After Tsubaki's rather blunt remark fell, the girls around them, who had been bickering or polishing their weapons, paused almost at the same time.
A few curious glances quietly gathered.
After all, even if no one said it aloud, everyone was wondering what Tsukuyo would say next.
Faced with such a direct question, Tsukuyo showed no trace of embarrassment.
She simply adjusted her sitting posture slightly and rested both hands lightly on the sheath of the katana White Heron, which lay across her knees.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Tsubaki-senpai flatters me."
"The reason Tsukuyo hasn't drawn her blade… is simply because everyone's swords are too fast."
"Those monsters turn into dust before they can even come within a few steps of me."
"If everyone is so eager for battle, then why should Tsukuyo compete for that credit and spoil everyone's enjoyment?"
Tsubaki narrowed her eye slightly.
"So you simply didn't want to compete for credit?"
"Then what if… an opponent appears that none of them can react to in time, rushing straight for your throat?"
"What would you do then?"
Tsukuyo answered calmly.
"If such an uninvited guest truly appeared, the blade in Tsukuyo's hand would naturally do its part."
"After all, although Tsukuyo does not wish to compete for merit, she also does not wish to become a burden to everyone."
"Oh?"
Hearing that, Tsubaki raised an eyebrow. A spark of interest flashed in her lone eye.
That attitude suited her taste quite well.
However, just as she was about to say something and casually change the topic,
Something suddenly changed.
Behind Tsukuyo, on the ground, there had originally been nothing more than an ordinary shadow cast by the surrounding rocks.
Yet in the next instant, that shadow seemed to come alive.
The still darkness twisted and churned as though it possessed a will of its own, and then the black mass surged upward. In the blink of an eye, it condensed into the outline of a humanoid figure.
The monster stood roughly 1.6 meters tall.
Its appearance could be summed up in a single phrase: a pitch-black shadow. It possessed long limbs, and from its wrists extended three sharp hooked claws that gleamed faintly with cold light.
This was a monster that normally only appeared after the sixth floor.
War Shadow.
With agility far surpassing Goblins and Kobolds, it often delivered fatal ambushes when rookie parties relaxed their guard. Because of this, adventurers in Orario had given it a nickname: the Rookie Killer.
At this moment, the War Shadow had chosen its timing perfectly.
The group had relaxed their guard and were chatting casually.
And when the faceless black head emerged, its target locked directly onto the closest person, the blind girl sitting quietly on the rock with her eyes closed.
Tsukuyo.
The War Shadow let out a strange hiss without the vibration of vocal cords, and its claws tore through the air as they lunged toward Tsukuyo's slender neck.
The distance between them was less than half a meter, and the speed was astonishing. Compared to the slow Goblins they had encountered earlier, the War Shadow moved on an entirely different level. At such a distance, an ordinary rookie would not even have time to turn around before their head was already gone.
Tsubaki's pupil shrank.
As a Level 5 first-class adventurer, she naturally reacted immediately. Almost the instant the War Shadow burst out, her hand had already reached the hilt of the weapon behind her.
As the leader, she had to cover for the newcomers. She could not allow a rookie to die under her watch. No matter how much potential they had, an ambush like this, one specialized in killing rookies, was still extremely dangerous.
However, before Tsubaki's blade had even left the sheath by half an inch, she stopped.
Because someone was faster.
Clang!
A clear, ringing sound suddenly echoed through the Dungeon.
It was not the harsh noise of metal clashing, but the sharp cry produced by a blade sliding rapidly against the inside of its sheath, pure and piercing like the call of a crane.
A flash of white light appeared.
Tsukuyo's left hand pushed aside the guard while her right hand drew the blade like lightning. The white edge traced a perfect semicircle through the air, so fast the eye could barely follow it. For a fleeting moment, it resembled moonlight flashing into existence.
『Iaijutsu · Cloud Radiance』
The light appeared before the sound.
By the time the faint slicing noise reached everyone's ears, the outcome had already been decided.
The War Shadow's claws stopped in midair, less than three centimeters away from the back of Tsukuyo's neck.
Yet those three centimeters had become an absolute divide between life and death.
The scene seemed to freeze.
Then a thin white line appeared across the War Shadow's waist.
In the next instant, the monster split cleanly in two.
The cut was smooth like a mirror. The War Shadow did not even have time to scream before the two halves of its body dissolved into thick black ash, scattering into the air along with the deadly strike it had attempted.
Only a fingernail-sized magic stone and a broken hooked claw fell to the ground.
Tsukuyo let out a soft breath.
She flicked her wrist lightly, tracing a graceful arc with the blade before sliding it back into the sheath.
Click.
As the guard settled against the scabbard, the chilling killing intent that had erupted for that instant vanished completely.
Tsukuyo tilted her head slightly. Her unfocused crimson eyes turned precisely toward Tsubaki, and the same gentle, serene smile remained on her face.
"Tsubaki-senpai."
"That… is Tsukuyo's answer."
"..."
Tsubaki stared at the scene before her.
Even for a seasoned Level 5 adventurer, the sight felt almost unreal. The draw speed alone was astonishing, and the seamless shift from absolute stillness to explosive motion carried a breathtaking sense of control.
More importantly, it was Tsukuyo's reaction speed.
There had been no hesitation and no delay. The instant that faint killing intent appeared, her body had already responded with the perfect counterattack, as though instinct had acted before thought.
Lord Haimer really picked up a treasure…
Tsubaki clicked her tongue inwardly.
After all, a War Shadow might only be a slightly troublesome monster in the Upper Levels, but Tsukuyo herself was still only a Level 1 rookie, and a blind one at that.
To be ambushed by a monster and still strike first after the attack had begun, killing it instantly with a single blow, was a feat so rare that even in Orario it could be counted on one's fingers.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in Tsubaki's mind.
A golden-haired girl known as the Sword Princess.
Ais Wallenstein of the Loki Familia.
The genius who had taken only one year to rise from Level 1 to Level 2, setting the fastest level-up record in Orario.
For years, that record had stood like a mountain over the heads of all who followed.
Yet now, looking at the blind girl before her, Tsubaki suddenly felt a strange intuition.
"If it's this child… she might truly have a chance to break that record."
With that thought, Tsubaki's interest grew even stronger than before.
It seemed that accepting this job of guiding rookies had indeed been the right choice.
After all, witnessing the birth of a prodigy was one of the greatest pleasures for the gods and adventurers who lived in Orario. And for a blacksmith like her, seeing a weapon she had personally forged bloom with such brilliance in the hands of a true genius was a satisfaction more intoxicating than the finest liquor.
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