The Former Child Prodigy Accepts An Escort Job For A Ruins Investigation

Several days passed after the painting incident was settled.

As I was lying absentmindedly on the sofa, Arisa came marching up to me.

“Big brother?”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t it about time you started working again?”

And just like that, I got kicked out of the house. I was mercilessly kicked out with no room whatsoever for excuses.

Apparently, I had no option other than to work.

…Well, I had taken quite a long break using the fierce battle in the Great Forest as an excuse. So I suppose I had finally started to feel like maybe it was about time I worked again.

I trembled.

Had the thought of maybe working actually begun to sprout within my heart…!?

No, no, no, that kind of character collapse was unacceptable! I was supposed to live like an unmotivated guy and only work after Arisa kicked me into it!

I had to avoid this feeling. So I decided to give the concept an elemental name.

Shachikuchimon.

A terrifying emotion bearing the name of a corporate drone—selflessly devoting oneself to an organization. If I kept being exposed to it, something terrible was bound to happen. Its opposing element was probably Neetonium. I looked forward to its mass production.

Thinking such thoughts, I arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild.

I could have gone straight to the Great Forest for herb gathering, but—apparently the Great Forest was still in turmoil because of the last incident, and I did not really know what to expect. First, I decided to gather information at the guild.

And so, I headed over to the usual purchasing receptionist who bought my herbs.

“Ah, isn’t that Ilvis-san, the Divine Hands!? Long time no see!”

“Long time no see.”

I sat down across from her.

“I’m not here to sell anything today, but—I wanted to ask about the state of the Great Forest. Is that okay?”

“Of course! Let’s see… as I’m sure you know, Ilvis-san, there was that mysterious huge explosion, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

In my case, it had not been a mysterious huge explosion… It had happened because a self-proclaimed Varnir blew himself up. And I was also the one who put out the fire afterward.

I could not really explain that part well, and no one would believe me anyway, so I was keeping it to myself for now.

“It was absolute chaos for a while, but enough time has passed now that things have calmed down a lot. People have started returning to gather herbs again.”

“I see.”

“And also, this is good news—well, good news for the guild and the healing institutes, anyway—the quality of the herbs has gradually been improving.”

“Oh?”

“According to the investigators, nutrients throughout the Great Forest seem to be increasing. Apparently the number of high-quality herbs circulating in the city has been rising.”

I had no idea why that had happened, but at least it seemed like a good trend.

If that was the case—

“Then maybe I’ll try work other than herb gathering.”

“What!? Divine Hands is retiring!?”

“That’s not what I mean… Since I became an adventurer, I want to try other kinds of work too.”

“I see.”

Nodding repeatedly, the purchasing receptionist continued.

“In that case, please broaden your horizons and absolutely come back to herb gathering afterward. Beyond Divine Hands—beyond Divine Hands… hmm, Divine Hands…”

“Don’t you think it’s fine not to force yourself to come up with something beyond Divine Hands?”

There was probably not much above a god, after all. Nicknames ought to be started small and built up over time. Jumping straight to Divine Hands had probably been a strategic blunder.

“Ilvis-san, how about trying a promotion quest soon?”

“Promotion?”

“Yes. For starters, how about B-rank?”

B? B-rank?

I was at the very bottom, F-rank, so that was four ranks higher? What kind of math was she using…?

“No, no, no, I’m F-rank, you know?”

“Exactly! You’re sick of staying in such a low place, right! Even B-rank isn’t enough for you! Then how about aiming even higher, for A-rank or S-rank!?”

“No, no, no, something much lower is fine! I should steadily start with E-rank, shouldn’t I!?”

“Really? For someone like Ilvis-san, it feels like you could go straight to S-rank…”

“There’s no way! To begin with, what do you even do for an S-rank promotion quest?”

“There are various possibilities, but—subjugating a Geo Dragon, for example?”

Did she say dragon!? Did she say dragon!?

“THERE’S NO WAAAAAAAY I COULD DO THAAAAAAAT!”

Are you trying to kill me!?

“I’m more cautious than you think. I want to advance steadily. So I’d like to try an E-rank promotion.”

“I see, that can’t be helped. I really wanted you to spread your wings already and start handling major jobs, though.”

That was quite an overestimation…

“Then an E-rank promotion quest it is. …It isn’t all that difficult. If you can smoothly complete a simple quest designated by the guild, you’ll be promoted.”

“What kind of quest?”

“Let’s see…”

The purchasing receptionist quickly flipped through a file she had taken out, then held out a sheet of paper to me.

“How about this one?”

The request written on the paper was for an escort job. Apparently there was someone who wanted to investigate the Ariscit Ruins near the Imperial Capital, and they wanted an escort.

“…An escort, huh…”

“S-s-s-sorry about what happened last time—!”

The moment I muttered that, the purchasing receptionist immediately bowed her head deeply.

What happened last time—she meant the incident where I escorted Raios and almost got killed. Naturally, I had reported the full details to the guild, which had vouched for his identity.

In the end, the cover-up had been so thorough that they had been unable to uncover his true identity, but— the guild had acknowledged its mistake as a mistake, and I had received profuse apologies.

“This time, it’s really okay?”

“Of course! This time the client’s identity is rock-solid, absolutely rock-solid! They’re a researcher affiliated with a proper organization! There is absolutely, absolutely no mistake, so please rest easy!”

“Well, I’ll believe you…”

I had no intention of dragging this out and nagging about it forever. Anyone could make a mistake in their work… and more importantly, it was not the purchasing receptionist herself who had made the mistake. Complaining and pressuring her would be misplaced.

“Alright, I’ll take it.”

“Oh! Really!?”

“Yeah.”

Running my eyes over the paper, I murmured,

“The Ariscit Ruins, huh…”

At the Black Dragon’s Fang headquarters in the Imperial Capital— a man in his mid-thirties with a monocle over his right eye had come to Orfred’s office. It was Travas, one of the Eight Stars, known as “Purple Haze.” Travas was also a mage, but unlike Carmilla, who specialized in direct magic, he excelled at creating magical tools—items imbued with magical power.

Travas concluded his explanation in his usual flat tone.

“We now have a technical path forward for recovering the Eye of the Netherworld. Once we go to the site and confirm the situation, we will retrieve it if there are no problems.”

“Mm.”

After nodding, Orfred turned his gaze to the young woman standing beside him, whose magnificent silver hair was every bit as splendid as Orfred’s own. She was around eighteen, with very beautiful features and an air of cool intelligence.

Her face resembled Orfred’s.

Naturally it did—because she was Orfred’s daughter. Along with Orfred’s blood, she had inherited his talent as well, and possessed great skill in both swordsmanship and magic. She was an extremely capable person, and had joined Black Dragon’s Fang as a promising rookie—as an executive candidate.

“Yuri, have you understood the matter?”

“Yes, of course.”

“This time, I would like you to take Yuri along as well. I leave it to you, Travas.”

“Understood. Please leave her in the hands of Travas without concern.”

“Mm.”

After nodding, Orfred continued.

“Now then, where was the location again?”

In the same expressionless tone, Travas replied,

“The Ariscit Ruins.”