The night we got the ranks, we were going to eat at the Tempest.
　There were five of us: me, Ral, Kurt, Fear and Will.
　The Tempest has started running a tavern, so there are a few other people eating there besides us.
　Some of them seem to be familiar with Lloyd's friends and are chatting happily over drinks.

''Now, as well as a welcome party for the new guild members, we've asked Revel to cook for us today!

　Lal said and clapped.

"Lal asked me to cook for five people.

'Since we're here, I thought I'd like to try some of Rivel's homemade food. ...... And I know I can't say it out loud, but the food Revell makes is better than the cooks we hire.

　For the second half, Ral spoke in a voice that the others couldn't hear.
　I didn't think that was a good idea, but I decided to let it slide.

''What?　Did Mr. Revell make this?!

　Will looked at the food on the table with a surprised look on his face.
　Cream of mushroom soup and a steak.

'Yes,'

'It's too good to eat. ....... I'd love to have it on display.

　It's a serious look.

"It would be a shame to waste it on a display.

　Kurt plugged it in.

"Ha!　That's right: ...... quintessential Kurt!　You'd be remiss of Mr. Revell if you didn't eat!　I'll make sure you eat properly!

　He was serious about wanting to display it, as he had a serious expression on his face.
　That's quite a quirky new member, isn't it?

...... Aruji, where's the food for Kyu?

　Kyu, who had been sleeping on top of his head, looked up, sniffling.

"Don't worry. I bought some almonds.

　After telling him that, I took out the jute bag of almonds from the item box and put it on the ground.

"Amondou!

　Kyu jumped on top of his head to the burlap bag of almonds.

'Wow!　I knew the creature on top of Mr. Revell's head was alive.

''Oh, by the way, we haven't been introduced yet. This is my little dragon boy, Kyu. He has a friendly disposition, so take care of him.

'Yes!　I will take care of you as best I can!

'Hmmm, Kyu's smart enough not to take much trouble. I'll probably be fine, but if you need anything else, please do me a favor.

Yes, sir!

Let's just eat it now while it's hot. Revelle made it. We have to eat it before it's cold.

Yeah. We can talk about it over dinner.

'Yes, sir!　I've actually been starving like crazy!

　Fea was proud of her chest, but she wasn't proud of anything .

''Haha . Me and Fea have been working hard today to train for our battering rivels, so...''

　Looks like Kurt and Fear are continuing their mock battle drills.
　Why beat me?　But then I remembered that I had beaten Kurt and Fear at the tournament.

'That's right! ...... Mogu Mogu ......

　Fea, while giving Kurt a proper talk, brought the steak, which she cut into bite-sized pieces, to her mouth.

''──Hmm~!　It's delicious!　The meat was so tender and the juices bled out the moment you bit into it. ......!　It's better than any other dish I've ever had!

　Tearful and happy Fea .
　I'm happy for you, but aren't you overreacting: ......?

Hmm!　That's so good!　Wow!　That's what I'm talking about, Mr. Revell!　It's so good I'm going to quit being a human being!

　Will also had another overreaction.

'He said he's going to quit being a human being: ....... What the hell is Will going to be?

That's good.

...... Right.

　I don't know what that was.
　I'll go through with it.
　It's nice to be flattered, but it's a little embarrassing.
　You're right.
　Let's change the subject.

Speaking of which, do Kurt and Fear know about the rank thing yet?

Yeah. So, Mr. Lloyd just told me. I was a C. Feer was a D. And Revell was a "B" in my class.



Yeah, yeah. First of all, I'm just relieved that we're all off to a good start.

Wow, that's amazing. It's amazing that the results of a tournament can elevate your rankings so much.

'No, maybe, but I'm wondering if we had a different standard of evaluation this time around.

Really?

　Lal had good reason to wonder.
　I was pleased to be assigned to B-rank, but I also wondered.
　The higher an adventurer's rank, the more authority he or she has.
　There is no clearly defined criteria for determining rank, but it is normal for the League of Adventurers Guild to give higher ranks to people they trust.

　Trust is not based on a person's character or personality, but simply on their achievements and experience.
　That is why people thought that the ranks are determined based on achievements.

　But that wasn't the case this time.
　Fear's D-rank is still about the same, but C-rank and up are the ranks most mid-level adventurers have.
　There's no way they'd give that many ranks to me and Kurt, who have no achievements or experience.
　According to my wits, the highest rank given in the results of the Flapperra Rookie Tournament was a D rank.
　In other words, this treatment was the most unusual of all .

　To give you some background information on this, let me give you a brief background .

I see. Maybe there's a reason for that.

''It might be . ...... But it's also true that adventurers with high ability tend to rise to higher ranks . It's even possible that they're changing the specifications for rank evaluation after the Flapperra Newcomer Competition from this time onwards .

Then there's no point in getting weird ideas. It's a tailwind for the Guild 'Tempest'!

'Well, yes, but you'd better be careful, you know.

Ok, I'll keep that in mind.

Thank you. Thank you.

　Talking about the ranks.

"Thanks for the food!

　Fear and Will have finished their food.
　Me, Ral, and Kurt are the ones who have most of the food left.

"That was great, Revel, that was really good!　As I was poor, I used to save money while cooking, but the food was not so good. If you want, you can teach me how to cook sometime!

'Oh, I'd love to have Mr. Revell teach me how to cook, too, if I'm not in the way!

　Fear and Will said that and bowed their heads.
　Before I could reply to that, someone standing behind Fear and Will said, "You guys seem pretty determined.

"You guys are pretty determined, aren't you?　I'm going to start training tomorrow, I'm going to make it tougher~

　A slightly dazed and drunk Mr. Lloyd told him.


'Gah!　Dad!　No, no!　Don't let that happen!

Oh, oh, I think I'm going to take the commission tomorrow!

Hey!　Don't you try to run away!


　Tempest's bars are getting noisier.

　Tempest is much livelier than it used to be.

　Seeing that scene, I felt that I had finally become an adventurer.