"Hmm, so you really did accept it."
On the night of the day I was told about the A-Rank promotion exam from Daskar, when I brought up the topic while eating dinner in the courtyard of Marina's house, that was Marina's reaction.
Since Marina had already been discussing the promotion exam with Daskar, she probably knew about that side of things.
But... most of the others were surprised.
The only one who didn't seem surprised was the fairy Nielson.
Originally, Nielson had been present when I was talking with Daskar about the promotion exam.
That was why she knew about the exam, but... being a fairy, she apparently didn't understand what being an A-Rank adventurer meant, giving the impression that she simply thought "so that's how it is."
"Congratulations, Lord Rei."
The first to offer words of congratulations to me was Ara.
Perhaps because she herself was not an adventurer, her surprise was less than Vihera's or Byune's, and since she still associated with adventurers to some extent, she likely understood just how incredible being an A-Rank adventurer was.
When Ara said that, the others each offered their own words of congratulations as well.
"Still, Rei becoming A-Rank, huh... Now that I think about it, his ability alone is more than sufficient for A-Rank, so maybe it's not that surprising."
The fact that she said "ability" alone suggested that Vihera also understood etiquette would be an issue when I got promoted.
That said, I understood that aspect as well, so I didn't particularly feel any dissatisfaction about it.
"I don't know specifically when the promotion exam will be held, but I should probably learn some basic etiquette. I can't deny the possibility that it's one of the exam subjects."
"That's right. Even though they'll prepare a proxy for you, you should learn etiquette just in case. You never know when you might meet the Royal Family. You wouldn't want to be charged with lèse-majesté when that happens, would you?"
"If it comes to that, I'll just go to the Bestia Empire."
"I'd welcome that. ...But if it comes to that, it seems like it would cause all sorts of complications."
Vihera interjected into my and Marina's conversation like that.
For Vihera, a former princess of the Bestia Empire, me coming to the Bestia Empire was something she could approve of.
But... while she could approve of it, if I actually went to the Bestia Empire, there was no doubt it would become complicated, just as Vihera said.
After all, I was the one who led the Mireana Kingdom to a one-sided victory in the war between the Mireana Kingdom and the Bestia Empire, placed second in the Fighting Tournament held in the Bestia Empire, and then played an active role as part of the Mobile Unit in the civil war that broke out immediately afterward.
To the citizens of the Bestia Empire, I was the hated enemy who killed their family, friends, and lovers in the war, the admirable opponent who placed second in the Fighting Tournament—a major event of the Bestia Empire—and one of the key figures who led Vihera's brother Mercureo to victory in the civil war.
In many ways... truly in many ways, I was a special existence in the Bestia Empire.
If anything, I was so famous in the Bestia Empire that there might be more people there who knew my name than in the Mireana Kingdom.
If someone like me were to come to the Bestia Empire, it would without a doubt become a huge incident in many ways... truly in many ways.
As for me, I would prefer not to do something so troublesome if possible.
That was exactly why I had the desire to continue living as I had been in the Mireana Kingdom if possible.
"Still, Rei becoming A-Rank too, huh... Wouldn't rising to A-Rank from becoming an adventurer be the fastest on record?"
Looking impressed, Elena asked Marina.
Since Marina was the Former Guild Master, Elena probably thought she might know that kind of information, but Marina tilted her head.
"I wonder. Rising to B-Rank was definitely the fastest, I think, but when it comes to A-Rank... Rei was content at B-Rank, so I can't deny the possibility that there was an adventurer who got promoted to A-Rank faster than Rei. If Rei had a bit more ambition to rise, he might have become the fastest A-Rank adventurer."
Saying that, Marina looked at me.
But from my perspective, if I had become an A-Rank adventurer sooner, I would have had to deal with nobles myself.
In that case, it was obvious to me that staying at B-Rank would have been better.
"Even if you say that. I wasn't really struggling that much at B-Rank, you know. Basically, even for requests with rank restrictions, I could take most of them as long as I was B-Rank."
In the end, that was the biggest reason I had stayed at B-Rank.
If there had been a large number of requests that required A-Rank to accept... especially subjugation-type requests, I probably would have become A-Rank sooner.
"Well, that's very like you, though."
With a smile, Vihera said.
For Vihera, who had grown tired of her status as a member of the Imperial Family and fled, she could probably fully understand my feelings of not wanting to associate with nobles.
"Hey, Rei talk is fine and all, but is there no more of this bread? I want to eat more."
Nielson asked me like that, seeming to want more of the bread with dried fruits kneaded into it.
Adventurer ranks probably weren't something Nielson was very interested in.
...No, rather, knowing that Antelme—the one who tried to burn the fairies' home and killed the wolves that had been living alongside the fairies—was an A-Rank adventurer, it wouldn't be strange for her to feel aversion toward the existence of A-Rank adventurers.
"Here, eat this and be quiet."
I handed the bread from my own plate to Nielson.
I didn't dislike this bread with dried fruits kneaded into it either, but this bread was strangely sweet.
It wasn't that sugar had been added to the bread; the sweetness of the dried fruits themselves was extremely strong.
If I were eating it as a snack, that would be one thing, but as bread for dinner, it wasn't really to my liking.
That was probably why I could so easily hand my portion over to Nielson.
Byune watched Nielson happily eating the bread she had received from me with envious eyes.
Byune had probably also finished her own portion of bread and felt it wasn't enough.
Seeing me hand bread to Nielson in that situation, she felt envious.
...Or perhaps she found it novel to see someone eating bread about the size of her own body.
But suddenly, bread was placed on Byune's plate.
The one who placed that bread was Vihera, who had been talking with me.
For Vihera, giving her own bread to Byune wasn't particularly a problem.
"Mn."
After briefly expressing gratitude to Vihera, Byune ate the bread.
Seeing her eating bread alongside Nielson, at first glance they looked like they got along very well.
In fact, the compatibility between those two wasn't bad.
Contrary to how they looked, we continued talking about the promotion exam.
"So, Rei, you'll just spend your time normally until the promotion exam, right? Not doing anything particularly special?"
At Marina's words, I nodded as if to say "obviously."
"Yeah. The promotion exam is a problem, but I can't just ignore the Expansion Construction in Gilm and... the various things in the Treant Forest, either."
The particularly problematic one was the Treant Forest side.
The Expansion Construction could somehow manage even without me at worst.
In fact, it had more or less managed while I was in the other world.
...Transporting felled logs seemed to have been quite difficult, but since they had experienced it once, they could probably manage.
(The problem is that the adventurers who can enter the Treant Forest are limited, but... at worst, there's the option of carrying the logs felled in the Treant Forest to outside the forest and handing them over there to adventurers for transport.)
If only a limited number of adventurers could enter the Treant Forest, those who couldn't enter just needed to wait outside.
Of course, transporting felled logs was undoubtedly extremely hard work.
Especially now, in the height of summer, intense direct sunlight poured down from the sky during the day.
Carrying felled logs in those conditions was truly heavy labor.
...In that sense, those working inside the Treant Forest were undoubtedly better off since they had shade from the trees.
When I voiced the idea I had come up with, the others who were listening nodded as well.
"It would require extra labor costs, but the fact that anyone could accept that request since they wouldn't be entering the Treant Forest would be significant."
"Elena, you seem to be forgetting, but this is the Frontier, you know? Adventurers, soldiers, and knights actively hunt monsters near the highways to prevent them from appearing, but you never know when or what kind of monsters might show up. Thinking about that, you can't just say anyone could do it."
Perhaps because she was the Former Guild Master, Marina was the first to think of that point.
Many people had now come to Gilm seeking work due to the Expansion Construction, but Gilm was originally a frontier, and it wouldn't be strange for unknown monsters to appear.
Even so, if the only travel involved was moving to Gilm and the subsequent work was done within the town, the danger was relatively low.
However, going outside Gilm in such circumstances... and going all the way to near the Treant Forest, which existed away from the highway, would be manageable for someone with sufficient skill, but fatal for those without it.
Of course, just going to such a place didn't mean monsters would appear immediately.
If anything, since monsters were being hunted by adventurers and knights, one wouldn't encounter monsters so easily.
But... that also demonstrated that contact with them would be fatal.
"That may be true, but there are many people currently in Gilm. Among them, wouldn't it be strange if there were some who could handle even frontier monsters?"
"That's true. But precisely because it's the frontier, it's also a fact that you never know what kind of monster might appear. If it's something like Goblins, they could manage somehow, but if it's monsters like Cyclops or Ogres... ordinary adventurers couldn't handle them at all. Of course, not everyone, but..."
It was an undeniable fact that the adventurers who had been active in Gilm before the Expansion Construction began were strong.
But when it came to whether all adventurers outside of Gilm were weak, the answer was naturally no.
It wasn't as if all the strong ones had come to Gilm.
It wouldn't be strange for there to be some who, for some reason or another, didn't want to leave the place where they lived.
If such people had come to Gilm for short-term work to earn money, there was a very real possibility they could somehow handle encountering monsters like Cyclops or Ogres.
Marina naturally understood that as well, but at the same time, she also understood that such people were by no means numerous.
That was exactly why receiving felled logs outside the Treant Forest and transporting them to Gilm was not something that could be done so easily when considering safety.
"For now, all I can do is prepare so that I'm ready whenever the promotion exam comes... We can decide on the log transport during that time too. The problem is that until it's decided when the promotion exam will be held, I can't go to the sea."
I had wanted to go to the sea again this year since it was summer after all.
I had the desire to swim and play, but more than that, honestly, I wanted to secure a year's supply... or perhaps even more, of seafood.
"That's... unfortunate."
Vihera had probably wanted to go to the sea too.
She showed a disappointed reaction to my words.
At the same time, Byune, who was just as attached to the act of eating as I was, also looked disappointed while eating her bread.
Not many people noticed that, though.
"Eh? The sea? You mean that thing, right? A big puddle."
Amidst all that, the one who showed a big reaction was Nielson.
Hearing the words of Nielson, who had only ever traveled inland and had never seen the sea, we proceeded to tell her what kind of place the sea was.