I kept my eyes on Lord Ota as I dropped the bullet pieces. He looked intrigued. That was good. At least he wasn't going to reject me outright.

"That's a nice trick," he said. "Can you use that sword in a fight?"

I clasped my hands together in another humble bow. "I will not embarrass myself."

I wished I had some experience against somebody other than Kana to back up my claims, but you had to make do with the world as it was, not as you wished it to be.

"Very well," Lord Ota said. "Show me. Katsuie!"

A man stood from his position in Lord Ota's inner circle. While I didn't know his face, I had heard of his name. Shibadai Katsuie was known far and wide as the head of Lord Ota's magical forces and perhaps the greatest sword saint in the land. Such was his prowess that even when he had sided against Lord Ota in the battle over his succession to power, he had been spared in the end.

All I could do was keep the trepidation from my face as I was forced to go from fighting my childhood friend in practice spars to fighting a legend to prove my right to participate in a war.

He stepped forward. He loomed over me, more than a head taller and half again as wide as I was. Despite that, he was light on his feet, moving without making a sound. Earlier, he had sat still as others around him reacted with shock at the bullet being cut out of the air. As expected, he was a true master.

I was fortunate at least that I had plenty of practice in fighting taller and larger opponents. What had me most concerned was his reputation. I looked him up and down to find that he was also studying me warily. As expected, a skilled swordsman doesn't take any fight for granted.

"Should I retrieve a wooden sword as well?" he asked.

"A sword is a sword," I said.

The real damage dealt by a sword saint came from the magic used to create a perfect cutting edge. The magic required an anchor to manifest properly, but in the end it didn't really matter whether the anchor was made out of sharpened metal or blunt wood. Someday I hoped to carry out scientific experiments regarding mana conductivity and the like, but in my small village I hadn't had the resources.

"Very well," he replied.

He drew his sword from its scabbard and held it in a guard position facing me. We were about ten paces apart. I drew my sword as well, sending out my magic at the same time to begin the usual contest for domain control.

Oddly, my magic surged forward without facing any resistance. Only when it encountered his skin was my magic repelled by his. He wasn't even trying to push back. Was I truly that far beneath his notice? I immediately lost much of what little confidence I had brought with me into the fight. I decided to let him make the first move. There was less chance of outright embarrassing myself that way.

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He stepped forward, stabbing directly at my chest with his sword. Thanks to my magical senses I knew the attack was coming with more than enough time to act. I didn't want to risk anything fancy, so I simply stepped to the side. The simple change in position opened up a massive hole in his defenses.

At least, it appeared to. I didn't try to take advantage. Just because I couldn't see the trap didn't mean it was safe to take such a formidable opponent lightly.

After a moment, he gave up on trying to bait me in and resumed his defensive stance. We studied each other. He may have wanted me to make a move, now that he had opened combat, but I refused. I was the novice and the guest, so I felt no shame in waiting.

He eventually stepped forward again, this time bringing his sword around in a sweeping slash. I reinforced my own sword as much as I could and carefully intercepted the blow, angling the moment of contact so that his sword would be deflected without locking us into a contest of strength. Whether judging by his size, experience, or reputation, there was no way that I wanted to go up against the demon Shibadai in a contest of brute force.

Again he did nothing overt to counter my counter. His sword was knocked off course and his back was open for an attack. It was hard not to take the bait, but I managed. I wanted to at least make it to a third round, and until I had seen through his plans I didn't want to risk overextending myself into a humiliating loss.

He settled himself and stepped back. He looked agitated, if I was reading the motion of his eyes correctly. I took a moment to think there was anything about events thus far that he might find upsetting.

It wasn't until he stepped forward into another attack, this one an extremely telegraphed overhead chop, that I finally figured out what he was doing. He was giving me a chance to show off! Of course it would be unreasonable to expect a new recruit to defeat the greatest sword saint in the country. That was why he was restraining himself and letting me establish my magical domain uncontested. That was also why he was making such elementary mistakes.

He wanted me to prove that I was able to spot and exploit these basic openings. In my excessive caution, I was making myself look like a fool!

Now that I understood what was going on, I didn't hesitate. I took a step to the side and struck out with my sword, chopping his sword down and to the side. It left him completely unable to do anything as I reversed the direction of my sword, sweeping it back towards his throat.

Just to make sure he didn't think too lightly of me, I threw in the trick that I had learned from the fox woman, channeling bloodlust and aggression to push against his attempt to move out of the way. I couldn't drive anybody to their knees, but I could keep him off balance just long enough to bring the tip of my sword to a stop against his Adam's apple.

He froze, staring down at the motionless sword tip for a long moment. Finally he stepped away and bowed to me. I returned the gesture, signaling that the fight was over with no hard feelings. He turned without saying anything and returned to his seat.

"Good, good!" Lord Ota said, slapping his thigh in enthusiasm. "Girl, you've proved your point. Why are you here?"

"To enlist to fight under your command," I replied.

"Oh?" he asked. "And why is that?"

"An invading army marching through Owari will cause trouble for all who live here," I said.

I wanted my answer to be patriotic, but I didn't want to be caught in a fib by trying to lay it on too thick. I really did want to join up with the army because that would give me the best chance to help shatter the invading forces before they could hurt anybody that I cared about.

"Very well," he said. "The day you leave my service is the day you die!"

I bowed in response. It was hard to keep the smile off my face, but I managed it. I'd hoped to impress him, but I hadn't dreamed that I would do so well that he would offer me lifetime employment!