Black Summoner – Chapter 22

“Yo, Kelvin. Another successful quest, huh?”

As I entered Pars City after returning from the Dark Purple Forest, one of the gatekeepers guarding the west entrance called out to me.

“The results are excellent. I managed to acquire some good materials.”

“Hahaha, you adventurers of Pars certainly do things differently!”

For the past month, I’ve been doing various monster subjugations, partly as training for Efil. Sometimes, I’d even be asked by Rio to tackle abnormally strong monsters, like the one this time. After all, the highest rank an adventurer affiliated with Pars can achieve is only C-Rank. It had slowly become a trend for requests to come my way as a B-Rank adventurer.

“Welcome back, Efil. Are you injured anywhere?”

“Thank you for your concern. I have not sustained a single scratch.”

“That’s a relief. It would be a terrible disaster if something happened to you, Efil.”

“I felt at ease accompanying Master.”

The gatekeeper turned his attention to Efil, who was following close behind me. Efil has truly become accustomed to Pars City and has built a good rapport with the townsfolk.

“I need to report to the Guild now, so I’ll take my leave.”

“Sorry to keep you. Good luck with your next quest!”

After parting ways with the gatekeeper, I headed toward the Guild.

***

“We confirm the subjugation of the Wicked Old Treant. Thank you for your hard work this time as well!”

After completing the usual report, Ange handed me my reward money.

“That makes it 9 consecutive B-Rank quest completions! You’re almost at A-Rank, Kelvin!”

“Congratulations, Master.”

“Well, it’s not like my promotion is decided yet, right?”

I had been so focused on the subjugation that I’d forgotten, but had I already completed that many?

“Efil, if you clear one more quest, you’ll be eligible for the B-Rank Promotion Exam as well.”

“Oh, right, there was an exam.”

The C-Rank promotion exam Efil took previously was a one-on-one mock battle against a C-Rank adventurer serving as the examiner. Normally, winning wasn’t strictly necessary; the examiner’s role was to simply confirm if the candidate possessed C-Rank combat capabilities.

“Last time, it was a mock battle against a C-Rank adventurer. That poor guy…”

“Efil’s arrow hit the examiner’s head cleanly within a few seconds after the start…”

“Ah, I thought they were testing me because there was such a large opening…”

During the exam, Efil activated her stealth skill right after the signal to start and moved into the examiner’s blind spot. Then, she loosed an arrow. The arrow struck the examiner perfectly, and that was the end of the exam. It was too fast. While the arrowhead was dulled, the examiner, unfortunately for them, was hit in a vulnerable spot and had to withdraw. While that’s concerning, what was more regrettable was the psychological scar they seemingly suffered.

“The examiner, Uldo, was a seasoned veteran! You two are just too far beyond the norm!”

Efil has the combat prowess to hold her own even in B-Rank dungeons. It’s not like she’d fall behind a mere C-Rank adventurer at this point, but apparently, that’s considered unusual.

“That’s right, Ange. I found a really good sweets shop the other day. Would you like to go together sometime?”

“E-Really?! I’d love to! It’s a promise, Efil!”

Someone’s off the clock, Ange. Efil and Ange have grown quite close over this past month. While they try their best to maintain a professional demeanor during work, it often crumbles, as it just did.

“Yes, it’s a promise.”

Efil replied with a smile. This girl is truly an angel.

Speaking of angels, Melfina is currently away on a business trip. She went to impart an oracle to the shrine maiden who summoned that hero. It seems a sudden urgent message arrived from a subordinate she had tasked with a job. Melfina herself left the subordinate network, saying, “This is troublesome, truly troublesome. Master, I’ll finish this as quickly as possible. Until then, be sure to protect Efil properly, okay?” She’s gradually becoming like Efil’s mother or older sister.

“Master, when will you be free?”

“Hmm, you want me to go too?”

“If possible… I’d like to find some sweets that suit Master’s taste.”

“Oh, I’m interested in that too! What kind of sweets do you like?”

There’s no way I can refuse the combined insistence of these two women, so I found myself making another promise.

The sweets in this world, compared to modern times, aren’t very sweet. There are no cakes using fresh cream; at best, there are pancakes generously topped with fruit. For me, whose palate has been accustomed to the sweetness of modern times, the sweets in this world are frankly underwhelming.

In between subjugation quests, Efil has been learning cooking from Claire. While she’s not yet Claire’s level, she has acquired cooking skills and is steadily improving every day. Many misunderstand, but acquiring technical skills isn’t just about obtaining them. There’s an anecdote about a swordsman with a swordsmanship skill losing a duel in swordsmanship to a knight of the same level who didn’t possess the skill. Skills are merely modifiers. Even without a skill, the swordsmanship honed through diligent training can still be fully displayed. That’s why I continue to practice blacksmithing, and Efil continues to learn cooking. Someday, I hope Efil can recreate modern cakes.