Chapter 14: Nomination Request
Deep within the Adventurers' Guild headquarters is the office of the guild leader. It is a separate office from the one on the surface. Only guild soldiers, who are under the direct control of the guild leader and are his personal guard, and a limited number of high-ranking adventurers are allowed to enter the office.
The only exception to this rule is Ren. Ren's adventurer rank is D rank. The third from the bottom, the rank at which he is finally allowed to take on a mission to defeat magical beasts.
Supposedly, he was not even allowed to see the guild leader, let alone go to the back office, but on the day he was registered with the guild, he was allowed to enter through the back door.
The guild leader wanted to keep Ren's existence a secret. This was the result of the guild leader's desire.
Ren was happy with that treatment because it was what Ren wanted in terms of being less conspicuous. It was only in terms of being able to keep a low profile.
“…Do you want me to participate in the magical beast subjugation training?”
"Originally, You're in a position where you should be participating."
“There is no problem in not doing that, right?”
"Is it okay for your comrades to be in danger?"
"You think that's going to work on me?"
Ren doesn't think of the academy's students as his comrades. Ren doesn't care what happens to others.
“…No. But isn't that too cold? Even if they're not really your friends, they're still students in the same classroom, and you guys have been summoned to another world together."
"Being a classmate doesn't always lead to goodwill. On the contrary, there are cases of hostility and resentment."
"Resentment?"
“No matter what their position is, if they are treated badly, they will hold a grudge against the other person. If you have such an experience, you may even dislike the existence of your classmate."
"...I don't really understand."
"I'm just saying that it can happen. I have nothing against them. I just don't want anything to do with it."
This is Ren's real intention. He is not interested, which is colder than disliking someone. Knowing this, the guild leader has no intention of backing down.
"Isn't it still useless to appeal to your feelings? Now let's talk about work."
"......Don't tell me you're going to make it a guild leader's request for a nomination?"
"I don't want to force you to do it, but I have to."
"I don't want to stand out."
"It's the same for me. I don't want you to stand out."
"If that's the case..."
"You'll have to deal with that, too."
It's just unreasonable to force him to be his classmate's escort and try not to stand out.
"Before including that, what should I do in the first place? It's not just an escort mission, is it?"
"Do you accept?"
"How can I refuse the guild leader's nomination request?"
It's Ren's slight stubbornness that he doesn't say he'll accept it honestly.
"You can refuse"
"Right now, I don't feel like it. I need more experience to become a complete person."
"So the request is part of your training. If other adventurers heard that, they would be furious."
"Since it's training, it's not like I'm receiving a life-threatening request. It is wrong to think of them as the same thing."
It's not like he like nomination requests, he's only choosing those that aren't dangerous.
"...Well, I guess so. Then, I'll tell you the content of the request before you accept it."
The criteria for not risking one's life are very different from other people's. The guild leader, without saying a word about his feelings, moved on with the conversation.
"Please"
“Escort mission. You're going on this one."
"What is the target?"
"Class C. Only students in your class."
"How many formal guards will be assigned to Class C?"
"One person"
"...Seriously, in such an arrangement?"
Even Ren had not expected such a blatant assignment.
"That's why I'm asking you to do the job."
"What do you mean?"
"The adventurers who will be assigned to escort were nominated by the church. The number of adventurers to be assigned in Class C is one, but his rank is B."
A B-rank adventurer is a very high-ranked adventurer. The church had nominated one adventurer to be assigned to the escort.
“…The subjugation plan is war wolves, right?”
"That's what I heard."
"They want a rank B adventurer against a war wolf? Do they really think there will be any more magical beasts than that?"
On the contrary, it becomes unnatural to appoint a high rank to that extent.
"I can't deny that possibility, but I doubt it. I've heard about the location, but I don't think a ridiculously strong magical beast would appear in that place. It's a place close to the outer edge of the forest."
"I see. But if you think so, you don't need my escort, do you?"
"Even if you're a high rank, you can't beat the power of numbers. You can't defend yourself if you're attacked from all directions, right?"
"That is true."
"The reason is that this nomination request is a building block in the event that it is omitted. The actual reason is something else."
"...The actual reason for the request?"
Things are getting weird. Ren understood that there was a bigger problem with this request than escorting the hero candidates so they wouldn't notice.
"That's right. They nominated an adventurer. The nominated adventurer moved his base of operations to the capital some time ago. Prior to that, it appears he was active within the United Kingdom of Mercenary."
"...They nominated a newcomer?"
"Yeah. Even though he is a B-rank adventurer, he does not have much of a track record here. I don't understand why they would nominate such an adventurer. How did they know him in the first place?"
Nominate an adventurer who worked in another guild branch. If it's a well-known A-rank adventurer, it's still possible, but B-rank adventurers are not that well-known.
"Do you think they are connected?"
"I don't even want to imagine it, but it's possible."
"If so, is it a job you would leave to me? Betrayal is an unacceptable act in the guild. Shouldn't we ask a higher-ranked adventurer to reveal the truth of the situation?"
"I can't clarify the actual situation. If that were to happen, the guild's credibility would be damaged."
“In that case, even more so, you should choose someone who can definitely do the job.”
It's as Ren says. If you don't want to make it public, then you should choose the best adventurers who can handle the job in secrecy. The guild leader knows this. There are reasons why this cannot be done.
"......I didn't want to tell you this, but..."
"What?"
"I can't say for sure that there are no others."
The B-rank adventurer is not the only one who is in touch with the church. The guild leader fear it.
"...Is there a possibility?"
"I believe it is quite unlikely. But I can't say it's safe to assume that it's not."
"If you're not sure, you have no choice but to ask someone who doesn't have that possibility. Is that me?"
"Someone who has no possibility of it and who will complete the mission with certainty. If it's you who can participate as a student, they won't be alarmed. There's a good chance they'll let their guard down."
"Even if that is the case, he is B-ranked. I don't think he is someone I can handle."
"Do you believe so?"
The guild leader thinks that Ren can win even if his opponent is B-rank.
"I'm overwhelmed. My training is not even finished with the basics. I said that I needed to be a complete person, but in reality, I'm not even halfway there."
"...There's no need to push yourself too hard. At the very least, you should come back alive. If you survive and report anything suspicious, the rest is the guild's job."
If they deal with it after the fact, they can't protect the hero candidates.
"Escort and investigation. Which do you prefer?"
Ren checked to see if that was the right idea.
"Investigation"
"Heh. Is it okay to lose points for the guild?"
“That's a problem. But if there is no one to blame for the loss of points, it is not a problem."
"...I am a little surprised."
"I have no intention of making enemies myself, but I can't afford to be looked down upon. The independence of the guild is more important than anything else."
Guild independence. The guild cannot exist without it. Jobs come to the guild because they are fair and don't belong anywhere.
"If it's for that reason, is it okay to get into a fight?"
"I don't want it to be a head-on fight. I can't say for certain that the guild did it, but I want to make it look like the guild did it."
"...Why would you tell me that?"
"I said earlier. I chose someone who would definitely complete the mission. There aren't that many adventurers who can enter and leave the church freely."
If this is the case, there is certainly no one more qualified than Ren. The guild leader also chose Ren after giving it some thought.
"...There are too many things to do with one request."
"But if you don't cut the roots, the same thing will happen again."
"Yes, but its roots are wide."
Ren was well aware of the severity of the church's corruption. He asks his friends about it.
"Only those who were directly involved. It makes sense to leave them behind."
"Threat. But does it also mean that there will be resentment?"
"Resentment is also fear. It's better than being ridiculed."
"I see. So that's one way to think about it."
Ren had learned something. It would be unfortunate for the other party to take advantage of this.
"I will leave it up to you to decide how far you actually take action. I don't want the details of this mission leaked to the outside world."
"...Then, with someone with more experience."
"You didn't say you couldn't do it after listening to me. I trust you in that regard."
"...I didn't tell you."
"That's all for the request. If you need any support, tell me. However, I can't move people. At least not on the site."
"……Got it"
The guild leader did not give him a chance to say he could not do it, nor did he refuse.
With this, Ren's participation in the training to defeat magical beasts was decided. It was only a week before the training day.
Ren spent that week in a flurry of activity. He would do his utmost to get the job done. That is Ren's policy.
◇◇◇
Church Academy's practical training for magical beast subjugation. It takes place in the [Forest of No Entry]. It's a place where magical beasts are always roaming. The reason it was chosen was that it would not be a situation where they went there and did not encounter any magical beasts.
For Ren, it was a place he had been to several times, and although he couldn't say that he was used to the route, it was a journey he knew to some extent.
Before leaving, Ren had no idea that this would frustrate him.
"It can't be helped. Let's call it a day."
The sun was getting quite low. Considering the time it would take to prepare for the encampment, the maximum they could travel was this far. The leader of the group advised them to end their journey for the day.
“I guess so. I understand. Then we'll camp here for the day."
The teacher in charge of the group quickly agreed. It was better to follow the adventurer's words. That's what he had learned in the past few days.
"Yes. This place should be fine."
"Then, I will give instructions to the students."
The teacher instructs the students in the back of the line to prepare for the encampment. The students who received the instructions headed for the Transportation Corps, which was advancing in the rear to receive the tents.
The students who received the tents first spread them out in the open space beside the road that had been designated as the encampment site. The process was rather awkward.
The students had no experience in setting up a tent.
The first day was a painful experience for them. Many of the hero candidates were cheerful by the sight of the outside of the capital, which they were seeing for the first time, and were in the mood for an excursion. Their movements were all over the place, and they were far behind the time they had originally planned to arrive at the encampment site.
They could have given up on the way to the campsite, but the adventurers who were accompanying them were not so sure. They were unaware of the ignorance of the hero candidates.
It was well after dark when they forced themselves to reach the planned encampment. There were no streetlights in the pitch-dark encampment, and it was impossible for the hero candidates to pitch their tents. Most of them would not have been able to do so even if there had been sunlight.
In the end, the adventurers who had accompanied the more than 30 campers had to pitch their tents. And Ren was the one who was made to help them, in addition to the adventurers. It was a failure for Ren, who quickly pitched the tent in the dark with a familiar hand.
So it was discovered that he had experience, and when it came time to set up camp, people were very noisy. They wanted him to help pitch the tent. Even that was unbearable for Ren, and the fact that the hero candidates had not reflected on their first day made him even more frustrated.
Normally, it would take five days, but if Ren were in a hurry, it would take three days, but six days had passed and they still hadn't arrived.
(It's the worst. The wasted travel time is getting longer and longer.)
Today is about two-thirds of the planned schedule. Knowing that, Ren can't help being in a bad mood.
"Ren!"
A voice called out to him, a hero candidate from Class C.
"……What?"
"No, you don't have to sound so grumpy."
"Every day, if I help you guys, I'll be in a bad mood, you know?"
"Just a little bit. There's something I don't understand."
"Where?"
Despite his complaints, Ren does not stop teaching. He doesn't realize that's what brings the students to him.
"How to tie a string"
"Then you should look at mine."
"Yes, then show it to me."
The candidate is trying hard to learn how to tie the knot in Ren's tent.
"Is it that difficult?"
"I don't know. How do you know how to do this?"
"I learned it in boy scout."
"Eh? You were a boy scout?"
"Forcibly. I'm not good at socializing, so they used it as an opportunity to fix it."
"...So did it work?"
"No."
"I guess so."
The boy scout story was a lie to cover up the fact that he was an adventurer. It was a lie he came up with on the spur of the moment, but the other person believed it more easily than he expected. Ren decided that if he was asked the same question again, he would reply.
"Okay, I've got it pretty much figured out. Thank you."
"You're welcome"
As soon as the candidate returns to the tent, Ren is quick to enter his own tent. He doesn't want his time interrupted any longer.
What is most frustrating for Ren is that he does not get as much alone time as he would like to spend on his training. He can only do so much in the presence of other students.
Even so, Ren spends most of his time in the tent training, which is better than doing nothing at all.
After completing push-ups, sit-ups, and other exercises that can be done even in the confines of a small tent, he now needs to control his mana. He reaches out with his conscious hand to the mana in his body. Once he feels the sensation of touching it, he activates the mana and circulates it within his body. At first, it is thin, then gradually thickens, and when it reaches a certain level, it went thin again.
Then release it. This time, the mana is circulated in the body all at once so that it explodes the moment it is grasped. Even so, he made sure that the strong flow is completely controlled so as not to leak the mana outside the body.
Over and over again. This is the first step in the magic training Ren learned from Rudolph.
There are several steps to activating magic.
The first is the activation of mana. This is the act of generating mana within the body. It is also called grasping. Once that is done, the activated mana is moved within the body. This is taught as the circulation of mana.
When magic is externally activated, it is common to gather mana in the hands or in a magic tool such as a staff. This is because it is easiest for people to concentrate.
When it comes to magical beasts, magic may be collected in their horns or tails, but Ren is a human being, so his hands are still used. The collected mana is then transformed into a force that exerts an effect. The mana is given attributes, changed in form, and made into magic. This is the conversion of mana, which is activated by releasing it into the target.
Ren's training aims to perform this step quickly, accurately, and without waste.
In the first step, one must quickly activate the magic and get the right amount of mana, where it is needed, to be gathered, again quickly and without waste.
Only then can one proceed to the second and then the third step. Ren has not yet been told by his teacher that he has passed even the first step.
In fact, he is capable of activating the second step.
What Ren's teacher seeks is unusual. Even Ren, who attends magic classes at the academy, knows that. He knew that other mages didn't use magic with this kind of step in mind.
Even so, even though the amount of mana he could use never increased, Ren continued to train in magic, following only what Rudolf told him to do.
That is the duty of an apprentice. It is also because he believes in the possibilities that lie beyond this training.
After repeating the activation and circulation over and over again, he returns to muscle training such as push-ups and sit-ups. But what is different from before is that while doing the muscle training, he also does the magic training at the same time.
If Ren is able to perform activation and circulation at the same time and with the same precision while doing something else, he will have cleared the first step. However, it is not easy.
If the muscle training disturbs his consciousness, he will not be able to perform even activation. On the other hand, if he concentrates too much on controlling his mana, he will neglect his muscle training.
Either he can do what he is consciously doing unconsciously, or he can be aware of two things at the same time. Neither of these skills seems very possible.
But if you think you can't, you can't. Magic is an image. So this training is not only to hone your skills, but also to create that kind of awareness.
In the tent, Ren just kept on doing his humble training all the time without getting bored.
◇◇◇
The other hero candidates are not doing nothing. Each was devoting themself to their own training. Especially those with special skills and aptitude in the magic field were enjoying training with magic during this journey.
"Power of magic that dwells in me! Reveal your power and give me strength. The power I seek is fire. Transform yourself into a blade of flame and strike down my enemies."
The chanting echoed quietly through the encampment. It is Mei's voice.
"Flaming Blade!"
With that voice, several blades of flame shoot out from the tip of Mei's staff into the air. The blades of flame attacked a large tree at the end of the encampment. The tree being chopped into pieces is clearly visible against the magical flames. The flames also burst forth from the cut.
Before long, the tree, its trunk cut and burned by the flames, slowly fell to the ground.
The impact shook the ground.
The power of the magic was incomparable to that of others, and the hero candidates who were watching were speechless. If that had been a human body, they have had that thought.
"...Amazing"
"Really? Alright. I didn't have to embarrass myself."
"What are you talking about? That kind of magic can't be used by anyone else."
"I learned it from my master, so anyone can use it."
"That's true."
"But I've never used it so boldly before."
"Is that so?"
“There are restrictions in the building. The practice area is also wired to suppress the power of magic. So this is actually the first time I've ever discovered the power of my magic.”
"You can use other attributes, right?"
"Yes. Well then, next is water."
And then Mei started chanting again. The next one was the water spear. The spear-shaped water magic, which is as tall as a person, pierced through the trees that had just been knocked down. When all of them were pierced, the water magic lost its shape and collapsed. A tree covered with a large amount of water. The smoldering fire disappeared in an instant.
"Amazing! That's what you were aiming for!?"
"That's right"
"To be able to aim so accurately. What's the trick?"
"Concentration. I don't have to explain what the chanting means, do I?"
"Yes. The first two verses are the preparation for the activation of the magic, and the second one is to be aware of its attributes and form. But how does it make a difference in these short phrases?”
The chanting differs in wording, but its effect is the same for all attribute magic. And the words are meant to give the mage an image of the attribute and the form.
"That's the skill. Focus your mind on the goal."
"I know that. How exactly?"
“That is the result of training. If you keep working hard, you will be able to do it."
"...I'm training too."
"Then you'll be able to do it eventually. Shizuru has a unique title after all."
"I hope so, but..."
The differences between Shizuru and the others grow. On the surface, they pretend that their relationship has not changed, but they do not discuss everything with each other as they did in the past. Especially when it comes to technical skills, they are very conscious of hiding what they have learned from their respective masters.
If the other person's reputation goes up, their own value goes down in relative terms. It is because of such a thought.
The four of them, who were not conscious of this at the beginning, are now completely imbued with such an idea. It is their trusted masters who are encouraging them to do so. There is no small amount of rivalry among their mentors. And it is for their own good that it is so.
They can't cooperate with each other. They have forgotten what Ren told them.
thanks for the chapter
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