A Real Man Never Shows His Back to the Enemy

The tachi.

Among every melee weapon in a game, that is the one you can call the emblem of a real man. Unlike a coward's dagger, the petty dual blades, or a greatsword swung by posers who only care how they look, it has all of it—mobility, damage, a wide reach, and flash enough to spare.

Now and then some idiot slanders it. The tachi has no substance. That is a genuinely stupid thing to say. Go to any game you like; there is no melee weapon with more substance than the tachi.

In multiplayer, a wide swing gets in your allies' way? Don't be ridiculous. Obviously the rest of you are supposed to move in time with a real man's weapon. I'll grant that some players suffer because of the tachi. That is because those people can't keep up. It is not the tachi's fault.

So remember this. The tachi is the strongest....

And ST is single-player, which means there is not even the problem of clipping an ally. In other words, when a real man plays ST, he picks the tachi no matter what happens.

The moment I equipped the tachi, the monster in the shape of a three-headed hound—Cerberus—whispered, low. A name field appeared, and the instant I entered Izumi, Cerberus bared its teeth and laughed.

"Wh-what is this thing even saying. A dog, of all things..."

"So what. R-right now it's just a dog.... And more than that, I-I'm the Water Avatar, you know?"

"In Greek myth, H-Hades ranks under Poseidon, right? So I'm the stronger one..."

With those words, Cerberus threw every mouth wide and howled. Anyone could see it: a battle-start animation, plain as day.

"Hoo..."

I let out a long breath of my own and checked the controls floating in the upper left.

Cerberus lunged, and the fight began.

"Nnngh..."

How many minutes had passed? At some point my hands were slick, packed with sweat.

"I didn't raise you all to be that weak...."

I tipped my gaze up and checked Cerberus's info.

More than half its HP was still sitting there. Of the ten potions the game hands you at the start, only three were left. Anyone looking at it would have called the situation hopeless, but I did not want to give up.

The head in the center threw its head back and roared.

"Charge pattern...."

A vicious one. Miss the dodge by a hair and the damage comes in no matter what. Harsh enough that even I, a certified TS girl, fail it about one try in five. And this time, I...

"Hup!"

Luckily the dodge landed, and I got the counter in.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"...Isn't this thing way too tanky?"

I had stabbed the weak point dead-on, and all it took was 12 damage. I had no idea why anyone would make a tutorial monster this sturdy.

"..."

The Iztomo were right, honestly. The Cerberus in the tutorial is a monster designed so you will not kill it. Drop it under a certain HP and the damage it takes plummets, while the damage it deals climbs. The intended path is to break off at once, fall ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back, and finish the tutorial.

But I could not back down here. The weapon in my hands was the tachi. With a real man's weapon drawn, turning your back on the enemy was out of the question.

"It's o-over...!"

With that, Cerberus turned to ash and vanished.

"Haaah.... H-how long did that take?"

The Iztomo must have been truly spent; the chat was nothing but groans. But a few messages, scattered through it, praised my grit, and for a real man like me that was enough.

The tachi really is a god. If it had been some lesser man's weapon—dual blades, a dagger, a greatsword—I never could have won.

"Then i-it's about time I wrap up...."

It was already just shy of nine. I had school tomorrow. I needed real sleep.

"Then b-bye-bye, everyone~. See you next time...."

"Get home safe, everyone."

"Yes!"

Class was over. Maybe because it was Friday, the classroom felt noisier than usual, and amid that bustle of classmates I quietly packed my bag and stood.

"See you, Kayano."

"Ah... yes."

I dipped my head to Tateyama, who had offered the goodbye, and stepped out of the classroom.

Four days had passed since it came out that I was not some pitiful girl wounded by her past, but simply an outcast shut-in with a communication disorder. Over those four days, my daily life had of course barely changed at all. No crowd of classmates came charging in to talk my ear off, and no avalanche of private messages arrived on LINE.

I still reached school first in the morning and spent the time alone, ate lunch by myself, and was the first out the door when class ended. The only thing that had changed was that we exchanged greetings like this. That was truly all of it.

"Haa..."

My breath slipped out on its own into the cold winter wind. If I could have had my way, I would have gone straight home like always and gotten warm, but today there was something I had to do. I could not put it off any longer.

I steadied the nervous hammering in my chest with a deep breath and quietly took a step, so I might draw a little closer to my star.

"Welcome. You are Kayano, yes?"

"Yes...."

"Do you have any experience?"

"Ah, no. It's my first time."

"All right. Then we'll take it step by step. I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

"I-I'll be in your care...."

"Hah, hah, hah.... C-could I rest, just a little?"

"It's your first day, so let's stop here for today. I heard you'll be coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—three days. That's right, isn't it?"

"Yes...."

"By all rights, you started far later than everyone else, so three days wouldn't be nearly enough... but you're a student, so it can't be helped. In return, you'll give those three days everything you've got, yes? You seem to have a talent for this, so I think you'll catch up in no time."

"Th-thank you...."

"D-dance lessons are so hard. Couldn't I take a break...."

"I want to run away...."

"...Yes. I was j-just saying it."

...How did they know.