Too Weak to Be Fun
They're too weak, aren't they?
“Huh... So this little kid is the master’s daughter?”
“To be precise, she’s Master and Lady Luina’s daughter. You know the two of them got married, right?”
“Of course I know. There’s probably no one on the continent who doesn’t. That news caused quite the uproar three years ago.”
Martin nodded at Zenle’s words and looked at the young girl standing there, tightly holding Zenle’s hand.
She had already removed her robe while coming up to the third floor. Thanks to that, the expressionless girl’s face, with her pure white long hair and vivid red eyes, was clearly visible.
A girl of overwhelming beauty with a promising future ahead. She still had some baby fat left, giving her an air that was both pretty and cute, but it was easy to imagine that in a few years she would grow into a stunning beauty.
That exceptional appearance alone was enough to impress, but what surprised Martin wasn’t just that.
“By the way, this little kid is already learning Master’s swordsmanship?”
“Yeah, and it’s no exaggeration to say the young lady is a genius. She’s already mastered all the basic forms, and just the other day she started learning the variation forms and practical combat forms.”
“Wow... Mastering the basic sword forms at this age. And the practical forms—I couldn’t even learn those... It’s a bit enviable that she’s learning the practical combat forms Master created himself.”
“Hmm... That’s true. Still, we all created our own practical forms during the war.”
Practical combat forms. As the name suggested, it referred to the sword styles that those who learned Kael’s swordsmanship had adapted to their own tastes amid the chaos of war.
It was a collective term for the sword forms that Kael’s disciples had created to suit their individual tendencies, familiar battlefields, and combat styles. Therefore, it was fair to say that there were as many different practical combat forms as there were surviving disciples.
However, no matter how much one had created their own practical form during the war, it was only natural to want to learn the one Kael had created himself. Since it was the style forged by the greatest master of swordsmanship in the midst of real combat and life-or-death situations, anyone who learned the sword would covet it.
How could one not feel envious, knowing she was learning such forms directly from Kael?
Of course, that envy quickly vanished when they considered Elia’s age and status. After all, she was still just a young girl, and as Kael and Luina’s daughter, what was there to be jealous about when she was learning swordsmanship directly from her own parents?
Having set aside his envy, Martin focused on what Zenle had said about Elia’s genius instead.
“More importantly, she really does seem like a genius. Looking at her, she’s not quite an adult yet, but her physique is well-developed for a child. She must have trained hard.”
As he praised Elia, Martin reached out his hand. However, his attempt to pat her head was sadly thwarted as Elia hid behind Zenle.
Swish———
“......”
Elia hid behind Zenle, showing a faint but readable sense of rejection within her expressionless face.
At the sight, Zenle couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Puhahaha! Put that hand away, Martin. I told you before, didn’t I? Try to fix that scary face of yours.”
“What? Where is my face scary?! Do you know how popular I am with kids?”
If anyone heard that, even Diana, the vice guild master who was Martin’s loyal subordinate, would shake her head and say it wasn’t true. With a muscular body over 190cm tall, a vest that revealed his shoulders, and a face covered in scars and a beard, how could he not look intimidating? It was an opinion even a passing dog would agree with, but unfortunately, Martin himself didn’t think he looked scary.
At Martin’s outburst, Zenle stopped laughing, eyes slightly wet with tears, and nodded.
“Hmmm... Yeah, yeah. If you say so, then it must be true. And it’s not that the young lady is avoiding you because she’s scared. She’s originally a bit shy around strangers. Right, young lady?”
“...Yes. Because it’s my first time meeting this uncle today.”
Elia glanced up slightly as she answered Zenle’s question.
And at the word “uncle” that came with that sentence, Martin clutched his heart as if struck.
“Ugh, damn... She’s incredibly cute, though.”
Though he had heard she was their adopted daughter, he wondered where such looks came from. Overwhelmed by the violence of her cuteness, Martin felt his heart ache for the first time in a while. The kind of cuteness that made one suddenly wonder if they should get married too.
But their idle chatter didn’t last long. Martin opened the door to the guild master’s office that they had reached and changed the subject to the main topic.
“Anyway, what was the reason you came to the guild with this little young lady today? You said it was to look around?”
“Yeah, Master asked me to watch the young lady while he and Lady Luina go look at houses. The young lady prefers sword fighting and swordsmanship over puppet shows or flower viewing.”
“Hmm... Does someone with such a pretty face really like that kind of thing?”
“I think so too... but her tastes are quite unique.”
To like sword fights and swordsmanship with such a pretty and cute face. Elia looked like the type who would play with dolls on a frilly bed, so Martin let out a dry laugh at the mismatch in her hobbies.
But setting aside his prejudices, if she liked that sort of thing, he could understand why they came to the mercenary guild. There weren’t any sword fighting events or brawls happening at this time.
And the fact that they came to the mercenary guild to watch swordsmanship or fights meant...
“Watching the new recruits’ mercenary exam is indeed interesting. Every once in a while, you spot some real gems. So that’s why you came, right?”
“Exactly. Yes, we came to watch the mercenary exam. It’s happening today, right?”
“Yeah, they’re probably doing it in the inner clearing about now... What do you want to do? Shall we go see it right away?”
By now, they would have gathered all the new recruits for today and be conducting the exam in the clearing inside the mercenary guild where the training grounds were set up.
At Martin’s question, Zenle asked the girl standing beside her.
“You want to watch it right away, right? Young lady.”
“Yes, right away, Master.”
Perhaps her tension had eased as time passed, because Elia—showing a faint spark of anticipation in her eyes—nodded immediately at Zenle’s question.
With both of them agreeing, Martin promptly opened the door to the terrace in his guild master’s office.
“Come this way. This is the best seat with a full view of the clearing in the back.”
“You can watch the exam directly from the terrace... Do you watch it every time there’s a mercenary exam?”
“Pretty much. You have to mark the talented new recruits in advance.”
Following Martin’s words, Zenle and Elia stepped onto the terrace. As they came out, a wide clearing surrounded by spectator seats came into view.
Standing in the clearing were three guild employees who appeared to be examiners, one Gold Plate mercenary holding a weapon, and finally, twelve new recruits who had come to take the mercenary exam. It was a slightly larger number than usual, which was typically fewer than ten.
Perhaps because there were more new recruits taking the test than usual, there were also more spectators than the usual five or six—about a dozen mercenaries had gathered, each looking down at the clearing.
The atmosphere in the clearing was filled with an excited energy, like someone who had just started their journey. It was the atmosphere that bloomed between the fresh spirit of the green new recruits and the seasoned mercenaries watching them.
In that atmosphere, the Gold Plate mercenary holding a one-handed shield and one-handed sword raised his voice first.
“As you all probably know, I will now explain the content of the exam. The exam consists of a spar with me. If you pass the examiners’ scoring based on the spar, you pass the test.”
The test through sparring was the content of the mercenary exam. It had already spread widely through repeat test-takers, so even new recruits who had never taken it before knew it.
“Did you know, young lady? That in the old days, they used to use monsters for the exam.”
“...Monsters?”
As the mercenary finished explaining the exam content and added a few more points, Martin spoke up. And unlike before when she was silent, Elia, who now seemed to feel a bit of closeness to Martin, asked back briefly.
At that reaction that seemed to show interest, Martin nodded and answered.
“Yes. Originally, they would catch as many monsters as there were new recruits taking the test and use them for the exam. But as time passed, the low-difficulty monsters became scarce, and bringing strong monsters caused problems with managing them and the difficulty of the test, so it was changed to this person-to-person combat test.”
“Ooh...”
Elia’s eyes sparkled slightly, as if she wanted to see the monster test from back then.
At the cute reaction, Martin chuckled and added a few more stories that only the guild master would know. What kind of monsters they mainly used at that time, what their weaknesses were, how inconsistent the mercenaries’ skills were back then, and so on.
Each time he told such stories, Elia perked up her ears and listened intently.
Martin would have liked to unpack a whole bundle of old tales like this, but the voice coming from the clearing forced him to end the endlessly continuing story.
“Then we will now begin the exam. You there. You’ll start first.”
“Ah, it looks like it’s finally starting.”
Along with the announcement that the test was starting, the new recruit pointed out by the mercenary stepped forward first. Naturally, the examiners withdrew to the outer edge of the clearing, and the other new recruits followed them.
“Well then... Show us what you’ve got, rookie!”
“H-here I come!!”
And without further words, the new recruit holding a two-handed sword charged fiercely toward the mercenary who had taken his stance.
Clang, clang-clang—— Clang———!!
Since it wasn’t a heavy weapon like a greatsword, axe, or hammer, the two exchanged blows quite quickly. Though the new recruit was flustered by the mercenary’s counterattacks, he handled them calmly, and the sight of them exchanging blows drew exclamations from the mercenaries in the spectator seats.
“Oh, that guy’s pretty...”
“He shows some potential, doesn’t he?”
“Doesn’t look like a repeat test-taker... Not bad at all.”
Everyone reacted positively, offering praise at the sight of the new recruit who showed promise.
However, Elia, who had been watching the series of exchanges...
“......?”
She tilted her head with a slightly puzzled expression for a moment. An emotion crossed her face as if wondering if she was seeing it wrong.
But after watching a few more exchanges, Elia realized she wasn’t mistaken.
And having realized that, Elia soon spoke in an expressionless tone.
“...They’re too weak. It’s not fun.”
A statement of pure 100% sincerity, without the slightest hint of falsehood.