After finishing the morning tasks and lunch, in the early afternoon, Tris once again returned to the guild.
As soon as he entered, a female receptionist quickly approached and led him to Vice Guildmaster Erik, as previously arranged.
Heading toward a room near the end of the second floor, the receptionist carefully knocked and said:
"Sir Erik, Tris has arrived."
"Come in." The reply came instantly from inside.
The receptionist opened the door for him. Inside was a bright and tidy office, though filled with stacks of books and papers.
Seated behind the desk was Erik, maintaining his usual polite appearance.
Once the receptionist closed the door and left, Erik spoke:
"So you are Tris, please have a seat."
He moved to the guest table and poured tea.
Erik: "I'm very glad to have the chance to meet you directly today."
Tris: "Likewise, it's an honor to meet you."
Erik: "First of all, thank you for helping us yesterday. Without you, none of us would have returned." He bowed his head sincerely.
Tris: "I already told Coris the same thing. Joining in was simply my personal choice. After all, no one hoped those cultists would win."
Erik: "Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that you, an adventurer of the guild, participated and contributed greatly. As one of the guild leaders of Dorn, I have the responsibility to reward such contributions. That's also how we keep things fair."
Tris: "Understood."
Tris nodded in agreement. For a leader, showing fairness was essential to maintain stability and avoid unnecessary resentment.
Erik: "As for your reward, I've prepared three things. First, 200 gold coins in cash—the same amount given to each adventurer who joined the mission yesterday.
Second, the guild will grant you a special promotion from rank E to rank C.
Finally, a magical item. This is a personal gift from me to express gratitude, and I hope you'll accept it."
Hearing this, Tris thought:
'The first is standard payment, nothing unusual. The third, though called a gift, is more like an investment to build ties—also common. The real issue is the second…'
Tris: "As far as I know, an adventurer must complete a certain number of quests and pass an evaluation test to rank up. Jumping two ranks at once—won't that be a problem?"
Erik: "Completing quests is simply a way to accumulate contributions. Your contribution yesterday was enormous, so it's not an issue. The test only measures strength, and from what you showed, rank C is still far below your level."
Tris: "Adventurer data is shared across guilds, right? Won't such a special promotion cause dissatisfaction elsewhere? I don't want unnecessary attention or trouble."
Erik: "Every year, we reserve slots for special promotions, though rarely used. So your case isn't unique.
Moreover, this process requires agreement from both the guildmaster and vice guildmaster of the region, who will take responsibility. If other guilds disagree, they must first work with us. Do you have any other concerns?"
Tris: "One more thing. Normally, an adventurer's quest history shows their contributions for promotion. In my case, what details will be recorded?"
Erik: "Ah, so that's what you're truly worried about. You don't want your achievement to be recorded, correct?"
He understood Tris's intent.
Tris: "As I said before, I dislike drawing attention and inviting unnecessary trouble. Having participated in eliminating those cultists and even achieving a feat great enough to be promoted two ranks at once is completely contrary to my original wish to remain unnoticed.
And once you get deeply involved with matters like cultists or heretical gods, far too many complications can follow."
After thinking, Erik replied:
"In that case, how about this: I'll record that you made an important contribution to protecting Dorn, while the detailed information will be kept confidential under the church's request."
Tris: "You can casually use the church as a shield like that? I'm sure they'd have opinions."
Erik: "True, so I'll contact the three Priests who joined the mission to ask their permission. For such a minor matter, I believe they'll gladly help."
Tris: "If you're willing to go that far, I have no further objections. Thank you."
Erik: "Not at all, this is a small matter compared to your achievement."
Then Erik took out an item from his spatial ring and placed it on the table.
Erik: "This is the gift I mentioned."
It was a finely crafted seal.
Tris: "What is this?"
Erik: "This is Magic Hand, a magical item usable only by Mages. It grants the user something like a third arm, able to control a not-too-heavy object."
He demonstrated with his familiar book, which floated beside him and flipped pages automatically.
Erik: "Like this."
Tris: "What are its limitations?"
Erik: "The control range is only equal to the length of your own arm. In addition, it can only control a single specific item.
For example, since I chose this book, I cannot control a second item at the same time with this artifact."
Tris: "Even if someone owns two Magic Hands?"
Erik: "Correct. Moreover, this Magic Hand has only two uses left before becoming completely useless.
You pick it up, channel your spiritual energy into it, and imprint it onto the item you want to control. A connection will then be formed between you and that item, just like between me and this book. That counts as one use.
If you later imprint it onto a second item, the connection with the first will end and transfer to the second instead. That also counts as another use."
Tris: "So the optimal way is to use it once, then pass it to someone else for the final use, right?"
Erik: "You catch on quickly. Yes, I already used it once on this book, and now I'm passing it on to you."
Tris: "For example, if you imprinted the seal on the book's cover and that spot was damaged, would the connection be broken?"
Erik: "The connection isn't so easily severed. From my calculations, the item itself would need to be damaged by more than fifty percent before it's affected."
Tris: "A very practical magical item indeed."
Erik: "Yes, it frees our hands for many other tasks. I believe it will be useful to you."
'Seems he knows quite a bit about puppet-control techniques, which is why he chose this gift.' Tris thought, then replied:
"Indeed, I'm very satisfied with this gift."