Chapter 313: Mithril Grade 313
Several days later, Yerenthel.
In the bustling district of this fortified city, one could occasionally hear people mentioning a matter while chatting.
"It seems we have another Mithril-ranked adventurer in town."
"I heard he was just promoted to Mithril-ranked the day before yesterday, and it seems he went straight from the lowest Copper rank."
"Isn’t that just a rumor?"
"Yes, going straight from Copper to Mithril rank is indeed unheard of."
"But it’s true, you know? It’s said that he easily defeated many higher-ranked adventurers when he first became an adventurer, and a few days ago he even took on a commission from Kingdom Warriors’ Captain Gejiev Storunov, thwarted a foreign conspiracy, and saved the captain’s life."
"Are you talking about the captain known as the strongest warrior?"
"The very same person commissioned him?"
"No wonder then."
People discussed such matters.
Especially those who were adventurers themselves, armed and clearly, their conversations contained many more details.
"You don’t know the half of it, a few days ago the Kingdom Warriors’ Captain came to the adventurer guild with a large troop, causing quite a stir."
"The captain from the Heroic Domain, even the highest Dream Steel-ranked adventurers are hardly comparable, right?"
"Such a figure came to the adventurer guild a few days ago, and not only did he personally escort the newcomer there, he openly declared to the guild master that he was rescued by the newcomer, and because of him, he was able to escape from a predicament and thwart a foreign conspiracy."
"Unfortunately, the captain wouldn’t reveal the specifics, he only said it was a matter of national security, so apart from the guild master, probably no one knows exactly what happened, right?"
"After that, the newcomer was promoted straight from Copper to Mithril."
"There must be many who don’t accept this, right?"
Indeed, many were discontented.
After all, an adventurer’s rank promotion relies on actual strength and accomplishments; without sufficient strength and accomplishments, one cannot advance ranks.
Accomplishments refer to the number of completed commissions and contributions to significant events.
The duty of an adventurer is to hunt monsters, to protect the weak citizens from the mighty creatures, hence high-level adventurers usually have completed many challenging commissions and protected many citizens from powerful monsters.
Having survived countless near-death experiences, suffered numerous injuries, and braved many dangers, they accumulated these accomplishments to advance their adventurer ranks. Now there was a newcomer who had just become an adventurer a few days ago, promoted so quickly by serving the nation, which would obviously displease many, especially young, vibrant adventurers.
It is worth mentioning that in the fortified city of Yerenthel, the highest rank among resident adventurers is Mithril.
The number of Mountain Copper and Dream Steel-ranked adventurers is few, and their activity scope is broad; typically, they do not stay in one city.
Therefore, the highest rank among Yerenthel’s resident adventurers is only up to Mithril.
In other words, this person not only swiftly advanced his adventurer rank but also reached the highest rank in Yerenthel, Mithril, which surely caused a commotion and made many feel unsatisfied—a sentiment easy to imagine.
"Thanks to this, the guild has been bustling recently."
"At first, there were many who protested, some saying it was unfair, others accusing the newcomer of violating guild regulations by getting involved in an international conflict, and some even believed that solving international disputes shouldn’t count as an adventurer’s achievement. In short, there were all sorts of reasons."
"But now, those voices have disappeared, haven’t they?"
"Who would argue when he declared fiercely in the guild that those unconvinced could freely challenge him, and that if anyone could even touch him once, not only would he return the Mithril badge given by the guild, but he would also hand out a large bag of gold nuggets?"
"Several days have passed since then, and who knows how many have challenged him, including even Platinum-ranked adventurers? All of them were easily defeated, unable to even touch him once."
"Many veteran adventurers have said, this man’s capabilities definitely exceed the Mithril rank."
"Exactly, to defeat many adventurers, including those of Platinum rank so easily, he must at least be of Mountain Copper rank, or even Dream Steel rank."
Such conversations frequently occurred among adventurers in recent days, letting many adventurers who had recently returned from completing commissions know about this matter.
"By the way, what’s the name of that newcomer?"
"Isn’t it something like Reiger Brillhaut?"
"Right, that’s the name."
A few adventurers were walking down the street, conversing like this.
Suddenly—
"Excuse me, may I interrupt for a moment?"
A robust voice suddenly arose behind the group, startling the adventurers.
They instinctively turned around to look back, and then saw a towering figure.
It was a warrior clad in pitch-black full armor, covering everything including the head, hands, and feet, completely concealing his facial features.
The warrior’s armor was followed by a red cape, under which one could vaguely see two exaggeratedly large swords, creating an extraordinary aura of force that mesmerized these mere Silver-ranked adventurers.
Following the warrior was a woman aged between 15 and 20, with narrow eyes, luxuriant ponytailed black hair, delicate snow-white skin, and an exotic beauty. She wore a deep brown robe and a sword attached to her waist.
Such a pair presented a striking contrast of beauty and the beast, captivating and powerful from every perspective.
"What, what’s happening?"
Several adventurers stammered out as if they were frightened.
The dark warrior standing before them seemed oblivious and asked,
"Sorry, I just wanted to ask, the adventurer you mentioned just now, what was his name again?"
Hearing this, the adventurers looked at each other.
"It was Reiger Brillhaut, right?"
Seeing their reaction, the dark warrior, unflustered, spoke again to confirm.
"Yes, yes."
"That was the name..."
"Is there a problem?"
Only then did the adventurers respond.
"No, just wanted to confirm," the dark warrior nodded and said, "Sorry to bother you."
With that, the dark warrior turned and walked away, the beautiful woman behind him quickly followed, leaving those adventurers to look at each other, still unable to grasp what had just occurred.
At that moment, the woman following the dark warrior finally spoke.
"Lord Ainz bui..."
She had not finished her sentence when the dark warrior interrupted her.
"My current name is Feifei, not Lord Ainz as you call me."
Undoubtedly, this person was the fully leveled player who had traveled from "YGGDRASIL", the ruler of the Nasalik Underground Tomb, a dark warrior—Momonga—who had once briefly met Reiger and exchanged information with him.
No, he was no longer calling himself Momonga, rather, as the original story developed, he had changed his name to that of the guild he belonged to in "YGGDRASIL"—Ainz Ooal Gown.
However, the former Momonga, now Ainz, clearly did not intend to reveal his true identity here.
Thus, with a slightly stern tone, he said to his companion,
"I am not Ainz Ooal Gown now, nor are you Narberal Gamma, the combat maid of Nasalik Underground Tomb; you are to be Feifei’s adventurer partner, Narberal. Do not speak erroneously again, understand?"
At Ainz’s quiet rebuke, Narberal lowered her head.
"Yes, I am very sorry, Lord Feifei."
"And do not call me lord; we are partners in an adventurer duo, we are technically peers, not superiors and subordinates."
"But, how can I be so disrespectful to the Supreme Sovereign?"
"...This is an order."
"...Yes, Mr. Feifei."
The dialogue between the two did not catch anyone’s attention.
People were merely astonished by the appearance of this male and female duo—the majestic and costly full-body armor on Ainz and the beauty of Narberal; nobody heard the content of their conversation.
The people, whose attention was captured by Ainz and Narberal, would not know that the duo walking on the street were actually not human.
They were otherworldly beings.
They were non-human monsters.
They possessed powers far surpassing those of the natives of this world, and to this world, they were undoubtedly invaders, possibly enemies in the future.
Of course, none of this had happened yet.
Narberal finally mentioned what she had intended to say earlier.
"The Reiger Brillhaut those insects mentioned just now, wasn’t he the intelligence broker who appeared near Nasalik a few days ago?"
What Narberal had intended to mention was just this.
"...Uncertain, but most likely, yes?" Ainz’s voice, glowing red from his skeletal eye sockets under the helmet, replied quietly: "It’s only been a few days, there’s a high likelihood that he’s still active around here."
"How shall we deal with him?" Narberal’s eyes gleamed with a murderous intent, "He has seen you and Lord Demiurge. If we encounter him here, he might harbor unnecessary suspicions towards us."
"Indeed," Ainz said solemnly, "Few days ago you weren’t with me, and now Demiurge is gone, replaced by you, a woman with a conspicuous appearance. Normally, that would raise doubts, wouldn’t it?"
"He also has many suspicious aspects. I’ve heard that he only recently became an adventurer, so his claim of being a professional adventurer beforehand is dubious."
"Furthermore, I may have already revealed too many secrets to him."
"Thus, we cannot ignore this man anymore."
As Ainz spoke, his tone was filled with dismay.
He had to admit that deciding to trade intelligence with Reiger might have been a mistake.