Chapter 58
It was a while before Noel and Dario returned.
"They're here!"
We heard Dario's voice.
More than ten people emerged from the forest.
Adventurers.
Healers.
There were also guild staff carrying stretchers.
"Thank goodness."
Felicia let out a relieved sigh.
The three of us alone would have had a hard time carrying out more than ten people we'd rescued.
"What's the situation?"
The staff member at the front asked Elliott.
"We found all the missing people who'd been reported. No one died.
Some of them are severely weakened, though."
"What was the cause?"
Elliott pointed to the giant moth lying on the ground.
"That."
The staff member's face stiffened.
"...A Phantom Moth?"
"Yeah."
"And it's huge, too."
The rescue operation began immediately.
The healers checked the people we'd rescued one by one.
Some were still unconscious, but everyone was breathing.
They seemed to be out of danger for now.
"What should we do with this?"
Elliott looked at the Phantom Moth.
"We should take it back, right?"
"Can you do that?"
"Probably."
I touched the Phantom Moth.
I used Storage.
The enormous corpse vanished in an instant.
"...It really does fit in there."
Elliott murmured.
"I can't store living things, though."
"Hahaha. I still can't believe it, even after seeing it with my own eyes."
All that was left was to take it back to the guild.
The people we'd rescued were loaded onto stretchers and carts, and we headed back to the royal capital, too.
◇
It was completely dark by the time we returned to the royal capital.
The missing people were taken straight to a medical facility.
The five of us went back to the Adventurers' Guild the next morning.
We were shown to the same room as yesterday—the guildmaster's office.
"You're all back."
"Yes."
The guildmaster looked at us one by one.
"First, let's confirm. Any deaths?"
"No."
Elliott answered.
"The missing people?"
"We rescued everyone who'd been reported missing."
"I see."
The guildmaster's expression softened a little.
"Well done."
Yesterday's report was already on the desk.
"I hear the cause was a Phantom Moth."
"Yes."
"And you brought back the corpse, too."
"It's in my Storage."
I answered.
"Then let's examine it first. If it's the same creature described in the report, that changes things a little."
"Changes what?"
"You'll see."
We went with the guildmaster to the dismantling area.
Once we reached a spacious spot, I took the Phantom Moth out of Storage.
Thud!
The enormous corpse appeared on the floor.
The staff in the dismantling area gathered around.
"...It's huge."
The guildmaster murmured.
A staff member responsible for appraisals approached and examined its wings and body.
"It's clearly larger than a normal adult."
"I thought so."
The guildmaster looked at us.
"Do you know how the Phantom Moth is classified as a monster?"
"I heard it's the kind of monster an A-Rank party takes on."
I answered.
"That's right. The guild recommends that even a normal specimen be hunted by an A-Rank party."
"I knew it..."
"It's not just because of its combat strength. It's that wing dust."
"The illusions, right?"
"That's right. Even a skilled adventurer can't fight properly if they can no longer tell what's real."
The guildmaster looked at the giant Phantom Moth.
"In fact, the four B-Rank adventurers we sent to investigate were captured without even getting a chance to fight."
It wasn't because they were weak.
They'd been affected by the illusions before the fighting even started.
"And this specimen is clearly larger than normal. We should consider it more dangerous than a regular one."
The five of us had defeated it.
Thinking about it again, we'd done something pretty reckless.
"Appraising the materials will take some time, too. The wing dust is dangerous, so it'll need to be collected in special containers."
"Understood."
We returned to the guildmaster's office for the time being.
◇
"All right."
The guildmaster sat down in his chair.
"We've confirmed how dangerous the Phantom Moth was."
He looked at the five of us.
"But I'm not only judging you on the fact that you defeated an A-Rank-level monster."
He looked at Elliott.
"Elliott. I hear you chose to retreat when you realized it was a Phantom Moth."
"Yes."
"That was the right call."
Elliott looked a little surprised.
"Just because you managed to defeat it doesn't mean your initial decision to retreat was wrong.
Your opponent was a monster the guild recommends an A-Rank party take on, and you had more than ten people to protect.
Calling for reinforcements was the sensible choice."
"Yes."
"I can't entrust A-Rank responsibilities to someone who charges at an enemy when they don't even know if they can win."
He'd said something similar before.
The guildmaster turned to me.
"Allen."
"Yes."
"I hear you suggested fighting only after confirming you could disperse its wing dust with Magic Bullets."
"Yes."
"You didn't say you could fight it just because you were strong. You studied its abilities and created conditions that would give you a chance to win.
That's worthy of praise."
"Thank you."
"Felicia."
"Yes."
"You heard the plan and immediately changed how you used your Magic Bullets. A mage's job isn't just about power.
Being able to adapt how you use your magic to the situation is important, too."
"Thank you."
"Noel. You used Magic Bow to target its wings and deprive it of its ability to fly."
"Yes."
"Dario. You protected your companions and the people you'd rescued with Iron Wall, and held the front line. That fight wouldn't have worked if our shield-bearer had fallen."
"Thank you."
Finally, he looked at Elliott again.
"You kept an eye on the whole situation, assigned everyone their roles, and set a condition for retreating. Even during the fight, you didn't try to finish it off by yourself."
"Yes."
The guildmaster looked around at all five of us.
"If all you'd done was defeat a powerful monster, I wouldn't be praising you this much."
The room fell silent.
"You searched for the missing people, found the cause, and defeated a stronger monster while protecting those you'd rescued.
And after the battle, you didn't try to carry everyone out yourselves. You called for help."
He paused for a moment.
"I didn't make this call based on this one quest alone. I've also taken your past achievements into account."
The guildmaster looked at us.
"Allen. Felicia. Elliott. Noel. Dario."
He called each of our names in turn.
"I'm approving all five of you for promotion to A-Rank."
"...Really?"
I asked before I could stop myself.
"Would I have gone this far just to lie to you?"
"I don't think so."
Felicia laughed beside me.
"We did it, Allen-san."
"Yes."
The reason we'd come to the royal capital.
A-Rank.
I hadn't expected to reach it so soon.
"Pick up your official cards on the first floor. And make sure you file the paperwork for the quest reward, too."
"The reward?"
"Yes. You completed the quest, didn't you? Of course there's a reward."
That's right.
I'd been so focused on becoming A-Rank that I'd forgotten.
"The quest was to search for the missing people on the Old North Road and determine what caused them to disappear.
You rescued everyone and eliminated the cause."
The guildmaster looked at the documents.
"With a bonus for your results added to the standard reward, it's two and a half million jenny."
"Two and a half million..."
"Split evenly among the five of you, that's five hundred thousand each."
That was a generous amount.
"The Phantom Moth's materials are separate. The reception desk will call you when the appraisal is done."
"Understood."
◇
It was a while before the appraisal was finished.
"One large Phantom Moth. The complete set of materials is worth seven and a half million jenny."
"Seven and a half million?"
Felicia's eyes widened.
"The wing dust and magic stone are especially valuable. Specimens this size are rare, and there's demand for them in research, too."
"How should we split the proceeds from the materials?"
Elliott looked at us.
"Why don't we split it five ways?"
I suggested.
"Agreed."
Noel answered.
Dario and Felicia nodded, too.
Split evenly among the five of us.
That came to one and a half million jenny each.
With the quest reward, that made two million apiece.
I had my share deposited straight into the guild bank.
After finishing the reward paperwork, we returned to the reception desk.
"Thank you for waiting."
A staff member brought over five Adventurer Cards.
I took the one they held out to me.
My name.
Allen Valdis.
And then.
【Rank: A】
"...I'm really A-Rank now."
"You are."
The letter A was on Felicia's card, too.
Elliott and the others were looking at their own cards.
"I was planning to become A-Rank first."
Elliott said.
"Looks like we made it at the same time."
"Yeah. I won't lose next time."
"What are we competing at?"
"We'll figure that out later."
Noel gave him an exasperated look.
"Honestly, you men are hopeless."
"Don't lump me in with him."
Dario laughed.
I laughed along with them.
A-Rank.
Now we could enter dungeons beyond the twenty-first floor.
We'd have more quests available to us, too.
Coming to the royal capital had been worth it.
Then I suddenly remembered.
Membership.
I checked.
【You have: 46,935P】
【Total P acquired: 99,145P】
Nothing had changed.
Even becoming A-Rank hadn't done anything to Membership.
But I only needed another 855P.
One hundred thousand!
Now that I was this close, I couldn't help wondering.
I'd become an A-Rank adventurer.
Next...
One hundred thousand P!
Total P acquired: 99,145P