When I arrived home with Tsubaki, some Familia members saw us and greeted us both. Surprisingly, they didn't look at me with disdain or anything like that.

  I noticed that something was starting to ge.

  Could it be because of my sudden evolution? Or maybe the Goddess is doing something?

  'Should I ask her about this?'

  "What are you thinking about?" Tsubaki asked as we walked side by side toward my room so I could grab one of the swords.

  "I was thinking about the other Familia members. They suddenly started treatiter. Do you remember those two women who greeted us when we came in?"

  "What about them?"

  "I met them once before. They didn't say anything, didn't greet me, and even looked at me with a bit of disdain."

  "They did that? Hmm…"

  "Do you know what's going on?"

  "No, I don't." Tsubaki was straightforward. Shtforward that it felt like a lie. I looked her in the eyes, and she smiled at me. "Aren't you going to keep walking?"

  "…"

  I tioward the room.

  "Wait here; I'll be back soon."

  "All right."

  I ehe room ao the er where I kept the three swords. "Which sword should I show her? Should I show one of these two or the rare-ranked sword?"

  The rare-ranked sword is, of course, the stro of them. If I want to impress her, I should show that one.

  But there's no reason to impress her.

  I picked up the refined-ranked sword, the oh the "Quick Ssh LV1" ability. It's a strong ability—it should be enough. Plus, the sword is beautiful, which should suffice to please her.

  As soon as I left the room holding the sword, Tsubaki narrowed her eyes.

  "Is this the sword? Are you sure?" She took the sword from my hand and analyzed it. "There's nothing special about this sword. It's a on sword with excellent quality, but nothing surprising."

  She carefully examihe bde and swung it a few times.

  "You're keeping this sword in your room? You could at least put it in a sheath."

  Tsubaki hahe sword bae.

  "This sword might look ordinary, but it has an ability."

  "An ability? What do you mean?" Tsubaki raised an eyebrow. "Show me."

  "Follow me. I think it's better to test it somewhere else. It's not ideal to do this in a hallway."

  "What is it? Does the ability cause an explosion or something?"

  "Of course not. It's just better to test it on a training dummy. The only pce with training dummies here is in my training room."

  "Ah, I see. Let's go quickly—I'm getting more and more curious!"

  Suddenly, Tsubaki started gettied.

  ####

  We arrived at the training room.

  "So this is the room you use for f? What are all these swords?" Tsubaki looked at the swords I had fotten to store in my iory.

  "They're low-quality swords I fed during my training."

  "You fe this many swords every day?"

  "Yes. And I pn te even more."

  "Don't you think you're overdoing it?"

  "I made a promise to the Goddess, and I io keep it." Besides, it's fun leveling up and creatier swords. It feels like [New World]. I still remember when I fed my first SSS-rank sword in that game.

  I even bought several bottles of beer to celebrate.

  I really was addicted.

  "romise?"

  "It's nothing. Here, let me show you. First, I'll swing the sword without using its ability." I did my best to use the same stance Hephaestus taught me. It worked. I mao swing the sword powerfully.

  However, it stopped halfway.

  "Pfft…" Tsubaki almost ughed. "Your stance is so funny. And how is it possible you 't cut the dummy in half?"

  "I'm not as strong as you. I may look muscur, but I'm weak. My stats are low."

  "That's true. The Goddess mentiohat. Why don't you start expl dungeons to level up? You've ged a lot—I think it's a good idea. I help you if you need."

  "No, thanks. Now, watch this."

  I pletely ignored her and used the "Quick Ssh LV1" ability to cut the dummy. Uhe "Perfect Cut LV2" ability, which allowed me to slice the dummy effortlessly, this ability simply increased the speed of my attack.

  But doubling the attack speed was enough to cut the dummy.

  It was a , beautiful cut.

  Tsubaki, atg, opened her mouth in admiration. "Ooooh, that was amazing." She cpped. "What was that? Even I couldn't follow the sword's movement. And the cut erfect."

  "It's the sword's ability. Quick Ssh."

  "Quick Ssh? What a funny name."

  "Try it."

  "Hmmm…" Tsubaki took the sword and used it to strike the same dummy I had cut in half. She easily cut the dummy's legs off without using the ability.

  "That was really easy, but I didn't notice much difference," she said, looking at the fallen dummy.

  "You have to say 'Quick Ssh' before attag."

  "Oh, I fot. All right." Tsubaki moved to the dummy and, this time activated the ability.

  Like the attacks of Hephaestus and Mikari, her speed was frightening, making me feel a bit envious.

  'I o explore the dungeon. I 't keep being the weakest here. It's frustrating.'

  I know the system's goal is for me to bee a legendary bcksmith… But a legendary bcksmith o be strong.

  ParodyGirl