Published: March 21, 2026
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"Akira, cheer up."
"...sigh."
I leaned against the labyrinth wall and sighed. Right now there are probably mushrooms being cultivated above my head. I couldn't beat the Huge Goblin, and I wanted to rush into the boss room out of frustration at my lack of skill. Amelia tried to console me, but that alone wasn't going to bring me back to life.
"Huge Goblins are recommended for Adventurer Guild hunting level seventy and above. They weren't meant to be defeated by someone like you without skills in the first place."
She was trying to be reassuring, apparently.
Still, I couldn't shake my mood. There was no way I could.
"Why are you so down?"
"...a man being protected by a woman."
Yeah. What stung the most was that Amelia had protected me. Annoying, right?
Then you try being protected by a woman... it's humiliating. What made it worse was that the enemy who almost killed me was taken down by Amelia in one blow with gravity magic. It makes you want to die.
"...By the way, is there really an Adventurer Guild?"
"Yeah. It's a popular profession among all races. If you get strong, you can earn easily."
At the cost of dying, though. Amelia's tone was cold, and I found myself straightening my back without realizing it. Commander Saran had mentioned there were professions with very high mortality rates, and it seemed that the adventuring profession was one of them.
Amelia didn't like that at all.
"Are you in the Adventurer Guild, Amelia?"
"Yeah. It pays, after all."
She said that and took a dog tag from around her neck. Two tags were attached to a chain, worn like a necklace.
Cool. I wanted one.
"Not giving it."
"...of course I'm keeping it."
"You looked at it like you wanted it."
"Don't say it like that."
I stared at the tag. On the first tag were written Amelia's name, race, and occupation. The second tag had nothing on it. Seeing my puzzled look, Amelia explained properly.
At first I thought she was a goofy type, but maybe because she has a younger sister, she also had a serious side. Strange — I should have a sister too.
"The empty tag shows rank. Different colors mean different ranks, so there's no need to show words."
"Mm. What rank are you, Amelia?"
Her face hardened a little when I asked. Apparently that was a touchy subject. Still, she answered.
"Second from the top. Standards differ by race, so humans and the Elf race have different criteria."
"I see. So being second from the top among the Elf race is impressive?"
"Yeah, it's impressive. But my sister is the top rank."
Again with the sister. The topic keeps coming up whenever I talk to Amelia. Each time she mentions her sister she looks like she's about to cry. I want to ask more, but I can't. After all, Amelia and I have only known each other for a few days. Even though we're casually joking now, normally my shyness would have kept me silent.
"You're Silver rank, but is the top one Gold?"
"Yeah. There are only four Golds in 'Morrigan'. They used to be the strongest in the world."
"Used to be?"
"Akira is the strongest now. ...Also, actually, there's one rank above Gold."
"What color is that?"
"...I think it's Black. It's said the first hero liked that color. The black rank has been vacant for over a hundred years, so no human remembers it. Even many of the Elf race don't know about it."
Come to think of it, the Elf race lives a long time. Humans are shorter-lived compared to elves, though they reproduce more.
"By the way, how old are you, Amelia?"
"...you don't ask a woman her age."
A fist flew at me. But a punch with an attack power of 400 to my solar plexus didn't hurt at all. It should be four times the normal human limit, but it didn't pain me. A mosquito bite would feel itchier.
That really shows how weak humans are. It's surprising they beat the Beastmen. Maybe they overwhelmed them with numbers.
Wait—maybe I'm the anomaly here.
"Okay, my bad... anyway, shall we continue?"
"Still going to do this?"
"Unfortunately, I have reasons I need to get stronger. For that I might nearly die and endure brutal training."