The SS-Class Adventurer

“What a terrible situation...”

Dressed as Silver, I watched the troublesome monster's nest from a distance with Sebas.

The monster that had appeared in the Kleinert ducal domain was AA-class.

AA-class was the fourth-highest rank among the ranks from F to SS. It was the kind of monster that required a party of four or five A-class adventurers to deal with, making it somewhat beyond the capabilities of the Adventurer's Guild in the Empire.

In fact, Duke Kleinert had submitted a request to the Adventurer's Guild, and a six-person party made up of four B-class adventurers and two A-class adventurers had been dispatched, but they had yet to resolve the problem.

“I suppose there's no helping it when we're dealing with a Mother Slime.”

A mountain lay a short distance from the ducal capital.

Countless slimes were swarming there. Each one was weak, but there were simply too many of them. They had been venturing out in all directions and devouring crops, forcing the duke to take knights with him to deal with them.

The reason so many slimes had appeared was a rare monster known as a Mother Slime, which lurked in the mountain.

As its name suggested, a Mother Slime was a monster capable of giving birth to child slimes. It absorbed everything, converted it into nourishment, and continued producing child slimes. It was such a troublesome monster that there were even countries it had completely destroyed.

The way to deal with one was to defeat it before it established a nest and began multiplying its child slimes, but it had already been too late by the time the duke submitted the request to the Adventurer's Guild.

According to the records, the child slimes produced by the Mother Slime had already become an army.

“At any rate, we need to defeat the Mother Slime quickly, or this will never end.”

“That's true, but how do you intend to explain this to the adventurers who already accepted the request?”

“That's the problem.”

Adventurers were basically outlaws.

Unlike people in noble society, they did not bow and scrape simply because someone ranked above them. They devoted themselves completely to the requests they accepted, because doing so was in their own interest and protected their reputations.

Adventurers like that did not allow anyone to cut in on their requests, even if the newcomer was an SS-class adventurer. An official letter from the Guild might have been different, but right now I had accepted this request through an entirely separate channel.

“I like that attitude among adventurers, but it's a problem for us right now.”

“Depending on how they respond, this may take some time.”

“Honestly, we don't have that kind of time. I hope the adventurers on site understand the situation. Go back ahead of me. I'll handle this somehow.”

“Good luck.”

With that, I parted ways with Sebas and headed toward the adventurers camped near the mountain.

Bringing Sebas with me would have aroused suspicion and brought them closer to discovering my identity.

“Well, well. The SS-class adventurer himself has gone to the trouble of coming all this way, everyone.”

When the red-haired young man keeping watch outside said that, the adventurers inside the tent began to emerge one after another.

Five were men, and one was a woman.

All six had sharp eyes.

“Name's Abel. I lead this party. I'm an A-class adventurer. I'm probably small fry from your perspective, though.”

“I'm Silver, the SS-class adventurer.”

I took the hand Abel extended.

While I gripped it lightly, Abel squeezed my hand as if he wanted to crush it.

So he really doesn't like me.

“The duke told us that you were coming as reinforcements. But we adventurers can't just hand over a request because we're told to. You understand that, right?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Cutting in on another adventurer's request violates adventurer etiquette. You understand that too, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

After lowering my hand, I turned my gaze to the other five.

Judging by her bearing, the other A-class adventurer must have been the woman.

She wore her brown hair in a short ponytail, and her face was hard to make out under her hat, but there was no doubt she was a woman.

Her outfit made her look entirely like a boy, and plenty of people would mistake her for one.

The female adventurer was probably a helper for Abel's party. She kept a step behind him and did not seem inclined to say anything to him.

If so, persuading Abel might resolve this.

“Of course? If you understand that, then why did you come here to cut in?! You even used a noble's connections! An adventurer like you should never have trouble finding requests!”

“What you say is perfectly reasonable. I understand your frustration. So whether you curse me or hit me is up to you. I have no intention of complaining.”

“What?”

“But... as an adventurer, I want to ask you something. Can you deal with this situation?”

“...”

Abel did not answer.

The others were the same. It was easy to say they could handle it, but an adventurer's reputation was everything. They could not claim they could complete a request they had no chance of completing.

The six people gathered here were the highest-level adventurers in the area. They probably had not chosen this request themselves; the Guild branch must have approached these six about it.

However, once they arrived, they found the situation was far worse than they had been told. A Mother Slime was a monster whose strength fluctuated. The longer it continued absorbing nutrients in its nest, the stronger it became. It also continued giving birth to child slimes. Each time it gave birth, it weakened, but the child slimes kept bringing it more and more nourishment, until eventually it became impossible to handle.

Now that things had deteriorated this far, the safety of the entire area would be threatened unless the Mother Slime was dealt with quickly.

“—The Mother Slime had grown considerably larger than we were told. We challenged it several times, but we had to retreat without managing to inflict a decisive wound. We simply don't have enough firepower.”

The female adventurer, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.

Abel clicked his tongue when he heard that. He seemed to understand that as well.

“If you absolutely insist on keeping me out of this request, I won't interfere. However, for the safety of this region, I'll report the situation directly to the Guild headquarters and have an emergency quest issued. Then I'll return here after accepting it. But even that will take several days. If you can defeat it during that time, I won't stop you. However... this region will be in great danger during those few days.”

“...I know. I know that an adventurer like you wouldn't come all the way out here just for the money...”

“You may keep the entire reward. Please let me handle the defeat of the Mother Slime. As an adventurer, I can't stand by and let the damage spread any further.”

“...Understood. I'll admit that we're not strong enough... Do as you please.”

Abel hung his head and sank down where he stood.

Adventurers rose through the ranks on the strength of their own abilities. Admitting that they could not complete a request they had accepted was nothing but humiliating.

Some adventurers even clung to their pride, continued a reckless request, and died as a result. In that sense, Abel was a sensible adventurer who could see the bigger picture.

“Sorry, everyone...”

Abel apologized to the rest of his party. He might have pressed on regardless if he had been alone, but he had considered his party members as well. He was a good leader.

“You kept things from becoming worse by attacking the Mother Slime. If not for you, this area would have been overrun with slimes by now. This was originally a request that should have been handled by a party composed entirely of A-class adventurers or higher. You did well. The Guild will thank you as well.”

“Hah... I never thought the day would come when an SS-class adventurer praised me.”

“Please don't take that as sarcasm. I am genuinely grateful to you as well, and I believe I owe you a debt. If you ever need anything, visit the imperial capital branch. I'll help you.”

With that, I reached a hand toward the mountain.

Ignoring the suspicious looks of the six adventurers, I began my incantation.

≪I am the one who executes heaven's will. I am the one who knows the laws of heaven and earth. The time of judgment has come. Let the guilty tremble and the innocent rejoice. My words are the words of God. My blow is the blow of God. The inferno that gathers in this hand shall scorch the heavens. O heavenly flame, reduce the guilty to ashes—Execution Prominence≫

It was an enormous eight-part incantation. Beyond my outstretched hand, a gigantic magic circle appeared.

No magic passed down to the modern age had an incantation this long. Seven parts was the maximum. Eight parts meant it was magic that had not survived into the modern era.

It was magic from an age when magic had flourished more than it did now. That was ancient magic.

Only those with talent could use it, but as time passed, it was forgotten, and the line of those who transmitted it died out.

The only way to revive it was to decipher the precious books that remained. As a result, only a handful of people on the entire continent could use ancient magic.

Naturally, few people ever had the chance to see it.

In that sense, the six people here had just gained a valuable experience.

Magical power filled the enormous magic circle. Then six smaller magic circles appeared around it.

The smaller magic circles whirled around the enormous one.

Then, just as the magical power reached the point where the spell was about to collapse...

A brilliant flash of flame shot out from the magic circle.

It incinerated the trees on the mountain in an instant, along with the slimes that had made their nests there. It did not stop there. It reduced even the mountain itself to ash.

All that remained was scorched, blackened earth.

“That should keep the slimes from multiplying.”

“What the hell...”

“...So this is the ancient magic used by an SS-class adventurer...”

Abel and the female adventurer muttered.

The others were struck speechless, simply trying to comprehend what had just happened before their eyes.

A spell capable of blowing away a mountain was practically legendary.

I suppose it was impossible for them to process it when it had happened so suddenly right in front of them.

“Could you file the report for me?”

“...You're the one who should go. We didn't do anything. You saved the ducal domain. You're a hero.”

“I'm afraid I have no interest in that. I have other things to do. I'll leave the rest to you.”

With that, I left the area using teleportation magic.

I teleported to a room in Duke Kleinert's mansion—the room assigned to me.

Prince Arnold was still officially staying in the ducal domain. I would receive the report that Silver had defeated the Mother Slime together with the duke, then secure an explicit promise of support from him. Only then would my work be finished.

Until then, I couldn't let my guard down.

With that in mind, I removed my silver mask.

Only after I heard a voice did I realize that this had been a fatal lapse in vigilance.

“Huh...?”

Something had happened that I had not anticipated.

That was the tone of voice.

When I heard a familiar voice, my first reaction was regret.

I had assumed there was no one in the room. It was the room assigned to the prince, after all. I had thought no one would enter without the prince's permission.

I turned around, and when I saw the face, I regretted it even more.

“...Fiene.”

“...Prince Arnold...?”

The person standing there was the duke's daughter, an incomparable beauty.

Fiene was there—a girl I could not simply silence.