Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Efficacy
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In a forest a short distance from Labyrinth City...
The Ian Mercenary Corps had set up camp near the territory where gnolls lived.
It was the same spot they'd stopped at before to match positions with Lia.
This time, they'd returned to test Rin's skills anew.
Rin spotted a new pack of gnolls approaching from afar and gripped her weapon.
"Rin. There are four this time. Think you can handle it?"
"I'll give it a try!"
Rin nodded confidently at Ian's question.
Through their battles so far, they'd already confirmed she could handle one or two with ease.
This time, it was a pack of four—one more than the last fight.
Ian wasn't entirely sure she could pull it off, but Rin nodded anyway, trusting in how dramatically her skills had improved.
"Wait for my signal to start. Mika, buff her with magic."
"Got it!"
As they waited for the monsters to draw closer, Mika raised her staff and cast a barrier over Rin.
A transparent wave enveloped Rin, forming an invisible thin wall.
After that, Rin waited tensely, eyes fixed on the monsters.
"Now, go!"
Rin charged forward at the signal, just as the monsters closed in.
The gnolls belatedly spotted her rushing at them, let out cries, and raised their weapons—but she was already upon them.
Kiiik—!
Weapons swung hastily toward Rin.
True to form as monsters that scavenged human tools for weapons, the gnolls wielded a mismatched assortment.
Rusty swords, crude wooden spears, clubs—all flew at her.
But compared to the training partners who'd drilled her, these attacks were too obvious and slow.
Rin dove into the gaps of their simple trajectories without slowing down.
To the eye, it looked like she'd recklessly rushed into the swinging weapons, but not a single one connected, slicing only empty air.
First... this one.
Easily dodging the first attack, Rin's sword cleaved through the lead gnoll's torso as she passed.
The struck gnoll screeched like a banshee and flailed its weapon wildly, but Rin dodged and struck again.
Her attacks came in rapid succession, and the deeply wounded gnoll soon collapsed.
With one down, the number of incoming attacks thinned, leaving Rin even more room to maneuver.
Unable to keep up with her movements, the monsters fell one by one in short order.
"Rin. Careful."
"...!"
At Ian's warning, Rin spotted the rearmost gnoll aiming a crossbow at her.
"...Hah!"
Spotting the crossbow trained on her, Rin urgently tilted her body aside.
The arrow, fired a beat late, whistled past her side.
As it grazed the protective magic barrier, transparent ripples spread like waves.
"Take this!"
The moment she dodged, Rin hurled a dagger at the shooter.
The thrown knife struck its arm true, and the gnoll dropped its weapon with a howl.
Rin's thrust finished the last one standing, ending the fight with four monsters in a flash.
"Done! I won!"
Rin turned, waving triumphantly at Ian after felling all four gnolls.
There'd been a close call at the end, but this was an overwhelming victory.
"Hmm..."
Mika, who had watched from behind, wore a serious expression and whispered to Tanya beside her.
"Hey, about Rin... Didn't she get way too strong all of a sudden?"
"It's gotta be because of what she did with the captain, right...?"
Ever since that commotion, Rin had grown explosively overnight.
Sure, she'd received some special training from Ian's help.
...But did that explain transforming into this flying whirlwind of a fighter?
Mika and Tanya exchanged glances with Ian, even Lia shooting him odd looks.
"It's really... this effective?"
"I told you. It's not like we made it up."
"Seeing that, though..."
Even Lia muttered seriously as she watched Rin fight.
She'd initially dismissed it as rookie superstition, but witnessing this firsthand left her no choice but to acknowledge Ian's "efficacy."
Ian, overhearing their whispers, denied it outright.
"...It's not because of that."
"Oh, right. It'd be dangerous if word got out."
"We'll keep it secret!"
"Don't worry. Who'd seriously believe something like this anyway."
But they misunderstood his denial.
They replied confidently to Ian, as if promising to keep his secret.
Ian let out a small sigh at their responses, which showed they didn't believe his denial one bit.
There had been special training and trait effects, but the biggest factor was Rin hitting level 20 recently.
Mercenaries grew massively every 10 levels when promoting ranks, so at 20, Rin now qualified as a C-rank like Lia.
Of course...
He couldn't deny his influence in her reaching 20 so quickly.
Having finished the fight, Rin confirmed the monsters were dead and returned.
She caught her breath beside Ian as the adrenaline wore off.
"Whew, that startled me... These things shoot arrows too?"
"Must've scavenged a working crossbow from some other mercenaries."
They never maintained their weapons, so metal ones rusted quickly and crossbows broke soon after, reduced to clubs.
But of all things, they'd picked up a fresh one recently.
Rin, who'd assumed it was broken like always and nearly taken an arrow because of it, shuddered belatedly and patted her chest.
Until now, most foes had been beasts, so she'd only needed to watch for direct charges.
She knew it intellectually, but facing sudden projectiles sent chills down her spine.
"You dodged well, though."
"Yeah... I didn't even think about it."
Rin hadn't imagined she could handle something like that.
Her growth was so fast even she hadn't grasped her full capabilities.
But Mika, who'd gone all-out with her ace protective spell for Rin's sake, cut in with a dissatisfied look.
"You had my barrier. You wouldn't have gotten hurt even if it hit."
"Yours feels kinda unreliable... I don't trust it'll stop arrows yet."
"What?! Try shooting me! It'll hold!"
By her mana investment, it should've blocked a crossbow bolt easily.
Rin countered Mika's confident shout.
"Then cast it on yourself and block one."
"......"
Mika pondered Rin's suggestion seriously for a moment.
"Sigh. Let's drop this pointless argument."
"......"
She shook her head with a sigh.
...Until someone tested it firsthand, better not trust it—always dodge.
Rin inwardly downgraded her trust in Mika's magic another notch.
Meanwhile, Tanya returned after gathering materials from the fresh kills.
"Captain, got everything."
"Alright. It's getting late—time to head back. No camping tonight."
Ian checked the time, calculated travel, and called for return.
Sticking to the outskirts where gnoll packs were sparse, they quickly reached the main road for wagons.
Ian walked and reflected on Rin's fight, offering his assessment.
"At this level, Rin could take the C-rank exam right away."
"Huh? Really? I'm not even at Lia's level yet..."
"Don't compare yourself to Lia."
Ian asked Lia, the only one here with C-rank promotion exam experience.
"You promoted via exam, right Lia? What do you think?"
Lia recalled Rin's fight and nodded.
Compared to her own exam's difficulty... it wasn't impossible.
"She'd pass in two or three tries."
Rin beamed inwardly at the C-rank mention but froze at "exam."
"Eek... We have to take a separate test?"
"You need C-rank quest completions. Without them, it's the personal promotion exam."
Most mercenaries promoted with their group's quests.
But for standouts like Lia or Rin, individuals could take exams to advance alone.
Higher ranks meant renegotiating pay with the corps—big perks for the mercenary.
But "exam" killed Rin's enthusiasm stone dead.
"...Then I'll just promote with the corps."
Brimming with C-rank confidence moments ago, Rin suddenly grew humble before the specter of a test.
As they chatted and walked the road awhile, Labyrinth City's silhouette appeared in the distance.
Not just the massive walls visible from afar, but the colorful tents sprawling beyond them.
Normally empty plains, now teeming with merchants and visitors for the city, thronged outside the walls.
The festival was about to begin.