Legend

Night raids on the Oak settlement are over, hours after returning under Bobbs. The faces of the crusaders, including Ray, slept like mud.

Near the carriage where everyone was sleeping, Bobbs was up as a lookout, and next to him, Elk sat on the ground carrying to his mouth many of the dishes that Ray had served out of Mystering before he went to bed.

"Hey, Elk. You're up in the name of watching, so show me you're ready to do some more."

Bobbs calls out to Elk as he sits on the ground and watches what's going on around him.

However, Elk replies in a spooky manner as he carries things like skewers, sandwiches, or steamed fangboas to his mouth.

"Come on, you know the sharpness of Seto's senses, don't you? As long as he's around, he hardly has to worry about being ambushed by his enemies."

At the end of Elk's gaze, Seto sleeps to the ground and meditates his eyes. But it was easy for Elk and Bobbs to imagine that it was not sleeping but feeling the signs around them.

"But... or is it okay to eat so much?

Bobbs shrugs as if he had been stuffed with revenge earlier on to an elk that had already stuffed nearly 10 people's food into his stomach.

"I've been fighting all night. When everyone wakes up, the next big job is stripping in the orc colony, right? And I still haven't found anything about the treasure that I think the oak was accumulating.... Well, I can't expect much more from the Oak King mansion in the middle of the settlement than I didn't."

An elk finally finishes his meal sighs through the water that was in the water bottle.

"Sure.... Are you sure you don't have to sleep?

"Ha, you don't want me with the guys around here. We fought all three days during the Kraken crusade years ago, didn't we? Compared to that, it's about an easy night."

"... you're not always young, either, so it's time to be aware of the area"

"You can't beat the younger ones yet."

To Elk's words, Bobbs, who exhaled, also moaned the water bottle that was nearby.

It is a base built on meadows just a short distance from the Oak settlement, with the midsummer sun shining. There is no such thing as a roof that blocks the sun, and hydration has to be done quite frequently because it is in direct sunlight.

"Is the thug elk still alive?"

Rampage elk. That's the street name given to Elk when he was still a low-ranking adventurer. Now it's time for the party name Thunder God's Axe to blow, but the Elk who just signed up for the guild is what made Bobbs' hands burn several times, who were rank C adventurers at the time, according to that name.

Elk who is given the street name of the past he wants to forget and frowns. Bobbs also turns his gaze to the elk with a grin with a relaxed look with a conversation he used to have with his familiarity.

"Come on, don't call me that."

I'm not happy to call myself a thug just as I grew up getting married and had kids.

"Well, sure, you're strong enough now. Less than me in Rottle, who retired from the Adventurer. Especially with this request. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have set up such a lame operation without you.... but it's also true that when the top keeps working hard, the bottom buds don't grow."

"... is that Ray?

That's not even what I'm talking about loud, so I dive into my voice and ask.

"Well, there's that too... he'll be different. I'm talking about your son or something. Even so, Ray? You know what? He turned back the dark stars the other way the night he ambushed those orcs in the middle of a night raid, didn't he?

"Heh. Just don't do it.... The Dark Stars deserve it."

"It would be a mistake for a guy like that to be rank G. As soon as I'm done with this request and back in the guild, I'm gonna hang on top and recommend it to the E-rank."

"Come on, two ranks up at once."

"No, that's three ranks"

"Bobs?"

"I'm trying to get you to take a Rank Up exam to D-Rank as soon as possible"

Regardless of how urgent the request is, I would essentially rank up 3 with just one request. I understood how unlikely that was because it was an elk who had walked in those ranks.

"... are you serious?

Are you insane? But Elk looks at Bobbs as if he wants to ask.

But Bobbs snorts so small that it's perfectly natural.

"Naturally. You're an adventurer with the strength to defeat Rank B Oak King, right? It's too inefficient to leave it at E or F. And..."

Chirali, and a little further away. Turn your gaze toward Seto sleeping near Ray's sleeping carriage.

"He's like being able to follow Monster Rank A's Griffon. I don't think it's weird that it was ranked A or B."

"Whoa!

To that word, just as elk also doubts Bobbs' sanity. But Bobbs grins as if he were the usual elk.

"Naturally, not immediately. Whatever makes you D-rank, it's true that being B or A requires a lot of knowledge besides combat ability."

If they also become A- and B-ranks, which are said to be top notch as adventurers, they are rarely entrusted with direct requests from such beings as the royal nobility of each country. Sometimes we have to make choices that depend on the manipulation for that time and sometimes even the national interest.

The word "modus operandi" against royalty and nobility is like an unsuitable elk, but I know the minimum modus operandi even when it looks like this. And most importantly, Min, Elk's wife, is standing up front to handle the area in general, so Thunder God's Axe does so with absolutely no problems as a Rank A party. But Ray quickly found out that Bobbs and Elk weren't that good with people as far as he could tell. What happens if such a person meets with royalty or nobility... not yet if to the extent of being reprimanded. But there's a chance that if you do it badly, you won't be able to continue being an adventurer. It was unthinkable for the two of us to lose such a chunk of potential by putting it down.

"And... hey, Elk. You, did you ever notice anything when you saw that oak king body?

"... what did you notice?

That's what Bobbs asks me and floats the oak king body I saw a few hours ago in my brain. The first thing that came into my eyes was the torso connected by a piece of skin...... not.

"A blow to the neck with a severed head. I can't imagine how skilled it would be. I can't do less."

I whine with my gaze toward my partner's battle axe, who is always in a position to reach out.

Axes are weapons of destruction, not slaughter. If you're telling me to make every head a piece of wood dust, even elk would be able to do it, but I have to say I can't when they tell me to slash and tear sharply like Ray did.

But Bobbs listens to Elk and shakes his head small.

"That's not what I meant.... No, I know what you mean. In fact, even I've seen such a sharp cut surface only a few times in my life. But what do you think you said when you asked him about his profession in the guild conference room?

"... come on?

"Magic Warrior, it is. That means Ray will also be able to use magic. But was there a wound like magic on that oak king body?

That is how he is asked, and the words of his own son, Rhodos, are recalled.

He said the opponents who were fighting the orcs east of the settlement were almost wiped out trying to get behind their backs. At that time, I said that Seto might have done something about it, but I couldn't possibly understand that Ray was the one who did it when he told me that most of the oak had been burned to death. Anyway, Griffon doesn't have the power to manipulate the flames.

That means...

"Hey. You mean Ray defeated Oak King without giving him all he could?

"Probably. It's possible that he used something like the Kamaitachi, which is commonly used in wind magic... but as far as I know, Ray specializes in the magic of flames. Probably hasn't given it all yet...... considering Ray has the strength to defeat Oak King in that state and he can follow Monster Rank A's Griffon, isn't it strange to think he's worth A- or B-rank when it comes to combat power at least?

"... if that story is true, sure."

Ray looked much smaller and more luxurious in stature than his own son, Rhodos, but decides that the strength he holds in him overwhelmingly transcends his son. And at the same time, imagine my son's coming struggle with things like confrontation and rivalry to that ray through this request... niggling and grinning.

(If there's a rival, that's not a bad thing. And if that rival is a high wall, then some of the losers and Rodos will grow as adventurers. It's possible that if you get over that wall, you won't be able to smash it... well, you're my son, so you'll figure that out)

I envy having such an opponent, I think Elk heartily.

"So, as Elk knows, the Adventurer Guild is basically always understaffed, not just in the city of Guild."

"... well"

What Bobbs is saying is true. With regard to the Kraken crusade that Elk himself had said earlier, the city by the sea asked for support through the Alliance and the Thunder God axe was put out. The Adventurer Alliance is always understaffed… No, to be precise, the number of high-ranking adventurers is low. C to D rank. Or there are quite a few E to G ranks below that.

"Not yet. You're still active, not as good as you, but I can be on the front line when it's not me. But considering what happened after me and your generation retired..."

"Bobs."

He was an elk to say for a moment, but slaps Bobbs' back forcefully as if he had quickly regained his mind.

"Look, if you worry too much, your hair hairline's gonna recede more, okay?

Bobbs smiles unexpectedly when he is told that he cares about him lately.

"The next generation also has my son Rhodos. It's Ray. Look, he said there's not much to worry about. Besides, even if he's still anonymous, he's pretty good at standing up. Even low-ranking adventurers will blossom their talents one day."

"Right...... oh, I sure hope so. It's been a long time since he's been on the scene, and he's gotten sentimental without a pattern."

"They call that old man's cold water, huh?

"Let it go. You wouldn't be so different from me.... Well, it's about time, okay?

Make a paragraph of the story and check the position of the sun.

There was basically nothing more than a clock that I could carry around, and I had to measure the approximate time at the position of the sun.

"Right. I'd let him sleep a little slower if I could, but it's this heat somehow. If you don't get rid of the Oak Crusade Proof site and the material early, it could get hurt, and it could get eaten by animals and other demons."

Nodding at Elk's words, he takes the magic whistle out of his nostrils and breathes in thoughtfully. Then the sound wakes up the members of the crusade who were asleep.

And while each of them was still not completely exhausted, they gently put the food and water they had received from Ray's mysteries into their bellies and quickly headed to the Oak settlement.

"Ray, don't you have to go to the settlement?

Ray was the first to be knocked up in order to get the supplies in the mistering, but after the job, he turned to the person who spoke up while playing Seto's opponent.

Elk, who said he was on the lookout for not a single night's sleep there, and Min, who is feeling better after some magic has been restored. And I still slept. There was a figure of Rhodos doing that.

There are only a few adventurers around already. Originally, there were two women here who were rescued from the Oak settlement last night, but Bobbs ordered a few other adventurers to ride one foot to the city of Gilm in a carriage to tell the Alliance about the success of the Oak crusade, so they're not here anymore.

"Oh, because all the orcs I knocked down were stored in mysteries like oak kings. When I get back to the city, I'm gonna do some material stripping and crusade proof site cutting."

It was Rhodos who reacted with Pickle when he heard the word Oak King, but he didn't have a particular tendency to put anything out of his mouth about whether he had already heard the circumstances around it from Elk.

"Well, that's fine because it's your freedom. Why aren't we doing this here?

……

Silence for a few seconds, but you can't stand Elk's gaze anymore. Exhale and open your mouth.

"Hi, I don't like stripping the material or anything. Because it's a highly ranked monster stripping. I want to be discreet because I don't want to fail as much as possible."

"Come on. I see. Something bad happened to Ray, the amazing Rank G Adventurer. Besides, stripping..."

Ray looked like a bum to the grinning elk, but that would disappear with the next word.

"It's a good opportunity. I'll teach you how to peel it off. Here, let it out. Let it out."

"Hey, Dad!? What would our reward be if we spent time here on Ray!

"No, I wish I could come with you and Min. I don't have any more enemies."

"But!"

Ming holds Rhodos' shoulder to further proclaim.

"... for nothing, Rodos. You can't stop an elk like this anymore. Let's go alone. Luckily, as Elk said, the orcs are gone."

That's how they dropped off Rodos, and Elk let him take the oak out of Ray's mystering to teach him some quick stripping tricks.