From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone - Volume 1 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: An Old Country Bumpkin Faces a Dungeon

“Ah, Master Beryl. Hello.”

“Hey, Ficelle.”

One day, I was making my way to the order’s training hall, ready to dedicate myself to practice as usual. As I approached the order’s office, I happened across a member of the magic corps.

“I see you’re carrying some crazy luggage,” I remarked.

“Aah, this? It’s a delivery for the order,” Ficelle explained.

“A delivery?”

Ficelle was wearing the same robe as usual, but she carried fairly large bags in her hands and slung across her back. I could tell they were all quite heavy.

“Potions,” Ficelle elaborated. “The magic corps sells them to the order wholesale.”

“Hmm, potions, huh?”

Ficelle took a breath, releasing the luggage in her hands. Listening carefully, I heard the sound of glass clinking together, making it apparent that there were bottles inside. Potions were a form of medicine that were widely used to heal wounds. Drinking one temporarily boosted your natural healing, and they could also be directly applied to grievous injuries.

“Since they’re being delivered by the magic corps, I guess...they’re magic potions?” I asked.

“Yup. But some are regular ones made from plants.”

There were several types of potions. To generalize, some were decocted from medicinal plants, others were plant-based and then further treated with magic, and finally, a select few were refined entirely through magic. The more magic was involved, the more drastic the effect, and the steeper the price.

In Beaden, you could only find potions made from plants. Magically refined potions were just that valuable. I’d heard that these types of potions existed, but I’d never seen one for myself. Even a village herbalist was capable of making potions from medicinal plants, but those that involved magic were a different matter—they obviously couldn’t be made without the ability to use magic, so the supply was limited. Naturally, scarcity raised prices.

Because of my job as a sword instructor, I owed a lot to potions. Scratches and grazes were pretty much an everyday occurrence, and when it came to healing injuries, not having a potion versus having one was like night and day.

“Oh yeah,” I said, suddenly remembering something. “I met a person called Lucy the other day.”

Speaking of the magic corps, there was that Lucy girl who’d suddenly picked a fight with me. In the end, I never figured out if she really was the commander. She was definitely a wizard, though. Either way, Ficelle probably knew something about her.

“Commander Lucy?” she asked.

“Aah, so she really is your commander.”

“Mm-hmm.”

It turned out Lucy wasn’t lying about being the magic corps’s commander. In that case, the next thing that bothered me was her appearance and behavior. She seriously looked like a ten-year-old girl, but judging by the atmosphere she draped herself in and the magic she used, it was hard to believe that she was as young as she appeared. If she was older than me, as she claimed, that would put her in her forties...at least. No matter how I viewed it, the inside didn’t match the outside with that one.

“She said she’s older than me,” I added. “I wonder if that’s really true?”

“Aah, about—”

“Lucy uses magic to maintain her appearance,” another voice interrupted, cutting Ficelle off.

“Oh, hey there, Allusia,” I said.

“Hello. And Ficelle, thank you for your hard work.”

“This is...my job,” Ficelle replied.

Allusia had apparently been listening to some of our conversation and had stepped outside to join in. Strangely, Ficelle was curling in on herself a little. She looked pretty cute like that.

“Using magic to maintain her appearance?” I asked. “That’s pretty crazy.”

“It is,” Allusia agreed. “She’s been the magic corps’s commander since before I became the knight commander. She hasn’t changed at all since, at least physically. It’s quite the mystery.”

It turned out that Lucy was, in fact, my age or older. Hmm. I suppose anything goes with magic. I had no talent for it whatsoever, so I’d already given up on using any myself, but I had to admit that I did feel somewhat jealous. Both Ficelle’s sword magic and Lucy’s...rejuvenation? Maintenance? Well, they really gave a glimpse at how wide the breadth of magic was. It sure sounded nice.

“Anyway, how did you meet Lucy, Master?” Allusia asked. “Did you go to the magic institute?”

“Aah, about that...”

I didn’t really want to spread it around, but I felt like it was fine to tell Allusia and Ficelle. I briefly explained my meeting with Lucy and the sudden trial of abilities, my voice somewhat exasperated the whole time. Allusia’s eyes widened as I spoke, whereas Ficelle awkwardly hung her head.

“That does...sound a lot like Lucy,” Allusia said.

“You mean she’s always like that?” I asked.

Allusia nodded. “She is. She loves testing out her magic...”

My shoulders slumped. I was surprised that Lucy managed to function properly as the magic corps’s commander when she behaved like that. Maybe she normally kept that side of herself suppressed. However, when she’d fought me, she’d acted like she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Sorry, Master Beryl,” Ficelle said. “It’s all because I told her about you.”

“Don’t worry,” I replied. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. If anyone is at fault, it’s clearly Lucy. What exactly did you say to her, anyway?”

Lucy had mentioned hearing about my skill from Ficelle, so Ficelle had definitely been the one to tell her about me. Regardless, I couldn’t blame Ficelle—Lucy had picked that fight because of her own high estimation of my strength. Still, I was somewhat suspicious... How exactly had Ficelle described me?

“That’s a secret...” Ficelle muttered.

“I-I see...”

If she was going to be tight-lipped about the matter, then there wasn’t much more I could ask. I possessed no techniques to force the truth out of her. A maiden’s secret had to be kept hidden above all else. Not that I truly understood that concept...

“By the way, what’re you doing out here, Allusia?” I asked. This was the order’s office, and there was frankly no need for the knight commander to be coming out during work hours.

“I have something to discuss with Lysandra,” she answered.

“With Selna?”

For some reason, this was related to my other former pupil. Even a black rank adventurer couldn’t just waltz into the order’s office, so I supposed they had arranged to meet outside.

And as we chatted away, a familiar red-haired woman came walking down the street toward us.

“Sitrus, sorry to keep you... Oh, you’re here too, Master?”

“Lysandra, what do you want?” Allusia asked bitterly. “I don’t exactly have free time.”

“Don’t rush me,” Selna replied. “Besides, Master Beryl being here works out perfectly.”

Perhaps out of habit, Selna brushed back her red hair and admonished Allusia. Hang on, she has business with me too? What could it be?

“In that case, I’ll carry these potions inside,” Ficelle said.

“Aah, be careful,” I told her.

“Mm.”

Having been in the middle of a delivery for work, Ficelle got back to it. Well, her unintended break had been my fault—I’d stopped her to chat.

“So? What do you want?” Allusia asked again.

It was now just me, Allusia, and Selna out here. As usual, this was an unbalanced lineup, but being right outside the order’s office meant that I didn’t have to worry about onlookers. The attention these two gathered was very painful to endure.

“As a matter of fact, the adventurer’s guild would like to borrow Master Beryl,” Selna explained. “I’m here to get permission. I have a letter from the guild master too.”

“Why?”

Seriously, why? My complaint was carried away by the wind.

Allusia scoffed, staring at the letter. “Tch. Looks like it isn’t fake.”

“Obviously. Forgery is a serious crime,” Selna retorted.

I had no idea whether the letter was the real thing, but according to Allusia, it was. Also, was it just my imagination, or had I heard a click of the tongue that would’ve been very inappropriate coming from the knight commander? Hm... Must’ve been my imagination. Allusia wouldn’t do that. Yup, she sure wouldn’t.

“So? What does it say?” I asked curiously.

I could’ve read it for myself, but I didn’t want to peek without asking. According to Allusia and Selna, this was a letter addressed to the Liberion Order from the adventurer’s guild. Probably not meant for my eyes.

I’d settled into my role as the special instructor for the order, but my position itself was pretty complicated. It wasn’t like I had any command or authority. At most, I was here to help the knights train, so I had no place interjecting myself when it came to internal affairs or the deployment of force.

Obviously, I was affiliated with the Liberion Order now, so it was the knight commander who decided how I was used. Their lieutenant commander, Henbrits, probably had that authority too. It was a mystery why the guild master wanted to borrow me, but if that was true, Allusia would be the one to give the final say. There was no way the adventurer’s guild could make this decision for her.

“It says they want to borrow your strength to help raise some of the new and young adventurers,” Allusia explained. “The order doesn’t really have a reason to refuse, but we don’t have any reason to agree either.”

“Teaching newcomers, huh?”

This piqued my interest, but just as Allusia said, the order had no reason to go out of their way to hand over their instructor. Besides, weren’t survival skills and such more important for novice adventurers than sword skills? I kind of felt like what I would be teaching would clash with what they actually needed. And, on top of all that, it was weird for the guild master, whom I’d never met, to ask to borrow me by name. I wasn’t involved with the guild in any capacity.

“Don’t tell me...” I muttered. “Selna?”

“Of course,” she replied. “I made the recommendation.”

“Don’t ‘of course’ me...”

Cut it out with that triumphant look. I get enough of that crap from Allusia already. What am I gonna teach a bunch of adventurers, anyway? This is way too unreasonable.

“Sitrus, don’t you think this is a good opportunity to deepen the relationship between the adventurer’s guild and the Liberion order?” Selna said. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea.”

“I see. That’s one way of looking at it.” Allusia’s expression shifted from that of my former pupil to one of a knight commander. She was likely considering what the order as an organization might gain by dispatching me.

“Still, I’m not really sure what you want help with,” I told Selna.

“Naturally, if you don’t want to go, I’ll refuse immediately,” said Allusia.

I shot her a sideways glance. “You don’t have to be that eager.”

Personally, I was a little interested. I’d come a long way to live in Baltrain, so a part of me wanted to get involved. However, honestly speaking, instructing newbie adventurers would be worlds different from teaching swordsmanship at a dojo. I didn’t have the slightest idea what they expected me to do.

Also, since I was being temporarily loaned to the guild, it wasn’t like I was going to be teaching them continuously. I didn’t really do short courses or on-the-go training. Once I started teaching someone, I wanted to take the time to provide them with lasting instruction. Yet according to the nuance of this request, that didn’t seem possible.

“What, specifically, am I going to be doing?” I asked.

“The main component will be accompanying a group on a dungeon attack,” Selna answered. “You’ll be checking that they’ve properly acquired the combat skills needed to survive, and in the worst case, providing help on the front line.”

“A dungeon attack, huh?”

My expression turned unintentionally gloomy—I had a pretty bad memory about that. A long time ago, my youthful indiscretion had driven me to leave Beaden on my own expedition. I’d been really young at the time, and in the end, I’d gotten beaten to a pulp by the local monsters and had been forced to return home. I’m still surprised that the experience hadn’t left me dead.

A dungeon attack was exactly what it sounded like. It involved forcing your way through a ruin, labyrinth, cave, or anything of the like. The Galean continent had dungeons of all kinds. Some were the ruins of lost civilizations, some were areas under the effect of magical powers, and some were simple caves where monsters nested. They came in all shapes and sizes but were all classified as dungeons.

So, a dungeon attack was basically a dream for all wannabe adventurers. Monster parts could be traded for a good amount of money, and you could expect vast treasures from unexplored ruins. During a successful dungeon attack, it was possible to acquire great riches and fame—it was the kind of thing that could completely change your life in one go.

However, dungeon attacks were obviously very dangerous. It wasn’t unusual to be killed by monsters or caught in some ancient trap with nothing to do but wait for the end. If you misread your own abilities or how dangerous the dungeon was, those missteps could lead to certain death.

“You sure about that?” I asked. “Young adventurers and newcomers will be white or bronze...or silver at most, right?”

“That won’t be a problem,” Selna said. “The dungeon is under the guild’s jurisdiction and has already been investigated. The monsters inside have been identified too. There should be no trouble so long as a suitable leader is with them.”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t qualify as that ‘suitable leader,’ though...”

Why do Allusia and Selna have such a needlessly high opinion of me?

“Given your strength, there won’t be any problems whatsoever... Hmph.”

“No, there could be plenty of problems.”

I was just a boring old man. It would take everything I had just to defend myself. Protecting newcomers during a dungeon attack was setting the hurdle way too high. Hmm. Maybe it’s safest to refuse. If the task was just teaching adventurers, then I would be willing, but I couldn’t take responsibility for other people’s lives. If I was stronger, though, I would say yes on the spot.

“Selna, sorry, but this sounds a little too—”

“Ooh, this is where you’ve been.”

Just as I was about to refuse, someone cut me off.

“Hello, Lucy,” Allusia said. “It’s rare to see you here.”

Lucy, the commander of the magic corps herself, now stood before us. “Mm,” she acknowledged. “You see, I have something to discuss with the master of the adventurer’s guild.”

“A talk with the guildmaster? Does it have something to do with this?” Selna asked, showing off the letter.

“Hm...?” Lucy stared at the paper for a moment, then gave a huge nod. “Ooh, yes indeed. Exactly.”

The discussion aside, these three powerful figures had just started chatting as if it were perfectly natural. I suppose the knight commander, the commander of the magic corps, and the highest-ranking adventurer would’ve had the opportunity to become acquaintances already.

“Your recommendation involved a familiar name, so I put in a recommendation too,” Lucy explained.

“What?”

Lucyyy!

“So Master Beryl has been recommended by the guildmaster, a black rank adventurer, and even the commander of the magic corps...” Allusia murmured. “In that case, the order can’t really refuse to loan out our instructor.”

“Huh? Just a minute...” I protested. Wait up. Hang in there, Allusia. Keep fighting! My life and the lives of the newbie adventurers are on the line here!

“Then it’s decided,” Selna declared. “We’ll be borrowing Master Beryl for a while.”

“Very well,” Allusia agreed. “I’ll explain everything to the knights.”

Oh come on, there’s nothing “very well” about this. Despite being the concerned party, I had no voice in this decision. It’d been made without me.

Whatever! Just do what you want...

◇

I made my way from the order’s office to the adventurer’s guild. Three of us were walking together: me, Selna, and, for some reason, Lucy.

Do you have a ton of free time, Lucy? Aren’t you the commander of the magic corps?

“I’m really grateful to get your cooperation, Master,” Selna whispered, a clear look of joy on her face. Selna gave off a masculine impression (though that didn’t detract from her beauty), so I didn’t think she’d be capable of an expression like that. If Kewlny was a puppy, then Selna was a trained hunting dog. Though, in actuality, Selna was nowhere near that docile.

I chuckled weakly. “Ha... Ha ha ha... So you say, but I’m not sure how much the likes of me can actually help.”

“Say, have you not considered that you might be acting too humble?” Lucy asked me frankly.

“Not at all,” I replied. “I have a good read on my own capabilities.”

I didn’t know what to say about that. My sword skills were passable, but my physique wasn’t in any way exceptional—I was just a little stronger than the average person. I’d only beaten the Liberion Order’s lieutenant commander because my affinity was powerful against his style. Against Lucy, however, the battle had ended in a draw that was far closer to a loss. Considering all that, I was very reluctant to call myself strong.

“Well, that’s just one of Master Beryl’s virtues,” Selna said.

“Whatever...” I muttered. “Let’s just leave it at that.”

Lucy glanced over at Selna and giggled. “Hee hee hee. Lysandra, you seem rather fond of him.”

As usual, Selna was blindly devoted to me. But I just couldn’t get used to a world-traveling black rank adventurer praising me to the moon like this. Selna was definitely far beyond me in both social status and ability. Please cut it out. This old man just wants to live a relaxing life.

Also, with Selna and Lucy accompanying me, I was once again being stared at by everyone. It was painful. Maybe I should’ve been used to it already, but I still felt seriously out of place. Thankfully, the adventurer’s guild was just a short hop away from the order’s office, so we arrived quickly, chatting the whole way. Selna strode through with great familiarity while Lucy and I followed her. Seriously, why was Lucy still here? Did the magic corps have nothing better to do?

Selna made her way straight to the reception counter.

“It’s me. Is the guildmaster in?”

“Yes, please wait a moment.”

The receptionist immediately went to the back. This seems to be common practice. Not too long after, an old man with white hair came out—he was accompanied by a tall man wearing glasses who appeared to be his assistant.

“Hm-hmm, have I kept you waiting?” the old man asked.

“Guildmaster, I’ve brought Mr. Beryl Gardinant here,” Selna said.

It’s probably best to start with introductions. “Um, yes, I’m Beryl Gardinant. A pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m here too!” Lucy added. Frankly, I wouldn’t have minded if she just left.

“The pleasure is mine,” the old man said. “I am responsible for the Liberis branch of the adventurer’s guild. My name is Nidus. The man next to me is my assistant, Meigen.”

“Hello, I’m Meigen.”

I returned their greetings with light handshakes. Nidus seemed to be around the same age as my dad. His hair and beard were pure white, and he had deep wrinkles. His manners seemed mild, but his posture and bearing were firm, meaning he either kept up with his training or had done so in the past. He was the guildmaster, so it made sense if he’d previously been an adventurer.

Contrary to the guildmaster’s pleasant demeanor, after only the briefest of introductions, Meigen pointed a clearly suspicious gaze my way. He looked a little younger than me. His indigo hair was swept back neatly, and even through his glasses, I could see that he had a sharp glint in his eyes. His glare reminded me of when I’d first met Henbrits.

Well, even with Selna’s recommendation, it was natural for people to be suspicious of an old bumpkin like me who’d appeared out of nowhere. What’s more, I was being brought along to help raise new adventurers. It made sense that a member of the guild couldn’t help but be extremely wary of an outsider. To him, it was probably very important that I was worthy of being entrusted with the lives of people in his employ—Meigen was assessing me to see whether I lived up to that standard. Personally, I found his stance perfectly respectable.

“With Twin Dragonblade Lysandra’s recommendation, along with that of the commander of the magic corps, it’s not my place to interject,” Nidus said. “Our young ones will be in your care.”

“R-Right...”

No, this is where you’re supposed to interject. Tell them to hang on a sec! This is making me more anxious.

“Please wait a moment,” Meigen cut in coldly.

“Is something the matter?” Nidus asked.

Meigen sighed. “Having a recommendation from these two is indeed splendid...but we of the adventurer’s guild know nothing of Mr. Gardinant’s strength. It’s a little concerning to entrust the lives of valuable adventurers to someone whose reputation is merely hearsay.”

He’d quickly stated the bare truth. That’s the spirit, Meigen! Keep it up!

“You bastard,” spat Selna. “Are you saying you can’t trust my master?”

Lucy narrowed her eyes. “Hmm? Is my word not enough for you, Meigen?”

Selna’s attitude changed remarkably—Meigen had instantly incurred her wrath. Lucy was also beginning to exude a turbulent atmosphere.

Cut that out! I didn’t ask for this!

“That’s not what I meant,” Meigen said, retaining his cool despite the pressure from these overwhelming women. “I would simply like for you to demonstrate, in an easy-to-interpret manner, that Mr. Gardinant possesses the necessary qualifications.”

His sharp eyes pierced through me. That wasn’t enough to make me falter, though. What I sensed in his gaze wasn’t hostility, but a glimpse of his genuine concern for the adventurers.

“Hm. Then Meigen, what would you have us do?” Nidus asked casually, unperturbed by any of this.

At a glance, these two men looked like polar opposites, but they likely worked very well together when it came to managing the guild—they could both contribute their own perspectives and come to mutual agreements.

“From what I hear,” Meigen continued, “Mr. Gardinant is Twin Dragonblade Lysandra’s teacher. If the two of them have a bout, we’ll be able to see the extent of his capabilities.”

“Wuh?!”

A weird noise came from my throat. Seriously? I honestly doubted that I had any chance against a black rank adventurer. I mean, it was a pretty good way of measuring my abilities...but after being placed on such a high pedestal, I felt a little guilty about my inevitable tumble.

“Ooh, what a great idea,” Lucy said. “I’d like to see that too.”

Don’t hop on board with it!

“If that’s what it’ll take, then I don’t mind either,” Selna agreed. “I could ask for nothing more than a bout with Master Beryl. I’ll give it everything I have.”

Cut that out. Hold back a little. You’ll kill this old man.

“I see. Does that work for you too, Mr. Gardinant?” Nidus asked.

“Yes...” I answered feebly. “Understood.” I really couldn’t refuse at this point. Selna was really fired up about it too.

Goddammit... How did it come to this?

Nidus, Meigen, Selna, Lucy, and me. The five of us went over to the training grounds adjacent to the adventurer’s guild.

“Hey everyone! Lysandra is apparently gonna have a match!”

“Seriously? She’s facing that old guy? Who’s he?”

“Dunno... Doesn’t look like an adventurer...”

The whole place was astir. That was understandable. It was no exaggeration to say that a black rank was the envy of all adventurers, so if one of them was having a match, everyone would be clamoring to get a chance to see it. It would’ve been far more compelling if she wasn’t facing this old man, though.

First Henbrits, then Lucy, and now Meigen... Well, Meigen doesn’t seem like a combatant himself, but still. I felt like my abilities had been tested nonstop since coming to Baltrain. Despite her looks, Lucy was actually a real big shot too. Frankly, I’d expected the capital to be a little more rational than this. Though, unlike in Beaden, I didn’t have my name to rely on when it came to vetting for my abilities—at least I understood that much.

“This is the guild’s training grounds,” Nidus said. “I believe it should provide enough space.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Looks fine...”

“Tee hee hee! So exciting! So exciting!”

Dammit, Lucy! Quit acting like this isn’t your fault! I won’t get struck by lightning for punching her in the face a little, right?

After that, things proceeded without a hitch—I was all set for a match against Selna. Unlike the order’s training hall, the adventurer’s guild used an outside space for training. A pretty large one too. Taking a look around, there were wooden striking dummies spaced out here and there, and quite a few adventurers were milling about.

Since this was a place for training, most of the adventurers around us appeared to be young newcomers. Specifically, they mostly wore white or bronze plates. It made sense—those who’d become full-fledged adventurers didn’t have to go out of their way to swing a sword at a training ground. They were probably forging their skills in the field and fulfilling actual requests.

“Hmm.”

Selna was the same as usual. She was probably used to being stared at like this. As for me, I’d spent a lot of time being stared at back at the dojo, but I still couldn’t get used to having so many people watching me spar. Teaching at the Liberion Order was an extremely fresh experience for me, and this was obviously my first time being surrounded by adventurers. I was getting a little nervous.

“Well then, Master. Let’s have a good match.”

“Yeah. Take it easy on me.”

Selna and I stood in the dead center of the training grounds. Seriously, take it easy on me. I ain’t kidding. Selna offered me a clean bow. These were the manners I’d taught her at the dojo when she was a child. It made me feel all warm inside that she still remembered.

I wielded a wooden sword around the same size as a longsword, whereas Selna held a pair that were somewhat shorter and thinner. She did practice a dual-sword style, after all. A difference in weapon had a very large influence on the way you fought.

Now then, how was I supposed to fight a dual-sword practitioner? Well, this was just a bout—I wasn’t here to push for victory. Besides, it’d be rude to Selna if I let my thoughts wander like that.

Right! Concentrate! Concentrate!

“Here I come!”

“Guh!”

Selna signaled the start of the battle. She let out a quick roar and vanished from my sight entirely.

She crouched down? Charge, very fast, from the right. High stance, both swords? No, one’s a fake. Torso blow, block it, vertical slash, dodge it, restrained kick—jump back, then chase in. Double thrust, dodge, into an open slash, block, thrust again, twisting, spinning slash, block!

“Haaaah!”

“Hngh...! Guh!”

Ooooh! She’s too damn fast! Moving with lightning speed! My brain can’t keep up! Her fierce onslaught didn’t allow even a second to catch a breath, and I had no time to even think about counterattacking. Now wasn’t the time to be worrying about what to do next anyway because it took me everything I had to dodge almost entirely on reflex. Holy crap! Selna is crazy strong! Well, she’s a black rank and all, so there’s no way she could be weak!

To put it simply, having two swords meant having double the potential moves to make. Naturally, if an amateur simply held two swords, the synchronous methodology of a dual style would be beyond them, and they wouldn’t be much of a threat. Selna was different, however. Her movements made optimal use of both weapons. Sometimes delicate, sometimes bold, she whirled, performing a mad dance with both her swords.

At this rate, I wasn’t going to accomplish anything. I would simply get swallowed by her unrelenting tempest of strikes. I hadn’t expected an easy victory, but I was a teacher in swordplay, so it would be a little lame to lose so handily without putting up a fight. Wait! No! Now’s not the time to worry about being lame! Whoa?! That was close! She grazed me!

“Ha ha ha ha ha! That’s Beryl for you!”

“All that and not a single hit...? Unbelievable...”

“He dodged all that?! Who the hell is that geezer?!”

Crap, I can hear the spectators. That was proof I wasn’t concentrating hard enough.

Concentrate! Concentrate, dammit! If I lose focus for an instant, I’ll be done for!

Upward slash, vertical slash, torso blow, leg sweep, diagonal slash, sweep, kick, jumping slash, leg sweep again, spinning slash, double thrust!

The raging waves of her assault went on and on. How many seconds had passed? Things seemed so accelerated to me that I’d lost sense of time.

“Ha ha ha ha!” roared Selna. “This is so fun, Master!”

“Good for you! Whoa?!”

I felt the wood of Selna’s sword graze my cheek almost imperceptibly. That was really close. A few centimeters over and my head would’ve been flying backward. Selna’s expression was the textbook definition of having fun—it was like she was in a euphoric trance. The blaze in her eyes was even stronger than usual, and the corners of her mouth were very obviously curving upward.

Well, if Selna was having fun, then this match wasn’t meaningless. I wasn’t feeling that way at all, though—I was too busy dodging as if my life depended on it. She really had become ridiculously strong. It gave me a glimpse at just how much she’d dedicated herself to her craft.

“Heh... Heh heh heh... I can’t hit you! I can’t hit you at all, Master! You’re amazing!”

“Thanks for the— Gah! Praise!”

Wooden swords came sweeping in from both sides. I repelled one and stepped toward it to dodge the other. It was practically a miracle that I was continuously dodging her attacks without taking a decisive blow. She’d grazed me multiple times. Sweat poured down my brow, creeping into the edge of my vision. I didn’t even have time to blink it away. It felt like every second was being stretched to its limit. My arms were just about starting to hurt. Despite being so used to swinging a wooden sword, it felt so oddly heavy now. In all likelihood, I couldn’t keep up this mysterious equilibrium for long, and I would eventually get overwhelmed. I was almost certain of it.

Still, there was one thing I’d learned from this short crossing of blades: from what I could tell, Selna was good at using both her hands, but she made oddly few moves with her left. If I had to guess, she wasn’t fully ambidextrous. When I’d taught her to use a sword during her childhood, she’d been right-handed.

Obviously, her dexterity was more than enough, so she could fight without a problem. You could actually say that she’d perfected her technique already. What I’d observed could barely be called an opening—it was like a tear at the seams the size of a needle hole. But, if I was going to make a move, this was the only one I could make.

I’d exhausted my nerves to their limits warding off all attacks, and now, I waited for the blow from her left arm.

“Haaah!”

“Shah!”

Our spirited yells mixed as one. A diagonal slash from her left hand came at me. This was it. My only choice was to deliver a strike against it. I readied my wooden sword and intercepted the slash, then twirled it at the tip. This was the little trick Lieutenant Commander Henbrits had fallen for some time ago. By forcefully diverting the momentum of the strike to the side, I forced my opponent off-balance.

Selna was far too fast, so I had to focus all my nerves on matching this one strike. Naturally, such a trick wasn’t enough to get the better of a master at her level. It should’ve been a simple matter for her to shift her center of mass to match my parry. However, that fraction of a second was all I needed.

“Guh!”

Selna’s eyes shot open for a moment as she watched me make my move, but she immediately shifted her feet and regained her balance. It was impressive, but this bought me an instant. And in this single instant, I was faster than her.

“Ah!”

“That’s one, I guess.”

Both of Selna’s swords stopped dead in the air. My wooden sword quivered right at her throat.

“Thank you...very much,” she said, conceding.

“Mm. Thanks for the match.”

Even if I had stopped early, this one blow had decided the match, so we brought an end to it. We both bowed to each other, then walked toward Nidus and the others.

“Ooooh! Amazing!”

“What?! What?! What the heck was that?!”

“That was wild! I just witnessed something crazy!”

All of a sudden, the already noisy training grounds were engulfed by an explosive uproar. I mean, the onlookers’ shock stood to reason. Selna’s rapid chain of attacks had been dreadful to behold. The highest rank of adventurer really was on a different level. I was sure this had been a good spectacle, and maybe it had even been instructional for these young adventurers.

All I’d done, though, was struggle desperately to get in a single strike. The whole time, I had simply endured, so I’d probably come out looking pretty lame.

That short exchange had left me drenched in sweat. I was exhausted. Selna was sweating too, but she didn’t look tired like I did. If things had continued, I definitely would’ve been overwhelmed. It was probably impossible for any normal person to withstand that barrage forever.

“Phew... I wouldn’t expect any less, Selna,” I told her.

“No, you were wonderful, Master,” she said. “I didn’t think you’d fend everything off...”

We walked toward the others while exchanging our quick thoughts about the bout.

“Anyway, you still haven’t fully mastered using your left hand, right?” I asked.

“So you noticed... I suppose I still need far more training to get it to the level of my dominant hand.”

I wasn’t in a position to teach her anymore, but I didn’t mind helping her climb to even higher heights.

“Heh heh heh, giving advice to a black rank, now?” Lucy said to me, a huge smile on her face. “Aren’t you quite the big shot.”

Nidus looked surprised, but he also smiled at us. As for Meigen, he stood there with his mouth still agape.

“Now then, do you still have complaints?” Selna asked, folding her arms and glaring sharply at Meigen.

“Well? Do you?” Lucy piled on triumphantly.

Go home already, Lucy.

“No...” Meigen conceded, finally coming back to his senses. “It was a splendid display of skill. Mr. Gardinant—please forgive me for ever doubting you.” He bowed to me deeply.

“There’s no need for that,” I told him, flustered. “Your doubts were well-founded. Please raise your head.”

There was no need for him to apologize—he hadn’t harbored any actual hostility toward me. He’d simply viewed me with the perfectly natural concern that a guild administrator has for his charges. It was troublesome for some geezer to pop out of nowhere exclaiming, “I’m gonna teach your newbies!” On that point, his stance had been the correct one to take. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d gotten his approval, though. All I’d done was withstand Selna’s tempest.

“Ho ho ho, then it’s decided,” Nidus said. “Our young ones will be in your care.”

“Please leave them to me...” Guess I can’t call it off now, huh? I really want to, though.

“Now is as good a time as any,” Nidus added. “Let’s get you introduced to the ones you’ll be watching. Meigen, please call them over.”

“Yes, right away.”

It seemed we were going to get the meeting with the new adventurers out of the way now. Well, this was their training arena, so it wasn’t strange for them to be around. Since I was going to be accompanying them, it was best to at least know their names and faces. There were far more adventurers out there than knights, so looking for them without knowing who they were would be quite the task.

Once Meigen was out of earshot, Nidus turned to me and quietly spoke. “Sorry about him. He’s very talented, but also stubborn.”

“Aah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

To repeat myself, his apprehensions about me made sense, so it wasn’t my place to say anything about it. I honestly would’ve preferred for everyone else to be a little more worried about the heavy responsibility I was going to bear. Not that they would.

I decided to strike up a conversation to kill time. “Selna. Do all adventurers work on their own like you do?”

Now that I thought of it, I knew as little about adventurers as I did about knights. I wanted to at least learn the basics.

“No. The majority work in teams of three to six people,” she answered. “When the team gets too large, they start disagreeing about coordination and how to divide the rewards, so they generally don’t get bigger than that. I mostly work solo, but sometimes I form a team too.” Selna’s words came out smoothly, as if she were a teacher.

So it turns out that adventurers fundamentally work in groups. There was, in fact, a limit to what an individual was capable of, and having more friends was better than having fewer of them. Adventuring was a dangerous job, after all.

“Beryl, call me if you ever go on a dungeon attack of your own,” Lucy said. “I’ll help too.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s never gonna happen,” I replied, rejecting her outright.

“Why?!”

Did she really think that I, of all people, was going to get giddy about challenging a dungeon? I didn’t want to get rich quick or become famous or anything. I wanted to live a relaxing life teaching swordsmanship. And seriously, Lucy, what are you even here for? Go home.

“You can take the front while I cover the rear, right?” Lucy mumbled. “I think we’d make a pretty good team...”

“I won’t deny it, but my body wouldn’t be able to keep up with that.”

Just as she’d mentioned, swordsmen had horrible compatibility against wizards, but that made them all the better when working as a team. Still, us teaming up was never going to happen...

A while later, Meigen came back with three youngsters in tow.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said.

Taking a casual look at them, it was very clear they were nervous. Well, it must’ve been rare for a newcomer to get a chance to talk to a black rank so early in their career. Of course they felt tense.

“Please introduce yourselves,” Meigen told them.

“Y-Yes!” the three responded with a start.

“I-I’m Porta! A swordsman!”

“N-Needry... I also...use a sword...”

“I-I’m...Sarlikatz...”

Wow, they were really trembling. Were they going to be okay during the dungeon attack? I was getting worried already. They were a team of two men and a woman. Going by their plates, Porta and Needry were bronze, whereas Sarlikatz was silver. That said, at this level, it didn’t make much of a difference.

“I’m Beryl Gardinant. Nice to meet you.”

“Selna Lysandra. This time around, Mas— Mr. Beryl Gardinant and I will be supervising your team. Incidentally, do you have a dedicated seeker? Or is this the whole team?”

What’s a seeker? I’ve never even heard that word.

“Ah... That’s me...” Sarlikatz said, timidly raising his hand.

“This team was originally a pair consisting of Porta and Needry,” Meigen elaborated. “They then recruited Sarlikatz.”

I was starting to get the picture. Porta and Needry looked like childhood friends. Judging by appearances, the three of them were right around the age when it was hard to tell whether they were teens or adults. Sarlikatz did look slightly older though. It was hard to tell a youngster’s age at a glance, but I’d met lots of children at the dojo, so I was pretty good at making estimates.

“Sorry, Selna. What’s a seeker?” I asked, deciding to get that question out of the way now. If I was going to be supervising, remaining ignorant about adventurers would be pretty bad.

“Seekers are responsible for tracking monsters, finding traps, and sometimes disarming the latter,” Selna explained. “Some teams go without one, but many have a dedicated seeker.”

“I see. Meaning Sarlikatz holds the keys to this team?”

Hearing this, Sarlikatz jolted and began trembling. Sorry, I’m not threatening you! Please forgive me.

“Then Meigen, where will this dungeon attack be taking place?” Selna asked.

“Let’s see... It’s a dungeon in the southern part of the Azlaymia Forest.”

“Ah, there. That’s ideal for newcomers.”

Selna and Meigen got things moving along now that introductions were over. As for my part, there wasn’t really a need for me to say anything, so I simply idled about listening to their conversation. Was I really necessary for this? I was pretty sure I could’ve been left out.

The Azlaymia Forest was a wooded region a little southeast of Baltrain. It contained many wild beasts and monsters, but nothing particularly large had ever been discovered there. I’d never been myself, so I wasn’t that well-informed about the region. In the grand scheme of things, it apparently wasn’t particularly dangerous.

“Then you’ll convene at the carriage stop in the central district tomorrow morning,” Meigen continued.

“Mm, that’s fine,” Selna said. “Does that work for you, Master?”

“Yeah, that works,” I responded in a fluster as the conversation suddenly turned to me. Whoops. Turned into a complete bystander for a moment there...

“W-We look forward to working with you!” Porta exclaimed energetically.

“Yeah, likewise,” I told him.

They were probably still inexperienced, but they looked like good kids at heart. My thoughts suddenly drifted to the pupils I’d left behind at the dojo. I wondered how Randrid was doing. I wanted to check on him if I ever had the time, but my dad was liable to kick me right back out...

Oops, enough of that. My thoughts are drifting again. Seeing that the region we were going to wasn’t that dangerous, things would probably be fine, even with me tagging along. As the senior here, I just had to make sure that the young ones didn’t get caught up in some kind of unforeseen mess.

◇

“H-Hello, everyone. Sorry I’m late.”

Come morning, I had my usual breakfast at the inn then headed for the carriage stop in the central district. Everyone I was meeting there—Selna, Porta, Needry, and Sarlikatz—had already arrived. That made things really awkward right from the get-go. Had it been a bad idea to follow my usual routine and eat breakfast?

“G-Good morning, Mr. Gardinant!”

“Good...m-morning...”

Porta and Needry gave me energetic and nervous greetings, respectively. Sarlikatz looked tense too, offering no more than a light bow. I made a mental note of their personalities. This old man had a lot of experience handling kids, after all.

“Then let’s get going,” Selna said. “We’ll all be riding a carriage.”

“Sure thing.”

We all climbed aboard the carriage that had been prepared for us beforehand. During my trips to and from Beaden, the Liberion Order had covered the costs. This time, the adventurer’s guild was handling it. Most dungeons were rather far away, so it wasn’t feasible to just take a casual stroll to them from town. And when it came to training excursions and handling requests, the guild largely covered travel expenses. The order and the guild definitely had deep coffers. Such fancy treatment was impossible out in Beaden.

Once everyone was aboard, Sarlikatz got the horses moving. The scenery started to slip slowly by as the carriage coasted over the paved road.

“Hmm. So an adventurer is driving the carriage himself, huh?” I remarked.

“Adventurers often travel long distances,” Selna explained. “Learning to handle a horse is a basic skill.”

“Are we taking this carriage all the way to the Azlaymia Forest?” I asked.

“Yes. We can’t take the carriage into the forest itself, so we’ll be dismounting in the vicinity and going on foot from there.”

As expected, Selna was the one to answer every question. She really did seem used to this. This probably wasn’t her first time accompanying newcomers on a training excursion. As such, an obvious question came to mind. Why did they go out of their way to get me to come along? Well, the question hadn’t just occurred to me—I’d been wondering that from the very beginning—but still. I honestly felt like Selna could manage watching these three with ease. Being recommended to the guild had been quite the mystery in and of itself, but even without that recommendation, was there really a need to assign two supervisors here? I’d been confused about this the whole time.

So, I decided to just ask outright. “By the way, is there a rule or something that specifies needing multiple supervisors for this kind of training?”

Unlike with all my other questions, Selna hesitated for a few seconds, then answered in a whisper just quiet enough that nobody else could hear her. “Normally, the rules state that two platinum ranks—or one ocean rank or higher—must accompany.”

“Hmm.” So I really am unnecessary? “Can’t see why I’m needed, then...”

“Have you not heard the rumors, Master?” Selna continued quietly as the carriage clattered over the cobbled roads. “Lately, monsters have been acting strangely.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it... How are they acting strangely?” How was I supposed to know that? I mean, if that was a problem, wouldn’t dealing with it be the job of the adventurer’s guild or the order? This wasn’t the time to be dragging a boring old man into things.

“There have been eyewitness accounts of large monsters in regions where they normally shouldn’t be,” Selna continued. “The guild has dispatched investigators already, but...they still haven’t identified the cause.”

“Hmm... Well, that’s just great.”

Um, Selna? Isn’t that really bad? I wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about the ecology of monsters or wild beasts, but I’d spent a good portion of my life as a villager. I knew the fundamentals. Much like humans, monsters had clearly defined spheres they lived in—you could call those areas their territory. They weren’t quite as accurately delineated as national borders, but even so, unless something significant happened, they kept to their own regions. If the monsters in one territory—a single specimen or an entire pack—were moving elsewhere, it meant something was going on in those lands. At least, those would be the normal assumptions. Yet the adventurer’s guild still didn’t know the reason. That was disconcerting, to say the least. I hoped nothing weird was going to happen on this trip.

“Given that, to account for unexpected events on training excursions like this, more personnel are being dispatched to supervise,” Selna added. “That naturally leads to a shortage of high-ranking adventurers to go along, so I thought of asking for your assistance.”

“I see... I understand now. Thanks.”

The situation made sense now, but I still didn’t get why they’d chosen me. Wasn’t that the kind of thing they should be coordinating with the Liberion Order and the magic corps for? The whole situation was just bringing up more questions.

“Does Allusia... Does the order know about this problem?” I asked.

If monsters were behaving strangely, the nation couldn’t turn a blind eye to it either. As such, the order and the magic corps should’ve been informed already.

“I believe the information has been handed to them. Sitrus should know about it...”

“Hmm...”

Well, if Allusia knew, then it wasn’t a problem. The reason I hadn’t been informed was probably because I wasn’t counted among the forces she could deploy. At most, I was an instructor, not a frontline combatant. I didn’t really want to fight either. I wanted to avoid being a burden and dragging everyone down.

As I listened to the rhythmic clattering of the wheels, the carriage left the city. Baltrain was much like a fortress with large walls surrounding it. Completely exterminating monsters to the point of extinction was essentially impossible, so it was common to fortify settlements like this against monster attacks. The walls around the capital were on a different level, though. Out in the countryside, Beaden was basically just fenced off.

Once we were beyond the walls, the scenery wasn’t all that different from the road outside Beaden. The sphere of human influence was wider near Baltrain, but once outside that sphere, everywhere was much the same. The carriage proceeded from the paved roads of the capital to the well-trodden dirt roads of the country.

Even though national borders had been established, there was unexpectedly little land for humans to live safely in. Naturally, humanity tried its best, but it wasn’t like every citizen was capable of fighting. Territory under one’s jurisdiction was different from territory under one’s control. In that sense, the adventurer’s guild had jurisdiction over the Azlaymia Forest, but they certainly weren’t rulers of that territory.

Territory under human rule became villages, then cities, then formed countries. And because settled territory was still developing all over the world, I could make a living doing what I did. It was pretty ironic.

“It really is best for the world to be at peace,” I muttered.

“To travel a world with no danger. That truly is a dream,” Selna agreed.

As we traveled to the dungeon in Azlaymia Forest, we passed our time in true tranquility.

◇

After riding in the carriage, spending one night camping outdoors, and then a few more hours on the move the following morning, we finally arrived at the outer edge of the Azlaymia Forest. With the vast woodlands spreading out before us, we dismounted the carriage and walked another thirty minutes.

“Here we are...”

“Hmm. Looks just about right.”

A small hill rose up in front of us, and on the face of that hill was the entrance to a cave. It was a little shabby, so calling it a dungeon was somewhat generous. Still, this was just about right for training young new adventurers—other dungeons and ruins contained many vicious monsters and instant-death traps. The idea of exploring those didn’t appeal to me in the slightest...but thinking about that danger helped me understand that adventuring was a job where you truly staked your life on gaining fame.

“Yesterday was really pleasant,” I remarked casually. “You’re all so used to traveling like that.”

“I-It was nothing! Don’t mention it!” Porta responded, curling into himself.

Adventurers had to camp outside all the time. Honestly, it sounds rough. This was all part of the lifestyle, though—jobs were often far away, so making a day trip to a dungeon was usually out of the question. Incidentally, travel preparations were generally done by the trainees to gain experience, so Selna hadn’t participated. Nobody had said anything to me, so I hadn’t helped out either. Now that I think about it, even if this dungeon is relatively close to town, going out on an expedition without field knowledge is pretty dangerous. I’m so sorry for being ignorant.

Also, if the new adventurers hadn’t managed to prepare a campsite, we would’ve turned around on the spot and headed back to Baltrain. Apparently, those who couldn’t accurately estimate the travel time or plan their supplies and stops accordingly weren’t qualified to be adventurers. On that point, this team had earned a passing grade. Selna hadn’t really said anything about their performance, and we’d spent a night camping without incident.

“Then... I’ll get ready...”

We assembled in front of the cave. The one who raised his voice was the team’s seeker, Sarlikatz. After taking a short peek inside, he placed a hand against the bracelet on his left wrist. A faint light began to shine from it, and something suddenly crossed my mind.

“Is that magic equipment, maybe?” I asked.

“Ah... Yes, it is...” he answered timidly.

At a glance, he seemed like the type who was difficult to communicate with, but I knew how to handle kids like these—it was simply a matter of not pushing them too hard or backing off too much. Acting natural around them was enough to help establish a conversation. Such was an old man’s wisdom. Not that I should really boast about that...

“Mind explaining to me what it does?” I asked.

“Ah, yes...” Sarlikatz nodded, then stood in the middle of our group and held up his left arm a little. “Um... This shines when life-forms are nearby. There are five of us, including me, right now...but if anything else gets closer, it’ll glow brighter...”

“I see... Useful for a scout, huh?”

Sarlikatz had done his best to explain, even if he’d been somewhat inarticulate. In short, his bracelet was a detector. If any life-forms—namely, humans or monsters—were nearby, it would glow brighter and brighter based on proximity. As long as he knew the base brightness for the five of us, it was possible to determine whether something else was approaching and prepare...to a certain extent, at least.

The bracelet’s light was also very faint, so it was unlikely to get us spotted—our torches in the dark would be much more noticeable. Magical equipment sure is convenient. It didn’t seem like I would ever get the opportunity to use any, but I kind of wanted something. I was starting to understand why Ficelle was so hooked on collecting them.

“O-Okay! Let’s get going!” Porta shouted in a burst of energy. “Sarlikatz! We’re relying on you!”

“R-Right... I-I’m off...”

With that as our signal, the team entered the cave. Sarlikatz took the lead, followed by Porta and Needry. Selna and I were farther behind them. Thinking back, Selna hadn’t spoken up since we’d entered the Azlaymia Forest. In all likelihood, she was only here as a supervisor, so she wasn’t going to provide them with advice. It seemed like the three newcomers knew this because they didn’t try talking to her—they had likely been told not to depend on their supervisors. Hmm, in that case, it wasn’t proper for me to strike up a conversation with Sarlikatz. Sorry. This old man will reflect on that.

So, without any particular conversation, our group of five continued our march. The air in the cave was chilly and damp. A slight stench lingered in the air, mixed with the characteristic smell of confined places.

“There they are...” I muttered.

“Seems so,” Selna whispered back. “Well, there’d be no point to this if they weren’t here.”

She had a point. We were here to see the fledgling team’s combat skills, after all.

“What kind of monsters are we expecting?” I asked.

I was sure that the newcomers had been informed of their targets before this whole training exercise. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to put together a plan. As such, I figured it would be fine to bring up the topic.

“Mainly goblins,” Selna answered. “Also, big bats and cave worms. Good enough to see what they’ve got.”

“I see.”

These were all familiar names. Goblins were like the stereotype of all small monsters that lived in forests and caves. Each individual goblin wasn’t all that strong, but they tended to swarm together. If the team didn’t have an appropriate way of dealing with such numbers, they’d be forced into a hard struggle. This foe was a perfect choice for training.

Big bats and cave worms were pretty much exactly what they sounded like—unusually large bats and worms. They possessed no special abilities, and handling them was no more difficult than killing prey on a regular hunting trip. Not too long ago, I’d hunted them pretty often in Beaden, so this felt almost nostalgic.

Man, I’m glad I know how to handle these particular monsters. I couldn’t be careless, though. The important thing here wasn’t for me to win, but to save the youngsters if it looked like they were going to lose.

“Found them...” Sarlikatz warned from his place at the front of the team. “Deeper inside... Probably a lot!”

“G-Got it! Needry...!”

“Y-Yes!”

Porta and Needry sounded really tense. They were both armed with standard shortswords, and they drew them, bracing for battle. Sarlikatz also unsheathed the dagger at his waist.

Jarring voices echoed from deeper in the cave. Those sounds couldn’t have come from humans... Down the gloomy passageway, the source of the noise slowly took shape. The thing was seedy and only about half the size of a child. It wasn’t particularly muscular either. In a pure contest of strength, any adult could beat it. However, unlike a human, it had monstrously green skin, canines that stretched beyond its lips, and reptilian eyes. These features would prevent anyone from treating it like a human child. This creature, the archetype of all small monsters, was a goblin.

“Master, I believe you already know this, but...” Selna whispered.

I nodded. “Mm. Let’s see what the young ones are made of.”

I understand well enough. There’s no point in me cutting the goblins down.

“There are...six!”

“Three against six...! Let’s do it, you two!”

“Y-Yes!”

The three youngsters fired themselves up and faced the monsters. Inside this remote cave, the curtains quietly rose on the practical training exercise for these fledgling adventurers.

“Hyaaah!”

“Gah!”

The quiet cave jolted with roaring echoes. Porta swung his sword carefully so that it didn’t collide with the cavern walls and cleanly bisected a goblin.

“Hmm, a good slash.”

I voiced my observations without really thinking about it. There was a desperate battle going on in front of me, and I had to hang back and do nothing but watch. It made me restless, though watching the new team was my job, so I couldn’t fight for them. As such, I decided to focus on taking in their swordplay.

“He’s very aware that he’s fighting inside a cave, isn’t he?” Selna said.

She apparently felt the same way I did. I didn’t know what the average bronze rank was supposed to be capable of, but I felt like that Porta kid had good senses. A shortsword was a very common weapon, as was a longsword. The cutting edge determined the quality of the blade, but otherwise, they had no standout characteristics. The typical length and weight of these weapons were ideal for many fighting styles, and they could flexibly handle different types of combat situations, so they were widely used by everyone from beginners to experts. Still, every weapon had strengths and weaknesses. For longswords and shortswords—and this went for every long-edged weapon—you had to be very careful about swinging them around in a confined space. Ceilings and walls could get in the way.

“Ah...!”

“Gah... Ghk...”

Another goblin crept up to Porta from the side, but Sarlikatz’s dagger brought an end to it. In narrow corridors like this, thrusting weapons such as daggers or rapiers were far easier to wield than larger-edged weapons like shortswords, longswords, or broadswords. Naturally, a dagger lacked weight, and it was hard to defend with. In that sense, Sarlikatz understood the properties of his weapon well. He avoided head-on confrontation and chose only to take advantage of openings from the side.

“H-Hyaah?!”

“Gah! Gyah!”

Oops, speak of the devil. Perhaps panicking, Needry had swung her shortsword in a long arc, bouncing it off the cavern’s wall. Seeing this as a good opportunity, a goblin readied its cudgel to strike. I doubted that one hit from its weapon would be lethal, but... Am I supposed to make a move here?

“Needry!” shouted Porta. “Sarlikatz, please!”

“Mm!”

Oh, maybe I don’t need to do anything...? Having finished his second goblin, Porta had quickly noticed Needry’s crisis and he’d called to Sarlikatz for aid. To describe the situation broadly, Porta and Needry were fighting goblins at the front while Sarlikatz darted between them to offer support as needed. There were three goblins left. Porta was fighting one, while Needry was fighting another. The last goblin observed the situation for a moment and then moved to join the battle against Needry. This was where Sarlikatz had to put in some effort, since he was the nimblest. I kind of felt like a father watching his children grow.

“Take this...!”

“Gyah?!”

One of the goblins raised its weapon to swing at Needry. Perhaps judging that his dagger wasn’t enough to stop the goblin from swinging, Sarlikatz shoulder-tackled it. The sudden blow from behind sent the creature rolling across the ground, its cudgel still held high.

“N-Needry...!”

“Y-Yes...!”

Using that opening, Needry immediately landed a finishing blow on the fallen goblin. Now there were only two left. Goblins were inferior to humans in terms of simple strength, so having lost the advantage of numbers, the youngsters’ victory was certain. As long as they don’t get too conceited or careless, that is. Though honestly, they don’t look like the kind of team to make that sort of mistake.

“Looks like the battle’s over. How’d they seem to you, Selna?” I asked.

“A good performance for bronzes. Porta in particular looks promising.”

“Yeah. I think he moves well too.”

We exchanged opinions as we watched the three of them clean up the last two goblins. Having messed up earlier, Needry was now properly focused and energetically hacking a goblin up. Yup, it’s good to be enthusiastic.

“A-All done...cleaning up...”

Even if the fight hadn’t been easy for them, the three had defeated six goblins without any real injuries. Fulfilling his role as the seeker, Sarlikatz made sure all the goblins were dead, then announced the end of the battle. Yet, this was only the first encounter of their training program—the mission was to clean out the entire dungeon. Well, this was less a dungeon and more a regular old cave, but it was the thought that counted.

We started walking again. A question had been nagging at me for a while, so I decided to ask it.

“Hey, Selna, is this place used often?”

It would be one thing if this dungeon was a historic ruin with some magical effect, but no matter how I looked at it, this was just a normal cave. And if it had been used in the past to train adventurers, the monsters should’ve already been exterminated. That wasn’t the case, so had they sent beginners to an unexplored cave?

“Because of the environment, small monsters will start inhabiting the cave again, even after they’re wiped out,” Selna explained. “There are other places like this nearby. We use each in turn at fixed intervals to train newcomers.”

“I see...”

It made sense. To put it nicely, the Azlaymia Forest and other small dungeons were being used as training areas. Despite knowing the number and types of monsters in these places, the guild still needed jurisdiction if they were to be used over and over. It was something I never would’ve realized while living out in the sticks of Beaden. Swinging a sword in a training hall wasn’t going to give anyone practical experience, but they couldn’t place chicklets who didn’t know the ABCs of adventuring out on the front lines. That would only needlessly increase the number of fatalities. So, the answer they’d come up with was this: send supervised newcomers to areas where small monsters could easily nest. This level of ingenuity sure suits the adventurer’s guild.

After the initial battle, the team proceeded through the cave, clearing out all the monsters. In total, they cleaned up twelve goblins, four big bats, and two cave worms. They eventually reached the back of the cave, which marked the safe ending of their training excursion.

“Now then, I guess all that’s left is to head back,” I said. “Good thing we didn’t have to jump in.”

“Indeed...” Selna agreed. “That’s worth celebrating.”

While I didn’t expect that I would lose to a mere goblin, fighting while protecting someone else was really nerve-wracking. It was a sensation that could never be simulated in a mock battle, and one I never wanted to experience...if possible.

When I turned to Selna once more, I noticed that she seemed deep in thought. Actually, now that I think back, she’s been like that for a while. She wasn’t exactly distracted, but I could tell that her attention was split.

“Selna? What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s just...there were clearly too few of them.”

“What do you mean?”

“This place hasn’t been used for a while,” she murmured, carefully picking her words. “There weren’t many goblins in the cave, and we weren’t attacked even once after entering the Azlaymia Forest... Normally, there should’ve been more monsters and wild beasts and such.”

“Hmm...”

She did have a point. In a forest of this size—and a cave that nestled perfectly within said forest—it seemed like there should be a few more monsters than this. Well, I didn’t know why they were absent, so there was no point in thinking about it. I could only conclude that there just happened to be fewer monsters this time around.

“Ms. Lysandra! Mr. Gardinant! The exit!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. We’ll be right there.”

Perhaps excited by safely finishing the training exercise, Porta energetically pointed to the cave’s exit. As we approached the outdoors, a refreshing wind brushed against my cheek. It felt great after having spent so long in this damp cave. Porta scrambled to be the first one out, then casually stretched his arms. It was still the middle of the day, so I figured we could take a nice relaxing walk back to—

Hang on... Why’s it so dark outside? My internal clock was telling me that it was too early for the sun to set. And the weather was clear, so even with all the trees in the forest, it was far too dim. The wind was slightly irregular too. My five senses were telling me that something was faintly out of place.

There! Something’s above us!

“Porta!” I yelled. “Get down!” I started running toward him.

Surprised by my voice, Selna turned to me. I didn’t know why, but a large shadow had fallen over the cave’s gloomy entrance.

Suddenly, Porta was sent flying by something out there. He vanished from my sight in an instant.

“Porta!” I shouted again.

The creature I’d caught a fleeting glimpse of couldn’t possibly have been called a “small monster.” Its speed was no joke either. I prayed that Porta wasn’t dead.

“You guys stay in the cave!” Selna ordered Needry and Sarlikatz. Having witnessed the same thing I had, she sprinted by my side.

The entrance was right there. We would be outside in a second. The two remaining youngsters looked like they had no idea what was going on—one was shocked and the other simply dumbfounded. I didn’t expect this either, just so you know! Well, asking new adventurers to react appropriately to an extreme irregularity was a bit unreasonable.

Normally, Sarlikatz should’ve been paying attention to any irregular readings from his bracelet, even after the mission was over. But, after reaching the end of the cave, he’d probably dropped his guard. That was understandable. He might have been older than Porta and Needry, but he was still just a silver rank. It would’ve been stranger for him to have predicted and prepared for a situation like this.

“Gh!”

Leaping out into the lush greenery, I found a single large monster waiting for me. It had powerful limbs and magnificent wings—including its tail, it was five or six meters long. With those features, only one monster came to mind.

“Griffon!”

I yelled the name without thinking. A griffon was classified as a large flying monster. It didn’t possess any special abilities, but it had might and agility paired with powerful limbs and a sturdy beak. Those alone were more than enough of a threat to humans.

Apparently, they largely inhabited mountainous regions—I’d never heard of one appearing deep inside a forest like this. Besides, griffons were supposed to have white fur, but this one was a deep crimson color. Perhaps it was a little rude to mention, but the griffon reminded me of Selna’s fiery hair. I’d never heard of one looking like this, let alone seen anything like it.

“Graaaaaah!”

The red griffon opened its mouth wide and howled. It’d perceived a new threat...or perhaps new prey. In the next instant, wind enveloped the griffon’s body and whirled around it.

“Whoa?!”

I dealt with the sudden charge reflexively, meeting the griffon’s incoming beak with my sword and using my wrist to twist my body away from the impact. Crap, that was close! This thing is damn fast for its size! I wouldn’t have been able to block that had my sword still been sheathed. Getting hit would’ve sent me flying away, so I’d had no choice but to parry the blow with the tip of my blade.

My hands were numb with pain after only one ramming attack. Even if I continued to endure its onslaught, there was no telling how long my body and weapon would hold out.

“Right, Porta...!”

Having dodged the griffon’s attack, I took a quick look around. Porta, who’d been blown around ten meters away, was limp against a tree. I saw that he was stirring ever so slightly. Good. Looks like he isn’t dead. But if we leave him alone, I’m not sure if he’ll stay alive.

“Master!” yelled Selna. “That’s no normal griffin! It’s a named monster! Zeno Grable!”

“A named monster?!” I hollered back, keeping my eyes on the griffon.

Seriously? I’m pretty sure that puts it way beyond my skills. I’d heard rumors of these types of monsters before. Normally, monsters were just called whatever their species name was—goblins were all goblins, and griffons were all griffons. However, maybe because of a mutation or something, sometimes a specimen appeared that was far beyond the species norm. In general, they were all stronger and bigger than the others, which is why they were treated so specially and often given a name. Organizations like knightly orders or the adventurer’s guild would decide on the names, calling attention to the danger they posed and endorsing the elimination of the beast.

In short, the monster before my eyes was seriously big game. Goddammit, I really wanna go home now...

“Grrr...!”

The red griffon—Zeno Grable—growled menacingly. Failing to finish me off with that ramming attack had apparently infuriated it. Don’t be so angry. Tiny humans like me train all our lives to put up a fight against big guys like you. Though, something this big was a bit beyond my expectations.

“So this is why there are so few small monsters around!” Selna spat, readying her dual blades.

Running away would be seriously difficult at this point. It was plain to see that Zeno Grable had more mobility than we did, and we would now need to transport the heavily wounded Porta, which would slow us down further. Under these circumstances, I doubt we can get away.

That said, this also didn’t seem like an opponent we could bring down quickly. Judging by its size, it wasn’t going to collapse after a few cuts—we’d need to hack away at it quite a lot. Even at a glance, its fur and limbs looked sturdy. Would a regular blade even draw blood?

We didn’t have time to waste. At this rate, Porta was going to die. We couldn’t rely on Needry and Sarlikatz here since they were beginners, so Selna and I would need to take this thing out.

A strange silence enveloped the area. Keeping my sword at the ready, I called out to Selna. “You got any potions?”

Someone had to stall Zeno Grable and buy time for us to retrieve and treat Porta—that role would naturally fall to me or Selna. Once he was safe, we could all make a decision on whether to fight or run away. This is probably the best plan we’ve got.

“I do,” Selna replied. “Two—magically made.”

Good. That’s a black rank for you. She had brought along the most effective potions available. Unless things got really bad, they would be enough to keep Porta alive.

I kept my eyes on Zeno Grable—I was positive it would attack the moment I looked away. Considering our abilities, it made the most sense for her to buy us some time while I retrieved Porta.

I held my palm out to Selna. “Got it. Then, please...”

“Ah! Understood! It’s in your hands!”

I knew she would catch my meaning. I didn’t even have to ask for the potion. Something quickly struck my left hand, a delightful clap resounding through the Azlaymia Forest.

Hm? What? A high five?! Where’s the potion?!

“I’ll save Porta! Master, keep Zeno Grable’s attention!”

W-Wroooooong! Not that! The other way around! You’ve got it backward! Who the hell asked to be tagged in?! This is a complete breakdown in communication!

“Graaaaah!”

For some reason, Zeno Grable didn’t give Selna so much as a glance as she broke into a run toward Porta. It focused solely on me, deciding I was its main target, and poised itself to charge once more.

“Goddammit!”

Right before my eyes, Zeno Grabel’s enormous body closed in on me.

Head-on charge. Right claw high. Fast. And probably heavy. If I close in, I’ll be crushed by the mass. Parry it to the side. Riposte with an upward slash. Good hit, but...I can feel how hard the hide is through my longsword.

“Grah!”

“Man! It really is tough!”

Despite getting in a good strike, my blow felt completely ineffective. It hadn’t bounced off, but it also hadn’t dealt more than surface damage. At this point, I had three options: use a sharper and heavier sword to chop into its flesh, step back and then put all my might into a charging blow, or aim for what I could only guess were its vitals. This was going to be rough any way you sliced it.

“This is a bit too much for an old man!”

One minute—that was my low estimate for the amount of time it would take Selna to rescue Porta and give him emergency treatment. If Selna had been anyone else, I would’ve guessed two or three minutes. So, during this minute, I had to fight Zeno Grable all on my own.

“Graaaaah!”

Having failed to take down its prey in one strike, let alone two, Zeno Grable roared in irritation and anger, readying itself to attack again. I couldn’t even begin to guess how many blows I’d have to land to bring it down. Unfortunately, just one of its strikes would spell the end for me. It was quite the tightrope act.

“Hmph!”

I jumped back to dodge claws sweeping in from the side, slashing its foreleg in the process. This still barely scratched the griffon. It seemed like its limbs were sturdier than its body. Guess lopping off a leg to take away its fighting capacity isn’t an option...

“Now then, the conventional weak point has to be the face!”

Backing off a little, I analyzed the situation. I was still only a few meters away from Zeno Grable, and the beast could close that distance in an instant. The face is definitely my best bet, especially its mouth or eyes. Judging by my previous slashes, the other parts of its body would be too tough. I figured the wings were a good option too, but my opponent was honestly too large, so its wings were often out of my reach.

“Porta! Get it together!”

I glanced over for an instant and saw that Selna had reached Porta’s side. She pulled a potion from her pocket and poured it liberally all over him. Things were looking rough. Even if Selna was able to return to the fight, escaping while carrying Porta and guiding the other two newbies was probably out of the question. In that case, our only option for survival was to finish Zeno Grable right here...or at the very least, render it incapable of fighting.

Goddammit! Why did it come to this? I would’ve liked to run back to the capital, bawling my eyes out all the way, but I wasn’t allowed to. The lives of the three young adventurers behind me were at stake—I would be a disgrace to all swordsmen if I abandoned them to save myself. I was just an average old man, but I wasn’t so cowardly that I would throw away my pride as a swordsman out of concern for my own safety. I couldn’t afford to lose face to my former pupil either.

“Then there’s no choice but to do it!”

I fired myself up and lunged toward Zeno Grable.

“Graaaah!”

“Hmph!”

It tried to intercept me with a claw, which I dodged and warded off using my sword. I wouldn’t win in a straightforward contest of strength—the muscle mass disparity between a human and a monster like this was just too great. As such, I needed to use my sword to manipulate its strength, turn its attacks, and then counterattack while dodging out of the way. Even the very normal act of defending myself was completely off the rails here.

“If only this was just a bout! I could stop after scoring a point!”

After dodging Zeno Grable’s attack, I slashed at its flank. I had to do this while moving my legs, so I couldn’t put my full weight behind it. I couldn’t expect to deal much damage, but the slice was enough to attract its attention—to the griffin, I was like an annoying fly zipping around.

If I could keep this up, then Selna would eventually join me to defeat it. However, until she finished treating Porta, my main priority was to keep Zeno Grable’s focus on me. I had to stave off the onslaught.

“Grrrr!”

Zeno Grable didn’t look like it had suffered any damage. I’d sliced it numerous times, but not even a drop of blood was visible. That’s a pretty rough outcome for a swordsman...

“Grrr!”

“Shah!”

Incoming charge. Dodge it. Incoming claw. Dodge it too. Incoming, dodge, incoming, dodge, incoming, dodge, slash, doesn’t work, incoming again, dodge.

Hmm, even if this thing had been given a name, it was still fundamentally a griffon. Its main attacks were charging and striking with its claws or beak. The speed and strength with which it struck were nothing to scoff at, but it wasn’t doing anything extraordinary. At this rate, maybe it was possible for me to hang on until Selna joined in.

Still, after this repetition of parrying and counterattacking, my hands were numb with pain; my arms were tired, and my back was bothering me. Getting old really sucks. Regardless, I couldn’t be careless around this opponent. Yes, it was big, fast, and had strangely colored fur...but that wasn’t enough for it to earn a name. Something else must be going on here.

Still, eating a single attack would spell the end for me, so I had to concentrate. This thing had really tough skin too. It didn’t feel like I was going to win at all.

“Graoooooh!”

“Oh?”

Having properly deemed me to be an annoying fly, Zeno Grable roared in irritation. Now that my ears were attuned to the sound, something suddenly caught my eye. Zeno Grable’s tail had entered the edge of vision, whipping about restlessly. If I try hard enough, can I cut that off? A faint hope sprouted within me. Maybe I’ll be able to deal with this abnormally large monster after all.

“Graaaah!”

“Whoa!”

Oops, I don’t have time to get lost in thought. Changing its stance, Zeno Grable came charging again.

“Shah!”

It rushed in head-first, which gave me the opportunity to slice its face. I thought I might be able to cut it up, but that didn’t work out—even when I matched my slash to its charge, it was too fast for me, and I couldn’t line up my sword tip properly. Well, it wasn’t impossible, but if I did try, the monster and I would collide directly. In other words, I’d be sent flying.

It would be difficult to deal an effective blow unless I somehow stopped its movements for a moment. Not that I had ulterior motives or anything...but I needed to flex my skills a little bit.

“Take this!”

Dodging a ramming attack, I swung my longsword. I slipped behind Zeno Grable and spun, using the centrifugal force to deliver a slash. It was all based on guesswork, but given the distance and timing, I was pretty sure I had it right. Get hit already, you son of a bitch!

“Graaaah?!”

“A solid strike!”

I felt my blade dig through Zeno Grable’s long tail. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to cut the appendage clean off, but the wound wasn’t shallow either. Blood dribbled to the ground from the gash.

“Graaaaah!”

Zeno Grable roared louder than ever before. Looks like it snapped. Most wild beasts and monsters tended to go berserk when they were injured, so if victory looked possible, it was best to slay a monster in one blow. And if you couldn’t...run away at full speed. If you tried to kill a strong monster with multiple smaller strikes, it was very common to suffer a harsh counterattack.

“Gaaaah!”

“Whoa!”

Immediately after roaring in anger, Zeno Gable unleashed a ball of fire from its enormous mouth.

Thought so! I figured it still had some kinda trick! After all, it was specially classified as a named monster, so it made sense that the beast had a hidden ace—my instincts had been right on the money. And precisely because I’d kept the possibility of a wild card in the corner of my mind, I managed to dodge the sudden, long-distance assault. Also, because I’d fought against Lucy’s magic, my mind had drifted to the possibility of such an attack. Experience really was vital. Though I didn’t feel inclined to thank Lucy for that...

“Graaaaah!”

As I dodged the fireball, Zeno Grable roared again. It didn’t seem ready to charge, which had me curious.

“Hrm?!”

Suddenly, a crack opened across the surface of the ground in Azlaymia Forest. The soil melted, and the source of incandescence gradually rose from beneath the surface.

“Hang on...! Dammit!”

What the hell?! What the hell is this?! Another trick?! Nobody told me about that! Even as I panicked, the ground around Zeno Grable was gradually crumbling. I didn’t know how far this attack reached, but at the very least, everything in the vicinity of the cave entrance was probably toast. It was way too close.

What do I do? Zeno Grable wasn’t moving. It turned out that launching such a huge attack hampered its mobility, so that was a lifesaver. Regardless, this was pretty bad. If I just stood here, the ground would eventually engulf and kill me; if I ran away, Needry and Sarlikatz might survive, but Porta definitely wouldn’t make it. Or...maybe not even that? The ground around the cave was already showing signs of change, so the circumstances were dicey for everyone. There was no time for hesitation. When I glanced to the side, I didn’t see Selna anywhere. I couldn’t see Porta either, so I hoped she’d finished rescuing him.

“Graaaaaaaah!”

“Don’t suppose you can just stop? No? Goddammit!”

Zeno Grable roared again. I really didn’t have any time. Time to steel myself. Running away was out of the question—if it had ever been a choice, I would’ve done so from the very beginning. Though it was useless to keep agonizing over whether to defeat it or run away. I had to take action, one way or another. The ground under my feet was shaking, and it wouldn’t be long before it collapsed beneath me.

“Gh!”

My enemy was right in front of me, its mouth wide open. It had also stopped moving. If I was going to approach, now was the time.

“Shaaah!”

Sometimes, thought got in the way when speed was a priority. So, I tossed aside all considerations of evading and charged right at Zeno Grable. I held my longsword straight forward and stabbed it into the griffon’s gaping mouth of hell.

“Just die already, you son of a bitch!”

“Gaaaaaah!”

I felt my sword pierce something soft...but it still wasn’t enough. I hadn’t managed to deal a finishing blow. At this rate, I had to follow up with every last ounce of strength to unleash a flurry of—

“H-Huh?”

Defying my will, my arms didn’t so much as budge. I-I can’t pull my sword out?! Crap! Crap! What do I do?! The ground’s not collapsing anymore, but this is really bad!

“Grrr... Gaaaah...!”

“Oh shit!”

Taking advantage of my confusion, Zeno Grable acted before I could. Its forelimb was as thick as my torso, and it was raised high, high into the air. Luckily, the beast was moving far more sluggishly than before. I hadn’t been able to kill it, but I’d dealt major damage. However, no matter how slow it moved, it possessed enough weight to crush me outright.

“Dammit! I can’t get it out!”

My longsword remained stuck, unflinching, as I panicked to yank it out. I tried forcing it up or down instead of pulling straight back, but I couldn’t feel it shift even a single millimeter. Zeno Grable was probably tensing its muscles to keep the blade in place.

“Ah...”

With its right foreleg held as high as it could go, Zeno Grable brought its limb crashing down. I could do nothing but stare in a daze—it was like the griffon was trying to crush a pesky bug. Welp, I’m dead.

“You sure have made a mess, you bastard.”

In the next instant, a whispering yet clear voice resounded through the air. Clad in an absolutely chilling bloodlust, with a blaze in her eyes, the Twin Dragonblade joined the fray.

“Graaaaaaah!”

Stuck where I was, I saw her enter my field of vision—a black rank, the strongest of adventurers, my counterpart on this training excursion.

“Selna!”

Selna Lysandra leaped down from directly above Zeno Grable and plunged her two swords into its eyes.

I had no idea how she’d climbed above it, but as she plummeted down, her blades found their targets, slicing deep into the sockets. Immediately, I felt the sensation in my hands change, and it seemed I could pull out my longsword.

“G-Grrr... Gah...!”

“How tenacious!”

Even with one sword in its mouth and two more in its eyes, Zeno Grable was still alive. I’d better pull my blade free and deliver the killing blow.

“Hyaaaah!”

However, before I could take action, Selna twisted her body, her broadswords still in Zeno Grable’s eyes, and used the centrifugal force to slash horizontally through its head. Vibrations shuddered through the hilt of my sword—I could feel that she’d torn through flesh, bone, and all sorts of other things.

Her strength and technique were impressive. Black ranks really are on a different level... If my sword placement had been identical to hers, I doubt I could’ve so skillfully put my weight and strength behind a follow-up attack. Once more, I was made keenly aware of how strong Selna was. Honestly, had I really been necessary in this fight at all?

“Phew...”

The impact of Selna’s strike allowed my longsword to be tugged free. Still grasping the hilt, I unintentionally sat down and let out a huge sigh. I was sweating like crazy. If Selna’s attack had come a second later, I would probably be dead right now. This had been my first serious brush with death in quite a long time.

I took another look at Zeno Grable. Swords had been driven deep into both its eye sockets, and then those same blades had torn through its skull. Even a named monster couldn’t evade death after all that. Incidentally, the ground around us was also a mess. Because we’d forcefully stopped the collapse midway, the earth had caved here and there in random spots around us.

Selna sheathed her two swords. “I managed to easily climb above it because you bought time for us, Master. Thank you very much.”

“No, no, there’s no need to thank me. I couldn’t defeat it.”

Honestly, I should be the one thanking her. Things had gone smoothly until I’d jammed my sword into its mouth...but I’d seriously been close to death.

“Hm...?”

Just as I tried to return my sword to its sheath, I realized that the weight in my hand seemed strangely light. The balance was off.

“Aaah...”

It’d snapped—clean in two. My longsword was missing everything from halfway down the blade to the tip. That did make sense. It’d broken off inside Zeno Grable, which was why the sensation had changed and I’d been able to pull it out.

“F-Forgive me, Master!” Selna cried. “It likely got caught in my attack!”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize. You did what was best at the time.”

My sword had probably yielded to the force of Selna’s broadswords. My blade wasn’t badly made, but it wasn’t some masterwork or anything either—just your average longsword. On the other hand, Selna’s weapons were clearly very sharp. With the strength she’d put behind them, it wasn’t odd that mine had given in.

“Don’t worry about my sword,” I told Selna. “More importantly, how’s Porta doing?”

I turned my gaze toward the cave, away from the sopping mess that was Zeno Grable’s face. Needry and Sarlikatz were staring at us in shock. Farther inside, I saw Porta lying on the ground.

“He’s not in mortal danger,” Selna answered. “All that’s left is to get him back and stabilize him. He should recover.”

“That’s great. Couldn’t ask for more.”

Being an adventurer always came with risks, and the ideal outcome was to get home alive. At least, that was what I believed, though I wasn’t actually an adventurer. Still, nobody would trade their life for prestige. Facing unheard-of dangers, treading unknown lands, and then coming back alive—that was the important part. In that sense, this excursion had been a bit of a calamity for the three newcomers, but it had also been a stroke of good luck.

“Anyway, I guess we’re saved. Thanks, Selna.”

Seriously, I was glad that Selna was with us. I couldn’t have won on my own. To put it bluntly, I’d definitely be dead. And if I’d lost, the three others would’ve been killed too. Those youngsters had bright futures ahead of them, and I felt that simply protecting them was enough to earn a gold star.

“Don’t mention it,” Selna said. Her unyielding spirit blazed behind her eyes as she squeezed out her next words. “More importantly, your sword...”

“Forget that already,” I told her. “This is my sword’s grave. Just leave it at that.”

For some reason, that was really weighing heavily on Selna’s mind. But she didn’t have to worry so much. I’d be lying if I said I had no emotional attachment to the thing...but it really wasn’t special in any way.

“M-Mr. Gardinant! Ms. Lysandra!”

Judging that the danger had passed, Needry came running out of the cave toward us. Sarlikatz hefted Porta up and also started moving toward us. He can’t walk on his own, so we can’t just leave him behind.

“Needry. Glad to see you’re all okay,” I said.

“Y-Yes! U-Um, thank you...very much!” she responded, still unable to stop herself from trembling.

“Ha ha ha,” I chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

I hadn’t protected them because I wanted their thanks or anything, but the appreciation felt pretty good. Though, Selna had frankly been the one to give it her all, not me. Regardless, it wasn’t good for them to remain so tense. There was no telling when the ground beneath us was going to finish collapsing, and they were surely mentally fatigued. We had to get back to Baltrain quickly.

“Now then, shall we get going?” I asked. “Selna?”

Just as I was about to suggest leaving the Azlaymia Forest, Selna started picking through Zeno Grable’s corpse.

“It’s a named monster, so we have to bring back proof that identifies it,” she explained. “Fur...and a claw should do.”

“I see.”

Now that she mentioned it, that made sense. The adventurer’s guild had gone out of its way to designate Zeno Grable as a special target. They couldn’t just accept a verbal testimony that the monster had been slain.

“Hmph!”

With a quick exhalation, Selna took a swing at the base of one of Zeno Grable’s claws. After a loud crack, the claw fell to the ground, sliced from the root of what was probably a finger.

“It’s quite hard...” Selna commented. “Seems like it’ll serve well as a raw material.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

I’d only heard rumors of this, but some adventurers apparently used materials from the monsters they’d slain to make their own weapons. I had pretty much nothing to do with that sort of lifestyle, so my sword had been made of regular old minerals. That same sword had just perished, though. Hmm, not having a sword at my waist makes me feel restless. I’ll have to buy a new one once I get back to Baltrain. Maybe I can swing by that blacksmith Allusia brought me to or something.

“It might be a good idea to use Zeno Grable’s claw to make you a new sword, Master,” Selna suggested.

“No, no, that’s yours,” I said, refusing politely. “I’ll pass.”

I hadn’t been the one to defeat it. Besides, I felt like an absurd weapon would be produced that way, so I declined. I was fine with a plain old sword. How did you make a sword from a claw, anyway? Turning it into a spear would make far more sense.

“Is that so...?” Selna muttered. “Then, shall we return? Master, when we get back to Baltrain, we’ll have to report that the named monster has been slain, so may I ask you to accompany me for that?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

Either way, we needed to report that the newbies had finished their training. It didn’t seem like that was going to take much time.

“Hee hee, it’s your triumphant return!” Selna said. “I feel proud about it too.”

“Cut that out. You’re the one who defeated it.”

The griffon’s open mouth, my reckless sword thrust... The significant damage I’d dealt had been due to sheer luck. However, there was no mistaking that Selna had delivered the decisive blow. It probably would’ve gone smoother if I’d gone to save Porta while Selna fought Zeno Grable. We’d defeated it in the end though, so I suppose it didn’t really matter now. Nobody had died, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. It had been close though... One careless step would’ve been the end of me.

“Okay then, shall we go back to Baltrain?” I asked.

“Yes!”

And just like that, following a stormy, harrowing ride, the curtains came down on the new adventurers’ practical training.

◇

We proceeded back down the path we’d used to get to the dungeon and exited the Azlaymia Forest. Luckily, our carriage was right where we’d left it. We traveled for a while, set up camp for the night, and after a few more hours in the carriage the following day, the walls of Baltrain were in sight.

“Ms. Lysandra, Mr. Gardinant, thank you so very much!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. We just did our job.”

Porta was thanking me for the umpteenth time. He’d awoken when we’d set up camp last night, and after hearing the details from Needry and Sarlikatz, he’d bowed to me and Selna over and over. A day had passed since the incident with Zeno Grable, and he’d recovered somewhat—he was able to walk around at least. I was extremely relieved that he had no lasting injuries. Perhaps his wounds had actually been major, but they’d been minimized by Selna’s use of the potion.

Porta was, of course, still developing his swordplay skills—he was the type to direct his straightforward attitude right into his blade. In that sense, I had a feeling he would become an excellent swordsman in the future. Just how much potential was sleeping within him? We would have to wait and see.

“First, make sure to take your time recuperating and healing up,” I instructed.

“I will!” Porta exclaimed. “Nothing good comes from being reckless.”

“That’s the spirit. Now get some rest.”

Porta also scored high for being so honest. In general, much like he’d said, nothing good ever came from being reckless. It was best to be in perfect physical and mental condition before surging toward your goals. Many adventurers were hotblooded types who aspired to get rich quick. These kinds of people were likely to forget themselves and dive straight into danger. While I considered this trait a touch foolhardy, from a different perspective, you could say that those without such mettle weren’t suited to making a living as adventurers. Greed, confidence, danger—those who balanced these three elements survived and grew. Dying meant losing everything.

“We’ve arrived in Baltrain,” Selna announced from the driver’s seat. She’d insisted on taking Needry and Sarlikatz’s place there for the return trip. “We have to report to the guild, so we’ll be going straight there. Are you fine with that, Master?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

By all rights, having a black rank as their personal driver was outrageous for our youngsters, but Selna was an adventurer capable of such consideration. I’d had a lot of opportunities to witness her unyielding spirit lately, but she was truly a kind person at heart who couldn’t help but act like a guardian. Well, she was like that in the past too.

“What is it, Master?”

“Aah, nothing.”

Oops, I’d ended up staring at Selna without thinking. Though, she really had grown up splendidly. I’d only spent a short time looking after her during her childhood, but seeing all her progress still made me feel warm inside.

We got off at the usual carriage stop and walked to the adventurer’s guild. Sarlikatz lent Porta a shoulder. I wanted Porta to go and get some rest already, but he had to report to the guild first—he just needed to hang in there a little longer.

We went through the door and proceeded straight to the counter. Selna spoke as our representative and got things moving.

“The guildmaster, please.”

“Y-Yes. Right away.”

When the receptionist looked at Porta, she seemed to realize that this was no trivial matter. It’s impressive that she’s not overly flustered about it though. Maybe this is a common occurrence in the guild.

A short while later, the white-haired guildmaster, Nidus, came downstairs—he was accompanied by Meigen. They both took a single look at Porta and more or less surmised the situation. Much like when I’d first met him, I got the impression that Nidus had nerves of steel. You do gain wisdom with age, but his composure is probably also fortified by his past as an adventurer.

“Thank you for waiting...” said Nidus. “I suppose something happened?”

“The training itself went smoothly,” Selna explained. “However, afterward, we encountered the named monster Zeno Grable in the Azlaymia Forest. We’re here to report its elimination.”

“Unbelievable...!”

The entire lobby of the adventurer’s guild erupted in shock. Until now, I’d never really considered how much of a threat monsters actually were. While I’d known that named monsters existed, they’d had nothing to do with me until recently, so I’d never had the chance to hear the gory details.

“We brought back evidence, just so you know,” Selna added, placing Zeno Grable’s fur and claw on the counter with a thunk.

“Hmm... Seems like it’s true.”

Before I knew it, we were surrounded by the eyes of rubbernecking adventurers who gawked at our team from across the room.

“Did you do this alone, Lysandra?” Meigen asked.

“No. I worked alongside Mast— Mr. Gardinant. All I did was deliver the final blow.”

Please don’t casually exaggerate what happened.

“I see...” Nidus turned to me and bowed deeply. “Mr. Gardinant, thank you very much.”

“I-It’s fine. There’s no need for all that.”

I really wanted them to cut this out. I mean, it was true we’d defeated it, but Selna had done all the heavy lifting. Running around as a distraction and being a pest to Zeno Grable had taken everything out of me—I hadn’t even dealt any real damage. All this praise made me itchy.

“It must have been rough for you three too,” Nidus said to the newbie adventurers behind me. “I’m glad you all made it back alive.”

As the guildmaster, he was probably the highest-ranking individual here. Normally, it would be unthinkable for a bigwig like him to show such consideration for mere bronze ranks. Nidus is a good person with a compassionate heart—this proves it.

Nidus turned back to Selna. “We’ll put together a collection team immediately and send them out to retrieve Zeno Grable’s body.”

Selna nodded. “Please do. Normally, I would’ve stayed behind...but because the newcomers and Mr. Gardinant were with me, I prioritized returning.”

“A wise decision. Just let me know the monster’s location and leave the rest to the guild.”

Nidus and Selna got things moving on their own. Seems they’re going to retrieve Zeno Grable’s corpse. Well, Selna did mention something about materials or some such, so they’re probably going to use every piece of the corpse they can.

“A named monster has been defeated, so the news must be spread in a grand manner,” Selna said.

“Indeed. Let’s hurry with those arrangements too.” Nidus’s muttered response seemed strangely cheerful.

They were going to announce it to the public? Was a named monster that big a deal?

I decided to cut in. “Um, this might sound abrupt, but...”

“What is it, Mr. Gardinant?” Nidus asked.

I figured I should ask a little more about named monsters while we were on the topic. After all, I’d battled and defeated one without even knowing the basics.

“I’ve heard about named monsters before...but I’m fairly ignorant, so I don’t know much about them.”

Nidus chuckled. “Ha ha ha ha, is that so?”

My lack of knowledge was a little embarrassing, but I couldn’t really say anything if they made fun of me for it. There was that famous saying: “To ask may be but a moment’s shame; not to ask and remain ignorant is a lifelong shame.” I didn’t really know if that applied to this situation, though.

“Meigen, explain.”

“Yes, sir.”

Oh, the guildmaster’s tagging out? Anyway, is it okay for the likes of me to be taking this much time away from the guild’s two leaders? I suppose it’s a little late to ask.

“We of the adventurer’s guild take a leading role in identifying unique specimens and giving them names,” explained Meigen. “Currently, there are forty named monsters confirmed within the Liberis Kingdom. Zeno Grable was one of them.”

“Forty, huh?” That doesn’t sound like a lot to me. So we brought down one of those? Well, ain’t that amazing.

“Naturally, the number fluctuates when monsters are successfully eliminated or as new variants are discovered...but fundamentally, any requests involving named monsters cannot be accepted by adventurers beneath platinum rank. You may recognize them as posing an enormous threat.”

“I see... Thank you.”

After Meigen’s explanation, a moment of silence dominated the area. So named monsters were for platinum ranks and above... Thinking back, Randrid, who was in Beaden now, was a platinum rank. Well, a retired platinum rank. He’d mastered the sword to a significant level, and it was rare to encounter anyone who could surpass him.

And Selna cleanly eliminated a hugely threatening named monster... She really is on a different level.

“By the way, Mr. Gardinant,” Nidus said, staring right at me. I could see the trust and zeal in his gaze.

“Yes, what is it?” I asked.

“Are you interested in becoming an adventurer?”

“No thank you.”

Instant rejection! I’m just a humble old man!