It has been quite a long while,

  Three days.

  …

  I've finished my fifth Lapis-ranked quest from the guild.

  Currently doing a Lapis rank as of now.

  “I believe I will be Ferri in a few days or so.“

  I look below at the Natum Maw that I pierced by the neck, squirming.

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  “Are you glad?“

  I lean down slightly before slicing it swiftly.

  —

  “Very nice~”

  Ellis whistles.

  “And here I thought you were a fragile old man a few days ago~”

  She jokingly states.

  “I was wondering, when will I be able to rank up?“

  I asked lightly and directly.

  “Right now is fine. If possible, the guild might jump you to Stannum and skip Ferri altogether.“

  She rests her cheek on her palm on her counter.

  “First, you did a Stannum-ranked quest and successfully completed it—well, of course, you broke rules, however I excused that. Second, you also showed the guild the whole… fake pins and quests situation. And third, you were a hunter before. The guild master looked into it. Well, of course, we won't give you your old rank back, because duh.“

  “I would be happy to, if I was illogical. But you aren't the same candle you were when you were a youngster, right~”

  She slides a paper on the table to sign.

  “Here. A rank request. Just sign here and I'll give it to the guild master, yada yada yada.“

  She yawns before smiling widely.

  “Nicely done~”

  She states warmly.

  I wrote my signature.

  This is a step forward. The guild seems to be tolerable for now.

  “I'm definitely proud, you know? Come back tomorrow and we'll see if they accepted your request~”

  She taps her fingers on the counter.

  I nodded lightly before leaving the guild.