A Bottom-Tier Adventurer Devoted to Supporting Their Idol Activities: Every Time, They Offer Rare Materials and Stir Up the Elites - Episode 10: Tomage’s Triumphant Return and the Gift

Episode 10: Tomage’s Triumphant Return and the Gift

Evening. It was the busiest time at the Adventurers’ Guild. The door swung open. It let in the cold air from outside.

All the adventurers inside turned their eyes toward the entrance. Standing there was a red-haired man, flanked by two companions.

The previous chatter faded as if it had been a lie. And the footsteps of the three echoed through the guild.

In the red-haired man’s hand was a strange stone. Its outer layer was black. And from a chipped part of the shell, a red-glowing stone could be seen.

Any adventurer would instantly know what it was: a Slime core. But the one he held was far too large.

“Wasn’t Tomage the one who went after the Water Elemental Slime…?”

“Even so, he’s back way too fast…”

The adventurers whispered. About the young B-rank adventurer who had gone off to subjugate the rare monster, the Water Elemental Slime.

Tomage looked satisfied. He ignored the murmurs and stepped up to the quest counter. The male staff member with glasses looked up at him and swallowed nervously.

*Clunk.* The Slime core was placed on the counter. Next, a folded quest form was placed beside it.

“No way… you already completed the subjugation…!?”

Tomage gave a calm nod. He then turned his gaze toward the appraisal counter.

“You’ll know if you use [Appraisal].”

“Corina, could you appraise this, please?”

The male staff called over Corina. She paused her clerical work and came over to the counter.

“That’s quite a large Slime core…”

Seeing Corina’s wide eyes of surprise, Tomage smirked.

“Go on.”

“Yes. [Appraisal], beginning.”

As Corina touched the Slime core, the noise inside the guild vanished. Everyone held their breath. They were waiting for the appraisal result.

“This is… the core of a Water Elemental Slime…!”

“Waaa!” Cheers echoed throughout the guild. Like a festival starting, adventurers crowded around Tomage. They were all offering their congratulations.

“Haha, you guys are making too big a deal out of this. It was just a big Slime, that’s all.”

“Don’t lie! You rascal!”

A veteran adventurer playfully bumped Tomage’s shoulder.

“Well, to be honest, it did give me a hard time.”

“Still, beating it this quickly? That’s seriously impressive, man.”

Tomage rubbed his nose shyly at the praise. He then turned back to the counter to process the completed quest.

“Um… according to past records, Elemental Slimes drop Spirit Stones. Did it drop one this time? If so, we’d be happy to purchase it.”

Corina offered gently. Tomage’s face turned serious for a moment.

“…It didn’t drop one this time. I might’ve destroyed it with my skill.”

“I see. That’s unfortunate. Can we buy the magic stone, then?”

“Yeah, please do.”

“It may take a little time to process—”

“I’ll come pick it up tomorrow. I’m going out for drinks tonight. You coming, Corina?”

Corina lowered her eyes.

“I’ve got a lot of work piled up…”

“So cold. I’m paying, you know. Just come along.”

As Tomage said this, the adventurers behind him burst into cheers. “It’s on Tomage tonight!”

The male staff handed over the reward for the completed quest. And Tomage raised his voice.

“Alright! Let’s go drink!”

That night, the tavern near the Adventurers’ Guild was filled with the voices of Tomage and his companions. They celebrated into the late hours.

#

At the headquarters of the White Orchid Magic Corps in the capital of the Linde Kingdom. 

There was a large mailbox beside the front gate specifically for gifts. Many fans, devoted to their idols, would bring gifts personally and drop them into this box.

You could also ask a delivery service. But theft was still a concern. Expensive items were best delivered personally or entrusted to someone reliable—this was still the common belief.

Mid-afternoon.

A man wearing a deep hood visited the headquarters of the White Orchid Magic Corps. He gave a slight nod to the gatekeeper. He then stood in front of the gift mailbox. Swinging his backpack around to the front, he pulled out a package.

On the package was written: “To Ellel-chan. From passing-by adventurer.” But that wasn’t the important part.

The problem was that the package was glowing blue.

The hooded man was glancing toward the gatekeeper. He then quickly dropped the gift into the mailbox, turned on his heel, and walked away from the headquarters without incident.

#

Time passed. And evening came. As the sun set and the air grew chillier, two staff members came out from the office of the White Orchid Magic Corps headquarters. They carried a large bag in their hands.

They stood in front of the gift mailbox and began unlocking it with a *click-clack*. Then, they started gathering the day’s worth of gifts into the bag—but…

“Hey, what’s this…?”

“It’s glowing like crazy.”

The veteran staff member held a glowing blue package. The younger staff member looked at it curiously and reached out to poke it.

“Hey, stop that! What if it’s dangerous!?”

“Eh, I’m sure it’s fine!”

“You don’t know that.”

“Then what? Are you gonna throw away a gift from a viewer?”

As they argued, someone walked by. A strikingly beautiful woman with golden hair flowing behind her. She stopped when she noticed the two, and spoke up.

“What’s all the fuss?”

“Oh! Captain Paola! Please take a look at this package. It’s glowing.”

The veteran staff member held out the glowing blue package in her hand for Paola to see.

“Let me see that.”

Paola took the package and casually opened it. Inside was a small vial with a glowing blue stone on its lid. The liquid inside glowed the same blue.

“There’s also a message card,” 

The young staffer said.

Paola picked up the card and skimmed through it.

“Captain Paola, is this dangerous?”

“At the very least, it doesn’t seem like something that would explode. But we won’t know for sure until it’s [Appraised].”

The veteran staffer’s expression relaxed.

“Then I’ll send it along for the usual gift-unboxing stream.”

“Yes, please do.”

Paola handed the mysterious package from the passing-by adventurer back to the veteran staffer and re-entered the headquarters. Her expression was somewhat stern. It was as if something was weighing on her mind.