Chapter 63: New Rank, New Challenges

"Nuoya, it is understandable that you are surprised. You naturally assumed that the king was male and that Qiu Tailang was female, but that assumption is incorrect."

"Wait, no. I actually thought the king was a female. Was that not the case?"

Viktor’s eyes widened slightly. "Oh, as expected of someone from the same world as Qiu Tailang. Simply hearing the name allows you to determine their gender?"

Qiu Nuoya tilted his head.

"Originally, the Saints followed an ascetic lifestyle and did not enter into marriage. Even so, the reason the first king and Qiu Tailang married was because the king loved Qiu Tailang from the bottom of his heart. However, such a relationship was not something that everyone welcomed."

Well...

Qiu Nuoya could understand that to some extent.

In modern times, restrictions and social attitudes had changed considerably, but discrimination was still deeply rooted in many places.

And on top of that, Qiu Tailang was apparently a religious figure and a Saint.

It was not difficult to imagine people having strong opinions about it.

"Because of that, throughout history, Qiu Tailang’s name as the king’s partner was hidden, and the name of Saintess was recorded instead. From then on, it became tradition for the royal family to marry a Saintess from the church."

Viktor continued.

"Qiu Tailang remained in the church’s records as a Saint, a figure who stood apart from ordinary people. However, even that story eventually became nothing more than a fairy tale."

He sighed.

"The balance of power between the royal family and the church, which once held equal authority, is now on the verge of collapsing. The royal family has grown increasingly hostile toward the church’s influence."

Viktor looked at Qiu Nuoya.

"And then someone like you appeared. It is only natural that the church would seize this opportunity."

Ah...

So that was what this was about.

But Qiu Nuoya had no idea what exactly the people of the church expected from him.

It was not like he could change civilization like Qiu Tailang did.

He could not establish a country.

He certainly could not bring about some grand revolution.

Because Qiu Nuoya was just an ordinary person.

A completely average commoner.

The only unusual things about him were that he was somewhat skilled in magic and that, inside, he had the mind of an old man.

That was all.

Even this time, he was someone who had almost been killed by a single Orc.

What exactly did they expect him to accomplish?

If something needed to be changed, shouldn’t the people who noticed the problem work on it themselves instead of relying on someone else?

"I don’t want to become a Saint." Qiu Nuoya said it clearly.

He had been sent to this world with the purpose of enjoying his new life.

He had not come here just to get dragged into struggles over power and authority.

Absolutely not.

Besides, Viktor had said that the Saints followed an ascetic lifestyle.

Qiu Nuoya had no intention of remaining a virgin even after being reincarnated!!!

"I will respect your wishes."

Qiu Nuoya nodded at Viktor’s words.

After that, the two of them decided to leave the church without delay.

Technically, they were ignoring Sherria’s request to wait until she recovered.

However, the church was also ignoring Qiu Nuoya’s own wishes.

Besides, the main reason they had come today was to confirm that the women rescued from the goblin cave were safe.

That goal had already been accomplished.

No matter what the church said, they had no right to interfere with Qiu Nuoya’s life.

He would live in this world however he wanted.

So, he absolutely wanted nothing to do with troublesome matters like this!

...

Some time after the goblin and orc attack, Qiu Nuoya and Warren were both promoted from Rank G Adventurers to Rank F Adventurers.

All the steady work they had put into completing missions every day had finally paid off.

The initial Rank G was essentially a probationary period for new adventurers.

Simply completing thirty missions was enough to earn a promotion to Rank F.

Reaching Rank F meant that Qiu Nuoya and Warren had finally graduated from being apprentice adventurers.

Until now, the only missions they had been able to accept were Rank G herb gathering jobs and Rank F extermination missions.

After their promotion, they were finally eligible to take on Rank E missions as well.

Even so, it was not as though their daily work would change dramatically.

What did change was the number of available missions.

The selection was far greater than before and naturally the rewards were higher too.

If possible, Qiu Nuoya wanted to take advantage of that.

Still...

"There are a lot of extermination missions at Rank E..."

Qiu Nuoya let out a quiet sigh as he standing before the mission board in the Adventurers’ Guild.

To be more precise, Rank E also included gathering and collection missions, but the relatively easy gathering jobs were located much farther away or in places that were considerably more dangerous, making them difficult to complete.

There were also far more item collection missions at this rank.

However, most of them required collecting materials dropped by monsters, which meant accepting the corresponding extermination mission as well.

In practice, they were no different from monster hunting missions.

"Being an adventurer is all about defeating monsters, isn’t it?" Warren said it as bluntly as ever.

However, when he noticed Qiu Nuoya looking at him, he awkwardly looked away.

"W-Well... I still think you don’t have to push yourself if you don’t want to, Nuoya."

Ever since that incident, Warren had been acting like this.

He no longer threw out sarcastic remarks as often.

Qiu Nuoya could tell that Warren was trying to be considerate, but at the same time, it also felt as though a small distance had grown between them.

Qiu Nuoya had thought they had finally become friends.

In a way, that made the change a little lonely.

Even so, whenever Qiu Nuoya came to the Adventurers’ Guild, Warren somehow always ended up standing beside him before he even realized it.