The receptionist stared at me as she swallowed, tapping her fingers on the desk. Ah, right, the rag and the quest parchment. I grabbed the documents from my pocket and gave them to her. Then, she stamped both.

“You have accomplished this quest, sir. However, as a penalty for not abiding by the Rules of Ranking, you will not be compensated with any amount. But worry not, you are now eligible for rank promotion. I will have to notify the Guildmaster.”

Whoa, she sounded more respectful. I loved that. She asked for my license, which I gave to her before vanishing into the staircase. As I waited, the adventurers looked at me, arguing whether I was the one who killed the beast or not. Even the receptionists were losing their focus as they glanced in my direction from time to time. It didn’t take long before the receptionist came back.

“The guild master wants to meet you. In the meantime, we will haul the beast back to our warehouse for—”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on! I didn’t read anything about you taking the beast!”

The parchment quest only mentioned killing the beast and taking its carcass back as proof of completion, but it didn’t say anything about giving it to the guild.

“W-Well, it’s for proof—”

“Proof? Can’t you see that mound of scaly flesh outside? D’ya think I sewed goblins together to copy a Lyndwurm? What’s wrong with you?”

The receptionist was opening her mouth, yet no words came out as she fiddled with her hands.

“W-Well…”

“I’m not allowing you to take that thing. That carcass is mine and I’m gonna sell it for myself, got it? Now, I’ll go upstairs and expect you not to touch the monster because if you did, I don’t know what I’ll end up doing here.”

I was sounding like a Karen, but I was simply standing my ground. These guys were trying to scam me. The receptionist nodded multiple times before giving up and leading me to the guild master's office.

Behind the desk sat a tall, plump man with long yellow hair and round eyes. His cheeks were as puffy as a gluttonous hamster's. He was shuffling through parchments and rags, then stopped his motion after we entered the room. The receptionist then left, leaving the two of us behind.

“Good afternoon, sir Julius. Please take a seat.”

I did as he said and occupied the stool in front of the desk. He shuffled through the documents for a minute before he spoke.

“Your license shows that it was made in Eldius. I understand that there are times when nobles of high status would grant adventuring licenses to a select number of people without spending a day in school. But even then, I should have received a record of your documents from Eldius City's Adventurers Guild. If I may ask, did you just recently receive your license?”

I got it shortly before I was exiled by the Count, and that’s probably the reason why my license documents weren’t distributed throughout every Adventurers Guild in the entire continent. They might not bother doing such a task for an exile, but there was a low chance for my license to be revoked by them. Only the Association of Adventurers had the power to do so, and that power was similar to the Council of Senate, except they held authority over adventurers. So, there was no need to worry about any accusations of license fraudulent since it was minted through a genuine process. Unless, of course, he thought it was forged.

“Yeah, it was rewarded to me by the count of Eldius after saving his children from bandits.”

The guild master paused, his mouth opened but he closed it afterward. A subtle sigh escaped his mouth.

“I have not heard any of it, but your license doesn’t seem forged. The official seal of the city of Eldius and its branch of Adventurers Guild is of the perfect size. I apologize for such verifications.”

“It’s fine. Now, how about my promotion?”

The guild master placed the document on the table and clasped his fingers. Then, he smiled lightly.

“The beast you felled has been a huge problem of the town that it affected the economy for several constellations. The rank classification of the quest should have been raised to a Master, but the Baron insisted otherwise since it might scare adventurers from taking it.”

I simply stayed silent.

“As the guild master of this branch, I have the authority to promote adventurers. And depending on their achievements, I could be lenient for them. And for that, I was thinking of promoting you to Silver Journeyman.”

That quick? I expected to land at least in the Gold Apprentice, so it was a surprise for me. I smile at him.

“Great, now, what should I do?”

“For the meantime, we will be taking your license so that we can provide you with a new one. Expect for it to be done by tomorrow.”

I nodded. As I was about to leave, I turned around.

“I was planning to sell the Lyndworm's carcass, do you wanna buy it?” I asked.

The guild master opened his mouth, but then closed it again. He paused for a few seconds before speaking.

“Surely. Please bring it to the warehouse and the manager there could discuss it with you.”

Well, it didn't seem like I have to argue about the guild taking the entire carcass for themselves. With that, I descended the stairs and found myself basking in stares from the adventurers. I paused midway and snorted before exiting the guild. The crowd outside became thicker, causing much heavier traffic than usual. The carcass was now being guarded by three iron-clad soldiers, along with Riella who was speaking to a long-haired man wearing a lavish outfit. Riella saw me and pointed towards me, and the man walked towards me and lent his hand out, which I ignored.

“I am Selius, the attendant of this town’s lord, Baron Bymontson. I have heard of the commotion about an adventurer said to have slain the Lyndwurm, so I came to see it.  I was wondering if you would like to have an audience with the Baron—”

“No.”

I didn’t take his hand and walked away. I thanked the guards before leaving for the warehouse with the Lyndwurm's body.

“Hey, why’d you ignore an invitation? You might get paid handsomely, you know?” Riella said.

“No, thanks.”