"Rei, you came back at just the right time. ...Did you get scolded?"
The adventurer presumably understood why Rei had gone to the Guild Master's office in the first place. He asked with a slightly teasing tone.
"Scolded, or rather, lightly warned. ...Well, even I think I was careless about this whole matter."
"Huh."
Perhaps because Rei had honestly admitted his fault, the adventurer looked at him with an impressed—no, surprised expression.
Rei had some thoughts about the way the other man was looking at him, but he had more important things to do right now. He ignored the gaze and spoke.
"So, what about my bet?"
"Oh, right. Come with me for a bit. Apparently the higher-up wants to judge for himself whether you're allowed to bet."
"Is there really a need to go that far?"
Rei had expected to be readily approved. After all, he was betting on passing the promotion exam, not failing. Despite that, having to meet in person to decide whether he could bet struck him as honestly a bit much.
Still, he figured he might as well meet the person, so he let the adventurer guide him out of the Guild.
Naturally, when Rei exited the Guild, Set approached him.
The adventurer who had come out of the Guild with Rei also knew about Set, of course. So he wasn't surprised that Set was approaching. But the regretful, resentful, "couldn't you have given us a little more time?" looks directed at him from the people who had been playing with Set were apparently unexpected, and he stopped in his tracks under the weight of their gazes.
"What's wrong?"
Rei asked the adventurer, seemingly completely unaffected by the pressure of those stares.
Do you stop feeling the pressure from these looks once you get used to it? No, but then again... what would that say about you?
He felt such doubts, but for now decided it would be better to leave this place quickly.
"This way."
The adventurer led Rei to a shop not too far from the Guild. It was a shop selling various miscellaneous goods, and it didn't seem like the kind of place a bookmaker would operate.
That said, this bet wasn't something involving an underworld organization or anything of the sort. Since it was strictly a common, everyday wager, it wasn't strange for an ordinary shop owner to be running the bet.
If anything, it's more reassuring than having underworld organization people running it.
Thinking that, Rei told Set to wait a bit while stroking him, then entered the shop.
Inside, there was a fierce-looking man.
Yeah, that figures.
For some reason, Rei found himself accepting this instantly. But thinking about it, it was only natural. After all, when it came to gambling, large sums of money naturally changed hands. It wouldn't be strange for some people to refuse to accept their losses and cause trouble.
When dealing with such people, if an ordinary person tried to talk them down, the other party would just get cocky and make even more of a scene. However, if the one dealing with them was a fierce-looking individual, most people would hesitate to start a rampage.
Of course, there would still be those who caused trouble no matter who they faced. Even so, being able to handle the rabble was undoubtedly a welcome arrangement for those running the bet.
"Hello, Rei-san."
"O-oh."
However, Rei was startled when such a fierce-looking man bowed and greeted him with polite language. The gap between his appearance and his behavior was extraordinarily striking.
"Jean, I'll leave the rest to you. I'm going to head back to the Guild and see if I can find any more people who want to join the bet."
The adventurer who had guided Rei there told the fierce-looking man called Jean this, then left the shop. Jean didn't seem to have any particular objection to the man's departure, showing no sign of wanting to say anything.
Once it was just the two of them, Jean spoke.
"So, I heard you wanted to participate in the bet, Rei-san. Is that true?"
That polite manner of speech, so at odds with his appearance, carried a peculiar intensity. Still, Rei had been through many different experiences by now. Though startled by the man's speech, he quickly recovered himself and nodded.
"Yeah, that's right. I want to join the bet on whether I pass the promotion exam. However, to avoid any sense of unfairness, I want to bet that I will pass."
"...I see. You're exactly as I heard. To give you the conclusion right away, under those conditions, I have no problem with you betting on yourself."
Rei, having been given permission to bet far more readily than expected, directed his gaze at Jean's face. Jean, meeting Rei's gaze, continued speaking without any sign of surprise.
"However, if you are betting, Rei-san, I will have to set an upper limit on the amount. And it will be a rather low amount. Will that still be acceptable?"
"I would have preferred to bet freely, but if the bookmaker says so, it can't be helped. How much are we talking, by the way?"
"How about five gold coins?"
"Isn't that way too cheap no matter how you look at it? At least five platinum coins."
The fact that Rei considered five gold coins cheap was proof that his sense of money had become desensitized. Then again, for Rei, earning a few gold coins from bandit hunting was not uncommon. Depending on the treasure a bandit group possessed, it wouldn't be strange for it to amount to several platinum coins. Also, his habit of buying large quantities of food from food stalls and diners on a regular basis was likely another reason his sense of money had become numb.
"I know your strength, Rei-san. I also know that you intend to pass the promotion exam. But... even if you do pass, we don't have the funds to pay out that much. We are not that large an organization."
Jean's words were true. The betting Jean was running was, at its core, a moderate-sum operation—the kind of bet run as a hobby. Still, as the bookmaker, he had a reasonable amount of financial leeway, but if Rei were to win big, it would be questionable whether they could pay out in full.
If no other bets were running, they might have had the margin for it, but... the thing was, Rei's promotion exam had been decided suddenly, so it inevitably had to run concurrently with other bets.
Furthermore, even when betting on pass or fail, it wasn't just a matter of pass or fail alone. There were numerous betting options, such as which day one would fail on if they didn't pass, or how many A-rank monsters they would slay beyond the required two if they did pass.
What's more, given that Rei was known as an alias holder, there were quite a few people betting on him to pass.
For Jean, the fortunate thing was probably that the exam would take place in the Forest of Magic. The Forest of Magic was home to numerous high-rank monsters, a place where even approaching carelessly was forbidden. Because of that, there were some who thought even Rei would find it difficult to pass.
Considering all of those factors, the bets had ultimately spread out in a way that was convenient for Jean as the bookmaker, but...
Afterward, Rei talked with Jean and, though somewhat reluctantly, decided to bet five gold coins on his own passing.
And not just a simple pass, but passing by slaying three or more A-rank monsters.
Originally, Rei's passing requirement was to slay two A-rank monsters and bring back their corpses, so there was no need to slay three. In other words, this meant that Rei was more than sufficiently—no, far more than sufficiently—meeting the promotion exam's criteria.
Of course, Rei intended to slay not just three, but five or even ten A-rank monsters.
Beast magic, unique to Rei and Set. It was a special form of magic that allowed them to acquire new skills or strengthen existing ones using magic stones, and the higher the rank of the monster's magic stone used, the more effective the skill acquisition or enhancement. With low-rank monster magic stones, skill acquisition or enhancement often failed.
For Rei and Set, being able to fight high-rank monsters in the Forest of Magic held tremendous significance.
That said, the opponents were high-rank monsters... A-rank monsters, the same rank as a typical gryphon. Even for Rei and Set, there was no guarantee they could win so easily.
Well, Set is treated as a rare species that has acquired skills, so he's regarded as S-rank equivalent, and in that sense, even an ordinary gryphon would be considered a lower-rank opponent.
Having finished his conversation with Jean and bet five gold coins on passing the promotion exam—passing by slaying three or more A-rank monsters—Rei walked through the streets with Set.
"Guruu?"
Probably judging that Rei was in a reasonably good mood, Set purred at him as if asking, "What's up?"
While stroking Set, Rei smiled and spoke.
"This promotion exam... I was just thinking that there's a lot more to look forward to now. Plus, being out here like this makes it feel like the exam is finally getting close."
Rei had considerable expectations for this exam. Becoming an A-rank adventurer was certainly part of it, but more than that, being able to take the promotion exam in the Forest of Magic was the bigger draw.
He would be able to stay in the Forest of Magic for two nights—strictly speaking, two nights and three days. How many monsters could he hunt during that time?
Many of the monsters in the Forest of Magic probably wouldn't flee even upon sensing Rei and Set's presence.
No, it is the Forest of Magic, so maybe I should assume there are no low-rank monsters like goblins in the first place?
Thinking that, but considering the food chain, the existence of low-rank monsters like goblins was undoubtedly essential. Even in the Forest of Magic, it wouldn't be strange for there to be similar low-rank monsters, if not goblins themselves.
Thinking so, Rei tried to recall the time he had emerged from the Forest of Magic, but he didn't think there had been any such low-rank monsters around.
There were Water Bears and Jarms, though. ...Oh wait, could Jarms have been serving the same role as goblins?
A Jarm was a monster about fifteen centimeters in length, resembling a flying squirrel, with a tail that was sharply hardened like a blade—an F-rank monster. Looking purely at its individual rank, it was the same as a goblin... but as a monster of the Forest of Magic, a Jarm was naturally not to be taken lightly.
Though F-rank as an individual, they typically formed colonies of a hundred or more. A hundred of them attacking meant a hundred blades descending—and they came flying through the air. Even among F-rank monsters, they were different from goblins.
Well, goblins do form groups too, so there's no doubt they attack in swarms. But the offensive power of a Jarm swarm is completely different from a goblin swarm.
Goblins would initially attack with vigor, but the moment they found themselves at a disadvantage, they would immediately start to retreat. In contrast, Jarms attacked with the discipline of a well-coordinated army. It was likely a trait they had acquired to survive in the Forest of Magic, but anyone who made the mistake of underestimating them as low-rank monsters could easily end up dead, even if they were a fairly strong adventurer.
"At any rate, I'm glad there are monsters to fight in the Forest of Magic. You think so too, right, Set?"
"Guruu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred as if to say, "That's right!"
What beast magic enhanced was not limited to Rei's Death Scythe. No, when it came to beast magic, Set's existence was the true protagonist. Death Scythe had been created because Rei's mana was so immense that even after using the beast magic's magic circle to create Set, Rei still had mana left over.
"What kind of monster would you like to encounter, Set? A dragon, after all?"
"Guruu? ...Guruu..."
At Rei's words, Set showed a conflicted reaction.
For Set, the most familiar dragon was his friend Ielo. When asked if he wanted to fight a dragon like Ielo, it was probably a complicated feeling.
Though, dragon relatives—or rather, the lower species of wyverns—he could defeat without issue.
Seeing Set's reaction and somehow understanding how he felt, Rei stroked the gentle Set and headed back to Marina's house.