Having experienced it by himself, Shiba finally understood what Eini meant.
Shiba had been very far from advancing, but the harsh battle against the Soul-eating Eagles hastened his advance.
Although normal battles didn't have that kind of effect, if one was at the limits of level 9 and faced a battle of that difficulty, it was very possible to reach Rank 1 if one were to survive it.
Of course, the advancement in Rank wasn't as easy as that between levels, but with enough pressure and effort in a battle, it wasn't unheard of to happen.
However, most people would be glad that it happened, not be scared that it could happen.
"I understand. Won't you also advance thanks to the previous battle?"
Although Eini was stronger than him, she had also put a lot of effort.
"If I weren't suppressing my energy, I would have already advanced long ago. I can't be careless at all."
Thinking that she needed to endure some more years until advancing to Rank 1, Eini could feel despair. It wasn't easy suppressing the breakthroughs.
Shiba's advancements were a lot, thanks to external sources. In terms of talent, he was far behind Eini. Thus, he didn't have to worry about advancing too early. It wasn't certain that he could reach Rank 1 in less than three years despite being already level 7.
Of course, his chances were far higher than when he was still at level 3, but based on his talent alone, he was still far from being in a safe zone to reach Rank 1 in time.
Since Shiba's energy was refilled after advancing to level 7, they managed to reach Border Town without needing to stop.
They spoke more on their way.
Shiba learned a lot of things that he didn't know despite being common sense.
He didn't have any knowledge that could interest Eini, but his past as a slave seemed interesting enough for her.
For the last part of the journey, Shiba had been speaking about what he had done as a slave. After hearing everything, Eini's hatred for the family that enslaved Shiba increased by several folds.
Before, she hated them for trying to kill her, but after hearing how they treated the lives of others, she was decided to eradicate them one day.
After landing on the main street of Border Town, Eini walked towards Shiba and patted his head.
"You really suffered a lot."
Shiba was taller than Eini, but not by much, so it wasn't difficult for Eini to pat his head.
She didn't know how to act after hearing all the experience Shiba had suffered, so in the end, that was all she could do.
Before Shiba could reply, they had already been surrounded by the crowd.
Once the people saw them fly back to the city, they were anxious to hear the news.
After all, their future depended on what happened with those beasts.
Eini quickly stopped to pat Shiba's head and put a smile on her face.
"I shall announce to you all that we have already killed all the Soul-eating Eagles attacking that town. Thus, there is no danger left!"
Eini winked at Shiba once she finished speaking, and he made a corpse of a Soul-eating Eagle appear.
"It has been difficult, but through our collaboration, there is no need to worry more about the Soul-eating Eagles. Now, we need to report it to the Beast Hunter Guild. Please, open the way for us."
Shiba remained in silence, but Eini's words were enough to make that the crowd opened pass for them.
Although Eini always stayed distant from others, her social skills were better than Shiba's. As long as others didn't try to get close to her, she didn't have problems speaking with a crowd.
In some minutes, they had reached the Beast Hunter Guild, where the guild master, in other words, the Lord of the town, welcomed them.
"Welcome back! I have been waiting for you since my men reported that you were flying back."
From the moment a guard saw them flying back to the city, the Lord of the town rushed to the Beast Hunter Guild. He didn't know where they would land, but they would surely pay a visit to the Beast Hunter Guild.
"All the Soul-eating Eagles are dead. Here the corpses. Please make space, there are a lot."
That time Shiba was the one who spoke. He wasn't good with crowds, but he was the one who knew the Lord of the town, so he couldn't let Eini speak for him.
Soon, all the corpses were there. The sight of so many powerful beasts together was quite shocking.
"One of them seems different. Not only because it is completely charred black. It seems to have reached Rank 1."
The eyes of the Lord of the town were quite sharp. Although he just overlooked the corpses, he discovered that one belonged to a stronger beast.
"It advanced when it was the last one alive. It is only thanks to Eini's most powerful skill that we managed to kill it. To win enough time for her to use it, I ended up sacrificing all the weapons you have bought for me. I am sorry. I have the pieces of the weapons here; I don't know if they can be useful somehow."
Shiba felt really bad for wasting so many weapons, so he immediately put out all the remains beside the corpses of the Soul-eating Eagles.
The people at the Beast Hunter Guild were surprised to see how many fragments of weapons were there. Moreover, they all seemed to be of high quality. It was really a waste of resources the fact that Shiba sacrificed so many weapons.
However, that was in exchange for killing a beast that surpassed Rank 1 and had the potential to reach Rank 9 in adulthood, so the price was still quite low.
"Don't worry about that. It was to solve a problem that could have brought calamity not only to our town but to the whole country. The whole world might have been in a mess if these beasts matured. Especially due to their numbers."
Even if Shiba wasted a hundred times more resources, the result was still worthy of it.
For other places, the huge danger was still quite far, but Border Town would have been annihilated quite soon.
Even if they managed to win because the Soul-eating Eagles remained at level 9, it wouldn't have been without casualties.
"I am relieved then."
Seeing that the Lord of the town wasn't angry, Shiba sighed in relief.
"You two shall be rewarded for this act. Here you have fifty golden coins for each of you. As for weapons, we will gift you some of the best quality since you have used them all in the battle. One of my men will bring them to your house later."
Fifty golden coins for each of them was a lot for a reward, but just the value of those corpses should be near it anyway.
Although most of the corpses weren't in a good state, they were still Level 9 Beasts. If the one that reached Rank 1 wasn't charred black, its price would have been incredibly high, but it would cheaper than the others if they were to sell it since there was nothing useful in it anymore.
Shiba didn't expect so much money as rewards, but after thinking about how many beasts and their level, he could understand it.
"The envoy sent to deal with them will be here in two weeks. I will make sure to introduce you two to him. You sure will receive a generous reward from the country for this."
The envoy was a powerful expert, so even a small reward from him could be more valuable than the entire Border Town.
The Lord of the town didn't know who was sent to deal with the situation. However, given the danger of the Soul-eating Eagles, he was bound to be very powerful.
Shiba and Eini succeeded because the beasts were still at the Mortal Rank, if they tried to fight them later, they wouldn't have been able to face them.
After speaking, the Lord of the town allowed Shiba and Eini to return to their houses to rest.
The money he had given them was just a reward. He wanted to carefully examine the corpses to determine their real value and then pay them based on the customs of the Beast Hunter Guild.
"Do you have a house?"
After leaving the Beast Hunter Guild, Eini asked Shiba that.
"Yes, the Lord of the town gave me one, there are houses for talented Beast Hunters. Did you also receive one?"
Since those houses were for talented beast hunters, he felt that Eini should also have one.
"Today is the first time I met the Lord of the town, so no. I got one after killing that scammer. He lied when he promised you to not scam again, so I have already given him a death sentence."
Although Shiba couldn't say that killing someone and stealing that person's property was something he liked. That scammer lied when he gave him a second opportunity, so he wasn't planning to pity him.
"Well. I will go to rest, then. There will be a guard bringing me some weapons to my home later."
Since the Lord of the town knew what Shiba needed, he had already asked a subordinate to get the weapons and bring them to Shiba's house.
"Wait! Let's meet tomorrow in front of the Beast Hunter Guild. We should make a team for hunting together. With both of us, we will be unstoppable."