It had been about five days since the duel—or rather, the farce—with Arrogan. Early that afternoon, Rei found himself inside a meeting room on the second floor of the guild.
It was the very same room where he had previously received the briefing regarding the Orc subjugation force from Bobbs.
Aside from Rei, five other adventurers were present. Including him, there were six candidates in total—all of them gathered to take the rank-up exam for D-Rank.
Notably, Arrogan was among them. Having participated in that public farce with Rei, he had succeeded in spreading his name far and wide, though in a way quite opposite to his original intentions. The moment his eyes met Rei's, he sharply looked away. One didn't need to be a mind reader to know exactly how Arrogan felt about him.
(A rank-up exam, huh.)
The previous day, when Rei had arrived at the guild as usual, Lenora had called out to him. She had essentially become his dedicated contact by this point. He took a moment to recall their conversation.
"Ah, Rei-san. Regarding the rank-up exam, it begins tomorrow. Please come to the meeting room in the early afternoon."
"...That's quite sudden. Don't you usually give more notice than that?"
"Well, that is true. However, this is a rank-up exam for adventurers. You can't exactly tell people to wait for more notice when an emergency request or an unexpected incident arises, right?"
"I see, that makes sense. Tomorrow afternoon, then?"
"Yes. Attempting a rank-up exam less than a month after registering is the fastest record in the city of Gilm. Please do your best."
While recalling that exchange, Rei turned his gaze toward the others who would be taking the exam alongside him.
The first was Arrogan, whose reputation now preceded him. Even if he had been humiliated the other day, he was still an E-Rank magic sword user. Setting aside his actual skill, he possessed a high-performance magic sword and likely favored a brute-force fighting style.
The second was a woman with short-cropped hair styled for mobility. She wore leather armor made from monster hide that seemed designed not to impede her movements, and two daggers were strapped to her waist. She was likely a thief specializing in trap detection and scouting. She looked to be in her late teens.
The third was a man wearing a robe similar to Rei's, a staff gripped in his hand. He was a typical mage with a somewhat rustic face. Seeing him chatting with a smile next to the thief, they were clearly acquaintances. He also appeared to be in his late teens.
The fourth was a male warrior with sharp, piercing eyes. His equipment was overwhelmingly inferior to a magic sword like Arrogan's—just an ordinary longsword sold in town—but in Rei's estimation, the man's caliber as a warrior felt superior to Arrogan's. He looked to be in his early twenties, perhaps a year or two older than the magic sword user.
The fifth was a woman sitting in a chair with her eyes closed. Her features were quite refined. Most notable were her ears; they were large and pointed at the tips, proving she was an elf. A large bow rested on the table in front of her, marking her as a bow user. She looked roughly eighteen or nineteen.
(And then there's me. I wonder what kind of trials they have in store.)
As he was thinking that, his eyes happened to meet the female thief's.
"..."
The two stared at each other in silence for several seconds. Eventually, as if losing a contest of wills, she spoke.
"Do you want something?"
"No, nothing in particular."
"But you were just staring at me. You must want something, right? Or what, were you planning to hit on me at a time like this?"
"Wait, Culotte. Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? Um, sorry about her. This is Culotte's first time taking a rank-up exam, so she's a bit on edge. I'd appreciate it if you didn't take it personally."
The mage sitting next to Culotte, Schola, bowed his head as if apologizing on her behalf.
"Schola, why are you bowing? He's the one in the wrong. He was gawking at me with those creepy eyes."
"Ah, jeez. Sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I won't say she means no harm, but she's usually not this stubborn..."
"Don't worry about it. At the very least, I don't mind."
"What’s that supposed to mean? Like I'm not even worth the effort to—"
"That's enough noise."
A voice suddenly cut through the room, which had been filled with Culotte's shrill tone. Aside from Rei, who had already sensed the newcomer's presence, the others reflexively turned toward the door.
Standing there was a middle-aged man in his forties. However, his well-trained physique was such that he could easily pass for an active adventurer.
"Right, I'm starting the briefing for the rank-up exam. Are you ready to listen?"
(...I've seen that face before. If I recall... Ah, from the trouble with Goblin Drool.)
Indeed, the man was Gran—the same official who had judged Rei's combat strength to be sufficient and registered him as Rank G during his altercation with Falcon's Claws.
Recalling the man's face, Rei turned toward Gran, ignoring Culotte entirely.
Culotte must have realized who Gran was as well. She gave Rei one last sharp glare before turning her attention forward. Beside her, Schola bowed to Rei once more before looking toward the front.
"Now, it seems everyone is ready. Without further ado, I will begin the explanation for the D-Rank rank-up exam. First, I'm going to have you all fight each other."
The moment Gran said that, Arrogan—who had been pointedly ignoring Rei and Culotte—turned toward Rei with a look of pure horror.
It had only been five days since he was made painfully aware of the gap between them. The blood drained from his face at the realization that he stood no chance if he were matched against Rei.
However, as if to put Arrogan at ease, Gran continued.
"That being said, losing a match doesn't mean you immediately fail. ...Well, I won't deny it'll be used as a reference for your evaluation, but the primary goal is for you to learn each other's abilities. As for the main part of the exam, we've located a bandit hideout about two days' travel from here. The suppression of these bandits is your objective."
The room fell silent at the mention of killing bandits.
Since everyone here was a candidate for D-Rank, most of them had only ever taken requests for Rank E or lower. Technically, guild rules allowed an adventurer to take requests one rank higher than their own, but very few actually did so because they had heard about the "wall" between E and D from their seniors.
The clear divide between Rank E and Rank D requests lay in the targets: Rank D and above often involved combat with other humans, such as bandits or bounties.
Even in a world where fighting monsters was a daily occurrence, many people still felt a deep resistance to the act of killing another human being. For that reason, requests involving human targets were categorized as Rank D or higher.
"From the looks on your faces, you all seem to understand. Rank D and above requests occasionally include bandit suppression or escorting merchants and travelers. If you take such a request and hesitate to kill the enemy when the moment comes, your comrades or your clients might end up dead. That's the worst-case scenario. The former is bad enough, but the latter destroys the reliability of the entire guild. That's why the D-Rank exam basically requires you to take on a request that involves killing people."
Gran's words echoed through the silent room.
However, among the candidates, Rei was not as tense as the others. After all, he had already killed the four members of Night Dark Star during the Orc subjugation mission. While killing humans was certainly not something he enjoyed, he didn't possess the weakness to hesitate when his life was on the line.
And there was one more.
(Him too, huh.)
Rei's gaze landed on the sharp-eyed warrior. The man appeared focused, but he didn't have the visible air of tension that gripped the others. From that alone, Rei understood instinctively that the man likely had experience killing people, just like himself.
"Well, you understand the stakes. Then we'll proceed to the mock battles immediately. Since you're here for the exam, I assume you've brought your gear? Follow me."
With that, Gran left the meeting room. Rei and the others followed.
"The combat will take place at the training ground at the back of the guild."
"Training ground?" Rei muttered unintentionally.
Culotte, walking nearby, gave him an exasperated look. "Unbelievable. You didn't even know there was a training ground behind the guild? How did you even manage to reach Rank E?"
"Ah, jeez. Why do you keep snapping at him? I'm sorry, please ignore her," Schola added quickly.
"Don't worry about it," Rei replied.
While offering a wry smile at the duo's dynamic, Rei thought about the training ground.
(First Falcon's Claws, and then Arrogan... none of them used the training ground when they challenged me. They went out of their way to do it in front of the guild because they wanted to show off and humiliate me in public.)
While pondering this, he followed Gran down to the first floor. He saw Kenny give him a small wave and Lenora scolding her for the unprofessional behavior. Offering them a small smile, he passed through the guild's back entrance and stepped outside.
After walking for a few minutes, the training ground Gran had mentioned came into view.
It wasn't a particularly elaborate facility. It was simply a large space enclosed by a wooden fence, lacking even a roof. However, the area was quite spacious—large enough that even a mock battle between knight orders would have plenty of room. Currently, about ten people were scattered around the grounds, practicing.
"Hm? Hey, what's with that group?"
"Ah, look. Gran is leading them. Must be a rank-up exam."
Rei could hear the voices of the adventurers who were clashing with swords and spears nearby. The others who were training also seemed interested, their gazes focusing on the group of candidates.
Gran moved to the center of the training ground, indifferent to the attention. It was like this every time there was a rank-up exam. After all, if adventurers could scout a promising rookie for their own party, it would increase their chances of survival. Parties were always on the lookout for "raw gems" to recruit.
"Alright, listen up. Don't get distracted by the spectators. Even though the results of these mock battles won't directly determine whether you pass, they're still a factor in the evaluation. First, we'll start with introductions. One by one, state your name, class, and any skills you don't mind others knowing. You, go first."
The person Gran pointed to was, as if by design, Rei.
Rei gave a wry smile at Gran's grin before speaking. "I'm Rei. My class is Magic Warrior. My weapon of choice is..."
With a fluid motion, he drew the Death Scythe from his Misty Ring and gave it a single, sharp flourish. That movement alone was enough to rivet the attention of everyone in the training ground to Rei and his massive weapon.
"...This great scythe, the Death Scythe. I also specialize in flame magic. ...Should I mention the taming as well?"
He asked implicitly if he should speak about Set, who wasn't present. Gran gave a small nod.
"I've also tamed a monster. Some of you might know it—it's the gryphon that's usually resting in the guild's carriage space."
"Wait! Then you're that Orc King Slayer!?"
Recognizing Rei's identity from the mention of the gryphon, Culotte shouted reflexively.
"Hey, the Orc King Slayer... if I remember correctly..."
"Yeah, that's right. I heard an adventurer named Rei took down an Orc King, but I thought he was Rank G."
"So his achievements jumping him from G to E were real? And now he's already taking the exam for D?"
Whispers broke out among the spectators, and the same realization dawned on the other candidates—except for Arrogan, who already knew.
"Alright, I know you're excited, but the introductions aren't over yet. Next."
Gran clapped his hands to refocus the group and pointed to Culotte. Still stunned, she was poked in the back by Schola and snapped back to reality.
"I'm Culotte. My class is Thief. My weapons are daggers, as you can see. As for skills, I'm good at scouting and trap setting."
"A thief. You'll likely be quite active in this exam. Next."
Schola was next. "I'm Schola. My class is Mage, and I don't have a preferred weapon. As for magic, I can use water, wind, and recovery magic."
He finished his introduction with a hint of nervousness, aware of the eyes of the veteran adventurers watching them. Gran looked at him with an impressed expression.
"Oh? You can use recovery magic in addition to attack magic? You've got a bright future ahead of you."
Generally speaking, mages who excelled at attack magic were poor at recovery, and vice versa. Someone like Schola, who had an aptitude for both, was a rarity even among mages.
"That kid's already been scouted by our party!" someone shouted from the fence.
"Hey, don't try to cut in line!"
"First come, first served!"
Hearing the praise, Schola blushed and looked down with a shy smile.
"Next."
The next person was Arrogan. While clearly conscious of Rei, he tried his best to ignore him. "I'm Arrogan. A swordsman. My weapon is this magic sword. It's not exactly a skill, but I'm confident in my direct offensive power."
"A magic sword user at Rank E, and it seems to be a potent one. ...If you can master it, its power will be something to behold."
Whether he knew about the incident a few days ago or not, Gran was clearly implying the sword was currently wasted on him. Arrogan frowned but remained silent.
"Next."
The next was the sharp-eyed swordsman. "Superbia, swordsman. My weapon is this longsword. It has no special history. I have no particular skills other than my proficiency with the blade."
"I see. Your skill seems solid enough. Next."
Gran acknowledged Superbia's level with a glance before turning to the final candidate. The elven woman carrying the large bow gave a small nod.
"Filma Patrono. My main weapon is the bow. My class is Ranger—or perhaps Spirit Mage. I can use spirit magic to a certain degree."
The training ground buzzed again. An elven beauty who rarely left the forest was one thing, but one who could use spirit magic was another entirely. Elves were masters of the bow, but those who could also master magic were rare. Her value was at least equal to Schola's. Furthermore, the name "Filma Patrono" suggested she came from a family of status in the elven world.
Gran grinned. "Not only an elf, but one who uses both the bow and spirit magic? Between Rei, Schola, and you, we've got quite the harvest this time."
He glanced over the group once more.
"Well, that's enough for introductions. Next, we'll have you engage in mock battles to get a grasp of each other's abilities. You'll be suppressing that bandit gang as a team, so it's best to know what your partners can do. The first match... Rei versus Superbia."
With that, Gran pointed out the two men.