Awakening to a Special-Grade Explorer

President Limey ordered another glass of wine and enjoyed it as she tipped her glass.

Tenji and Chigo are munching down on their after-dinner dessert of fluffy pancakes with ice cream on top.

Then President Limey slowly opened her mouth.

"I hear that you've already conquered level 24."

"Yes, we at......, or rather Tenji-Kun, aim to reach the 75th level."

"Oh?.......... You're not going for it, Chigo?"

"I don't aim for it. Because I came here to train Tenji exclusively. So, I never intend to fight. Tenji will do everything alone. I'm just going to watch from behind and pass on some tips."

Tenji will do everything by himself. I'm just going to watch from the back."

"Hmmm...... is this kid that important to you?"

"I guess it's more like....... I just want to see what happens to Tenji-Kun. I haven't thought about it too much, so it's hard to say."

Suddenly, President Limey's sharp eyes fell upon Tenji.

As one would expect from an active Zero-grade explorer, Tenji's whole body shrank in size when he was stared at.

[Oh, I need to run to the bathroom.............]

Tenji believes that President Limey knows everything about him.

In reality, Limey only recognizes Tenji as "a student of Chigo, a child whom Leon has his eye on."

This is because there was a point where Chigo dared to misrepresent information about his calling.

--- It's a bit of a strange calling, isn't it, Tenji-Kun? He comes out as a swordsman, but he's not a

swordsman. Well, that's what makes it interesting.

These are the words that Chigo told Limey.

Limey, who allowed Tenji to study abroad with such simple words, is also a very foolish parent. Limey is abnormally sweet, but only to Chigo.

That's why Limey doesn't know that Tenji has this unique and unparalleled calling, a top-grade calling..... Or so it should be. Still, Limey is slightly aware that Tenji is a strange creature.

When she first saw Tenji Amagi in this restaurant, she felt something like a chill from the bottom of her heart.

As if trying to figure out what the creature was, Limey turned her sinister dark eyes to Tenji.

"Hey, Tenji-Kun, have you ever heard of the term "Nine Kings"?"

Suddenly, President Limey turned to Tenji.

[Nine Kings? I've never heard of nine kings, although there is a term for Ten Kings in...... hell. But why would she ask such a question?]

"No, I don't. What is the "Nine Kings"?"

"Oh, you don't know. That's a little disappointing. Hmmm, what should we do... Are you that curious?"

"Oh, well."

"It's fine. But, can you keep what I'm about to tell you to yourself for now?"

When Limey said that, Tenji probably thought something amazing would be discussed.

Chigo is already eating her pancakes without worrying about it, as if she already knows what the gossip is about...

Tenji gulped.

"Even so, it's something that people who know already know. It seems like something will happen when the nine kings would appear in this world. Well, I don't really understand it well either."

"Something.?.. that's pretty vague."

"I don't think so. But the signs are already starting to show."

"Signs...... could it be, Fuyuki? The King of the Phantom beasts, Fuyuki.."

"Yes, he is also Japanese. I don't have any solid evidence, but the name "King of Phantom beasts" seems like it would fit one of the nine kings, doesn't it? I hope to see that day with my own eyes... but when that time comes, I'll probably be dead."

A little, President Limey was saddened by the shadows on her face.

Tenji didn't know what to say and kept quiet. Saying "You'll live" would be wrong, and he couldn't casually say "It's okay" either.

Death is the end of a person. Even if you are a zero-grade explorer, you can't win against the monster called life death. Every living being has to die someday.

--- When the Nine Kings appear, something will happen.

Tenji was strangely struck by these words.

The first page of Tenji's 'Book of Enma,' which contains the masterful sentence, "Be a king," is a perfect example of the kingly calling of a close friend.

The phrase "Become a king" written on the first page of Tenji's 'Book of Enma,' as well as his close friend's calling as the "King of Phantom Beasts," seem like they would fit the role of a king.

Tenji had never told anyone, not even Chigo, about this. He had decided to keep this to himself.

[Is there a possibility of me being one of the Nine Kings?... No, that's impossible. But maybe?....... I'll look into it later.]

He wanted to think it had nothing to do with him. But deep down, he knew it definitely had something to do with him.

The term "Nine Kings" was new to him, but it somehow excited him.

"Oh, dear? I'd better get back to the office, or Ilonika will get mad at me."

President Limey looked at her watch and calmly muttered.

She immediately calls a nearby waiter and tells him to bring the bill. Less than ten seconds later, the waiter returns with a beautiful gesture and hands the heavy bill to President Limey.

"Oh, our portion is for us to......."

When President Limey tried to pay for Tenji and Chigo, Chigo hurriedly called out to her and took out a credit card device for payment.

However, President Limey gently returns the card device.

"It's okay; Grandma's meddling, okay? It's the old person's job to pay for the children. Spend that money on something different."

She said that in a casual and cool way.

After paying the bill, President Limey stood up with graceful gestures.

"Well, if you'll excuse me first. Good luck in the dungeon, you two. I'll be waiting for you on the 75th level."

"Yes, thank you for dinner."

"Yeah, wait for me! Let's eat together again."

Finally, President Limey giggled and left the restaurant.

Later, when they had finished their pancakes, Chigo and Tenji would slowly begin their journey home.

On the way back from the restaurant.

It is already dark outside, and the medieval streets are beautifully lit by modern scientific streetlights that do not match the cityscape. While the main street is still busy with cars and people at night, the residential areas on the outskirts of town are almost empty at this hour.

As Tenji staggered along the street at night, he asked Chigo about something that had been bothering him.

"Did Chigo know the story of the Nine Kings?"

"I know. I mean, I know, and the person who knows the most about the story of the Nine Kings. He is Leon, of all people in the world."

"What? Really?"

Tenji was surprised that Leon Hyakuse's name, who is not here, was mentioned.

After that, Chigo answered as if it was nothing.

"What was it...... like a decade ago? Did you know that Leon conquered the main dungeon in Russia?"

"Yeah, I remember it was a Norilsk, a third-grade dungeon, right? It was in the textbook that a Japanese zero-grade explorer became the second person in the world to conquer a Main Dungeon."

Originally there were 50 main dungeons in the world.

Now, three main dungeons have been conquered, reducing the number to 47. One of these main dungeons was conquered by Leon.

And that also, completely alone.

"That's right, the words "Nine Kings" were engraved in the boss room of the final level. At first, he apparently brought the evidence to the association, but for some reason it was supposedly covered up. After that, Leon began his own research on the Nine Kings. He started ignoring the association."

Chigo told Tenji about Leon, the explorer, and the information he had never heard before. Technically, it was never out so Tenji could have never heard about it.

To begin with, even Leon was a top-secret existence that only few people knew his name or what he looked like.

This was a little unusual, even President Limey had at least one or two photos of her circulating, but Leon was the only person in the world that even the mass media didn't know anything about.

The other two zero-grade explorers are conspicuous and are in the media frequently.

This was the first time Tenji learned that Leon, such an unknown personality, had been conducting intense research on the "Nine Kings".

"I thought that since he is a zero-grade explorer, he should be more eager to conquer dungeons."

"Ahaha, Leon is not interested in conquering dungeons at all. He's just a middle-aged man who thinks about only the Nine Kings, games, girls, or sleeping."

Chigo casually calls out Leon as an uncle.

Chigo is the only person in the world who can do this. Any other explorer would be too nervous about stepping forward and even talking to him.

"I'll want to talk to him sometime. Can we?"

"What? Tenji-Kun, are you curious about the Nine Kings too?"

"Yeah, a little bit."

"......, but I can't reach Leon right now."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I heard he's always busy. That's unusual. I wonder if he's locked himself in some dungeon."

Apparently, Tenji can't learn anything about the "Nine Kings" from Leon right now.

Feeling a little disappointed about this, Tenji thinks of asking Fuyuki about it.

"I'm home now. I want to sleep now!"

As they were talking about this, they reached the front of the house.

Chigo quickly unlocked the door with her card device and entered the house with her feet in the dirt. As it was, she fell on the sofa in the living room, slumped on her back.

"Tenji, you can go ahead and take a bath."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to linger here for a bit."

"Okay, I'll take a bath first."

Thus ends Tenji's day in Mallorca.

In the morning, he cooks breakfast for Chigo and then takes two lectures at Mallorca Escuela.

Then the one-on-one dungeon attack with Chigo begins.

He had been living like this for almost a week.

Thanks to that, Tenji was about to level up to level 2 soon.