Standing face to face with the Ranger, they ready their sword, holding it in front of them with mild confidence. My left arm is useless to wield my own, so I settle with just the one. The hooded figure keeps a distance, knowing that my abilities up close probably exceed theirs. Intelligent and tactical, the Ranger attempts to move to my left. Forcing me to switch stances as they slowly approached. One wrong move, and either of us can die if we take it that far.

One step further, I take action, sprinting forward and feinting with my attack, quickly turning away and sidestepping to their blind side. The Ranger takes the feint and loses their balance, attempting to recover. I go for the strike, but with the pain in my arm, blood loss, and nearly strangled to death, my speed was lacking.

It doesn't take much to dodge my strike and make me miss it entirely. The stalemate continues when I strike once more. The Ranger sees the attack and parries just in time to set me off my feet. They may be taller, but I wouldn't count myself out if I didn't have some backup plan. I expose myself purposefully and allow myself to be attacked without guarding.

The Ranger dips low and slashes upwards, aiming for my chest and shoulder with the strike; I react by summoning a barrier. The blade cuts on the barrier, causing a deflect of force upon their sword. The blowback from the barrier twists their wrist and causes them to be disarmed, freeing me to strike. Taking the chance, I turn my wrist and aim to injure them by only leaving them with a winning strike.

However, the moment I strike and look at the Ranger, their hood had blown up, revealing a young human woman's long amber brown locks. Her soft tone skin and blemishes reveal the Ranger's identity. There isn't enough time for me to stop my attack without having her take me down, so I shift my weight and angle of my wrist to slam the hilt straight into his sternum. She quickly hunches over, reeling from the blow and falling to her knees. A loud coughing fit escapes her lips before she vomits.

With no one left to stand in my way, the Phantom Blades defeated by me, I sheathed my sword, turned to the crowd, and raised my fist into the air. A tired expression across my face but a smile nonetheless, I express my feelings.

"The Phantom Blades attacked me just a month ago! I am Caleb Aris, son of Valum Aris! I am supposed to be the one in charge of this village. I know that my hair color clearly shows what I am. I know some of you don't mind it, but I know a vast amount detest what I am. I don't harbor any ill will to any who do. However! I will no longer tolerate any and those who wish to attack me in such a cowardly manner. I may be a child, but I can assure everyone that I will do my best for this village during these times. I want to work with every one of you to support this place's health. I need our best healers and physicians to care for their wounds. The Phantom Blades are still Sianna's best guild party, and I will not let that go to waste."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The townspeople all look at each other questionably before a young woman quickly runs to Gale, who has passed out from the blood loss. He is still breathing, but his eye is certainly gone without the greatest of healing magic. A slight hint of guilt hits my stomach, knowing I permanently maimed the leader of the Phantom Blades. Despite his hubris, Gale is a competent fighter and leader. He makes the guild and the others who partake in the establishment better.

"My lord." Mei approaches and takes my arm, quickly examining my wounds.

"I'll be fine; just stop the bleeding."

"As you wish." She took out a handkerchief and tied it around the wound. A dark red patch began to seep through before it slowed. I took a deep breath and watched as all the members of the Phantom Blades were moved away.

"You hesitated." Mei suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?" I turned to her.

"You changed your attack to spare her when you saw her face and realized she was a woman. Your hesitation can get you killed."

"I am fully aware."

"Then why?"

"A woman of her size is much smaller; I could have cleaved her in two if I fully committed to the strike. I didn't want to kill any of them."

"Their leader might come back for revenge for his eye. Are you prepared for any of the consequences of tonight?"

"I was ready the day I started training with Eckhart."

"Understood."

"Let's go home and properly bandage my wound-"

"Caleb!" Julie's voice rings out, as well as her footsteps.

"Julie?" I turn to her, puzzled.

"That was stupid! You could have gotten killed!"

"I told you I would make a lesson out of them."

"What they did was unforgivable, but taking action the way you did was uncalled for; Gale lost his eye, and the others may be out of work for a while just to recover; they are a large source of our income and help us afford our facilities."

"What about the other parties?"

"The Phantom Blades are the only fully recognized parties in this region of Heistorm. Everyone else are still too green or limited to advance anywhere. What will we do now?"

A moment of thought hits me. Of course, The Phantom Blades were the primary source of income for the Guild other than the much smaller parties that did simple tasks or jobs, barely adventuring out and doing hunts. Winter is approaching, so their expenses will be pretty high. Solutions and answers started to pile up, but I dismissed most. Until a scarce and timely answer popped into my head. If the Guild is a massive source of income for the village, then a straightforward answer is the best one.

"How many members frequent the Guild and do jobs other than the Phantom Blades?"

"What? Umm... Officially, it was the Phantom Blades, but the Greenhorns, we got about six parties of about three to five members each. There are about twenty-three in total who take at least small jobs to get by. Anyone else under does trivial like chore work and manual labor, none of which are fighters or adventurers."

"Twenty-three... Six groups..." I begin to contemplate.

"Lord?" Mei looks at me and questions my thoughts.

"Give me a month; I think I can get those parties up to snuff and take at least bronze rank."

"Bronze rank? Even if that was nothing for Gale and his party, greenhorns at their current level can only take copper, which would prove to be a great task for them."

"Not unless we have a skilled militant adviser and a knight who knows various combat tactics."

"You're not suggesting-"

"Eckhart, Carlo, and I can oversee two parties each and have them train and practice before winter hits. Once it does, they should be ready to take bronze."