The Commemoration Festival ended, and a few more days had passed.

The outsiders who had been staying in the territory capital had left, and life had finally begun returning to normal.

From what I overheard, even the residents who had been living in this city were ecstatic about the major festival that came with the transformation of their town from a remote provincial city to the territory’s capital.

Although things were returning to normal, the liveliness of the city hadn’t subsided yet.

Regarding the dungeon, it was announced that the ritual would begin as soon as the sacred coins arrived from the royal capital and that it would be completed by autumn.

That was big news.

Because of that, the pace of adventurers seeking to hone their skills in places like the Forest of One had also increased.

Of course, hunting grounds were becoming dangerous, and casualties were inevitable. But that was something that couldn’t be helped.

It’s a harsh reality, but it likely means they lacked the necessary strength.

When people die in the dungeon and their corpses can’t be retrieved, it increases the upkeep costs, and demons start to appear more frequently.

In that sense, having weaker individuals drop out beforehand is, in a way, a welcome development.

To explore the dungeon, you need to pay a registration fee. However, there are also other unique criteria set in certain cases.

Here in Riana, for example, accomplishments in magical danger zones like the Forest of One are also considered.

It’s an efficient way to filter people out.

As for the registration fee, the specific amount of cards hasn’t been announced yet. However, adventurers in this city have been spending the sacred coins they’d saved up in the past.

Now they’re desperately trying to save up again.

Fortunately, for some reason, the skilled adventurers of the territory haven’t been going hunting recently, so now’s the perfect opportunity. I heard they’re venturing out not only to the capital but also to frontier bases to continue their hunting.

Thanks to that, it seems like land development in the territory will progress further before the rainy season.

To collect sacred coins from residents, they’ve been buying them at higher-than-usual prices and then creating the need to earn them back, pushing everyone to hunt intensely.

It feels a bit like a deliberate cycle, but… well, I guess it’s fine.

Alec and Zighart have resumed their investigation of the dungeon. As for me…

“……Grrr.”

“What’s wrong? Hurry up and come at me.”

In the underground training hall, I was facing off against Seriana, wooden sword in hand.

It was too hot to hunt outside, and the dungeon was crowded, so I had been lounging in my room. But Seriana had invited me to train, so here we were.

She must have wanted to move her body after all the parties and meetings connected to the Commemoration Festival.

Although we came here, my body was still recovering from the battle with the Dungeon Demon King species. While I had fortunately been able to ward off most of the damage with blessings and protective items, I had taken some direct hits.

So, I decided to work on my defensive skills. We agreed to spar without using blessings or protective items, purely relying on technique.

Seriana had been swinging her sword here occasionally even before this, and I would spar with her then too, but that was with blessings and items.

When it’s just raw ability… I couldn’t do anything.

I held my sword in both hands, positioned at mid-level, while Seriana held hers in one hand, standing sideways.

We had gone through this many times already, but her stance was always the same.

I tried moving carefully, circling her while looking for an opening… but what exactly is an “opening”?

Still, simply circling around wasn’t going to get us anywhere.

“Ungh… Here I go!”

I decided to thrust forward.

While a one-handed stance might have more reach, it would be easier for her to parry. So, I stuck with a firm two-handed grip.

This should work…!

Whack! She effortlessly parried my attack with one hand.

“Guh!?”

Bracing for Seriana’s counterattack, I immediately shifted my grip, holding my sword like a shield.

“Haah!”

Her strike came toward my head, but I managed to block it.

I deflected her attack downward and attempted a horizontal slash at her now-exposed torso.

“Hmm?”

But before I could execute the move, Seriana entangled my sword with hers and disarmed me.

It was the same disarming technique I had unsuccessfully tried earlier.

“Well, that’s that,” she said.

Caught off guard by her counter, I froze, leaving myself wide open as she placed her wooden sword lightly on my head.

Defeated again.

“Your movements weren’t bad,” she said. “You even managed to block my sword and think about how to follow up.”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

It was just training, and Seriana was probably holding back. Still, I had managed to defend myself and even tried to counter. For me, that wasn’t bad at all.

“But…” she added.

“But what?”

“You’re slow, weak, and short.”

“Nothing I can do about that…”

She really didn’t hold back with her critiques.

While I sulked, Teresa and Elena were standing a bit farther away, explaining my match to some female soldiers.

They were also analyzing how I should have moved in that situation.

Seriana joined them to listen.

Apparently, I should have retreated and reset after my initial attack was blocked.

Then, I should have used a whistle to call for backup.

For someone in a one-on-one fight like me, buying time is the best strategy.

Well, for guards like them, ensuring the safety of their charges is more important than defeating the enemy, so that makes sense.

In my case, though… against an opponent I can’t beat, running away is probably the smartest choice.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Sera: 【Hideout】 +1 【Prayer】【Blessing of Mira】【Wind’s Garment】・【Floating Orb】 +1 【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Snake’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】・7 cards

Seriana: 【Area Identification】・【】・28 cards

Elena: 【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・3 cards

Alec: 【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・7 cards