#1273 Junior’s Adventure – The Value of Courage 

I’m Junior, and I’m in the middle of my adventurer qualification exam. 

The test itself is simple. 
All I have to do is watch a real adventurer quest up close and not lose my composure. 

It sounds easy at first glance, but if you can’t even manage that, you’re definitely not cut out to be an adventurer. 

Still, is it really all that simple? I wouldn’t say so. There’s a sharp edge of danger to this trial. 

Because what I’ll be watching is a real, life-or-death fight between an adventurer and a monster. 
No living being ever says “okay, kill me” when threatened. Death is the most terrifying thing there is, something all creatures instinctively resist. 
And they resist with everything they have. 
A fight to the death is when both sides pour in all that desperation, trying to crush the other’s. The intensity and brutality of it is beyond words. 

Even just watching from the sidelines will shred at your nerves.  
Unless you’ve got nerves of steel, your heart will break under the weight of it. 

Which is why I have to brace myself. 
This is the moment to show the guts I cultivated back on the farm! 

While I’m busy psyching myself up, the adventurer I’m tagging along with, Hibina, is also preparing. 
She takes out what looks like a pot...no, an incense burner? 
She tosses in some dried herbs, drops in a glowing ember, and covers it with a lid.  
Wisps of smoke drift out from the cracks. 

“This is monster-attracting incense. If we wait a bit, the smell will lure them in.” 

So those herbs were incense ingredients after all.  
Well, it is an incense burner, so it makes sense. 

“Since we’re near the capital, nothing too strong should show up. Still, a monster is a monster. Drop your guard, and you’ll get eaten in an instant.” 

Even just watching is a life-risking ordeal.  
That’s what her words sound like. 

After a short wait, sure enough, a malicious aura starts to drift toward us. 
It grows and grows, pressing down. 
And then it takes form. 

Is that…a grasshopper? 
A grasshopper the size of a medium dog, clearly twisted into some unnatural form. 
Three, maybe four of them, hopping our way in jerky leaps. 

“That’s a Lion Grasshopper, a one-star monster... Pretty standard. You, stay back and just watch. While I’m fighting, don’t move or shout. Got it?!” 

With that, Hibina draws her sword and charges straight at the giant insects. 
No protection for me, nothing to stop the monsters if they break past her and go for me. But I guess surviving the fear of being left exposed is part of the trial, too. 

I steel myself and hunker down, eyes fixed on the fight. 
No flinching, no chickening out. 

… 
…Yeah. 
Oh. 
Wait. 
Wait, wait, wait, wait, waitwaitwaitwait! 
WHOAAAAAA! 
Time out, time out, time out! 
Eeeeeeek/ 
Koh! Fyah! 
Too close! Way too close! 
Look out, look out, look out! 
Woah! 
Hyoooooooooooooooooooooooooo! 
So scary!  
So insanely scary! 
Thriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilling!!! 
Thrill! Shock! Suspense! 

Haaaaaaaaa...! 
Haa... 

That was terrifying.  
Really, really terrifying…! 

“How was it? Watching an adventurer’s real combat up close?” 

Hibina returns from the battle, wiping off her sword. 

“Oh my, you’re drenched in cold sweat. Was it really that frightening? If you’re trembling this much at a simple courage test, maybe you’re hopeless as an adventurer.” 
“It was scary...insanely scary…!” 
“Oh? Then maybe you really should just go back to the countryside...” 
“The scary one was YOU!” 
“…Huh?” 

Her eyes go wide in genuine surprise. 
Why do you look so shocked? 

It was your reckless fighting style that scared the life out of me! 

What was that sloppy swordplay?! 

Sure, bigger weapons mean more damage when they hit, if they hit!  
But the bigger they are, the heavier and harder they are to control!  
If you swing one without the strength to back it up, you’re just relying on momentum, which leaves massive openings in between. 

And openings like that are a monster’s dream target! 

But you... you didn’t even try to hide your openings! Against a lightning-fast monster like that! 

 
And don’t get me started on your awareness! Your back was wide open! 
“Look, free backstab here!”—it was that bad! 

You were up against multiple enemies! 
Not even glancing behind you when one could circle around?! Watching it froze my spine solid! 

How did you even win like that?!  
Sheer dumb luck, that’s how! 

In conclusion! 
The scariest thing out here isn’t the monsters, it’s your fighting style! 
Case closed! 

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What did you just saaaaaaaaaay?!” 

A courage test is supposed to measure if I’ll flinch in the face of danger. But the way you scared me out of my wits is against the rules! 

What now?!  
Does this count as me failing the trial because your fighting style was nightmare fuel?! 

“Forget that! You’re saying my fighting is amateurish?! I’m a C-rank adventurer, you brat! If you’re so smart, let’s see you show me what a veteran’s style looks like!” 

Her face is red, her temper boiling over. She’s not thinking straight anymore. 
She tells me to show her my fighting style…but if I just back down now, there’s no way I’ll ever calm her down. 

Worse, she might run back to the guild and start spouting all sorts of nonsense, and I could lose my adventurer license before I even get it. 
That would be bad. 

I guess I’ll have to put on a little performance. 

“Let’s burn another monster incense...wait, I'm out! I used it all up just now?!” 
“It’s okay. I’ll do the calling this time.” 

She moved first, so now it’s my turn. 
Of course, I don’t have any monster incense.  
But that doesn’t matter. I’ve got another way. 

A secret technique handed down directly from Sensei. 

The Lifeless King’s specialty: summoning magic. One could summon gods and spirits as easily as breathing. 

I was raised on his teachings since I was little, practically rocked to sleep by his spells, until I managed to learn the art myself. 
I’m still nowhere near his level, of course. 

“With this summoning, I’ll call a suitable opponent.” 
“Sum…moning… magic?” 

Hmm, what rank should I go with... 
Okay, this’ll do. 

O’ wicked and ruthless king of the night! Appear and show your might! 

Answering my call, a giant figure takes shape. Humanoid, but three or four times the height of a man. Bronze-red skin. Ten heads. Twenty arms. 

“Whaaaat is thaaaaaaat?!” 
“This is Lord Ravana, King of the Rakshasas. He’s kindly agreed to spar with me today for demonstration purposes.” 

I bow politely.  
He inclines all his heads in return. 

If I want to demonstrate full-range awareness in battle, there’s no better partner.  
With twenty eyes, he literally has no blind spots. 

And in those twenty hands, twenty swords gleam as he readies to strike. 

“Awa- Awawawawawawawawawa...!” 

Hibina is already trembling, teeth clattering, realizing this is a threat far beyond those grasshoppers. 
Meanwhile, I spring forward at the Rakshasa King. 

This is the fighting style I mastered back on the farm!