Chapter 14: Double Promotion

After the picnic yesterday, we returned back to the city just in the nick of time. And after chatting with Dale-san for a short bit, we then headed directly to the Rabbit's Den and retired ourselves for the day.

When I returned to my room, I made sure to lock it before sleeping. So... why the heck is Yuna sleeping besides me!?

I'm sure with 100% certainty that I entered my room alone and that I locked it before I slept. So why!?

「Hmm...」Yuna

Crap! She's waking up! I need to get out of here before she misunderstands our current situation.

I tried to get out of bed as silently as I could but there was one obstacle which was preventing me from doing so. Yuna is clinging tightly unto my arm! And on top of that, it's being sandwiched between her breasts!

Sure, it might feel like heaven now, but if I can't get out of here before she wakes up, I will surely experience something worse than hell!

「Hmm... Grey?」Yuna

Crap, I'm dead.

It took a few seconds before Yuna realized what kind of situation we are currently in, but after she did, she slowly turned red and...

「Kyaaaaaaaaaa!」Yuna

... a loud high-pitched scream echoed throughout the whole inn. It was so loud, that I felt my own eardrums screaming in pain

「G-Grey, w-why are you here!?」Grey

Yuna asked whilst preparing to fire an advanced-level spell at me.

「Hey, hey, hey, Yuna calm down! If you fire that, not only this inn but also a large part of the city will get destroyed! In the first place, this is my room so I should be the one asking that!」Grey

「Eeehhh!?」Yuna

After hearing what I said, Yuna looked around the room and realized that it wasn't hers. She then started to panic, trying to figure out how she got here but I managed to calm her down again.

「Are you alright now?」Grey

「Yes... I'm sorry I overreacted a little bit.」Yuna

A little bit? You almost ended up destroying a large part of the city and you say you just overreacted a little bit!?

Haah... I'm getting tired even though I just woke up.

「It's alright, but still, how did you end up sleeping in my room?」Grey

「Well, when we arrived, Helen-san and I had a little chat about what happened over the picnic. After that, I started to feel sleepy and then Helen-san offered to help me get to my room. The next thing I know, I was sleeping on your bed.」Yuna

Helen-san... She obviously has something to do with this! That vile demoness, I knew she was up to something! Just what does she think she's doing!?

Ugh... My head hurts... Helen-san you're such a pain in the ass!

「Yuna, I think I know what's going on. Why don't you go back to your room and change. We'll have breakfast afterwards.」Grey

「You're not going to pursue this issue any further?」Yuna

「Well, it's not like fussing over it will undo what has happened. We'll just have to be more careful next time.」Grey

「I guess you're right... Well then, I'll see you later...」Yuna

「Yeah.」Grey

Yuna quickly dashed out of my room, without looking back even once. 

Knowing her, she must have still been embarrassed about what just happened. Well, I guess any girl would be if that happened to them.

But, haah... I'll really have to be more careful. After all, I don't wanna play one of Helen-san's games ever again.

After getting changed, I went downstairs to have breakfast. There, I also saw the perpetrator of today's incident.

「Good morning, Grey～.」Helen

Helen-san greeted with an energetic smile as if she knew nothing about what just happened. Her face was so innocent. If I didn't know of her true personality, I wouldn't even suspect her.

「Stop glaring, Grey. You're sca～ring me.」Helen

「Shut up, you know what you did. So don't try to act innocent.」Grey

「I don't know what are you talking about～.」Helen

「If that's true then why are you avoiding my eyes?」Grey

「Whatever do you mean...」Helen

Haah... I don't think I'll get anywhere talking with Helen-san. It would just stress me out even more.

「Forget it. Can you prepare breakfast for two?」Grey

「Breakfast for two coming right up!」Helen

Shortly after I ordered our breakfast, Yuna came down dressed in her usual attire. She was also carrying the dress Helen-san let her borrow yesterday with her.

「I already ordered breakfast, so just take a seat.」Grey

「Ah, thank you.」Yuna

Yuna then quietly took a seat beside me, and a few moments later, our breakfast was ready. 

Hm? Now that I think of it, I've never really met the other people working here in the Rabbit's Den. I wonder who's in charge of cooking the meals.

「Here you go～. Rabbit's Den's special breakfast!」Helen

「「Thank you.」」

Helen-san served our breakfast like usual, and like usual, it was delicious. Even though I've been eating almost the same thing everyday, I don't think I'll ever get tired of eating it.

After our meal, Helen-san cleaned up after us and headed to the kitchen to drop off the dishes we just used.

Hmm... I wonder if there are dishwashers in this world...

「Helen-san, here. Thank you for letting me borrow it.」Yuna

「Ah, you can keep that.」Helen

「N-No, I can't accept something so beautifuー」Yuna

「No, I insist. I already have a lot of dresses, so giving away one wouldn't matter much. Also, that one doesn't really fit me. It would be better to have a cute girl like Yuna-chan to wear it.」Helen

「T-Then... Thank you.」Yuna

「No problem.」Helen

I agree with Helen-san. I don't think that types of dress would actually suit her. I think she's more fit wearing those frilly type of dresses.

But other than that, did she just address Yuna as "Yuna-chan"? When did these two get so close with each other. But then again, it's Helen-san we're talking about so it might not have been the case at all.

Anyways, I look forward to seeing Yuna wearing that dress again. Hmm... or would it be better if we shop for more dresses?

After having our breakfast at the inn, we then headed to the Adventurer's Guild. According to Yuna, they should be done with the assessment by now, so we're heading there to process the quests completion and collect our rewards.

It also seemed that since Tilda-san was teasing her too much yesterday, she forgot to gather quests for us.

「Good morning Tilda-san. We're here to process the special quest's completion.」Grey

「Oh, just in time. We just finished deciding how many points will be rewarded for the quest. Also, the money for the village's reconstruction should arrive there tomorrow noon at the latest.」Tilda

「Oh! That's great news!」Grey

「Huh...? Is it really safe to transport that much money all at once?」Yuna

I was excited when I heard that the guild is already on the move for my request, but my excitement got shot down when Yuna asked Tilda-san an important question.

Well, Yuna has a point. Everything would just go to waste if the money was stolen by bandits. While the chance of that happening is low, it still exists. So as the ones who made an effort to earn that, it's only natural we would be worried.

「Don't worry, the one who's delivering the money is a C-rank adventurer. I doubt there will be bandits who could win against one.」Tilda

Tilda-san has a point... After all, it's extremely rare to encounter a bandit that could defeat a C-rank adventurer. Most bandits can't even go against E-rank adventurers, let alone someone who's two ranks higher. 

Well, it's not like worrying will lessen the chance of a bandit attack. So it is pointless to worry about it. I just hope everything goes well.

「Now that that's all over, Yuna-san, Grey-san, let me be the first to congratulate you on your promotion!」Tilda

Judging by the way Tilda-san congratulated us, we must have earned a decent amount of points for defeating the Orc King and the orc horde. 

「Based on the calculated amount of points earned. You two have been promoted to D-rank! Congratulations!」Tilda

「Eh!? D-rank!? But shouldn't it supposed to be E-rank? And what about the rank-up exam?」Grey

「Well, the guildmaster said there's no point in testing people who can defeat an Orc King easily. And since the amount of points you've earned reached the threshold for the D-rank examination, we thought it would be more efficient to promote you two by two ranks at once.」Tilda

I see, so it's that old geezer's scheme. Is he really not worried about his reputation? Doesn't he know it will also affect the guild's reputation if he acts recklessly? 

Well, I don't think there's an adventurer who would want to fight him just because of a trivial matter. He's at the peak of C-rank after all. Someone who can easily tear buildings to pieces.

Haah... Whatever, not like I have anything to do with it.

「Grey, isn't it good to be promoted? Why are you making a long face?」Yuna

「Nothing. I'm just thinking of something.」Grey

「I hope it's not something weird.」Yuna

「Of course not. What do you take me for?」Grey

「A wierdo who loves thinking of stupid things?」Yuna

Ouch!

Yuna, that's too blunt! Even if it's true, you should have sugar coated it at least a little bit! Aahhh... I feel my heart breaking.

「Don't worry Grey, you're not the only weirdo I know. Helen-san is also one. So cheer up!」Yuna

That doesn't help at all! And you even grouped me up with that vile demoness. On top of that, you said it with a proud face and with your thumbs up!

Ughh... I don't think I can recover my dignity after this.

「Umm... What's wrong with Grey-san.」Tilda

「Don't worry, he's just being weird as usual.」Yuna

「Oh right... Anyway, can I please have your guild cards? I need it to process your promotion so that you can officially become D-rank adventurers.」Tilda

「Ah, of course.」Yuna

After what Yuna said to me, my soul practically left my body, so I just left her to deal with processing our promotion.

During the whole time, I was practically just staring at the wall thinking about what I did to deserve being treated like that. And before I knew it, we already arrived back at the Rabbit's Den.

「Oh! You two sure are back early. Did something happen? And also, what's wrong with Grey? He looks he's carrying the whole on his shoulders.」Helen

「It's a long story.」Grey

「Eh? I'm free so you can tell me about it!」Helen

「No, thanks.」Grey

Somehow, I feel like if I tell Helen-san about it, it would spread like wildfire and everyone will learn about it the next day. No, it's not just a gut feeling, it's probably what will happen.

「We got promoted.」Yuna

Yunaaa!! 

「Oh, really? Then, we should celebrate! But first, let me tell my mom and dad first. Okaa-san! Otou-san! I have good news!」Helen

「W-Wait Helen-san...」Yuna

And there she goes... My prediction that everybody in the city will know by tomorrow might not be too far off.

Haaah... I really should teach Yuna when and when not to be honest. It might bring more trouble in the future if I don't address it properly.

After a few moments, a couple in their forties came out of the kitchen with Helen-san. Are they her parents?

「Is it true that you got promoted Yuna-chan?」Helen's Mother

「I never knew jou-chan here is an adventurer.」Helen's Father

「Yes, we just got promoted this morning.」Yuna

「Congratulations!」Helen's Mother

「You did well, jou-chan!」Helen's Father

「Thank you, Selia-san, Gerd-san.」Yuna

Hm?

「You know them?」Grey

「Yes, I met them yesterday when I was having a chat with Helen-san.」Yuna

That explains it. I was troubled that I didn't know them since Yuna and I are almost always together, I was worried that I forgot their names and faces. It would have been bad if that was the case, especially since I have my『Memory』.

「Selia-san, Gerd-san, this is Grey, my partner. Grey, meet Selia-san and Gerd-san, Helen-san's parents.」Yuna

「A pleasure to meet you. I'm Grey.」Grey

「Nice to meet you, Grey-kun, I'm Selia, Helen's mother.」Selia

「And I'm Gerd, Helen's father. It's also a pleasure, bocchan.」Grey

After our introductions, we sat around the table in the diner. Since it was already past 9, there were no customers around so we were free to talk as much as we wanted.

「Hmm... I've already heard from Helen that Yuna-chan's partner was a handsome young man, but you have exceeded my expectations. There must be a quite a lot of women trying to get get your attention.」Selia

「Ah, there's no such thing.」Grey

「Really? I find that hard to believe.」Selia

「Haha...」Grey

Helen-san, just what kind of things did you tell your parents? And you shouldn't be spreading information about your customers.

And seriously, how did the conversation turn out like this? I thought we were celebrating our promotion.

「Well, if he's got someone as beautiful as jou-chan here, then there's no wonder why women can't get to him.」Gerd

「I agree. I don't think women would approach a man if they don't have a chance of winning him over.」Selia

「They really make a good couple, don't they?」Helen

With the combined comments from Gerd-san, Selia-san, and Helen-san, Yuna's face started becoming her and to hide her embarrassment, she tried to look down to the floor and pretended that she wasn't hearing anything.

This is bad, if I don't do anything, Yuna's mind might get overheated again due to embarrassment. I'll be borrowing for your powers once again, secret technique #1: Topic Change!

「I've been wondering since our first day here, but who's the one cooking our breakfasts?」Grey

「Ah, that would be me.」Gerd

Nice! He took the bait! Now, I just need to drag this conversation longer and they'll eventually forget what they were talking about.

「Why did you ask?」Gerd

「I was wondering how you cooked the soup. It was really delicious. If possible, I would like to learn some tips from you.」Grey

「Tips, eh? I suppose I could tell you some. But in exchange, could you also tell me what kind of dish you cooked yesterday? Of course, I wouldn't be so unreasonable and ask for the recipe, just the method is enough.」Gerd

「Deal. After all, there's no such thing as a free service.」Grey

「Haha, I like you, kid. Then...」Gerd

And just like that, I turned the conversation's topic from something embarrassing into something related to cooking. And one way or another, we agreed that we'll be cooking for each other. On my side, it will be curry.

CHAPTER 14 END