Chapter 347: C-Rank Advancement Examination (3)

“Hi there. You’re Halt, right?”

A beautiful green-haired woman welcomed us when we arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild in Glendale’s Royal Capital.

This woman was pretty strong, I think. Her aura wasn’t that of an ordinary adventurer.

She seemed to know who we were, so she must be one of those informed that we would be taking the C-rank advancement exam today.

“Yes. I’m Halt Ernol.”

“I’m Irina. I’m the Master of this Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Eh?!”

T-This person was the Guild Master?!

This was the Royal Capital’s guild, so… that means…

She’s something like the CEO of the entire kingdom’s guild, right?

“I see, so you’re the Guild Master. It’s nice to meet you. But… Why is such an important person here welcoming us?”

“I heard that you’ve become Heroine Tina Harivell-sama’s husband. Tina-sama has treated me very well since a long time ago, so I’m here to say hello to you guys.”

I was teleported to this world in the past. Tina and I had embarked on a journey together in order to defeat the demon king. At that time, I wasn’t the only one teleported as a hero; there were four other heroes as well.

The four heroes who came here with me returned to their own world after defeating the demon king. Of course, I did, too.

Tina was left behind in this world. Being the strongest person in the entire world after we were gone, Tina accepted emergency summons from the Adventurer’s Guild to defeat S-ranked monsters whenever they appeared.

Irina told us that without her, the kingdom would’ve been destroyed by now.

“I always wanted to thank Tina-sama for all she's done for us in the past, but… His Majesty forbade the guilds from meddling with the Ernol family.”

“I-Is that so…”

Gil, the monarch of this kingdom, vowed that he would protect us. Apparently, the guilds wanted to keep in touch with our family and also push troublesome commissions toward us, so he probably blocked their advances.

“But then, you guys will soon become C-ranked Adventurers. In short, you’ll become part of the mainline adventurers of my guild. In that case, it wouldn’t be strange for me, the Guild Master, to greet you now.”

Eh, we already registered in this guild from the start, so Guild Master Irina could’ve just called out to us any time…

Well, I guess that’s just how powerful a king’s warning was.

“So, where is Tina-sama? It’s been around 30 years since we last met, so I’ve been looking forward to seeing her again.”

T-Thirty years…

Just how old was this woman, huh?

“Tina will not be taking the advancement exam this time.”

“W-What?!”

Irina looked extremely disappointed when she learned that Tina wouldn’t be coming here.

Although they used to maintain communication in the past, Tina apparently stopped coming to the guild around the time when Irina became the Guild Master.

Irina had refrained from interacting with us ever since we registered in this guild by order of the king. She had been excitedly looking forward to this day, it seemed.

“T-Then, Tina-sama, when will she take the exam?”

“It will be later, I think. That’s because… She’s currently with a child so as a precaution, she’s currently staying in my mansion awaiting us.”

“W-What did you say? Tina-sama is pregnant… Ah, n-no, don’t be mistaken, it’s great, congratulations. B-But…”

Irina probably adored Tina to high heavens. She wanted to see Tina but couldn’t because of the king. She seemed really conflicted now.

“If it’s alright with you, won’t you come to visit us in our home?”

“C-Can I?!”

I have to check it with Tina if she’s okay with it, of course. For some reason, my intuition was telling me that Irina wasn’t a bad person, so there probably wouldn’t be any issue.

“You’re her acquaintance from the past, aren’t you? If so, I’m sure my wife will be delighted to welcome you.”

My goal was to establish an adventurer clan, so of course I should be on good terms with the guilds that would be giving us commissions in the future. If Tina doesn’t mind, I’d like to be friends with Irina as well.

“T-Thanks! Ah, but confirm it first with Tina-sama, will you? I’d like to know if it’s alright for me to visit her.”

“I understand. By the way, you’ve known Tina for thirty years, but…”

Yeah, I’m really bothered about the gap between her age and appearance.

“Ahh. I might be like this, but elven blood flows in me. That’s why I looked younger than my age; I’ve been living a lot longer than I look. By the way, the position of Guild Master isn’t inherited, alright? I grabbed this seat from the former master with my own power.”

I see, so that’s how it was.

The Adventurer’s Guild Master should be powerful enough to unite all the wild adventurers single-handedly. Irina was also a Half-Elf, so she’s a Master even though she looked so young and gorgeous.

In short, she’s the same as Tina.

Apparently, half-breeds of mixed races tend to be far stronger than ordinary pure-bloods in this world. Moreover, Tina also had the blood of heroes running through her veins, and that explains why she’s so powerful.

“So that’s how it is. Uhm… Pardon my rudeness for making a lady talk about her age.”

“Nah, no need to worry about that. I’m already used to it. Ah, but it’s a hassle having to explain every single time, so that’s why I don’t show my face often among the adventurers these days.”

Yeah, come to think of it, we’re members of the Adventurer’s Guild, but we only learned about the name and face of the guild’s top bigwig today. Maybe we could also say that there wasn’t any need for us to know. Ah, but I guess Tina would’ve known.

…Ahh.

Irina has elven blood, so she’s drop-dead gorgeous, so maybe Tina was trying to keep her from meeting me?

Tina basically only gives me the bare minimum explanation unless I express interest. This was especially true if there was a woman involved.

“Goodness, what are we doing standing here talking? Come on, let’s go inside. Goodluck with your advancement exam today.”

“Yes!”

We followed Irina toward the venue for the advancement examination.