“Ta-Tanaka-san!?”

“I’d like you to explain the situation, but… before that. Everyone!! Hurry up and provide medical assistance!! Save every life you can!!”

With a voice loud enough to rival the helicopter’s noise, Tanaka-san ordered the clearers. Many people were injured in the village ravaged by the orcs, and several buildings had collapsed.

Thanks to the swift response, the villagers were being rescued.

“Kai-kun, can you tell me about it later?”

“Ha…ha…yes…”

I forced a dry smile.

There was no escaping now; perhaps my qualifications would be revoked, and I would become an unqualified clearer.

Tanaka-san and I participated in the rescue efforts.

The damage was not as severe as it seemed, with the village chief and the first five who entered the dungeon being dead or injured.

Other than that, several other lives were lost.

Although many lives were lost, the fact that the damage from a dungeon collapse of this scale was minimal was probably due to me quickly defeating all the orcs.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be surprising if an entire village disappeared from the map.

Several hours later.

“Well, Kai-kun, let’s go home. We’ll hand it over to the Dungeon Association. I want you to tell me everything in detail, okay?”

“Y-yes, understood…”

Under the pressure of Tanaka-san’s smile that wasn’t really a smile, I boarded the helicopter. This helicopter was owned by Avalon for emergency use, and Tanaka-san had immediately arranged for it to fly to this village… or rather, to help me.

“Ah, Amachi-san!!”

As I was about to board the helicopter, Nagisa came running towards me, followed by her grandmother.

Today’s events lasted only about four hours, but it felt like we spent a very intense time together.

She’s like my little sister, frail and worrisome, but the Dungeon Association will probably protect her from now on.

“I’m leaving. Take care, Nagisa. Don’t do anything reckless anymore. Grandma, I leave the rest to you.”

“Amachi-san, thank you so much for saving my granddaughter.”

“W-wait, please! I… I want to talk more with Amachi-san!”

“Thank you, I feel the same way. Nagisa, you remind me so much of my sister that I couldn’t leave you alone. But from now on, the Dungeon Association will protect you. Don’t worry.”

“S-sister!?”

“Yeah, you really look like my sister. Your age, height, hairstyle, and even your name.”

“W-well, what about as a woman!?”

“A woman? Haha, you’re quite mischievous for a middle school student, aren’t you?”

I lightly flicked her forehead.

I don’t have a taste for seeing a girl who’s much younger than my sister as a romantic interest. Nagisa puffed out her cheeks while looking up at me and rubbing her forehead.

“I’ll grow taller! W-will you see me again when I do?”

“I’m looking forward to it. You seem like you’ll become a great friend for my sister, Nagi. Let’s meet again someday!”

I waved and boarded the helicopter as it was.

Nagisa waved back at me with a voice loud enough to drown out the helicopter noise, saying she would definitely come to see me.

Tanaka-san laughed with a grin, saying, “Well done,” but it’s true that I’ve become stronger. He must be praising me.

And so, we flew through the sky towards Tokyo.

The time had already passed midnight, and with the end of the dungeon collapse in Yonaki Village that day, the Dungeon Association would now manage it as a D-Rank dungeon.

All responsibility was pinned on the deceased village chief, and everyone else was acquitted.

I thought that was a bit questionable, but since the village chief was mainly to blame, there was no other choice.

The midnight sky was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. I wondered if this is what darkness feels like. I felt a little scared.

While looking out the window and thinking that…

“Let’s talk about the various circumstances tomorrow, just the two of us. We’ll take our time without anyone bothering us.”

“Y-yes…”

“I’m looking forward to it… Kai-kun.”

“Y-yeah me too~~”

Tanaka-san smiled.

However, his eyes weren’t smiling.

I decided to tell Tanaka-san everything and give up on hiding it.

That day, we arrived in Tokyo and disbanded.

It was late at night, so the trains weren’t running, but Tanaka-san arranged a taxi for me, saying it was a company expense.

I wondered what kind of expense it was but took advantage of it and headed straight home.

That was because my fatigue had reached its peak.

I had been masking it with adrenaline, but it seemed like I had been pushing myself too hard. As soon as I got home, I slept until the afternoon the next day.

◇ The next day, noon

“Whoa!? I overslept… it’s already 12 o’clock…”

I sprang up from bed, looked at the clock, and stretched, thinking it had been a long time since I slept this much. I had slept like a log, probably due to exhaustion, but it seemed like a lot of the fatigue had been lifted.

“I have a dinner appointment with Tanaka-san tonight… What should I do? I have some free time, maybe I should go clear a dungeon?”

I checked my own status.

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

Name: Kai Amachi

Status: Good

Job: None

Skill(s): The Eye of God, Access Permission Lv1

Magic Power: 385

Attack Power: Reflection rate▶25%=96

Defense Power: Reflection rate▶25%=96

Agility: Reflection rate▶25%=96

Intelligence: Reflection rate▶25%=96

Equipment:

・The Emblem of the Knight

・High Wolf’s fang sword = Attack Power +120

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

“Finally at 385… My magic power increased by 100 in the Orc dungeon. I guess I’m at the lower end of C-Rank according to the Dungeon Association’s standards.”

In the Dungeon Association, it’s possible to measure magic power.

I don’t know the details of how it works, but it takes about thirty minutes to measure, and it can be done for free.

They use the vibrations generated when magic power flows through a magic stone to measure the magic power of the person being tested.

That being said, the frequency of the vibrations is used as the basis for what’s called magic power.

And I suppose the magic power value I can see in this status is the same as that value.

“Speaking of which, they said it’s integrated with human common sense, but I wonder if it’s showing me things in a way that’s easy for me to understand?”

First of all, the criteria for ranks like E-Rank and D-Rank were created by humans.

The ability to see this status is definitely not due to human power.

Nevertheless, having it displayed in a way that’s easy for me to understand is very helpful.

“C-Rank is up to 1,000 magic power, so it’s still far away… But I’ll do my best.”

E-Rank is for magic power between 10 and 50. D-Rank is for up to 100, and C-Rank is for up to 1,000.

From there, it increases by one digit at a time, so B-Rank is up to 10,000, and anything beyond that is A-class.

Anything higher than that is called S-Rank, and at that point, I don’t really understand it anymore.

There’s actually an even higher class that exists, but the inflation is so extreme it’s surprising.

With the above calculation method, the magic power difference between the upper and lower ranks of C-Rank is a whopping ten times.

I think there should be more divisions, but since each class is further divided into lower, middle, and upper ranks, it might be fine as it is.

“Oh, speaking of which!”

I took out the bronze-colored Class Upgrade Ticket I had collected yesterday from my pocket. I was too sleepy yesterday and fell asleep without doing anything, but now I have ten of them.

I picked up the remaining nine tickets that were stored in a drawer.

I now have ten of them, but I’m not sure what I should do with them.

As I was thinking that, the ten tickets suddenly started to shine brightly.

『Initiating class upgrade… Emblem of the Knight confirmed. The Knight Promotion Exam will begin.』

“W-what!?”

The tickets merged into one, and its appearance changed slightly.

The size remained the same, about the size of a bill, and the cover displayed something like a countdown.

I looked at the status of the ticket.

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

Type: Item

Title: Class Upgrade Ticket (10/10)

Attainment Difficulty: C

Effect：-

Explanation:

Commencing Knight Promotion Exam

Time remaining until transfer: 00:00:58

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

“Huh?”

I looked at the displayed status.

It showed “Time remaining until transfer: 00:00:58.”

The number 58 decreased by one every second, and now it’s at 54.

In other words…

“No way! It starts just by collecting ten of them!? No one told me that!”

I hurriedly started to prepare my equipment.

Sure, for those who can’t see the status, it makes sense that the exam would start automatically once they’ve collected the tickets, but still!

Since I had only one minute left, I hastily stuffed my usual dungeon-exploring tools into my bag.

I washed my face, rinsed my mouth, put on my shoes, and grabbed my sword.

I added some store-bought bread I had on hand, and somehow, I was ready.

Why did I have to get ready in just 30 seconds in real life?[1]

Then, the emotionless voice informed me.

『Beginning the promotion exam.』

——————————————————————————————-

[1] Reference to a line in Laputa: Castle in the Sky in which a character says “Get ready in 40 seconds.”