“Why do you always call collecting theas ‘weeding’?”
“I mean, they’re pretty much the same thing. You pull out weeds by the roots when you’re gardening.”
“You’re kind of quirky, you know that?”
Crunch, crunch.
“Why do you care so much about my earnings, anyway?” I asked.
“Just making conversation,” said Miguel as he waved his hand dismissively.
The way he’d brought up the subject so abruptly and forced the conversation back to it later made me suspect there was more to it, but I let it go for now.
“I’m doing fine, but what about you, Miguel? I’m guessing you’re pretty well off considering your high rank.”
“Of course. As of yesterday, my team’s Diver Rank is 258.”
Miguel flashed a satisfied grin.
Diver Ranks were assigned by the Divers Guild based on an adventurer’s level and contributions to the guild. It went without saying that ranking 258th out of nearly fifty thousand members made him one of the elites. It was strange to think this carefree youngster, red-faced from drinking so early in the day, was one of the top Divers in the guild.
“Wow, your rank went up again, huh?”
“Yup!”
“You’ve been working really hard lately. What gives?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s just that there’ve been a lot of capable newcomers lately. I gotta stay on my toes, you know?”
“I wouldn’t think you have much to worry about when you’re ranked so high.”
“You might think so because you’re just taking it easy, but every second counts when you’re competing at the top levels. If I let my guard down, someone will surpass me in no time.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Sounds rough,” I said. “So, who’s been on the rise lately?”
“The first ones that come to mind would be Blessings of the Mystic Water. They have two blue mages on the team.”
“Oh, I’ve seen them around, the team with the twins in blue robes.”
“There’s also that solo Long-Ears who’s been rising up the ranks lately.”
“Ah, yeah. Right,” I said.
Miguel was likely talking about Scrael. Long-Ears rarely came down to human cities, so that was unlikely to be anyone else. It felt like just yesterday when I’d freed her from the shackles of slavery and registered her with the Divers Guild so no one could ever enslave her again. Because of that, she could now live here in the Free City of Freida. I ran into her pretty often, and she’d ask for corn soup and salted bread every time I saw her.
“By the way, Kudo, what’s your Diver Rank right now?” asked Miguel.
“Me? Let’s see... I’m 32,083rd.”
“What?! Your rank is so low!”
“Well, yeah. I’m still just a rookie. It hasn’t even been half a year since I came to Freida. That’s actually pretty high if you ask me,” I said.
“No, no, you can even get a higher starting rank at the receptionist’s discretion. You haven’t even gotten any serious injuries yet. Have you been applying to register your level?”
“Too much of a hassle. No thanks.”
“You really have no interest in that stuff, huh,” said Miguel with exasperation.
“There’s so much fun stuff to do here, so why should I be in a hurry to rank up?” I said. “I can enjoy some good dungeon food, go leveling, and impose item restrictions on myself to make things more challenging. It’s not like there are rank-based limits on how far we can go diving or anything.”
“I mean, you get a lot of benefits from increasing your ranks. Don’t you know that?”
“Yeah, I do. But you also have to take on tedious and dangerous missions in exchange. It’s like a quota that high-rankers have to meet. I’ll pass. I’m here to enjoy myself, not risk my life,” I said as I threw out both hands on the table and slumped down lazily.
“Why are you so quick to point out the negative side in everything?” sighed Miguel.
He washed down the chips in his mouth with a swig of the pale-colored beer, and his expression turned serious for a change.
“Hey, Kudo...why don’t you join our team?”
“Well, that came out of nowhere.”
“Not really, I’ve asked you to join a few times already.”
“Yeah, but...” I trailed off.
He was right. Miguel had invited me a few times since we’d become friends. I didn’t understand why he wanted a max-level coward like me to join him, but the look on his face was solemn like never before.
“You may dress weird, but you’re a mage, aren’t you?” he asked.
“What did you diss my outfit for? And I don’t know what makes you think so.”
“Don’t play dumb. I already know you’re a mage,” whispered Miguel.
I’d been pretty secretive about it and had barely told anyone, so I wasn’t sure where he’d gotten that info from. The potential suspects who came to mind were a certain veteran Diver friend, my sensei, and Instructor Seeker, but none of them seemed too likely.
“Out of curiosity, who told you that?” I asked.
“Ashley did. I’ve always wondered how you always go into the dungeon without any good weapons and come back safely with a bunch of loot. I knew something was up, so I begged her to tell me.”
“Isn’t that against the guild’s rules?”
“Not if no one knows about it,” he said.
“Hey everyone, we have a rule-breaking delinquent here!” I started, readying to raise my voice even more.
“You sure you wanna do that? I don’t mind, but you’ll get Ashley in trouble too.”
“That’s pretty scummy, Miguel,” I said flatly, but he just whistled and looked away. This guy. “So this is why you kept bringing up the money stuff,” I continued.
“That’s right.”
Miguel had masterfully roped me into this topic. Though it wasn’t that I was easy to manipulate or anything.
“Listen, Kudo. Our team is severely lacking in the mage department.”
“Well, that’s true with pretty much every team,” I retorted.