Chapter 1: The Encounter between the Girl and the Sword Spirit

Today is the third anniversary of Eleanor Lillian’s transmigration to this continent.

The sun shines brightly, the sky is cloudless, and a gentle breeze rustles through the forest, carrying a complex and nauseating stench.

(Yuck)

Someone peed near her!

No, it wasn’t a person.

It was a tiger—a strange tiger with two heads.

Majestic, imposing, striding with fierce grace, it looked like a local elite monster, exuding a unique kind of charisma.

But~~~

Yuck (; ́A`)

“Get lost, you stinking tiger! With all this open space, you just had to pee near me?!”

The ground seemed to tremble faintly, but the two-headed tiger continued to relieve itself nonchalantly, its “mighty glowing Binzhou” on full display.

“You damned beast—!!! I’m going to slaughter you!”

“When I get out of this scabbard, I’m going to rip off your tiger hide, tear out your tendons, and kick your tiger… uh, tiger tail with my little leather boots!”

Amusing.

Though it didn’t pee on her, the foul smell wafting from nearby still made her wail in distress.

Her cries, however, were like stones sinking into the sea—heard by no one but herself, her angry wails only adding to her sorrow.

It felt like she could see her entire life stretching out before her, haha.

And besides, this tiger looked pretty strong. Probably no one dared to come here and notice her, stuck in the ground.

Eleanor’s mind was foggy, her memories fragmented.

She vaguely recalled that before becoming a sword spirit, she might’ve been a man who died in a place called Endai.

When she woke up again, she was a sword spirit, sealed in this scabbard that restricted her abilities, waiting for a kind soul to pull her out.

That wait lasted three years.

At first, Eleanor was a sword spirit full of ideals, as a—magic sword?

She wasn’t sure, but the scabbard holding her looked pretty sinister, so… she was probably a magic sword, right?

Hmm… she couldn’t quite remember.

Let’s just say she was.

Whether she was a magic sword or not wasn’t that important—being powerful was enough.

She was now a full-class LV8, you know!

The strongest in the world were only LV8, so she must be pretty impressive.

A sword this amazing should at least be paired with a stunningly beautiful girl, right?

If she had a gorgeous companion, this journey would surely be exciting.

Eleanor dreamed, and three months passed quietly.

During that time, she didn’t see a single intelligent being.

Then…

“A guy, a guy’s fine too! A heroic, dashing warrior pulling me out to roam the world would be romantic too!”

Miss Eleanor’s dreams dimmed slightly, but she still held onto hope.

Another three months passed.

…

“A person, any person will do! As long as they pull me out of this damned scabbard!”

The Forest of Fate echoed once more with the sword spirit’s cute wails.

Another half-year rushed by.

Eleanor felt like she was going mad with loneliness. After a full year without seeing an intelligent being, she finally faced reality.

This area she was in—it was awful.

That two-headed tiger was the only semi-intelligent being she’d encountered.

Other than that, there were just wild boars or bears that howled mindlessly, only to be eaten by that wretched tiger, leaving behind a stinking mess near her.

Disgusting—!

Beast.

If she weren’t stuck in this scabbard, she’d have given that tiger a few slashes!

Especially that pee-happy tiger… uh, tiger tail!

She’d definitely give it a few hard kicks with her little boots.

Eleanor had been observing this tiger for a year now.

This land seemed to be its territory, and in that time, it devoured countless creatures passing through.

Eleanor wanted to stop it.

But her heart was willing, her strength was not.

She couldn’t move, trapped in the scabbard.

Besides her detection magic to sense the outside world, all she could do was use her glow magic to make herself shine brighter.

A way to attract passersby.

Haha—what a considerate scabbard, leaving her two skills—yeah, right!

There were no people around! No matter how much she glowed, no one would notice!

“Just let something pull me out…”

The helpless sword spirit let out a despairing wail, and another two years passed.

Until this rainy night.

The rain fell in a drizzle, thousands of threads falling, and distant clamor woke Eleanor from her dream.

Eleanor used her detection magic.

Then~~~

She saw a moving caravan.

People! Actual people! A whole caravan of them!

“Yay~!”

Eleanor let out a joyful sword hum, excitedly vibrating her blade, causing the scabbard sealing her to tremble in the dirt.

But the caravan seemed to be in trouble.

The two-headed tiger had appeared.

From the information her detection magic relayed, those people stood no chance against it.

After all, the tiger was a LV6 beast, and the strongest in the group was just a LV5 heavy swordsman.

They clashed, fought, and then… it turned into a one-sided slaughter by the tiger.

First the guards, then…

Slaves?

That gaudily dressed fat man seemed to be a slave trader?

Using collars imbued with some mental control to force the slaves to block the ferocious tiger.

Disgusting.

If someone like that pulled her out, she’d probably cut them down on the spot.

For some reason, she felt an instinctive disgust toward slave traders, even though she was a magic sword?

But—

The slave trader was quickly killed by the tiger, along with the slaves he controlled.

This was bad.

She’d finally seen people in this desolate plain, only for them to die so quickly.

[You damned tiger, you ruin everything!]

Eleanor had long felt the need to kill this tiger, but stuck in the scabbard, she could do nothing.

Eleanor was frantic, feeling like she was going to lose it.

“Urgent urgent urgent urgent urgent!”

Pointlessly panicking, a small figure appeared in her field of vision.

A slave girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old.

She seemed to have escaped the slave master’s notice, running in the opposite direction of the crowd to this spot.

Her face was dirty, her steps unsteady, likely injured, standing about 160 cm tall, but her features were strikingly refined.

[What a cute little thing, exactly my type! If someone like her became my swordmaster, it’d definitely be fun.]

Miss Eleanor was ecstatic, so caught up in her excitement that she didn’t notice the two-headed tiger had silently crept up behind the girl.

It wasn’t until the tiger crouched to pounce that Eleanor snapped out of her joy.

You again!

Damnable two-headed tiger!

I knew you were no good from the start!

Let my wild beauty come to me!

You’ve kept me from seeing people for three years!

Stab you, stab you dead!

Eleanor trembled with excitement, frantically projecting her thoughts to communicate with the girl.

[Pull me out!]

[Pull me out of the scabbard!]

“Who?”

Yvette felt delirious, perhaps hallucinating on the brink of death, but she seemed to hear a cute girl’s voice just before the tiger’s fangs descended.

[The sword! It’s the sword! The one stuck in the scabbard at your feet!] Eleanor responded urgently.

“Sword?” Yvette asked, confused.

[Yes! A super powerful sword! Pull me out! Then kill it!]

[It peed next to me before! I’m gonna skin it, chop its tiger… thing, and tear out its tendons!]

Eleanor rambled on about the tiger’s crimes, her blade flashing brightly, urging the girl to pull her out.

The girl glanced at the glowing greatsword at her feet, giving a pained, self-mocking smile.

“So I get to lift a sword one last time? That’s kind of romantic. One last draw, then.”

“Dad, Mom, I guess… Yvette will never see you again.”

Urged on by Eleanor, Yvette drew the sword, raising the blade toward the charging tiger.

“Then let me die fighting here.”

Yvette took a deep breath, assuming a standard combat stance, the silver blade gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

Her body was terrifyingly weak; even lifting the sword took immense effort, but… since she’d drawn it, she resolved to fight to the end.

She’d give it one all-out strike—at least she’d die standing.

The slave girl’s gaze hardened, gripping the silver sword even tighter.