Roselin let her gaze sweep across the crowd. She studied the expressions of the adventurers watching Najin and became certain: not one of them recognized the technique the young man was about to use.

Then again, it was hardly a technique one saw every day. Even Roselin had witnessed it only a handful of times. Three, perhaps four. But even if she had seen it only once, she would have recognized it immediately. It had left that powerful an impression.

The most knightly of knights. Godif, the leader of Atanga. Roselin could never forget the swordsmanship he had displayed.

It was swordsmanship that embodied Atanga's ideals. Stubborn beyond measure, it permitted no retreat, only overcoming an opponent head-on. And that was precisely what made it the most knightly sword of all.

TAP.

Dwelling on the memory of that day, Roselin took a step forward. The swordsmanship the young man was about to perform must not be used against a mere monster.

What he meant to display was Atanga's swordsmanship—and, among its techniques, one bound by a precept. As Roselin recalled, it was shown only to opponents who met particular conditions.

'Either to punish those who have lost both honor and pride and sullied the name of knight...'

Or when one acknowledged an opponent as a worthy rival. It was swordsmanship employed only upon recognizing a proud opponent worth confronting with everything one had.

GROOOOAR!

It was not swordsmanship to be used against a screaming troll like that. Of course, it was none of her business, but Roselin had little desire to watch it spent on a mere troll.

TAP.

Roselin lightly pushed off the ground. A considerable distance separated her from Najin, but a single leap brought her directly behind him. Najin sensed her presence and was just about to turn his head.

"Greenhorn."

She seized his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Atanga's swordsmanship isn't something you use against a monster like that. Let's have a talk later."

She smiled as she murmured the words. She liked this young man named Ivan a little more now. She liked his guts in taking on the Bloodred Troll, and his tenacity in throwing himself at it again and again to seize victory.

With a swift shove, Roselin pushed Najin back and stepped in front of him.

The Bloodred Troll, which had been about to charge Najin, faltered and stepped back. It could feel it too. The opponent before it was someone it must not attack.

GROOOOAR!

The troll howled as it backed away. Its howl shook the forest. A moment later, the trees rustled violently and monsters began swarming toward them as though answering its cry. Roselin, however, was looking back, seemingly uninterested in any of them.

She was looking at Najin, and Najin was looking at her. At the sight of his frown—as though displeased at having his prey stolen, or annoyed that she had interrupted a fight he was thoroughly absorbed in—Roselin burst out laughing.

Of course. This was how an adventurer ought to be.

'I like him more and more.'

Roselin had been about to draw the longsword at her waist, but she chuckled instead. Deputy Commander Varger would give her another earful if she used these, but what did she care?

"Tsk, I don't usually show this off..." she told Najin. "But it's been a while since I saw something that good. I ought to return the favor."

Roselin reached toward the small of her back. Not for the ordinary sword at her waist, but for the two scabbards strapped in a straight line across her lower back.

CLANG!

The two swords slid free.

Two short swords, each half the length of a longsword. Their pitch-black blades gleamed eerily.

2.

-That's a Masterpiece.

The moment Roselin drew the twin swords from her waist, Merlin's voice rang in Najin's ears.

'A Masterpiece?'

-Yes. Watch closely. This isn't something you get to see often.

Najin watched Roselin walk toward the Bloodred Troll and the approaching monsters. The twin swords hanging at her sides had pitch-black blades. Merlin had called them a Masterpiece.

'What are Masterpieces?'

-The forty-seven armaments the primordial blacksmith forged from mystery itself, Merlin said.

-The explanation gets a little complicated, but put simply, they're weapons that produce effects like magic, without any magic being involved.

They predated even the era in which Arthur had lived. Forty-seven armaments said to have been forged by a blacksmith who lived in the primordial age. Merlin described them as mystery itself, something neither humans nor constellations could imitate.

-They're no match for Excalibur, but they're fascinating weapons all the same. Even in my time, people wielding Masterpieces could introduce unexpected variables.

Then Merlin added,

-I've seen the Masterpiece that woman is holding before. I think a champion of the Allied Nations used it several hundred years ago... Wasn't its name Echo?

As Najin listened to Merlin, Roselin took a step forward. Approaching the troll and the swarming monsters, she raised both swords.

CLANG.

Roselin struck the two blades together. The clang did not end with a single ring. Though she had struck them together only once, the sound rang out in layer after layer, as though echoing.

The adventurers frowned at the resounding noise, but Najin's eyes widened. His senses were sounding an alarm. Eyes wide, he watched Roselin.

HSSS...

Sword aura surged over the twin swords at her sides. It was unlike any sword aura Najin had seen before. The aura he had seen, and knew how to produce, was merely a flash woven from light...

KEEEEEEN!

But the sword aura enveloping Roselin's twin blades was shaped like saw teeth. Its strange form resembled a beast's claws, or its fangs. This was sword aura imbued with Roselin's inner image, unique to her alone.

Imbuing sword aura with an inner image to change its shape. The realm of the Sword Seeker.

Roselin moved, trailing her sword aura. She stamped her foot into the earth with a thud, and her movements accelerated in an instant. Even with his eyes wide open, Najin could barely follow her. Then her swinging twin swords traced complete arcs.

CLAAANG...

The echoing ring of the blades—

CLAAAAAANG!

—resounded violently in an instant.

Amid the ringing noise, Najin saw it. Countless lines of severance raced across the body of the Bloodred Troll he had fought so fiercely. Thin lines appeared on the bodies of the monsters drawn by its howl.

As the echoes faded, the thin lines etched into the monsters' bodies turned red.

SPLAAASH!

A moment later, blood spurted in every direction. The monsters' corpses collapsed, diced into pieces along those thin lines. One strike. A sight impossible to believe had come from a single swing of her swords. Najin stared at Roselin with wide eyes.

For the first time, he had seen a sword strike with his own eyes and still could not understand it. He could imitate the movement, but he could not comprehend how it had produced such a result. That was only natural. Najin still knew little about sword aura.

What Roselin had demonstrated was a technique unique to her, combining her own sword aura with the special properties of her Masterpiece. It could only be wielded upon reaching the realm of Sword Seeker, with a profound understanding of sword aura and an awakening to the concept of a sword's path.

A concept unknown to him, encountered for the first time. Najin's eyes shone as he faced the first goal he had to reach.

'That is... '

That was a Sword Seeker. That was the pinnacle of this city.

Roselin spun her swords once, sheathed them, and turned around. Seeing Najin staring at her wide-eyed, she smiled. Without making a sound, she mouthed to him,

"Well? Fucking awesome, right?"

Her self-satisfied manner was not particularly impressive, but even Najin could not deny that her sword strike had overwhelmed him.

3.

Despite a minor disturbance, the Dochenberg Forest Clearance Operation came to an end. Under the supervision of the mercenary company, which had gathered at the forest's entrance, the adventurers collected their pay. Giving them a little more than originally promised, Roselin addressed them.

"This was our company's mistake. The appearance of an unusual specimen like the Bloodred Troll was an unexpected variable, and our failure to control that variable is our responsibility. Along with this additional payment, you have our apology."

Fortunately, the Bloodred Troll's appearance had resulted in no injuries or deaths. That was thanks to the one adventurer who had stood in its way.

"..."

As the adventurers collected their pay, they glanced sideways at the scoreboard. The rankings had not changed since the Bloodred Troll appeared, but the scores written there had.

1st. Ivan. (85 points)

Fifty points had been added to his original thirty-five. Roselin said that she had merely intervened, and that Ivan had effectively slain the Bloodred Troll himself. She had valued it at fifty points.

No one could dispute her assessment. At first, the fight had seemed evenly matched, but as time passed, Najin had been overwhelming the Bloodred Troll. The adventurers who had witnessed it agreed with Roselin. Fifty points was also a fitting score for a Bloodred Troll estimated to be Red rank.

'Eighty-five points... '

The adventurers marveled at the scoreboard.

His score dwarfed the previous all-time record, held by Varger, the current deputy commander of the Red Eye Mercenary Company. It was an overwhelming record they could not even hope to approach.

Silently, they glanced at Najin. The young man was resting as he wiped blood from his clothes and hair. The nameplate hanging around his neck was black, but no one could mock him or belittle him as a blackie as they had earlier.

He had proven his skill before them all, and demonstrated his worth through results. No adventurer was so oblivious as to question his qualifications after seeing him charge the Bloodred Troll without hesitation. The contempt and irritation in their eyes were gone. Only awe remained in their place.

"Thanks for saving me. I'll buy you a drink sometime."

The adventurer whose life Najin had saved earlier handed him a business card as he rested, then left. The other adventurers also offered brief greetings as they passed. They were acknowledging him not as a novice, but as an adventurer who had proven his skill—a fellow professional. As everyone left after showing Najin their respect, only one adventurer could not bring herself to do the same.

"..."

The Green-ranked adventurer, Marsen, who had been pushed into second place by Najin, passed him with her teeth clenched.

-Look at that glare. What a brat.

'Who is she?'

-You know. The one who picked a fight with you before we started.

Najin tilted his head. He had not even checked the name of whoever had placed second. He had seen no particular need to know. Merlin gave a disbelieving chuckle at his reaction.

"Ivan."

While Najin was resting, his name was called last. He climbed onto the platform and accepted the reward money Roselin handed him. The pouch was quite heavy.

"I've calculated your pay according to your score and added a little extra for your trouble. Thank you. Thanks to you, we avoided any damage to the company's reputation."

Roselin patted Najin's shoulder. The Bloodred Troll's appearance had been a variable the company had failed to anticipate, and it had nearly caused harm. But because Najin had stood in its way, no one had been hurt or killed. That had made it easy to resolve the situation, and Roselin expressed her gratitude.

"Now, that's one thing."

Roselin handed Najin a wooden box. When he opened it, he found neatly folded dark-red hide inside.

"That's the hide of the Bloodred Troll you hunted. Troll hide is a luxury material. And the hide of a mutant like a Bloodred Troll... you can practically name your price."

Troll hide was tough and highly resistant. Frequently used to make armor, it was already an expensive material. The value of a mutant Bloodred Troll's hide went without saying.

"Normally, ownership of materials from monsters hunted in Dochenberg Forest belongs to our company..."

That was one of the commission's original conditions.

"But this is separate. This monster wasn't listed among the targets, and the guild had placed a bounty on it. It's entirely your prey, so it belongs to you."

In other words... Najin realized what Roselin was getting at.

"Alongside the Dochenberg Forest Clearance Operation, you've completed a Red-rank bounty commission. Come with our company to the guild. We'll serve as witnesses that you slew the Bloodred Troll."

Roselin grinned.

"That's everything I needed to tell you."

At some point, she had moved beside him and slung an arm around his shoulders. Najin was just about to resist the arm suddenly wrapping around his neck.

"Let's talk about the rest over a drink."

Roselin whispered in his ear.

"Atanga's swordsmanship. We've got some things to discuss about that, haven't we? And I still need to give you your first-place prize. So quit arguing and come along, kid."

With her arm still around Najin's shoulders, Roselin repeatedly poked him in the side. Watching them from behind, Varger and the mercenaries sighed.

She must really have taken a liking to him. Shrugging, they followed their commander as she led the way.