The next day, at the Adventurers Guild Headquarters.
It was already the afternoon, and the number of adventurers was much smaller than at its peak.
At the counter, a short girl with rosy hair let out a wail.
"Eina! Help me!"
At the window next door sat a well-figured female Elf.
Hearing her good friend's plea, Eina pushed up her glasses and turned to look at her.
"What's wrong?"
"Too much paperwork, I can't handle it all."
Misha made a pitiful expression.
"Help me, Eina."
"Don't even think about relying on me, I haven't even finished my own paperwork yet."
Eina raised both hands and made an X sign.
Although it wasn't obvious on a daily basis, the Guild actually controlled the entire operation of Orario.
As a member of the Guild, Eina had many tasks to perform.
Registering new adventurers and guiding them to make the right choices was just one part of it.
When Orario held large-scale events, Eina also had to participate.
For example, the War Game between the Soma Familia and the Hestia Familia yesterday, she was responsible for preparing the flags in the ancient city ruins.
Furthermore, after the War Game began, she patrolled several popular viewing spots in Orario, assisting the Ganesha Familia in maintaining order.
After a full day's work, the amount of pending paperwork in Eina's hands increased significantly.
Now, forget helping others; whether she could finish her own work before closing time was a question.
"Huh? Eina, look quickly! Cain is here!"
Just then, Misha, who had just been asking for help, suddenly pointed not far away.
"Cain?"
Eina was stunned for a moment and looked towards the hall.
The next second, a black-haired youth wearing casual clothes appeared in her line of sight.
"Good afternoon, Eina."
Cain waved in greeting.
"Good afternoon, Cain."
Eina stepped out from behind the counter to respond.
She and Cain were not strangers.
More than half a month ago, when Cain received his blessing and came to the Guild to register his information, Eina was the one who handled his registration procedures.
"Are you here for level assessment?"
"Yes, your higher-ups are quite anxious. I received a letter the day I returned."
Cain pulled out a letter from his embrace and waved it.
It was not uncommon in Orario for adventurers to conceal their actual levels.
Because the situation was too complicated, many times the Adventurers Guild would turn a blind eye and selectively ignore it even if they knew.
But this time was different; Cain had displayed strength inconsistent with his level in front of everyone.
The gods were curious about Cain's true strength and jointly pressured the Guild to request a level assessment.
Faced with the gods' demands, the Guild naturally dared not slack off.
The day after Cain returned, the Guild's higher-ups sent a letter asking him to visit the guild.
"By the way, is your Guild Master here?"
"The Guild Master? I think so."
Eina was somewhat uncertain.
She was just a low-level employee and wasn't qualified to know the Guild Master's location.
"Cain, why are you looking for the Guild Master?"
"There are some matters regarding the disposition of Soma that I need to discuss with him."
"I understand."
Eina nodded and led Cain to a reception room to sit down.
"Wait here for a moment, I'll go contact the Guild higher-ups right now."
Eina left the room and ran towards the depths of the Guild.
A moment later, a plump middle-aged Elf walked in with Eina.
"A pleasure to meet you, Cain."
The middle-aged Elf sat down opposite Cain: "I am the Guild Master, Royman mardeel, you can call me Royman or Guild Master Royman. Eina said you needed to see me?"
"There is something, but before that, let's conduct the level assessment first."
Cain took off his upper garment and turned to reveal the blessing on his back.
blessings could be locked.
Before coming to the Guild, Hestia personally stepped in and placed a lock on Cain's blessing.
Currently, due to the lock, Cain's status values, skills, and magic were all shielded.
The only information displayed externally was his name and level.
By deciphering the Sacred Script, both Eina and Royman quickly completed the decryption.
"Cain — LV.1"
"Huh?"
Looking at the unexpected result, a look of confusion appeared on Eina's face.
This... this isn't right, is it?
Why is Cain really LV1?
"This is truly astonishing."
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Royman's forehead.
Because Cain's performance in the War Game was too dazzling, he, like the other gods, believed the young man had concealed his true level.
But at this moment, the cold reality was laid bare before him.
No matter how much Royman refused to believe it, he had to admit one thing.
Cain had not hidden his level; he truly was LV1.
An LV1 who could instantly kill an LV2 while surrounded by the Soma Familia.
"Should this count as completing the level assessment?" Cain's voice inquired.
"Yes, yes, that's enough."
Royman dared not delay, hurriedly nodding in response, "Thank you for your cooperation, Cain."
"It's nothing. After all, I don't want a group of gods constantly pestering me about my real strength."
Redressing, Cain plopped onto the sofa and looked across at the other man.
"Since the level assessment is over, let's discuss serious business now."
"Regarding Soma, our Hestia Familia wishes to take him in as a subordinate god."
"Subordinate god?"
Royman's expression turned solemn.
Although Cain's unorthodox strength inspired a degree of awe in him,
but one thing was one thing; accepting a subordinate god was not something to agree to lightly.
"Cain, you should know what recruiting a subordinate god in Orario implies, right?"
"I know. That's why the Hestia Familia will transition into a commercial Familia, restricting our growth in combat power and shifting the Familia's focus to making money."
Cain pulled out a pre-prepared proposal from his embrace: "Using the recipes I developed, along with the divine wine produced by Soma, as core selling points, I am confident I can transform the Hestia Restaurant into a new landmark of Orario."
"Hestia Restaurant..."
Royman fell into a brief silence.
As the Guild Master, he had some understanding of how potent the Soma Familia's divine wine was.
If the Hestia Familia intended to use the divine wine as a selling point, they could indeed develop as a commercial Familia.
However... what did this have to do with him, Royman?
Even if the Hestia Familia developed, it wouldn't bring him any benefit.
Rather than risking the trouble that might arise from agreeing to let the Hestia Familia recruit Soma as a subordinate god, it would be better to refuse directly.
"Royman, my status values are maxed out. I will break through to LV2 soon."
Seemingly having read Royman's thoughts, Cain's voice sounded again.
"Do you know how much time has passed since I first entered the Dungeon?"
"How much time?"
"Ten days."
"Huh?" Royman was stunned for a moment.
The next second, he seemed to react to what Cain had said, leaping to his feet.
"Are you saying you only took ten days to gain the strength you have now?!"
"That's right. I possess the Growth Acceleration skill, allowing me to max out my status values in an extremely short amount of time."
Cain revealed a small part of his hand: "With this skill paired with my strength, you should understand how fast my leveling speed will be."
"..."
He understood that very well.
With the Growth Acceleration skill, Cain could quickly accumulate enough status values.
Coupled with his unreasonable combat proficiency, accumulating high-level experience would not be an issue either.
If the efficiency remained high, Cain might very well break through to LV5 within a year.
If nothing unexpected happened, he might even surpass Ottar in the future and become the new strongest.
Thinking of this, Royman's expression became more serious than ever before.
"Cain, can you guarantee that your Growth Acceleration skill will remain effective indefinitely?"
"Of course."
"Then let's make a deal."
Royman said, "I can agree to the Hestia Familia recruiting a subordinate god."
"In exchange, I need your help with the Black Dragon subjugation and the Dungeon conquest."
"One request for two conditions, you're quite the shrewd bargainer," Cain rolled his eyes, "If you want my help, you should at least show some sincerity."
"...Then name one more condition. As long as it's not too excessive, I can agree."
"Give me two plots of land with high foot traffic, and help me renovate the restaurant."
"Agreed."
Royman breathed a sigh of relief.
Although this condition would cost some money, he lacked nothing more than money.
Any problem that could be solved with money wasn't a real problem.
"Hmm?"
The topic concluded, Royman finally remembered there was a third person present.
He looked towards Eina, who was standing to the side, head bowed towards the floor, trying to minimize her presence.
Royman paused for a moment, then pulled out a black card and tossed it over.
"Eina, you've been promoted."
...
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