We succeeded in fully charging the smartphone.

It seems there’s no need to plug in a cable; simply generating electricity near the phone is enough to charge it. I had suspected it was a futuristic device, but I never imagined it would support wireless charging.

However, our joy was short-lived.

Although the phone powered on, we couldn’t unlock it. What even is biometric authentication? I understand fingerprints, but what’s an iris scan? The camera activated—was I supposed to just show my face?

Well, at least the fact that the phone’s display was in Japanese was a good find. Either way, there was nothing more we could do, so we gave up for now.

After enjoying our time in the commercial city, we returned to Raven, the city of craftsmen. Once again, we had taken on a request to escort Fleur back, but unlike before, the return journey was uneventful, and we arrived by early afternoon without encountering any bandits.

“Thank you again for your help.”

Upon safely arriving at the Rashiyu Trading Company, Fleur handed us the completion slip for the escort request.

“Not at all, we should be thanking you.”

Fleur had originally planned to travel back to Raven with us to attend a wedding ceremony. Since she went out of her way to officially post an escort request, we also got credit for completing a D-rank job in the process.

“The wedding ceremony is the day after tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. I plan to head to the temple in the morning.”

“Hehe, congratulations. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Uh… thanks?”

Fleur’s response ended up sounding like a question, probably because she wasn’t sure what exactly Rio was looking forward to. From what we had seen when we observed a ceremony before, there hadn’t been anything particularly special.

From inside the store, a lively voice rang out.

“Welcome, nya~!”

That sounded oddly familiar.

“Did you hire someone new?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Peeking into the store, I saw a fluffy-eared and tailed employee in hot pants. If I remembered correctly, wasn’t she a staff member of the Mimina Trading Company?

Rio and I exchanged glances and gave each other a knowing nod. We should check on what happened with the Mimina Trading Company later.

“Well then, we should get going.”

“Yes. I look forward to seeing you again.”

After parting ways with Fleur, we secured a room at the inn we had stayed at before and then headed to the guild.

At the counter, we reported the completion of the request and handed over the completion slip along with our guild cards.

“Yes, I confirm that the escort request has been completed. Please wait a moment.”

The receptionist disappeared into the back but quickly returned.

“Here is your reward. Please accept it.”

“Thanks.”

“And here are your guild cards… Congratulations on your rank up.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Rio and I paused as we reached out to take our guild cards, looking up at the receptionist.

“Wait, what?”

The receptionist also looked confused.

A rank up… Did that mean we were now C-rank?

Still puzzled, I reached out again and took my guild card. Sure enough, it now displayed ‘C-rank.’

“Hmm.”

“Now that I think about it, didn’t they say before that someone who has never taken an escort request couldn’t be promoted to C-rank?”

“Oh, yeah. That was when we first got our D-rank.”

“Right.”

It was coming back to me now. Back then, they said they couldn’t leave someone who had tamed a creature like Nir at a low rank. The guild master had personally used their authority to rank us up.

Noticing that we were working through the situation on our own, the receptionist looked relieved. Honestly, compared to the thorough explanations we’d get in Japan, things in this world were way too haphazard.

“Ah, yes. Since you completed the escort request, the guild master approved your rank up…”

“Well, if that’s the case, I guess it’s fine.”

“Yeah.”

“Then, once again, congratulations on your promotion.”

“Haha, thanks.”

“Since you are now C-rank, there is something I need to explain about compulsory designated requests.”

“Compulsory?”

“Yes.”

The receptionist proceeded to explain.

Apparently, in cases of emergencies that threaten the survival of a town, the guild issues mandatory requests. These requests cannot be refused, and failing to accept them results in rank demotion or, in the worst case, expulsion from the guild.

For example, in the event of a large-scale monster attack, adventurers who would rather flee than fight would be dropped to a lower rank where compulsory requests wouldn’t apply to them.

“Additionally, requests issued directly by nobles are also treated as compulsory by the guild. However, unlike the emergency requests, declining a noble’s request won’t result in demotion or expulsion, but as a rule, we strongly encourage you to accept them.”

Figures. Nobles were always troublesome. While there were some noble-born adventurers, most were commoners. It was best to avoid unnecessary conflicts with the nobility.

“Understood. As long as the requests aren’t unreasonable, I don’t mind accepting them.”

“That would be much appreciated.”

Now that we were also registered with the Commercial Guild, the Adventurer’s Guild honestly didn’t matter as much to us anymore. Even without it, we could sell the monsters we hunted directly to merchant companies.

Well, I guess we’d just deal with any requests when they actually came in.