Chapter 98: Chapter 85- Soleil’s Rank-up Exam

[Soleil POV]

It was the day after my coming-of-age ceremony and now we were waiting in the guild in the capital.  We were waiting for the people I would be taking the rank-up exam with to get here.  Big sis was standing there looking off into the distance most likely talking with the Goddess.  Velvet was looking round impatiently.

 

“Seriously, we’ve been here for two hours, what is taking these people so long?” (Velvet)

 

“No idea, but I share your annoyance.” (Soleil)

 

At this time, Shuten came over to us.

 

“Sorry for having you all waste your time, the party should have been here a while ago.” (Shuten)

 

“It’s not your fault, Shuten.” (Velvet)

 

“Just the party?  What about the examiner?” (Soleil)

 

“I’m the examiner.  Did Ibaraki not tell you the other day?” (Shuten)

 

“No, she didn’t.” (Soleil)

 

“*Sigh* She is so forgetful sometimes.” (Shuten)

 

At that moment someone opened the guild doors loudly and a party of four walked in.  The party consisted of two humans, an elf, and a cat beastkin.  The one in the lead looked around until his gaze stopped on Shuten.  They walked over and started speaking.

 

“Hello Miss Shuten, we’re here for the rank-up exam.”

 

Now that they were closer, I could see that out of everyone in the party, only the two humans seemed to not care that they were late.

 

“You’re late.  We were supposed to be gone an hour ago.” (Shuten)

 

“Sorry about that, we were celebrating last night and stayed up too late.” (Human 1)

 

“You two were celebrating last night.  We were getting ready for today and went to sleep early.  The reason it took so long to get here was because the two of you were nursing hangovers.” (Elf)

 

“*Sigh*” (Soleil)

 

Hearing me sigh, the one that was doing all the talking looked my way and got a creepy grin on his face.

 

“Are you the other person taking the exam?  Would you like to join me for some fun after we finish?” (Human 1)

 

“No, she would not.” (Velvet)

 

Hearing Velvet’s words I chuckled to myself.

 

“Are you really doing this now?  We don’t have time for that.  I’m sorry for this idiot’s stupid actions.” (Cat person)

 

“It’s fine, I wasn’t going to humor him anyway.” (Soleil)

 

“Since everyone is here, we should leave.” (Shuten)

 

“Take care Soleil.” (Velvet)

 

“Slaughter them all, the only good bandit is a dead one.” (Luna)

 

“I’ll see the both of you later.” (Soleil)

 

We left the guild and made our way out of the city.  The whole time we were walking, the two humans wouldn’t shut up about whatever they were talking about.  At first they were pestering me about myself, Velvet, and big sis, but I didn’t even acknowledge them, so they started talking to each other.

 

The elf and cat person, however, were quite nice and easy to get along with.  I learned that the only reason they were with the other two was because the two humans owed them money and they were making sure they would get paid back.

 

“No offence to the both of you, but I would give up.  People like that don’t make it long as adventurers.” (Shuten)

 

“We guessed as much, after this we were going to leave their party anyway.” (Elf)

 

“Miss Soleil, can you tell me who those two people you were with earlier were?” (Cat person)

 

“The other kitsune was my big sister and the other one is our other party member.  They’re both B-rank and I’m trying to catch up.” (Soleil)

 

“I see.  They were very pretty and looked strong.” (Cat person)

 

“They are strong.  As I am right now, they have to carry me, but I plan on being able to match them eventually.” (Soleil)

 

“What do you specialize in?” (Elf)

 

“I mainly use magic, but I can also use daggers if the need arises.” (Soleil)

 

“Then can you hold take the rearguard position.  I’m an archer that specializes in sniping, so I’ll be in the back as well.” (Elf)

 

“I don’t mind.  What is your specialty?” I asked the cat person.

 

“I’m good at close range and fight mostly using daggers, but I can also use a sword if need be.” (Cat person)

 

“Though I shouldn’t say this as an examiner, I recommend you using a sword for this test.” (Shuten)

 

“I will, then.” (Cat person)

 

“What about those two that have been on their own little world since the beginning?” (Soleil)

 

“One uses a sword; the other is a brawler.” (Elf)

 

“So they’re muscle heads?” (Soleil)

 

“Unfortunately.” (Cat person)

 

“Hey, what are all of you talking about?” (Human 1)

 

“Yeah, let us in on it too.” (Human 2)

 

“We’re talking about our specialties and our roles in the party.” (Elf)

 

“Why?  The three of you should just stand back and watch us work.” (Human 2)

 

“If we did that. Then only the two of you would pass the exam.” The cat person said, then whispered; “Not to mention that you two are more than likely going to run away when put in a pinch.”

 

I stifled some laughter hearing her words.  I looked at the elf and Shuten and they were doing the same.

 

“Doesn’t matter, we do all the work in the party anyway.” (Human 1)

 

“Oh really?  Who was it that bailed the two of you out when you got surrounded by goblins?” (Cat person)

 

“Hey, those things are disgusting and there were too many of them.” (Human 2)

 

“There were seven of them.  A five year old could have killed them all.” (Elf)

 

“Wait.  You can’t kill seven goblins?” I asked in shock.

 

“It’s not that I can’t.  I just didn’t want to touch them.” (Human 2)

 

“Are you a noble or something?” (Soleil)

 

“A sixth son.  I was told to go and make a name for myself as an adventurer if I wanted to get anymore money from my family.” (Human 2)

 

I sighed internally.

 

‘I’m really glad big sis isn’t like that.’

 

“What about you?” (Soleil)

 

“He was locked in combat with a hobgoblin.” (Elf)

 

“It was a worthy opponent; our battle was legendary.” (Human 1)

 

I could see Shuten facepalm.  The others with the exception of the other human had annoyed expressions.

 

‘This is going to be a long day.’

 

It was about three hours later and we arrived at the edge of a forest.  Just before we went in, Shuten stopped us.

 

“Before we go in, I’m going to explain some things.  One: I won’t help you unless something unforeseen happens.  Two: This test is to see if you can kill people, so don’t leave any survivors.  Three: If any of you run, you will immediately fail, doesn’t matter if you killed a bandit or not.  Any questions?” (Shuten)

 

“Why do we fail if we run?” (Human 2)

 

“Because it counts as abandoning your party and it makes the whole quest harder for everyone.  The adventurer’s guild doesn’t look kindly on people that abandon their comrades in the heat of battle.” (Shuten)

 

“What counts as something unforeseen?” (Soleil)

 

“Something like a powerful monster showing up or one of the bandits being too strong for normal aspiring d-rankers.  An example of this is the time a rank up exam was being conducted and one of the bandits turned out to be a disgraced knight.  He was too strong for the party, so the examiner had to step in and save them before all of them were killed.  If that’s all, then let’s get this over with.” (Shuten)

 

We all nodded and entered the forest.  Most of us walked as quietly as we could, but the effort was being wasted by the two liabilities that were with us.  It was like they wanted to announce their presence to the entire forest.  It didn’t take long for us to notice the signs of people living in the area because there were a few tree stumps and some tracks left by logs being dragged away.  We followed the tracks and at the end found several poorly built log shacks.

 

“Let’s rush in.  They’ll never expect it.” (Human 1)

 

“Sounds good.” (Human 2)

 

I was about to stop the two of them, but they started running before I could.

 

“Damn it.  There goes any advantage we would have.” (Soleil)

 

“Let’s go before they get themselves killed.” (Cat person)

 

“Yeah, it’ll look bad on us if they die.” (Elf)

 

We started to make our way into the bandit camp and then we shouting.

 

“Hey, we got adventurers here!”

 

“Haha.  So, they did send people, guess we’ll get to finally have some fun!”

 

We got closer and saw the idiots getting surrounded by 10 people.  Since we decided that there was no use in wasting more time, we started our attack.  The elf took her bow off her back and shot an arrow that landed in the throat of a bandit.

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“You damn pointy ears, I’ll kill you!”

 

That bandit started to run toward us but was cut down by some of my wind magic.  The cat person also ran up to a bandit that was shocked by seeing his comrades being killed and stabbed him in the heart.

 

The two idiots were pale seeing people die for the first time and I could tell that they wouldn’t be doing anything in this battle.  The other bandits finally started to do something when the third one died and started to rush towards us.  Two of them went after the cat person and four of them started to run towards me and the elf.

 

The elf was calm and took out two arrows and fired them at the bandits coming toward us.  I fired some fire magic at one, then pulled out a dagger and jumped toward the other.

 

Just before I started my sprint, I muttered under my breath; “Wuld,” and boosted myself forward.  I was so fast that I ended up missing the bandit and stopped behind him.  I took advantage of this and stabbed the bandit through the back of his neck.  There was only one bandit left, but he was smarter than the others and took the liabilities hostage.

 

“Don’t move or I’ll kill them.”

 

This didn’t stop the elf, she prepared an arrow and shot the bandit in the head.  The now dead bandit fell backwards, leaving the two ‘hostages’ completely shocked.

 

“D-ddd-ddddid you really ignore him and still shoot?” (Human 1)

 

“You could have hit me!” (Human 2)

 

One of them was scared for his life while the other one was unreasonably angry.  Before he could start to rant and rave about it, Shuten came up and started talking.

 

“Congratulations, three of you have passed the exam.  Once we het back to the guild, your rank will be raised.  The two of you that failed will need to wait for the next bandit camp to be found to take the exam again.” (Shuten)

 

“Shuten, what do we do about the bodies?” (Soleil)

 

“Burn them.” (Shuten)

 

“Ok.” (Soleil)

 

Me and the two decent people piled up the dead bandits and I used some fire magic to start burning the bodies.  The other two were off to the side sulking about their failure.  Once that was done, we started to make our way out of the forest.  The whole time I could tell that one of the two was glaring at us.

 

“You should have saved one for me.” (Human 2)

 

“Why, you were too busy cowering to move, and we didn’t have the time to hold your hand through the fight.  You were the ones who ran in first and got surrounded.” (Cat person)

 

“That doesn’t matter.  One of you should have incapacitated one and let me kill him.” (Human 2)

 

“Again, why?” (Elf)

 

“Aren’t we a party?  That’s why.” (Human 2)

 

“The only reason we’re in this party is because you owe us money.” (Cat person)

 

“So what!  Just because of that, you should want us to pass so that we can pay you back.” (Human 2)

 

“Well since you didn’t, and probably weren’t going to anyway, well split once we get back.  We don’t want to baby either of you anymore.” (Elf)

 

Me and Shuten were walking behind them and watching this.

 

“So this is an example of a bad party.” (Soleil)

 

“It was fairly obvious from the beginning.” (Shuten)

 

“It was.  I’m glad that I don’t need to worry about this.” (Soleil)

 

“Yeah, you won’t have trouble.  Miss Luna and Miss Velvet are an example of a very good party.” (Shuten)

 

At this point the human that was arguing turned to us and interrupted us.

 

“Hey kitsune girl, since these two obviously won’t listen, I’m going to join your party instead.  Since all of you are good looking, I’ll even consider letting one of you date me.” (Human 2)

 

“Wait, was that what you were after this whole time?” (Cat person)

 

“Naturally, I would never consider joining you if I didn’t have that intention.” (Human 2)

 

“What?  You told me that you joined because we were friends.” (Human 1)

 

“Please.  Why would you actually believe that?  I kept you around because you could do the dirty work of dismantling stuff.” (Human 2)

 

“Hey Shuten, would it be alright if I burned his mouth off?” (Soleil)

 

“While that would do us all good, I can’t let you do that.” (Shuten)

 

“So, kitsune girl, tell me about your party.” (Human 2)

 

“No.” (Soleil)

 

“What was that?” (Human 2)

 

“I said no.  I would never let you join us.  Even if I did, big sis would have kicked you out after two seconds.” (Soleil)

 

“You should really reconsider.  Even if I’m a sixth son, my family are nobles.” (Human 2)

 

“And why should I care about that.  You said it earlier that you were basically kicked out.” (Soleil)

 

“I wasn’t kicked out, they told me to make a name for myself so that I could uphold our prestige.” (Human 2)

 

“Hah.  That’s just a fancy way to say get a job.” (Elf)

 

“Shut up!” (Human 2)

 

“As for the part about you allowing one of us date you, forget about it.  Big sis is engaged, and Velvet and I are taken.” (Soleil)

 

“Tch.” (Human 2)

 

After a few minutes of trying and failing to find a comeback, he started to brood.  The other human was depressed by what he learned and the other two started to chat happily with each other.  We continued like this until we made it back to the guild.

 

Once we walked in, I noticed big sis and Velvet waiting for me.  Big sis was smiling and Velvet had a scowl on her face when she saw the brooding human.  We all walked up to the reception counter to take care of everything.

 

“The three of you who passed, hand me your guild cards and I’ll take care of the rank up.  The other two can leave.” (Shuten)

 

We did as she asked and our ranks were raised.  I said my farewells to the elf and cat person and went over to my party.

 

“Good work out there Soleil.” (Luna)

 

“Congratulations on your rank up.” (Velvet)

 

“Thanks.” (Soleil)

 

Big sis patted me on the head and Velvet almost did the same, but stopped herself.

 

“You know you can pat my head if you want, Velvet.” (Soleil)

 

She did after I said that and I could tell she blushed a little.

 

“Now, tell me how it went, Soleil.  And how bad did the two humans screw up.” (Luna)

 

“They were liabilities.  On the way there, they were all arrogant and when we got there, they rushed in and got surrounded.  The three of us that were competent killed all of the bandits and then one of them had the gall to get angry about it.” (Soleil)

 

“Then what happened?” (Luna)

 

“On the way back, the one that got angry started arguing with his former party and at one point declared he would join us.  He even said that he would allow one of us to date him.” (Soleil)

 

Big sis reacted to this with a small frown and Velvet started clenching her fist, the same scowl she had earlier reappearing.

 

“So you heard correctly, Luna.” (Velvet)

 

“Told you I did.” (Luna)

 

“You were watching?” (Soleil)

 

“Yeah.  Weren’t you surprised that there were only 10 bandits?  We took a quest to hunt the rest of them so that they wouldn’t interrupt your exam.  We finished it quickly and decided to watch.  You should have seen Velvet’s face when that human started chatting you up.” (Luna)

 

“Oh.” (Soleil)

 

“W-what?  I was worried that he would do something if he got angry enough.  I would have stepped in if he did anything to anyone in your party.” (Velvet)

 

“Hehe.  It’s fine Velvet, I understand.” (Soleil)

 

“Anyway, let’s head home and get some rest.  We’ll look for an escort quest to Celestia Kingdom tomorrow.” (Luna)

 

Like that, we headed home for the last time for a while.

 

Author's Note:
Luna: Did you really just leave them nameless?

Yes.  None of them will show up again, so I didn't bother coming up with names.

Luna: I can see a future where we run into the elf and cat person again.

I don't know, maybe.  On another note, Velvet's fall is progressing well.

Luna: It really is.  I mean you should have seen Soleil yesterday, she was going all out.  At one point she even managed to give Velvet a lap pillow.

How'd she manage that?

Luna: She said it might help her use her fox form and that somehow convinced Velvet.

At this point she's just being stubborn.

Luna: I agree.  I can't wait to see the inevitable half-asleep Velvet.

It will be glorious.  By the way, what do you think of brawlers?

Luna: I'm not really sure.  Why do you ask?

No reason that is important for immediate future.

Luna: Back on the topic of the people that were with Soleil, what made you decide that they would be like that?

I wanted to give an example of a bad party.  At one point they were all going to be that arrogant, but I decided at the last minute to go with what I did.  Turns out, I don't like writing arrogant characters like that, it makes me feel weird.

Luna: Understandable, I don't like dealing with them.  More trouble than they're worth.

I agree.

Luna: One more thing before I go.

Yes?

Luna: What can Shuten do?

She uses a special sword that injects poison into anyone she cuts.

Luna: Scary.

Not like it would effect you anyway.

Luna: It's still scary since Shuten is so nice.

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