The next morning, after finishing her training, Licia went to the guest room.

“Hey, Ren, how about joining us tomorrow?”

With a big smile on her face and a bouncy voice, she invited him to train with her.

When she asked in a happy tone, Ren said in his usual tone.

“Sure. My body is almost back to normal, so I’ll think about it.”

Then—

“……….?”

Licia wondered strangely.

Licia looked at Ren with an oddly quizzical look and approached the desk where he was standing.

She stood directly next to the desk and reached out her hand to Ren, who refused to look at her. She put her hands on Ren’s cheeks and turned him toward her.

“Are you hiding anything from me?”.

(—-!?)

“Ha! your eyes are shaking.”

I was surprised that she could show her keen intuition here.

But I still can’t tell her about the work that Lessard asked me to do.

After some hesitation, Ren decided to tell a lie, even though it hurt his heart.

“I’ve been thinking about the matter of the holy sword technique the other day.”

“….. what?”

“What if I’ve caused a bad influence on Licia-sama’s future…”

I’m not lying about all of it, anyway.

I once thought about what I just said.

“I don’t care about that! It’s my decision, so don’t worry about it!”

Licia said to encourage Ren, honestly believing what he just said.

Ren felt a little sorry for her and looked away slightly.

Perhaps this also made Ren’s mysteriousness stand out, Licia said again, “Don’t worry about it,” and emphasized that her choice was not a mistake.

“We’ll just have to work together someday to learn the style that suits us best. holy swordsmanship is not the only school.”

Licia then released Ren.

After reaffirming his feelings through this unscheduled exchange, Ren got up from his seat as Licia took him by the hand.

He left the room with her pulling him along.

“Where are we going?”

“Breakfast. It looks like you haven’t eaten yet, so let’s eat together.”

She was trying to comfort Ren, who seemed to be in a constant state of distress.

It also makes Ren’s heart prickle and ache.

(I feel guilty. ……)

He kept quiet about the guild thing, partly because he didn’t have any plans set in stone.

However, in the face of Licia’s innocence and straightforwardness, he couldn’t stop feeling as if he was doing something evil.

As they were walking to the cafeteria, they suddenly heard.

“Oh, isn’t that Licia?”

Lessard appeared and called out to Licia, who was moving forward with great enthusiasm.

He was just smiling apologetically at Ren, not caring that his daughter was walking around with him.

Then Lessard said.

“It’s time to leave, what are you doing?”

(Leave?)

“Father, I thought our departure was after breakfast.”

“Oh. I did say that, but you seem to have worked too hard on your morning training. It’s already close to the scheduled time, so I’d like you to have breakfast in the carriage.”

Licia turned to Ren, who was tilting his head slightly, not understanding what she was talking about, and said, “I’m sorry”.

“I was supposed to go to work out of town today. Our departure was after breakfast, so I thought I still had plenty of time to get there….”

Apparently Licia was pushing the clock because she had worked too hard on her morning training.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll have a light breakfast and borrow another book.”

“I’m really sorry, I invited you….”

Licia then let go of Ren’s hand.

She left his side regretfully and toddled off to her room.

“I’m sorry my daughter has been so boisterous this morning.”

Lessard said aloud after Licia was out of sight.

“I’m always energized by her cheerful personality.”

“Huh, that sounds just like you….. Licia and I are going out of town. We’ll be back late at night, so I need you to do some investigation for me today.”

Working in Licia’s absence is somewhat nerve-wracking.

But at the same time, I was also excited at the thought of having the opportunity to fight monsters for the first time in a long time.

“I’m looking forward to the night. I wonder what kind of results you’ll achieve on your first day and how you’ll surprise us all.”

“I don’t think there will be any outstanding results on the first day.”

The first day will be a day of exploration.

If you don’t know the land, the monsters that inhabit it will be new to you.

Therefore, I don’t intend to make too many flashy moves from the start.

I plan to just visit the guild to find information and use the map Weiss gave me to explore the area.

However, if monsters appear, I’ll defend myself.

“Weiss is coming with us, so he won’t be here. But if you need anything, tell the servants in the mansion.”

After this, he left Ren.

Ren didn’t go to the dining room, but went to his room to eat breakfast.

In his heart, he had a different sense of mission than usual.

“Okay—- let’s go for it.’

He has been entrusted with a job similar to the one he did for his father back in the village, but this time he was asked to do it by Lessard.

With that in mind, he felt more relaxed than before.

————————————————————-

Three hours after leaving the town.

If he continued on the opposite side of the hillside from the town, where he fought Jerukku, he’ll will reach a vast forest.

It’s called the Eastern Forest, a place that’s easy to recognize when it is east of the town.

(Ah!)

Walking through the thickly wooded forest, I realized that I had heard of it.

(It’s not completely new to me)

It’s the monsters that inhabit this area.

Even though this is the first time I have actually seen them, I have a good idea of their ecology.

But only if they are the same monsters as in the game days.

“Alright.”

Let’s do it.

As I moved forward with vigorous steps, I saw a figure peeking out at me from behind a tree.

If you look closely, you can see that it’s a beast that resembles a rabbit. What makes it different from an ordinary rabbit is that it has three eyes and twice as many arms and legs.

Naturally, it was a monster.

It’s an F-rank monster named Mitsume.

In terms of rank, it’s one rank higher than the little boars that Ren has hunted countless times.

“Kikik!』\

Mitsume’s movements are more agile than a Little Boar’s, and when it jumps, it appears in front of Ren in a flash.

But there was no way Ren couldn’t react.

He calmly intercepts with the iron magic sword he had summoned, poised with room to spare.

With the tip of his iron magic sword, which he lightly pushed out, he pierced the Mitsume’s neck with a thump.

“Kiiiiii』\

“……Well, it’s like this.”

10% percent out of sync and 30 % nervous.

The remaining 60% was relief at being able to maintain an overwhelming advantage in the battle against the monster for the first time in a long time.

Approaching the Mitsume, who was soon out dead, Ren summoned his wooden magic sword and swung it lightly, binding its corpse with the ivy he had created and carrying it up.

“Oh …… very useful …….”

In his right hand is an iron sword. 

He thought about having two swords, the iron magic sword and the thief’s magic sword, but today he decided on a combination that prioritized transportation.

Eventually, after absorbing the magic stone, Ren turned his attention to the crystal on his bracelet.

——

Ren Ashton

[Job] Eldest son of the Ashton family

[Skill] ・Summon Magic Sword (Level 1: 0/0)

Magic Sword Summoning Technique (Level 3: 241/2000)

Level 1: Able to summon [one] magic sword.

Level 2: While summoning a magic sword, the user gains the effect of [Physical Ability UP (Small)].

Level 3: Summons 【Two swords】.

Level 4: Gain [Physical Ability UP (Medium)] while summoning a magic sword.

Level 5: ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊.

[Acquired Swords]

⋅ Magic Sword of Wood (Level 2: 990/1000)

• Enables attacks of about the same level as natural magic (small).
• The range of attack effect expands as the level increases.

Iron Magic Sword (Level 1: 990/1000)

• The sword’s sharpness increases as its level increases.

Thieves’ Magic Sword (Level 1: 0/3)

Randomly steals an item from the target with a certain probability.

——

I was able to gain a little bit of proficiency without incident.

The wooden and iron magic swords are close to leveling up as well, losing out to the magic sword summoning technique.

It looks like it’s going to go up by the end of the day.

“I wonder how long it will take.”

It was about the encounter rate with monsters.

How many monsters are there and how many can I encounter in a day?

In the end, whether or not I’ll be able to raise my skill level depends on these probabilities.

But after a dozen minutes of Ren stepping forward again, the sound of secret breathing could be heard from the shadows.

(Surprisingly, there seem to be a lot of them.)

He nodded and turned his attention in the direction of the presence.

And then —-.

“Gah! 』\

He moved before the monster struck, closing the distance in between blinks and swinging his iron magic sword.

The second Mitsume, which was ahead of him, almost aimed at Ren and then died.

—- Then.

One goal was achieved after a late lunch. Defeating four more Mitsume had increased the level of the Iron Magic Sword…… but the level of the Wooden Magic Sword (Level 2) had not.

• Wooden Sword (Level 2: 1000/1000)
• Iron Sword (Level 2: 0/2500)

It was the first time in a long time that I felt uncomfortable.

Unlike the iron magic sword, which leveled up successfully, the wooden magic sword’s number was cancelled —- a so-called counterstop situation and its level didn’t increase while its proficiency had accumulated to the maximum value.

“Yes…..”

No way, I’m not giving up here.

If it was a counter stop, I had a feeling it would fit in the same notation as the 0/0 for summoning a magic sword.

“If so, I’m certain there’s a condition for raising the level…..”

However, since I couldn’t find those conditions, I would have to search for them again.

In the end, I continued my investigation and hunting until the evening of that day, but I was not overly concerned about the wooden magic sword. This was partly due to the fact that I was taking notes on the number of monsters in the neighborhood, their habitats, and other things I noticed while hunting.

The research was going well. The hunting was also going well.

When Ren returned to the town carrying many monsters, he smiled as he remembered life in the village.

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