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"Oh? Interesting, eh? Unfazed by the request\'s difficulty or material\'s grade, enjoying the hunt in itself. We have no lack of fools with their crooked understanding of the initial premise, whether it\'s to earn money or fame."

"It\'s as you said, President-dono. Riyad-kun is one of the best who completes his objective, no matter what it is, with zeal."

Shell and Odilon\'s opinions agreed for the first time since the start of this meeting.

"However, the aspect I most valued about him is his character. The words from his mouth were that they happened to meet in front of the dorm yesterday when Riyad-kun was leaving for his collection trip and he asked to join in. Allen-kun\'s eyes were practically glittering with stars when he spoke about how much of an admirable person Riyad-kun is, adding specific stories to it. Being able to identify the virtue of a stranger in just a short duration of one day should only be possible due to his humility and a natural-born keen eye for people."

"Hmm… I can more or less tell what type of character the other party has after having a fistfight and drinking party with them… Well, deciding to accompany someone on the fly and gleefully working with them can be said to be a merit in itself?"

"Satowa-dono\'s evaluation seems just right. Additionally, being able to appraise the virtue of a stranger honestly on the contrary can be interpreted as him having absolute trust in his own evaluation."

Shell\'s stock about Allen rises steadily. Satowa, meaningfully ascertaining that, continued.

"Never once did I see Allen-kun stop modestly toning himself down from beginning to end, he didn\'t let down his guard at all and resembled an iron wall. To be frank, this is impressive considering the other person is just 12 years old... That being said, he would show an age-appropriate look of adoration whenever it\'s about Riyad-kun, eventually prattling on about the details that he might not have wanted to."

Satowa chuckled in amusement recalling the jovial appearance of Allen from the interview.

"However, I can only see his naivety as something of a double-edged sword with respect to the circumstance he will be caught in. Though I must say, his impregnable performance and the atmosphere around him until then were unlike that of a Royal Academy student, so this somewhat absent-minded demeanor of his looks charming to me… My appraisal of him ends with an <Endearing young boy>."

"Hmph. That does make him a bit more likable than those iron-faced brats who only know how to repeat intricate, practiced words."

Satowa\'s expression eased in satisfaction having witnessed Shell\'s score of Allen stopping at \'a bit better than the other elite kids\'. But, the next moment, he stammered with his next words.

"...And well, it\'s about his explorer rank..."

"Hmm? Ah, must have given him C-rank I reckon, yeah? What matters is that from the looks of things, it won\'t be like throwing pearls before swine, no?"

Odilon shared the same opinion. However, this further deepened the creases on Satowa\'s face as if he truly was finding it hard to continue.

"What\'s with that bitter expression?... You shouldn\'t have gone as far as to give him B-rank, did you? O\' blimey, don\'t you think you went too easy on him… Haa, but I guess it\'s not something I need to butt into if you judged him worthy of that.

But I should meet him at least once. It won\'t look good with the other explorers for us to grant a rookie kid, who had just come to register, B-rank under my jurisdiction when I haven\'t met him even once. The label of \'Academy\'s hope\' can\'t fill that gap.

But if I can appraise him by myself once, I\'m sure to beat down anyone\'s complaint if they ever dare do so."

Though, signifying that the meeting wouldn\'t just end with words alone, Shell crackled the bones of his fingers. Odilon, however, showed his objection.

"I\'m against it. I\'m not denying the underlying potential in him but it doesn\'t make sense to raise his rank so suddenly. We\'re setting a precedent where we\'ll soon be facing the idiotic nonsense of dumb parents from influential noble families through this, which will drop the significance of an explorer rank in itself."

Unlike Shell, Odilon\'s objection was very much justified. However, Satowa still retained his awkward silence.

"Heavens, you\'re not saying A—"

Before Shell could finish his words, Satowa finally made up his mind and reported.

"...Well, you see… since he wanted it, I gave him G-rank."

"...Huh?... What kind of joke is this? This isn\'t something that can be blamed on modesty. G-rank basically means he will be no better than a grunt, having to take on the most trivial errand boy-like tasks. If you saw potential in him, why didn\'t you dash his childish hope?"

Needless to say, Shell, too, was dumbfounded.

"...I had indeed suggested registering him as C-rank at the start. However, he kept insisting on the customary D-rank, or even G-rank, saying I don\'t need to bother giving him preferential treatment...

He didn\'t appear as if he was actually interested in the rank, so I decided to throw in a bait to lure him as a test and asked him \'What do you think about the B-rank then?\'. I can\'t deny that — with the elements of having Riyad-kun as an intermediary, his frank self, and a loose tongue that divulged all the information he intended to hide — I had lost myself unknowingly there and went easy on him...

Anyway, the moment I said it, his amicable expression had all vanished at once, he stood up from his seat, and with a frosty tone, he said \'I\'m giving up on the registration\' and headed toward the door..."

"Aha~, this is a rare blunder from your side, Satowa. All the conversation so far points to the one fact that the brat wouldn\'t possibly be jumping at the allure of a decorative rank."

"...He approached with sincerity but was treated with contempt... This might be how he saw it, I suppose."

Shell and Odilon\'s disapproving tone were directed at Satowa.

"The fault entirely lies on me indeed. I somehow brought him back to his seat, along with Riyad-kun\'s intervention, but afterward, he adopted the stance that he wouldn\'t be registering at all unless the said rank was G no matter what I said...

He had wanted to aim for a new height through his own effort, to struggle to make himself a worthy explorer with zeal, and said all that so frankly, and yet, I came out as someone mocking his resolve so I could only relent to his condition."

Shell sighed.

"Haaa. He sure wasn\'t someone who could be handled with conventional methods as expected. That\'s why I had wanted to come out, you know? Whatever, no crying over spilled milk. I guess that brat thought we were trying to provoke him so he ended up being stubborn. I\'ll try to talk with him once the dust settles. It would be a waste of time to assign trivial tasks to someone who seems to have both the motivation and the talent."

\'And I know this the best\', Shell, who himself had come to prominence from G-rank, added.

However, Satowa\'s face continued to harbor a sullen look.

"That, I think that will be hard… It seemed like he was truly delighted to have G-rank...You should have seen the look of ecstasy on his face when I gave up and accepted to register him as a G-rank explorer.

And when I asked him if it was really something to rejoice over, he replied with a broad smile, \'I can now experience being an explorer from the ground up\'. When I saw his smile, I felt terrified. Perhaps, he had aimed to achieve that result from the very beginning. At least, he had the intention to interfere whenever possible. Then, there was his startling, clear change in attitude. I couldn\'t help but shudder that he was deliberately guiding the conversation so cleverly that I didn\'t even get a hint of his plan at all.

That was the impression I had when I saw him smiling so satisfied."

Hearing that, Shell broke into laughter.

"Hehehe. The top scorer of the Royal Academy\'s practical exam actually led you around by the nose just to enjoy being an explorer. Amusing lad!"

Shell clenched his fist and stood up excitedly.

Ah, I have praised him too much! Flustered, Satowa hurriedly moved to calm the situation.

"Oh, right! He also said he was impressed by Riyad-kun\'s attitude to not forget to show gratitude for living beings when Riyad-kun suggested that they eat the entire horned rabbit without wasting anything!"

"Gratitude for living beings? Come now, stop being so ridiculous. How can such a person work as a proper explorer?"

Shell fell back on his seat like a deflated balloon.

"He also said this too! Those who keep fussing about boorish things like cost and budget can do nothing!"

C-Crap, I haven\'t plummeted his value too much, have I?

"O-Oh, speaking of which—"

15 minutes later

"Rats! In the end, I can\'t tell what kind of person that brat is! That\'s why I should check him out myself! I\'ll temporarily raise his hidden evaluation to A with my authority, and pull him up quickly! Then sooner or later, I\'ll have a chance to meet him!"

The repeated exchange that was like a boat traversing the sea had made Shell\'s emotions fluctuate like the waves in this short period.

Having arrived at this juncture, even Satowa, who was reputed as an elite bureaucrat in the middle management hierarchy, couldn\'t control Shell in his current situation.

In this way, Shell\'s interest, which could be said to have stopped just in time, had successfully been drawn toward Allen a bit more than what a normal report could have.

On a side note, the \'hidden evaluation’ referred to the evaluation of personality and perspective by the Explorer\'s Association, as Gardener Oliver had mentioned. Contrary to how it sounded, the evaluation was not actually kept secret.

Because it was ranked mainly based on personal traits, in addition to contributions to the association, it took a long time to raise the public rank. This was one of the biggest reasons for this.

◆◆◆

—Allen Rovenne, through his iron will, convinced Satowa Fjord, the vice president of the Yugria Kingdom\'s Explorer Association, to register him as the G-rank explorer, abandoning the privilege that came with being a student of the Royal Academy.

The following rumors soon found themselves zigzagging through the Royal Capital, spreading like a forest wildfire, along with another rumor that ‘Allen Rovenne have forged a friendship with Riyad Gufusha, the heir to the Mount Penglai Company’, further adding dry grass to spread the fire even further.