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“Serulis. Welcome back. How was it?”

“They said they would consider a promotion to E Rank for me, Ario and Josh.”

“Oh, congratulations.”

“Well, they are just examining the possibility. We haven’t actually been promoted.”

All the same, Serulis looked a little bashful.

 

“Sister Serulis, that’s amazing!”

“Even if it hasn’t been decided yet, it is still impressive.”

 

You could not ask for a promotion at all until you met certain requirements, after all.

Ario and Josh must have impressed them with their work on the Goblin Lord horde and also the demon rats.

For Serulis, it was the vampires and the demon rats.

She had even killed Arch Vampires at the palace.

 

“Where are Ario and Josh?”

“They said that they were tired and would return to their inn. They told me to thank you again.”

“I see. It was a rather difficult demon rat hunt.”

 

Ario and Josh had used their magic and arrows to their limits.

Of course, they were tired.

 

Serulis said,

 

“Mister Locke. How did it go?”

“How did what go?”

“I’m talking about the mysterious fragments.”

 

The mysterious fragments that the demon rats had gathered around and that had been found in a few of them.

I was supposed to have studied them after burning the rats.

I had forgotten about that, as I was too busy bathing.

 

“I’m about to start on that now.”

“I do wonder what they are. It’s so interesting.”

“What is? Is it really so interesting?”

 

Milka said with bright eyes.

 

I moved to the sitting room.

Luchila, Serulis, Milka, Gerberga, and Grulf came too.

 

I spread out the mysterious fragments on a desk and everyone leaned forward to look.

They stared fixedly at the objects. They were all small. And made of mysterious metals.

It reminded me of the material that the medals within vampires were made of.

 

“By the way, these are still filthy, alright? Don’t touch them too carelessly.”

We had picked them up out of the sewage water and some were inside of the demon rats. They were dirty and smelled.

 

“Gghfegh…”

 

In spite of my warning, Grulf had sniffed them.

He turned his nose away. It must have really smelled. He never learned.

Grulf came over to me and pressed his nose into my stomach.

 

Luchila and Milka watched Grulf and nodded.

Gerberga landed on the desk but kept a certain distance from the fragments. The God Fowl was smart.

 

I refocused my attention and inspected the fragments.

From a short distance, of course.

 

“They look like they were smashed. I should try putting them together.”

“It’s like a puzzle.”

 

Serulis said with a smile.

Silently, I started to push the pieces together.

 

“It’s surprisingly difficult.”

“Hm? Mister Locke. Wait a second.”

 

Milka said as she looked at the fragments.

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