Chapter 153:

The Adventurers’ Guild of Izbel might have been small in size, but because the surrounding area was filled with abandoned mines and barren land, its outdoor training grounds were quite well developed.

It was there that young adventurers who had come unusually early to watch the smithing tournament, along with brand-new recruits who had just registered in this city, were gathered. Under the supervision of a female guild receptionist, a sparring session with Melt—intended to simulate real combat—was about to begin.

“Thank you all for joining this combat training today. Recently, gathering missions around Isbel have become more dangerous, and the likelihood of combat arising has increased. The guild believes it’s urgent to improve adventurers’ fighting skills, and so we’ve arranged this session.”

Seven people had gathered at the training ground.

Among them were four young men about the same age as the three newcomers Melt had once met in Lindblum. Then, there were two somewhat older men who seemed to have at least some real combat experience. Lastly, there was a young woman—introduced as a complete newcomer—who had only been an adventurer for less than a month.

“Your sparring partner and instructor today will be Melt here. She’s an adventurer from Lindblum who rose to Ruby rank only about two months after registering—an up-and-coming star.”

“Hiya! I’ve never taught anyone before, but I can fight just fine, so let’s get along! If anyone wants to spar, just say the word! You can even come at me all together if you want!”

Melt spoke those words innocently, without a hint of malice.

For a moment, the group was dumbfounded. But the two older men with some battle experience quickly scowled and stepped forward.

“Quite the confident words, Ruby-rank. Well, Lindblum is swamped with requests, so I bet climbing ranks is easy there. Fine then, little miss—let me be first.”

“Sure! By the way, Receptionist-san, what weapon should I use? This wooden sword? Or bare-handed?”

“Uh, um… let’s go with the wooden sword.”

“Got it! Then you use your own weapon, okay? If you change what you normally use, your habits won’t show properly, and I won’t be able to give you the best advice.”

It was pure goodwill—Melt sincerely wanted to help them improve. By sparring in conditions as close to real combat as possible, she could point out what needed work.

But taken at face value, her words were basically: “You use a real blade, I’ll use a wooden one.”

It was only natural the man took it as arrogance.

If such words had come from a seasoned veteran with the look of a battle-scarred warrior, he might have swallowed his pride. But coming from a cute girl barely twenty, smiling cheerfully as if none of this was serious…

The man drew his longsword and attacked with a ferocity that hardly resembled training.

“Nope—wrong! A wild, overhand swing is only good as a surprise opener.”

“Guh!”

It was over in an instant. Just as the man thought he had stepped into her range, Melt slipped into the blind angle created by his two-handed grip—where his blade couldn’t strike quickly. Her wooden short swords darted forward, thrusting into both of his shoulder joints.

With his arms pinned, the man dropped his sword. Melt immediately crossed her two wooden blades like scissors, pressing them to his neck as if to cut it off.

“See? Leading with a big swing doesn’t work. Start with a thrust instead, okay?”

“D-damn it…”

“Tch…”

His pride completely shattered, the man snatched up his fallen weapon and stormed out of the training grounds.

His partner, left behind, wore an apologetic look as he spoke to Melt.

“Sorry about him. We both got promoted to Crystal rank early, and we’ve slain our share of lesser monsters. But yeah… we let it go to our heads. Truth is, neither of us had ever seen a real genius before.”

“Genius…? I don’t know about that. But I did train on my own for years before becoming an adventurer. Fought a lot, practiced a lot, then fought some more. Learning the right fundamentals matters! Tell your friend to practice thrusts. From there, he should learn how to chain moves together. He’s strong enough to swing that big weapon around, so he’ll improve fast.”

“…Got it. I’ll tell him. Then, my turn, if you don’t mind?”

“Sure! Use that sword of yours, okay? Longswords sure are popular, huh?”

Because Melt sensed the hostility toward her wasn’t truly malicious—just temporary pride wounded—she bore no grudge. Instead, she earnestly gave advice to pass along.

Her lack of venom made the remaining man think, I’ll comfort him later before relaying this.

“Then… ‘please teach me.’”

With proper respect, the man came at her.

“Ugh, I give up! Even four against one, we didn’t stand a chance! And she’s the same age as us…”

“Melt, how old are you anyway? We four all just turned seventeen last year.”

“Oh, I’ll be eighteen next month.”

“Not the point… I just turned seventeen last month…”

About an hour later, the group of four young adventurers had tried ganging up on Melt, only to be completely crushed. They now sat on the ground, gasping for breath.

“I’m seventeen too— …Ah!!!!!”

Suddenly, Melt shouted loudly, startling everyone.

All eyes turned to her in surprise—

“D-Don’t worry about it… S-So, the last spar, right? You’ll be doing it too, won’t you?”

She covered it up and changed the subject.
The final sparring opponent was the only woman among today’s group.

For someone called a newcomer, she had quite a dignified bearing, standing firmly before Melt without a single opening.

“It’s an honor to fight someone of ruby rank from Lindblum. May I use my own weapon?”

“Yeah, that’s fine! Oh—you’re a dagger user like me?”

“Yes, though just one. I’m still new and don’t have much money yet.”

Saying that, she playfully twirled her dagger in her palm.

“Hmm… okay, let’s do it!”

“Oh? Are you sure you’re fine with just a wooden sword?”

“Yep, no problem!”

It happened in that instant.

No sooner had Melt answered than the woman already had her dagger pressed against Melt’s neck—

—only to collapse to her knees immediately afterward.

“Okay, I win. You’re good! You really surprised me! There’s nothing you need to fix!”

“…I-I see. I’m honored you’d say that.”

Every attack has a reach. As long as you don’t let go, there’s a maximum range to a strike.

Holding the hilt at the very end. Gripping with fingertips. Dislocating joints to extend reach.
Expanding shoulder mobility, forcing muscles to stretch. Stepping in deeper than one should.

Secret techniques, hidden teachings, unique skills—no matter the method, Melt had accurately gauged her opponent’s maximum reach.
She ensured the dagger couldn’t come closer—
Not with her wooden sword, but by standing on one leg and thrusting the other in a kick.

As a result, her kick struck the woman’s abdomen a split second before the dagger could land, stopping it just centimeters short.

…It was a move born of an absolute “eye for observation and motion” in battle, a pinnacle not unlike Rue’s own Knowledge of Arms.

“Alright, that’s the end of sparring! I think you get it now, but weak monsters are stupid. Probably dumber than animals, so you can hit them without even thinking about it. But thinking opponents dodge, endure, even fake running away. You must never let your guard down! Animals will run, but monsters think they’re stronger than people!”

Thus Melt concluded the training.

Despite a few scuffles and misunderstandings, her teaching that day ended as a great success—even the guild receptionist was more than satisfied.

—On the surface.

After the newcomers dispersed, Melt received her payment for instructing from the receptionist.
The amount shocked her—it was far higher than expected.

“In fact, the branch manager of Izbel who watched the training ordered us to pay you extra. He said, ‘It’s far too insulting to hire someone of that caliber for such a small fee.’”

“Ehh? That’s kind of embarrassing! But I did make one person upset, didn’t I?”

“Well… that was more my mistake, something I didn’t foresee… Please don’t worry about it, Melt.”

Hearing that, Melt couldn’t help smiling happily.

But then she lowered her voice slightly and made a request:

“Could we talk in the back of the guild for a bit?”

Melt was guided past the reception counter into the staff’s area.

The receptionist, who had been relying heavily on Melt due to the shortage of high-ranked adventurers, worried that maybe she’d done something rude during the training.
With a tense face, she led Melt into a meeting room.

“Um… did I do something wrong…?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I just wanted to talk about something I didn’t want overheard. You’re the one who spoke with my partner, Same, right?”

“Ah, Same? Yes, I spoke with him.”

“Right. I actually secretly listened in on his report at the time…”

Being a beastkin, Melt could shift the angle of her ears, catching surrounding voices and sounds clearly even from a distance.

With that ability, she continued:

“Every year around this time, a lot of new adventurers come to this town, right?”

“Yes, that’s true. Some even settle here. Thanks to that, though this town doesn’t see much traffic aside from merchants, we can still handle simple extermination requests without calling for outside help.”

Indeed, Izbel wasn’t exactly at the very edge of the country.
But surrounded by abandoned mines, rugged mountains, dormant and extinct volcanoes, the land wasn’t well cultivated. The roads didn’t extend much further past this town.

Of course, there were villages scattered in the mountains, but visitors were few. While not the continent’s literal edge, in terms of human settlement, it was remote enough to be called frontier.

“Right. So, the adventurers who settle here every year—where are they now?”

“Now that you mention it… some time ago they said they were moving their base to Lindblum.”

“I’m guessing that happens every year, doesn’t it? They come here around this time, then by the same time next year, they’re gone.”

“Now that you say it… yes, that does seem to be the case.”

Melt, as if she had realized something, nodded firmly and continued.

“They must be rotating on fixed terms so no one gets suspicious, right? Every year, some of the so-called newcomers stay behind in town—and I think those are bandit collaborators. This year, it’s that woman who was with the group earlier!”

“What!?”

“Because she’s not a real rookie. The way she moved—it was the movement of someone who knows how to kill. And her dagger… it reeked of human blood. Not just a small cut or two—that was the smell of someone who’s killed a lot.”

Yes—this was the reason Melt had insisted that the newcomers use their own weapons, and why she accepted this training assignment in the first place.

She had overheard Same’s earlier report, and decided to take action.

Her goal was to secretly make an achievement and quietly advance to Sapphire Rank.
It was a somewhat childish motive: “I want to surprise Shijima, the one who makes my weapons.”

“If we catch her now, before she realizes the guild is preparing to move against the bandits, we’ll probably be able to capture their leader too!”

“…I’ll immediately investigate the records—past newcomers, the dates of their transfers, and when they filed to relocate to Lindblum. Melt… please don’t tell anyone else about this yet. And above all, don’t rush ahead and try to capture that woman on your own.”

“Got it! Well then, see you tomorrow!”

With that, Melt cheerfully departed, leaving the receptionist to let out a long sigh.

“As expected of Lindblum’s most promising rookie…! To think that cute, innocent demeanor was all just a bluff…! That woman must surely be off her guard now too…”

And so, the guild quietly began preparing a secret operation to capture the bandits.

Melt herself didn’t know.

That Sapphire Rank was a rank given only to those who had made great contributions to the guild.

She simply thought: “If I catch some bandits, I’ll be recognized and maybe get one step closer to Sapphire.”

But in truth—if her deduction, which may very well have solved the long-standing mystery of why these bandits had evaded capture for so many years, led to their downfall—then it would be more than enough to earn her the Sapphire Rank. It would be a truly great achievement.

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