The village’s full name was Diernoa, though everyone shortened it to Di Village. It was a very strange place.

There were very few people in the village—no more than a hundred. None of them did any work, yet they never went without food or drink. And it seemed nobody here had a name of their own. They called one another by their occupations instead.

Only when two people had the same occupation did they add a character after the title to tell them apart.

Honestly, even though Alina had lived here for sixteen years, she still felt like she barely knew the place.

Lost in thought, Alina found herself wandering near the village square.

A crowd had already gathered near the square. They’d all come to watch the fight, by the looks of it.

“Oh, look who’s here! Everyone, make way and let Little Alina through.”

Alina had only just approached the square when the sharp-eyed Sword Saint spotted her. The guy wore black from head to toe, with black hair to match. The moment he saw Alina, he put on an obnoxiously smug grin and parted the crowd.

“So, how many minutes are you planning to last today?”

Watching Alina walk to the middle of the square in white, a sword strapped to her back, the Sword Saint ran a hand through his hair and struck what he thought was a suave pose.

Alina ignored him. She lowered her one-handed sword, then struck an adorable pose for the audience gathered around the square and called out in a sweet voice:

“Everyone, make sure you cheer me on, okay?”

In an instant, everyone there was captivated by the little angel before them. She was just too cute!!

“Aah!!! Go, Little Alina!”

“Little Alina is the cutest in the world!”

“Little Alina, kick the Sword Saint’s butt!”

The Sword Saint stared at his cheering companions with a dark look.

These people were absurdly serious in their day-to-day lives. Every last one of them was a legendary figure outside the village, and yet Alina had them wrapped around her little finger just like that. Their wills were way too weak!

The Sword Saint cursed them silently.

“Sword Saint, big brother, go easy on me, okay?”

It was here! Alina’s ultimate, invincible finishing move: Angel’s Smile!

Angel’s Smile was a special technique only Alina could pull off. Her adorable face paired with that sweet, well-behaved smile could deal a fatal blow to any adult man!

“Okay!”

Under the power of Angel’s Smile, the Sword Saint couldn’t resist at all. He immediately nodded in surrender.

“Then let’s get started!”

The moment Alina finished speaking, she drew her one-handed sword and charged at the Sword Saint, bringing it down in a straight overhead slash.

The attack was clean and precise, executed at an extremely high level. An ordinary person would never have dodged it. Unfortunately, the man standing before Alina was a Sword Saint—a man who’d honed his swordsmanship to perfection.

He shifted his steps just slightly and dodged Alina’s slash with ease.

“Haha, Little Alina, how many times have you used that move now? Time to come up with something new!”

The Sword Saint couldn’t resist taunting her as he dodged. But the very next second, his grin vanished. He was firmly trapped in place.

“Uh…”

Looking at the shadows beneath his feet, the Sword Saint curled his lips into a smile.

“Heh. It’s just a control skill. Watch me break free.”

He strained against the shadows, trying to break loose. No matter how hard he tried, though, he couldn’t move at all.

“Don’t bother, Sword Saint, big brother. This is an advanced control skill for assassins: [Shadow Bind].” Alina said with a smile.

“What?! Damn it! Who taught you that skill? Why’d they teach you [Shadow Bind] too?!”

Alina’s words rattled the Sword Saint. [Shadow Bind] was an extremely advanced control skill in the assassin class. Even for him, getting free once caught would be very difficult.

At the Sword Saint’s shout, a petite young woman in a sleeveless cloak nervously cleared her throat twice, then edged backward. The Sword Saint didn’t miss the move.

“Was it you, Shadow the Assassin?! You bastard!” The Sword Saint stamped his feet.

“Hehe.”

Watching the trapped Sword Saint, Alina rolled her shoulders and edged closer, wearing a mischievous smile.

“Sword Saint, big brother, if you surrender now, you can still spare yourself a beating.”

Alina’s innocent expression made the Sword Saint panic a little. A bead of cold sweat trickled down his face, but his pride as a Sword Saint still made him talk tough. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got? Listen here, even if I just stand right here and let you hit me, you still won’t get through my defense!”

Alina didn’t answer. She just nodded, then started piling buffs on herself.

[Strength Boost], [Focused Will], [Speed Boost], [Magic Amplification], [Super Magic Amplification]…

The Sword Saint stared dumbfounded as countless rings of light flashed around Alina.

“High Priestess! Why’d you teach her super-tier amplification?!”

At the Sword Saint’s anguished cry, the High Priestess lifted her fan to cover her mouth, gave a delighted little smile, and said nothing more.

Unfortunately, the Sword Saint’s ordeal wasn’t over yet.

Alina ran a finger along the blade, and flames instantly engulfed her entire one-handed sword. At the same time, she raised a hand, and a huge fireball slowly appeared above her head.

“Who taught her enchantment and super-tier magic?!”

The Sword Saint was close to breaking down. The Archmage, who’d been standing off to the side enjoying the show, turned away guiltily and started whistling.

“You bastard, Archmage!”

The Sword Saint was numb with disbelief. So the whole village was full of traitors! He never could’ve imagined he’d lose like this.

“Well, Sword Saint, big brother, do you have anything else to say?”

Holding her sword, Alina walked up to the Sword Saint, who couldn’t move a muscle. She bit her finger and asked with an innocent look.

Bathed in the glow of the fiery red fireball, Alina’s adorable face made the Sword Saint swallow hard. He forced a smile, then managed to say:

“Okay, that’s enough…”

“Boom.”

Before the Sword Saint could finish speaking, the huge fireball slammed down.

Elsewhere, the village chief sat on a hillside, sipping tea as he admired the scenery in the distance. He sighed.

“Ah, another peaceful, beautiful day.”

Then a small mushroom cloud slowly rose before his eyes. The shockwave from the super-tier magic shook the entire village.

That night, Alina sat alone in her room, meditating. It was part of her daily routine. Meditation could rapidly improve one’s affinity for magic, and for some reason, Alina seemed to have an extraordinary affinity for it by nature.

“Phew.”

After a long while, Alina finally finished meditating. She exhaled a breath of stale air and slowly opened her eyes. Anyone there would’ve felt the powerful pressure that flared the instant she opened them.

“I finally beat the Sword Saint. Now I need to get ready for my journey.” Alina said to herself.

Everyone in the village had always treated Alina well. But as someone who’d crossed over from another world, she longed for the kind of life spent adventuring in a vast world. Unfortunately, for years the village chief had refused to let her leave, citing her age and strength. Eventually, he even said she’d have to defeat the Sword Saint before they could discuss it.

Now that she’d beaten the Sword Saint, it was time to start making plans.

“I’ll talk it over with Grandpa Village Chief tomorrow.”

“But Grandpa Village Chief is so hard to deal with. I doubt he’ll agree easily. Hehe, maybe I can get my way by acting cute and batting my unbeatable adorable eyes at him.”

At the thought, Alina giggled, lay down, and drifted peacefully off to sleep.

Alina fell asleep, but the village chief and the other villagers didn’t get a wink.