Leap (1)

The carriage heading west was ordinary. Kalbert was now a commoner, and I didn’t have a background to get a fancy carriage. I could’ve borrowed Rushellini’s name to make it happen somehow… but this was fine. It’s just me riding anyway.

Well, Aileen’s here, so I’m not completely alone. Thinking about my daughter made me smile. I felt like I could understand Kalbert’s feelings. For the record, he didn’t come. He was so happy about meeting his daughter, I couldn’t be so dense as to bring him along.

The coachman, who was handling the horses in the front, raised his pipe and cautiously opened his mouth.

“Britonia, huh? That’s quite a distance. Are you traveling for leisure? Or returning home?”

Was he not used to long-distance travel? The coachman tilted his head, unsure how much food he’d need. Come to think of it, how many people try to go from the East to the West? Most people are working their asses off just to survive here.

“I’m going for business. Should I give you some more money?”

“No. It’s alright. I mean, I’d take it if you gave it, but what you gave me now is enough.”

I nodded vaguely and leaned back. It didn’t really matter if we ran out of food in the middle of the journey. I could just teleport, even if it made me dizzy. It’s not that far, and he could take me to a nearby post station so I could start again.

“Then let’s go. How long will it take?”

“If there aren’t any bandit bastards, it’ll be four days at the earliest. If we take the detour, it’ll be six. Which way should we go?”

“Let’s go the former.”

“…Are you sure?”

He was worried about bandits. Pests that swarm long-distance travelers. But since I only had a young girl with me and no mercenaries, he must be worried sick.

“…It’s okay.”

I smiled and snapped my fingers. A crisp ttak sound. Mana flowed out of my fingertips, creating dark clouds. The day was brighter than ever, but the spot where the coachman and I stood was as dark as could be.

At that moment.

–Kureureung!

“Eek! W-What did you just do?”

The straw bales piled next to us were struck by lightning and turned to ashes. No fire broke out. It was intentional control. I brushed off my hands, dispelled the dark clouds, and said with an emotionless face.

“Even if thousands of gnats swarm us, we’ll be fine, so you can go now.”

“A, alright.”

Lightning out of the clear blue sky.

I started the carriage before any unnecessary commotion could arise.

‘Britonia… Should I raise my adventurer rank before going to the Magic Tower?’

Starting from the very bottom wasn’t bad, but I wanted to rise as quickly as possible. I didn’t have an academy diploma or a recommendation from someone. Since I was literally starting from scratch, the only way to prove myself was through force.

‘At least A-rank. Anything higher would be a bit much…’

The thought of going back to being an adventurer made bad memories flood back. The days when I lost all motivation and just wandered around. That’s when I messed up my first steps. If I had found a goal in life that wasn’t pain, would things have been a little different?

‘…Let’s not think about meaningless things.’

Still.

I have a goal now.

I stroked my slightly larger belly and closed my eyes.

* * *

After the promised four days, the neat scenery of the East disappeared, and I began to see monsters and the corpses of adventurers. I rested my chin on my hand and took in the scenery of the West. It was very violent and barbaric.

“Thank you for your hard work. I recommend hiring a mercenary for your return trip.”

“Ahem. Alright. Then good luck to you, Wizard-nim.”

I gave the coachman three silver coins and turned around. This was a tip. With this, I had one gold coin and twelve silver coins left. Considering that you could get a decent inn with just one silver coin, I was on the wealthy side.

A pretty girl with a lot of money was bound to attract attention. The bandits even mistook me for a noble. I met two groups of bandits on the way here. Of course, they turned to ashes after being hit by my Lightning Bolt. Anyway, it’s not a very important story.

I took out the adventurer’s badge that I hadn’t used in a while. Come to think of it, it was supposed to reflect my participation in the Kahalia Labyrinth raid. It’s funny that I’m updating it now, but it’s better than losing out by not doing it.

“F-rank wizard… Yujin.”

Pathetic.

I don’t know if I’ll even be able to set foot in the Magic Tower with this.

I put the badge away and headed to the Adventurer’s Guild. It was the largest building in the western district, except for the Black Rose, so it was easy to find.

“Alright, everyone! A gremlin nest has been discovered in the Kantara Plains, so please apply! The reward is ten copper coins per person! This doesn’t include byproducts, so keep that in mind~”

As I approached the Adventurer’s Guild, I heard a cheerful voice.

A puppy-like receptionist with brown hair and striking freckles. Mary was still working. She definitely mistook me for a Magic Tower errand girl on the first day and tried to drag me away. I was too flustered at the time, and my way of thinking was so gloomy that I just answered vaguely and moved on.

At first, I adamantly denied being affiliated with the Magic Tower, but now that I’m trying to climb it, it feels new.

“Huh…?”

Mary made eye contact with me.

But she quickly turned her head away. She didn’t ignore me, she just didn’t seem to remember me. If you compare me then and now, there’s a huge difference, so it’s not strange that she doesn’t remember me.

The line got shorter, and when it was finally my turn, the eyes of the surrounding adventurers were drawn to me.

‘Ah…’

I realized I wasn’t wearing a robe or cape. And I knew why I was getting attention.

Putting aside the fact that my looks were enough to beat an Elf, the biggest problem was the clothes I was wearing. The clothes created with the reconstruction default value were too luxurious for an ordinary adventurer to wear. The silk-like soft top was one thing, but a garter belt on a skirt? There were too many unnecessary decorations for combat.

I clicked my tongue inwardly and put my hand in my pocket. I should wear a robe from now on. I’d been in the East for too long, so my sense of dress had changed to the Eastern standard.

“Hello! What brings you here?”

“I’m here to update my badge.”

“…Badge?”

“Adventurer’s badge. Here you go.”

I took out my adventurer’s badge and showed it to Mary. She looked quite surprised that I was an adventurer. So were the other adventurers. I ignored the stares. I’d be a celebrity in a few days anyway. I was going to jump straight to A-rank.

“…Name is Yujin. Occupation is wizard, rank is F-rank?”

After saying that, Mary looked back and forth between my face and the badge as if she had remembered something. I smiled slightly at the sight of her nodding like a puppy. Even if she did that, she wouldn’t recognize me.

Because I had returned as a different person.

“Ah, I understand! Please wait a moment!”

I waited for the update with a detached attitude. My face didn’t lose its composure and was full of life. I straightened my back and stood tall, not hiding my legs. The adventurers behind me swallowed hard as they looked at my back.

This kind of attention isn’t bad either. Should I try to create a concept, if possible? I can’t always live gently. Then how about a haughty and hopeless wizard? No. I already used that in the underground arena. Then what would be good…

–Tuk.

Then.

I felt an ominous and disgusting touch. Someone groped my butt. My face hardened coldly and I turned around.

“….”

“…What are you looking at?”

It was a group of adventurers who had come to update their badges like me.

There were three of them.

All men.

I was inwardly amazed that such an ‘unpleasant incident’ had happened less than a day after arriving in the West.

Adventurers. Truly disgusting bastards. Essentially disposable soldiers. Did they even know their own situation? With an icy face, I glared at the man who had touched my butt.

He swallowed hard with a slightly stiff face. Then, the two men behind him chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Don’t be scared, you idiot. That bitch is F-rank.”

Those who were uneducated from birth and had only ever done swordsmanship and backstabbing had one thing in common.

“What? F-rank?”

“She’s a pushover.”

The strong are respected, the weak are despised. The only law that moved them. The man’s face brightened as soon as he heard that I was F-rank. He even smacked his lips and threw out blatant harassment with unpleasant words. Just loud enough that others couldn’t hear. If I came on too strong, he’d deny it and back down.

“Haa…”

I’m going crazy.

I was too pathetic to even bother responding.

I just frowned and turned my gaze back to the reception table. I’d have to wait about a minute. As soon as I updated, I was going to go catch monsters.

But.

“Heh.”

“Oh, she’s looking back again.”

Again.

He groped my butt again.

‘…Should I kill him?’

I seriously considered turning him into a compressed cube, but I couldn’t because Mary had finished updating and returned to the reception table.

“The update is all done!”

“Thank, you. How much did my contribution increase?”

To raise your rank in the guild, you had to accumulate contributions through missions and subjugation records, go through a separate test, and pass it to move on to the next stage. The maximum rank you could reach at once was C-rank. It was also the end of the rank that an ordinary adventurer who hadn’t awakened Mana could reach.

F-rank badges were colloquially called shit badges. The dark brown color reminded people of shit, and they were only good for trolling when they joined a party. But D-rank was different. The treatment was different, but the badge itself was different. From then on, they added metal to prevent it from cracking or corroding in the humidity.

C-rank badges were plated with silver, and B-rank badges were plated with gold. From A-rank onwards, the badges were made by processing crystals whole. All A-rank and higher badges were custom-made and had different shapes.

“Adventurer-nim…!”

“…What’s wrong?”

Mary slurred her words with a strangely excited face. I tilted my head as I looked at Mary, who was trembling her lips. Eventually, she turned the badge over and opened her mouth.

“…Congratulations!”

And the badge that was handed to me was shining with a brilliant silver color.

Mary jumped up and down and grabbed my hands. And shaking them up and down, she said in an excited voice.

“It’s C-rank! Yujin-nim is a C-rank adventurer from today!”

“…What about the promotion test?”

“It’s okay! It’s the guild master’s permission!”

I put the silver badge away and asked back with a sullen face. I was happy that I had risen to C-rank, but was it even possible to do that without a test? No matter how much the guild master allowed it… confusion came before joy.

And.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

I couldn’t understand it, so how could the other guys understand it?

The men behind me pushed me with reddened faces.

“Damn it. When I did it, they made me do that shitty test over and over again, but what about this bastard?”

“…Go back! I’ll call the guards!”

“You have to convince us! How can you go from F-rank to C-rank without a test?!”

“Joining raids, breaking through labyrinths, rescuing nobles. I want to list more, but I don’t have time. Is that enough to convince you? In fact, I could have risen to B-rank, but I can’t because I don’t have the authority. It’s not something you can do by catching goblins and gremlins all day like you. Now go back before I call the guards!”

“That, that can’t be true?! How could an F-rank-“

All the things that had happened had been recorded. But I never reported them separately, so who said it? Kalbert? Or Shuriel? Whoever it was, I’m grateful.

I got up immediately after falling to the ground and hitting my butt. I didn’t want to get involved with those pathetic bastards anymore. My head was throbbing.

“…I’ll assume there’s no problem. I can go back, right?”

“Ah, yes! There’s no problem! Please continue to be active in the future!”

I was going to give them a taste of their own medicine, but after hearing Mary’s eloquence, I felt relieved. I’ll let them off the hook for this. They should be grateful to Mary.

I roughly scanned the high-risk areas posted on the bulletin board and went out into the street to find an inn to use as a base. The familiar sight of the eastern district. The inn where I had shed a lot of blood was still in operation.

I was looking for an inn and was about to go back out into the street when.

“You bitch. Where are you going?”

There were no people around, so it was the perfect environment to be attacked. I chuckled inwardly and looked at the men. An axe, a short knife, and a short sword. They surrounded me with their different weapons.

‘…Idiots.’

Why are all the adventurers like this?

Of course, there must be some who aren’t…

“Sigh…”

Let’s just say I stepped in shit.

I formed a linked beast.

I crossed my hands and created a sharp earth sword.

There was no need to go as far as flashy magic.

“Damn it! Kill that bitch!”

It was a luxury for them to even glimpse the path of magic.

* * *

“Excuse me, Mary. I’ll take this one.”

“A C-rank mission! Let’s see, subjugation of the Shareid? Hmm, the recommended number of people is three C-rank adventurers, are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“…Can’t I do it alone?”

“It’s possible, but I can’t take responsibility.”

“It’s okay. I’ll do it alone.”

“Ah, yes! A, and. Adventurer-nim…?”

“Yes?”

Mary licked her dry lips as she looked at the red liquid on my clothes.

“Wh, what is that?”

“…I caught a few monsters. They snuck into the city.”

Mary nodded silently.