The morning after the feast in the farming village.
Before the sun had even risen, Randy and Liz finished their preparations and left the village, seeing off the village chief and the villagers.
Their goal: to track down the cause of the orcs' invasion.
Today, their objective was to investigate the forest they had surveyed yesterday in greater detail.
The two of them returned along the path they had walked yesterday and arrived at a small forest not far from the village.
"The forest isn't that big, so it shouldn't be too hard to find," Randy remarked.
Small forests like this one are usually the home of small magical beasts or small animals. Large magical beasts generally avoid such confined spaces.
However, the beast they were after was strong enough to drive away the orcs. If it was still lurking here, it wouldn't be long before they found it.
As the three entered the forest and proceeded further, they noticed fallen trees in their path. Following the trail deeper, they came across:
Drag marks.
Orc carcasses.
Four distinct footprints.
Scraped tree bark.
And further ahead, they saw a lizard.
"An Armor Lizard, huh?"
"Isn't that just a small fry?"
Ellie suddenly appeared out of nowhere, muttering, "I'm going to sleep a bit more" before vanishing again.
"Was she expecting something bigger?"
"Seems like it," Liz replied with a wry smile.
Randy sighed.
It appeared that Ellie had been anticipating a more formidable foe. However, the culprit this time was merely an Armor Lizard, a magical beast that might barely qualify as C-rank.
Armor Lizard
A nearly two-meter-long lizard with a metallic outer shell. Its segmented, armadillo-like armor makes it resistant to most physical attacks, posing a significant challenge for magical beasts like orcs.
Its rank ranges from D to C, depending on its size. While its slow in movement, its brute force attacks can be problematic, the presence of a mage in a party usually makes it much easier to handle.
Judging from the tracks, this one was undoubtedly over C-rank in size. It had likely established itself as the dominant predator of the forest, preying on D-rank orcs with ease due to its natural advantage.
That said, the current party consisted of a muscle-brained warrior who could swing logs like clubs and the strongest witch.
"Lost interest already? What do you think? We could just leave it alone—it's not a serious threat."
"No. We should subjugate it just to be safe," Liz replied.
Randy nodded and began walking toward deeper of the forest. As the path widened and more fallen trees came into view, a massive lizard finally revealed itself before the two.
"Wow, it's a big one. Looks like it's been feasting well on those orcs."
Randy smiled and snapped his fingers.
He'd heard that the Armor Lizard's outer shell could fetch a good price. Wasting it by hacking it apart with his greatsword seemed unnecessary.
The Armor Lizard faced him, opening its massive jaws wide and unleashing a deafening roar. The reverberation shook the air, sending birds scattering from the trees. Liz instinctively covered her ears with both hands.
They glare at each other…
Armor Lizard was the one to make the first move
With its four legs pounding the ground, it charged at Randy.
Its massive body moved with surprising speed, an agility that is not typical to the usually sluggish Armor Lizard.
However, to Randy, it was still just an Armor Lizard. Its movements weren't fast enough to trouble him.
The enormous lizard, over three meters long, charged toward him, aiming its hard-shelled head directly at him.
A thunderous crash echoed through the forest, shaking the leaves and branches.
"Randy—!"
Liz called out instinctively, but what she saw stopped her in her tracks: Randy had caught the Armor Lizard's full-force charge with one hand.
"It's big… but it's nothing compared to the Greater Lizard from the Demon Forest," he muttered.
Naturally, that was to be expected. Greater Lizards were B-rank creatures. Even though this Armor Lizard had grown large, it was still just C-rank at best.
Against Randy, who could crush a B-rank Greater Lizard with one hand, this oversized lizard stood no chance.
Holding the charging lizard at bay with his right hand, Randy casually tilted his wrist forward.
He didn't put much effort into it.
He simply pushed back lightly, as if nudging away an incoming object.
The Armor Lizard, pushed by Randy's hand, staggered back half a step. A small gap opened between Randy's right hand and the lizard's snout.
In that instant, Randy bent his knees.
Using the recoil as he sprang back up, his feet touched the ground firmly, and at the same time, his right hand curled into a fist and slammed into the lizard's snout.
The impact created a thunderous roar that shook the entire forest. The Armor Lizard was sent flying.
Crashing through numerous trees, it finally landed on its back, with its belly up, completely motionless.
"Well, that's about it," Randy said casually.
Liz, watching Randy defeat the Armor Lizard with a one-inch punch, couldn't even comprehend what had just happened.
Liz's eyes darted back and forth between Randy and the Armor Lizard, her face frozen in disbelief.
"Randy… haven't you gotten stronger?" she asked, unable to hide her astonishment.
"I'm entering my growing phase," Randy replied with a shrug, offering an explanation that made little to no sense.
"Alright, let's take this big guy back with us," Randy announced cheerfully.
"Huh? You're taking it back?" Liz asked, frowning in confusion.
"Of course. Why wouldn't we?" Randy replied, raising an eyebrow.
"If we're taking something back, just a part of its body should be fine…" Liz muttered.
To her, reporting their findings along with a piece of the Armor Lizard as proof would have been more than enough. Carrying the entire creature seemed unnecessary.
But Randy paid her concerns no mind. Grabbing the lifeless Armor Lizard by its tail, he began dragging it behind him.
"This is gonna cause a stir at the guild!" he said with a grin.
Liz glanced back at the massive lizard being hauled along and sighed.
"Yes… it will certainly cause a stir," she replied dryly.
The two couldn't have been more at odds in their expectations. Randy, the optimist, was oblivious to the potential trouble, while Liz was already anticipating the reprimand they'd receive.
Both Randy and Liz were still E-rank adventurers. While an orc hunt might have been within their scope, taking down a giant C-rank Armor Lizard was an entirely different matter. The guild would undoubtedly reprimand them for recklessness.
But Randy had other ideas.
"Maybe they'll see us as rising stars or something," he said with a grin.
Lost in his fantasies, Randy imagined how things would unfold:
The guild would be in an uproar.
A beautiful receptionist would praise his accomplishments.
The guild master would summon him.
After some drama, his rank would skyrocket.
This was the storyline he envisioned, and his mind was filled with it.
Dragging the Armor Lizard along, Randy confidently exited the forest and headed toward the royal capital without hesitation.
"Look, Liz! People are already staring at us!"
"Yes, they are. For… various reasons," Liz replied, sighing once again.
As Randy carried the giant lizard on his shoulder, he muttered to himself, "What was the proper line for moments like this…?"
To passersby, the sight of the massive red-haired man dragging a giant lizard while mumbling to himself was utterly bizarre. Liz could only offer an embarrassed smile as travelers on the road gave them strange looks.
———
"Mr. Randolph, may I have a word with you?"
The guild receptionist, her temple twitching despite her smile, brought Randy back to reality.
(Wait. Something's off here.)
Before him was not the beautiful receptionist he'd envisioned, but a middle-aged woman radiating competence. Her smile was tense, and she was clearly not here to congratulate him.
"Uh, no thanks," Randy replied bluntly, shaking his head. He could sense the impending trouble.
(Where did I go wrong?)
The answer was obvious: dragging a massive Armor Lizard all the way back to the guild. But Randy had yet to realize this.
(The part about the guild being in an uproar was right. But instead of praise, this…?)
He glanced back at the receptionist and muttered, "Uh… could we swap her for someone else?"
"Are you thinking something rude?" the receptionist asked, her expression darkening like a wrathful demon.
(Close call! How did she knows!)
Randy let out a nervous laugh, raising his hands in surrender. He finally realized he'd messed up, but it was far too late.
"We also need to discuss the materials and buying it," the receptionist said with a serene yet menacing smile, a vein pulsing on her forehead.
"Uh, I'll just donate it for free!" Randy offered, pointing at the Armor Lizard with a sheepish grin.
But as he turned to leave, several veteran guild staff blocked his path.
"We can't let you go without a full report on the creature's defeat and the forest investigation," one of them said, smiling as they grabbed his arm.
"Lord Randolph, I think it might be best if you just give up."
"Liz, you betrayed me," Randy muttered, scowling at her.
With an exasperated sigh, Liz replied, "There was no choice. This is clearly a situation that will get you into trouble."
"Then you should have said so earlier." Randy sqid while pouting his mouth
"I did tell you, but you didn't listen." Liz sighed.
"Alright, Mr. Randolph, let's discuss this in the back," said the staff, flanking him as they escorted him away.
Liz followed with a resigned expression, wondering how her reliable companion from earlier had turned into such an idiot
Meanwhile, back in the guild:
"Did you see that massive Armor Lizard?"
"How do you even kill something like that?"
"Well, they might be reckless, but they're definitely promising rookies."
"I should invite him to dinner."
"Don't bother. You'll never win against his attendant."
Ironically, the guild was buzzing with praise for Randy, just as he had imagined.
Of course, needless to say—he got an earful of reprimands afterward.
"I didn't even do anything!" Randy protested.
"You did something. Something big. Please take responsibility," Liz retorted with a sigh.
——
I'm here to rob your power stones!
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