alone and leave them alone?"
"Of course it is, but... it is still too much to take away all your money." Falcon's fingernails, it was hard for me to borrow money from the guild and pay it back."
"You'll have your own fault for that. I suppose the guild that doesn't control such adventurers is to blame in the first place?"
"Well, that's true," But there are a lot of rough people like that, and that's what makes the city of Guillum lively. But there are times when we don't have enough strength....well, that's fine. Anyway, again and again, don't forget that you're a Rank C adventurer from today."
"All right. I'm relieved of the procedure."

　That's all I had to say and walk away in front of the counter.





"Mr. Ray, this way!"Ray headed to the bar attached to the guild. Finding such a Ray astutely, the merchant waved his whereabouts.
　Ray heads over to the merchant's table, seeing several dishes already on the table.

"Have you kept me waiting?"
"No, if you think it's an opportunity to talk to an adventurer like Mr. Ray, you don't have to worry about this much waiting time. Rather than that, it was upgraded to C rank. Congratulations! This is my congratulations, so please eat as much as you like."
"...oh, you know I've been upgraded a lot. It's not a story that many people know."

　mutter in admiration, and then sit across the street, as recommended by the merchant.

"That's where merchants live by information. Go ahead, sir."

　Ray frowns slightly when he sees the cask offered.

"I think I told you earlier that I don't like alcohol?"
"That's just a celebration of an extraordinary upgrade.""And one glass of wine would do, wouldn't it? I asked them to choose a weak wine."
"... well, that's all right,"

　Ray, unable to dispel the merchant's sense of honor, is silently waiting to be poured into a glass.

"No, no, I'm sorry. It would be better to drink it with a beautiful woman's sake, but with such a middle-aged man's sake."
"Don't worry, the food here is good enough. It's better than drinking in a bad bar."

　Take a sip or two of the wine poured into the glass just in case and check if there is anything wrong with your body.
　Of course Ray doesn't know the taste of the medicine himself, but he can still see if there is something wrong with his body or if it tastes strange.
　However, Ray's body is made with the best of Zepyle's techniques. It was also true that they were sufficiently resistant to most poisons and drugs.
　Then, when the merchant sees Ray's condition, he laughs bitterly.
　I knew that the person in front of me was suspicious of me. Ray may be trying to hide it, but for a merchant who has negotiated so many things, he could not hide his guard.

(In yesterday's battle, he showed an overwhelming fighting power, but is there anything more appropriate for his age? Well, I think it's unusual to have that much fighting power at this age.)

　Ray, now wearing his hood down, reveals his appearance as a 15-year old. At the time of the battle yesterday, I could not confirm my face properly because I was wearing a hood, but I could say that I was old enough to carry the food to my mouthful.

"...and you don't mean you wanted to celebrate the upgrade, do you? What's the matter?"

　Ray asks the merchant, carrying the fangboa skewers to his mouth.
　As if he had been waiting for the question, the merchant opened his mouth with a smile.

"Well, let's introduce ourselves first. I know Ray's name, but he probably doesn't know me."
"Oh, that would help me."

　He nods as he carries a vegetable salad to his mouth to mend the mouth of the skewer.

"My name is Alektor, and I am the leader of the business force that Mr. Ray rescued me yesterday."
"...huh,"

　Ray stops eating vegetable salad and mutters a little admiration.
　I knew he was a merchant, but I never thought he was the merchant who led the business force.

"It was hard in many ways,"
"Yes. I'm sure..."

　Alexor nods to Ray's words with a slightly melancholy expression in his eyes.
　Originally, Alexander's business force was not as large as three wagons. That's why the Icebirds attack completely destroyed a carriage. The adventurer's death would be unavoidable beyond his employment as a bodyguard. The killing of the horse by an ice bird was still within Alektor's allowance, albeit painful. However, the body of the carriage itself has been destroyed irreparably by the Icebird attack, and at the same time most of the goods in the carriage have been destroyed. And the most painful thing was that even the merchants hiding in the carriage were eaten to death by Icebirds.
　Merchants, in particular, were the kind of family that Alexander had been living with. Having been killed in front of more than a dozen people, I was determined to do so in spite of my outward appearance.
　And it was Ray who I met, Set. Hasn't their lives been... when they were determined to do so, they appeared as if there was no such despair, and wiped out the icebirds. It was no wonder that Ray and Sett were interested not only as merchants but also as human beings.

"Fortunately, however, the damage is likely to be partly covered by the transactions in the town of Gilm. . . . . all in all, though, it's a deficit."
"Why did you come all the way here at this time of winter? I think you could have anticipated that in winter, there would be monsters like Icebirds that would only appear in this season."
"...that's right. It's true that I don't usually come to the frontier like the town of Gilm in winter. If it's not in the frontier at least, monsters don't appear that often, so I can do something about it..."

　As he says so, he brings a glass of wine to his mouth, as if he had bitten a bitter insect.
　The appearance seemed to show that one could not do without drinking.