The Novice Adventurer
The novice adventurer let out a short snicker as he watched Rumiel standing there, staring blankly, without so much as a flicker of a reaction.
"What, you scared or something?"
Arms folded, one corner of his mouth curled up, he looked down at her with a sneer and pressed on.
"If you were gonna be that terrified, you should've run away already."
Rumiel tilted her head, looking at him.
"...Scared?"
"Yeah! You think I'm warning you for nothing? I'm telling you all this for your own good!"
The novice adventurer bellowed, thumping his chest with a bang.
"But don't worry. I'm here. And don't you dare be shocked when you hear this! Yours truly happens to be... a level 8 adventurer!"
He puffed himself up as though this were some tremendous accomplishment. Rumiel blinked, quietly lifting her gaze to the space above his head.
"..."
"Well? Impressed?"
Looking thoroughly pleased with himself, the novice adventurer pressed on.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get this far? I've taken down countless Totos around the village, and I've gone up against dozens of slimes. I'm a veteran!"
Arms folded with grave solemnity, he looked down at Rumiel. Pride and a sense of superiority gleamed in his eyes, for reasons known only to him.
"A little kid like you has probably never even been in a real fight, right? But you don't need to be scared."
With a look of utter self-assurance, he waved a hand and launched into a rapid-fire speech, like a fish that had found water.
"Looking at you, you seem pretty gutsy for such a fragile-looking kid to have come this far... but kids like that tend to get themselves into even more trouble."
His expression turned somewhat serious, then he grinned again, adding with a theatrical flourish:
"But don't worry! Like I said, this great level 8 adventurer will protect you! Hahaha!"
He laughed cheerfully, but Rumiel's face remained as blank as ever. She let her eyes slide past him, glancing at the Greedy Slime behind his back, then looked at him again and spoke.
"Is level 8 really that high?"
"...What?"
The novice adventurer's expression froze.
"...Don't tell me. After all that explanation, you still don't get how strong I am?"
"Yeah."
His mouth fell open. Then he snapped it shut, staring at Rumiel with a look of utter disbelief.
"This kid is seriously clueless... Fine. I'll explain it so even you can understand."
He started folding his fingers one by one as he spoke.
"A level 1 newbie can't even take down a single monster. Around level 2 or 3, you can just barely handle a Toto."
He kept folding fingers as he went on.
"And from level 5, you can start taking on slimes. But! A Greedy Slime — that's one of the stronger ones — you need to be around level 6 or 7 to even stand a chance!"
He flicked his last finger with a snap.
"And me? Level 8! I'm already pretty much the strongest person in this Novice Village!"
He thumped his chest again and let out a loud, thoroughly manufactured laugh.
"So, kid. If you're that scared..."
He leaned down slightly, looking down at Rumiel. His voice, already a little low, had gone gravelly — he was clearly dropping it on purpose, trying to sound cool.
"This big brother will protect you, so just sit tight and watch from here!"
Rumiel's face was still that characteristic blank look of hers. Eyes half-lidded, she just blinked quietly.
"...Big brother?"
"...Uh, well. Yeah! Big brother!"
When Rumiel echoed the word, the novice adventurer went blank for a second, his cheeks flushing red. Then he laughed even louder, looking more triumphant than ever.
"You're still just a little kid, so as your big brother, I..."
"...Are you older than me?"
"What?"
The question caught him completely off guard.
"W-well, of course I am! I'm an adult, and you're a little kid! So of course I'm stronger!"
Rumiel looked him up and down once more.
She tilted her head. Then, very slowly, she tilted it the other way, and murmured quietly:
"...Why would you think that?"
It was a question of pure, genuine curiosity.
"Fine! Since you still don't seem to grasp how strong I am, I'll just show you!"
Unable to take it anymore, he drew the sword at his hip.
"Watch closely, kid. I'll show you what a level 8 can do!"
With that, he charged at the slime in front of him. Then, full of confidence, he brought his sword down on the Greedy Slime. A whoosh of steel — then a wet splat as the blade sank in.
A damage number floated up. A pitifully weak, single-digit number.
"...Huh?"
Looking bewildered, the novice adventurer swung again. Another whoosh — another splat.
"W-what?"
His face was a picture of confusion. He'd attacked just like he always did, but the damage wasn't landing properly. That satisfying feedback you got when an attack actually connected — that meaty feel of a solid hit — wasn't there.
"That's weird. I've taken down plenty of Greedy Slimes... was this one always this tough?"
He muttered, bringing his sword down once more.
The number appeared, but the Greedy Slime just wobbled and wriggled. It didn't look like it was in any pain at all.
Rumiel watched the scene in silence, then nodded. She could see exactly why the novice adventurer was struggling.
A bit bigger than a regular monster, with more HP, and occasionally carrying a special debuff. It was an elite monster that showed up from time to time even in the game — tougher than a basic mob, hitting harder too, but it gave a lot of extra EXP. A bonus, of sorts.
The novice adventurer, however, didn't seem to know that.
"Ugh, something's off..."
He kept attacking, but the damage barely changed. Even so, maybe because Rumiel was watching from behind, he kept putting on airs.
"Don't worry! Big brother will take care of it!"
Rumiel hadn't even said anything, but he kept talking, as if making excuses.
"I'm just... a little off today. Normally I'd have taken it down way easier...!"
He really wanted to look cool, didn't he.
Rumiel watched quietly, tilting her head.
...Why does he keep talking to me?
She'd just been standing there watching, but the novice adventurer kept adding things — that he was off today, that he'd normally have handled it easily. Rumiel murmured, almost to herself:
"You look like you're having a really hard time."
An honest assessment. The novice adventurer, however, seemed to take it differently. The moment he heard her mutter, he flinched — then immediately started getting angry.
"W-what!? Having a hard time?! What are you even saying right now?!"
Rumiel blinked at him, all innocence.
"The slime looks fine."
"...!"
He was speechless for a moment. Because it was true. But he didn't want to admit it. He scowled.
"Ah, seriously... this is why kids. You just stay quiet! Big brother will handle it, so just stand there! It's all part of the plan!"
But sweat was already beading on his forehead. The slime in front of him was way tougher than he'd expected.
What the hell, why isn't there even a scratch...!?
He was growing more and more panicked. He kept swinging at the Greedy Slime, but he couldn't land a single effective hit. Eventually, worn out by his own efforts, he started getting pushed back.
Then, after sitting still for a while, the slime began to move its heavy, bouncy body. A slow, gelatinous wobble —
"Ugh?!"
The slime's body stretched out in an instant, lunging toward the novice adventurer.
"Crap...!"
He scrambled backward, but he couldn't dodge the glob of slime that wrapped around his arm.
"Aaaagh! I-it's cold! I'm soaked!"
Having taken the hit, he frantically shook himself, trying to fling the slime off.
Rumiel watched the scene in silence. Then she let out a very small sigh, and calmly opened her inventory. She rummaged around for a while, fishing through it with one small hand, then pulled out a tiny little twig.
While the novice adventurer desperately dodged the slime's attacks, Rumiel held the little twig in her hand. It was:
Rumiel stood there, unhurried, and gave the twig a light swing. At the same time, in a very quiet voice, she recited the spell.
"Shining Ball."
Shining Ball
A brilliant light burst from the tip of the weapon. A small orb of radiance popped into existence and flew straight toward the slime.
"Uh, uhh...?"
The novice adventurer stared, baffled.
Shining Ball.
It was a skill he recognized. A friend of his had gotten all excited about finally becoming an apprentice priest, showing it off — look at this, this is magic — and it was the exact same skill.
But.
Something's different.
For some reason, that Shining Ball looked completely different. Unlike his friend's skill, which had been full of murky mana, this orb of light scattered a radiance so clear it was almost mesmerizing...
While the novice adventurer stood there, staring at the orb in a daze, it drifted slowly forward and touched the Greedy Slime.
And in that moment—