A thrum of activity was flowing inside the old building. At this hour, voices, clattering tankards and the scrapes of chairs against the wooden floor were the norm. The establishment served three purposes: it functioned as an inn, a tavern, but most and foremost as a place where missionaries could sell their services and brave the wilds for profit. It was the Adventuring Guild.

The heavily worn tables and chairs in the inn section were already populated by adventurers nursing their meals, and the reception area was about to go on break.

However, just as the tired and starving clerk girl was wrapping up, the door swung open. From their position, most of the hunters engaging in their midday meal caught sight of an unsettling presence wrapped in a voluminous dark blue cloak gliding silently into the building. The form froze for a few seconds and just stood against the daylight. Surely, the adventurers thought, this person was appraising them.

Even in the well-lit interior, an inexplicable darkness veiled the figure's face, sending a collective shiver through the crowd.

A strange silence settled over the room as the ominous figure made their way toward the counter, the anticipation palpable.

Well, the more they closed the distance to the reception desk, the more it became apparent that they were in fact tiny. In any case, at last, they shattered the quiet.

"H-hello. I want to register as an adventurer."

The softness of this voice did not match the eeriness of the silhouette. It was so discrete that nobody but the receptionist could hear them clearly. The slight frame hiding under the cloak did suggest a child, but there was something surreal about the obscurity beneath the cloak.

“Um... Absolutely. With your approval, we can start you off at F-rank."

"..."

"... Is something the matter?"

"... F-rank? Is there not a way to start with a higher rank?"

"There is, but..."

"Then, I would like to apply for this other method if possible."

Although the figure had successfully hidden their face, they'd made no attempt to disguise their small stature or even their youthful voice.

As such, as far as the clerk could tell, she was in the presence of a child trying to hide their identity. Maybe they were using light magic. While it was rare, the Guild staff did see once in a while naturally-awakened children who tried to negotiate their rank. Most likely, this one wouldn't get what they wanted either.

"Er... Fine, follow me. Don't expect much, though."

Together, they disappeared into a secluded annex of the Guild. This was the cue for the adventurers to resume their meal.

"... Am I about to place my hand on some magical crystal that will reveal my latent potential or something?"

"Eh? There's no such thing..."

"I thought so... How will I get appraised, then?"

"I don't know. It will depend on Sir Will's mood, I guess."

"Is that the guild master?"

"His brother, to be exact. Here we are. I'll do the talking."

The woman lightly knocked on the door and did not wait a full second before opening it.

"Sir, do you have a moment?"

A grizzled man, whose blond hair was partially touched with gray, looked up from his paperwork. He raised a hand in greeting to the clerk, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.

"Melisande. Always a pleasure. What brings you here?"

"Someone would like to go through the examination test for the adventurer registration."

"... Is that thing next to you the person you're referring to?"

"Well... yes."

"H-hello."

"What's up with all that clothing?

"I don't know... They must have a good reason."

"I don't have time to waste on a child. Go away, kiddo."

"I-I am not a child!"

Will frowned at that statement. He looked at the clerk to see if she could confirm, but she just shrugged.

"You sure sound like one. In any case, I can't make all the preparations for the test right now."

"Sir... You're just saying that because you were about to take your break, aren't you?"

"Ha?! I... I was merely about to suggest that we at least do a sword skills assessment!"

"Another swordfight...? Give me a break..."

"Use a dagger or a spear if you want, I don't care. It's the fastest way to appraise your skills. If you've still got a problem with opposing me, just leave."

"... Fine."

***

The examiner was up against a strange opponent. As he had expected, this individual had no skill at the sword. Their movements were entirely predictable. It was as if they just wanted their sword to make contact with Will in any possible way, regardless of the wooden blade's angle, and without gathering enough momentum. If he wanted to, Will was convinced he could break their wrist.

"How unrefined. It's about time to end this."

While Will was thinking this predictability made his opponent completely unable to win this, he was currently facing a slight issue.

"Dammit, you're fast!"

Somehow, that shrouded form managed to evade his attacks with astonishing speed.

This went on for a few dozen seconds until Will finally got his opponent. He stopped his blade at a close distance from where the neck supposedly was under that long robe.

"You couldn't parry this one, huh? Well, you're pretty quick, so I guess you can start at-"

"... That simply will not do."

"What?"

"What is up with all of you wanting to stop the fight with one touch?"

"I have seen enough."

"You have not. I could not show you half of what I am capable of."

"Look. If it was a real battle, you would be dead by now. Do you think your opponent will wait for you to show your techniques?"

"How can you be so sure that I would have died from that?"

"Oh, aren't you a tenacious one?"

Will turned his head and looked at the clerk girl with a look of exasperation on his face.

"What's your call, Melisande? Our friend right here claims to be invincible. I'm at a loss on reasoning with such- Ngh...!"

"... Sir Will? Why did you suddenly stop? Oh no, has your chronic back pain flared up again?!"

"Ngh..."

The hooded figure calmly sidestepped the examiner's frozen blade, their weapon slowly tracing a direct path to his exposed neck.

"If it was a real battle, you would be dead by now. According to that criteria, that must mean that I am quite skilled, right?"

"..."

"Um... I'd say that it just means Sir Will is getting old..."

"...!"

The concealed form snapped their fingers and, just like that, the examiner coughed and breathed again.

"W... what the hell was that...?"

"Oh, Sir! Is your back alright?"

"Stop saying that, already! My back is perfectly fine!"

"Let us return to our battle. I will concede defeat only when I am made to surrender, or when I can no longer stand. That is how a fight should conclude."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"You're nuts. You're essentially asking me to break one of your limbs."

"I invite you to try."

"You heard them, Melisande. This little one asked for it."

A few seconds later, the examiner and the blue-cloaked silhouette were exchanging blows once again. At some point, Will managed to surpass his opponent's evasion skills and launched a strike at the elbow. He made sure the blow wouldn't break a bone, but it would still incapacitate them.

However, just as the sword connected, it was strangely cushioned. He couldn't even tell if the wooden blade made contact. It was as if all the weapon's momentum disappeared in a fraction of a second. Before Will could understand what had happened, the figure managed to make the flat of their sword connect with his leg.

"Aaaargh! That hurts, dammit!"

"Ah. It appears the sword is cracked..."

"That... was the flat...? No way. That was even worse than getting whipped..."

At that, his opponent recoiled a bit. Even without seeing their face, Will could tell they probably had a disgusted looks on their face.

"N-no, I- Er... It's not... Hmpf. Let's continue!"

The dance of blades ensued in the rhythmic clashes of wood. On occasion, Will managed a hit, but his strikes met the same mysterious resistance. It wasn't even like hitting an impenetrable barrier. The best way to explain this phenomenon was that the motion got sapped from the sword. Instead of bouncing off this mysterious armor and receiving the full recoil, the blade remained almost immobile, regardless of its initial momentum. This effect also seemed to be both ways, making it difficult for Will to even remove the sword from the grip of this invisible armor. Each strike left the examiner vulnerable and gave the silhouette the time to retaliate by hitting him with the flat of the sword on his posterior.

"Dammit, stop targeting my rear already!"

"D-do not put it like this..."

"What's up with these strange effects, anyway?! Is that magic? How long can you keep at it?!"

"Well, you are maintaining it..."

His breath ragged, Will studied his opponent. He couldn't tell if they were bluffing with that statement or not, because he couldn't see any face under that hood. For all he knew, they might not even be human.

Still, even though their speed was impressive, it had to take a toll. He resolved to wear them down, his strategy shifting from offense to a calculated evasion, hoping to drain their seemingly inexhaustible stamina.

And, sure enough, Will could soon hear frustration seeping into their grunts.

"Heh. Finally getting tired, kiddo?"

"Cease the endless defense... And I am not a kid!"

With a swift, unexpected movement, the cloaked figure flung their sword skyward. This caught Will off guard, his gaze instinctively drawn in astonishment.

Taking advantage of this brief lapse of attention, the elusive presence slipped by him and kicked him in the rear in an upward motion.

Will had been hit once again but, surprisingly, it didn't hurt that much. That much was good news, but there was now a problem.

"Eh?"

Without warning, the examiner found himself at an altitude greater than his height. Surely, that soft kick shouldn't have propelled him this high. He couldn't quantify it, but, most likely, the foot would have had to go extremely fast to produce that result. So fast in fact that he might very well have been cut in half by such a kick.

After a long second of confusion, Will realized that his opponent had already caught their sword and was waiting for him to come down.

Assuming a peculiar stance, the figure delivered an incredibly forceful upward sword strike when Will reached the intended height. This resulted in the most powerful impact he had encountered that day, and it caused the sword to finally shatter. The examiner screamed in pain and proceeded to crash a short distance away. In a way, even though that last strike had produced a sharp pain to Will's posterior, it might have protected his legs from the fall.

"S-Sir, are you alright?!"

"I... I'm not... What in the hell just happened...?"

"Um... I broke my sword... Could I get another one?"

"There's no way I'm doing another round! Dammit, I refuse to play along anymore!"

"... Does that mean you concede?"

"... Yes."

***

"Let's be clear. That doesn't mean that you're better than me. The match-up simply would have made this test last all day."

"Y-you know, Sir Will was an A-rank adventurer before. If he had been in his prime, he wouldn't have given up the fight!"

"Melisande... I know you're trying to cheer me up, but please stop. You're bad at it."

"Eh? But I mean it, Sir!"

"That's not the issue, dammit! I still hold the A-rank, and I'm not that old!"

"Um... So, what will my starting rank be?"

Upon being asked this anticipated question, Will scratched his head uncomfortably. His answer was bound to disappoint this aspiring adventurer.

"... E-rank."

"Wha-? E-rank? Is it not much too low?!"

"Well, children can't go any higher than that anyway."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I am not?!"

"You keep saying that, but you're as tiny as a child and you sound like one too."

"... If I were to prove that I am of age, what rank would you assign me?"

"It wouldn't be that much higher than E. Your swordsmanship is crap. Having to resort to being struck by an enemy to get the chance of hitting them back is simply unacceptable."

Will continued reviewing their deficient sword skills for a couple of minutes and, with each critique, Melisande could see the figure squeaking and cowering.

"So I am crap after all... Father was right..."

"Honestly, this defense ability, this strength and your speed would normally put you in C, or even B. But there's no way we're making you start at such high ranks from the start with your skills and experience."

"So... D-rank?"

"Even D seems too high to start with, to be honest. For now, drop your hood and your mask so that I can see your face."

The figure sighed and, an instant later, the darkness concealing their face dissipated. In its place, a young face with green eyes emerged. The person revealed themselves by removing their hood, and a girl with her hair tied into a bun was now standing before the two Guild staff members.

"So it really was a girl! Sir Will, isn't she adorable?!"

Upon catching sight of her cherubic face, Will froze. This time, however, it had nothing to do with magic. Her slender brows and elegant, refined nose subtly suggested a noble lineage. The most striking clue, however, was the radiant white strands of hair that gleamed under the surrounding light. Within moments, he sank to one knee and lowered his head in a bow.

"... Sir Will? What are you-"

"Melisande, do not say another word and kneel."

"..."

"We... we stand before the Count's daughter. Keep it down."

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