Chapter 3: Kazuya's Ability

“So, what’s your current adventurer rank?”

I lifted my face slightly and looked at Kazuya as I asked.

At 168 cm (5 feet 6 inches), I’m considered tall even among human women—but Kazuya’s even taller. He must be well over 180 cm (5 feet 11 inches).

His solid build made him appear even more imposing.

“Right now, I’m around D-rank. I usually go solo, so it’s slow going.”

“I think I was C-rank? Though I never really cared much about rank in the first place… But why solo? You look like you could form a party easily.”

Kazuya thought for a moment, then pointed at me.

“Because if I joined a party, I wouldn’t be able to look for you. That’s why.”

“…Fair point.”

Joining a party makes it hard to go searching for someone. Limits your freedom. It was a solid reason.

“Right? But now I can finally form a party with you, Miki.”

So he’s been going solo all this time just to form a party with me? That’s actually kind of sweet. I’m impressed.

“Yeah, okay. So, what now? You gonna go for that harem party you used to fantasize about in your past life?”

Half-teasing, I brought up the delusions he’d often talk about before. Kazuya looked straight at me and answered without hesitation.

“Nah, I’m good. You’re joining my party, right? Temporary parties aside, just the two of us is enough.”

“I don’t mind, you know. Even if it’s a harem party, I’m not gonna get in the way.”

He looked slightly troubled as he replied.

“Two’s enough. I mean, we finally reunited after all this time. And you said you’d stay with me until the end, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I’ll stick with you till death. But I’m not dating you or marrying you, got it?”

I made it crystal clear. If Kazuya misunderstood, it’d just cause problems for both of us.

“…I know. I’m just not in the mood to build that kind of party right now.”

“Too bad. I thought I could be that one character in the harem party who doesn’t fall for you. Real shame.”

I laced my hands behind my head and said it in an exaggeratedly disappointed tone.

“What the hell is that? …Though, you know how it goes—those types always end up falling for me in the end. I’ve seen it.”

Kazuya finally grinned as he said that.

“Yeah yeah, I’ve seen that too... Except, not happening here.”

“Characters like that say that at the start, don’t they?”

“I said it’s not happening!”

“Yeah yeah.”

“Don’t you ‘yeah yeah’ me!”

And just like that, lightly bickering, we arrived at the guild.

---

We entered the adventurer guild and sat down at a random table.

Yesterday, Kazuya hit on me the moment we arrived, so I hadn’t had the chance to really look around. Today, I took my time observing the place.

I think the last time I came here was about thirty years ago.

There’ve been some changes, but the overall vibe is the same. The adventurer guild hasn’t really changed much since the first time I came here. In a way, it’s kind of comforting.

Kazuya said he was going to check out the quest board, so I let him go. Immediately after, some guy—probably an acquaintance—stopped him.

“Hey, so? Things going well with that elf girl? Damn, I’m jealous. How was it?”

“Nah, it’s not like that... Well, actually, yeah. It was great—on a whole other level compared to humans. And now she says she’ll stay with me for life. Pretty sweet, huh?”

“No way! Man, I’m seriously jealous. Dammit, I should’ve made a move first!”

Don’t underestimate elf ears—we hear everything.

And what the hell, Kazuya? Is that really how you feel? That’s disappointing.

My mood just plummeted. I guess I was wrong to think he hadn’t changed since the old days.

Come to think of it, it has been 17 years since he was born into this world. Just 17 years, and yet... Well, I’ve changed too. Maybe I can’t blame him.

Still. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting.

As I was lost in thought, Kazuya returned—looking all cheerful, oblivious to my mood. That whole conversation? I heard everything, you know.

“Miki, found a perfect quest. If we pull it off, I’ll be eligible for the C-rank promotion test.”

“Wow, is that so.”

Kazuya must’ve picked up on my sudden attitude shift, because he gave me a curious look.

“Huh? What’s up? Something happen?”

“Nope. Let’s go.”

I brushed it off and stood up. Kazuya scrambled to his feet to follow me.

The quest was a subjugation of mid-tier monsters that had appeared near the city.

Sure enough, the location and difficulty level were perfect. For me, anyway. It was the kind of juicy quest I could finish in a day.

Not exactly something a D-rank should be tackling, though.

“Hey, isn’t this a bit much for a D-rank? Taking out five wyverns?”

Wyverns are basically big lizards with wings. Humans classify them as dragon-type, but that’s overselling it. They’re just flying lizards. Real dragons would be pissed if they heard that.

That said, they do breathe fire and fly, so they’re troublesome. By guild standards, only parties of C-rank or higher are supposed to take on these quests.

“Yeah, it’s fine. This is nothing.”

Kazuya responded confidently. I could take them out with my magic easily, but I decided not to interfere—this would be a good way to gauge his abilities.

Kazuya raised his sword and muttered something.

Lightning magic crashed down on the five wyverns. They didn’t even have time to react. Struck by lightning, they plummeted to the ground.

Once grounded, they’re basically fire-spitting lizards. And since they were already heavily damaged from the crash, even a D-rank should be able to finish the job.

With precise swordplay, Kazuya swiftly cut down all five wyverns.

Just like that—calmly and effortlessly—he took them out. I was impressed.

He really is strong. His swordsmanship is sharp, and he can use magic too?

“Not bad.”

“Well, this much is nothing. I am a solo adventurer, after all.”

“Even so… you’re probably already B-rank level.”

“Not yet. I’m aiming much higher.”

“Oh yeah? Mind if I ask?”

“Go ahead.”

“How does a D-rank adventurer take on a quest recommended for C-rank parties?”

“Well… the guildmaster recognized my ability. So I’ve been given permission to take on higher-level quests.”

“…That’s a thing?”

Is that something they actually allow? You’d have to prove some serious skill—or have a really good reason.

I still wasn’t entirely convinced, but since he was taking the quest, I guess that’s how it is. Maybe the guild changed in the past 30 years.

“Yep, that’s how it is. No need to worry about that stuff. Come on, let’s report in now that we’re done.”

After that, we submitted the report for completing the wyvern subjugation. Kazuya went on to take the C-rank promotion test, passed it without issue, and officially became a C-rank adventurer.

---

After that, Kazuya and I spent about two weeks completing several C-rank quests together.

Kazuya turned out to be stronger than I’d expected. His swordsmanship alone is easily mid-B rank, and on top of that, he can use several offensive spells, primarily lightning-based. Overall, he’s definitely upper B-rank material.

As for me—when it comes to magic alone, I’m comfortably at A-rank level. There are even some monster subjugations I never reported to the guild, and to begin with, the amount of time I’ve devoted to studying magic is on a whole different scale compared to humans.

Among elves, I apparently possess exceptionally high magical talent and reserves, to the point where people used to call me a genius.

I can use a wide variety of spells: offensive, support, healing—pretty much anything.

People say imagination is key when using magic, and since I loved fantasy anime, manga, and games in my previous life, forming mental images for spells comes easily to me. I think that played a big part in it too.

Despite all that magical skill, my physical strength is… unfortunately lacking.

I’m not fragile, per se, but I’m definitely weaker than the average adventurer. I should be stronger than the average 17-year-old girl… I think.

As for our living arrangements, I initially planned to keep staying in Kazuya’s room, but he kicked me out on the morning of the third day.

The reason? He got mad at me for sleeping naked in a cramped bed. Really mad.

When I said, “Come on, you’re happy about it deep down,” he got even angrier and threw me out.

I can’t say I don’t understand. I’m not just some random girl—I’m his best friend. Having me, stark naked, in a tight bed with him probably isn’t comfortable.

Plus, he couldn’t exactly bring other girls over. I realized later I should’ve been more considerate of that, and I did reflect on it.

So I decided to rent the empty room next door—but that brought about a different issue.

I sleep in late, and since I take forever to get up, Kazuya comes to wake me every morning. I’ve made it so that the barrier on the room only lets him through.

Naturally, that means he sees me sleeping naked again and gets mad all over.

But sleeping late is just part of an elf’s natural cycle, and sleeping naked is also an elf thing!

In the end, Kazuya still comes to wake me every day… but honestly, wouldn’t it be easier if we just went back to sharing a bed? When I brought that up, he got angry again and said, “Absolutely not!”—seriously, what’s his problem?