Deal

Dropping your rank just to make someone feel better? That seemed like the worst plan to me. Well, it's not that I had to care about it. I had gotten what I had come here for, so I didn't need to stay any longer.

But just as I turned to leave, I felt a tug on my wrist. I looked behind me to see Em again.

"Where are you going?" She asked innocently.

I sighed. Why did she still think I was still part of the group? Did she not hear what I had said earlier?

"I told you already. I'm leaving the team for good. Okay?"

She let my sleeve go and looked to the side. "I—I'm just asking…"

I fell into her trap again. I just couldn't ignore those eyes that looked like they were about to break out into tears. "I'm going to the postal office next door. To write a letter to the princess."

Abby turned away from Ari's testing at that. "A letter to the princess? You do know how many letters she receives each day, right?"

"It's none of your business," I muttered as looked away from her to leave.

"Well, I'm just warning you. It's hardly likely she'll even know you've written her a—"

"I said, it's none of your business," I said firmly this time. As I walked the rest of the way to the exit, my former friends stayed silent.

When I left the Adventurer's Guild, I immediately turned to go to the postal office. However, just moments after I went outside, a large, beefy arm shot out in front of me. I followed the arm to see that it belonged to the man who had started the fight inside the Guild earlier. His two companions stood behind him.

"Kid, you're not going anywhere until we settle things, you got that?"

I sighed. Are these people seriously still angered about my "rudeness?" "I don't really see what I did wrong," I said.

"And that's exactly why we're stopping you, don't you see that?" The woman said.

"You still got a lesson to learn, kid," the second man continued, cracking his knuckles.

"I'm trying to go somewhere, okay? You're wasting my time."

"You brat! You think you can beat all three of us!?" The leader shoved his hand towards my throat, but at the last moment, I dodged.

"In fact, I do," I replied as I stood back up straight and took out my new card. A display showing my rank suddenly appeared over it on my command. "I'm an A-rank adventurer, you know. But I'm sure I can get higher than that."

The man read the display with shock. "Y—You're…" He glanced back at his companions questionably, then turned back to me. "I—I guess I kind of misjudged you there, brother," he said with an embarrassed chuckle.

Wait, so it was that easy? Those three were A-rank adventurers too, right? If we were really going by ranking, then they could still easily beat me in a fight. So what was with their sudden change in attitude?

But just one look at their expressions said that it wasn't fear, but respect they had towards me. "Well… I guess I'll get going, then…" I said.

"Good luck, man," the man said as the three waved me off. Ranking was really everything in the Guild, huh?

Inside the postal office, I quickly found an empty machine and walked up to it. This time, when the screen lit up, it didn't show the "no ID card" message. Instead, a menu with several options appeared.

[Welcome!]

(Click here to write a new letter)

(Click here to upload a draft)

I clicked the first option, which led me to a screen with an empty document. I tapped the screen, but no keyboard appeared. How am I supposed to write here?

[How am I supposed to write here?]

Well, I guess this thing is also controlled by those psychic waves or something. I deleted the words and started writing… but I stopped. What should I write? Now that I actually got here, my mind was completely blank.

If I talked about one of the princesses being my sister, would she even believe that? I doubted it. What if I wrote my entire story, from my coming from my original timeline to my stay with Irnoma? No, that'd be too sensitive, right? After all, they even sent me to a prison and I had escaped. What if those who had captured me were affiliated with this country?

In the end, I settled with talking about the incident at the coffee shop, where I met Princess Alaina. She must still have some memory of that, right? After all, she did talk about hoping that we'd meet again. This was probably the best bet.

After I signed off the letter, I chose the palace and Princess Alaina as the recipient's address. When I clicked the send button, though, an alert popped up.

[Notice]

[Recipient identified as part of the royal family. Sending this letter will require 2000 Krons. Are you sure you wish to continue?]

Okay, so now they're charging you for electronic mail? This day is probably going to be the costliest day of my life. I put my hand over my coin pouch. I might be able to reverse it back and replenish the money whenever I wanted to, though. I clicked the button marked "yes," and another alert showed up.

[Notice]

[Your balance is currently empty. If you still wish to continue, please insert the required amount in coins.]

I took out two gold coins from my pouch and sent them through the slot like I was paying a vending machine. It might be a good idea to transfer my money to my card. Then, I wouldn't have to carry all these coins every day.

[Success!]

[Your letter has been sent! It will be considered for priority mail. Thank you for coming to the Royal Postal Office.]

The screen blinked black. I stepped back just as another person replaced me in front of the machine. That's one thing done, so I'll probably go to the bank or wherever I could deposit my coins.

When I got outside, I looked around, contemplating on whether or not I should ask somebody about my situation. I turned to look at the Adventurer's Guild again. It stood like a cathedral next to the small shack that was the postal office. Maybe they could transfer my money?

"You know, that letter would be pretty much useless."

Abby's voice startled me. I looked down from the building to see her standing next to me, with Ari and Em just arriving. I sighed. Why do they keep coming back to me, when I already told them countless times that I didn't want to associate with them anymore?

"What do you want?" I asked. "This has got to be the last time I see you guys."

"I'm just helping you out here, you know?" Abby replied. "The princess won't even know you wrote that letter unless you're an important person from the Imperial Guard, the Artius Magic Academy…"

"I said, it's none of your business," I replied, turning to leave. If they really needed something from me, then they should just ask. I didn't need anybody giving me a hand.

But still, I hesitated for a moment. So I guess there were some benefits like that in accepting those offers from the army and school. No. I shook my head. They would need far too much time and dedication.

"…or… the Adventurer's Guild," Abby continued.

The Adventurer's Guild too? Does that mean if I were pretty high-ranking in the Guild, then my letter would have a higher chance of getting into the princess's hands? Of course, why hadn't I thought of that! Compared to the other choices, I wouldn't need to spend too much time. I swerved back around to face Abby. "I'm an A-ranking adventurer, right? That's got to mean something!"

Abby sighed, both with relief that I was finally willing to converse with her and with frustration that I was wrong. "First thing, you aren't an A-rank adventurer. Your ranking is still D, remember? Plus, you know how many people are A-ranking? Even those three dumb brutes back there had that rank. You gotta be at least an S-rank adventurer."

"Oh, then I just need to do some quests and then I'll get there, right? Getting to rank A should be pretty easy, so it should be pretty to raise a rank above that."

"No, it isn't really that simple_"

"But it does depend on how strong you are." Ari cut in. "If you're S-rank material, then you'll get there in no time!"

"Yes yes! I'm sure you can get there!" Em added.

"Okay, then that sounds nice! I guess I'll just go and look for some quests." I started heading back to the Guild building, sending a wave back to the three. "Thanks for the info, guys."

However, Abby grabbed my arm just before I left. "And that's where I want to make a deal with you, Day."

Oh, come on. A deal now? Just how much longer would I have to stick with these people? But I stopped to listen.

"You see, we found this quest," Abby started. She made a motion with her arm, and a holographic display appeared between us. It seemed to be projecting from Abby's suit.

[Quest: Medicine Delivery]

[World: Conlincia (Rank D)]

[Difficulty: A]

[Objective: Deliver the antidote to a contagious disease before it becomes a pandemic.]

"It's an A-rank quest, so we won't be able to participate by ourselves unless we were accompanied by a potential A-ranker like you," Abby continued. "As for you, you can accept it and even earn your promotion to become an actual A-rank adventurer. However, you don't know much about the world, but I do, so in return, we will help you complete it. After this, we won't ever bother you again."

Raising that many ranks that fast? This sounded like a pretty good deal. "I guess I can accept it," I said, raising my arm for a handshake. "But I just have one question… Why are you choosing such a difficult quest…? There are other E-ranking quests you can choose, right?"

Abby turned her head to the side, and the hologram vanished. She ignored my hand and answered my question gravely. "Going to this world… It was my parents' last wish."