The Blade That Refused to Yield
Arin.
She was the representative character of the swordsman class, a girl whose distinctive cool looks and personality constantly battled for the top one or two spots in popularity rankings.
Unlike other classes that delivered minor annoyances or those infuriating moments that felt like choking down a stubborn sweet potato, Arin from the fundamental swordsman class always acted with bold decisions and words in every situation. That alone made her impossible not to like.
Who in the world could possibly hate a character who didn’t just serve up refreshing satisfaction but practically forced it down your throat?
I used to like her too.
That was exactly why, after falling into this world, Arin was one of the people I had most wanted to see. Yet I never imagined I would spot her inside a random tent that caught my eye while walking down the street.
Oh! It seems our fifteenth challenger is this young lady who appears to be a student from Lua Academy!
“Whoa!!”
“No way that girl’s gonna pull it.”
“Come on, that’s ridiculous.”
The man who had set up the tent and was acting as emcee had bellowed through amplification magic, his voice ringing out powerfully. The surrounding spectators took one look at Arin’s delicate appearance and already seemed convinced she would fail.
I stood among those spectators, watching Arin as she stared with nervous eyes at the sword standing vertically in front of her.
I was curious why she was here, but when I thought about it, there was nothing particularly strange. In the game, no matter which class you chose, festival days were all about wandering around as you pleased, learning the geography of the Fhara Kingdom, and practicing basic skills.
Since no exact details had ever been given about who went where, there was nothing odd about Arin being here if she had simply chosen to come.
If anything, it feels perfectly natural. After all, it was a sign no true swordsman could possibly ignore.
Arin was a genuine swordsman obsessed with blades down to her very core. There was no way she would have passed up a sign reading “Tournament of the Chosen Sword.”
She must have headed straight into this tent the moment she saw the sign. I couldn’t know her exact actions, but somehow I was certain of it.
“Well, I roughly understand why she’s here. So that sword…”
Having figured out why Arin was in this place, I shifted my gaze to the sword she was attempting to pull. The sight of its all-too-familiar form left me speechless.
Of course I recognized it. This was the very sword I had relied on for a long time when I first began playing in earnest and was raising my main avatar, Aria.
While most swords were replaced at level 5, this was the one I had used from level 30 all the way to 50 during my growth period: the Sunset Sword Carnia.
I had eventually abandoned it when I switched my build from pure swordsman to dual-wielder, but it had been top-tier equipment with no suitable replacement until I reached level 50.
“Why is that sword here of all places?”
There was no way a weapon like that should appear inside a common stall at a festival.
I turned over countless possible explanations for a question that seemed impossible to answer, then settled on the most plausible one and muttered quietly.
“I see… I bought it from a merchant guild during a quest myself, so maybe this small guild had it and later sold it to a larger one. Yeah, that makes sense. A sword like this would be too much for a tiny outfit to handle.”
The most likely story was that this small merchant group had been carrying the sword around in this manner before selling it to a bigger guild, and it had eventually found its way into Arin’s hands.
Since the game never clearly explained where Carnia was forged, this seemed the most realistic possibility.
Still, none of that held much importance for me right now, so I focused on the sword’s current condition that I hadn’t properly examined yet.
And the moment I saw its state, I couldn’t hold back the dumbfounded laugh that burst out of me.
“No one’s pulling that thing. Ever.”
From what I could see, the base appeared to have been melted with mithril and hardened so thoroughly that it couldn’t be removed. A tiny groove had been carved to make it look pullable on the surface, but there was surely some additional mechanism inside holding the blade in place.
In that condition, even the strongest person in the world would either lift the entire mithril-embedded stone floor or snap the sword in two.
In other words, it was impossible for Arin to pull it.
“She looks determined to try anyway.”
However, Arin, who had not yet realized the sword’s true state as I had, seemed to have relaxed enough. She took a deep breath, gripped the hilt firmly, and pulled with all her strength.
“Hngh!!”
Crack—crunch——
As if demonstrating the monstrous power worthy of being called her superhuman strength, the moment Arin exerted force the leather wrapping on the hilt and her hand scraped together, producing a sound like something about to break.
The spectators around her let out gasps of surprise, but as ten seconds… thirty seconds… a full minute passed, those sounds of astonishment gradually grew quieter and quieter.
“Ughhh…!”
Arin, who had been yanking on the sword, eventually began to lose strength. She released the hilt and collapsed onto the floor with a thud.
It was a clear sign of surrender. At that action, the male emcee shouted in a voice dripping with fake sympathy.
Aaah~ How unfortunate. It seems even the young lady from Lua Academy could not pull the sword. Will the true owner of this blade truly not appear today? If anyone else wishes to challenge it next, please step forward! Simply pull the sword and you will receive 100 gold along with the blade itself as your prize!
Mentioning such a tempting reward, the emcee sought another challenger. Arin ground her teeth in frustration and seemed about to stand up.
When I looked around, quite a few spectators appeared tempted by the prize and ready to participate. Before they could signal their intent, I quickly stepped up onto the stage.
I couldn’t miss this chance to form a connection with her.
“I’ll participate.”
Oho! Another female participant has stepped forward! And what a beautiful lady she is! I have high expectations!
As I ascended the stage, the emcee looked me over, his eyes sparkling as he raised his voice. Compared to Kama it might fall short, but Aria’s appearance possessed beauty that could rival a princess. No wonder he was so pleased.
Arin also turned to me with appraising eyes the moment I stepped onto the stage.
Fortunately, I had climbed up while openly displaying my swordsman traits, so she seemed interested. I approached the sword with a demeanor that pretended not to notice her gaze.
When I glanced sideways, Arin was watching me with worried eyes, as if concerned because she herself had failed to pull it.
Damn it. Riana really does have a rotten personality. The fact that Arin could look at me with such kind, caring eyes proved she and Riana couldn’t even be compared.
Yet even if I felt waves of emotion crashing over me, the words that came out of this body—corrected by the filter—were completely different. I stopped in front of the sword and spoke to Arin, who was still sitting on the ground beside it.
“You call yourself a swordsman, but it seems you’ve only trained your body and let your head go stiff. With a mindset like that, you can never defeat an opponent in real combat.”
“Wh-what? My head’s gone stiff? What kind of rude remark is that!”
Arin stared at me blankly for a moment, unable to process my words, then immediately flared up and shouted.
Unlike the people who had spoken to me with polite speech until now, Arin was using casual language. It felt rather refreshing, but instead of answering her I drew the two blades hanging at my waist.
One in each hand. Unlike when I faced Riana, drawing both swords at once made me feel as if Aria’s body had finally been completed.
My sudden action of drawing blades rather than simply grabbing the sword drew puzzled looks from the emcee, the spectators, and Arin alike. Before any of them could speak, I swung the drawn blades at a speed that could only be described as instantaneous.
Crescent Moon
With a clean slice, the two blades in my hands cut through the mithril encasing the sword in a perfect circle without the slightest deviation of even one millimeter, completely separating blade from mithril.
From the outside it looked no different than before I swung, but the sensation transmitted through my fingertips told me the separation was flawless. Without hesitation I sheathed the blades again.
“What did you just…?”
“The goal was simply to pull the sword. Once you escape that absurd lie about only the chosen one being able to draw it, many paths open up. One of them is cutting away the base like this.”
I reached out and grasped the sword that was still embedded in the mithril, then pulled it free with ridiculous ease.
Thud——
Only then did the mithril, now split in half, topple over. Arin, who had been about to demand what I had done, could not close her gaping mouth.
When I looked around, the spectators wore expressions no different from hers. The emcee was drenched in cold sweat, his face on the verge of tears. He clearly hadn’t expected the sword to be taken in such an outrageous manner.
But I had simply pulled the sword as he himself had said anyone could do, and I possessed the rightful claim to the prize. I walked over to the now petrified emcee and took the pouch containing 100 gold that had been placed in front of him.
“I’ll be taking the prizes you mentioned.”
When I opened the pouch, exactly one hundred gold coins were inside. After confirming the prize, I brushed off the emcee’s hand as he stammered wordlessly in an attempt to stop me and walked back onto the stage.
With my current funds limited to the mere ten gold I had received from the pope, the 100 gold was necessary. I decided to keep it for myself. In my other hand I held the Sunset Sword Carnia, which I tossed to Arin, who still had not managed to stand up.
“Catch.”
“H-huh?! Why are you giving this to me?”
“It’s a sword I have no use for anyway. Looking at your current blade, it holds some memories, but it doesn’t seem particularly useful in real combat anymore. That sword is quite excellent, so it should help you as well.”
To Arin, who stared at me in utter confusion after receiving the sword, I coolly tossed out those words and walked straight through the crowd toward the tent’s entrance.
Hah. Even if I do say so myself, that was seriously cool just now.
Though the words had been corrected by the filter, the scene had looked impressive even to me. I strode out in a state of self-satisfaction, lifting the tent flap, but just before I left, Arin’s voice from behind stopped me.
“W-wait…! We definitely only saw each other for the first time today, right? So why are you doing all this for me?”
From her perspective, it was a perfectly understandable question. The urge to answer that it was because she was my favorite character and I wanted to help her burned in my chest, but those were words I could never say aloud. After a brief moment of thought, I opened my mouth.
“You will understand once you come to the academy. We will meet again very soon anyway.”
After all, I am a professor. We would meet again soon enough. Arin’s face was hidden by the spectators so I could not see her expression, but I added one more line as I left the tent.
“I certainly hope you use polite speech with me next time.”
A student who speaks casually to her professor? I would have no choice but to deduct points, even if I didn’t want to.