PAGE 1

“A very important person once told me that unnecessary killing is evil. It’s one of the most important rules for me as I live.”

“Unnecessary killing… Yes, I understand, Asagi. I will become a great Adventurer like you two. I want to follow my father and become the best guild master in the empire!”

 

Oh, guild master, huh? Well, I could only pray that he would be better than a certain guild master that I was acquainted with.

 

“…Hm? What is it? Daniela?”

“…It is nothing.”

 

Daniela was blushing as she stepped behind me. …Oh, it must have been because of what I just said. How cute. Well, we were still on the battlefield. We’ll continue this at night. But for now, it was off to the next goblin.

 

□ □ □ □

 

“Can you see it?”

“Yes.”

“Now try closing your eyes and just feel its presence. See it, while your eyes are still closed.”

“…Yes, I will try.”

 

He was practicing Presence Detection now. It was just like when Daniela taught me. At the time, Daniela was in a terrible mood due to an unforeseen disaster, but she was instructing him in an easy to understand way now. It really was important to understand the feel of it.

 

“I think…that I can see it.”

“That is fine for now. As long as you do not forget that feeling, it will slowly start to sharpen.”

“I understand.”

“Good…now go and get it.”

“Yes!”

 

Penrose opened his eyes and caught sight of the goblin as he brandished his sword. I pushed him forward and he ran. At the same time, I launched a small chunk of ice at the goblin.

 

“Grrgah!”

“!?”

 

The goblin howled with pain as it struck the back of his head. Then he turned to look at us. The unexpected attack caused Penrose to look over his shoulder as well, but there was no time for that. The goblin assumed that the attack had come from Penrose, and he shouted and charged forward. A rusted short sword swung wildly in his hand as he dashed.

 

“GYAGGAHH!”

“Wo-woah!”

 

Penrose frantically held up his sword and blocked the blade that came down on him. While holding his sword in front of him, he took several steps back and shouted at me.

 

“What was that! You did not say anything about doing that!”

“Battles don’t always play out in the way you discussed them. An Adventurer should be able to deal with the unexpected.”

“Tsk…!”

 

While he was clearly irritated by this, he seemed to also understand. He held the sword high and ran forward again. Then he pulled the sword back and used his body as a spring to swing it up over his head and fall down in an arch over the goblin. This attack had the most obvious trajectory in my eyes, but this goblin was unable to deal with it. It would not move back. Instead, it held its arms up over its face and was cut down. It really was different when you had some prior training.

 

“…That was…dirty of you.”

“Dirty? What are you saying? That has nothing to do with combat. A great Adventurer should be able to swiftly react and deal with any unexpected situation.”

 

Daniela thundered in my defense as Penrose voiced his grievances. His shoulders slumped at this, but he had actually dealt with it admirably. Defense, reversal, the attack after fully understanding the situation. As far as I could see, he had done well.

 

“Were it I, I would have not have stopped when he noticed my presence. I would have closed in at a speed that he could not react to, and gut him before he could let out a scream.”

“…”

 

Well, there was that way too, I guess. Goblins too would try to understand the situation. And that would be the time to act.

 

“However, I will say that you were not wrong either. It increases other dangers, but it is still safer.”

“Other dangers?”

 

I had been listening quietly until now, but this part puzzled me. Daniela looked at me and sighed.

 

“Asagi. Are you really an Adventurer? It is obvious once you think about it.”

“Oh, you’ve gone and said it now…but, wait a second. I’ll think about it with Penrose.”

“I do not know either…”

“Well, sometimes you need two heads to find the answer.”

 

Penrose and I sat down on a fallen tree trunk and thought. Not this, not that. We pondered until we became hungry, and so the three of us decided to eat the street stall food that we had bought. We traded ideas as we ate, and Daniela provided hints. When we realized that the answer was ‘that he would call the others,’ I realized that I had been depending on Presence Detection far too much. I see, I still had a way to go then. Through teaching Penrose and being taught by Daniela, I felt that I had grown a little on my way to becoming a ‘Great Adventurer.’

Next Chapter