The next morning, we went to the guild to refill our low stock of money. I turned over ten [Perfect] C-ranked [Mana Cores] for another three gold coins. I then asked Cariya about the requests on the board, "ne, Cariya. Even though we're only provisional members, can we accept requests up to our provisional rank?"
"Ah, I thought this question might come up sooner or later. Rea and Ava can accept quests up to one rank lower than their provisional ranking for now. Once you have passed the examination and receive your official guild cards, you can take requests that are ranked the same as you. If you are in a party, you might even be able to take on a quest that's higher ranked than you."
"Nn, so it's like that. Alright, we'll take this quest then," I said, pointing to a B-ranked quest that wanted the subjugation of a pack of three-headed [Hydra Wolves]. They weren't a big pack, but there was at least twelve of them milling around the outskirts of the capital city that attacked merchants occasionally.
"Ah...that's a quest that some of the other adventurers seem to avoid. It's not easy, you know?"
I cocked my head questioningly. You mean...a wolf that I defeated when I was still D-rank wasn't easy in a pack? Seeing my bewildered face, Cariya sighed and explained, "Ava, not everyone here is that strong, you know? Dealing with a pack of wolves, each of whom can cast at least three kinds of offensive magic at the same time...usually it'd take a party of B-rankers to defeat, although the wolves are all C-ranked. Not to mention that there are other more attractive B-ranked requests, such as escorting nobility or merchants."
"Nn, I see. Still, such a good reward for a bunch of small fry? And even more if we can bring back the [Mana Cores]? Why don't people polish their skills to make this work?"
"Sigh...Ava...just what are you... Ah, never mind. It's just that this kind of subjugation work is relatively inconsistent. It's not every day that subjugation requests come around. Usually, adventurer work in large part consists of fulfilling standing requests, such as retrieving [Mana Cores] or gathering materials. If you're higher ranked, you could take certain escort requests. And the highest-ranked adventurers usually roam the continent on their own, travelling from guild to guild in search of [Direct Requests]. That's when the branch heads appeal to the highest ranked adventurers directly to subjugate an S or higher ranked threat."
"Got it. Thanks for explaining, Cariya. Anyway, we're off for now, see you later, alright?"
"See you, Ava, Rea!"
We waved goodbye to Cariya and headed on our way to the East gate. The South gate was where we entered, and the [Hydra Wolves] were last seen attacking people near the East gate.
"Ava-sama, why did you want to accept a request? We've still got hundreds of [Mana Cores], right? We could just live off of those."
"You're correct, Rea. However, I wanted to familiarise myself a little with the pace of life here. While rushing around all the time like we did in the [Labyrinth] wouldn't be good, neither would just staying in all day or only walking around the city. We should try to do a bunch of different things over the time that we're here, so we know more about the city, the Empire, and in general the kind of life that goes on here. Furthermore, we can go outside the city and look around too. It'll be a nice little outing, don't you think?"
"Mmm...I think Ava-sama is working really hard."
"Eh?"
"I mean, ever since Rea met Ava-sama, you've been doing all sorts of things. Isn't that so?"
"Well, I guess you may be right. I'm trying to protect a secure and stable life, I guess?"
"Mou, Ava-sama... Yosh! Seeing that Ava-sama is working hard, Rea will work hard too!"
I laughed and stroked her head, smiling at her fired-up expression, "Rea, we're not really working, okay? We're just gonna eliminate some small fry while we take a walk outside the city, is all."
"Maa, I guess that's true too."
"Once we leave the city, let's start flying, yeah? Walking is too slow and boring."
"Yes, Ava-sama! Rea was just thinking the same thing."
We left the city gates and took off flying, heading into the nearby forest to begin searching for signs of the pack of [Hydra Wolves]. However, even after two hours and countless medicinal and magical herbs collected as a side project, we found nothing. We were now relatively deep into the forest, and I was just thinking about heading back out to check the length of forest that followed the road, when I noticed incoming pings on my [Detection]. There seemed to be about twenty people drawing near.
"Rea, let's walk instead. There seems to be trouble coming, and I want to see what kind of trouble it is."
"Yes, Ava-sama!"
We landed and walked together towards the incoming pings, while I nonchalantly picked up herbs along the way. I was thinking about what kind of development it would be, when we finally encountered the incoming people.
"Oya oya, what do we have here? Two little jou-chans gathering herbs? And you're both [Vallen] too? Hehe, if we sell you on the slave market, just how much would you fetch, I wonder?"
Ah, so it was that kind of development. Bandits and slave traders. Well, if I were to look at how we were dressed, it was no wonder that they thought we were low-level adventurers or middle-class young ladies out gathering herbs. Rea's dress, while elegant and beautiful, carried a slight childlike air to it, while my own clothes probably weren't commonly worn by older women. Furthermore, these clothes were obviously not cheap, and due to my race initially starting out as [Vallen], even though I was 26 I probably still looked like I was in my late teens. Needless to say, as Rea based her appearance off of mine, she too looked young.
Furthermore, it was obvious that we weren't nobles. While we hadn't seen many nobles in our few days here, we did end up seeing a spectacle of a young nobleman surrounded by his escorts in the shopping district. The atmosphere he gave off was clearly different from ours, due to his upbringing, and his clothing and accessories all had some insignia of a noble house inscribed upon them.
Before I could say anything, though, Rea turned to me, asking, "Ava-sama, would you leave them to me? If you handle them it'll be over too quickly, and I want to practice fighting against people, too."
I'd wager that she purposely said it loud enough for the bandits to hear, which they also recognised. The veins in their temples started pulsing, and their faces contorted with rage.
"Aa? This little jou-chan, are you underestimating us?" One bandit yelled. He unsheathed his weapon, a sabre decorated with rings on the dull edge, looking much like a pirate.
"Alright, Rea. Just remember to be clean and efficient, understood? I'll watch over you." I too, purposely said it loud enough for the thugs to overhear, which whipped them into a frenzy.
"I'll fucking kill you, you bitch!"
Without the need for more incitement, another bandit lost his cool and charged forward. However, in the next moment, a thin black spike pierced his head. In her [Vallen] form, Rea could manifest her tails from her wrists, and activate [Whiplash] to manipulate them like a sword, spike, or whip. It also helped that the last 1m of her tail was basically a sword, and could be used for slashing or stabbing. The last was basically what she had done to the bandit, and she had done it so quickly that none of the other bandits had seen what had happened before the dead thug fell to the ground, blood pouring out of his skull. Needless to say, they did not even have the time to react.
"W-what the hell..." one of the bandits muttered in shock.
"Who the hell are you?" another one yelled.
"Who the hell cares, just fucking kill them! Go for the one in the back, she probably can't do anything!" the leader yelled.
Hearing that, Rea laughed out loud. The bandits stopped in their tracks, confused and stunned, wondering why this girl had the leeway to be laughing like that in the middle of the battle. She then looked up at them, grinned, and said, "ah, bandit-sans, please don't irritate Ava-sama. If she were to fight here, all of you would be dead before you could blink. This is my training, so please focus all of your efforts on me, okay?"
Once again, that vein began pulsing in the temples of the assembled bandits. Yet, they didn't have enough time to retort before a "swish" sound rang out and another head fell to the ground. That certainly caught the attention of the bandits. By the way, these bandits were made up of a number of different races - it wasn't a case of a dominant race enslaving all others. It was simply, if you were weak, poor, and unlucky, slavery would befall you. This was the information I had also received from the [World Handbook].
Before long, the battle was over. The bandits fought hard, attempting to coordinate their movements and corner Rea, attempting to strike her from multiple angles to wound her, but...Rea avoided them all and reaped their lives with each lash of her whip. Not to mention, in her [Nyuru] form she had six tails, which meant that she still had five more whips should she need to fight any harder than she did.
I was glad that she was taking the time to train while limiting herself. It was also the kind of thing that I did while in the [Labyrinth], trying to use only one specific skill or weapon to defeat hordes of enemies and refining my own movements. However, against an opponent of equal or greater rank or strength, I would always go all out. I would never run the risk of dying because of ego.
"Ava-sama, Rea has returned with a mission completion!" her cute face looked up at me, smiling as if to say she did exactly as well as she had expected to.
"Nn, good job, Rea. You handled it very well. Maa, those bandits weren't strong regardless, but you took care of them with only one whip. Excellent job," I said, patting her head.
"Hehe, Rea can't lag behind too much, or I won't be of use to Ava-sama!"
"Nonsense, Rea. No matter how strong or weak you are, Rea is family."
"Mou, Ava-sama...anyway, shall we head back to hunting monsters?"
"Of course. Let's-"
At the moment, a shadow emerged from a tree some distance away. I was instantly on guard, because it was rare that there was anyone who evaded my [Detection]. Although, a
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