DDD

"Now… Jokes aside, there's a strong correlation between an adventurer's rank and their competence. The fastest way to level up is still to fight monsters, and a mid-rank Star can be expected to have fought and killed more than a thousand monsters. That is no easy feat, you can imagine."

The maid soon returned to her usual expressionless face as she defended her point.

Noah nodded a bit against his will. According to her, even the weakest monsters—those of rank 1—were difficult to handle for an untrained commoner and rarely attacked in groups of less than three.

If they did, that could indicate they were of rank 2 or above, and each new rank of monster was supposed to be worth 10 times the rank underneath it.

That being said, she also said that it was rare for an adventurer to go completely solo. With the shared EXP and the help of his allies, he didn't think that killing 1,000+ monsters would be so difficult.

That guy though, Sora. He protected that village from monsters for years. His level, he gained it through his own strength. Surely, that wasn't something a higher-leveled person with less actual combat experience could criticize!

"Of course, a rank Clover—or even a rank Azure—can theoretically be stronger than a rank Star or Dusk," continued the maid. "This is especially true when you factor in things like the parties' shared EXP system or the individual wealth of an adventurer."

Noah nodded with force. It seemed they had reached common ground in the end.

"But even if you quote-unquote 'cheat' to raise your level, you still have to pass an individual exam to rise in rank. And you can't pass certain levels if you don't pass the corresponding rank-up exam. That is to say… well, most people in lower ranks are really weak compared to those in higher ranks."

Noah scowled. He took his pen again and sharply scribbled a few words.

[Traitor.]

[Elitist.]

[Promoter of the rank hegemony.]

The maid looked at the paper a moment, her eye open a bit more than usual.

"... Now that's some fancy words you are writing, mistress. Seems you are actually reading as I asked you—ouch."

She received a definitely very well-deserved kick.

"... Jokes aside," she began again. "Tamamo was just that kind of horrible person. The kind to take the time to laugh at the possibly last heroic fit of someone because she found it ridiculous, ignoring that the village she came to save was going to be destroyed very soon."

Well, she definitely didn't sound very likable…

"That being said, she might have saved everyone that day. Thanks to her, the three of us ended up fighting on that bridge, and guess what? The boss, the worm dragon that turned the village into his dungeon, ended up coming to the bridge first rather than where the guild office foresaw. Sora was impressive; he cut down many monsters by himself, which surprised even Tamamo, but he couldn't have handled the boss alone."

Was she saying that, in a sense, she saved him? Well, yes, she did, but…

*scribble**scribble*

[Wasn't it just luck though?] he wrote.

Her pink hair swayed as she shook her head. "Mistress, don't you know? The three things an adventurer needs the most are strength, knowledge, and luck. If you lack one, you compensate with the two others, simple as that."

"Hm…"

It sounded rather… unscientific or just unsophisticated to rely on luck. That being said, Noah wasn't totally against the idea. It seemed rather poetic somehow.

*scribble**scribble**scribble*

[Hey, do you think I could become an adventurer like you were? I might not be lucky, but, well, if I studied enough, could I explore dungeons too?]

"..."

Her eye studied the page a long moment. He didn't know why, but she seemed slightly angry, as if his request greatly bothered her. Her face was barely different from usual though—why was he so convinced that her eyebrows were furrowed more deeply than usual though?

Finally, she broke the silence, closing his notepad with a sigh.

"Sigh… Mistress, adventuring is not all about fame or wealth… or, like they say in the North, not only about dragons and drachmas… it is also about drama and death. Don't let my stories sway you. You should remember I quit for a reason."

"..."

He wanted to protest, but no words came to his mind. Indeed, as a fervent RPG player in his past life, running around dungeons was something natural for him. Something he barely realized the dangers of.

How many times did he need to load one of his saves when his party faced a total annihilation at the hand of some random dungeon monster? Sometimes, this happened because he simply didn't think about bringing enough healing items or didn't have enough money to buy the latest equipment. Other times it happened because he went into a zone where monsters were way above his level just for the fun of it.

He quickly realized that maybe dungeon exploration in real life wasn't something for him. He didn't have the protection of a save file in this world, did he?

Not only him, in fact, no one had that. This world was… a game without any retries.

Traps will kill you if you don't detect them.

Monsters will kill you if you don't understand their patterns.

You will be locked eternally in a dungeon if you can't solve its puzzle.

It's either do or die.

He now understood what she probably meant by luck. No matter the level of skill, one definitely had to be lucky to survive as an adventurer.

"... Well, if you insist, I don't mind teaching you the ropes."

"H-Huh?"

Noah looked at her, surprise in his eyes. The maid continued, her eyes closed after yet another sigh.

"I don't know about being an adventurer, but I can teach you how to fight. This is why your father chose me, to be honest," she said, pushing up her glasses. "Let's face it. No matter how we look at it, what you did at that reception makes marrying you into another family almost impossible. The Froschköning name has been dragged into the mud, irreversibly so. Your only option for a future now might as well be adventuring."

"(Wait, so the base option was getting into a political marriage?)" he thought, squinting.

"That's why your father wanted you to learn the way of the adventurer. To give you a chance to integrate into the special program of the royal academy. There, he hoped you would build a new future for yourself. However…"

She made a slight pause, staring at him in the eyes.

"I am against it. That is why I never told you about this. However, if you wish to train, I will gladly oblige… So, what do you say, mistress?"