A gleaming blade of shining silver. A beautiful, wide, double-edged greatsword.

Compared to the original rusted sword, it was like a completely different weapon—even the blade length had changed, which was quite fantastical. But if Shamash-san called it a Holy Sword, then it must be one.

For now, let's appraise it...

I took the sword from Shamash-san.

It was heavy—unbelievably heavy. It felt about ten times heavier than my magic sword. It didn't seem like something I could actually swing around.

"It's far too heavy..."

"Holy Swords are said to choose their owners. The fact that it feels so heavy to you might be because you've already been chosen by a Demon Sword, Ayase-kun. It looks like you won't be able to equip it..."

Hmm. It's true my demon sword is supposedly hard for anyone else to use too... Well, whatever. I didn't plan on wielding it anyway.

"Mirror of Truth."

Mirror of Truth (The Judgement)

【Category】

Melee Weapon

【Name】

Holy Sword Ascalon

【Description】

A dragon-slaying Holy Sword said to have been forged by Cyclopes.

A sword that can be equipped by close-combat classes.

Holy Sword Unique Skill "Hero's Soul" increases all stats.

Holy Sword Unique Skill "Hero's Strike" increases critical rate.

Increased critical rate against dragons.

【Magic Properties】

None

【Spirit Blessings】

All Stats Up: E

Critical Hit Rate Up: D

Anti-Dragon: B

【Owner】

Jirou Ayase

"Mu!? What did you just do, Ayase-kun? Was that Spirit Magic!?"

Shamash-san reacted before I could even process the appraisal results. Since spirits apparently handle the appraisal process, people who can sense spirits catch on immediately.

"It's a secret."

I kept it vague.

Either way, there was no time to explain.

But a Holy Sword, huh... a genuine Holy Sword.

The additional effects also sounded impressive. It was ironic that a sword forged by a Cyclops appeared just as we were fighting one. I doubted it was made by this specific Arges, but being destroyed by a blade of its own kind's making felt appropriately mythical.

"Well, anyway. This is a good one. Here."

I handed the Holy Sword to Rebecca-san to replace her broken sword. It had incredible buffs; it was exactly the kind of thing we needed to break this stalemate.

"Is it okay for me to use this?"

"Of course. I don't think this one's gonna break. Probably."

"Ah... but it feels kind of heavy."

"...Seriously?"

Even Rebecca-san found it heavy... How troublesome... Maybe only someone as buff as Shello-san could handle it? A heavy weapon is valuable, but only if you can actually move the thing.

Still... the only other weapons we brought were knives. Knives are basically useless against that giant.

"...Will you 'equip' it?"

Shamash-san muttered suddenly.

Equip?

"Huh? Me? Yeah, I'll equip it, but—Eh...? What is this!?"

Rebecca-san's eyes darted around as she held the Holy Sword. She was flustered, a side of her I rarely saw.

"Ehhh... uwaaah. Amazing—what is this?!"

She let out a cry of admiration as she began swinging the sword through the air.

Did the sword get stuck to her hand? Or was "Holy Sword" just a cover and it was actually a cursed one!?

"R-Rebecca-san, are you alright?"

"Eh? Yeah... I'm fine. It's just... a spirit appeared and said, 'Acknowledged as the wielder of Holy Sword Ascalon.' Then the sword suddenly got light, and my whole body feels light too..."

"Ohhh!"

It was the same pattern as when I 'equipped' the magic sword. Rebecca-san had been fixed as its wielder. Man, this world really takes individual weapon authentication seriously.

"Wait, this isn't the time for talk!"

Rebecca-san gripped the Holy Sword and charged toward Arges, who was still rampaging energetically.

Yeah, we really didn't have time for chit-chat.

Right now, Marina was holding off Arges all by herself. She was following my instructions perfectly—keeping a safe distance while fighting. She usually leaned toward being too brave, but my nagging explanations about safety seemed to have paid off. No matter the battle, you're only as good as how long you stay alive.

Rebecca-san and Marina swapped out. Rebecca-san ducked under a roaring hammer swing from the giant and unleashed a flash from the glowing Holy Sword. Shards of light scattered violently, and the giant actually staggered back.

"Ah, it worked! That really worked, right, Shamash-san?"

"Yes, that was a splendid strike. Perhaps it's the difference in the user? It seems to do much more damage than your attacks did."

"Hahaha... I guess it's a skill gap..."

Arges tumbled over backward. Seizing the chance, I jumped in too. We all piled on, stabbing and slashing at the glaringly obvious weak point—the single eye.

"GYAAAHHHH! H-HURTS! IT HUUUURTS!!"

The giant's reactions were so over-the-top that I almost felt a twinge of pity—or maybe a bit of sadistic satisfaction. Either way, we didn't let up. It was a total beatdown.

Arges flailed its arms and forced itself back upright. Damn—it hadn't taken as much damage as I'd hoped.

"It's working! Keep the pressure on!"

Shamash-san shouted.

She was basically the knight captain now.

That said, having everyone charge in at once was a recipe for disaster, so we had to stick to our rotation. The inefficiency was frustrating!

While Rebecca-san attacked, I backed off to rest. For now, between me, Rebecca-san, and Marina, we had the giant stalled. Ai-chan was handling the regular monsters, so we were holding the line. But man, this drawn-out battle was a drain on the nerves.

"Ayase-kun. Ai-chan's time is almost up."

"Huh?"

I looked up to see Ai-chan, who had been annihilating monsters from the air, beginning to dissolve into the atmosphere. Shamash-san said the "fuel efficiency" was bad, but it had only been about ten minutes...

"Can't you summon it again?"

"No, not for a while. Ai-chan is special."

I see. So, should we ask her to summon another creature?

Or if Shamash-san's mana has recovered, have her take over monster cleanup...

Actually, me, Rebecca-san, or Marina could handle the normal mobs. Shamash-san mentioned Marina's attacks weren't doing much to the giant. It would be more efficient to have Marina switch to mob duty while Shamash-san provided the long-range magic support we were lacking.

"Marina, switch to the regular monsters. Shamash-san, once your magic recovers, please provide support with magic attacks."

"Are you sure? I can summon a beast strong enough to deal with monsters..."

"Then please do that as well."

Shamash-san used magic crystals to summon Shadow Knight-kun.

He was useless against Arges, but should do okay against goblins and orcs.

"Shadow Knight-kun, focus on goblins."

"YESU! YESU! My lord!"

"Marina, take the orcs and golems mainly. Oh—and don't push yourself against golems, okay? You know the drill!"

"Roger that, de-arimasu! I've got this!"

The knight duo of Marina and Shadow Knight-kun replied energetically and ran off.

Even if no "super-strong" monsters had appeared yet, it was still dangerous. You can never rule out an accident. Most of them were slow, but they were all power-types. The goblins weren't strong, but they were fast and annoying.

The special torch Etowa was holding was like a monster magnet. Both Arges and the mine-dwellers were fundamentally drawn to it. Of course, they'd still switch targets if a human got too close, but since they were slow-moving orcs and golems, you could usually just outrun them. If you pulled back far enough, they'd lose interest and go back to chasing the torch. It was like a game mechanic where you're guaranteed an escape.

"Now, the question is whether the three of us—me, Rebecca-san, and Shamash-san—can finish that thing off."

"Yes. Thanks to the Holy Sword, we're accumulating damage faster than before, but that thing is going to take a while. Most 'Final Boss'–type monsters usually have ridiculous HP, but that one is exceptional."

Ridiculous HP... Yeah. It really wasn't dying.

If we could make it drop its weapon, we might win, but that seemed impossible. Rebecca-san was smashing it with the Holy Sword, and I was doing my best too, but...

We continued our hit-and-run rotation for a while.

Still no reinforcements from Lucraella... What's going on?

"ROOOAAARGHHH! OUT OF MY WAYYYYY!"

After a long lull, Arges entered the biri-biri attack animation.

I instinctively backed off and slammed my sword into the ground. I didn't think a magic sword would be a good conductor, but it worked perfectly as a lightning rod.

"...! Wait, look out!"

Rebecca-san was too close to the giant. The electric discharge followed a parabolic arc; being that close meant a sword in the ground probably wouldn't protect her.

DOGON! The thunder hammer slammed down with a violent roar. A fountain of light erupted instantly.

"Ah—!?"

"Rebecca-san!!"

She took a direct hit to the head. Judging by how Shamash-san looked when she got hit, it probably wasn't lethal, but still...

I rushed to retrieve Rebecca-san, who was twitching on the ground. Since the giant always stayed still for a moment after that attack, I managed to pull her back safely.

"Rebecca-san, are you okay!?"

"Ha ra ho re hi re ha re..."

"She's definitely not okay!"

We could heal her instantly with a Spirit Stone, but honestly, that's wasteful. It might not be the time to say that, but Spirit Stones cost 3 million yen each!

"Diana, Ion-san! Look after Rebecca-san until she recovers!"

"Leave it to me nodesu!"

"Eh? Ah, y-yes!"

She'd probably recover with time. If things got dire, I'd use a Spirit Stone then.

"I've recovered a fair bit, too. Leave the covering fire to me!"

Shamash-san said.

Speaking of recovery, Rebecca-san and Marina must have been reaching their limit from the constant high-intensity combat. Meanwhile, I felt fine—better than fine.

Every time the 'Absorb' skill on my magic sword triggered, my stamina was replenished. It was an incredible skill for long battles. Theoretically, I could fight forever, as long as I didn't get hit.

"U-Um, Goshujin-sama!"

As I was about to charge out with Shamash-san's support, Diana stopped me.

"What is it?"

"I want you to hold my hand without asking anything."

"Why?"

"Just do it, quickly nodesu!"

Confused, I took her hand. It was cold.

"...Because I wanted to make it a special moment... I've made things harder for you."

Diana murmured regretfully, squeezing my hand tight. She closed her eyes and whispered a few words under her breath.

The bright flash of Spirit Magic flared and then quickly faded... What was that?

Poof!

"Yo yo! Congrats on the Class Up and achieving the Guidance! Tackling Arges right after Arcas is pretty reckless! Defeating him will drop a good weapon, so keep at it! See ya!"

Poof!

In my hand was a red Spirit Stone. A garnet, maybe? Which meant...

"Class Up?"

"...Yes. I wanted it to be just the two of us... but we're past the point where I can worry about that. Your Vocation should have changed. Master, please check."

A job change... Man, if it was this easy, Diana could have just done it sooner.

Was she that hungry for a "moment" with me?

"Well, whatever. Vocation, vocation, vocation!"

【Name】

Jirou Ayase

【Age】

21

【Gender】

Male

【Race】

Human

【Vocations]

Wizard

Blacksmith

Craftsman

Trickster

Trader

Cook

Gemologist

【Unique Vocations】

Sage of Another World — The Library

〈Skill〉 Otherworld Travel — The Journey

〈Skill〉 Principles of the World — The Principle

〈Skill〉 Mirror of Truth — The Judgment

Fourth Magic Sword Wielder — The Beast Slayer

〈Skill〉 King of Beasts — The Lionheart

【Baraka's Guidance】

・Conduct Business with an Imperial Merchant 2/3

・Defeat 'Arges' of the Altar: 2/3

・Visit the Lakeside Town: 0/3

・Acquire a Home of Your Own 0/1

・The Great Wheel of Fate? ・ ?????? 9/10

【Clan Affiliation】

Clan Name: Artemis

Master: Jirou Ayase

Sub-Master: Diana Luna' Abella

Members: 6

Rank: White

"........."

"...S-So, how was it, Goshujin-sama?"

Let's see...

I hadn't told anyone about my [Unique Vocations] yet. Apparently, people with Unique Vocations are so rare that only a handful have ever been discovered in history. I figured revealing it would only cause a massive uproar.

Some people already knew I had a lot of Vocations—eight of them, in fact—but... Wait a second. My Unique Class didn't just stay at one—it increased to two?! I assume my [Swordsman] job evolved into [Magic Sword User], but did it really have to become a Unique Vocation?

I mean, I'm happy! And it even came with a new skill! Even if it's another one of those skills where the effect is totally vague!

"...? W-Why are you making that face nodesu? Did your Vocation turn into something strange?"

Diana leaned in, looking worried, and gripped my hand even tighter. Her aura practically screamed, 'I'm not letting go until you tell me!'

"No, it's not that."

"Then how was it? A Class Change usually transforms an existing Vocation into something else nodesu. There should have been a change in yours as well, Goshujin-sama."

"Uh... right! It says [Magic Swordsman]! Magic Swordsman! Probably because I'm using a magic sword!"

"A Magic Swordsman!? I've never heard of that Vocation nodesu! That's amazing, Goshujin-sama!"

And there it is—my daily dose of "That's amazing, Goshujin-sama." Anyway, we don't have time for this.

"Anyway, thanks. But even if the Vocation changed, it doesn't mean I'm suddenly stronger, right?"

"Well... I'm not sure nodesu. Since I still don't have a Vocation set myself, I don't really know what it feels like to have one..."

"Fair point."

Well, we'll just have to see how it goes. What I do doesn't change.

I gripped the magic sword tightly.

『Fourth Magic Sword Wielder — The Beast Slayer』, huh...

That's completely a Vocation born from this sword. If that's the case, I can only hope it lets me wield it better.

* * *

"GWAAAAAAAAAH! I JUST WANTED TO LIVE HAPPILYYYY!!"

After dozens—maybe hundreds—of exchanges with Arges, the one-eyed giant, who seemed to have infinite stamina, finally dropped to its knees.

Sensing our chance, we didn't let up and rushed in together.

...Looking at the scene, you wouldn't be able to tell who the actual villains were, but we didn't have a choice. We were desperate to stay alive, too!

"Take thiiiiiiiis!!"

Rebecca-san brought the brilliantly glowing Holy Sword down with everything she had on the kneeling giant. There was no mercy.

Even the mighty Arges couldn't withstand it. The giant wasn't cleaved in two, but that single strike sealed his fate. As the creature collapsed weakly, it let out a final, mournful murmur.

"I... I WANTED TO LIVE... UNDER THE SUN..."

Murmuring those sorrowful words, Arges vanished.