Rank Up

To be honest, I don’t remember how to get back. At first, I intended to go straight, but fighting so many rats has disoriented me. Fortunately, Nozomi seemed to sense this and started guiding my steps telepathically. Besides being a weapon of mass destruction, a plush toy, a bottomless pit, and an encyclopedia, she’s also a GPS. Without this girl, I surely would have died yesterday. It took us about 45 minutes to return to Fayen. We talked the whole way; the Twins told me they are from the other continent, Urvengard, specifically from the capital of Trovus, Brandem. They traveled all the way here to become adventurers, which makes me wonder if there are other adventurers' guilds across the sea. I mentioned my amnesia to them, and they seemed a bit surprised, but quickly understood the situation. I guess it will be hard to maintain my facade for long. At the city gates, the guards stopped us and asked about Nozomi. When I showed my ID, they let us pass without problems. The sun was already setting; I guess it was around five in the afternoon, although I’ve never been very good at telling time by the sun. We headed straight to the guild. Kharel was excited while Karen maintained a relaxed expression, though she kept squeezing Nozomi against her chest. The slime seemed happy; it's normal since she hasn't had to walk at all in the last hour—lucky little creature.

I opened the guild doors. The reception was somewhat busy, but since Rosie and her colleague were there, the line wasn’t as long as it had been that morning. Rosie greeted me as soon as she saw me; she looked relieved. I guess I had kept her worried.

“It’s bigger than I thought,” Kharel said to shorten the wait.

“Being the main branch, I’m not surprised. The best adventurers known have come from this place.”

“The S ranks, I suppose.”

“Yes!” The redhead was very excited. “Of the seven current S ranks, five have come from here. Of course, being the main branch, all the important missions are sent here.”

That makes sense. I haven’t asked how one levels up yet, but I understand it vaguely. If you do missions, the guild eventually levels you up. The more important the mission, the more likely the guild is to recognize your strength and promote you, giving you the option to accept more dangerous missions with better rewards. But that sounds like a pain in the ass; I don’t aspire to be an S rank. I just want to work to live. I don’t want to expose myself to unnecessary dangers. Once I save enough money, I’ll buy a house somewhere remote and live there with Nozomi. And, if the opportunity arises, with a beautiful woman of another race, but I still can’t decide which. I’ve always dreamed of having a woman with animal ears; I think it’s every otaku’s dream. Lost in my thoughts, it was our turn.

“Welcome, Ray, how can I help you?” Rosie alternated her gaze between the twins and me, and the Twins were also looking at me expectantly. Did they expect me to speak for them?

“Could you help these two? They came all the way here to become adventurers; my missions can wait.”

Rosie stared intently at the redheads and then smiled.

“Of course, I’ll help them fill out the application, but you don’t have to wait.” Rosie looked at her colleague. “Gema, could you assist Ray for a moment?”

The young woman next to Rosie, with dark blue hair and honey-colored eyes, stared at me intently.

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Without changing her serious expression, she spoke in a sweet, calm voice. She definitely seemed like a taciturn woman.

I took Nozomi from Karen’s arms and put her on my head. She would be a nuisance if she stayed there, and to keep an eye on her, what better place than my head? When I picked up Nozomi, Karen seemed like she wanted to say something. She had a disappointed look on her face but cleared her throat and maintained her composure. Gema was staring intently at Nozomi.

“Master, her gaze is scary.”

I agree with Nozomi; her serious expression was silently judging us. It seemed like she would say something at any moment, but she remained silent. Without wasting more time, I handed the ID to Gema, and she did the same as Rosie had done earlier, checking that I had completed the missions. I asked Nozomi to give me the plants and flowers, and I placed them on the counter. The girl wasn’t surprised; she simply returned my ID along with a small leather pouch.

“485 grim in total. Also, the guild manager wants to meet you.”

Huh, the manager?

“May I ask why?”

“You’ve managed to advance a rank in just one day. Not many people can do that, let alone a tamer.” Her calm tone didn’t help to relax me. I also noticed that the rest of the guild was silent and watching me. Ah, I want the ground to swallow me whole.

“Is it that unusual?”

“Usually, it takes three to five days to advance to rank E. The only ones capable of advancing to rank E in a day have been adventurers who later became rank S, which is why the manager wants to see you.” Her tone annoyed me; this isn’t something to say calmly. At least read the room; show some surprise or something.

“Is this the young man who just advanced in rank?” Coming down the stairs was a man in his fifties with a fine gray mustache that matched his short gray hair. He wore a monocle over his right eye, and his light purple eyes analyzed me from head to toe with curiosity, alternating between Nozomi and me. He was dressed in a white suit resembling a tuxedo with a red tie. As he approached, Rosie, Gema, and the twins bowed. I felt too nervous to think about acting.

“Yes, Mr. Gerald.” Gema continued in her calm tone.

“I see…” This time his eyes were fixed on Nozomi. “What is your name?” His slightly deep and calm voice relaxed me a bit, but still, his gaze was imposing.

“Ray.” I didn’t know what else to say; my mind struggled to process the information.

“Ray, accompany me to my office for a moment. Bring your little slime.”

I suppose he wants some privacy to talk about something. Why would he want me to bring Nozomi with me? If he knows I’m a tamer, he must know she’s my strongest weapon. Doesn’t he fear I might try to kill him or something? Well, it doesn’t seem I can refuse; everyone is looking at me right now. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this much pressure.

“Okay, I don’t mind.” I put on a fake smile; I’ve become an expert at that in recent years. Who would have thought it would be useful for something?

The manager guided me to the top of the building, we went through a double door, and entered a spacious room. At the back, there was a large window overlooking the outside and a big desk with a luxurious chair. In the middle of the room, a little to the right, were two sofas that looked like leather, surrounding a transparent table. There were several shelves on the walls filled with books of all colors and sizes. Gerald invited me to sit on one of the sofas.

“Would you like tea or would you prefer coffee?” The man looked at me, waiting for a response.

“Tea, please.” I’ve never liked coffee, and even though I’m not a fan of tea, I think it would be rude to refuse the drink he offered.

Gerald clapped his hands, and a maid entered with a silver tray holding two cups. She placed them on the table and then left without saying anything. The manager handed me the cup with an orange liquid, while he took the one with a dark color; by the smell, I’d say it was coffee.

“In my opinion, coffee is the best invention of humanity. It’s a shame they don’t have such good beans around here.” The manager started talking; he doesn’t like to get to the point, but unfortunately, I don’t have all day.

“Master, do you think the tea could be poisoned? If so, I could taste it first to make sure, since I’m immune to toxins that spread through ingestion. Let me try it.” This one just wants to drink all the tea.

“Behave, will you? I’m quite nervous, and no, I don’t think the tea is poisoned.” I confirmed this by taking a sip of the tea. It had an exotic flavor, nothing like anything I had tasted before, but I liked it. That was good. Nozomi pouted and climbed down from my head to sit in my lap.

“You’ve trained your slime well, huh? That’s good.”

“She’s a very docile creature, but also very fierce in combat.” I want to boast about her as much as I can.

“I don’t doubt it.” The man took a sip from his cup. “You must be wondering why I called you.”

“To be honest, yes. It was very sudden.” I took another sip from my cup of tea.

“This world is fascinating, isn’t it?” I couldn’t help but spit out all the tea I had in my mouth at that moment. Damn, what does he mean?

“Excuse me?”

"You don’t have to hide it; a young man with amnesia who can complete missions easily and isn't afraid to say he’s a monster tamer". My entire facade crumbled before my eyes in a matter of seconds. Who is this guy? "But there’s one thing that’s unmistakable among all the reincarnated."

Gerald took out a hand mirror and showed me my reflection: a young man with short black hair and an average face, neither ugly nor particularly handsome, just someone ordinary. But there was something off—my honey-colored eyes were gone; my irises were now a light purple, the same shade as Gerald’s.

"So that means that..."

"Indeed." Before I could finish my sentence, Gerald spoke again. "I was also reincarnated in this world." He took another sip from his cup.

"So I’m not the only one..." It was a big surprise; I never thought there would be more reincarnated people. I should be careful.

"There are many more reincarnated individuals than you think, and they all have abilities that make their lives easier, and we are no different."

"Has God also given you some welcome gift?"

"Yes, and a very useful one." Gerald set down his cup and adjusted his monocle with his left hand, his left eye turning a strange golden color. "God's Eye allows me to see information about each person: name, age, stats, abilities, and even the number of creatures you’ve killed. It can see through deceptions, so I know your little friend isn’t a normal slime." Isn’t that ability a bit too overpowered?

"Surprising; there are all kinds of abilities, it seems."

"They depend on each person. Your ability, Dark Pact, is quite curious; it’s no wonder a monster tamer could go so far as to kill more than fifty giant rats in just a few hours."

"I'm equally surprised, but it wasn’t me; it was Nozomi. She’s the incredible one."

"No, Master, I don’t deserve your compliments." Now that he discovered Nozomi isn’t a normal slime, I don’t mind her speaking.

"Tell me, Ray, what do you wish to do in this world?" With another sip from his cup, Gerald changed the subject.

"I'm still not very sure, but I do know one thing: I want to travel all over the world, and after that, I want to live peacefully somewhere."

Gerald smiled at me and finished his coffee.

"Simple, but it's a good goal. I wish all reincarnated people thought like you." He placed the cup on the table. "Many think they can do whatever they want just because they have strong abilities; they forget ethics and begin to abuse their power. I warn you of something, Ray: you have total freedom to do what you want in this world, but if you do something that is considered morally wrong, you won’t live long." For a moment, Gerald’s gaze turned somber, and a chill ran down my spine. I’ll have to be careful.

"I’ll keep that in mind."

"That said, I want to inform you that from today onward, you are rank D. Your power is too strong to be just rank E, but I can only elevate you to D; if you want more, you’ll have to earn it."

Uh, a rank jump—this isn’t good. I mean, yes, it’s good, but others will have their eyes on me, and I didn’t want to attract attention...

"Stop that face, man. Sooner or later, the other adventurers will discover your power; isn’t it better to do it early? That way, you can earn more money from missions. Just don’t tell anyone that you’re a reincarnated person; it’s better to keep it a secret."

"Don’t worry; I’ll take the secret to the grave."

"Perfect! Although, if you ever let it slip, I wouldn’t have any choice but to silence you." Once again, that somber look returned to his face... "I hope you use your power for the prosperity and protection of this world, as other reincarnated individuals have done."

"Of course, I’ll do what I can."

I drank half the cup and gave the other half to Nozomi. She was very happy, while I was worried about my future. Not only have I discovered that there are other reincarnated individuals, but also that there are reincarnated people who use their powers for "evil." I’ll have to be careful.

Gerald stood up from the sofa.

"I won’t bother you any longer; I know it’s getting late, and I suppose you want to repair your armor." He noticed the bite marks on my arm. I hadn’t planned to give it importance; I want to save money for various things, so I’ll have to endure it. "Be careful on your adventures."

With a smile, Gerald said goodbye to us, and I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief; I’m not good at talking to important people.

"Master, you’re incredible; catching the guild manager's attention on your second day."

"No, it’s not a good thing; goodbye to blending in… Well, this way we’ll earn more money, so I shouldn’t complain."