I had agreed with accepting the designated request for subjugating the wyvern discovered at Firestone Mountain. However...

"We of the adventurers' guild of Labyrinth City Knossos thank you from the depths of our hearts, Miss Scarlet. As the request would normally be for a B rank party, you will be promoted to B rank yourself upon completion as a special reward in addition to the normal compensation."

"Ah, about that."

What she had said didn't sit well with me. While it was nice to be recognized for my efforts and ability, being publicly recognized and acknowledged as an extraordinary individual was something that had a tendency to bring unwanted attention.

"Is something the matter?"

"Rather than that, I'd like a slightly different reward."

"Hahaha! I knew I was right to like you! What do you want? A magical weapon? Maybe some armour? Or maybe the honour of duelling me, a former A rank!"

No, I don't want of that, especially that last one.

(And what honour? You just requested to duel me a few minutes ago!)

"No, not that. I want you to alter the official record of the request to something more appropriate of my rank."

"Haaa?! What the hell is that?!"

"Guild master, shut up please."

"...Yes ma'am."

With a single glare accompanied with some cold words that even left some collateral on my side as a chill went up my spine, the giant of a guild master shrunk into his seat, managing to actually look almost normal sized somehow.

"Am I correct to presume that you don't desire fame and glory?"

"That's one way to put it."

"That is fine. It is a request directly from the guild, so it won't be difficult to make the alteration. Officially the request will an emergency acquisition of the liver of a stray obsidian draco with the client's identity being confidential. That way even if someone were to grow suspicious, both you and we would have plausible deniability. As well as that, we will offer an additional reward in place of the rank increase we had originally promised."

That sounded really good for me. There weren't really any complaints from my end at all.

"What the hell are you doing Peitho! You're the one who yelled at me for..."

"Guild master, shut up please."

"...Yes ma'am."

"And for that matter, you agreed to rank up someone who wasn't ready in exchange for doing a private request for you, under the table at that. Of course I'd have to reprimand you for doing such a foolish thing. What kind of guild master asks an adventurer to go two countries over just to bring back a bottle of liqueur, then promises to give that same adventurer a free rank up in place of paying them?!"

(What the hell?!)

"And unlike your instance, what Miss Scarlet is requesting would normally be considered nothing but a worse deal. While I do want such a talented adventurer to reach a rank appropriate to her skill as fast as possible, taking the circumstances of the individual in question as best as possible is part of the core values of the adventurer's guild!"

"Yes ma'am."

"Furthermore…!"

As the woman's rant continued, I tuned the two out and instead diverted my attention.

<Is there any chance you know of those monsters Claret?>

<Yes! Of course! Ash wyverns are moderately strong monsters. They are grey scaled wyverns and use fire magic to distract their prey while they try to take down their targets with their claws. You liked them before, so I hope that we can get it intact.>

(Is it that good? Maybe I'm actually looking forward to this.)

<And the obsidian draco?>

<They're a weak lizard with some sort of weird wings sticking out from the sides of their bodies. They're not very big, so you once said that they weren't very satisfying to eat.>

<Huh. I see.>

<Well, it wasn't like we hunted one for a meal. You went after one so that someone could make some medicine. Though it turned out that they wanted its gallbladder to make a fertility medicine. Just thinking about it makes me angry.>

<…I see…>

(These two weren't about to go suggest going after one for real now, are they?)

<Oh right, but if we do find one, it would be good to get it to help give birth to Alicia, wouldn't it?>

<Ah, I suppose…>

For some reason Alicia's response wasn't as spirited as I had expected.

<Are you alright Alicia?>

<Ah, no, I am. Sorry, I was just thinking about something.>

<You can always tell me, whatever it is.>

<It's nothing big. Don't worry.>

<I see…>

Was she trying to grow independent? It would make me a bit sad if that was true. She still had plenty of time and could rely on me for a lot longer. Neither of us would grow for the time being, and when I finally made Alicia's new body, it would most likely start again from where she was before, or even as a baby. There was no need to grow up so quickly.

Or rather just thinking it made me a bit sad. Was I that unreliable as a big sister? Then again, she did want me as a mom. I doubted that it would be enough to make her disappointed in me.

"Oh, I'm sorry for making you listen to the embarrassment of the guild Miss Scarlet."

"Ah, no, it's fine."

Before I knew it my name was called. I hoped that I didn't miss anything important.

"Is there anything in particular you would like as your supplemental reward? Since we have the dungeon here in Knossos, we have a larger store of equipment than most other guild branches. We can offer some of that if you would like."

"Ah, rather than that, there's some information I'd rather get."

"And you'd like to keep it confidential?"

Even before I could say it, that woman, Peitho, really seemed to be incredibly competent. It made me worry a bit what would happen to this branch of the guild if she ever got fed up with the guild master and quit.

"That's right."

"Then we have a deal. If you don't mind, could you tell us what sort of information you have, so we can have it prepared for when you return?"

"That's fine."

The information I wanted was two-fold. Both of which might have been bad if the fact that I was looking for it got out.

"There's two types of information I want. The first is information on beating golems armoured with orichalcum, mithril, and adamantium."

"Heh, that's easy. Just keep hitting them with your strongest attacks! They'll break in no time! Or rather, tell me where they are! It's been too long since I least broke an adamantium golem!"

"Guild master, shut up."

"Yes, ma'am."

(Was it just me, or was how she was treating the guild master growing harsher by the minute?)

"I understand. We'll gather all the information we can regarding that topic. What's the second thing you want to know?"

"I want to know how to create a person's body."

"All you gotta do is get knocked up. I can help if you need it missy!"

"Shut up, or I'll sew that pie hole of yours closed."

""…""

There wasn't any trace of magic being used, but I could swear that the temperature in the room had dropped by a good ten degrees just then.

The room was as silent as death itself while the guild master shrunk that giant body of his impossibly small. I myself mustered everything I had not to slink towards the door until the temperature came back up again a few minutes later.

"I'm sorry Miss Scarlet. You shouldn't have had to suffer that."

"Ah, no, it's okay…"

While what that guild master said was pretty bad, his assistant was pretty scary as well.

"I'll make sure to give the big fool a good talking to."

"Umm, okay."

I was really glad not to be him at all.

"Now then, I'm sorry, but could you give us some more details regarding your request? What sort of body is it you want to be made? May I presume you are more referring to a living body rather than that of a golem, right?"

"Ah, that's right. Um, so while I say living, I'm not looking for a fully living body, but more of an empty shell of one I guess?"

It was hard to describe what I wanted when the other party likely didn't have detailed knowledge about how the body works. Especially when it dealt with the soul, which I didn't really understand myself.

"Am I right to presume you're looking for information to produce a homunculus?"

"Right, that, or something similar I guess? I need an empty vessel, so a normal body won't work."

"…I apologize, but this is a request we of the adventurer's guild cannot assent to."

"Huh?"

"I will give this warning, but such research is illegal."

"It is?"

That very fact sounded a lot like how human cloning was banned on Earth due to ethical issues. Then again, I was pretty sure that the ban would be lifted when cloning technology was perfected, though it would be heavily moderated for a while.

"That is correct. The creation of homunculi and all related research is illegal in all lands, and merely being accused of it can bring endless trouble."

"How come?"

Cloning had tons of moral issues attached to it, but it was only banned when it came to human cloning. I had heard that in some places on Earth, cloning pets was commonly done already.

A blanket ban sounded strange.

"I do not know. It has been outlawed for as long as I know. I have not heard when or why the ban was first put in place."

"I see."

That was bad. While there was a good chance that there were people who did such research illegally, the chances that progress on it was advanced was extremely low, and the chances of finding people doing such illegal activities even lower.

This direction didn't sound very viable unless if I could come up with ways to do it from scratch. I didn't like it, but it couldn't be helped.

It felt like all the good avenues to creating Alicia's new body were dead ends. And now I had a time limit as well with my own life being targeted.

(I really hoped I could find some clues soon. Maybe I could figure something out if I could learn more about how vampires or spirits were born? That was a possibility.)

"Since you were not aware, and there is no indication you have yet conducted experiments related to the creation of homunculi, this conversation did not take place. Is that fine?"

"Ah, yea. Thanks."

I was pretty thankful that this mistake wasn't going to bring any unwanted attention.

"Is there anything else you want instead Miss Scarlet?"

"Hmm…how about information about vampires and spirits?"

"If it is that, then we can do something about it. We will compose all information regarding vampires and spirits available to the guild. Is that acceptable?"

"It is, thanks."

Hopefully I could find some clues as to how they are born. If all else fails, this might end up as my last resort.

<How's that? If the other options don't work, how would you like to be reborn in the same way as a vampire or spirit normally are, Alicia?>

<I'd like that very much!>

It was good to hear my literal inner child sounding so excited.

"Now, if there isn't anything else, I would like to describe the details for you."

"Sure."

"The wyvern was spotted to the east, flying near the peak of Firestone Mountain. It's the only large mountain within a week of travel, so it won't be difficult to spot."

I had the feeling I saw it, but as I spent most of the journey working on my skills as well as talking to Alicia and Claret, I hadn't really payed that much attention to my surroundings. It was probably a bad thing and it was likely best I stopped doing that.

"Firestone Mountain is only two days travel on foot, though most stronger adventurers have faster means of travel, am I right?"

"Ah, erm, yes."

If I flew, two days on foot could go by in a matter of hours, if not minutes. It was fully within the realm of possibility if I didn't have trouble finding the monster, I could be back by the next day.

"In addition, it is an active volcano. While there hadn't been any large eruptions in recent years, magma is constantly flowing from cracks within, so do be careful."

"No problem."

It sounded like visiting Hawaii. Not like I've ever been there before.

"The mountain itself is home to a wide variety of fire elemental monsters, from magma salamanders to flaming yak. Also, the higher you go, the stronger the monsters get, but there are few records of monsters above level 80, but the peak is rarely explored so there's a chance that you might encounter a monster as high as level 90."

"I see."

"Hmm..."

The assistant guild master narrowed her eyes as she looked at me.

(Shit, did I mess up? Level 90 doesn't sound that high, but when I thought about it, I still didn't really have a very good grasp of what a normal level was.)

I focuses my mind inwards, forcefully accelerating my perception of time. The world around me slowed down, making every little motion take longer and longer. A lock of hair that was swaying earlier slowed down to a complete standstill, midway through being pulled by gravity to reverse directions and sway the other way.

With my perception sped up, I tried taking advantage of the state to give Alicia a request.

<Alicia, could you check their levels for me?>

<Is that alright? Isn't that peeking or something?>

Thankfully Alicia sped up along with me, or at least benefited from my high stats to be able to match my current speed, allowing us to have a conversation in between a blink of time for the rest of the world.

<It is, but do you know what levels most typical people are?>

<I don't. My parents seemed to have been in their twenties, but they were just villagers, not adventurers or knights.>

I was a little concerned how she talked about her parents in past tense, but maybe it was because she wanted to separate herself from them, or else maybe she'd suffer from homesickness or depression.

<How about you Claret?>

<I know that almost everyone we've ever met was weak compared to you. Of course myself included.>

Aside from now knowing that I could talk to her while accelerated like this, the dark spirit's response wasn't helpful in the slightest.

And somehow she managed to put in a praise for both me and the previous Scarlet in there as well. Sometimes I wondered if I let her be, she'd start some cult around me. It was a terrifying thought and I vowed to never let her run around without supervision.

<So, can you check their levels? I don't need to know anything else.>

<Alright.>

A moment later, a pair of small windows opened up. They had each of the guild staff's names on them and their level underneath.

[Japetus Titanicus: Level 161]

[Peitho Suada: Level 36]

The disparity was so vast that it wasn't very helpful at all.

All I knew was that Peitho was probably pretty close to the level of random civilians, and Japetus was even stronger that Sarah, an assassin sent by supposed gods. I didn't know if that made Sarah that much more pathetic, or if the guild master was just plain a monster.

Either way, the strongest monsters that could show up on the mountain normally was roughly the middle ground between these two people.

(Yea, not helpful at all.)

I let go of my accelerated perception, and the world around me returned to its normal pace. Thankfully my little experiment worked, but I hadn't been able to get any meaningful results aside from that.

"Well, if that's not a problem for you, then its fine. A wyvern would've been too much for you if you couldn't handle that much."

It seemed like I wasn't too heavily suspected at least.

"Now, while we aren't completely certain the target really is an ash wyvern, I'll give you details about them anyways."

I nodded. I wasn't about to shy away from information, even if it potentially wasn't going to be useful in the foreseeable future.

"As with all wyverns, ash wyverns are four legged reptiles that resemble lizards, except that their forelegs form wings. They are relatively small for wyverns, about three or four meters long. But despite that, they are considered above average in strength, so don't let your guard down."

Once again I nodded.

"They have a wingspan of eight to ten meters, and prefer to ambush their prey. Most often they'll either attack from a blind spot by diving down from above, or if that fails, they usually spew out smoke at their prey, then attack while their target is blinded."

That was kinda annoying, though [Sense Presence] ruined such tactics entirely.

"If that isn't enough to take down their prey, ash wyverns will typically resort to close combat, striking their targets with their fore claws and their long tail. In addition to that, they'd use fire magic, though that tends to be weak compared to their physical attacks."

Aside from their ambush tactics, they didn't seem that strong at all, though it did depend on how strong their defences and their strikes were, as well as how fast they might be.

Without actually fighting one, I wouldn't know for sure.

"Most ash wyvern levels are roughly in the 110 or 120s, but there are exceptions as usual, so do be careful when engaging."

"Alright."

It sounded like it was pretty much guaranteed to be even easier to beat than Sarah. Her level was both higher and she even had good equipment that had especially good synergy against me. The wyvern lost on every count aside from being able to fly and use magic. Both things that I could probably do better.

"As it seems that this ash wyvern had made a nest in the mountain, we ask you also find and destroy the nest, along with any eggs or young you may find."

"...Alright."

It was a little unnerving being told to potentially go kill some babies, but it was a given that if they were allowed to grow up, they'd end up causing quite a lot of trouble in this area and will quickly be subjugated like its parent. It could be said that killing them was a mercy, but I was a bit dubious of that line of thought.

(Well, it's at least better than letting them live then leaving them to fend for themselves without taking responsibility for them. That's just cruel and stupid.)

"Once you're finished, please bring back a part of the monster as evidence of the subjugation. The left horn is the normal subjugation proof, but if that is not possible, then at least a few scales."

"Okay."

It was a given that she'd want proof.

"Do you have any questions?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Then I wish you good hunting."

"Thanks."

I turned to leave, but when I reached the door, I turned back to the two.

"Oh, this isn't really related, but I was wondering."

"Yes? If it is something I can answer, I'd be happy to."

"These things. I found them in the dungeon, but I was wondering what I can do with this."

I pulled out a pair of coins from my bag. One silver, one gold. They were the coins I had found in the boss chest in the dungeon.

Upon seeing them, the guild master let out an impressed whistle. It seemed like the surprise of seeing these coins was enough to break him out of his stupor.

"Divine coins? You found them in the dungeon?"

"I did."

(What's with that grandiose name?)

"You must have had quite the fortune then to have found some so quickly. How many do you have?"

"Just a few."

"Is that so? Quite the luck indeed then."

"They're that rare?"

"It depends on how deep you go. They virtually never appear in the upper floors of the dungeon, and only start to become even remotely common once you start reaching past the twentieth floor."

"I see. So if they're that rare, then I suppose I can't use them as currency?"

"No, it's hard enough to find a buyer for divine coins. Only the richest of merchants or nations would ever use them as a currency, and that would only be to avoid having to move wagons full of gold coins."

"Wagons?!"

That was plural! Was she really saying that a few of these coins were worth as much as a wagon or two of gold coins?!

"A single divine gold coin would be worth as much as large sack of mundane gold coins. I must say you are quite fortunate to have found any, and to have found several within a few days of arriving in this city. Normally the only way to receive so many so quickly would be to rush straight to the bottom floor."

"Ah, I see, hahaha..."

It wasn't quite rushing, but that was where I found the coins after all.

"As these coins are difficult to exchange without the right connections, the guild can purchase them off of you if you like. How many do you have?"

"This many."

I pulled out three more silver coins and one more gold coin from my bag. There was no way I was going to let slip that I had enough to fill a decent sized bag. It was troubling, but it was possible that they would never see the light of day.

"My, another divine gold coin. Quite fortunate indeed, or perhaps you have managed to reach the lower floors during your time in the dungeon?"

"Ahaha, I'd have to be pretty insanely strong for that to be possible, wouldn't I?"

"I suppose, but there are always those that defy common sense after all."

The woman before me finally gave me a smile, but I couldn't stop a shiver from running up my spine as I saw it.

(She's definitely sharp. Just how much has she figured out already?!)

"I will have Bellson give you your money for the divine coins along with what is owed from the materials you gave him."

"Alright, thanks."

With those words, I quickly made my retreat from the room.

"Oh, by the way, I hear that ash wyvern is quite tasty. I would personally offer a higher rate than normal if you could bring some of it back."

"I, I'll see what I can do."

I almost jumped from her words, being reminded of what Claret had told me earlier about how the previous Scarlet enjoyed its blood. I almost sighed out loud in relief when I realized that what she had said was nothing more than a coincidence.

"I look forward to your next visit."