Volume 23 Chapter 9, C Rank on Standby?

Kousuke watched with a curious look on his face as the man was carried out in an unconscious state after being hit on the head as hard as he could with a rock that Knoll had created.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’re not happy about it.”

Gazeran looked at Kousuke as if he had found something interesting.

“Oh, no. I’m confused, or rather, I don’t understand?”

“What? How?”

“Well. People like that are everywhere, but what would they do after defeating someone like me?”

Gazeran nodded his head at Kousuke’s statement.

“You see, Cecil and Arisa have their own free will, so I don’t think defeating me is going to help them, right?”

Kousuke turned his head with a look of sincere doubt on his face.

Seeing Kousuke like that, Gazeran was giggling.

“If they had a brain to think about such things in the first place, they wouldn’t be thinking about getting involved with other people in the first place, would they?”

“….Really?”

“Yeah, of course they do. And most of the people here are like that, you know?”

Gazeran’s words drew boos from those who had been watching their battle.

They had been swept away by the fairies Kousuke had summoned just a few moments before, but they recovered quickly.

And perhaps that was the trick to surviving as an adventurer.

Thinking about such an unimportant thing, Kousuke let out a sigh.

“Yeah. Well, okay. Now you have no more use for me, right?”

“Oh, wait a minute.”

Gazeran stopped Kousuke, who was about to leave, thinking that he was no longer needed.

“What, there’s more?”

“Since we’re on the subject, why don’t we go ahead and have you take the rank advancement exam? Let’s bring you up to C Rank with my authority as a department head.”

Kousuke was surprised at this offer.

After all, he had only been active as “Kou” for a short time.

The only achievement he had obtained was the materials he brought back just a few days ago.

It would be impossible for such a rookie to suddenly be assigned “C” Rank.

As expected, there was a different kind of booing from those around him.

“Shut up, you guys! There aren’t enough skilled adventurers to go around! If you like, want to go at it too? Let’s see, anyone who can beat this guy gets C-rank, okay?”

“Wait, wait…?”

At Gazeran’s words, the noise stopped.

Kousuke hurried to stop him, but it was already too late.

There were a few who were already in the mood.

***

“Are those statements true, department head?”

One of them said as he came forward.

Gazeran grinned at the man.

“Hey, of course. I’m the department head. I can manage a little bit of the process.”

Kousuke was inwardly troubled when he heard this.

He didn’t think it was right for a department head to break the rules, but Kousuke was in no position to give his opinion to Gazeran.

“You seem to have misunderstood, but department head privileges really do exist, you know?”

Gazeran suddenly said to Kousuke.

“What? Really.”

“Ooh. It’s written in the company’s rules and regulations. Check it out later.”

Apparently, he was not lying, Kousuke thought.

Cecil and Arisa, who were watching the commotion, were nodding their heads up and down.

“Well, that’s fine then… I mean, this is not good! Why do I have to go through all that trouble? I’m planning to raise my Rank the normal way, so I don’t need any special exceptions! “

“No, no, don’t say that. Besides, it’s already too late to say so, see?”

Gazeran said and looked at the entrances to the training grounds.

Both of the two entrances were blocked by grinning adventurers.

They were not trying to lock Kousuke in, but they wanted to make sure that they witnessed all this fun commotion.

As if giving up, Kousuke’s shoulders slumped.

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As it turned out, Kousuke was able to become Rank C as “Kou”.

He defeated all the adventurers who approached him.

He even presented Sarah after Knoll.

In conclusion, it ended up becoming a challenge to defeat Kousuke, rather than a rank-up test.

Some of them had already reached Rank C, indicating the situation.

“Oh, splendidly done. No one will complain about Kou getting Rank C now.”

Gazeran seemed satisfied with his performance.

In fact, one might say that he was relieved to see how Kousuke fought.

Certainly, he could get through most things if he could show this level of fighting ability.

Gazeran had been intimidated by Kousuke, but had never seen him actually fight, so he wanted to know exactly how good he was.

“Well, is that all… So? Can we end this with the Rank Up?”

Kousuke confirmed to Gazeran, looking tired.

No, he was actually tired.

“Oh, yeah. I’ll take care of the rest! Can you process it?”

Gazeran said, addressing the official who had been watching what was going on.

But the official shook his head from side to side.

“No, I can’t do that. That’s impossible.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“It’s just as the department head said earlier. It’s a special exception, so we can’t handle it ourselves. You have to do it yourself.”

“Oh? Oh? Is that so?”

Kousuke looked at Gazeran surprised at this and gave him a stern look.

***

“After that. we’re done here, right?”

“Why the question?”

Kousuke asked Gazeran, who tilted his head and handed him a Crown Card for “Kou”.

“Gahaha. It’s my first time making a special exception. I don’t know if I’m doing it right!”

“Don’t be so bossy.”

That line, uttered in a snappy tone, did not reach Gazeran.

No, he probably just ignored it.

Kousuke was sure of it when he saw the receptionist, who had been watching him, nodding.

“Well, never mind.”

When Kousuke checked, it had indeed been properly revised to Rank C, and there was nothing particularly wrong with it.

“Well, since it’s a good time, I guess we should take some requests and leave.”

Kousuke said to Cecil and Arisa, who had been watching over them.

They nodded in agreement.

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After receiving the appropriate request, the three of them returned to the inn they had reserved.

Cecil and Arisa already knew the reason why they were going to the inn, so they did not question it.

Usually, instead of staying at an Inn, they would have gone straight back to the Yurino Shrine, but since Kousuke was going to the Inn, they had decided to stay there as well.

They could not leave Kousuke alone, no matter the cost.

Even though Nana, the strongest guard, was by his side.

***

“Ah, I’m tired. I’m tired.”

Kousuke muttered as he sat on the bed in the inn room.

As a matter of course, he was not in the same room with the other two.

Although Nana, as expected, was by his side.

For Kousuke, the events back at Crown headquarters were more exhausting than killing monsters.

Not so much physically, but mentally.

But it was a good experience for Kousuke because he was able to become Rank C.

He knew that Gazeran was trying to do just that.

However, it was also true that he was tired, so he decided to go straight to bed that day