The guild receptionist smiled at the eager members of Godric’s Party.

“You’re finally taking your C-rank promotion test. Good luck, everyone!”

Dozens of adventurer parties came and went through the adventurers' guild every day. With so many people to meet, it would have been easy to mix them up, but Godric’s Party was not one the receptionist could easily forget. They had something that made them more memorable than any other party.

They traveled with a slime.

At first, she had simply thought them a bunch of eccentrics with strange ideas. Working as a receptionist, she occasionally met some truly odd people. But Godric’s Party had defied her expectations in a very good way.

Even when their F-rank work involved gathering herbs, they got straight to it without complaining. They never put on airs and threw a tantrum over having to do such a lousy request. Sgol grumbled from time to time, but it was all talk; he had never raised any serious objections.

To be honest, judging by their looks alone, no one would have found it strange if they turned out to be bandits. Yet Godric’s Party was remarkably diligent. From the receptionist’s perspective, they were hardworking, conscientious, and bound to leave a good impression—though she still had no idea what part the slime played in their work.

That was why she sincerely hoped they would pass this promotion test.

“So what’s our promotion test going to be?”

Once adventurers applied for a promotion test, the guild selected a request appropriate to their party’s abilities.

“This is the request you’ll be undertaking.”

Everyone in Godric’s Party focused on the request sheet the receptionist held out.

“Lesser troll extermination?”

The lesser troll was classified as a C-rank monster. It was smaller than a B-rank troll and had weaker regenerative abilities.

“There was a lesser troll around here?”

“No. The area where the lesser troll was reported sighted is...”

The receptionist promptly took out a map and pointed to a spot.

“Here.”

“That’s fifteen days away by carriage, isn’t it?”

“Yes. But since this is a promotion test, the reward will be generous, so please don’t worry.”

“Why do we have to go so far?”

The receptionist answered Sgol at once.

“Because it’s a test. A promotion test. For C-rank promotion tests in particular, we choose requests that assess adventurers’ abilities and show us things we don’t yet know about them.”

“Then why did you pick this request for our test?”

“You’ve already proven your diligence. But all the requests you’ve taken could be completed near the city, couldn’t they? The guild wants to know whether you can also handle requests that require long-distance travel. Adventurers need the ability to complete a request safely and return, even when their destination is far away.”

Godric’s Party could think of no real argument against her explanation. After all, even they knew they had only been taking requests they could complete nearby!

“Well, we ought to try requests like this now and then! Right?”

“Yes, Boss!”

Sgol, Hawein, and Def’s enthusiastic reply rang through the guild. The slime also bounced on Def’s head, as though answering along with them.

+++

Their C-rank promotion test.

Having accepted the lesser troll extermination request, Godric’s Party finished preparing for the long journey and boarded a carriage.

As the carriage rattled along to the clatter of hooves, they passed the time tending their weapons or stroking the slime. When the horses rested, they climbed out for a quick meal, making do with the travel rations they had brought.

“Ugh, this is why I hate traveling so far.”

Sgol grumbled as he gnawed on a piece of jerky from their provisions. None of his companions reproached him. They felt the same way.

After warrants had been issued for their arrest, Godric and his companions had lived on a very limited diet. They could not even enter a village for a proper meal. There were eateries near the black markets, but they could not linger for fear of being reported.

In the end, their only options were to buy travel rations in bulk, pick fruit in the forest, or hunt animals. Some days they failed to spot so much as a hair of an animal and could not hunt at all, so they often made do with rations and fruit.

They would not have complained if it at least tasted good, but expertly prepared jerky, like the venison jerky made in elf villages, was difficult to find on the black market. Even if they could find it, it was too expensive to buy in bulk.

Because of that experience, even after becoming adventurers, Godric’s Party had chosen requests they could finish in a day and return from in time to eat at a restaurant, keeping their meals of travel rations to a minimum.

“Here, Bouncy.”

Def took out some jerky and offered it to the slime.

'Jerky!'

The slime immediately absorbed Def’s jerky into its body and savored the taste. It was neither as nutritious nor as tasty as the jerky Nellin had given it, but...

'Yummy!'

Most food tasted “yummy” to the slime when it ate with someone else. It could tell the difference between foods, but it was not a picky eater.

Gnawing on jerky in silence was boring, so Sgol asked Hawein a question.

“Hawein, are there any famous places near the lesser troll?”

“Why?”

“We’ve come all this way! What’s the point of just killing the lesser troll and heading straight back? If there’s somewhere famous, you know, we should at least take a look!”

“Pfft. Since when do you suggest things like that, Sgol?”

“You think it’s funny for me to say something like that?”

“I-I’d like to look around too, if there’s something to see. Bouncy likes exploring as well...”

'Sightseeing!'

The slime bounced.

“Well, once we’ve killed it, there’s no harm in looking around. Know anywhere, Hawein?”

When Godric asked as well, Hawein fell silent for a moment, thinking.

“It’s a bit awkward.”

“Awkward? What is?”

“There isn’t really anything to see in the village that asked us to kill the lesser troll. It’s probably just an ordinary village. But the nearest city is famous.”

“What city?”

“The Holy City of Yupitel.”

“Ugh, that place is a den of people who do nothing but preach at you.”

“Pfft. Sgol, the nun in our village used to scold you a lot, didn’t she?”

“That old woman scolded you right along with me!”

“Anyway, everyone says the Holy City is beautiful.”

“Don’t change the subject!”

“But why is it awkward, Hawein?”

At Def’s question, Hawein spread all five fingers of his right hand.

“The Holy City is another five days by carriage from that village.”

Since they had ended up taking a long-distance request anyway, Sgol had intended to suggest seeing something nice while they were out here. But the Holy City, the most worthwhile city to visit, was another five days away.

Had it been only a day or two away, they might have tried to make the trip somehow.

“That’s an awkward distance.”

Five days was far enough to give them pause rather than let them decide on the spot.

Should they go sightseeing in the Holy City or not?

After several minutes of discussion, Godric’s Party reached a decision.

“Let’s kill the lesser troll first and think about it then.”

They would put it off.

+++

“Thank you for coming!”

As soon as they arrived in the village, an old man who appeared to be the village chief welcomed Godric’s Party.

“You must be tired after coming all this way. Please, come inside first. I’d like to offer you some tea!”

With an offer of hospitality, he invited them into his home.

“But that slime on your head...”

“It’s harmless, so rest easy, Chief. It will never attack you.”

“Yes, yes, I understand.”

As the village chief served them tea, he began airing his grievances: how terrifying it was to hear heavy thudding sounds while out hunting animals, how the lesser troll’s occasional spine-chilling cries at night kept him from sleeping, and a string of other things Godric’s Party had not particularly wanted to know.

He had asked the Holy City for help as well, but the paladins strong enough to defeat the lesser troll were away on assignments and could not help at present. He had also placed a request with the guild, yet no adventurer had shown up to take it.

In his frustration, he had pleaded with the receptionist to tell him why, and the answer had been just as ridiculous. A lesser troll was still a troll. Its strength put it in an awkward spot: D-rank adventurers declined because they thought they lacked the skill, while C-rank adventurers declined because the pay did not justify the trouble.

“I truly can’t thank you enough for coming! Thankfully, we haven’t suffered any harm yet, but who knows when that vicious monster might attack the village!”

“I-I see.”

The village chief clasped Godric’s hand and shook it vigorously.

Sgol whispered to Hawein.

“Did they make this our promotion test just to dump an unwanted request on us?”

“Pfft. We can’t turn it down if it’s a promotion test.”

“Hehe, Bouncy! Let’s do our best!”

The slime bounced.

'Let’s do our best!'

+++

To recover from their long journey, Godric’s Party first spent a night in the village, then headed into the mountains to find the lesser troll. Following the accounts of the village chief and the villagers, they made their way toward the place where it had been sighted.

And leading the party, bouncing along at the very front, was the slime.

Over the course of their hunts together, they had learned something: the slime was the best of them at finding monsters.

They did not know how it did it, but Godric’s Party did not concern themselves with every little detail. Finding them was what mattered, wasn’t it? The slime had already demonstrated all sorts of abilities, so they decided to regard this as simply another of its talents.

Meanwhile...

'Different from the forest! Water! Lots!'

The slime was thrilled by its new surroundings. As it bounced along, it used Sensing to perceive the landscape around it.

The trees were not packed together as densely as in a thick forest. Several rivers ran through the mountains, and a stream flowed through a valley off to one side.

The slime had never seen anywhere with so much water. The more it used Sensing, the more excited it grew at the novelty, bouncing along.

“Bouncy, be careful! The chief said some places here have strong currents!”

“You idiot! It’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t fall in. Besides, the strong current is over by that cliff!”

“B-but Bouncy bounces so much, it might fall in...”

“Pfft. It doesn’t just bounce—it jumps so high your eyes nearly pop out.”

The slime heard Def’s worried words, but, delighted by the new surroundings, it continued forward without hesitation.

Then...

'... Found it!'

Sensing picked up a monster with a large torso—a creature anyone would have taken for a lesser troll.

As usual, the slime stopped and bounced several times in place to signal that it had found a monster.

“Found it?”

The slime bounced.

“Everyone, get ready!”

“Yes, Boss!”

At Godric’s signal, his companions’ expressions grew serious.

“Bouncy, lead the way.”

The slime bounced in response and led Godric’s Party onward. After about three minutes...

GRRRR...

They spotted the lesser troll—a monster with blue skin, thick lips, and a massive body. Though smaller than an ordinary troll, it was still larger than Def, the biggest member of Godric’s Party.

Seeing a lesser troll for the first time, Sgol spoke in disbelief.

“That’s a lesser troll? Then how ridiculously huge is a regular troll?”

He had privately underestimated it because it was “lesser,” but the intimidating presence it exuded in person was on an entirely different level.