Luca’s Ability

I drew my sword from its scabbard and pointed its sharp tip at all the adventurers who had been mocking us. The light reflected off the blade, and the keen edge glimmered brightly.

“Until now I didn’t talk back because I was weak, but there’s something I’ve wanted to say for a long time. You guys are seriously uncool. You search for someone weaker than yourselves and bully them, and because you know deep down that you’re weak, you can’t feel secure unless you find someone even weaker to pick on, right? It’s pathetic. Adolf, you’re the same, aren’t you? You kept someone weaker than you—me—as a companion so your own weakness wouldn’t be exposed.”

When I voiced what I had always thought but could never say before, Adolf’s face turned bright red and he drew his sword with a furious expression. The adventurers who had been mocking me also drew their swords all at once and charged at me almost simultaneously.

I carefully read all their attacks, deflecting them with my sword, and then kicked the men away one after another as they lost their balance. These guys were really this weak…

The battle between me and the dozen or so men ended in less than a minute.

“Luca… amazing! Haven’t you gotten incredibly strong!? What happened?”

Rebecca compared Adolf and the others sprawled across the guild floor with me, clearly thrilled.

“Actually, I figured out why I couldn’t become stronger until now. It turns out it was a pretty powerful curse. Because of certain circumstances it was lifted, so the results of all my efforts are appearing all at once.”

“I see… so that’s what happened. Luca, that’s wonderful!”

Rebecca smiled from the bottom of her heart, celebrating the miracle that had happened to me as if it were her own joy.

“Yeah. It really is wonderful.”

“I’ve always known you’ve been working desperately hard all this time, Luca, so if the curse was lifted and released the results of your effort, it makes sense that you’ve become this strong.”

While Rebecca and I were talking about being freed from the curse, Jeanne and Rora—who had not participated in the earlier fight—glared sharply at me.

“Luca! Why didn’t you show that strength when you were in our party!? Don’t tell me you pretended to be weak on purpose to sabotage our party!?”

“Sigh… why would I ever do something like that?”

I could not even muster the energy to properly refute Jeanne’s baseless accusation, and a sigh escaped me.

“Luca, with that ability, I might let you back into the party.”

“Huh? Why would I want to become companions again with people who said they only put me in the party to laugh at how useless I was?”

The fact that he still thought I would rejoin them, speaking with that condescending attitude, was almost impressive. I might even respect it.

“T-this… this must be some kind of mistake…! Luca, you cheated, didn’t you!?”

Adolf, who had been writhing on the floor, somehow managed to stand up while holding his stomach and glared at me.

“You’re still saying that? Then how about a one-on-one duel?”

“Adolf, I don’t think you can beat Luca anymore. Honestly, I always thought it was strange that you—who never train at all—were stronger than Luca, who works desperately hard every day. If it was a curse, that makes sense.”

At Rebecca’s words, I noticed that some of the adventurers who had been watching the commotion nearby nodded in agreement.

The ones who mocked me were mostly low-ranked adventurers, while the higher-ranked adventurers did not bully the weak in the first place.

When I trained in the training grounds, some of them taught me how to swing a sword, and when the mockery became too excessive, there were even people who subtly stopped it.

However, the higher the rank, the fewer adventurers there were, and they often left on long-term requests, so they were absent from the guild more frequently. Because of that, the guild tended to become a place where the lower-ranked adventurers acted arrogantly.

“Luca, that movement earlier was excellent. I wondered why someone who worked as hard as you couldn’t become stronger, but if it was a curse, that explains it. Judging from what I just saw, you might even aim for Second Rank.”

A high-ranked adventurer who happened to be there spoke to me. I was so happy at his words that my heart soared.

To think I could aim for Second Rank using only my swordsmanship, without using any of the abilities of a divine servant… it made me unbelievably happy.

The Adventurer Guild had a unified evaluation system across all nations, divided from Fifth Rank to First Rank. First Rank was granted only to adventurers who had achieved feats on the level of saving a nation, so in practice Second Rank was the highest level of adventurer most people would ever encounter.

And to think I could aim for Second Rank… I was glad I had worked so desperately all this time.

“Thank you very much!”

“You’re probably going to rise higher from here on. I’ll have to work hard too so you don’t surpass me.”

When the man, who was currently a Third Rank adventurer, said that, the expressions of the adventurers who had mocked me earlier changed.

“Hey Adolf, I’ve always thought this, but you’re weak and a small man. Luca is way cooler than you. That’s why you’ve been stuck at Fourth Rank all this time.”

Adolf seemed unable to refute those words and simply hung his head. Seeing that, the adventurers who realized the commotion was over resumed their activities, some heading to the reception counter while others left the guild.

“Rebecca, thank you so much for standing up for me. I was really happy.”

“I didn’t actually help at all though. All I could do was stand behind you and watch in shock while you fought.”

“No, just having you stand on my side made me feel incredibly encouraged.”

“…I see. Well, if that’s the case, I’m glad.”

Seeing Rebecca’s face light up with a bright and joyful smile, I naturally found myself smiling as well.