The food at the cheap lodgings for copper and iron class adventurers was poor and inferior in quality to match the price. He'd think rather not eat (since he doesn't need to eat or drink anyway) if he's going to eat this kind of food that's no better than pig food, but As long as they are pretending to be human, it is necessary to show them how to eat, With a great deal of patience, Demiurge was eating an extremely unpalatable dish while resisting the urge to slam the plate on the floor and smash it.
The doorway to the inn opened and someone seemed to be coming in. Since there was no particular hostility, Demiurge didn't pay attention and continued to struggle with his meal. The person who came in went to the counter to talk to the innkeeper about something, and then walked straight to the table where Demiurge was sitting.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your meal, but are you Demiurge of The fruit of corruption?"
"Yes, it is."
Demiurge looked at the man who stood by the table when he was approached. He was an ordinary, unremarkable looking and dressed man who looked like a commonplace.
"I've received a message from the Adventurers' Guild. They want me to come to the Adventurers' Guild tomorrow to discuss the promotion exam."
"Thank you for taking the time to tell me."
"Yes, sir. Well, I must be going."
commonplace man greeted me and left the inn.
It's so inefficient to use a human being even for such a simple task, in the event that you've got the ability to use rank magic, you can use the message as well, and Demiurge wondered why you don't use it.
Pavel had also used an unknown magic called alarm in this requested trip. Because it seems that many things are different between Yggdrasil and this world, It could be that the message doesn't exist in this world, or that the specifications have changed somehow. He'd have to check on that, too, he thought, after he could afford to buy the scrolls.
He had heard from the receptionist when he reported the accomplishment of his request that the Magicians' Guild was in charge of selling scrolls and other magic-related matters. He need to gain influence in Magicians' Guild, he thinks, and it might be a good idea to pay a visit. He could go ask Pavel about it, but apparently Pavel afraid of him, so getting or keeping acquainted with the senior adventurer might be a foozlified.
This is because Sebas doesn't know how to control it. With an abhorrent thought, Demiurge finally took the last mouthful and swallowed it down. This is the end of today's ordeal of eating the lousy food of lower life forms.
But Sebas's lack of control may not be all bad. If word rumors go around from Dandelion about Sebas's power, his fame will increase in a different way than the adventurer's grade.
It was explained in the course that the only way to move up to a higher grade was to take the promotion exams one by one, but that seemed like a very slow process. If we gain a reputation for being overwhelmingly powerful, the Adventurer's Guild might even consider skipping the promotion exams. Or maybe if you solve some big case, you can skip a grade, but this is a case where you have to rely on luck to see if it will happen. Demiurge could summon a suitable demon, cause a commotion, and defeat it, but If he summoned a demon, Sebas would know immediately that it was Demiurge, and he would never look good.
Demiurge returned to his room to think about his future actions.
The promotion test that he was going to talk about tomorrow would be for the iron class. I'm sure it's not hard to do, since it's probably just a child's errand, but I want to somehow get the Adventurer's Guild to admit that an iron class is not enough of a rating. He came to the conclusion that he should propose the means he had been thinking of to get his power recognized as the content of this test. The point is, as long as we can show that Demiurge and Sebas are powerful enough to be Iron-classed, the test should be fine. If things go according to Demiurge's aim, which is to have people recognize that he has power that goes beyond the iron class, he will be able to demonstrate that sufficiently.
The truth is, Demiurge doesn't want to join the ranks of the foolish humans and do something as stupid as raising the rank of adventurer. As much as I'd like to fly around looking for Nazarick, it's clear that we won't find it if we search in the dark, we need information to find it, and we need to lay the groundwork to get it. Now is the time to be patient, to be patient.
He listens to the gossip of the adventurers as they eat, but has yet to get any information that might be related to Nazarick. Is there a Nazarick in this area, or Nazarick it not openly active? The latter is a enough possibility, since the cautious Momonga-sama would not have acted in a way that would easily show that Nazarick was involved. In that case, as soon as the names of Demiurge and Sebas become known in this city, they will surely be contacted.
The shadow demons continue to gather information, and we have a pretty good idea of the names, personalities, and usual locations of the people who seem to be informants in this city. But to get information from an informant, you need a few money. Copper-grade and iron-grade rewards are not enough. In order to keep his relationship with Sebas from souring, which was not going well, he could not take any forceful measures to ask him without paying him a fair price. After all, advancing to a higher adventurer rank would be an urgent task.
Sebas returned shortly after, and we decided to talk about tomorrow.
"I've been summoned to the Adventurers' Guild tomorrow. It's about the promotion exam."
"Well, I'm so happy to hear that."
Sebas replied with a blank expression, so Demiurge couldn't tell if he was as pleased as he said he was, but this man is always like this. He can't be bothered with every little thing, so He decides to proceed.
"It's about the promotion exam, though, and it'll probably be stupid detail. Passing the exam itself would not be a problem, but repeating it every time would be a waste of time. So, I think we should go to the Abellion Hills to defeat the subhumans and show our strength with the results."
"Isn't skipping a grade not allowed as explained in the union? Do as the Romans do, I think it would be better to take the test with the specified content."
"We had no idea how long it would take us to get up to Adamantite if we did that. All we have to do is return to Nazarick as soon as possible, don't you agree? To that end, I'm going to make the most concessions I can, and I'm going to choose something that you won't mind and If there is a faster way to do something within that scope, we should take it. Sebas, I wonder what you think about this."
When Demiurge asked, Sebas's expression hardened slightly. Both Demiurge and Sebas will want to return to Nazarick as soon as possible. I'm sure Sebas will be vulnerable if he's attack on that point.
"...You say you're going to defeat the subhumans, but you don't even know how strong they are."
"Even though there is a great wall, the fact that they are able to compete with the humans of this land gives you an idea of their strength. Of course, if there is a strong enemy that we cannot deal with, we will assume to retreat immediately. As long as the enemy doesn't use a dimensional lock, we can safely leave."
"Greater teleportation..."
Sebas looks sincerely disgusted, but Demiurge feels the same way. Just the thought of being cohere with this guy and teleportation makes me heartburn. I can't help thinking about summoning a demon general and having him use a Greater teleportation between us. But since it's the best way to safely leave, we can't afford not to adopt it.
"I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think you should be so blatant about it."
"I'll give you the same line right back."
"So, what do you think, are you still against my idea?"
"...No. I understand that it's the best we can do right now, so I'm not opposed to it. I share your desire to return to Nazarick as soon as possible."
"I'm glad you understand. I'm sure if I brought it up tomorrow, the union president would come out. And like you, they'll say they can't tolerate anything that goes against the rules. I'll do the talking and If you're asked, just say you agree with me, and that's it."
"I understand."
He got Sebas' approval, The next day. The Adventurer's Guild is crowded with adventurers looking for work first thing in the morning, so we headed there a little later, around nine o'clock. As I expected, the reception desk was empty and I was able to talk to them right away.
"Good morning. I was told you wanted to talk to me about the promotion exam, I came."
"You are the two members of the fruit of corruption, aren't you? You've been recognized for your achievements in defeating the goblins and ogres the other day, and you've been granted the qualification to take the promotion test to Iron class."
Sebas glared at him with a disgusted look when she called out the team name, but Demiurge ignored him.
Of course, Demiurge and the others did not have the option of not accepting the offer, but they would be walking on at a snail's pace if they accepted every condition the union offered. Therefore, they had to make the first move.
"But first, I have one suggestion. We were planning to go to the hills of Averion to defeate the subhumans. Would it be possible to have the test be change about defeating subhumans, and have the rank taken into account based on the results?"
"We are sorry, but we do not accept tests other than those specified by the union."
There was no way that the receptionist could decide to change the content of the test or anything like that. And usually, the only way to get a rank is to take a promotion test and climb up one by one. This reply was within Demiurge' expectation.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. So, let's not take the promotion test, and let's stay at the copper level and try to survive by killing monsters and subhumans. We're not going to stay in this city forever anyway, we're going to travel again sooner or later."
"...Um, may You stay here for a moment?"
"Yes, we'll be waiting for you."
Smiling, Demiurge replied, and the receptionist left her seat and walked up the stairs. It was a gamble of sorts, but apparently he had won.
From what I've heard, the adventurer system is not designed to train adventurers, but to sift out the best ones who can climb to the top. If that is the case, they would want to keep those who have the potential to become excellent adventurers around as much as possible. This is especially true for this city, which will be the first to face the threat of the subhumans of the Abellion Hills if the Great Wall is breached.
Sebas's overwhelming power must have already been heard by the higher-ups, which is probably why the promotion test was decided on the same day. The Adventurers' Guild of Carinthia must want Demiurge and the others to rise to the higher ranks and stay in this city forever. So if Demiurge suggest that we leave the city, they will work to keep them there.
He had some concerns about whether the receptionist would be able to understand his intentions, but they were unfounded. They waited for a while, and then the receptionist came back
"I'm sorry, but the union president would like to speak with you, so may I ask you to come upstairs?"
"Of course I'm coming."
Greeting him gladly, Demiurge headed for the stairs. Sebas followed suit. They climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, and in front of the back room, the receptionist stopped and knocked on the door.
"Excuse me, I have bring two man of "the fruit of corruption".
The receptionist opened the door and invited me to come in, so he did. Inside, there was a sofa and a table, a desk with piles of papers behind it, and bookshelves lining the walls. For Demiurge, it's an uninspiring poor room with not much to see.
The man sitting on the sofa, who he guessed was the union president, asked me to sit down here, so he bowed and sat down on the sofa across from him.
"I'm Olsbeck, the head of the Carinthia Adventurers' Guild."
"Please treat me well"
"I've heard you say you're not going to take the promotion exam."
"Yes. Our purpose is to make a name for ourselves and to earn our daily bread. Even if you don't make the grade as an adventurer, you can still earn your daily bread by defeating monsters and subhumans, and your reputation will naturally grow. I just decided that if that was the case, I wouldn't have to take the test that like a child's errand boy."
The union president's face tensed up at the part about the children's errand boy. The bitter-faced union president opens his mouth to argue.
"No, but... she told me you didn't even ask her what the test was about."
"I have a general idea of what the copper-grade and iron-grade jobs entail, so I can make a rough estimate of the difficulty level."
"If you want to make a name for yourself, get some orichalcone or adamantite plates, and you can even make a name for yourself in other countries. I'm told your purpose is to find your people, and I believe you're well Suitable for the purpose."
"I registered as an adventurer for the purpose I was told, but it's a hassle to show my strength every time through trivial tests that don't match my abilities. So we decided to leave the city as soon as we have some information that we are looking for."
"I'm sorry, but we don't allow special exceptions. Any advanced adventurer has risen through the ranks step by step, and you cannot be singled out for special treatment. It's the same thing in every adventurer's guild."
"You can't run an organization if the rules are constantly changing, so I think you made the right decision. However, if that is the case, our conclusion is that we will not take the promotion exam."
Hearing Demiurge' answer, the union president fell silent with a bitter look on his face, as if he had eaten bitter melon. After a moment of silence, the union leader looked at Sebas' face.
"It was you, Sebas. I wonder if you have the same idea."
"I'll leave this matter to Demiurge. You can assume I'm thinking the same thing."
Sebas said with a blank expression and no smile. The union president, stuck for an answer, fell silent again. The fact that the head of the union knows the name of the lowest level copper class adventurer shows that he is considered quite important.
"...I heard you were planning to go to the Abellion Hills to defeate the subhumans."
"Yes, that is the plan."
"I accept the change in the content of the test. However, I do not agree with the idea of assigning ranks based on performance."
"I'm sure you will change your mind once you see the results. Thank you for your concern in agreeing to change the content of the test!"
Demiurge smiled confidently, but the union president just gave him a bitter look.
Since there are no merchants or adventurers to accompany us to the great walled fortress as before, we will traverse it in about two days. That's why it would be more efficient to use the Greater telepotetion, but both Demiurge and Sebas don't want to use that method as a last resort until the end of the day, and they decided to walk, partly because it would be suspicious if they returned too early, even though we had gone to the Abellion Hills. It's not easy to adjust to someone who is not powerful, Demiurge complained only in his mind.
When Demiurge and Sebas walked up to the gate and announced that they were going to the hills to take on the subhumans, the guards frowned at the copper-grade plaque.
"If you're suicidal, I won't stop you, but I think you should stop."
"Thank you for your concern. But if we lose our lives in the hills, it will have been our fate. If we can die fighting as adventurers, it is a aspiration."
It was too much trouble, so Demiurge decided to feign suicidal thoughts.
"I won't stop you now if you insist, but I don't know, okay?"
The guard turned to Demiurge with a wistful look of pity for the dying, and turned to walk out to open the gate. There was someone who called it off.
"Hey, can you give us a minute, please?"
"Ha!font face="Nimbus Mono L, monospace"span lang="zh-CN" /span/fontYour Excellency Mr. Campano, sir!"
The man who stopped the guards was a strange looking man with a well-trained body and a tough appearance, disproportioned only by his round, narrow eyes. But Demiurge knew the name he was called. If my guess is correct, this man is Orlando Campano. He is one of the recipients of the title "One color of the Kyu-shiki", a title given to the strongest people in the Holy Kingdom.
"That old man over there looks like he's a pretty good fighter. How about a fight with me?"
"...Excuse me, who are you? I'm Sebas-tian, and as you can see, I'm a copper-level adventurer, so I'm not sure I can live up to your expectations. "
"Oops, I was in such a hurry I forgot to tell you my name. Excuse me. My name is Orlando Campano. I'm a lowly squad leader in the Holy Kingdom's army."
"I'm sorry, sir, but we're in a hurry."
"That's good, Sebas. It won't take much time. You can take the match."
Demiurge interrupt Sebas, who tried to refuse. Demiurge had been thinking for some time that he would like to find out what the power of the Kyu-shiki was. Besides, the competence of the front line defenders of this fort will give us a more accurate picture of the extent of the subhuman presence in the hills. He is still not sure if they think we're fighting them off at this level, or if they think we can't subdue them even with this much power.
My impression, from what Demiurge has seen, is that this Orlando Campano guy is just garbage, only slightly better than the rest, but it could be that there is some hidden power. It was impossible to find out in such a short period of time just from the rumors circulating in Karinsha what the reason was for carrying so many swords at her waist. Since it's a match, it won't be a fight for life, and it would be a good idea to see what happens with Sebas.
"I'm sure that's what your companion would say, and by all means, I won't take too long."
Orlando clasped his hands together and lightly bowed his head. Sebas gave Demiurge a stern look and let out a huge sigh before turning to Orlando and nodding reluctantly.
"It is what it is. I start a match to be allowed to practice of higher skill from you."
"It's settled, then. This way, please."
As Orlando started to walk away, Sebas and Demiurge followed him. Eventually, we arrived at a training area surrounded by a simple fence. There were swords, spears, and shields propped up against the fence, as if for training.
"In fact, it would be best if we could fight for our lives, but that would be a bad idea. What kind of weapon you choice?"
"I am an ascetic, and my body is my weapon. Don't worry about it."
"Well, that's exciting."
Smiling happily, Orlando took two swords and grasped each in both hands. Orlando have same sword in the non-dominant arm, twin-sword. It's a difficult art to master, but it's not a threat to Sebas, and it's not the answer to the many swords he carries at his hip. Demiurge hoped that somehow he could get his hip sword to use it and see what he display one's skill, but as expected, Orlando doesn't seem to have any intention of fighting for his life, so he won't pull out his hip weapon. And if Demiurge' eyes were right, Orlando will can't even have time to draw his hip weapon.
The onlookers were slowly gathering around them. Both of them took their stances, and the guard who had pity on Demiurge earlier gave the signal to begin.
It was Orlando who made the first move, and a sharp slash from the upper part of his right arm was hurled at Sebas. But it was blocked by Sebas's fist, and there was a crunching sound like metal hitting metal. In the same vein, Sebas made the opposite fist, which Orlando was try to block by his sword. At the very moment when sword and fist were about to collide,Sebastien's arm swung upwards, and Orlando's sword was flung back by his fist as he tried to defend himself. He went for Orlando's empty chest, With a speed that Orlando couldn't match, Sebas unleashed a palm strike. No one but Demiurge could have seen the movement. Orlando was blown backwards with great force, and the sound of the fence snapping was loud and clear.
There was no sign of Orlando getting up. The guards who had taken pity on Demiurge went to check on him. He looked into Orlando's face to check his breathing.
"Your Excellency is fainted, so the game ends here!"
The result sent the onlookers into a tizzy.
The standard of Sebas's lenient is vague, because he is merciless with monsters and subhumans, but he can make allowance with humans. Demiurge does not like the way Sebas makes decisions based on emotions.
That aside from Demiurge' feelings for Sebas, we now know that one of the Kyu-shiki is just like this. If this man is in charge of the front line, then it is safe to assume that the subhuman are as good as or worse than this man. It's not to say that there aren't people in the Kyu-shiki who are far more powerful than Orlando, so we shouldn't let our guard down, but Demiurge thought it was safe to assume that his immediate worries were gone.
Orlando must have been heavy, so it took three of us to carry him somewhere. This time, Demiurge and Sebas asked the guards to open the gate and let them walked through the gate and saw the flat land in front of us, the hills seemed to be a long way from here. After a day of walking from the gate, Demiurge decided that he would not have to worry about the watchful eyes of the humans from the gate if he came this far.
"Well, it's bad enough that I'm making you work all the time, so I'll go hunt the subhumans myself."
"What kind of a windfall is that? And how do you know there isn't someone stronger than you can't handle alone?"
"In that case, I'll just telepotation head for here. As far as that Orlando guy is concerned, I don't think we need to worry about that. If there was a subhuman who was so strong that even I couldn't defeat him, Orlando wouldn't be able to guard the fort."
When Demiurge said, it seems that Sebas was not able to refute any further, He just nodded with a glumly expression. Sebas himself, who had actually fought Orlando, would know better than anyone how feebleness Orlando was, and it was a foregone conclusion.
Demiurge took off his robe and left it with Sebas, sprouting membrane wings from his back. The costumes given by the Creator are magical equipment, so even if there are holes in them, they can be closed up, but this is not the case with robes bought in human cities.
"I'll be right back. Please wait here."
"Take care."
Demiurge flew away, overhearing Sebas' words of farewell, which were not heartfelt at all.
It would be easier to spot the subhuman settlement from the sky, but I don't want to fly with Sebas in my arms. He being alone, partly because he had some idea of the enemy's strength. From now on, it's easier to act with only one Demiurge. If Sebas is there, he definitely won't look good.
After flying for half an hour or so, Demiurge landed at what he thought was the center of the plaza, where he found a cluster of tents that looked like a settlement. There was a bipedal subhuman with a head like a cobra and a body covered with scales, probably a race called the Snakemen. The submission point was the tip of the tail, Demiurge confirmed to his memory.
The snakemen surrounded the Demiurge, very wary of the Demiurge, which had just landed and made no attempt to do anything. The news must have reached the other snakemen, and the number of sieges is slowly increasing. The greater the number, the better, and the less hassle we'll have later.
From the looks of it, the only snakemen in this village were weaker than Orlando. This seemed to be the best way to get the most return for the least amount of effort. Thinking that it was about time, Demiurge opened his mouth.
"Slit your own throat with your own fingernails."
The snakemen in the square heard the voice echoing loudly and sonorously and all at once slashed their own throats with their claws. The pain was so great that most of them fell down and moaned in agony and voice is a sweet tune for Demiurge.
Oh, if only the torturing demon were here to heal them and make them slit their own throats again with his own hands, inflicting eternal torment on them. I like the idea of a parent slitting the throat of a child, and I'm sure the reverse would be fun too. I want to tear apart the bonds between friends, lovers, and so on. Want to see the eyes that lose their light in irresistible despair. Want to see the way my heart dies in endless pain.
Demiurge thought about it and decided that he shouldn't. Now is not the time to pursue your own pleasure. There was so much bleeding that some of them die, but others were still breathing. It is compassionate that It is to be finish off Snakemans. Demiurge want to watch as he suffers and scratches his algae, but He don't want to keep Sebastien waiting too long, and he don't want him to be in a bad mood. He thought to myself, Let's just get this over with.
"Demonic Aspects: Sharp Claws"
Turning only the fingertips of one hand into long, sharp claws about eighty centimeters long, Demiurge set about the task of finishing off the still-breathing snakeman and retrieving the tip of his tail. I finished collecting the tips of the tails from all the corpses, but I must have collected about two hundred. The results are probably good enough. He could kill the whole village, but He don't want to do that because Sebas would nag if there were any children's tails in the mix. It is a logic that Demiurge cannot understand, that it is okay to kill a warrior, but not a child.
Demiurge joins Sebas, and from there they walk back to Kalinsha. When I got back, I went to the Adventurers' Guild to report it, but It was a surprise to see her go out into the Abellion Hills and come back alive, but when she was presented with a backpack full of snake body human tail tips, the receptionist finally collapsed!
It was only natural for Demiurge to ask the union president to give him a few days to think about the rankings.