When Wood and Therese walked out of the Adventurer's Guild, the adventurers who had been shocked earlier finally snapped out of it.
At first, they thought Wood was the child of some noble family, perhaps even royalty. But none of them expected that the young boy was actually an SS-ranked adventurer!
The highest level for quest commissions was "S" rank, but for adventurer teams, the highest rank was "SSS."
However, even S-ranked adventurers were extremely rare, and those ranked higher than S were almost nonexistent.
An S-ranked adventurer was already considered a high-level profession, while SS-ranked adventurers were often at the "Saint" level.
Once someone reached the "Saint" level, they were highly sought after by kings and nobles, treated as honored guests wherever they went. There was no need to risk their lives as adventurers anymore.
That's why finding an S-ranked adventurer was difficult, but finding an SS-ranked one was practically impossible.
Yet the young, golden-haired boy from earlier, who seemed only around eleven or twelve years old, was such a rare SS-ranked adventurer.
In other words, that boy was someone whose strength rivaled a "Saint-level" profession!
At first, everyone thought Wood was just bragging when he said those things.
But after the guild staff repeatedly verified his documents, they discovered that everything was legitimate. The absurd number of completed quests and his 100% completion rate left even the receptionist astonished.
"I remember now! There is a Sword Saint who's eleven or twelve years old. Did you guys hear about what happened at the city gate yesterday?"
"You mean the giant magical beast and the mysterious boy who overpowered the captain of the Temple Knights?"
The incident at the gate had caused quite a stir by now. They had been talking about it while drinking the day before, so everyone knew about it.
"Are you saying that the boy who just left was the mysterious figure from the gate—the master of that giant magical beast?
But the rumors said he was a towering, eight-foot-tall bald boy with an equally massive waist. The boy who just left looked like a refined noble with elegant manners."
Because an eleven or twelve-year-old Sword Saint seemed so far-fetched, the adventurers had treated it like a joke.
"Have you ever seen an SS-ranked adventurer that young?
And as for the whole 'eight-foot-tall bald boy with a massive waist' thing, maybe that was just an exaggerated rumor.
Don't forget, the boy was accompanied by someone from the Temple Knights."
As they left the Adventurer's Guild, Therese looked down at Wood, who was a full two heads shorter than her, filled with curiosity.
Although she had seen a bit of Wood's abilities before, Therese had always doubted the idea that her nephew was a Sword Saint.
But now, she no longer had any doubts. To become an SS-ranked adventurer, one not only had to complete a ridiculous number of quests but also defeat Saint-level magical beasts. That was something no high-level swordsman or magician could accomplish.
It was also worth noting that most adventurers completed their quests in groups to ensure their safety.
Yet, Wood's adventurer team consisted only of himself!
This meant that Wood wasn't just a Sword Saint—he was an extraordinary one.
"Instead of posting commissions at the Adventurer's Guild, wouldn't it be better to seek information about the Fittoa teleportation disaster from the Temple or your grandmother?
For matters on a national scale like this, Mother would certainly know something. If she wanted, she could easily gather even more information."
Therese now fully understood the disaster that had scattered Wood's family across the world and promptly offered him a more practical solution.
"Aunt Therese, this was your plan all along, wasn't it? You said you were taking a day off to show me around the capital, but really, you just want me to be the mediator between my mother and grandmother, right?"
Her small scheme uncovered, Therese stuck out her tongue, playfully admitting to it.
Indeed, her real plan wasn't just to show Wood, Norn, and Aisha around the capital. Therese intended to bring them back to the Latreia family estate.
Instead of waiting for her strong-willed sister and mother to reconcile, Therese figured it would be easier to find another way to break the tension.
Wood and his two sisters were the perfect solution—Therese intended to use them to soften the situation, hoping Wood would act as a bridge between his mother and grandmother, Claire.
Given Claire's deep longing for Zenith over the years, combined with Wood's impressive achievements, Therese believed this family conflict could be resolved.
As they walked and talked, they soon arrived in front of a luxurious mansion. The guards standing at the gate immediately straightened up and bowed when they saw Therese. "Welcome back, Lady Therese."
It became clear that from the start, Therese had been leading Wood toward the Latreia family home. By the time Wood realized it, they were already standing at the mansion's gate.
The massive blue building, the iron gate coated in gold, and the sprawling garden filled with rare flowers were all in plain view.
Just from looking at the exterior, Wood could tell that the Latreia family was even wealthier than the Boreas family, where he had stayed before.
But that wasn't surprising. After all, the Boreas family was only a regional lord, while the Latreia family was a noble house situated in the royal capital.
Moreover, Philip wasn't even the head of the Boreas family, whereas Claire Latreia, Zenith's mother, was the head of the entire Latreia family.
"This is Wood Greyrat, my sister's son. You should get to know him—this will be his home from now on.
If he ever wants to come home, you know what to do, right?"
After hearing Therese's introduction, the guards immediately bowed again, this time to Wood. "It's an honor to meet you, Master Wood."
Seeing the guards bowing to him, Wood felt a bit awkward. He had still been hesitant about whether to enter the Latreia family estate, but Therese had already gone ahead and announced his identity…
Not wanting to appear rude, Wood responded with a polite knight's salute, his good manners shining through.
What he didn't notice was that, from a window in the mansion, a pair of eyes was watching him. When Claire Latreia saw Wood's respectful gesture, she nodded in approval, a satisfied smile briefly crossing her face.
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 400+ at p@treon.com/Betek and change @ to a