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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Kabur & Silavin
Saki was swinging a dagger by the Yurino Shrine in the Eighth Floor.
It had already been nearly four years since Saki, a slave, had come to the tower as a shrine administrator.
She was 12 years old when she first arrived, but she was now 15 and would soon be 16.
Her physique was showing that she was ready to take a step forward as a fully grown woman.
It had been nearly three years since Saki had started swinging her dagger.
It was after an incident occurred that she volunteered to learn to use a dagger.
The incident occurred when a group of three people, including Saki, visited the Fifth Floor on vacation and were attacked for the possession of their cards.
After some time had passed since Saki and the others had become accustomed to their work, they were given a card that allowed them to freely use Transfer Gates within a defined area.
Using the card, Saki and the others were able to freely enter and leave the Fifth Floor to a certain extent.
However, as the frequency of their visits increased, someone would naturally take notice.
Saki and the others dared to use the Transfer Gate used by ordinary adventurers.
They did not want to be singled out for using the special Transfer Gate.
But that turned out to be the opposite of what they wanted.
Of course, Kousuke and his group were concerned that this might cause problems, but they did not dare to tell Saki and her group.
They thought it would be meaningless unless they themselves were aware of it.
The incident occurred as if to take advantage of this situation.
Fortunately, it was not serious, but they finally realized that the card they were holding was very important.
Saki therefore wanted to become stronger, which included protecting herself.
Incidentally, the cards themselves were protected by workmanship so that only Saki and her friends could use them, so even if they were actually taken, there would be almost no harm done.
Saki had been informed of this since the incident occurred, but that did not mean she thought it was okay to remain weak.
“You’re doing great~”
Peach spoke to Saki, perhaps to see how she was doing.
Peach was Saki’s mentor in daggers, or rather in combat in general.
Peach was the only one available when Saki was being taught combat, so Peach was the one to teach her.
Miki, who had an aptitude for magic, was taught by Shrein.
“Oh, Peach-sensei!”
Saki smiled when she noticed Peach’s arrival.
At first, she called her “master”, but Peach didn’t like being called that, so Saki called Peach “Peach-sensei”.
Peach also accompanied Kousuke on his travels, which made it difficult for her to spend time with Saki, but when she found the time, she showed up to see Saki.
“Have you improved your skills?”
“I don’t know. I have no partner, so I can’t really tell.”
Living in the Eighth Floor, Saki was not sure if she had improved her skills or not, since there were few people who could handle a dagger besides herself.
Sometimes, Mitsuki and others were her opponents, but she did not feel that her skill had improved at all because she never felt she was able to keep up with them.
Except for dealing with the monsters that appear around the shrine, she basically just practices barehanded, so she had no idea how good she really was.
“I see~. Well then, for the first time in a while, I’ll be your opponent.”
“Yes!”
Saki cheerfully replied to Peach, who pulled out a similar dagger from her pocket.
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“Uaah, I’m home!”
Looking exhausted, Saki returned to the Yurino Shrine.
She had sparred to her limit against Peach.
In fact, right after Peach told her it was over, she couldn’t move at all and collapsed on the spot.
Finally, she was able to move and came back to the shrine.
Seeing Peach, who was watching right beside me, looking so nonchalant, made her realize that she was still not good enough.
“Welcome back~!”
Eri greeted the exhausted Saki.
Unlike Saki and Miki, Eri was not taught to fight.
She knew herself that it was impossible due to her personality, so she learned to cook from Mitsuki instead.
For some reason, when Eri asked Mitsuki to teach her, Mitsuki readily agreed.
Perhaps she felt something about it.
Kousuke, who was curious, asked her about it once, but she only smiled and did not give him a clear answer.
After that, no one ever asked her again, so no one knew why she had decided to teach Eri how to cook.
Anyway, Eri started to learn how to cook from Mitsuki, and her skills improved rapidly.
As a result, Saki and Miki always have a delicious meal.
However, they were often used as test subjects when she tried out new dishes.
“What’s wrong?”
Eri tilted her head at the sight of an exhausted Saki.
“I met with my teacher, and we had a spar.”
Eri understood what had happened just from that.
“Oh dear. You too.”
“…You too? You mean?”
“Miki was being worked over by Shrein just now, too. Now she’s groggy in our shared space.”
The shared space was like a living room in a normal house.
It was not a private room, but a place for the three of them to play and rest together.
By the way, Cecil and Arisa also called this place “Shared Space” as well.
“Oh? So Shrein is here too?”
Peach, who had been following Saki, asked, tilting her head.
“Oh, yes. Now…” Oh, Peach is here too?””
Eri was about to say she was in the shared space, but was intercepted by Shrein who came out of the shared space.
“Yes~. I had some free time, so I came to check on Saki.”
“The same goes for me.”
“I’m relieved to see that she’s training properly while I’m gone.”
“The same for me, as well.”
Saki was somewhat flustered as they continued their conversation calmly.
“I’m training, but I don’t think I’m improving at all.”
This was a complete misunderstanding on Saki’s part.
Saki’s senses must have been funny because she was surrounded by a group of people, led by Peach, whose standards were not quite right.
And by the way, Miki, who was slumped over in the shared space, had a similar misconception.
If they were active as adventurers, they would know their own abilities from the surrounding people’s abilities, but Saki and Miki, who have learned basic skills and magic for self-defense, have no opportunity to use their skills in other places.
Before, they were told whether they would become adventurers like Cecil and Arisa, but they refused the offer.
They have decided that their main job would be to manage the temple.
So, to give an idea of the current skill level of Saki and Miki, they should be able to become intermediate grade adventurers by now.
However, since it also required a certain amount of experience to work as adventurers, Peach did not expect them to move up the ranks as quickly as Cecil and Arisa had done.
In this sense, it would be easy to understand how out of the ordinary Cecil and Arisa were.
In the case of the two, it was largely due to the help of the special presence of Yuri.
Saki, who never thought she could make it to the level of those two, had no intention of making a name for herself as an adventurer.
