Vol 1 Chapter 6 – The First Vow and the Tragic Heroine【Vol 1: The Hero Awakens】 

Thirty copper coins from the quest.

All it bought was a few chunks of hard black bread, some water, and one night at an inn.

The next morning, I was forced to start from broke again.

(I ran my mouth about becoming the strongest, but… the road’s way too long…)

First comes money.

Then the bare minimum gear and strength to protect myself.

I went back to the guild board and, like yesterday, decided to grind out herb-gathering quests and village busywork.

With 【Edit】, herb gathering is basically cheating now.

Rewrite whatever weeds are growing nearby into expensive medicinal herbs and turn them in.

In a village with sloppy appraisal like this, it actually works.

After a few days, I had a decent stack of copper coins on hand.

(Alright. With this much…)

I headed to the village’s only weapon shop.

Everything lined up out front was old and crude—used to hell.

But to me, it was a lifeline.

“Old man. Give me the cheapest one.”

I slammed down my hard-earned copper and got myself a single rusty dagger.

The chips in the blade were awful, but it beats having nothing.

――――――――――――――――――――

【Name】Rusty Dagger

【Category】Weapon (Dagger)

【Attack Power】3

【Special Effect】None

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(God, that’s terrible… but now I can finally fight.)

With a weapon in hand, where do I go next?

Obviously, the “Forest of Beginnings,” where monsters roam.

Leveling.

The most basic action for surviving in this world.

(According to my game knowledge, slimes in this forest are weak to physical attacks. Killing one gives you peanuts for EXP, but… every little bit adds up.)

I entered the forest at the edge of the village and kept hunting slimes, nonstop.

Slash!

“Pigii!”

One down, then another.

A monotonous loop.

With my pathetic Level 1 stats, even taking down one slime is a struggle.

Dodge, wait for an opening, land a hit, then back off again.

Over and over.

‘Experience gained. Level increased to 2.’

A system sound echoes in my head.

When you level up, HP and MP fully restore, and your stats rise a little.

That feeling of growth was the only motivation pushing me forward.

I hunt slimes until sunset, then sleep at a cheap inn.

Next morning, back to the forest.

Day after day, I kept at that slow, grinding routine.

(I need to get more efficient… at this rate, I’ll never get anywhere.)

There’s a limit to slime grinding.

I want the “power” to hunt stronger monsters more safely.

And that’s not just stats.

It’s “skill”—the technique to actually use a weapon.

In 《Sera Village》, there’s only one dojo that teaches swordsmanship.

In the game, it was a place you could access after clearing a sub-event.

(A dojo, huh… if I go now, will I just get turned away at the door? No—worth trying.)

For the first time in weeks, I leave the forest and head to an old wooden building a little outside the village center.

The sign out front reads: “Glen-Style Swordsmanship Dojo.”

The moment I open the door, the smell of sweat and the heat of men hits me in a thick wave.

Inside, a few young guys are swinging wooden swords, training hard.

In the middle, standing like a guardian statue while barking instruction, is the dojo’s master—probably Instructor Glen.

Built like a tank. The very definition of “swordsman.”

“…What is it, kid? If you’re just here to gawk, get out.”

Instructor Glen notices me and shoots me a sharp look.

“No. I want you to teach me the sword.”

“Huh? You? A scrawny little thing like you? You got money?”

“I only have this much, but…”

I pull out the pouch of copper I earned from quests and show it to him.

He snorts when he sees it.

“You’re trying to knock on my door with pocket change? Don’t make me laugh. Get out.”

(Yeah… figures.)

Exactly what I expected. My shoulders sag.

But I can’t just back down here.

“Please! I’ll do anything!”

I beg like I’m about to grind my forehead into the floor.

That desperation seems to spark a tiny bit of interest in him.

“…Hoh. You’ll go that far, huh. Fine. I’ll test you.”

He says that, then calls out to a girl nearby.

“Lilia. Handle him.”

“Yes, Father.”

With a crisp, steady voice, the girl who’d been practicing swings in the corner walks over.

She looks about my age.

Chestnut hair tied in a ponytail, straight eyes that leave an impression—she looks energetic.

In her hands is a wooden sword nearly as tall as I am.

(This girl is Lilia…!)

No doubt about it.

The first heroine from the game.

Instructor Glen’s only daughter—Lilia Glen.

And the character who, in the original story, walks straight into a tragic fate.

In the game’s scenario, a few weeks from now this dojo gets attacked by a powerful monster, 《Orc Leader》.

During that, Instructor Glen takes a hit protecting Lilia and ends up critically injured—never able to fight again.

The dojo is forced to shut down, and Lilia is sold off to a slave trader as collateral for debt.

In the route I grinded, you could avoid that fate by buying her at the slave market and recruiting her, but….

(Right now, I don’t have the money—or the power—to save her.)

But fate has already changed.

Because I came to this world.

This meeting has to create a new possibility.

“No holding back, Lilia. If he manages to take even one point off you, I’ll allow him to join.”

“…Understood.”

Lilia nods quietly, steps in front of me, and raises her wooden sword.

Her stance has no openings.

She carries herself like a seasoned swordswoman—way beyond what you’d expect for someone our age.

“Here I come!”

I raise my rusty dagger and charge at her.

But—

CLANG!

It happens in an instant.

My dagger gets knocked clean away, spinning through the air.

The cold tip of her wooden sword is already pressed to my neck.

“…I yield.”

Total defeat.

It’s not just level or stats.

The difference in pure “technique” is painfully clear.

“You’re not even worth talking about. Get out, kid.”

Instructor Glen spits it out.

Even the dojo students let out a few snickers.

(So this is reality, huh…)

But I don’t give up.

If I walk away now, I can’t change Lilia’s fate.

And I can’t fulfill my vow—to protect my comrades.

“One more time, please!”

I pick up my dagger and raise it again.

Lilia looks a little troubled, but it seems she can’t disobey her father’s order.

CLANG!

Same result.

No matter how many times I challenge her, I can’t even touch her.

By the time I’ve been smacked down ten, twenty times, my body is covered in bruises.

“…Stop. You’re just going to get hurt.”

Lilia calls out, unable to watch anymore.

In her eyes there isn’t contempt—just genuine concern.

Exactly like her character in the game.

Straightforward. Kind.

“…No. Not yet.”

I stagger back to my feet and raise my dagger again.

And then, a thought hits me.

(Right… I have 【Edit】.)

It doesn’t raise my attack power directly.

But the core of this skill is “hacking the rules of the world.”

If I use it right, I might be able to break through this situation.

I focus on Lilia and read her information.

――――――――――――――――――――

【Name】Lilia Glen

【Category】Human

【Skill】Glen-Style Swordsmanship (Intermediate)

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(Her strength is built on this swordsmanship skill. Then if I just… rewrite that definition a little…)

I activate 【Edit】.

【Skill】: Glen-Style Swordsmanship (Intermediate) → Glen-Style Swordsmanship (Beginner)

Just a tiny rewrite.

But the effect should be massive.

“…Here I come!”

I bet everything on this last strike.

Lilia responds, raising her wooden sword.

But her movement is clearly different from before.

(Huh…? Why does my body feel heavy…?)

A slight wobble slips into her blade path.

I don’t miss that momentary opening.

KIN!

A sharp ring as metal meets wood.

My dagger knocks Lilia’s wooden sword away.

“…What?”

Lilia stares at her own hands with a look like she can’t believe it.

The dojo goes dead silent—like someone poured water over the whole place.

“…That means I win, right?”

When I say it, Instructor Glen nods, stunned.

And just like that, I forced my way into being accepted into the Glen-Style Swordsmanship Dojo.

After that, my days were nothing but training.

Mornings: leveling in the forest. Afternoons: sword practice at the dojo.

Instructor Glen’s training was brutal, but because of that, my sword skill improved fast.

Even Lilia—surprised at how quickly I learned—trained with me as a good rival.

Of course, right after I was accepted, I quietly put her skill back to “Intermediate.”

Leaving it lowered would feel way too disgusting.

She hasn’t noticed I used 【Edit】.

She seems to think that day’s victory was just me stubbornly hanging on until I finally won.

That’s fine. I still need to keep my power hidden.

As we trained more, Lilia and I naturally started getting along.

She didn’t care that I was a drifter from outside the village, or that I had no money.

She simply recognized me—someone earnestly chasing the sword—as a fellow swordsman.

“Fuyuya… why do you want to be so strong?”

One day after training, she suddenly asked me that.

“…Because there’s something I want to protect.”

“Something you want to protect?”

“Yeah. I never want to be betrayed again… or have something important stolen from me again.”

My words seemed to make her sense something.

After that, she didn’t pry into my past.

But the way she watched my training felt… just a little gentler than before.

(In this life, I need to become someone who can protect a straight shooter like her…)

Staring into Lilia’s clear, unclouded eyes, I made a new vow in my heart.

I will change her tragic fate with my own hands.

And for that, I need to get stronger.

I need power so overwhelming it can crush anything in my way—the strongest power there is.

A few weeks until the day fate comes knocking.

I keep swinging my sword, preparing for the battle to come.