chapter01 · 015-ep14

Episode 14: My S-Rank Sister Will Be in Attendance as My Guardian

The next day, I was summoned to the Guild's Nagoya headquarters.

Mishima-san had called the day before, asking me to come in about the rank matter. With a guardian in tow, no less.

Guardian — Dad's at work, Mom had errands, so weekdays in the daytime were out. Which left my sister.

"Big sis, I'm going to the Guild tomorrow. Will you come with me? Going alone makes me nervous."

"......Okay."

"Huh? You can't?"

"...I'm coming. I am definitely coming."

She latched on with everything she had.

For about five minutes after that, my sister wandered in circles around her room. Started to say something, gave up, walked some more. And the question she finally got out was "What time are we meeting?" THAT took five minutes?

The morning of, I came down to the entryway and found my sister planted there like a temple guardian.

Black jacket, a proper shirt, even her hair pulled back. Impossible to believe she's the same person who usually shuffles down the stairs in a loungewear hoodie.

"Ready?"

"You're really fired up for this."

"My little brother came to me for help."

She says that with a completely straight face, this person.

"Leave it to me."

Reassuring. Genuinely reassuring — and behind her, Seina was watching me with a big fat grin.

"She redid her hair three times this morning!"

"Seina."

"And she practiced 'Leave it to me' in front of the mirror!"

"SEINA!"

She practiced it. That "Leave it to me." No wonder it landed so well.

We left Seina at home, and when we reached the Guild, we were shown into a room bigger than last time. Desk and chairs both grand, the walls lined with what looked like commendations. Waiting for us were Mishima-san and a man of about fifty, whose business card read Deputy Director.

The moment my sister took his card, the deputy director did a double take.

"...Forgive me — are you by any chance Ichinose Rinka-san?"

"Yes. I'm here as my brother's guardian."

"Well. This is—"

The deputy snapped bolt upright, and for some reason even Mishima-san's spine straightened. An S-rank showing up as the guardian — yeah, that'd do it. I straightened up too, caught in the current. Wait. I'm the little brother here.

"First, allow me to explain the matter of the purchase."

Mishima-san held out a document.

"The Goblin Emperor's magic core — the Guild has purchased it. It was not put to auction."

"You're not auctioning it?"

"No. As the individual came from undiscovered territory, the Guild has secured it with priority as a research subject. Under our regulations, cases of this kind are subject to compulsory purchase."

"Compulsory."

"In exchange, we have added a premium over market rate."

I looked at the amount on the document.

Ten million yen.

"Te... ten..."

My brain was not keeping up. Ten million? Count the zeros with me. I pressed each zero on the form with a finger, one at a time. They were all there.

"A C-rank magic core runs around five million yen. In view of the rarity this time, we have doubled it."

"Big sis, it says ten million."

"Mm. Fair."

"Fair," she says. What is this woman's sense of money.

"However."

Mishima-san pointed to the next field.

"Profits from the sale of dungeon resources are taxed at fifty percent."

I looked at that field, and the amount had been halved.

Five million yen.

"That's STEEP!"

"It is a national system."

"They take half?!"

"Dungeon-related tax revenue maintains the doors, the insurance, and the rescue framework."

Put that way, I remembered the search party that had come looking for me yesterday morning. If that runs on this money, I've got no complaints to make.

"After tax, five million yen has been deposited to your card."

Five million on a high schooler's card. An amount two years of part-time work would never touch — and I picked it up overnight. Zero sense of reality.

"Now, to the main subject."

The deputy director leaned forward.

"You are familiar with the conditions for explorer rank promotion, I trust."

"Taxes paid, and reaching the deepest floor of a designated dungeon."

"Yes. And Ichinose-sama has already fulfilled the tax condition."

A rookie two weeks into registration, paying five million in taxes — yeah, no version of that is normal.

"Ordinarily, an F-rank spends some months fulfilling the conditions for E. In Ichinose-sama's case, on tax payments alone..."

Don't leave me hanging there.

"...you have reached the equivalent of D-rank."

"D?!"

"Yes."

F straight past E to D — they allow that?

"So I can rank up already?"

"That is precisely the problem."

Mishima-san explained, looking apologetic the whole time.

"A rank also serves as a guarantee of the holder's ability. A D-rank holder is granted entry rights to D-rank dungeons."

D-rank — the tier where recommended levels go up to 100.

"Ichinose-sama's current level is 68."

Sixty-eight — which, to the me of two weeks ago, is already an outrageous number.

"It falls short of the recommendation. If we were to open the D-rank doors to you in that state and something happened, it would become a matter of the Guild's responsibility."

"Right."

"At the same time, declining to promote someone who has met the conditions is, institutionally, its own irregularity."

In other words, stuck between a rock and a hard place. Being the Guild is its own struggle, huh.

"So, for this case, we will be applying a special exception."

The deputy director slid a single sheet across the desk.

『Notice of Special-Case Rank-Up Examination』

"A rank-up quest."

"A quest?"

"You will reach a floor we designate, in a dungeon we designate. A witness will accompany you, and your ability will be verified on the spot."

A witness riding along — meaning someone watching from right beside me the entire way. ...No. That's impossible.

"Um — am I allowed to... refuse...?"

"You are."

Oh, so I can refuse. Then let's refuse. Great, conversation over.

"In that case, however, you would remain at F-rank. The tax record stays on file, so I expect you will receive inquiries every month for some time."

"Huh? Monthly?"

"Institutionally, anyone who has met the conditions requires periodic confirmation."

Monthly — it's a subscription. One you can't cancel.

Refuse, and the endless inquiries make me look suspicious. Accept, and I get watched. Hell either way.

That's when my sister, silent this whole time, opened her mouth.

"This witness — who would it normally be?"

"Undecided, but ordinarily, a member of the Guild staff."

"Would I do?"

Huh? Where did THAT come from?

"...I beg your pardon?"

"I know I'm family. But an S-rank witness should be more than sufficient for the record."

She's serious.

"If my little brother is entering a D-rank dungeon, then I will be the one watching."

The logic holds. It holds beautifully — and it is absolutely not happening. Fighting while my sister watches? Obviously impossible. She is the number one person on this earth I do not want watching me.

I butted in, panicking.

"N-no wait, family's no good! Better to have someone from the Guild come—"

"Huh?"

My sister turned toward me.

"Objectivity. Reliability of the record. All that stuff. If my sister's the witness, people could raise questions later."

A solid argument, if I do say so myself.

"...Right."

Wait. Is her voice tiny?

"...Sorry. I overstepped."

My sister had gone fully deflated. The deputy director and Mishima-san abruptly became intensely interested in their paperwork. The awkwardness in this room was off the charts.

...I've done it now. This person redid her hair three times this morning. Practiced "Leave it to me" in front of the mirror. All to come here — because her little brother asked her. And that little brother just told her she wasn't needed. I am the worst.

"No — wait."

Forget the solid argument already.

"Actually — you know what, big sis might be perfect!"

Her head snapped up. That was fast.

"Really?"

"Yeah. If you're the one watching, that's way less stressful."

"I see."

She's smiling with just the corners of her mouth, but that is fully a smug face. Where did the deflation even GO?

"Leave it to me."

The room's air finally recovered, and Mishima-san looked relieved too.

"It's been ages since you and I went out, just the two of us."

"Now that you mention it, maybe so."

"A dungeon date."

"Don't call it a date. It's an examination."

"An examination date."

"Don't mash them together."

"A date examination."

"It's not about the order!"

At which point the deputy director cleared his throat, looking profoundly reluctant.

"We are terribly sorry to impose, but—"

"Yes?"

"Given the nature of the examination, one Guild staff member will also be accompanying you."

Staff's coming too, huh.

"The record and the verdict must, strictly, be carried out on the Guild side. Ichinose Rinka-sama would be accompanying as the witness in charge of safety management."

"Ah, I see. That's only fair."

Honestly? Relief. With a staffer there, at least it won't end up just the two of us.

...And then, beside me, my sister went deadpan. Ah. She's angry.

"...I see."

"Yes. It is purely a matter of procedure. We ask for your understanding."

"No, I understand. It is only natural."

Perfectly adult words, delivered in a voice that was nowhere near convinced. An S-rank doing that puts out unbelievable pressure — even Mishima-san flinched a little.

On the way home, my sister stayed silent the entire time. At a red light, I risked a probe.

"Um, big sis..."

"What."

"Are you mad?"

"I'm not."

You are. You absolutely are.

"It's just the system. Nothing to be done—"

"I know."

"And with a staffer there, your position is protected too—"

"...True."

Ooh, she's coming back around.

From there to the station, it was nonstop mood-repair duty. Gear talk, Clan talk, and then, the final resort:

"Ice cream?"

"Yes. Also, pudding from that shop."

She slipped that in like it was nothing. It's her favorite shop — like I could say no. So on the way home, I bought both.

By the time she finished the pudding, my sister was back to her usual self.

"On the day, you do what I say."

"Yes ma'am. I will."

"No recklessness."

"None, none."

Nodding along, my head was somewhere else entirely.

On the day, my sister AND a Guild staffer will both be watching me from point-blank range. ...How, exactly, am I supposed to fight like that?