CASE 2. The Case of Lehreta, a Green Rank Adventurer
The second person was a Green-ranker named Lehreta, who claimed to be a former noble.
Despite having a solid and well-built physique, he was already 22 years old.
He became an adventurer at the age of 18, and after four years, he still wasn’t a Blue-ranker, which was somewhat unusual.
The details of why he became an adventurer are not well known.
It seems that it’s not uncommon for the third son and beyond of a noble family to become adventurers.
However, there was apparently skepticism in the Tamers’ Guild about whether there really was a noble backing for this request…
Lehreta’s talent as a tamer was recognized when he took on an escort request in the past.
Unluckily encountering a stray Golem, the carriage he was escorting was blocked by it, causing them to be stuck.
The Golem was proving to be quite formidable and difficult to handle.
However, when Lehreta shouted, “Get out of the way!” the Golem cleared the path and went somewhere.
Up to this point, it could have been just an adventurer’s anecdote.
However, Lehreta recently came to the Tamers’ Guild and demonstrated controlling a Mini Golem created by an alchemist.
He insisted that he has the potential to be a tamer, and that’s how this request came about.
The Tamers’ Guild was uncertain about the credibility of this request.
Their job was to escort the target, observe whether he could tame it, and if it seemed impossible, bring him back.
In other words, we are taking on the request because even if they weren’t sure if it could be possible to complete, it seemed they could extract money from the situation.
Yeah, not the best character trait.
Anyway, the Tamers’ Guild tried to take him to a normal Golem, but he refused.
Currently, we were heading towards a Rock Golem.
The Rock Golem is the second stage of evolution of a Golem.
Golems start as Earth Golems, and evolve into Stone Golems, then the Rock Golems.
The Earth Golem is a Black-rank monster, the Stone Golem is Green-rank, and the Rock Golem is Blue-rank.
However, the Rock Golems are a highly-ranked monsters, even within the Blue-rank.
I think it’s too much for Lehreta, who hasn’t reached the Blue Rank yet…
Since the request was only to ensure that the person doesn’t die, we arrived at the habitat of the Rock Golem.
The specified Golem that Lehreta wanted to tame was one significantly larger within the pack.
According to Keuko, it was an individual that has eaten many magic stones, entering the evolution preparation stage.
We tried to persuade him, but he insisted on that particular one, so we prioritized Lehreta’s wishes.
The surrounding Golems were all dealt with by the members of the Wildcat Claws, setting up a one-on-one situation between Lehreta and the target Golem.
Now, let’s see how this unfolds.
“Hey there, I am Lehreta, the fourth son of the Frisbee family! I challenge you to a duel!”
“UGOOOO!”
Lehreta was about to deliver a long-winded introduction when he was attacked by the Golem.
He narrowly avoided it, but is he really going to be okay?
“Ah, that was dangerous! Why haven’t you restrained that Golem for me?”
“No. My request was to bring you along to test whether your taming will succeed, and regardless of the outcome, bring you back alive. I won’t assist until the taming battle is underway.”
“What!?”
“Besides, if a third party with overwhelming strength assists in the taming battle, monsters won’t comply, you know? I don’t think the Golem is any different.”
“… I see, that makes sense. Thank you for the advice!”
After expressing his gratitude, Lehreta faced the Rock Golem once again.
Well, he doesn’t seem like a bad person.
Just a bit misguided.
Now, about Lehreta, he didn’t come unprepared to face the Rock Golem.
He brought a sturdy mace instead of a sword, which was less effective against Golems.
The mace seemed to be of a weight he can handle with one hand, and in the other hand, he held a metal kite shield.
It should be quite heavy, but if he tries to block the Rock Golem’s attack with a wooden shield, it would break in one hit, so it can’t be helped.
Although Lehreta was pushed back throughout the battle, he consistently delivered precise counters, slowly damaging the Rock Golem.
Eventually, cracks started appearing all over the Rock Golem’s body, and its right arm finally shattered.
“UGO!”
“Hehe, how about that? How about my skills? How about it? Won’t you come to join me?”
While staying hidden behind the kite shield, Lehreta said that without lowering his guard, but he was also quite close to his limit.
His legs were trembling, and the mace was noticeably bent.
I can’t see from my position, but the front side of the kite shield must be quite battered too.
For a moment, both Lehreta and the Rock Golem stopped moving, but the Golem’s submission signaled the end of the battle.
… He really tamed the Rock Golem.
“Mhm! With this, you are now my vassal! Work hard!”
“UGOO!”
“… Huh? Do you want me to share some magic power for the repair of your injured body? Well, fine. It’s my vassal’s wish, after all.”
“GO!”
“Huh? Don’t suck out so much! Aaargh…”
Oh well.
He tamed a monster that’s too big for him and got his magic power drained, causing him to faint due to magic power exhaustion.
Recovery takes quite a while in that state.
Anyway, let’s move to a safe place and set up camp.