The Subjugation Quest

The next day.

“All right, next up, we’re going to tackle a subjugation quest.”

I said to Flare.

I’d already learned her [Fire Arrow] skill.

Furthermore, I’d spent 3,000 skill points to raise it to Supreme Grade, just like Flare’s.

[Fire Arrow] was particularly effective when fighting large numbers of enemies.

With that in mind, I’d chosen a quest that involved defeating numerous moderately powerful monsters rather than a single formidable opponent.

“Subjugate fifty goblins…?”

“Yeah. It’s a fairly difficult quest, but the reward is substantial, and we’ll earn plenty of promotion points toward raising our adventurer ranks.”

“Promotion points…?”

Flare looked puzzled.

“You know adventurers are divided into ranks, right?”

“Yes. Both you and I are at the very bottom, F-Rank, aren’t we, Onii-sama?”

“Right. To increase our ranks, we need to build up a record of achievements by completing guild quests. Specifically, we earn something called ‘promotion points’ every time we complete a quest. If we accumulate enough points to exceed a certain threshold within a set period, our rank goes up.”

I explained.

Of course, I was simply repeating what the receptionist had told me earlier, practically word for word.

“I see! So we’re going to complete this quest, earn lots of promotion points, and work our way toward ranking up together!”

“Exactly.”

“And what happens when we rank up?”

“We’ll be able to accept more difficult quests that offer higher rewards. Besides, having a higher rank sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?”

“It sure does!”

We exchanged smiles and nodded in perfect agreement.

The way we were so naturally in sync really showed that we were siblings.

Even without being related by blood, all the time we’d spent together had nurtured the bond between us as brother and sister.

The thought filled me with a deep sense of warmth.

We immediately headed out to subjugate the goblins.

Our destination was a cave nestled among the mountains.

“According to the information we received, the goblins’ nest should be somewhere around there.”

I pointed toward the cave ahead.

“Do you have a plan?”

“Of course. One that’s guaranteed to work.”

“Guaranteed…?”

“You and I will fire our [Fire Arrow] skills into the cave simultaneously. The goblins won’t be able to escape, so they’ll suffer devastating damage.”

“Ohhh, that’s amazing…!”

If we didn’t wipe them out here, they could eventually cause serious damage to the nearby villages and towns.

We’d have to steel ourselves and eliminate every last one of them.

“Let’s do this, Flare!”

“Roger that!”

We activated our [Fire Arrow] skills simultaneously.

Together, we summoned approximately two hundred arrows.

We launched every single one into the cave.

An enormous explosion erupted.

The cave seemed to have narrowly escaped collapsing, but the goblins inside were probably all dead.

“All right, once the heat dies down, let’s go take a look.”

I spoke to Flare.

After all, we needed to make sure none of the goblins had survived.

Just then—

Roooooooar…!

Something emerged from the cave, accompanied by a deep, rumbling growl.

“What is that—?”

Had something survived?

No, there was something different about this one—

“O-Onii-sama, isn’t that something other than a goblin…!?”

Flare’s voice trembled.

“—No, it’s a goblin.”

However, it wasn’t an ordinary one.

It was a superior variant… and the highest-ranking kind at that.

“The king of the goblins—a Goblin Lord.”

The subjugation quest hadn’t mentioned anything about a creature like this.

The guild’s information must have been incomplete.

Ordinary goblins were F-Rank monsters, but a Goblin Lord was B-Rank… Normally, it was an opponent only first-rate adventurers would be capable of fighting.

“Onii-sama…”

“Looks like a pretty tough enemy has shown up, but that doesn’t matter.”

I spoke reassuringly to the trembling Flare.

We’d just have to beat the living daylights out of it ourselves—!