The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

Chapter 87: Maid Outfits Suit Different People (1)

Yurina\'s private training hall.

It was so large that calling it \'private\' felt almost ridiculous.

Yurina and I had both changed into training clothes and finished a light warm-up.

"Dale, want to spar for the first time in a while?"

"Sounds good."

I had been itching to move my body anyway.

\'I’m also curious to see how much Yurina has grown this time.\'

She had been one of the strongest heroes of humanity, even without any divine blessing, and she was already counted among the top five.

Now that she had awakened her blessing, I wondered how far she could go.

Even having watched over her through both my previous and current lives, I couldn’t predict her limits.

"You’re going to use a training sword, right?"

"No, let’s use real swords."

At our level, it didn’t matter if we used training swords or real ones—the lethality was about the same.

In fact, using the weak, fragile training swords was more dangerous, since they could explode under the pressure of mana during the fight.

"Alright, understood."

Yurina, knowing this too, picked up a real sword.

It was made from the horn of a unicorn, which she had received for coming in first place in the recent midterm assessment.

Silver aura rose along the blade\'s sharp edge.

"Then, let’s start!"

With her sword wrapped in silver aura, she dashed at me like a streak of light.

I raised my sword and deflected the silver flash speeding toward me.

Boom!

The training hall shook as if an earthquake had hit.

The fierce rebound echoed in my palms.

“Grr!”

Yurina had always had an immense amount of mana, but after awakening her blessing, it had only increased.

‘It’s not just her mana that’s grown.’

As I blocked Yurina’s relentless sword strikes, I narrowed my eyes.

The level of her Sun Sword was far beyond what it had been when we first sparred.

‘Had she mastered the 7th form last time?’

The difference between the 6th and 7th forms of the Sun Sword seemed small in number, but the difficulty was on a different level.

‘Even Rosanna, who had spent her life mastering the Sun Sword, couldn’t reach the 7th form.’

It wasn’t because Rosanna lacked talent.

In fact, she was considered one of the most gifted heads of the Helios family in history.

‘That’s just how monstrously difficult the 7th form is.’

Even I, who had learned the Sun Sword directly from Yurina in my past life, had taken over 300 years to properly wield the 7th form.

When I had faced the demon god in the final battle, I barely managed to use the 6th form—reaching the 7th form had taken another 300 years.

Of course, my talent was trash, but even accounting for that, the 7th form of the Sun Sword was a realm that only the rarest of geniuses could reach.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Yurina\'s ferocious silver strikes rained down on me.

Though I had rapidly improved lately, it was still difficult to hold out against Yurina, who had both awakened her blessing and refined her swordsmanship.

"Gah!"

Boom!

Unable to withstand the onslaught, my body was flung across the training hall, crashing into the wall.

"Are you alright, Dale?"

Yurina approached me with a concerned expression.

I staggered to my feet, waving my hand to show that I was fine.

"Sorry. I’m still not used to controlling my strength."

Yurina scratched her head with an embarrassed smile.

"Let’s stop the sparring here—"

"No."

I shook my head, tightening my grip on my sword.

"Let’s keep going."

"But—"

"You scared?"

"......"

Yurina’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The silver aura around her sword flared up again.

"Don’t blame me if you regret this."

"Hmph."

I let out a dry laugh, gripping my sword tightly.

Indeed, Yurina had achieved something great this time.

She had awakened her blessing, something she hadn’t managed to do in her past life, and had crossed the ‘wall’ to reach a new level.

Contrary to my worries, she had grown even faster than in her previous life.

‘But.’

I wasn’t the only one who had grown faster than in my past life.

“Ignite."

Ssssss!

With a sizzling sound, gray smoke rose as if flesh was burning.

"Huh?"

Yurina’s eyes widened in surprise.

I launched myself toward her.

Boom!

Wrapped in a gray aura, my strike violently overwhelmed her.

“Gah!”

A moment ago, she had been the one overwhelming me, but now she bit her lip as she was forced to retreat.

Flames licked along the edge of my sword.

The gray aura mixed with fire began to consume Yurina’s silver aura.

"Kyaaa!"

Boom!

The silver aura of her sword was eaten away by the flames of the \'Primordial Flame,\' and Yurina couldn’t hold out any longer, sent flying backward.

"Hah... hah... Dale, what is that fire?"

Breathing heavily, she stared at me in disbelief.

"Well, it’s like my secret weapon."

I shrugged, leaning against the wall of the training hall, trying to endure the heavy fatigue that came after using ‘Ignition.’

Once my body had recovered enough, I approached Yurina, who was sitting on the ground, looking worn out.

"Ugh... If I hadn’t been fighting you, my \'blessing\' would’ve worked better."

She pouted, disappointed at her defeat, and took my hand to help herself up.

"Oh, by the way, what’s the name of the blessing you awakened?"

"It’s called the Blessing of Moonlight."

"Oh."

In her past life as ‘Yuren,’ the name might have been different, but now, ‘Blessing of Moonlight’ seemed perfectly fitting for her.

"What kind of ability is it?"

“…That’s…”

Yurina blushed and averted her gaze.

"I’ll... tell you later."

"……?"

I tilted my head, puzzled, but she didn’t say anything more.

"Ah, um, anyway! Dale, the swordsmanship you use... I’ve been feeling for a while now, but it’s kind of similar to the Sun Sword, isn’t it?"

"…Is it?"

At her mention of the Sun Sword, I involuntarily flinched.

"Yeah. Well... it’s not exactly the same, but there’s a lot that’s similar."

Yurina, seemingly recalling our sparring sessions, touched her lips with her index finger and continued.

"Oh, but... I\'m not sure if I should say this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your swordsmanship, Dale. It feels like... it doesn’t quite suit you."

"What?"

The swordsmanship I’m currently using is based on the \'Sun Sword,\' something I perfected over thousands of years on my own.

Apart from the basic structure, I had modified everything to fit me.

And yet, it doesn’t suit me?

"Oh, to be precise, it’s not that it doesn’t suit you. It\'s more like... inefficient, I guess? That\'s the feeling I get."

"...Inefficient?"

"Yeah."

Yurina nodded and continued.

"If I had to make a comparison, it’s like a millionaire with a million gold trying to save money by using a carriage instead of a warp gate. Dale, it’s not like you’re lacking in mana, but it feels like you’re being overly conservative with it."

"...!"

It felt like I had just been hit on the back of the head with a hammer.

\'Not lacking in mana\'?

That was something I had never heard in my entire life.

\'Now that I think about it, my mana has increased a lot recently.\'

And it wasn’t forcibly inflated mana from potions or amplifiers like in my previous life—it was pure mana built up through the primordial fire.

"Hah."

Of course.

It was much more powerful to use mana explosively at the right moment rather than conservatively saving it all the time.

\'I’ve been so conditioned to conserve mana that I kept doing it, even though I have plenty now.\'

Honestly, if Yurina hadn’t pointed it out, I wouldn’t have noticed the oddness on my own.

For someone like me, who had always struggled with a lack of mana, conserving it had become second nature, like breathing.

\'Could it be that the experiences of my past life have actually become a hindrance?\'

The unexpected words left me in a daze.

"Uh... Did I speak too boldly in front of my master?"

Seeing me stiffen, Yurina gave an awkward smile.

"Bold? No way. Your advice has helped me a lot."

I wasn’t just saying it to be polite.

Yurina\'s advice was a shock to me, who had been relying too much on habits from my \'past life.\'

\'Who would’ve thought I’d still be learning like this?\'

A bitter laugh escaped me at my own arrogance, thinking I had nothing left to learn after my previous life.

"Hehe. I’m glad it helped."

For some reason, Yurina beamed, nodding enthusiastically.

"Whew. Shall we take a break, then?"

"Yeah, let\'s do that."

Still feeling the aftereffects of ‘Ignition,’ I leaned against the training room wall and sat down on the floor.

"Hey, Dale."

"Yeah?"

"I, I’ve got something to show you."

"What is it?"

"Well... uh..."

Yurina swallowed nervously.

"Wait right here!"

With that, she quickly ran into the changing room inside the private training hall.

About five minutes passed.

Click.

The door opened cautiously.

"...Yurina?"

The outfit Yurina stepped out in was a maid uniform, the same one worn by the maids of the Helios family.

It was the exact same outfit I had forced Rosanna to wear as a form of humiliation.

Yurina, her face flushed red, twisted her silver hair with her fingers.

"You know... you made my mother wear a maid outfit, right?"

Wait.

"H-How do you know about that...?"

"I mean, I did faint back then, but I was still somewhat conscious."

"...!"

She was conscious?

That means she remembers everything that happened between me and Rosanna!

"Dale, you like maid outfits, don’t you?"

"N-No, it’s not that I like maid outfits, it’s just that..."

"Don’t lie. Then why did you make my mother wear one?"

"That’s... well..."

How could I explain it?

That I forced her mother to wear a maid outfit and treated her like a slave just to humiliate that arrogant woman?

"A-Anyway! I don’t like maid outfits, so hurry and go change!"

"Hmm."

Yurina, narrowing her eyes mischievously, slightly lifted her skirt.

Through the slightly raised hem, her white ankle and socks peeked out.

I found my eyes drawn downward without thinking.

"For someone who says they don’t like it, your eyes are being pretty honest."

Yurina smiled playfully as she stepped closer to me.

"There’s no need to hesitate. You’re the one who protected my Stigma, right? If it’s for you, Dale... I can do anything."

She gently grabbed my hand, speaking confidently.

"So! Give me any order, Dale! You can treat me like a slave, just like you did to my mother!"

"No."

First the mother, now the daughter herself asking me to treat her like a slave.

\'When she puts it that way, it makes me sound like a complete scumbag.\'