That damn brat! Maybe back in Japan I’d have accepted it if someone called me old, but I’m in Rex’s body now! The guy’s a bona fide hottie that all BB players love, and that’s not even mentioning that he’s only twenty-five years old!
As much as I hated to admit it, though...I could kinda see where the kid was coming from. Back when I’d been a teenager, I’d thought people in their twenties were old too. But even if I understood his point of view, that wouldn’t save him from the hundreds—okay, probably more like dozens—of Rex fans in Japan he’d just offended.
I opened my mouth to shoot back another response, but another one of the adventurers beat me to it.
“D-Don’t be rude, Radd!” she shouted.
That one’ll be the healer of the group, judging by her outfit, I thought as the girl turned toward me and gave me a bashful look.
“U-Umm...you’re Master Rex, right?” she stammered. “The A-rank adventurer, Rex Tauren?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right,” I replied, a bit startled by the “master” bit. “You can just call me Rex, though. That’s fine with me.”
She seems polite enough, I mused, but “Master Rex” is not a moniker I want catching on.
The healer girl’s face had lit up at my confirmation, and she sprinted across the cavern, skidding to a stop a few feet away from where I stood. “I-It’s such an honor to meet you!” she said in an excited voice. “I’m actually a huge fan of yours! C-Could I...shake your hand?”
“Huh?” I said, feeling a bit befuddled. I was taken so off guard by her request that I barely managed to stay in character. “I mean, s-sure...”
The girl closed the last bit of distance between us and grabbed my hand, her eyes gleaming as she shook it.
“What’s the big deal?” the boy called Radd snapped, a glower on his face. “It’s not like being an A-rank makes you anything special—all that means is you’ve been adventuring a long time.”
The healer girl’s face crinkled into a frown. “Being an A-rank absolutely is special,” she said, launching into another lecture. “Rex became an adventurer when he was only fifteen, and since then he’s completed over a thousand quests! Did you know that, Radd?”
The boy shook his head slowly, clearly still irritated.
“Well, that’s not all! On top of that, Rex’s quest-completion ratio is over ninety-five percent! He did them all solo too, which is way harder than completing quests with a party. Doing something like that requires a high amount of versatility, and the only reason Rex can manage it is because he’s a master of all disciplines. If that’s not amazing, then I don’t know what is! And that incredible track record is exactly why he was promoted to A-rank just last year. In the entirety of this country’s fifty-two-year history, Rex’s only the third person to make it to A-rank solo. With how impressive his skills are, he might even end up becoming the first solo adventurer to reach S-rank. If you think about it...”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” Radd said, looking overwhelmed. “Seriously, I get it.”
Honestly, this girl knows more about Rex than I do, I thought, laughing internally. She must be an adventurer megafan. It’s interesting though, since I never really thought about Rex in that way before...
From the perspective of a BB player, Rex wasn’t all that special a character. He was just a decently high-ranked adventurer who happened to be present during one of the potential protagonist’s story events. Even the fact that he started off at level 50 didn’t seem that awe-worthy, since by the endgame the entire protagonist’s party would be well over that level. His Guild rank didn’t seem that important either, as climbing your way up the ladder wasn’t actually that difficult as a player. But, as the healer girl’s exuberance proved, in the framework of the game, Rex was pretty famous.
Now that I thought about it, there were barely a handful of people as strong or as highly ranked as Rex within the world of Braves and Blades. To those who truly admired adventurers, he’d be a celebrity at the very least.
I looked down at the healer girl, who was still shaking my hand with surprising vigor. I scratched my head awkwardly with my free hand, suddenly feeling overcome with embarrassment.
I mean, it’s not like I enjoy getting insulted, but at least I know how to handle it, I thought, squirming. I’ve got no idea how to react to such effusive praise...
Thankfully, I was saved when the other male adventurer in the party stepped forward. “I’m sorry about my party members,” he apologized, cheeks flushed. “I’m Nyuuk. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rex. You did say you were fine with just Rex, right?”
“Cheers,” I said, nodding, and I saw the boy’s shoulders relax a little.
From what I could tell, Nyuuk seemed the most composed of the four young adventurers. He had brown hair and looked more like a merchant than an adventurer. Seeing as he was holding a staff though, I was guessing he was most likely the party’s mage.
Nyuuk gestured to the sulky boy standing next to him. “This is Radd, one of my party mates. He’s our swordsman. The priest gushing over you right now is our healer, Mana. And, last but not least...” Nyuuk turned and smiled at his last party member, who was hanging back from the group and staring at me with wary eyes.
The girl had lovely, luxurious blonde hair and pointed ears; she was your stereotypical elf, the kind that had been inspired by Tolkien’s novels and was in all kinds of RPGs. As I turned toward her, her gaze turned sharp, but she didn’t say a word. I did see her mouth “Rex” to herself, though.
Nyuuk flushed again. “U-Umm, this is our archer, Prana. Don’t mind her, she’s just a little antisocial.”
I nodded, indicating that I wasn’t bothered. I suppose I should introduce myself too, huh?
“It seems you already know me,” I said with a slight smile, “but I’d still like to introduce myself—I’m Rex Tauren, an A-rank adventurer. I’d heard that the demon sealed away in this dungeon was about to break free, so I came here to investigate.”
Hopefully that explains my behavior from earlier, I thought hopefully.
“I see, so th-that’s why...” Nyuuk muttered, trailing off.
I sighed in relief. Judging by that reaction, they believe me. All right! From now on, I’m just going to have to take care to stay in character.
“It seems like the seal’s still intact,” I told them, “so we should be safe. Still, I wouldn’t recommend coming back here for the time being. I’d at least wait until you’ve got a lot more experience under your belt.”
“O-Okay!” Nyuuk agreed, turning back to his comrades. “Guys, let’s get out of here!”
That sounded good to me, but unfortunately it seemed Radd, the red-haired boy, still had a bone to pick.
He clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes. “You’re seriously telling me that old geezer is an A-rank adventurer?!” he demanded. “You sure he’s not just pretending to be a veteran to trick all of us?”
“Radd!” Nyuuk cut in, voice stern.
The red-haired boy just ignored him. He tapped his sword against his shoulder and gave me a defiant look.
“For such a weak pup, you sure bark loudly,” the elf girl said suddenly, her tone mocking.
Oh, great, I thought. Way to add fuel to the fire.
Sure enough, Radd whirled toward the blonde elven girl, his animosity toward me completely forgotten. “What did you just say, Prana?” he snapped, teeth bared.
“I said to quit your yapping, mutt,” she replied with a yawn.
I breathed out a weary sigh, looking away from where the two kids glared angrily at each other, and back to the girl in front of me. This entire time, Mana hadn’t once stopped shaking my hand.
Are these four always such an eclectic bunch? I wondered.
Nyuuk, the only one of them who seemed to have any sense, seemed to catch on to what I was thinking. He gave me an apologetic bow.
I gave him a kind look and said, “You must have it rough.” Sad as it was, I could do no more for him.
❈❈❈
“I’m sorry for making you guard us on the way out,” Nyuuk said, looking up at me with an apologetic look in his eyes.