The Great Sword is not the Main Body!

I made a vow as I watched my mother, who was slowly being covered by the earth, with only one arm remaining.

"I’ll protect Lucia, my little sister, no matter what."

Even as my mother decayed in the ground, time still passed.

My sister and I needed money.

"We... we have no money. I'll do anything...! If I could just feed my sister something... Please, I beg you."

I threw away my pride.

I emphasized that we were poor orphans, with no parents, to appeal to others.

Perhaps because it was a small village, it worked. I was able to take on various jobs that earned money.

I was able to feed my sister warm soup.

"I'm sorry... I have to go work now. Let’s play together next time! I promise!"

I abandoned my friends.

During the time I was working, I worried about my sister being alone.

Would she be crying? Would she be sinking into sadness with strange thoughts? Would someone harm her because we were orphans?

So, I distanced myself from my close friends. I grew apart from the friends I had planned to enter the academy with.

The friends who were once happy to walk together were now gone.

"How much is all this... I’ll sell the house and move somewhere smaller."

I sold my mother's belongings. I sold the house we lived in with her. I sold our memories, our past with her.

Though I couldn’t go, I still wanted my sister to go to the academy.

I became the object of my sister’s resentment. But she didn’t hate me for that.

She said she would go to the academy according to her sister’s wishes.

She nodded, saying that if she succeeded there, our mother would surely be happy watching us from heaven.

"Then... what about my money...? The money for Lucia to enter the academy...! Please, just half of it... please, I beg you!!"

I was scammed.

I had invested in an expansion project for the village’s irrigation system after agreeing to it with the villagers.@@novelbin@@

But I never got a single penny back.

They said the empire didn’t approve of it.

However, they claimed the materials already purchased had cost a lot. They said they couldn’t return anything because the project failed.

The villagers remained silent. They had no choice but to stay quiet. They swallowed their anger.

Because their opponent was the empire. This village, they themselves, had no power, no ability, and no means to fight back.

"I’ll take care of it myself, so don’t worry and do your own work. Ah, by the way, thank you for the gift you gave me back then."

I didn’t want to be taken advantage of anymore, so I bristled. I started paying attention to others and used my looks and body to my advantage.

I used my weapon, my appearance, my figure, my pitiful state.

I took sympathy, attention, affection, and love from others.

They could insult me, they could hit me.

I would do anything to protect my sister.

But I still had some pride left, I suppose.

I couldn’t sell my body.

"Rubi-ya, look! It’s already fall!"

Though my sister couldn’t go to the academy, she still believed in me and followed me.

She had matured.

She stopped complaining about hardships.

She stopped talking about our mother.

She wanted to forget the past.

"What should we buy for winter? I want to wear the same clothes as you! What about you?"

She talked about the little things that made her happy now. She painted pictures of the future.

I, too, put aside the past to focus on the future, in order to match her happiness.

I was happy.

I had to be happy.

How had I endured? How had I lived through it all?

I had sacrificed everything to protect her.

Yes.

I had to be happy.

If my sister was happy, then I should be too.

I was happy.

Really.

"Ha..."

The hot air inside the tent welcomed me as I awoke.

Maybe it was because I had a damn awful dream, but I felt like I had slept deeply despite the heat.

I got up and looked around the tent.

Noah wasn’t in sight.

I adjusted my clothes, which had become disheveled while I slept, and stepped outside the tent.

"Hah... Did she close the door to assassinate me or something?"

She probably closed it to keep the bugs out.

The cool breeze made my sweat-soaked body feel a little better.

Stretching, I noticed that the place had changed a lot from last night.

"She ate and fell asleep right away, and now everything’s cleaned up."

The remnants of the barbecue from yesterday were gone, replaced by sliced bread and what looked like salad vegetables.

Crookedly cut.

"What is this... Hehe..."

The bread was roughly sliced, and the vegetables were chopped in a terribly haphazard manner. Beside them was cold coffee.

If she had been here, I would’ve teased her again.

A little disappointed, I glanced around.

In the corner to the right, I saw a patch of crushed grass, and there were tracks stretching out in front.

Did she play around there, stepping on the grass again?

I imagined Noah, laughing softly as she stomped on the grass.

After a moment of thought, I closed my eyes and stepped onto the grass.

Rustle- rustle-

"Hm..."

I shook my head and sat down, beginning to eat the bread and salad.

"Wow... really, it’s awful."

The salad with little sauce was absolutely the worst. And this isn’t even salad dressing?

What kind of sauce is this...

I washed it down with coffee to clear my dry mouth.

"Heh, I guess it’s a little better than before?"

As expected, it still tasted awful.

While I reluctantly shoveled bread and salad into my mouth, I thought about how to break the stiff atmosphere.

Though a week is short, this atmosphere was bound to make things uncomfortable.

Even when we reached Cartier village, I wasn’t planning to let it go easily.

But for the sake of changing the mood, I thought about how I used to tease my sister and tried playing a little prank, teasing her.

But instead of getting angry, Noah just kept bowing her head.

Her behavior was so childish and cute that I thought I might have crossed a line...

But still, what is her real self?

The Noah I had investigated was a talented adventurer who had reached silver rank in the shortest time.

That was the rumor.

What? Her hair is always stained with monster blood, and her red eyes during fights are so terrifying they haunt my dreams?

"Rumors are just rumors, huh..."

The Noah I met, though... she was just a village idiot who couldn’t do anything by herself.

She had been so neglected that her self-esteem and confidence had been shattered. She couldn’t even have a normal conversation with people.

When I asked her to guide me to a quiet place, she led me to the blacksmith shop... well, it was quiet.

She hadn’t even properly checked the list and had prepared an absurdly large amount of stuff.

She couldn’t even light a fire, and her cooking skills were absolutely terrible.

At this point, she was even worse than an ordinary person.

If she went anywhere, she’d likely starve to death.

But what? A red beast that tears monsters apart?

I thought again about Noah, smiling softly as she stomped through the grass.

"Heh... unbelievable. Seriously."

She was, without a doubt, an ordinary, innocent girl.

Yeah. I could understand everything if I considered that she was blind.

But she wasn’t just any ordinary blind girl.

She was an adventurer who reached silver rank in the shortest time.

A person without talent would struggle to reach such a rank no matter how hard they tried.

That’s why I couldn’t understand it.

I had investigated the adventurer’s world, and it was a harsh place.

How did Noah survive in such a place?

How did she climb to silver rank by herself without forming a party?

Especially considering that her real skills were only shown with the greatsword.

I wanted to know. I was curious.

For potential situations... for the possibility of having her as an enemy.

And maybe, though unlikely, just in case she truly became an ally.

I needed to know her strengths and weaknesses.

I forced myself to finish the awful bread and horrible salad, then stood up and followed the trail of Noah’s footsteps.

Clang-

With a sharp sound, the greatsword deflected the Black Bear's claws.

Parry.

At the same time, the greatsword was deflected to the right.

Using the recoil, I spun my body.

From left to right.

The greatsword, which had been digging into the Black Bear’s flesh, hit its ribs with a clunk and stopped.

With all my strength, I kicked the blade upwards.

With a maximum strength kick, the greatsword ripped through the Black Bear’s right arm, still lodged in it.

Grrr...

I heard a blood-curdling roar.

I didn’t stop. I kept running.

I stabbed the greatsword into the severed right wing joint.

Without the thick skin, the sword easily penetrated deep inside.

I twisted my body, pulling the greatsword upwards.

The blade came out, crushing the Black Bear’s shoulder blade, spraying blood as I retrieved it.

Now, there was no more sound of blood boiling, just faint breathing.

I twisted my body again.

The greatsword followed the movement and swung at the Black Bear’s skull.

With a feeling like splitting a watermelon, unpleasant liquid splattered all over.

The faint breath ceased.

I recovered the sword.

I kicked the Black Bear’s corpse aside.

"Phew! That was refreshing."

I looked around.

Trees were scattered here and there.

The ground was wet.

For having just taken down a bear, it was quite a brutal sight.

I had moved recklessly on purpose.

Maybe it was because the sleeping arrangements changed, but something... felt off.

Could it be that going to the eastern ruins brought back some old memories?

Anyway! I’m strong today too!

I turned my back and started walking toward the tent.

"Miss Noah...?"

I heard Ailyn’s voice from the front.

"Ah... g-good morning...!"

I awkwardly waved my hand as I walked toward Ailyn.

She looked at me and the bear alternately.

Huh... what’s wrong? Does she not like it because I had all the fun by myself?

Should we have hunted together, even if it was just a request...?

I tried to walk a little faster, planning to apologize.

But the closer I got, the further Ailyn seemed to retreat.

Is she really that mad?

No, then let’s go catch another one...

"S-sorry..."

"No, no. Wait. Stop there."

Ailyn reached her hands out, stopping me.

Was catching a single bear such a huge mistake?

I hung my head, feeling down.

"No, it’s not that... I just think you don’t realize what you look like right now..."

Let me know if you need further adjustments or help.

"Eh…?"

I tilted my head and looked at my body.

There was just some blood splattered on me, nothing too major.

Hmm? What’s this?

I pulled out something round dangling from my pocket.

Oh, the Black Bear's eyeball was hanging here.

I stared at Ailyn while holding the optic nerve from the eyeball.

Is it because of this?

"Yeah… well… let’s head to the valley. But, please, don’t get too close..."

Ailyn slowly turned her back and hurriedly walked toward the tent.

I guess because she’s in the rear, she’s a bit more sensitive to these things.

Typical Ailyn. You're still younger than me.

Hehe.

With a victorious smile, I followed Ailyn to the tent.

"The red beast that tears monsters apart..."

I heard Ailyn muttering, but it didn’t seem like she was talking to me, so I ignored it and kept walking.

By the way, has she finished the breakfast I prepared?

Breakfast is the most important, after all.