“Ghahaha! I guess you aren’t a fraud.”

An enormous man with beard covering his face is towering over me.

I’m pretty sure I could feel the vibrations in the air when he laughed.

What is this…?

A human?

A bear?

A sentient mountain?

I can’t tell.

“Guildmaster, a punishment should be issued for fighting inside the guild.”

Ugh, it’s that receptionist again.

Does she hate me or something?

“Fighting? Didn’t the other fellas say he drew his sword and she knocked him out in one punch? How can ya even call that a fight!”

Oh!

The bear gets it!

“No… but still…”

“Ya need to relax a bit, Gwenna! This lil’ lady didn’t do anything wrong!”

You tell her, Mr. guildmaster bear!

“On the other hand… this lad should really cool down his head. Landing a shot on an oversized dog ain’t even that great of an achievement!”

That’s right!

It’s his fault!

…

What oversized dog?

“T-that’s true, but… it’s only natural to celebrate saving the town! If he wasn’t there, the beast would run rampant!”

You can’t mean Fenrir, right…?

Mable told me she tricked a guard into thinking he hit it with his arrow, while throwing stones herself.

Was it this guy?

But he isn’t even a guard!

He’s a tomat- an adventurer!

“Heh! Ya’re overestimating this lad’s achievements.”

That wasn’t even him…

But I can’t say the truth.

I made a promise.

“Ugh…”

Oh no.

The tomato is waking up.

“Wick… Get up already!”

Oh hey, the receptionist changed the target for her anger.

I won’t say I feel bad for him.

He deserves it.

“W-wha- what’s going on?!”

Oh, that slap made a nice sound.

And it woke him up, too.

“I told you to not fight! Do you want your guild membership taken away?!”

“W-what?!”

That’s strange.

I have never seen a white tomato…

Is this some special exotic species?

“I warned you! Be happy the guildmaster is a kind man!”

Oh.

So he is a man, after all…

Not a bear or a sentient mountain…

“Well anyway, ya two lovebirds take care of each other, I need to talk to this lil’ lady, kay?”

Lovers…?

“”W-we’re not lovers!””

Perfect sync.

I get it now…

So that’s why she was so mean to me.

Protecting her darling, is she?

…

Even though she seems mean to him too.

Well, whatever.

Time to go to the guildmaster’s office.

“So, Nina, I have a question.”

What is this?

Why does everyone turn serious when talking to me in private?

“Are ya… some kind o’ apparition?”

…

Excuse me?

“A ghost? A vengeful spirit? Or… is it still you, after all?”

Is this a code question I need to answer for the rank up?

I’m confused…

“What are you… talking about?”

A moment of silence.

He looked straight into my eyes.

I couldn’t help but to nervously avoid his gaze.

“… Ghahaha! Sorry, sorry! Please forget what I said!”

What…?

His serious mood is gone.

“Y’see, ya just really reminded me of an old friend I had…”

…

Your friend is a vengeful spirit?

“But that’s impossible. She went missin’ over twenty years ago, after all.”

The man nodded to himself while crossing his arms.

Looks like he resolved the misunderstanding all by himself.

Wait…

I remind you of someone who went missing twenty years ago?

Yeah, that’s impossible.

She would have aged in that time…

“Well, enough o’that! Ya’re here to have your rank increased, am I right?”

He dropped the subject surprisingly quickly.

I’m still curious, but whatever.

Just nod my head to answer his question.

“Aight, from what I read, I can raise ur rank up to D right away.”

D, huh…

Even though I can effortlessly beat a C rank adventurer.

“But if ya complete nother C rank quest, then I can give ya even rank C.”

Oh, good.

“Oh and, should be ‘kay to bring up to three D rank or one C rank party members wit’ you.”

Well, I’d be going alone anyway, so that doesn’t matter.

“Well, that’s it! Do ya want me to rank ya up to D, or should I wait? T’would be nice if I didn’t need to issue the D rank one since t’will be replaced so quickly.”

Is that so?

Then I’ll gladly do that one quest.

“I’ll do a quest. Which one?”

“Doesn’t matter. Just pick one from the board. I’ll tell the counter girls to let it pass even though ya’re still F rank.”

Let it pass?

Oh right…

You can only do quests one rank above you.

So normally, an F rank adventurer can’t do C rank quests.

“By the way, what’s the little furball’s name?”

He points at my hair.

Or rather, at the so called little furball sitting on my head.

Oh hey, I totally forgot about you.

Aren’t cats supposed to be very active?

How come you are so quiet?

“He’s Kuro.”

“Hmm, a good name! But I sure thought these furballs don’t like humans too much. I guess you are special! Ghahaha!”

The mass of beard moved.

I think he is smiling.

“Well, that’s all from me. If you need somethin’ just ask one o’ the counter girls.”

What an energetic man…

I bet he would make friends with Mable really quickly.

“Okay… goodbye.”

I leave his office and head to the ground floor.

The tomato and his gang are staring at me.

That one receptionist too…

Whatever!

C rank quest time!

Let’s see here…

Quests:

Collect at least eight venom toad tongues.

Escort a carriage through the Jawjock marshes.

Collect a winter leaf.

Subjugate a blue ogre, who settled in a cave south of Renie village.

Hmm…

There aren’t that many.

Which one should I pick?

Venom toads sound dangerous…

My ability set doesn’t include resistance to venom.

Escort a carriage through marshes would be really tedious…

I have no idea what winter leaf is, but it’s probably really hard to get if it’s a C rank quest.

Hmm…

The blue ogre sounds like something I could try.

But I bet he is really strong and I feel like I shouldn’t get too cocky…

“Hah! What a stupid hat!”

Hmm?

I heard a shout right behind me.

Turning around, I see a girl with red hair tied into twintails.

The orange dress she wears gives off the impression of ‘fire’.

She is pointing at Kuro with her staff.

“Oh? It’s alive? That’s even weirder!”

Oi, stop that.

Kuro is hissing at you now.

“… who are you? What do you want?”

Since ignoring the bully didn’t work last time, I’ll try a different approach.

“Hmm? You don’t know me? I’m Ignis. More importantly, what’s your deal? Wearing a cat on your head and all.”

“I can wear whatever I feel like wearing… So, what do you want?”

Her grin disappeared.

She crossed her arms and frowned.

“I’m wondering why there’s this animal blocking the C rank quest board from the real adventurers, that’s what!”

Oh right…

I was standing here for quite some time, haven’t I?

…

But, how am I blocking it!

I’m not even that tall!

Unless…

Are you telling me YOU are the ‘real adventurer’?

“You are a C rank adventurer…?”

“That’s right! Are you jealous, little girl?”

Who are you calling a little girl!

Aren’t you almost shorter than me?!

…

Okay, calm down.

Don’t give in to the provocation.

I always do that and it never ends well.

Turn around.

Jump up.

Tear off the blue ogre quest form.

Walk to the counter.

“Hey! That was mine!”

Too bad!

It’s mine now!

Just keep walking and ignore that girl.

“Don’t ignore me, you!”

Ah, is this what people call deja vu?

I dodged her attempt to grab my shoulder.

Well, unlike Mr. tomato, she didn’t account for my dodging skills and fell over.

People are staring at us?

Who cares!

Continue walking to the counter.

“Ugh… I said! Don’t ignore me!”

You can’t touch me.

Even if I have my back turned to you, I can easily dodge your hand.

“Y-you…!”

Ah crap, this is going to end just like last time, isn’t it?

Is there a way to peel her off of me?

“Grrrh! Alright! I get it! You aren’t just a stupid-hat-wearing little girl! I have officially recognized you as my rival! Be honored!”

I just felt some of my brain cells die.

What’s with this self-important brat?

I feel like I should give her the same treatment the tomato got.

…

No, I’ll just ignore her.

I will avoid trouble this time!

“Hello. I would like to-”

“Hello! We would like to accept this quest as a duo party!”

Wh-

Hey!

What are you going on about?!

Get out!

“… alright, give me your guild cards.”

“No, wait… I wa-”

“Here’s mine!”

Quicker than I can complain, the annoyance brings out her card.

…

The receptionist checks it and writes something down before looking at me with her hand extended.

“Come on! We don’t have all day!”

Shut up you!

How dare you steal my quest!

“Wait, don’t tell me you lost it! You are such a scatterbrain!”

“No, I didn’t! I have it right here!”

I bring out my card and slam it on top of the counter while glaring at the girl.

…

“Alright, Ignis, rank C and Nina, provisional rank D. I’ve confirmed it. Good luck on your quest and be careful!”

…

What just happened?

Why did I do that?

I just accepted a quest along with a girl I met just a minute ago.