Adventurer Green Rank Examination – Camping Section, Encampment
“Miss Lily, wake up. It’s time for your shift.”
“… Okay.”
As someone with a pocket watch, I can tell it’s still 30 minutes early for the shift change.
But pointing that out would be troublesome, and since I’m already awake, I might as well take the watch duty for the camp.
Near the campfire, I saw two examiners on watch duty.
It seems the examinees who were supposed to be on watch with me haven’t woken up yet.
I hope they’re alright.
“Good morning. You seem to wake up quite easily.”
“I’ve been through a lot on my journey.”
“With that spider monster around, you’d be fine with almost anything.”
“Talat needs some rest every day too, it seems.”
Talat was already awake and keeping watch from the treetops.
He can stay awake for longer periods and seem to manage with less sleep, but his waking up routine is similar to mine… or at least, it should be.
We sleep together at the inn, but he might secretly be awake.
Either way, he’s reliable and has sharp night vision, making him a dependable partner.
“Still, these examinees seem to have a significant sense of time discrepancy. They’re already off by 30 minutes.”
“Didn’t you prepare an hourglass to measure the watch times?”
“Yeah. We used that at first, but they kept falling half-asleep and forgetting to flip it. So, the time got more and more off.”
“And it ended up being 30 minutes off?”
“Yeah, you have a pocket watch, right? Adventurers with pocket watches are mostly of the Blue Rank or higher, so it stands out.”
“Even if I stand out, as a merchant, I can’t do without handy tools.”
“I see, that makes sense.”
By the time we finished talking, the other examinees finally started waking up.
However, most of them weren’t wearing armor, only carrying weapons.
What will they do if monsters attack?
“Hey, what happened to your armor?”
“Oh, well, it was uncomfortable to sleep in, so we took it off…”
“You fools! How will you defend yourselves like this!? At least wear your armor during watch duty!”
“Y-Yes!”
The scolded examinees returned to their assigned tents.
Are they really going to be alright?
“… Come to think of it, Lily, you’ve been wearing your armor all this time, right?”
“I kept it on even while sleeping. It’s not too tight for me, and Talat makes a good cushion, so it’s not uncomfortable.”
“I see, that’s one of the advantages of being a Tamer. I’m envious.”
Talat has been of great help to me in various ways.
Without him, I would have had a much harder time.
“Speaking of which, there aren’t many Tamers, right? Why is that?”
“Oh, that. It’s just that there aren’t many who can communicate with monsters on a deeper level. Even if they can, there are few monsters they can truly tame.”
“I see…”
“That’s why Tamers are valuable. If a Tamer understands and fully controls the characteristics of their Familiar, they can be successful regardless of their adventurer class. Just like how you, a White Rank, could hunt down Ogres.”
“I caused a lot of trouble for the Guild because of that…”
“While it’s helpful for the Guild that dangerous monsters are decreasing, they’re puzzled about the reason behind it and need to investigate. Ogre subjugation is an ongoing request for the Blue Rankers, after all.”
I see.
Once I reach the Green Rank myself, I can hunt Ogres openly, though.
And that’s good to know.
“And…!”
(Screech~!)
“What is it!?”
As the examiner and I were talking, Talat suddenly let out a high-pitched cry.
What’s going on?
“What happened!?”
(Monsters are heading this way. There are three of them, and they seem to be quite large.)
“Large monsters are heading this way! Three of them!”
“Understood! Everyone, wake up! It’s an ambush!!”