- What rank do you think we are gonna get? asks Juliana
- It doesn't really matter since we can raise our ranks but... I think that Abel and Gancelot would get either C or B-rank. You would probably get B-rank and I think I will get BB-rank. Why do you ask?
- Do you think our ranks will be the results of our titles or of our abilities? asks Juliana
{Noah}
" That's what she is worried about. The fact that our standing in society might affect our results."
- I think Foivos will evaluate us fairly. That's what I asked of him. If our ranks are higher than the one I guessed then that means that we received special treatment and in that case, we will deal with it. There is no need to worry about it. says Noah
Juliana walks up to the door. She turns around and says
- I guess you are right.
She leaves and closes the door behind her. Noah takes a shower then he goes to bed
[Next day]
Noah's alarm starts going off. He wakes up and after taking a bath and doing his toiletries, he heads downstairs for breakfast. When he arrives in the dining room, his friends and family are all already sitting down at the table. Noah sits down next to Jynn and the servants bring the food.
[20 minutes later]
The servants collect the plates from which Noah, his family, and his friend ate.
- What are you doing today, Noah? asks Luke
- We have to go to the adventurers guild to get our exam results and our rank. After that, we will do some quests. When we are done we will come back here before heading back to the academy. says Noah
- You already want to do some quests? Why? asks Luke
- I want to gain two things as quickly as possible. Those things are experience fighting monsters and money. answers Noah
- Money? We have a lot of money, tough. Why do you need money? asks Leyah
- I am not gonna become the next duke and I most definitely don't want to do it but that doesn't mean that I won't do anything in the future. At least, I don't intend to live off my parent's money when reaching adulthood. answers Noah
- Part of the reason is also because of me! says Gancelot with a hand raised in the air
Luke frowns while Yoan and Jynn sigh.
- What does that mean, second prince? And you two... do you know something that I don't? asks Luke to his two eldest sons
- Seems like Gancelot will explain everything so just listen to him, father. says Jynn
- No, I will be the on-
Gancelot puts his hand in front of his sister. He looks at her and says
- This was my decision and my idea. Naturally, I will be the one to explain. You don't need to always protect me.
- Elaborate. Immediately. says Luke
Gancelot looks at Luke
- I intend to give up my title of prince and my sister also intends to give up her title of princess. We want to bring our mother and move to this city since without our titles we lose the right to live in the palace we also need to buy a house which also means that we need money. says Gancelot
- Gancelot, are you serious? asks Leyah
- I am, auntie.
- Why are you doing this? asks Luke
- Master is special. From the very first day I met him, during the coming-of-age ceremony, I couldn't help but feel drawn to him. Master has that kind of charisma and that is one of the reasons why I wish to follow him. says Gancelot
- One of the reasons? What are the others? asks Luke
- I have two other reasons. The first one of them would be that I am tired of the life within the palace. The plots, the constant tries to harm another, and all those things. I am tired of them. Just thinking about how it would be to live longer there, it makes me sick. My second reason is that I am running away.
- From what? asks Luke
- Not from what but from who. The answer to that question is my older brother Telnoir. You know it right? What kind of person is Telnoir right? I am really scared of what he might do so I also am running away from him alongside my other reasons.
Luke sighs
{Luke}
" Galliard, I know that as the king you need to remain neutral until you choose a successor but this is too much. Such a young child is scared of those he is supposed to call family."
- It's fine then. As long as you don't have any dark intentions then you are more than welcome to settle in Arcadios city.
- Thank you. says Gancelot
- Don't worry about it. However, you guys are still children you cannot carry burdens as heavy as these alone.
- Did you talk to your mother about this? asks Leyah
- Not yet. answers Juliana
- But you went to the palace with Noah yesterday, didn't you? asks Yoan
- We couldn't meet her since she was busy meeting some people. answers Gancelot
Gancelot, Juliana, Abel, and Noah get up from their chairs
- Oh! By the way, Abel? says Yoan
- Yes? answers Abel
- Construction of the orphanage has already started. It should take a maximum of two months, and the minimum would be one month. says Yoan
- Thank you, Big brother! says Abel with a huge smile
- It's fine. Just keep an eye on Noah if you are that grateful. says Yoan with a smile
- Yes, Big bro! I promise to protect Boss from any and every danger! says Abel
- I am counting on you then.
The group takes the elevator and each heads to their rooms
[20 minutes later]
- His she still inside? asks Noah to Gancelot
- Seems like it. Gancelot answers
- We've been waiting for 15 minutes. says Abel. When is she gonna come out of there?
- We'll be lucky if we don't have to wait for another 15 minutes. says Gancelot
- What is she even doing in there? asks Noah
- She probably is still deciding which outfit she is gonna wear. says Gancelot. It was always like that at home too.
Juliana comes out of the room with a red Tike skirt, a white Tike hoodie, and a pair of red Tike Air Power 1 on her feet. Gancelot is wearing black Tike shorts, a white Tike t-shirt, and the same pair of shoes that his sister is wearing. Abel is wearing a simple sky-blue shirt and black pants with white shoes. Noah is wearing a half-black, half-white Tike hoodie, black Tike shorts, and a pair of white Tike Air Power 1.
- Before we go to the adventurer guild, I need to buy a strap for my sword. says Noah
- I guess it's pretty tiring to always carry it in your hands. says Abel
- The weight is not the problem. says Noah while starting to walk toward the elevator
Noah enters the elevator and the others, after following him down the hall, also enter the elevator. The elevator starts going down.
- Then why do you need a sword strap? asks Gancelot
- Let's take, for example, the time I fought the mutated monster.
- It's More like you got played with. whispers Juliana
- I can hear you, Juliana. says Noah
- What are you talking about? asks Juliana with a clueless expression on her face
The elevator stops and they get out of it. They walk up to the entrance and two servants open each door. They get out and hop into the car that was waiting for them and the car starts and leaves.
- When I fought that monster, I had to unsheath my sword quickly. Because of that, as soon as I unseated my sword I threw it to fight. I could have lost the sheath or even worse it could have broken. says Noah
{The trio}
" That's why you want to buy a sword strap?"
[30 minutes later inside a weapon shop]
Noah takes a sword strap and put it around his waist
- This one will do
- Finally. After three weapon shops. says Juliana
- Sorry. Let's go to the adventurer guild now. says Noah
[A few minutes later]
The door of the adventurer guild opens and the small group that consists of Noah, Gancelot Juliana, and Abel walk in. The group head to a board with a sign saying
[Sign on the board]
"Exam Results"
- YES! I GOT B-RANK! yells Abel
- ME TOO! yells Gancelot
- I also got B-rank. says Juliana. But.... Noah.... I don't see your name.
- Look at the column next to the B-rank one. says Noah
In the column next to the B-rank one, the BB-rank column, at the very top is Noah's name.
- I got BB-rank. says Noah
All the adventurers present in the guild right now stopped what they were doing to look at Noah
- He seriously got a BB-rank? an adventurer says
- Even if he did, do you really think that it was him that got it or his family that got it for him. says another adventurer.
- What the he-
Noah puts his hand on Abel's shoulder
- Calm down. There is no need to get mad since we at least know the truth. says Noah
- He did it by himself. says a voice on the second floor
Every adventurer looks up to the second floor and they see the AA-rank adventurer Fenrax
- Fenrax, is that really true? asks an adventurer
- It's true.
- Are you sure that they didn't pay you? asks another adventurer while giggling
- If you don't believe me spar with the kid with the cloth but before you actually do it, I lost against him in a matter of seconds. says Fenrax
All the tv on the walls of the adventurer guild goes black and lights up again but what is playing is the footage of the second part of the adventurer exam, more precisely the part where Noah goes against Fenrax.
- Foivos... That bastard! says Fenrax while gritting his teeth
{Noah}
" To think that he had already prepared a measure for this situation... Foivos... he is way better than I thought before."
- What the hell? Did you see that? asks an adventurer to another one
- As if! How is it even possible to move that fast? answer the other adventurer
{Noah}
" The footage will kill any complaints that the other adventurers may have."
- Let's do a quest. says Noah while heading to the quest board
{Noah}
" The quest taking his pretty simple. You can only take quests from your rank to the ranks below your rank. If you have a team you use the highest rank in the team to determine what quest you can take. However, the team rank is not determined by the highest rank in the team but by the average rank in the team. If we take our team for example, we are a B-rank squad because I am the only one with a BB-rank and all the others got a B-rank but because I am a BB-rank we can take BB-ranked quests."
- Did you choose something, Boss? asks Abel
Noah takes a quest sheet from the quest board
- I did. he answers while looking at the quest. This one is perfect for our current squad