In a Different World with a Smartphone Chapter 357: A Guild Request, and a Mole.

Hm, guess thats everyone?

I had just finished the one-minute mock battle with the 27 rank-up test takers. Not a single one of them was able to touch me, though. Well, that means theres no one among this group thats as strong as a gold-ranker, I guess?

As for the result, of the 27 people, 7 of them were judged to have enough skill to reach green rank. The other 20 people failed to reach that standard. Of those 20, 13 are black-ranked and 7 are purple-ranked.

For those 20, the test would not continue past this point. Once theyve passed their cards to the guild staff and finished their rank promotion, theyre free to leave.

Galen-san began speaking to the seven left.

Now then, for the seven of you who remained, you were all judged to have equivalent skill to at least a green-ranked adventurer. However, that only means you have the minimum combat skill necessary, and nothing else. Being an adventurer requires you to receive many different kinds of requests. There are requests one would be good at, and conversely requests one would be bad at.

For an adventurer, depending on their main focus their job style changes as well. For me, I was bad with escort requests.

Its hard to work well with strangers without any conflicts. Among them, theres also the type of employers who would go I hired you, so dont complain. Just follow orders or something like that Theres also times when you have to do the escort request with other adventurers, and the problems were a headache as well. The time with Suu went smoothly in comparison.

For example, imagine theres a magic beast in front of you. If you were a knight or a warrior, you would make efficient attacks in order to bring the magic beast down efficiently. Something

like piercing the heart, or crushing the head. However, if you were an adventurer instead, there are times when that would actually be a bad move. Do you know why?

When Galen-san asked that, a girl with a small build within the seven raised her hand.

Ho. Ojou-san, you know the answer?

Yes, thats because it may damage parts that could be sold as materials!

Hohoho, exactly. If a magic beasts skin could be sold at a high price, and yet it was burnt with fire magic, thats a complete waste. A horn that is valued as a good material for crafting accessories would have its value reduced if its broken. An adventurer needs to take those things into consideration as they defeat monsters. Of course, if a life hangs in the balance, the story is different.

I got it! Was what the girls smile expressed as she radiated a joyous atmosphere. I stared daggers into her though. Didnt I tell you to not stand out?

I dont know if she noticed that, but she looked in a different direction and started whistling. That girl

A head of short-cut hair thats a bit messy. The girl, whos wearing a short muffler and clothes that look easy to move in, is called Sarutobi Homura. Shes part of the Brunhild knight orders intelligence department; a legitimate knight.

For the rank-up test this time, since I wanted some inside information, I had her mix herself into the participants. Ive properly gotten her boss, Tsubaki-sans permission.

Basically, since shell be acting as an inside spy, dont do anything that stand out too much was what I said to her but Its probably part of her inborn character, but shes a bit too lively. Is it ok for you to not have patience even though youre a ninja? (Note: classic joke here. The word ninja in Japanese consists of two kanjis that read as one who endures.)

Karina nee-san, who was looking at her besides me, had a wry smile. Ive told Karina nee-san and Galen-san about Homura, just in case.

Now then, Ill have the members here accept a certain request. This is part of the rank-up test. The client is the Adventurers Guild. Since its a proper request posted through the official

channels, if you succeed there will be rewards as well. Of course, if you fail, it will also leave a record with the guild. Do be careful.

For an adventurer, failing a request is not only something that damages their credibility, but also something that could lead to negative evaluations hereon. While it may be obvious, between two adventurers of the same rank, one who fails quests often and one who has never failed a quest yet, its clear as day which one the guild would recommend to clients.

Upon hearing Galen-sans words, one of the seven, a young man raised his hand up. Oya, its the guy with the long brown hair from earlier. He was the one who raised a question before this too; wonder if hes the cautious type.

Is that request a personal request to an individual?

Wrong. Itll be a request to the seven of you as a party. Basically, the seven of you will share the responsibility for the success or the failure of the request.

To Galen-sans words, the members in front of us raised a light buzz. I thought the only one who didnt react was Homura, but there was one more person who was unfazed.

Its a female beastman with cat ears. I wonder if shes from Mismede. Her age is in the early twenties, and had black hair as well as black ears which jumped out from her hair.

She was wearing light leather armor, and a large knife hung from her waist. A cats tail, with a white tip, extended out from behind the culotte.

Its a getup focusing on agility. During the mock battle, her fighting style was one which utilized fast movements, too.

A man from within the test takers raised his voice.

Just wait a second. That means if someone else here drags our legs and caused the request to fail, Ill fail it with them?

Exactly. I said you all will be sharing the responsibility, no?

Tch Dont joke with me.

The man clicked his tongue with an unamused expression. Hes man with a well-built body that stands at nearly 2 meters tall. Around his late twenties, Id say? Hes scratching his short red hair. Hes wearing armor on his torso and shoulders, as well as his hands and shins, and a broadsword was sheathed on his waist.

He was decently strong when I fought him. Probably first or second in terms of strength among the seven. He seems pretty used to fighting against a person, so he mightve been from a knight order or a mercenary band somewhere.

I wonder who it is thatll drag our legs. Depending on the request details, itll be troubling if we had a useless blockhead with us, you know.

What was that?

A woman sent provocative words towards the warrior-like man from earlier.

Shes wearing a no-sleeve vest as well as shirt, and a pair of short pants with a large belt attached. A whip was rounded up and hanging from that belt. On her right shoulder, theres a tattoo of a snake.

She looks to be around her early twenties, and her dark silver hair was swept to the back of her head to not be a hindrance.

The woman was sending a sideway glance at the red-haired man while she folded her arms. Her chest, which was being pushed up by her arms, was threatening to burst out of her shirt. Un, quite big.

Galen-san was already staring at that one place with sharp eyes akin to that of a hunter even while he was laughing with a hohoho. Hes not even blinking.

Are you saying this me is a deadweight!?

You seem like youre good at fighting people, but that experience wont work against magic beasts, you know? You should go and splurge on some antidotes before we leave if you dont want to suffer from eating poison attacks.

P, poison you say!? Ku

Seems like the red-haired man didnt consider the danger of poisonous attacks.

Well, it cant be helped. Subjugation requests for poisonous magic beasts arent low-ranked requests. If they do accept one, the guild receptionist would inform them that, though.

Well well. Well be in the same party for a request after this, you know. Please dont start fighting already.

The one who got between the two while sighing was the young man with long brown hair, who raised a question to Galen-san just now.

Although he looks gentle at first glance, hes actually quite the swordsman. Hes around the same level as that red-haired man. Judging from his demeanor, he might be of noble birth. Having said that, though, his equipment consisted of things like dirtied pieces of armor and a rough sword thats only got its sturdiness going for it. Could he be a fallen noble?

Aah? Why do I have to be told something like that by

We were just told that we now share the responsibility for the request, right? Its already no longer your own problem, you know.

On a side note, its fine if you drop out right here. You can receive a promotion to green rank, and you can start receiving requests as early as tomorrow.

The test takers were silenced by Karina nee-sans words. The seven of them here were all recognized to have enough strength to be a green-ranker. We wont mind even if they dont accept the request for the test and drop out here.

I dont intend to step out. If you guys want to, get out quickly. You all are noisy.

A male dwarf spoke with a dismissive tone.

He had the dwarven characteristics of a short and stout body, and a beard that almost covered up his face entirely. I couldnt tell his age. Even when theyre young, dwarves have huge beards, and the older ones can easily go over 100, after all.

He had a battle axe on his back, and a small easy-to-handle hatchet on his waist. He used the hatchet when he fought me during the mock battle.

Its likely that he came from Lail Kingdom. In that case, he might be connected to the chief or someone else in the dwarven group that made the Dvergs.

For me, while I have no intentions of backing off now, Id like to reserve that decision until I know the request details. I might drop out depending on the contents.

Following the dwarf, the next person who raised his hand was a serious-looking man in his late twenties. He has a medium build, and doesnt have any physical characteristics that stand out; hes wearing a light brown coat, and holding a staff in his hands. Its not something close to the cane Galen-san was holding, but a proper magicians staff.

The rugged-looking staff had two different magic stones embedded on its tip. Yellow and brown. A dual attribute setup of light and earth.

He had used magic during the mock battle with me as well. He was making good use of his spells with nice combos like a [Earth Bind] followed by a [Light Arrow], but somehow, he takes a while to focus, and as such theres a delay to his spells. At that level, it wont work against anyone whos decently used to fighting against magic. I had easily escaped from his [Earth Bind] and dodged his [Light Arrow], too.

His skillset is good against magic beasts, but conversely, he would be bad in anti-personnel combat or group combat situations. The exact opposite of the red-haired man, huh.

Hmm, its true that you may find it hard to make a decision without hearing about the request in question first. The location would be the dungeon islands beyond the transfer gates in this country. You are to proceed to one of those islands, and retrieve some Firewheel Grass from the mountainside in the northern part of that island. This would be the grass.

Galen-san took out a detailed drawing. Its a grass with fiery red leaves that grow in a spiral pattern.

The time limit is three days. Since theres quite a few dangerous magic beasts there, the reward would be two white gold coins per person.

The looks of several of the test takers changed upon hearing that. Well, if they heard that its possible for them to obtain two white gold coins, around two million yen, in just three days, that kind of reaction isnt that weird.

Originally, its a request at the level where it might be tough for green-rankers to complete it. Well, theres our ninja girl with them as well, and well make sure that theres no casualties at least during the process.

The reward would be for the completion of the request, so regardless of whether they get a promotion in rank after that, they would receive it. Even