Wooden wheels rolled over the uneven ground, occasionally jostling the passengers inside the carriage. A coachman and a guard were at the front, while Iris and Cyne were sitting in the back.

As it happened, the mayor of the village expressed gratitude to them for their successful mission by providing this means of travel for their return journey.

"I'm sure glad I don't have to overexert myself by running after you this time," Cyne said as he looked sulkily at his partner.

"Don't make it sound like I would leave you behind.'

"How can you say that with a straight face...? I can't figure you out."

"... Don't stare at me," Iris muttered, readjusting her hood.

"I'm merely looking at the person I'm talking to. You're the odd one for breaking eye contact so fast."

"Then, stop talking to me."

"Hmpf. And here I was, thinking this life-or-death situation brought us a bit closer together."

"Just so you know, I wasn't particularly scared for my life back then. Since you've seen what I'm capable of, you must realize that a higher adventurer rank would suit me better."

"What a bold statement... Especially coming from a girl who didn't even know the difference between animals and monsters before today."

"T-that's just specifics. Who knows how long I'll be stuck at D-rank because of that old man?"

With a look full of irritation, Cyne glared at Iris.

"Even if we assume that there's actually some basis behind this pervert giving you that rank, it still seems pretty darn generous to me. I've been an adventurer for more than two years now and I've got the same rank as you, who started today. I had to climb my way up from F-rank like the majority of adventurers."

"T-two years? Will it take that long for me to gain two ranks as well?! I don't have that time..."

"That depends entirely on you... You don't know anything about the ranking system, do you? To you, what's a star?"

(That must be a trick question... Let's see... Were there not two stars in the heading of this mission?)

"... Isn't it the difficulty associated with a mission that was accessed by the staff?" Iris guessed.

"That's partly true, but you also actually get those stars as you finish the quest. When you've got fifty of them, you're eligible for the next graduation exam that will eventually make you a C-rank. Think of them as currency."

"... There's no length of service?"

"Basically. The Adventuring Guild's ranking system was thought to be fair. Those who are under-ranked comparatively to their skills go up soon enough after having gathered a bit of practical experience, while those who have the appropriate rank will gather all their stars but fail the graduation exam."

"I just need to grind those stars, then!"

"That is if you're as strong and unfairly ranked as you say you are. Know that about half of the adventurers who currently have the necessary amount of stars to become C-ranks have failed the previous exam. Incidentally, if you fail, you lose half of your stars."

(As if I'd fail. Let's get to C-rank soon!)

"I'll ask the staff to let me take the exam as soon as I'm eligible, then," Iris declared.

"They won't organize a custom exam for any adventurer that wills it, idiot. It's usually a whole event with dozens if not hundreds of adventurers participating. For each rank, there's typically a graduation exam about every two or three months, I think? The next D-rank one is in three weeks. With my soon-to-be thirty-two stars, I might barely make it to participate."

"T-that's unfair! If I don't make it, I'll have to wait three months to go up in the ranks?!"

Glad at first that he had a competitive advantage that would let him reaffirm his seniority in adventuring, Cyne started to sweat bullets when he heard Iris murmuring about buying stars from stagnating D-ranks.

"D-don't do that, Iris. Each star has a unique identification number that traces back to its corresponding mission. If the Guild finds any inconsistency, you'll be banned permanently from all branches, or even arrested..."

"They got NFTs in this world?! Dammit!" Iris blurted out.

"... What?"

"... Forget it."

With that, Iris scratched her head before silently looking at the moving landscape from the carriage.

***

"Ah, you two are already back. No wirants found?" Melisande said, seemingly bored at her desk. "Don't mind too much, Iris. If we're talking about failing a mission, Cyne's a regular."

"... If you've got a problem with me, Melis, just say so. I'll let you know that we succeeded in the mission. So much, in fact, that the mayor wanted to meet us and gave us a ride in a carriage. Here's his letter."

"O-oh. Let's see... Four wirants were confirmed dead, and... you took down four ordots?! How did you two do that?!"

Cyne glanced at Iris and, seeing her shrug, he decided to tell the truth.

"I got one of them, and the missy over there smashed the other three to a pulp. She freaks me out, to be frank."

(T-that's a bit too frank...)

"She did that...? Did she go easy on Sir Will, then...?"

Upon hearing that name, Iris pulled Cyne's arm with a pleading look.

"Right. About that degenerate... Iris won't be his whore!", he exclaimed at the reception desk as a dozen adventurers looked at the commotion with wide eyes. "Iris informed me that he forced her to undress after her examination test. How fucked up is that?!"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

With clear panic in her eyes, the poor clerk girl looked in every direction for help and didn't know how to respond. For anyone present at that time, this was obviously a misunderstanding. Iris, however, was repeatedly nodding at what Cyne said while holding his arm, with a look that screamed 'What he said!'. Was she lying outright to blackmail Will later, had she been completely unable to read the room back then, or was she naive enough to get caught up in Cyne's biased understanding of what had happened?

Unsurprisingly, within the hour, both Cyne and Iris were forced to publicly apologize to Will, admitting their outrageous conclusions had been a bit hasty. As some of the witnesses had already left the Guild before then, however, Will's reputation would still be badly damaged in the end.

***

"Don't tell me you're drinking water in a tavern..." Cyne sighed as he settled alongside Iris at a table with a large pint of beer in his hand.

"I'll stick with water. The cost of renting a room with meals for a whole week has almost depleted my earnings."

(Besides, if she couldn't handle her liquor, I don't think I can. I wouldn't want to lose control and start using my magic left and right.)

"You got no savings? Were you thrown out of your house the moment you came of age?"

"No, quite the opposite. My parents were against me becoming an adventurer, but I insisted and eventually had to fight my father," Iris admitted, carefully choosing her words to avoid displaying too much information. "I won and they did agree to let me go in the end, but they insisted that I use my own money if I want to live on my own."

"That's funny, then. I too had to defy my father for being an adventurer, as he has already mapped out a life plan for me. Though I was older than you at that time," he said with a nostalgic look, before emptying half of his glass in one go. "Making money at our rank isn't that easy when you're independent. We're both broke."

"But you did double your rewards by 'babysitting' me, didn't you? Treat me to a cup of tea."

"... Tea? Are you a grandma under that robe, after all?"

As Cyne grumbled and left for the bar, Alice decided to look at the two stars she pulled out of her pocket.

These were wooden pieces carved into the shape of, well, stars.

(Wouldn't round tokens be simpler to manufacture? Seems like a lot of work for mass-produced items.)

They even had inscriptions written on them. All in all, the two stars seemed to be duplicates. She looked at some of Cyne's coins in a pocket of his bag, and they had the very same inscriptions.

(Seems pretty fungible to me...)

"Don't even think about it. shorty. They may seem identical to the naked eye, but they are definitely unique," Cyne said as he brought Iris her cup of tea along with little cubes of sugar.

(... Did he just read my thoughts? Was that his magic?!)

"What's that look for? I'm not reading your thoughts, if that's what you're thinking..."

(No, he is! Damn, did I think about being a noble during our mission?! Ah! Stop thinking about that now, idiot!)

"Now give back my stars, you thief. I'll report you."

"A-ah!"

***

As a new day arrived, Iris was lying with her eyes wide open on her bed in the room she was renting.

These weren't the eyes of an adventurer who was itching to get started for another day of adventures, however. To begin with, there were dark circles around said eyes. The mattress she was lying on was so hard that even camping inside a carriage was like sleeping in a luxury suite in comparison.

(Mmh. Yeah. I can't move.)

Moreover, she was feeling incredibly sore in her legs and more generally in all her body. It appeared that even she wasn't immune to the good old delayed onset muscle soreness. Even though she had been vastly assisted by mana, micro-tears had still formed in her muscle fibers after running so intensely the day before.

(It would be lame to take a day off so soon, I'm sure...)

Iris nevertheless stood up and prepared herself in front of the mirror. After she had put on her large robe and set up her façade, she left the room and climbed down the stairs.

"Morning, Lady Alice!" exclaimed the clerk, straightening her posture as soon as she saw the small figure.

"Do not call me that here, please."

"Well, there's no one here yet. You're up pretty early, by the way."

"... I could not tell what time it was. Someone usually tells me when I have to leave my bed."

"Oh. Should I do it for you from now on?"

"N-no, thank you... I just have to get used to it, that is all."

"Alright~. Anyway, it's a good thing that you're here. I needed to talk to you about something."

The air changed, and Melisande had now a serious look that contrasted with the carefree attitude she had been displaying just a second ago.

"W-what is it?"

"I'm aware that I pushed you a bit toward going into a mission with Cyne, but..."

('A bit'...?)

"Maybe you shouldn't team up with him, after all," Melisande suggested, her voice tinged with concern.

(Wow... This poor guy sure is unpopular...)