The Sword That Could Cut Even Rock

Without any warning, lightning poured down from the heavens.

Its power was tremendous—the impact point had become a huge crater, as if a meteor had struck.

Inside the hole, the vice principal and the Celestial Carpenters lay collapsed, their bodies charred black and giving off wisps of white smoke.

Behind them, the house they had been building blew apart with a bang.

Screams rippled through the onlookers.

“W-What was that!? A lightning strike just happened out of nowhere!”

“Don’t tell me… the gods are really angry!?”

“But that wasn’t lightning magic no matter how you look at it! That was the gods’ Lightning of Judgment!”

Monaka was running around in a panic.

“T-This is terrible! Injuries from the Lightning of Judgment can’t be healed by a Saint! Someone, please—find a Healer…! A nurse teacher…!”

The area fell into full-blown chaos.

In the midst of it, the dark storm clouds overhead began to clear.

From the gaps in the clouds, a beam of light appeared—like a ladder lowered by the gods—and poured down onto the house I had built.

Bathed in that light, my house began to gleam, and Kotone stood there, staring at it without moving.

“T-The gods… have acknowledged it…! This home is, without a doubt, a shrine…!”

Her voice trembling, Kotone sank to her knees, bowed her head deeply, and began to pray with her pale, delicate fingers pressed together.

Glancing sideways at the charred group being carried away on stretchers, I walked over to Kotone.

“Looks like you liked it.”

At my voice, Kotone snapped her head up.

I flinched.

Because her dark eyes were shimmering so wetly they looked like they might drown me.

Overcome with emotion, Kotone threw herself against my chest.

“T-Thank you so much…! To think you were someone capable of building a shrine…!”

“Well, it was basically an accident. The gods were probably in a good mood.”

Out of habit—like when I did it for Monaka—I ended up patting Kotone’s head.

Her glossy black hair felt smooth and damp with a calm weight to it, different from Monaka’s soft, airy hair in its own nice way.

Kotone closed her eyes and let it happen.

“Master’s hands… are so… sweet and exquisite…”

But she immediately came back to her senses and dropped flat to the ground in prostration.

“I-I beg your pardon! W-What a terrible discourtesy!”

“No, it’s not like I—”

“Hey, Leopin!”

A shout suddenly barked at me from behind.

I turned to see Tomoe, Kotone’s attendant.

She had a dignified, beautiful face that was always twisted into a fierce scowl, and with her large build she was more intimidating than most delinquent boys.

Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail, and she wore hakama with swords at her waist—an outfit worthy of a true woman warrior.

Taking advantage of the fact that Kotone was bowed with her face down, Tomoe roughly grabbed me by the collar.

“I have something to say to you. Come here!”

Still holding me up one-handed, Tomoe stomped over and dragged me behind a pile of rubble.

Her grip shifted from my collar to my lapels, and I was lifted off the ground again.

She glared at me with a terrifying intensity.

“Who… are you, really…!?”

Still dangling, I answered.

“You know. Just an unemployed guy.”

“An unemployed man can’t build a shrine! Speak the truth!”

“I changed jobs into Celestial Carpenter with my skill.”

I didn’t tell her about Dexterous Job Change, the ability tied to Jack-of-All-Trades.

Because I could pretty much predict the reaction I’d get.

“If you’re going to lie, tell a better one! There’s no such thing as a skill that lets you change jobs!”

Tomoe shook me violently while holding me.

“Ever since you showed up before Lady Kotone, she’s talked about you nonstop! And that’s not all! Every morning when she wakes, and every night before she sleeps, she always prostrates toward the direction of your house!”

“What, you want me to tell her to stop doing that?”

“No! Why does a nobody like you get to monopolize Lady Kotone’s heart!? So many fine men have courted her, yet she won’t even spare them a glance!”

“How would I know?”

“Just the fact that a nobody like you even speaks with Lady Kotone is impossible! Understood? Don’t come near Lady Kotone ever again!”

Tomoe shoved me away with a hard thud.

“Listen well! This is my final warning!

If you break it, my swords will not stay silent!” She twisted her hips and showed me the two swords she carried at her waist.

One was an initial-issue bamboo practice sword, and the other was a homemade-looking wooden sword.

“Hey, wait. What’s with that wooden sword?”

Because I suddenly grabbed at her waist, Tomoe jolted.

“W-What!? This wooden sword is something I bought at the school store…!”

“Hm. So the school store sells stuff this low-quality.”

I continued while rummaging through the rubble.

“With gear like that, neither the maker nor the user will ever level up.”

“What are you saying!? And what are you doing!?”

“Just wait a second.

Oh—there’s some ogrewood. The quality’s not great, but it’ll do.”

I found a piece of ogrewood at a good length and started carving it with my Great Boar Knife.

Tomoe stared at me like she’d run into a disgusting monster she couldn’t even name.

“W-What are you…? What in the world are you…!?”

“Told you—just an unemployed guy. All right, done.”

When I held it out and said, “Go on, try it,” Tomoe cautiously took the ogrewood wooden sword.

She assumed a traditional Eastern sword stance and brought it down from an overhead guard two or three times.

“T-This… how easy it is to swing…! It’s like an extension of my own body…!”

“Right?”

I said, and Tomoe shook off her admiration like she was embarrassed by it.

“S-So what if it’s easy to swing! A sword’s true value is its power!”

“Got it. Then try bringing it down on that rock.”

I pointed to a boulder about waist-high right in front of us.

Tomoe let out a sharp laugh.

“Have you mistaken a wooden sword for a hammer!? Even a real blade can bounce off rock! A wooden sword like this would just snap!”

“Maybe. Then swing like you mean to snap it.”

When I provoked her, Tomoe snorted and raised the sword into a high overhead stance.

“You insolent fool! You think I’m as weak as some ordinary woman! I’ve snapped more pieces of wood like this than I can count—like the bones of the pests who try to court Lady Kotone!”

With a fierce shout, she brought the wooden sword down, striking the boulder dead center.

But the sword didn’t have a single scratch.

Then, cracks began to spiderweb across the rock.

With a loud crack, the boulder split apart— and Tomoe’s eyes bulged.

“E-Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?!?”