Ryu graduated from training and was certified as an F-rank adventurer.

Those who knew it understood that Bymark's adventurer ranks were 1-2 ranks higher than in other towns, but those who didn't know, didn't know. To them, F-rank was just F-rank. F-rank was the lowest rank for an adventurer.

Guildmaster Nerina understood that Ryu's actual abilities were far beyond F-rank and suggested skipping ranks, but Ryu refused.

Ryu wanted to see how far he could go as an adventurer using only his natural abilities, deliberately sealing and avoiding his time magic and Divine Eye. (Even without that, having a dragonkin's physical abilities in a human world was already quite overpowered.)

He wanted to enjoy his adventurer life again, starting from F-rank.

...

The dungeon's entry ban was lifted. After sending adventurers to investigate the dungeon, it was confirmed that the danger level had decreased, and the guildmaster and the lord agreed to officially lift the ban.

The guild headquarters was informed that the dungeon had been conquered by a mysterious masked man who had just happened to visit during his travels. The Sindral lord would serve as a contact if they needed to get in touch with Silver Mask. Just in case, the lord had more or less forced a communication magic tool upon Ryu.

The newbie training continued, but Iraira admitted that her training methods had been flawed and resigned from her position as an instructor. Nerina tried to keep her, and there had been some regret expressed from graduates, but Iraira insisted that she wanted to do something else. She didn't return to adventuring, but retired completely.

The training content was substantially revised, with basic instruction more in line with standard adventurer training. (Of course, magic users and healers would also receive tailored instruction.)

Initially, Iraira was dissatisfied that the dungeon hadn't been destroyed, but with her son's return, and the dungeon having become quite standard, she calmly realized there was no reason to be so fixated on destroying it.

Iraira's plans were: first, to find the magic user who had left town after being saved by Raal. She wanted to let her know that Raal had returned, as she was likely blaming herself.

She also wanted to meet those who had dropped out of Bymark's training and left town. Her training had been a bit excessive, she had been too hasty.

If those who dropped out were adventurers in other towns, that was fine. The harsh training would have served as a useful experience. But she wanted to apologize if anyone had given up on being an adventurer.

Because of her son's incident, Iraira had become hesitant to encourage young people to become adventurers, a dangerous profession. But if someone still wanted to become an adventurer, knowing the risks, she wanted to guide them on the right path.

Later, Iraira would encounter a young man in another town who had given up on his dream of being an adventurer. Iraira, unable to leave him alone, would insult him, inspire him, and guide him to become a skilled adventurer...but that's another story.

Iraira also wanted to visit Mirmul. She wanted to see the place for herself and build a grave for her niece, Catherine.

After recovering from the petrification and no longer needing to care for her son Raal, Iraira quietly left Bymark alone.

...

...

...

"Um...excuse me..."

"What?"

Ryu spent some time working as an F-rank adventurer in Bymark. He handled simple tasks like monster extermination and herb gathering, the kind of jobs a newbie adventurer would do. Since he wasn't short of money, he only took requests that interested him.

Occasionally, even now, dangerous monsters would be discovered around town. But the high-level adventurers in the town were skilled and would deal with it quickly, making it unnecessary for Ryu to intervene.

One day, Anastasia approached him. Leonora was with her. They had both graduated soon after and were now adventurers.

"Um, Ryujeen-san, would you join our party?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm a solo—"

Ryu reflexively refused. He was fundamentally a solo adventurer. He could instantly hunt down monsters in dungeons with his space magic, so he hadn't needed a party. It would just be annoying to have to answer questions about his abilities.

But he remembered that he had decided to enjoy being an adventurer using only his natural abilities and avoid space magic as much as possible.

Then...

"No, it's fine. I can join a party.

...I'll do it. Will you join my party?"

Ryu agreed to form a party with Anastasia and Leonora. (He did say it would be a trial period.)

...

"What should we name our party?"

Hearing that, he suddenly recalled a similar conversation he'd had while walking around Mirmul with Sophie and others.

He had been tricked into joining Sophie's party at Catherine's request. Thinking back, Sophie's party hadn't really done anything "adventurer-like" besides going into a dungeon once during training.

It had been a bit unfortunate for Sophie, who had aspired to be an adventurer, Ryu thought. He remembered that Sophie had also been given a communication magic tool. He should talk to her about what happened in this town later.

Thinking about it, Ryu hadn't done much adventurer-like work, either. He had spent a long time just gathering herbs. After his memories returned, he'd only used overpowered methods to hunt, which was no longer an adventure but a chore.

But what exactly constitutes adventurer-like activities? Is it going into dungeons to hunt monsters and sell materials, or saving people and villages from monsters...?

Defeating the Hydra dungeon boss (with some difficulty) might have been an adventurer-like activity...

Ryu thought as he drank a cola. (A drink similar to Earth's cola exists in this world. Ryu often enjoys it.) Anastasia and Leonora kept pondering what to name their party.

"A name...a name..."

Coming up with a name was surprisingly difficult. The more serious you were, the harder it was to decide. People who weren't serious could come up with a name easily.

"You two have been working together, right? What did you call your party then?"

"Vivid Girls..."

"If Ryujeen-san is joining us, we can't call it that, right?"

"Just call me Ryu."

"...Ryu..."

Anastasia blushed slightly at being addressed informally.

"Ryu, have you been in a party before?"

"Yes, a few times."

"What were your party names?"

"What were they...? Oh, 'Sophie and the Merry Band.'"

"Sophie?"

"Who is she? Your girlfriend?"

"No...she's a noble daughter who aspired to be an adventurer. She ended up going into a dungeon only once and returned home."

"She gave up being an adventurer?"

"No, she wanted to continue, but her family circumstances made it impossible..."

"Then let's name our party 'Ryu and the Merry Band.'"

"No way..."

Next Episode

The girls get harassed by senior adventurers!

Stay tuned!