Chapter 533: VS Modoki

『I don’t know if it’ll work, but let’s try the method we used against the Lake Murders!』

「Woof!」

It was a combination of Shadow Binding and the flash of light. But it didn’t do much to stop it. Their eyes didn’t seem to react to the light, and the fact that one or two of their tentacles were bound didn’t do much to stop them.

『It’s no good, huh…?』

「Woof…」

So, was a direct attack the only way to fight it? Magic would inevitably cause a lot of damage to the surrounding area after all. If we use Fire Magic or Light Magic, I don’t know what kind of effect it will have, like a steam explosion or a huge wave.

「Master, I’ll attack it first」

『Are you sure?』

「Nn! Awakening!」

Fran nodded and used awakening. She seems to be in her serious mode. Fran then kicked Urushi in the back and jumped up. She also leaped high in the air and set me up above her head as she fell.

「Bujuuh!」

「Bujyuh!」

The tentacles extended from the Modoki attacked Fran. They must have used their Flexible Tentacle skills. The tentacles that looked like they were about five meters long have grown to nearly twenty meters long.

But Fran continued to dodge their tentacles by kicking lightly in the air and twisting her body as if she was dancing. Since she didn’t use me, she continued to fall with only the bare minimum of evasion.

「――Heaven Judgement」

「Bushuu――」

「Bubu――」

With just one swing, she cut two Modoki in half, their hard shells then melted into mush. She could now release the Heaven Judgement with her strength alone.

「Master, I’ll leave it to you. Let’s go!」

『Ou!』

「Haaa!」

My telekinetic catapult, boosted by Fran’s throw, shattered one of them into pieces. I guess when push comes to shove, physical attacks was the way to go.

「Urushi, take care of it. You can use your bigger form」

「Wooof!」

「Bushyu―!」

At Fran’s instruction, Urushi killed the last one. He returned to his original size and used his large mouth to bite its entire shell to death.

『The promotion exam would have been canceled under these circumstances, so it’s probably a good thing that we were able to show Urushi’s strength here』

「Nn」

Fran must have remembered the request from Grandpa Gull. So, she thought of a way to show the adventurers how strong Urushi was, even if it wasn’t a mock battle.

「Bweh bweh! Woof…」

『What’s wrong? Does it taste bad?』

「Woof…」

Apparently, the Modoki was not to his taste. He spat out the remains of the mush and desperately washed his mouth out with the lake water.

「You better not bite them next time」

「Woof」

『Let’s go back for now』

「Nn」

「Woof」

『Oh hey, Urushi needs to be smaller first』

Just like that, we returned to the Adventurers ship and were greeted with cheers from the adventurers. The low rankers that scare me still haven’t woken up, so the only people there were people of some ability. They must have acknowledged Fran, who had shown them overwhelming power.

「That was as expected from you! No, it was even more than what I expected!」

「Yes. That was amazing! I feel embarrassed to call myself as the same B rankers now」

「Gahahaha! I’m so glad you’re here, Fran!」

Fran was being squeezed by her. But Fran looked happy. I guess this kind of communication was new to her. Besides, it looks just like what any adventurer would do.

The adventurers then huddled together and started singing merrily.

They said it was a song about the spirits in this lake and was called the Song of the Lakeside Maiden.

To sum it up, a spirit in the form of a blonde, white-skinned, innocent-looking girl with a mysterious amethyst right eye and an emerald left eye was guarding this lake. And it seems the lyrics were mostly about their gratitude to her.

Grandpa Gull also shouted as he got even more excited as he sang.

「All right! Let’s hold a party――」

「Don’t be ridiculous, old man! And these bunch of idiots too, stop making a fuss about it!」

The adventurers who were about to get even more heated stopped when Grandma Jill shouted at them.

「Alert the guards at the perimeter to search for any others! We also need to confirm how much damage was done! We still have so much work to do!」

She instantly took over the atmosphere of the place with her shouting and intimidation, which I couldn’t believe came from a petite old woman. The adventurers who had been glared at by the old woman then dispersed at once.

「Fran, you come with me」

「Nn」

「Fran! Thank you for your help this time. If you have any problems, just let me know. I’ll help you next time!」

「Thanks」

Fran, who was a little disappointed about missing the chance to have a party was led by Grandma Jill to what looked like a conference room.

「What’s the matter with you? Did you want to have more fun with those idiots?」

「Nn…」

「Haah. At a glance, you don’t look like you would fit being with those idiots… You’re a high-ranked adventurer after all」

Grandma Jill shook her head in disbelief. She was smiling bitterly, but her eyes were kind. After all, I guess she doesn’t hate those idiots either.

「Well, thank you for your help in accepting the request for being an examiner. I’m satisfied with it」

「Nn」

It seems the exams were judged to be over. And the ones who will pass or fail will be judged from their first battle and then the group battle.

After that, we talked about the reward and got the approval of the completion of the request. All that was left was to receive the reward.

『Well, there was also one thing I wanted to ask the old woman』

We asked Grandma Jill about the boy who had been staring at Fran before.

「That boy, huh? It’s said that he’s the youngest genius ever to take the rank E exam in this guild. And I think he will be 13 this year」

It was true that he was very young, compared to the other adventurers who were over sixteen, which was concerning. But I don’t understand why that would make him glared at Fran like that.

I can understand if he hated someone who has a higher reputation than him. But I don’t know if it was hatred or just simple anger…

「I could felt his killing intent」

「Hmm… I don’t know what we should do. This is your first-time meeting, right?」

「Nn」

「You should ask him directly then. I’ll be sleeping in the next room」

We then headed to the infirmary, but the boy was nowhere to be found. The only people there were the young adventurers who were scared of Fran. When we asked about the boy’s whereabouts, the answer was that they didn’t know.

He must have gotten up on his own and left.

『It’s no use, we’ll ask him directly the next time we met him』

「Nn」

Now that the request was over, our next destination would be the self-governing region.