Chapter 65: A-Rank Gate

An A-Rank Gate… how long had it been since I last faced one of these?

Even with the B-Rank Gate, the mana felt thick and murky, but standing before a Gate one rank higher, it was even denser and more oppressive.

“Hey, Ms. Verdi.”

“Huh?”

I was observing the Gate when Deneb, who’d been sticking close behind me, called out with an uneasy look.

“Um, what should we do about Kanna?”

“What’s Kanna again?”

“You forgot already?! The egg.”

At my clueless expression, Deneb pouted and showed me the egg strapped to her back. Honestly, I’d completely forgotten they’d even named it.

“Ah, sorry about that. Slipped my mind.”

“To be honest, I don’t think I can protect it. An A-Rank Gate… honestly, I might not even be able to protect myself.”

Deneb’s voice was timid.

‘That’s fair.’

They’d been through several Gates and even trained with me once, but they were still a D-Rank Hunter. An A-Rank Gate was a hellscape where even S-Rank Hunters could lose their lives. There was no way they could guard an egg while barely keeping themselves alive.

“…No good. You’re staying outside this time.”

“But…”

“You don’t need to worry.”

Before I could explain, Marcel spoke to Deneb first.

“We’ll be fine. It’s Ms. Verdi we’re talking about, after all. And you don’t need to feel burdened. Deneb, just do as Ms. Verdi asked and take good care of the egg.”

…Oh, smooth talker.

“Are you really okay with that?”

After hearing Marcel, Deneb turned to me and asked.

“Yeah.”

I smiled to put Deneb at ease.

Either way, it was still A-Rank. Not S-Rank… and there were other veteran Hunters along, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.

“Then you have to come back safely, okay?”

“Don’t worry. Who do you think I am?”

Don’t worry about me. Just focus on guarding that egg.

…By the way, I’d quietly told Hames that Deneb was the younger sister of Wilhelm, the guild master of Royal Knights. The look on his face when he went, ‘Eh, is that fer real?’ was pretty entertaining. And for good reason — if anything happened to Deneb, Crescent could be held responsible.

So what did Hames do about it?

‘Well taken care of.’

Glancing around, I could see several unidentified figures lurking in the shadows, waiting on standby.

They looked suspicious at first glance, but they were Crescent guild members who weren’t participating in this Gate.

Hames had complained plenty about having to scrape together even that small number of people.

If anything happened while we were away, they’d protect the egg. Even if Vasquez showed up.

Of course, I didn’t think those High-Rank Hunter nobodies could actually take on Vasquez.

But they’d make it hard for him to act recklessly.

Crescent was one of the Five Great Guilds. Touching one of the Five Great Guilds was like making enemies of everyone in the industry. So no matter how strong that bastard was, he couldn’t just strike carelessly. Besides, even though he wasn’t here right now, Moonlight — the world’s strongest Hunter — was also part of Crescent. There was no way he’d sit still if his own guild was attacked.

With the egg and Deneb’s safety secured, preparations were complete.

“Let’s go in!”

At Hames’ shout, we stepped toward the crimson-glowing hole — the Gate.

* * *

The scenery that appeared once we entered the Gate was…

“It’s cold!”

A snow-covered mountain range battered by a freezing blizzard.

“Are you alright?”

Marcel asked as I shivered violently.

He and the other Hunters seemed used to the cold, unfazed.

‘Ah, right. I’m the only one wearing gear from a regular clothing store…’

They were all High-Rank Hunters.

Crescent guild members probably got sponsored gear, and Marcel, being an A-Rank Hunter, was equipped with High-Rank Hunter gear.

Those kinds of equipment would have excellent cold resistance built in. Meanwhile, my gear wasn’t from a Hunter specialty shop — just a regular clothing store — so of course there’d be a difference.

[ Mana Shield Lv.7 ]

I wrapped a Mana Shield around myself, but it didn’t completely block the cold. A Mana Shield might seem like a cure-all, but while it could protect against external impacts, it couldn’t do anything about temperature — cold or heat.

‘Complete blunder. Once this Gate raid is over, I need to get myself proper gear.’

Since I’d be going into High-Rank Gates from now on, I’d be making way more profit than before. B-Rank or A-Rank, honestly they were both easy enough, but still — there was always the off chance something could go wrong, so it was better to be prepared.

‘The design’s nice, but I guess there’s no helping it.’

I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. The color scheme was to my liking, and the mobility wasn’t bad either — I’d liked this outfit — but it seemed like it was about time to change.

“For now, there don’t seem to be any Demon Beasts nearby, so let’s head somewhere we can take shelter from the blizzard. We’ll hold a strategy meeting there.”

At Hames’s words as the leader, everyone followed without complaint. I wanted to go catch the boss right now and say goodbye to this cold, but my position in this subjugation party was a Porter. I had no choice but to endure. If I asked for something like better clothes for convenience and they asked why I even came as a Porter, I’d have nothing to say.

And so we moved to a nearby cave.

The one saving grace was that once we entered the cave, another Hunter lit a fire, so we had the means to warm up.

I was rubbing my feet together to thaw my cold body.

‘Come to think of it, if I’m a Porter, didn’t I not even need to come in the first place?’

…That thought suddenly struck me.

Deneb, who was also a Porter, had been left outside — shouldn’t I have been fine not coming in too?

My head throbbed a little. Last time, I’d entered the Gate of my own will too.

Back then, it was because of Marcel’s situation and because I wanted to stretch my legs, so I went in with him. But this time, there was no need for me to come in at all. Besides, Marcel had already said he’d gone into High-Rank Gates alone before.

‘I didn’t think that through…’

On top of that, there were a lot of Hunters participating this time, so if I stuck my neck out unnecessarily, I’d likely draw unwanted attention.

‘Haah, can’t be helped…’

I let out a deep sigh.

*Tap.*

Someone patted me on the back from behind. I turned around to see what it was, and Marcel draped the coat he’d been wearing over my shoulders.

“I’m fine, so please use it.”

“Uh… are you really okay?”

“The gear I’m currently wearing is made of quite good material, so I can manage well enough.”

I was more worried about a Demon Beast attack than the cold, but…

“Then…”

Still, it was a coat that looked far too warm to refuse.

I bowed my head to thank him and immediately put it on. Since it was meant for a grown man, it was bigger than my body, but that much more of me was covered, and it was definitely warm.

“Hey, Ms. Verdi.”

“Yes?”

“This Gate… how difficult do you think it is?”

“What do you mean by how difficult?”

“I mean the difficulty level.”

…How was I supposed to know that? This was my first time here too.

“Well… if I had to say… about medium?”

It was an A-Rank Gate, so around there, right?

“Medium…! I see. Understood.”

Why was he trailing off like that? Was there something wrong with what I said?

I was about to ask, but Marcel suddenly walked off somewhere. He was muttering to himself while facing the wall. I thought about going closer to ask what he was doing, but…

“Medium… medium… medium… medium… medium… A-Rank Gate is medium…!!”

He was doing it in a somehow gloomy atmosphere, which made it feel creepy, so I decided to drop it.

I went back to where the fire was lit and was about to settle in when…

“A beginn—”

“Cut that out, will you? It’s getting annoying.”

“Hahaha, I think it’s fun. And…”

Hames’s eyes gleamed sharply. No matter how many times I saw it, that look was unsettling.

“I think I know why. Why our Miss Verdi here isn’t scared and is standing in a place like this.”

“I just came to make money.”

I was a little startled by the sudden remark, but I deliberately kept a composed face and spoke as if nothing was wrong.

“You’d come to a place this dangerous just to make a little money?”

“Because I can earn a lot here.”

“Then why do you need the money?”

“Because I have debts to pay.”

I’d said it several times, but at least this part wasn’t a lie.

“Debts? Ah! You owe money to that Luca guy, don’t you!”

“…That’s right.”

Come to think of it, Hames was acquainted with Mr. Luca.

I remembered they recognized each other when we ran into him after the Rank Advancement Exam.

I was a little curious, actually. What kind of relationship they had.

“Mister.”

“Mister?! I’m only twenty-five!”

“You’re still a mister.”

*Hey, you bastard, I’ll admit what I gotta admit. Before my body changed, I was a mister too.*

*Of course, I was way older than twenty-five.*

“At least call me brother!”

“Are you crazy?”

*Ah, I let a rude remark slip without thinking.*

*Oppa? There’s no way I could call him that. I used to be a man.*

“Then what do you call Marcel?”

Hames glanced slyly at Marcel and said that.

“Marcel is Marcel.”

“Haah… then at least call me Hames.”

“You should’ve said that from the start. Ah, and don’t call me that ‘cho’ whatever either. It’s annoying.”

“It just rolls off my tongue.”

“Then should I keep calling you mister?”

“I lose, I lose. Fine. Miss Verdi. What brings Miss Verdi to ask me a question?”

“What was your relationship with Mr. Luca?”

*I’ve known Mr. Luca for quite a while, but I’ve never heard anything about the people around him or his past. I only know he used to be an A-Rank Hunter. And even that’s just from rumors.*

*Besides, Mr. Luca was active a long time ago. Back then, Hames, who’s twenty-five now, wouldn’t even have been an adult, right?*

“Mr. Luca was like a master to me.”

“A master?”

*The word ‘master’ piqued my interest. After all, I’m the one claiming to be Deneb’s master now.*

“That’s right. The reason I can be a Hunter now is because of Mr. Luca’s help back in the day.”

“What kind of help?”

“Hames!”

That was when I asked. From behind, I heard another Hunter’s voice.

I turned around to see several Hunters heading toward Hames.

“It looks like the snow will stop soon. Let’s get moving.”

“Got it.”

Hames shifted his gaze from me to them and said.

“Let’s finish the rest of the story later.”

*I wanted to hear more, but I wasn’t in a position to push, so I just quietly nodded.*

When I stepped outside, just as the other Hunters had said, the snowfall was visibly weakening.

“…Huh?”

*I was taking in the scenery outside when I saw something moving in the distance. Two red circles.*

*I realized right away that they were the eyes of a living, moving creature.*

*The creature was slowly approaching us.*

*And what finally revealed itself was—*

“A Demon Beast!”

Someone shouted instead of me.

A giant covered in white fur.

[ A-Rank Demon Beast, Snow Giant ]

‘…How predictable.’

The Snow Giant appeared.