In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 16 (Premium)

by Patora Fuyuhara

  The older guy wore a tiger-stripe vest, tanned skin, and a huge battleax hanging about his waist. He kind of looked like a bandit. If something like that hit a person head-on, they probably wouldn’t get back up. Judging from the smirk plastered on its owner’s face, he knew that quite well.

  Galen looked to me for guidance, so I took a step forward.

  “It doesn’t matter what kind of weapon you use against me. You can use magic, as well. I won’t make a single offensive motion until five seconds before the end of the match. I’ll be playing defensively. Also, I’ll be wielding this.”

  I took out a small weapon that barely extended beyond seventy centimeters in length. It was flimsy and made of wood. A basic cypress stick.

  The participants in the crowd ended up having mixed reactions, but they could easily be sorted into two camps. There were those who relaxed at the sight of the stick and those who became enraged.

  Some were relieved because they were glad they weren’t going to be beaten too badly, while the others were probably upset that they were seemingly being looked down on. The bandit-looking guy with the battleax looked especially pissed-off, though. He was glaring at me furiously.

  “So, who’s first?”

  “Heh, pretty interestin’ gimmick. I’m up first, pal.”

  As I’d expected, the bandit-looking fella came stomping right up. I didn’t really mind who came first, so I nodded toward him. The man’s irked expression twisted into a grin as he gripped his battleax in both hands.

  “Alls I gotta do is beat ya down, right? That’ll make me tough as one a’ them there red-rankers, right?”

  “Well... it’s not just strength alone, but yeah. If you beat me down, we’ll recognize you have at least red-rank strength. But are you sure you wanna use that thing? There’s still time to change your weapon out.”

  “Pssh. You getting’ cold feet after seein’ me ax? Thought you was hot shit, didn’t ya?”

  Yeah, this guy’s definitely no good. He has no tact about him at all. Karina, seemingly seeing this guy’s nature just as clearly as I had, sighed softly and left the area.

  “Eat this!”

  The man swung down his battleax toward my head. I was honestly a little taken aback by how readily he’d gone for the lethal shot.

  I sidestepped and avoided the shot, resulting in the battleax lodging itself in the ground. In terms of physical strength, he was definitely pretty up there.

  “Tch... Don’t get cocky!”

  The man continued swinging his ax over and over again. But each swing took far too much time to come at me, and as such, I had no difficulty avoiding them. I could see clearly where his attacks were coming from. It was actually kind of boring. Plus, he was rapidly running out of stamina. I could see his breathing was strained after only a few swings. The man definitely wasn’t good at using his own weapon.

  “Thirty seconds left.”

  Karina muttered over in our general direction. The lack of interest in her voice was palpable. She wasn’t even watching the fight, she was just staring down at her phone. Though that might’ve been because she was keeping a close eye on the stopwatch app.

  “Get over here already...”

  “You weren’t prepared for this of all things? My build isn’t heavy, and neither is my weapon. Didn’t you think it might be hard to hit me? There are fast-moving monsters out there too, you know? If you aren’t versatile with your weapon choices, you’ll just die out there.”

  His battleax was actually a pretty solid hunting weapon, but he definitely should’ve brought in a side weapon like a machete.

  I even tried to warn him subtly before the fight began, but he ignored me. He wasn’t thinking about how to hit me, he was only thinking about the act of hitting me. That was why he’d never ever get a shot in.

  “Gh... B-Bastard... You...!”

  “Five seconds left.”

  “Time to wrap it up, then.”

  When Karen told me how much time was remaining, I immediately jabbed the stick into the side of the man’s head.

  “Gwauugh!”

  The rough-looking guy, who was almost certainly twice my size, stumbled backward uncontrollably. He fell on his back and rolled a few times before coming to a stop. His eyes had rolled into the back of his head.

  I didn’t even hit him especially hard... He definitely didn’t have much in the way of training. I was honestly disappointed in him.

  “He’s purple.”

  “Mhm, purple.”

  “Purple it is.”

  The three of us agreed right away. He had a bit of strength, so I was fine to have him start higher than black. But he wasn’t quite strong enough to make it to green-rank. Purple was best for him at this point because I figured if he took on more than three lone-horned wolves at the same time, he’d probably get himself killed.

  Thus, that man’s run with the test was over. A few guild staff members picked him up on a stretcher and carried him off to the academy’s infirmary.

  “So, who’s next?”

  I smiled as I called out to the rest of the entrants.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “That’s it, then?”

  I’d just finished up the mock battles against all twenty-seven attendees. Not a single person had even managed to lay so much as a finger on me. All that really meant was that there wasn’t a single applicant who was on gold-rank level, though.

  Of the twenty-seven, only seven of them were what I’d considered worthy of green-rank. The other twenty failed to reach that level. Thirteen were assigned to black-rank, while seven were assigned to purple.

  The blacks and purples would be ending their tests there. They’d be able to leave after handing their cards over to the guild staff and recording their promotions.

  Galen turned to the seven we’d judged worthy of green-rank.

  “Very well... There’s only seven of you here now. You’re all considered to be at least on par with a green-rank adventurer. But all that really means to us is that you pass in terms of combat proficiency basics, nothing else. Adventuring takes more than just strength, and there are many different kinds of quests. There’ll be quests that you excel at, and quests you underperform on.”

  Adventurers needed to be aware of what did and didn’t work for them. In my case, I couldn’t stand escort missions.

  It was definitely difficult to do missions for complete strangers without issues cropping up now and then. There were also certain employers who’d be rude or snappy, too, so we needed to be sure they’d be able to handle it. Plus, there were also times where adventurers would have to work with others, and that could cause trouble now and then. Other times they went well. The mission where we met Sue went relatively smooth, for example.

  “Let’s imagine there was a monster right in front of you. If you were a knight or a blade for hire, perhaps you’d want to strike efficiently to bring it down quickly. You’d want to stab it through the heart, or crush its head... right? But does anyone here know why an adventurer shouldn’t actually do that?”

  A small-statured girl raised her hand in response to Galen’s question.

  “Oho. You know, little missy?”

  “Yes! If we killed it like that, it could damage valuable parts that we could have otherwise sold as resources.”

  “Ohohoho, exactly! If a certain creature’s pelt is valuable, but you burned its fur with Fire magic, then you made a mistake! If a horn used for crafting is shattered or damaged, then it’s not going to sell for nearly as good a price! Adventurers need to consider the monetary value of their prey, but not to the extent that you’d put your own life at severe risk.”

  The girl flashed a self-assured and proud grin, but I just glared daggers at her. I’d specifically told her not to stand out in particular... She seemed to notice, since she looked away and started innocently whistling. What a pain she was...

  Her hair was cut short and a little bit messy. She wore a small scarf and clothes that allowed for eas
y mobility, which was good given her role in Brunhild. She was one of our intelligence corps members, Sarutobi Homura.

  I wanted to have a woman on the inside during the ranking test, so I had her join the entrants after getting permission from Tsubaki.

  Since she was basically a spy, I asked her to keep quiet and pay attention... But the girl was probably just a little bit too excitable for her own good. Given that she was a ninja, you’d think she’d be used to staying still... Karina glanced over at her and then sighed in my general direction. I’d told Galen and her about Homura in advance.

  “So here’s what’ll happen. We’re going to have you all accept a quest as part of the ranking test. The client will be the guild itself. It’s a full quest, all filed through the proper channels. That means you’ll be rewarded if you succeed. But if you fail, it’ll also be marked on your record as well. Remember to take care out there.”

  If you failed a quest, it damaged your credibility as an adventurer and affected how the guild saw you. Even if two adventurers were of the same rank, the guild would typically favor the adventurer with the cleaner track record of success.

  One of the people in the group, a young man, raised his hand. It was the long-haired man who’d asked the question about weapons earlier. He seemed the patient and methodical type.

  “Will this quest be classified as a personal mission?”

  “It won’t. It’s a party mission, which means that you’ll all shoulder the burden of success or failure together.”

  Galen’s words made the group murmur in surprise. Homura didn’t have much of a reaction, since she was informed ahead of time, but there was also another person who didn’t seem all that bothered.

  She was a cat beastwoman who was probably from Mismede. She looked to be in her early twenties and had black hair. Her black cat ears poked out from her hair as well.

  She wore light leather armor with a heavy knife at her waist. Her cat tail was tipped with white and flicked around behind her. Her outfit was clearly based around being speedy. She focused on agile slashes during the mock fight as well.

  As I looked the girl over, a man from among the seven spoke up.

  “Hold on now... Doesn’t that mean if someone here acts as a dead weight and fails, then we all fail?”

  “That’s correct. You’ll all be sharing the burden.”

  “Tsk... That’s ridiculous...”

  The man grumbled quietly. He was almost two meters tall and had a pretty buff physique. He looked to be close to thirty and occasionally itched at his vibrant red hair. He wore armor that covered his torso and upper arms. He also had his hands, legs, and midsection covered securely as well. His weapon of choice was a broadsword.

  I remembered being impressed when I fought him. He was definitely at least in the top two when it came to strength in the group. He was definitely used to fighting against people, so he had probably worked as a knight or hired blade before applying for the test.

  “I wonder who the dead weight’ll be, hm? Depending on the quest, we might not need any meatheads...”

  “You sayin’ somethin’?”

  A woman sent a few biting, teasing words in the man’s general direction. She wore a sleeveless vest, and a pair of shorts with a heavy belt tied around them. Her right shoulder bore a snake tattoo, and she wore a whip around her waist.

  She wore her dark, greyish hair tied up around the back of her head in order to keep it out of the way. She seemed to be in her early twenties.

  Her arms were folded as she sidelong glanced toward the red-haired guy. Her chest already threatened to burst out of her shirt, but her folded arms just pushed them up even more. They were big... Really big...

  Galen was already staring her up and down with a predatory gaze, despite his soft laughing. He wasn’t even blinking...

  “You’re sayin’ someone as tough as me is dead weight?!”

  “You definitely seem good at fighting folks, but how’s that gonna help us against monsters or beasts? You should go stock up on antivenom before we head out, or you’ll bite the dust fast.”

  “Wh-What...?”

  Seemed like the guy hadn’t even considered the possibility of poisonous attacks. That wasn’t a huge deal, though. Low-ranked adventurers typically didn’t get quests to kill poisonous creatures, and if they ever did, they’d be warned by the guild staff about it.

  “Good grief... We’re going to be in a party, aren’t we? You two shouldn’t be squabbling already.”

  The long-haired man from earlier stepped in between the two. He seemed fairly unassuming at first, but he was actually pretty powerful. He was at least on par with the red-haired guy. I wondered if he was of noble descent, given his general behavior... But his gear was all banged up and dirty. The only thing his sword had going for it was how resilient it was. It was possible he was from a disgraced noble family.

  “Huh? Why do I gotta listen to someone like you...?”

  “Because we’re sharing the burden. Emphasis on sharing. This isn’t an issue that’s just yours anymore.”

  “Just so you all know, you can drop out here and now. You’ll be placed into the guild as a green-rank member, and start taking quests tomorrow.”

  Everyone went quiet in response to Karina’s words. All seven of them were strong enough to be judged as green-rank, so we’d be fine with them stopping and simply going into the guild as-is.

  “I got no plans’ve steppen oot, lassie. If ye pests wanna clear oot, then go fer it. But I’m stayin’ reet put.”

  A dwarven man suddenly spoke up. He looked like a typical dwarf. Massive beard, short stature, broad shoulders. I had no idea how old he was. Even young dwarves tended to have big beards, and the older ones often lived much longer than a hundred years.

  He wore a heavy battleax on his back and a little hatchet at his waist. He used both weapons well during the fight against me.

  He probably came from the kingdom of Ryle. I wondered if he had connections to the team of dwarven technicians and engineers I’d met some time ago.

  “I don’t intend on quitting here and now, but I’d like to hear the quest details before I actually lock myself into it.”

  Another man from the group raised his hand. He looked to be in his late twenties and had a fairly stern face. He didn’t particularly stand out in any kind of way, except for his fanciful brown coat and the staff in his hands. It wasn’t like Galen’s cane, it was a legitimate magical tool, a staff to aid in the casting of spells.

  The well-used staff had two spellstones embedded in it. One was brown, and the other was yellow. Respectively, they represented light and earth, and he wielded spells from both schools.

  He’d used a lot of magic during the mock battle against me. He’d managed to chain together good spell combos like [Earthbind] and [Light Arrow], but took an awful lot of time to focus. He wouldn’t be able to win against anyone with sufficient experience against mages. I’d pretty much been able to dodge all of his spells, even if they were set up well.

  His abilities were much better suited to fighting monsters or beasts, rather than people. He was basically the opposite of the red-haired guy.

  “Mm... It seems fair to ask for more details, very well. The quest is to take place on the dungeon islands through Brunhild’s teleportation gates. You’ll be tasked with heading to one of the islands in particular and obtaining some spinfire weed from the mountains to the northernmost region. Look here.”

  Galen held up an illustration I’d prepared. It was a grassy herb with blazing red leaves that spiraled off in a few different directions.

  “You have three days to find it. There are a few dangerous monsters in the area, so you’ll be granted two platinum coins each.”

  Hearing that caused a few of the group to open their eyes wide. I could understand why. Two platinum coins were basically close to two-million yen. Getting that much for only three days of work was unbelievably good.

  This quest was deliberately designed to be a
little too difficult for green-rankers. We’d also included our ninja and made sure there’d be no casualties during the quest either.

  Also, the quest reward was irrelevant to whether or not they were promoted further. Even if they didn’t do well enough to be judged higher than green, they’d still get their coin if they succeeded.

  But obviously, if they failed, that’d be a mark against their permanent records, too...

  When all was said and done, nobody dropped out. Though they had a few individual issues, they ultimately agreed to take on the challenge as a seven-strong party.

  The guild staff went around to collect their signatures, and the Guildmaster gave the go-ahead. With that, they’d formally taken on the quest.

  The ninja girl, Sarutobi Homura.

  The stoic catgirl, Mew.

  The red-haired warrior, Garron.

  The busty tattooed girl, Rose.

  The young man with long brown hair, Abert.

  The rough-around-the-edges dwarf, Dom.

  And finally, the all-too-serious mage, Surges Partes.

  Aside from Homura and Surges, none of them had surnames. This was pretty common amongst adventurers. They were usually dirt-poor commoners who never knew their birthrights, or just didn’t get surnames. Though there were also those that hid their family names for whatever reason.

  A lot of beastmen and demi-humans didn’t have surnames either. Or rather, they just used the name of their clan or where they were born as their surnames instead.

  “The guild will cover your fee for entering the dungeon island zone, but any other costs need to be incurred on your own backs.”

  “Huh? You aren’t even gonna give us rations or nothin’?”

  “We already told you, did we not? We filed this as a proper quest. Why would the client care enough to put aside provisions for whoever decided to take it?”

  “Tsk.”

  Garron rolled his eyes in response to Galen’s words. That definitely varied by client. Some of them would provide supplies, while others wouldn’t care enough. There was also the option for the adventurer to negotiate before taking a quest, but ultimately it boiled down to “Don’t like it? Don’t take it.”