Perhaps because Amy, Bolton, and the receptionist girl’s report was delivered to the higher-ups.
The next day, the dungeon we had stopped exploring and returned from was given the name ‘Crude Catacomb’.
It meant a crude and gloomy ossuary.
“It’s just a temporary name anyway. The Goddess Church has decided to dispatch a subjugation force, so the conquest will be over in no time.”
“Hmm… is that so?”
Well, it wasn’t something for me to worry about. My role had ended with safely bringing Amy back.
That ‘Lowborn Slaughterer’ or whatever Abyss Priest would be subjugated by the Church, wouldn’t he? That’s what the Church is there for.
According to the receptionist girl, as soon as they heard Bolton’s report upon his return, the Goddess Church immediately organized a subjugation force consisting of paladins and priests.
Of course, from what I heard, it wasn’t a large force.
Even if there was an Abyss Priest, if he was just commanding wights, it wasn’t considered a serious enough threat to warrant the deployment of the Church’s main force.
The Church’s main forces had far too many things to do.
Things incomparably tougher than taking down an Abyss Priest hiding in a low-level dungeon.
So, they only dispatched the forces stationed here in Vespian?
Although they say these are just reserve forces, not the main force… still, they can apparently handle wights like snacks.
The fate awaiting the Abyss Priest would likely be nothing but getting beaten like a dog and then burned at the stake.
* * *
For a week after that, I spent time doing short requests one after another.
Subjugating a kobold den that was barely worth calling a dungeon with just one floor.
Gathering snow mountain magic herbs used in making mint-flavored cigarettes.
Exterminating a pack of wolves attacking villages in search of food.
Even rescuing villagers kidnapped by goblins and dragged to their base.
I handled the kobold subjugation and villager rescue requests with Kikel, while for the wolf extermination and herb gathering requests, which Kikel couldn’t join, I found temporary parties and carried them out together.
As with most temporary parties, they weren’t particularly reliable folks either. Not in terms of character, but in terms of skill.
It really made me miss Kikel during those requests.
What happened, you ask?
So, while we were rummaging through the snowy mountains looking for magic herbs,
-Grooooar! Groooar!
A snow bear suddenly appeared…
-Eeeek! B-b-b-bear! A snow bear has appeared!
-Run awaaaay!
-Play dead, we must play dead!
-You’ll really die doing that, you idiot! Just run!
Would you believe it, those guys screamed like wet cats and scattered in all directions?
Their escape was so agile it was truly laughable.
Thanks to that, I had to duel a giant bear that seemed over 3 meters tall with just a longsword in hand.
Fortunately, perhaps due to the experience of subjugating many wights, my body moved much better than before and I somehow managed to win.
Though the snow bear hide I had worked so hard to obtain was in a state close to rags and didn’t fetch a high price.
And on the morning of the 8th day.
“Congratulations, Miss Hilde.”
The receptionist girl suddenly offered me congratulations.
“Congratulations?”
“You’ve accumulated quite a lot of merit points from that designated request last time. If you successfully complete just one good request, we could discuss your promotion.”
“Oh, really?”
Along with this welcome news.
* * *
Discussion of promotion to copper tag.
Although the word ‘discussion’ was used, it practically meant confirmed promotion.
Unless there was an extremely serious disqualifying reason, there was no point in failing an adventurer who had the skills and merits worthy of discussing promotion.
Of course, I did belong to the category of adventurers with those ‘serious disqualifying reasons’…
But if it was about that issue, it had been somehow resolved thanks to Amy and Bolton’s endorsement, so there was no need to worry anymore.
So, it meant that if I just safely completed one more request, I too could be recognized as a copper tag level adventurer.
It was an exceptionally quick promotion.
Was the merit of finding the Abyss Priest’s trail quite significant?
Although it was closer to accidentally encountering it rather than us finding it… in this industry, luck was also recognized as skill.
Added to that were reports of subjugating over ten wights and defeating a snow bear single-handedly, which led to discussions of promotion to copper tag despite my short career.
“Copper tag…”
I felt a bit dazed, but it was a good thing anyway.
Although it was still quite far from the silver tag adventurer status I was aiming for, even becoming a copper tag adventurer came with quite a lot of benefits.
Should I say it’s like the difference between temporary and permanent employment?
Since copper tag is a level where one can pride oneself as a proper adventurer, the guild also tended to pay some attention to their convenience.
Things like providing a small condolence payment to the bereaved family in case of death during a request, or guaranteeing a 5% discount when using guild-affiliated stores… something like that.
In addition, unlike iron tag and below who had to stay at inns, from copper tag onwards, they were granted residency rights to find and live in their own home within the city.
Considering the housing prices here, it was literally just permission granted, and unless you hit a jackpot during dungeon exploration, buying a house would be unrealistic.
“Kachak! Copper tag, rise? Congratulations have!”
Kikel, who had been listening beside me, shook his neck left and right and offered congratulations.
I wondered if Kikel could be promoted too, but they said his skills and experience were still too early to discuss promotion.
He was at a level just straddling the upper ranks of iron tag adventurers? For him to be promoted to copper tag, he would have to diligently subjugate dungeons.
Well, it shouldn’t take too long.
As he keeps killing enemies and accumulating experience – or ‘Up’ as they call it here – he too would become stronger and reach a level suitable for a copper tag adventurer.
* * *
Anyway, in a good mood from this unexpected good news, I immediately took on a new request.
Cleaning up a mine shaft that had become a nest for giant spiders.
It wasn’t a difficult request.
Giant spiders were monsters that could be defeated relatively easily if you just watch out for the webs they shoot from their rear and their poison-filled fangs.
The problem was…
“Ah, is it you? The adventurers who will go with us to subjugate the giant spiders?”
One of the party members who had chosen the same request.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Wolfgang. As you can see, I’m a warrior walking the path of unarmed combat.”
In a somewhat different direction from Kikel, he was a being that wasn’t human.
A young unarmed combat warrior boasting a smooth scalp without a single hair.
Bald people are not human to begin with, and unarmed combat warriors also can’t be considered human, so a bald unarmed combat warrior could literally be called the embodiment of human disqualification.
In a situation where he should be committing suicide while reminiscing about his shameful life, he was shamelessly continuing his life as an adventurer. How could such a being actually exist?
It was truly astonishing.
* * *
Unarmed combat warrior.
It was a term referring to half-chimpanzees who directly go against the evolutionary history of humanity that rose to the top of all creatures through tools.
Lunatics who ignore and deny the obvious truth that being stabbed and cut hurts much more than being hit, and the fundamental principle that in fighting, having longer reach is generally advantageous.
With their terrible attack power and excessively dangerous combat style, plus stubbornness that just doesn’t listen to reason.
Among warriors, they were treated even worse than dagger warriors, literally like untouchables.
They claim that their fists, trained to the extreme, have the power of iron maces, but…
If that’s the case, why not just buy an iron mace? An iron mace costs just about 2 silver at most.
So unarmed combat warriors could only be seen as fools.
Half-humans, half-chimpanzees whose primitive ancient ape genes had somehow been expressed due to something going wrong during the growth of their zygote.
That was the true nature of unarmed combat warriors.
Of course, if they were strong enough to exert strength beyond the limits of muscles by accumulating sufficient ‘Up’, punching and kicking alone would be enough to beat down monsters…
But was the level I was working at anywhere near that?
Among adventurers below copper tag, to be frank, there was practically no difference between the punches of warriors wielding greatswords and those of unarmed combat warriors.
Even greatsword warriors develop considerable strength from swinging around heavy swords all the time.
The only difference between them was that unarmed combat warriors tended to be more boastful when throwing punches.
With an attitude suggesting they had properly learned how to punch unlike other riffraff.
…Anyway, how could I not be shocked to have such a being join the party?
Especially for a request that was practically a promotion test.
And to top it off, a man without even hair.
…No, really. He had no hair, I’m telling you?
How can a person be like this? I couldn’t believe it no matter how much I looked.
If he looked about 70 years old it would be understandable, but how could a man clearly in his late twenties not have a single strand of hair?
Moreover, if he’s an unarmed combat warrior, shouldn’t he be covered in thick fur, having regressed to a chimpanzee?
Could he be suffering from some terminal illness?
Otherwise, there’s no way a man not even thirty years old could have a head gleaming as brightly as a light bulb.