Chapter 20: The Bear Gets Scolded and Reaches Rank D
After defeating the goblin king, I spent the following week taking on guild requests while running various experiments.
I tested applications of magic, ways to form magical images, and the power of bear magic.
I practiced using the Goblin King’s sword and how to channel magic through it.
I worked on throwing knives.
I checked the bear’s attack power and defensive strength.
I even tested how much the Bear Box could store and its capacity limits.
It had been a week full of experiments.
Today as well, I stored the wolf that had accompanied my testing in the Bear Box and headed to the guild to report.
“Yuna, is it wolves ‘again’ today?”
For some reason, she emphasized the word “again.”
“Yes, why?”
“Really?”
“…Why are you asking like that?”
“Recently, adventurers who accept subjugation requests have been returning without completing them.”
“…”
“They go to the target location, but there are no monsters.”
“…”
“When they go to subjugate goblins, there aren’t any goblins.”
“…”
“When a village requests an orc subjugation, the orcs are already gone.”
“…”
“When they go after kobolds, there are none.”
“…”
“When they hunt horned rabbits, there are none.”
“…”
“And this hasn’t just happened once or twice. Do you know anything about it?”
She stared at me suspiciously.
The answer was yes.
Every monster she listed was one I had recently defeated.
All of them were sitting in my Bear Box.
“I see… those adventurers are unlucky.”
I pretended not to know anything, and Helen let out a big sigh.
“Apparently, witnesses have repeatedly seen a girl in a cute black bear outfit at those locations. Do you know anything about that?”
She stared directly into my eyes.
I resisted the urge to look away.
“Maybe my outfit is becoming popular?”
“There’s no way! The only one dressed like that is you, Yuna!”
“If you already knew, you could’ve just said so from the start.”
“The guild master asked to see you when you came in.”
“Why? It’s not like I stole anyone’s request. I just happened to go there, happened to find monsters, and defeated them.”
“Yes, that itself isn’t a problem. And you didn’t even take any request rewards.”
“Then—”
“But as a registered adventurer, you are required to report monsters you subjugate. If you do, those adventurers won’t be marked as failures.”
“…Alright. I’ll report them from now on.”
“However, today you’ll need to meet the guild master.”
“Eh—”
“No ‘eh.’ I’ll guide you. Please follow me.”
Helen forcefully dragged me to the guild master’s room.
“Guild master, I’ve brought Yuna.”
She knocked and called out.
“Come in.”
We entered the room. The guild master was sitting at his desk, working.
“So you’re here. Helen, return to your duties. Yuna, sit down.”
He pointed to a table in the center of the room.
There were about six chairs around it, and I sat in one of them.
“So, what exactly are you trying to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“You defeat monsters meant for others’ requests, don’t report it, don’t take rewards, and don’t even sell the materials. What are you trying to accomplish?”
Well… passing time, practicing magic, sword training, monster research, and mapping.
“There’s a lot.”
“I just arrived in this town, so I was exploring the surroundings. I happened to encounter monsters, so I defeated them.”
“And why didn’t you report it?”
“I didn’t know I had to. I just joined recently.”
I genuinely didn’t know I had to report subjugations outside of accepted requests.
It seemed to be common knowledge for adventurers, but how was I supposed to know that coming from another world?
“And why didn’t you sell the materials?”
“I’m not short on money.”
“But if you store them in an item bag, they’ll rot.”
That reminded me—normal item bags don’t stop time, so items inside would decay.
“…Can you keep this confidential?”
“What is it? I’m not the type to spread secrets.”
“My item bag stops time, so things don’t rot.”
“…Is that true?”
To prove it, I took out a wolf I had defeated three days ago.
“This one was killed three days ago.”
I placed the wolf corpse on the table.
The guild master examined it.
“It looks like it was just killed moments ago.”
The freshness made it obvious.
Since I hadn’t drained the blood, it started to stain the table, so I quickly put it back into the Bear Box.
“So, no rotting problem.”
“I understand. But from now on, report your subjugations. Otherwise, other adventurers will be affected.”
“Got it. Can I go now?”
“One more thing. You’ve defeated orcs too, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
There was no point lying.
“…From today onward, I’m promoting you to Rank D.”
“Is that really okay? I haven’t taken any Rank D requests. Don’t I need at least ten completions?”
“If you can solo orcs and a goblin king, that’s more than enough. And you probably have more than ten orcs in that item box, don’t you?”
…I did.
“And also, sell those orc materials to the guild. If we don’t circulate them, it hurts the guild’s reputation.”
“Alright.”
“Hey! Someone!”
He called out.
“Yes?”
A female staff member came in immediately.
“Tell Helen to promote this one to Rank D.”
“Understood.”
“You can go now.”
I was led back to the reception desk.
The staff member relayed the message to Helen and left.
“Yuna, congratulations on your rank-up.”
“Thanks.”
“But please report your subjugations from now on. It really causes trouble otherwise.”
“Sorry.”
Even though I thought it was partly her fault for not telling me, I apologized anyway.
“As long as you understand. Now, please hand over your guild card.”
She placed the card on the crystal board and processed it.
I still didn’t understand how that system worked.
How did it connect to every guild across the country?
Some kind of advanced magic, probably.
“And one more request from the guild.”
“What is it?”
“For a while, could you refrain from hunting wolves around here? Of course, you’re free to, but it makes things difficult for beginner adventurers.”
“I’m a beginner too, you know.”
I hadn’t even been an adventurer for ten days.
“You are not a beginner.”
She said it firmly.
Well, considering my game experience, she wasn’t wrong.
“Beginners don’t defeat goblin hordes, goblin kings, or orcs.”
“…Fine. I’ll hold off for a while.”
“Thank you. The guild wants low-rank adventurers to gain experience and rank up. Wolves and goblins are ideal for that.”
“Goblins are okay?”
“Yes. They multiply quickly, so it’s fine—actually, please do hunt them. Also, goblins don’t provide valuable materials, so those requests are unpopular.”
Personally, I didn’t want to hunt goblins anyway.
Since only their magic stones were valuable, I couldn’t bring back their bodies.
So I usually burned and buried them after defeating them.
“That concludes the process. Here’s your card.”
I received my guild card.
It now showed Rank D.
“Alright, can I head back now?”
“Yes, but please sell your materials before you go.”
I left the guild and headed to the neighboring building to sell my materials.