Chapter 501: Cheating Promotion

Tauro and his party attended a brief ceremony for the conferral of their titles and ranks, and were honoured with insignia to prove their status.

With this, Tauro officially became Honorary Viscount Giro sugar, Aeris became an Honorary Mage of the Kingdom, Ragune and Ankh became Honorary Knights of the Kingdom, and Zion became an Honorary Priest of the Kingdom, and the group was now able to enter the Kingdom’s facilities and areas off-limits to the general public.

On top of that, Tauro also possessed the short sword ‘Tauro’, engraved with the royal crest, allowing him to move through most places without being questioned.

If I wished, I could even bypass lines for anything altogether. Long live titles and honors.

Tauro and his party decided to visit the Adventurer’s Guild Royal Capital Headquarters for the first time in a while.

Since accompanying the Saint’s party, they hadn’t visited in a while. Even honorary nobles had to work to make a living.

That said, Tauro had become wealthy thanks to the products and technologies he had developed, which was hard to imagine given his adventurer’s attire, but it was enough to live without working, yet he never showed any sign of it.

When they stopped by at the Adventurer’s Guild, Tauro’s cloak bore a badge indicating his status as an honorary noble on the collar.

Aeris and the others had similar badges and with a bit of pride they headed to the D-rank bulletin board to look for quests. After choosing a suitable one together, they brought it to the reception desk.

“Ah, you’re the ‘Black-Golden Wings,’ right? Long time no see. This is the quest you want, correct? May I see your silver tag proving your D-rank status for verification—”

The receptionist glanced at Tauro as he removed the tag from his neck to carry out the usual formalities, and noticed the insignia of honorary nobility on the collar of his cloak.

She froze in silent shock, her eyes widening.

“Y-You’re… an Honorary Viscount…!?”

From the badge’s shape and color, she immediately recognized his rank.

“I- I apologize! Please wait a moment!”

Without further discussion, the receptionist apologized to Tauro and hurried to fetch her superior from the back office.

“Already, the power of being an honorary noble…”

Tauro muttered with a wry smile.

After a while, a superior who introduced himself as the quest manager appeared from the back.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Viscount Tauro Giro sugar. Please come this way.”

With that, the boss opened the waist-high gate separating the reception area and let Tauro and the others through to the back.

“What’s going on?” 

Zion asked Ragune, surprised by the special treatment.

“I’m not sure. It’s clear they’re giving us special treatment…”

Ragune couldn’t give Zion a clear answer either, so she looked to Aeris, who seemed the most knowledgeable. Aeris simply shrugged and followed Tauro as he led the way.

Ragune and the others followed suit and went deeper into the cave.

Inside, we found ourselves in a spacious room.

There was a bulletin board also, but unlike the usual ones, it was more luxurious.

Apparently, these quests were different from the ones posted publicly; only those with noble ranks or titles could accept them.

“Lord Giro sugar, upon checking, I have just confirmed that all members of the Black Golden Wings have been promoted, so from today onwards, your adventurer rank will be C rank.”

The superior wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief as he delivered the promotion news.

“Huh? I heard that you had to take a test to be promoted to C rank…?”

Tauro and Aeris exchanged surprised glances.

“Your accumulated points were already sufficient for promotion in the first place, and more importantly, you had recommendations from the royal family and the Prime Minister. Being an Honorary Viscount also allows for promotion without an exam, it seems the higher-ups have decided to promote him without taking the exam. Uh, and what’s more—”

The superior continued, scanning documents that seem to contain information about Tauro and the others.

“—Furthermore… Ah, pardon me! Considering your status as an Honorary Viscount, it has been decided that you will be promoted to C+ instead.”

The boss must have overlooked an important detail in the documents, so he leaned in  close to read the important part, then informed Tauro and the others of their unprecedented and significant promotion.

“”“”“C+!?”””””

The party echoed in unison.

From D+ to C+ all of a sudden, it was completely unexpected.

This was far from the careful and methodical procedures usually associated with the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Yes, I must say, the ‘Black-Golden Wings’ are exceptional in every way… Normally, honorary noble titles are conferred upon those who have contributed greatly to the nation at the b-rank level or higher, with most recipients being individuals within the a-rank tier. Consequently, the quests in this room are generally for B-rank and above. However, since you were all D+-rank, you ordinarily won’t be able to accept the quests in this room. That would be disrespectful to the treatment of honorary nobles as defined by the kingdom and the Adventurer’s Guild. Therefore, this time, after taking into consideration your abilities and recommendations, the Guild has decided to promote you to C+-rank, and after completing the next quest, your rank will advance to B-rank.”

Tauro and his party were too shocked to respond to the superiors’ explanation.

“Us… B- rank?”

Regaining his senses from the shock, Tauro asked the superior again.

“Yes. You may take any quest next. The promotion exam to B-rank will also be waived. Honorary nobility refers to those who have made great contributions to the country, each guild, the Adventurer’s Guild, etc., so this decision is unusual and an exceptional case for the Adventurer’s Guild but fully legitimate.”

Having read through the documents, the superior confirmed this with confidence.

“…okay. Then, please proceed with the procedures for this D+ quest.”

Tauro, still reeling from the explanation, handed over the quest sheet he was holding to begin the process.

Later, they traveled to a village near the royal capital, captured a tiger-wolf, , a pet monster of a nobleman that had escaped, and returned it to its owner. Upon returning to the Adventurer’s Guild, they were once again led back to the inner office and successfully promoted to B-.

In just a few hours, the golden tag indicating C-rank had been replaced by a platinum tag indicating B-rank.