Chapter 8 – Testing out the sword?

6:00 a.m.

「Fu wa~a… N n ~u~…. !」

I took off the headgear I was wearing and stretched.

Ayane, who always went to bed at 10 p.m. and woke up at this hour to lead a healthy life, couldn’t stay awake until 1 a.m.

Good morning, everyone. It’s Ayane.

Even though I was sleepy, I didn’t think I’d ever fall asleep like that.

「I can’t wait to make breakfast…」

Still rubbing my sleepy eyes, I changed into my school uniform and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

――Ka~ankka~a~an~!!

A loud, high-pitched noise rang out in the morning.

Father always starts hammering early in the morning, around 4 a.m.

I made breakfast while listening to the sound. Today it’s bacon and eggs on toast.

「Father, breakfast is ready!」

「… On my way」

After the high-pitched noise stops, my father emerges from the workshop.

「What was it yesterday, the package that Ayane’s friend Shimizu-san sent over? I’m assuming you were playing some kind of game until late at night」

「U~…」

「… Don’t overdo it. Keep it in moderation」

「Ye~s」

Father is awkward but he is kind in his own way.

After breakfast was finished and cleaned up, I left the house at 7:00.

When I arrived at school and opened the door to the classroom, Suzu rushed in.

「What’s wrong~? Suzu」

「Is it done??」

「What~?」

「The sword! Sword!!」

「In a way… It’s done?」

「Really!? Then we can play together today!」

「Because I worked so hard on it yesterday… I’m sleepy…」

「Well, I’m looking forward to it! I’ll meet you in front of the first temple at 7:00 p.m.!」

「… You’re not listening… Un. Okay」

As usual, Suzu is so cute.

And in today’s class, as expected, I fell asleep.

However, I’m a good learner, which is why I’m ranked 1st in my grade.

Thanks to that, I seemed to have been overlooked… That helped.

I came home, finished my homework, ate dinner, and logged on to 《Secondaria Online》.

When I logged in, there was a hearth in front of me, and when I stood up, I didn’t realize until the blanket that had been draped over me fell off.

I’ve heard that the best place to log out is at the inn as your avatar will stay where you are…

The last time I logged out of the game, I was sitting in the chair at the entrance of the Blacksmith’s Guild and everything was fine, so I thought I would just disappear.

At that moment, I could feel the heat gathering in my face.

That means if I don’t log out at the inn, people will see me sleeping…!

I’ll log out at the inn next time.

With this new resolve, I returned the blanket to Gale-san, left the guild and headed for the temple.

It’s 6:30 p.m. in real time.

I’m a little early, but I’m sure Suzu will be here sooner or later.

「Ah! There! Aya~!!」

……….. See?

Suzu runs up to me with her hand waving widely.

Is it okay for a very wealthy young lady to do that?

「How long have you been waiting?」

「Since about an hour ago?」

…

「So Aya made her hair and eyes red」

「Suzu is the same way, both are light blue」

Suzu’s avatar is a beautiful girl with lustrous, straight, waist-length light blue hair and cloudless light blue eyes, wearing a loose white robe.

In contrast, I have short red shoulder-length hair and red eyes. A white shirt and brown pants, the clothes of a beginner.

If I were to judge by appearance alone, if Suzu was the innocent type, I would be the mischievous type. Just the looks of it!

「You’re wearing a robe, so you’re a Magician?」

「Yeah? Aya can do melee, right?」

「That’s true」

「So let’s get going, then?」

「I got it!」

We left the city after a brief conversation.

We’re in the Beginner’s Forest.

I’ve been here recently, but I’ve only cut down about 10 trees in the shallows, so this will be practically my first time.

What kind of monsters are in here…?

Rustle… Rustle…

As I followed the path, a green wolf jumped out from the treeline of the forest.

I’ll dodge and appraise it.

「《Appraisal》」

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

【Name】 Forest Wolf LV. 3

【Weakness】 Neck

【Description】 A wolf that lived in the forest has evolved and improved its jumping ability. It jumps around in the trees and ambushes its prey when it finds them.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

I see…

That’s why the attack just now was an ambush.

As I was admiring it, the Forest Wolf jumped at me, probably angry that the ambush had failed.

――Span! ………. Zaza~a~a~a!!

I dodged half a step to the right and decapitated it with the sword on my left hip.

Suzu, who was to my right, praised me, clapping her hands.

「You’re the best~Aya! You don’t need me for this one, do you?」

「What are you talking about, Suzu! I can’t be motivated without Suzu!」

「Wa, wa, what are you saying… ! Mo!!」

「Fu fu」

「What! I’ll show you how good I am!」

「Then I’ll looking forward to it!」

「Wa ~u~!」

Suzu is so cute with her face completely red.

「… Did you say something?」

「Suzu’s face turned red and I thought she was so cute!」

「~~~~!?」

Suzu blushes so much that she almost emits a ‘woosh’ sound. It’s about as red as a tomato, you know?

「L-let’s just go!」

「Ye~s!」

After placing the wolf’s corpse in my inventory, we made our way deeper into the forest. I’d like to dismantle it, but I don’t have a good knife, so it’ll be sitting in my inventory for a while…

According to Suzu’s information, there is a city called Selkadia at the end of the forest, which is bigger and richer than the City of Beginning, Fanst.

I found out later that there’s a boss roaming around here…