#1244 The Finishing Touch to the Blow 

And so, Momoko ends up spending her days training in the Forest of the Lost. 

“Hon-dabaaahhh! Shateraaaahhhh!!!” 

The training is brutal enough to be called the final exam for an S-rank adventurer. 
Tree branches sharpened like swords, leaves flying like shuriken, and roots bursting from the ground to attack like hidden traps. 

Momoko dodges them all by a hair’s breadth, leaping and spinning. 
It’s been going on for quite a while now, but her stamina hasn’t given out yet. 

From where I’m sitting, it’s a spectacular sight. 

“Never gets boring to watch.” 
“Mommy, thirstyyy.” 
“Yes, yes, let’s get you some water.” 
“Lady Platy, I’ll take some brown rice tea.” 
“Yes, yes. ...Oh, Norito’s sleepy? Nap time then.” 

The rest of us watch from the sidelines, relaxed and cheerful. 

Oh, I’ll handle the tea prep. Shouldn’t you be giving Shotaro his milk now? 

“HEYYYYYYYYY! Don’t you dare have a cozy little family moment right next to me while I’m putting my life on the line for my traininggggggg!” 

Well, that can’t be helped. 
Just like Momoko treasures every single second she has to train, we treasure every single second we spend together as a family.  
One day, these moments will shine like platinum in our hearts forever. 

Both are important, you see. 

“Nghhhhhhh! Just you watch! Someday I’m going to be happy, toooo!!!” 

Even while shouting her resentment, she never stops moving for even a second, detecting and dealing with attacks even from behind. 

Most S-rank adventurers have one of their five senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch—sharpened far beyond normal, allowing them to instantly detect danger. 

But since Momoko doesn’t have any of those super senses, her reaction speed is slower. She only manages to scrape by thanks to her holy sword’s overwhelming firepower wiping out threats in an instant. 

She uses what she has to its fullest. 
That’s what everyone should be doing in a fight. 

By faithfully following that principle, Momoko manages to keep holding her ground. 
Honestly, that alone makes her worthy of being called first-class. 

“Phew, that’s enough.” 

The barrage from all directions finally stops. 
I can feel Forest’s exhausted aura. 

“I’ve seen enough to know you’re fully capable. No need to test you further. You can march right back to the Guild with your head held high.” 

That… kinda feels like he just got tired and quit halfway. 

“As I said earlier, Forest is plant-like and lacks ambition,” Sensei adds, hitting the nail on the head. 

“But… I can also tell you’re holding back unused potential. You’ve been given great power, yet you don’t know how to use it.” 
“Huh?” 

Momoko looks puzzled at first, then suddenly freezes like she just realized something. 

“My skill…!” 

Looks like she remembered something. 
Skill? 
Oh, right. She’s a hero summoned from another world, so of course the gods must’ve given her a skill. 

Skills are usually handy, often the core of someone’s battle strategy... but now that I think about it, I’ve never seen her use hers. 

“My skill is called Goddess’ Scythe +2’. It’s awkward to use, so I haven’t touched it in ages.” 

Huh? Is that even a real skill? 
Most isekai characters would be giddy to use their skills nonstop.  

Even a junk skill with no obvious use will usually get bent into something practical. 

So what does it do?  
Tell me. I’ve been around long enough to maybe figure out a trick for it. 

“It kills the target in one hit.” 

... 
Wow. That’s... specific. 

“And it only works on opponents weaker than me, which makes it even less useful. If they’re weaker, I can just beat them normally.” 

Yeah, fair point...! 

“It does have a +2 bonus, so it works on slightly stronger opponents, but the range is tiny, so it’s not much help. It doesn’t work on dragons or Lifeless Kings, and honestly, situations where you need to literally kill someone don’t happen that often in this world. So yeah, it just sits unused.” 

...Also fair. 

“So really, the only time I’d even consider using it is against ghosts or something like that. But I’ve never even seen a ghost in my life! Where do those guys even hang out?” 

Momoko is clearly troubled by her awkward skill. 

And I get it... On paper, it sounds strong: instant death.  
But the absolute nature of it actually makes it too restrictive to be useful. 

What was the god who made this thinking?  
“Behold, my ultimate skill!” or something? 

“But Momoko, until you can master your skill completely, you can’t become the strongest,” Forest says. 

She looks uneasy. 

“To be the strongest, you must use everything you’ve been given, without leaving anything untapped. You have yet to draw out your full potential. That’s why you can’t claim the top.”  
“You’re… right. But how do I even…?!” 

Of course she’s stumped.  
She’s been ignoring the skill because it’s so situational. 

But after watching her work so hard, I want to see her see it through. 
Just when I was thinking if there was something I could do to help... 

…Hm? What’s up? 
My kid is toddling over to Momoko... 

“Put your heart and soul into each pitchhh.” 
“Gubebebeeeeeee!” 

Whoaaaaaaaaa!  
Why?! Why did my kid just punch Momoko in the stomach?! 
I’m sorry, please forgive him! I swear, I didn’t raise him like this!!! 

“No... wait a second.” 

Huh? Momoko?  
Don’t tell me you liked that?!  
Please don’t awaken to anything weird here…! 

“Here I go… Hah!” 

Huh? 
She vanished?! No, she’s behind me! 
When did she do that?! 
That wasn’t speed or hypnosis, it was something way scarier! 

“That was… me killing my presence!” 

What?! 

“With my skill, I erased everything about myself. Footsteps, body heat, scent… even my appearance! The skill that can kill anything in one blow also killed my own presence!” 

Uh… wait, what?  
Sure, there’s the expression “to kill one’s presence”, but in reality, a “presence” doesn’t have life or death to begin with, and you can’t literally “kill” it the way you’d stop someone’s breath. 

That’s… taking it to the absolute extreme.... 

…Wait. There’s a skill that’s basically the ultimate form of over-interpretation. 
Well, it’s more of a gift. 

My gift, Hand of Supremacy, can push someone’s latent abilities beyond their limits.  
If I used it, even Momoko’s D-grade Adaptability skill (her super-weak point) could probably awaken in some clever, roundabout way. 

But I never touched her…  
No… could it be Junior?! 
My own child, Junior, inherited my gift through blood! 
His version is called the Hand of Ultimacy! Could his gift have affected Momoko’s skill?! 

“Brush up.”  
“Oh wow, this kid can do amazing things! You’re gonna grow up to be quite the man!” 

As soon as Momoko scoops Junior up, Platy immediately delivers a serious gut punch and snatches our child back. 

And with that, Momoko’s S-rank adventurer training is complete.  
She can now march proudly into the Adventurers’ Guild headquarters in triumph.