LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 119
“`html
“Here you go…”
After that, I smoothly received an A-rank mercenary badge.
Fortunately, nobody opposed it.
Honestly, among those gathered here, there were hardly any stronger than Bepri.
That Bepri guy went down with just one punch, so nobody dared to jump in.
Because of that, I regrettably couldn’t get to S-rank right away. Apparently, there aren’t any S-rank adventurers here at the moment.
And it seems that A-rank is actually the highest rank you can get right off the bat.
After that, ranks are evaluated based on skills as well as mission completion ability.
You need at least a few achievements under your belt.
As I received my identification tag and smiled for a moment, Hanbyeol asked me.
“But last time we fought, you weren’t that strong…?”
Her expression showed a hint of fear. She was scared.
Thinking back, Hanbyeol was A-rank when we first met, and I remember her holding her own for quite a while.
But now that an adventurer of her caliber fell in one hit, it was a bit hard to believe.
To that, I simply replied.
“Well, I was just holding back then.”
At that time, I hadn’t really used my full abilities, and I was just curious about the top-ranked fighter. Plus, these days, I’ve been eating lots of healthy herbs, so my mana has increased a bit.
“…Is that so.”
At that, Hanbyeol quietly sighed.
Looking at her, it seemed like she felt somewhat relieved.
“Bepri!”
“Goodness, his face is a bloody mess…”
“Let’s go to the Priest!”
From the back, I could hear adventurers chattering away. It turned out they were making a fuss near Bepri.
‘…Hmm.’
Watching that, I felt a bit guilty. Sure, there was some murmuring going on, but to be honest, I started the whole provocation.
And considering that the adventurers were hesitant to jump in at first… they might have heard news about the Knights retreating. No, they definitely had.
Perhaps that guy was a righteous adventurer who couldn’t stand injustice.
He didn’t seem like a rogue based on what he was saying… but anyway.
With that in mind, I handed him a small amount of gold as a slight apology.
I just came to make a new spear and to get my adventurer badge.
I didn’t come here to pick a fight with adventurers.
After all, I had plenty of materials to sell, and recently I had some cash on hand, so I could spare this much.
“…Huh!”
Just as I was about to give the fallen guy the money, he suddenly regained consciousness.
I clearly remembered hitting him pretty hard.
It must be because he’s a frontline tank; he’s surprisingly sturdy.
Now that I looked again, his face was just a bit bruised and seemed to be in decent shape.
As I tried to give him the gold, he asked with a wary voice.
“…What’s this?”
“Take it. This should cover your healing costs… and probably fix the floor you broke too.”
“Huh, are you offering me charity? Do you think I’m broke?”
“Just take it. We fought because of rank measurements. There’s no bad blood between us. We’ll see each other often, so wouldn’t it be better to get along?”
“······.”
After saying that, I forced the gold into his hand.
He stared at me blankly for quite a while, just like the adventurers around him. His expression was innocent, utterly at odds with his earlier hostile demeanor.
Feeling relieved of my burden, I returned to the reception desk.
I could connect directly to the blacksmith.
There was no reason for the Guild not to treat an adventurer with money and skill well.
Of course, the fact that the opponent was a Manifest was a bit of a concern, but… principles are principles.
Seeing this made me appreciate the meritocracy of the Adventurers’ Guild.
The blacksmith I met was a middle-aged woman with incredibly thick arms.
Her face was lined with wrinkles, making her look somewhat stubborn, but to me, she appeared to be a true artisan.
The wrinkles were probably from spending long hours in front of the fire, often squinting in concentration.
So, I handed over the materials directly to her.
All the metals from Andras and the materials obtained from Yor too.
‘It’s about time to change up some equipment as well…’
I decided to make a few new items altogether. I first planned to turn Yor’s claws into a couple of daggers.
Of course, upon receiving the materials, the blacksmith first expressed her amazement.
“Oh my, this… it looks like a tiger, but it’s absolutely massive! Where on earth did you get this?”
“Just got lucky. Can you make weapons with this?”
“Of course! It’s incredibly tough and durable. With just this claw, I could make three or four daggers!”
Perhaps excited to see such rare materials again after a long time, the blacksmith exuded warmth in her voice as she exclaimed.
So, I entrusted the materials to her.
It was a bit of a shame, but I decided to just sell Yor’s teeth. I had originally thought to make it into a spear tip, but reforging it would be difficult, and its durability was weak, so it might break.
Instead, I would use the money earned from selling it to acquire high-quality metals to make the spear tip.
I chose a mithril alloy.
It’s lighter and tougher than steel of the same volume and has excellent magical resistance.
Considering how ignorant I am of magic, it would definitely come in handy later.
“Let’s see… making a spear and a dagger will take about two weeks.”
“Two weeks? That’s quicker than I thought.”
“Well, I’ve been at this for quite a while!”
With that, I left the smith, materials entrusted to her.
*
And two weeks later, Yor headed straight to the forge.
Of course, the passage of time also meant surviving another Frenzy, and astonishingly, it was another A-rank this time.
Yor felt a bit curious about that.
‘…Three consecutive A-ranks.’
That was quite rare. Normally, the probability of getting the same type of Frenzy consecutively increases.
Three in a row was a very slim chance indeed.
‘Next should definitely be a B-rank.’
At that time, I might need someone else’s help. Perhaps a silver-haired rogue or something.
As such thoughts crossed his mind, Haneul, who had accompanied him today, asked with a worried expression.
“Last week, you looked really drained, are you… okay?”
Haneul was still reeling from the shock of the last scene she had witnessed.
When she opened the inn door at midnight, she had seen him bloodied, forcing a smile.
Apparently, he went through such experiences every month, which made it impossible for Haneul not to worry.
At that, Yor smiled lightly and nodded.
“Yeah, these days have been pretty good.”
If it weren’t for three consecutive A-ranks, he might have considered self-harm, but fortunately he had been doing alright lately thanks to an abundance of holy water.
However, it seemed that Haneul still couldn’t shake off her worries completely. That last scene stuck with her pretty strongly.
For a moment, her mouth twitched like she had something to say.
In her mind, the words ‘I’ll be with you next time’ echoed.
But it was hard for her to spill it out.
Visiting the home of an ‘outside’ male at midnight was a bit daunting for her conservative self.
She didn’t even have the courage to say such things to someone of the opposite sex, even if the person was just an NPC.
‘Ugh…’
Still hesitating, she finally managed to gather her courage and say something.
“I, if you ever need help, just let me know.”
“Huh? Haha, thanks for saying that.”
Yor brushed it off casually, but…
They made their way through the Guild and finally found the blacksmith.
And they received the completed spear.
“Here you go.”
The spear was simple and unadorned. Yet, its elegance was undeniable.
The spear shaft had a dull silver shine, and at the end, a spearhead of dark-colored steel formed the blade.
The faint luster emanating from the spear confirmed it was indeed a high-quality item.
“…Oh.”
Yor marveled for a moment, then infused mana into the spear tip. At once, red flames sprang forth from the tip.
Whoosh-!
Like Andras used to wield, the flames radiated out but didn’t spread too much, though they exuded a significant heat.
Having used it for just a moment, Yor quickly extinguished the flames.
‘The mana consumption is no joke…’
While it looked powerful, the mana was vanishing as if it was truly burning away in an instant. It seemed like a tough ability to use unless it was a crucial moment.
As he evaluated it alone, the blacksmith watching couldn’t help but comment.
“I’ve used it during crafting, but… it’s always fascinating to see this metal. What will you name it?”
“Hmm… does it really need a name?”
“Of course! If you’ve put so much effort into making it, it deserves a name!”
Yor paused for a moment, but fortunately, a name came to him swiftly.
“Fire Tip Spear (火尖鎗).”
It might sound a bit grand, but considering it spits fire and is primarily for stabbing, it wasn’t a bad name.
“Thank you very much.”
With that, Yor left the forge with a light farewell.
And briefly stopped by the Adventurers’ Guild. Since he was the blacksmith’s regular, he needed to provide a simple report.
Creak-
He opened the door and stepped in. The Guild was a bit chaotic.
All the adventurers usually gossiping at the tables were gone.
Most were gathered around the bulletin board.
Yor saw a scene he hadn’t witnessed before, but Haneul was somewhat familiar with it.
Adventurers would gather like this whenever something big was announced.
“What’s going on?”
“…Let me check.”
Haneul said a bit nervously as she moved closer to the guild bulletin board.
“Well…”
The content was simple.
“They’ve found a Demon’s Altar. They’re recruiting people to help destroy it.”
The Demon’s Altar had appeared.
“And I hear that the Lemegaton is already set up there…”
And a ton of those Lemegaton folks as well.
“`