“Shouldn’t you be used to this? You spent two years out there,” Eira said.
“That may be so, but I still get nervous out there… I’m still afraid of the TWilight.”
“…That’s true. You were always alone out there, after all.”
After making it back to the city, we’d gone back to the dorms to eat. It was pretty close to nighttime, and Eira and I had just set out for the dining hall. As we were walking, we saw Sherry and Sophia approaching the dining hall from the other side.
“Hey, Yuria,” Sophia said listlessly.
“You must be tired, huh?”
“Yeah… Ugh, training is so hard…”
“Sherry seems fine, though?”
“She’s special! She’s gotten way stronger recently, too! She’s honestly become a bit of a musclehead.”
“Wait, what?! Is that what you think of me?!”
“…You two are just as loud as usual, I see,” Eira said dryly.
The four of us continued to chat as we ate. By the way, Sherry and Sophia had been assigned to the 76th Squadron. They still hadn’t been to a dangerous zone, though. The two of them had to train a little more before they’d be ready for that. Sherry’s training had been going well, though, and it looked like she was going to be heading out fairly soon. She had talent, after all; I suppose that talent was finally blooming. I could tell just how powerful her determination was, working this hard even after experiencing that hellish battle. It was impressive.
“Oh yeah, Yuria, Eira, you two are in a squad together, right?”
“Wow, a squadron with two S-Ranks? Must be incredible. With that much firepower, you could probably go anywhere in the Twilight.”
“That’s… not really true…”
“It’s really not,” I said. “At around danger level 4, things get much, much worse. It’s like stepping into a different dimension. The monsters there are stronger, of course, but you also start to encounter very intelligent monsters. Goblins, orcs, ghouls, trolls, harpies, cyclopes, undead, vampires, liches, medusas… the list of powerful, intelligent monsters goes on and on. They plan and strategize, unlike normal monsters, have intelligence equal to humans, and are incredibly strong, to boot.”
“…I have no idea what half of that means, but it just sounds dangerous,” Sophia said.
And she was right. Around level 4, the Twilight is just… on a different level, entirely. When I was wandering around out there, that was the point where I switched from fighting to mainly just running away. I did fight, sometimes, but I turned and ran at the slightest hint of danger. I would really call myself an expert, though. I only had experience with a very small part of the massive phenomenon we call the Twilight. For example, I didn’t know exactly what kinds of monsters would appear in what areas very well.
“Anyway, shall we get going?” Eira said.
We got up and headed back to our dorms. Having finished our work for today, all that was left to do was sleep. As we were nearing the dorms, I saw a large group of men appear in front of me.
One of the men addressed me. “Hey, hey! Must be nice, walking around with all those girls on your arm, Mr. S-Rank. Oh, wait, should I be calling you Major Curtis?” He was about 190 cm tall, with well-defined muscles, wide shoulders, solid abs, and an overall well-built body. He had closely cropped black hair and seemed rather stern. “I’m Nick Bream, a Second Lieutenant. So, Major, sir… Can we have a bit of your time?”
“Er…”
The group moved to form a circle around us. In an instant, the others had been swept away from me by the crowd.
“H-hey, wait!”
There was no time to react. They’d surrounded me and Lieutenant Bream, trapping us in the middle. Then, they started to heckle, like they were watching a fight.
“Hey, Nick! Don’t lose, dude!”
“He may be a kid, but he’s an S-Rank! Be careful!”
“Nah, I’m gonna bet on the S-Rank.”
“I’m betting on Nick!”
“Place your bets! Place your bets, everyone!”
“Hm… who should I bet on…”
“I’m gonna bet on the newbie. He’s cute!”
For some reason, they’d started betting? I had no idea what was going on. I thought, at first, that they were hazing me or something, but the mood was way too upbeat for that. It felt like a festival.
“Er, Lieutenant Bream? What is this?”
“Hm? Oh, it’s kind of like a test of strength. We wanna see it, so show us your strength, S-Rank!”
“Are we going to be using weapons?”
“Nope. They’re dangerous, so we’ll fight hand-to-hand, like men.”
“…Can I… decline?”
“Nope.”
“Figured.”
They’d already surrounded us and even started placing bets, after all. I couldn’t exactly leave now… They’d successfully forced me into this.
“Strengthening Magic is allowed. The battle will continue until one party gives up.”
“G-got it…”
I could vaguely make out the members of the 71st in the crowd, placing their own bets. The Colonel was there, too, so… I really had no choice.
“Now… Let’s begin!” Lieutenant Bream shouted, kicking off the ground. He was moving fast. I could tell he was experienced and that his impressive body wasn’t just for show. But if this was all he could do…
I dodged his charge and used the momentum to swing around, sweep his legs, and slam him into the ground.
“Had enough?”
”
”
“Of course not!”
So, I continued to throw him around a bit until he’d had his fill. He was strong, for sure, with good mobility, but he was still too slow to compete with me. His attack patterns were rather monotonous, too. For example, I could easily tell when he was feinting by watching his line of sight.
“…I… give… S-Ranks really are… incredible… You’re basically a monster…”
The moment he admitted his defeat, the crowd erupted in cheers.
“Amazing! That’s what an S-Rank is like!”
“Nick was completely helpless, man.”
“Damn it, I really shouldn’t have bet on Nick…”
“I’m glad I bet on Yuria!”
They were all giving their thoughts on our little… duel? Sparring match? Whatever it was, they were talking about it. Meanwhile I was still confused as to what point, exactly, this served. As I was thinking, Lieutenant Bream got up and walked over to me.
“Major Yuria Curtis, I apologise for the disrespect, sir!” he shouted, bowing deeply.
“W-wait a minute, you don’t need to… It’s fine, really. You don’t need to be so polite. Was this a hazing of some kind? An initiation?”
“Hahaha, not surprised you figured it out. It’s something like… a baptism, or a rite of passage, I guess. Usually I just beat the newbie up a bit and it’s over, but it looks like I’m the one that got beat up today.”
”
”
“You were pretty strong though, Lieutenant.”
“Haha, no need for flattery, sir. You can just call me Nick. Welcome to the Mobile Task Force. Looking forward to seeing you in action, Major.”
“You can just call me ‘Yuria,’ Mr. Nick.”
“Drop the ‘Mr,’ too. Just call me Nick, Major,” he said, smiling.
I’d had no idea how I would be received in this unit, but it seemed like they were welcoming me with open arms.
“Alright. Looking forward to working with you, Nick.”
“Likewise, Yuria.”
We shook hands firmly.
When I was joining the military, I was worried about what my fellow soldiers would think of me. I was the youngest S-Rank in history, after all, so I’d be entering as a 15-year-old Major. Most of the others at that rank were at least in their 30’s. I’d climbed up to my position extraordinarily fast, so I was worried what people would think of me. But this unit… the Mobile Task Force had welcomed me, without worrying about my age.