Chapter 45: If You Intend to Continue as an Adventurer, Wouldn’t It Be Better to Just Resign Yourself and Use Leonization Once?

"So, what’s your business today?"

Lumia asked Kazui.

"I was thinking of receiving the reward from yesterday’s defense battle."

Kazui added to his reply.

"One set of my martial arts uniform was ruined, so I have to buy a new one."

When he was attacked by Vice, Kazui’s martial arts uniform had been destroyed.

He owned two sets of the same-colored martial arts uniform and rotated between them.

Having lost one of those sets, Kazui now had to buy a replacement.

Due to the nature of the profession, it was common sense among adventurers to own multiple combat uniforms that got dirty easily and rotate them.

"My magic cards were also ruined along with the case by the succubus, so I have to buy those again too."

"Martial arts uniform plus magic cards... that’s quite an expense."

At Lumia’s words, Kazui nodded.

"Well then, first... let me check your Orb."

Told by Lumia, Kazui held out the back of his left hand onto the counter.

When receiving rewards or accepting jobs at the Guild counter, the Orb was used to confirm that the person was the adventurer themselves.

"Excuse me."

Lumia touched a paper slip about the size of a banknote that she had somehow taken into her hand against Kazui’s Orb.

Then various textual information floated up onto the paper slip.

This paper slip was a magic tool called Authenticas that had special magic placed on it.

When Authenticas was touched to an Orb for a few seconds, the basic information about the adventurer recorded in the Orb floated up as textual information.

When an Orb was embedded in order to become an adventurer, basic information such as the adventurer’s own name was recorded in the Orb.

In addition to such basic information, the adventurer’s level, experience points, skill list, and the like were also transferred to Authenticas.

By using the Orb and Authenticas, reliable identity verification of an adventurer could be performed.

In addition, the Guild could gather various information about adventurers and request jobs suited to them or give advice.

Strict confidentiality obligations were imposed on the Guild and its staff, so information that an adventurer requested not to be disclosed was never disclosed.

The Guild had grasped through Authenticas that Yuri possessed Leonization, but even Kazui had not known about it because the Guild side had kept it confidential.

In the first place, the one who had advised Yuri to hide Leonization from his skill list was Lumia.

"Huh? Kazu-kun... your level has gone up, and your skills have increased."

Looking at Kazui’s Authenticas, Lumia let out a voice of surprise.

Lumia called Kazui and Yuri by their nicknames with the honorific "-kun."

"You figured out the activation condition for Replication?"

At Lumia’s question, Kazui nodded.

"That’s great! Now you can increase your skills and raise your level."

Immediately after saying that, Lumia noticed that Leonization was among the skill list.

"Don’t tell me this... you copied it from Yuri-kun?"

The ultra-rare skill Leonization could not normally be acquired.

The reason Kazui possessed Leonization, which should have been impossible to acquire, was because he had copied it from Yuri — that was what Lumia thought.

At Lumia’s question, Kazui nodded.

"Why, of all things, did you end up copying Leonization?"

"It’s not like I copied it because I wanted to; I just ended up copying it by accident."

"Having this makes it harder to raise your level, so it’s a problem. And just when you’d finally figured out the activation condition for Replication..."

With a troubled expression, Kazui nodded at Lumia’s words.

"This is something I also told Yuri-kun, but..."

After that preface, Lumia gave advice to Kazui.

"If you intend to continue as an adventurer, wouldn’t it be better to just resign yourself and use Leonization once?"

She added the reason. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"Having difficulty raising your level is a fatal drawback as an adventurer, and you’ll end up having to use it when you’re driven into a crisis anyway. I think it’s more advantageous to use it early and become able to raise your level normally."

"That’s probably true, but honestly... I’d rather not use it if possible."

Kazui understood that Lumia’s advice was correct.

Even so, when he thought about the method for returning to being a man, he did not want to use Leonization.

"Yuri-kun said something similar, but in the end he ended up using it."

Because Lumia’s words were the truth, Yuri made an awkward face.

"Well, for now... since you’ve figured out the activation condition for Replication, you should first concentrate on increasing your skills through Replication."

At Lumia’s advice, Kazui nodded.

"Then, if having difficulty raising your level becomes a problem, you can think about whether to use it at that time."

Lumia added to her advice.

"If Kazu-kun’s thinking changes and you have trouble finding a male partner, the Guild can introduce a trustworthy man, so consult us."

With a meaningful look, Lumia glanced at Yuri.

"Well, in Kazu-kun’s case, there might be no need for the Guild to introduce a partner..."

What Lumia wanted to say was understood by both Kazui and Yuri, so the two of them made awkward faces.

As if to cover up the awkwardness, Kazui opened his mouth.

"Even if I concentrate on increasing skills for now, increasing the skills themselves seems like it will be difficult. The activation condition for Replication is pretty troublesome."

"I see. The activation condition... is it okay to ask?"

Authenticas displayed the skill list, but it did not display detailed information on individual skills.

The activation condition for Replication, which was not even displayed on Kazui’s own status check, could not be known through Authenticas either.

"If you’ll keep it secret..."

"Of course, I’ll uphold confidentiality. It’s a rule."

Because Lumia answered immediately, Kazui leaned forward and brought his face close to hers.

Although conversation in the booth was hard to leak outside, just in case, Kazui decided to bring his face close to Lumia and speak in a low voice.