Chapter 84:
A Holiday
“Ladies and gentlemen of the capital, I have returned!” Mile proclaimed what sounded like some kind of catchphrase, clutching a piece of jerky in her mouth like a corncob pipe.
Everyone simply ignored this. If they paid her any mind, she would make a habit of it.
After their previous trials, the Crimson Vow had headed back toward the capital of the kingdom of Tils, their base of operations. On the outward journey, they had proceeded along the main highways, but for the return trip, they took side routes slightly off the beaten path. Their reasoning for this was ostensibly because it would be boring to go by the same route and not good enough training. However, the real reason was probably that all of the towns along the main road were where various incidents had occurred and where they were now hesitant to show their faces.
At any rate, one way or another, they had finally made it back home.
As they had not taken the main roads, they also did not run into anyone who was traveling eastward along the main road…
First, they headed straight to the guildhall. They wanted to waste no time before getting the clock ticking again on their required five years of service within the country to repay their tuition subsidies for the Hunters’ Prep School. So, the moment they crossed back into Tils they had stopped in at the first town they encountered and done some daily gathering jobs (i.e. turned in some materials from Mile’s inventory under the pretense of having just collected them), just to indicate that they were back again and working. Still, the right thing to do was to stop in straight away and make their report back at the capital.
“We’re back! Our current training journey is now complete!” Mile’s voice echoed throughout the guildhall, following the familiar ding-a-ling of the bell.
“Huh…?”
All of the staff and hunter’s gazes snapped to the members of the Crimson Vow, who were standing near the door.
“Whoa-hoooooooh! Welcome back!! Congrats!!!” everyone cried.
Of course, this response was not disproportionate, nor was it solely because it was the Crimson Vow that had returned. The rate of parties who returned from journeys of self-improvement without a single party member retiring or becoming an invalid was not at all high. Some took jobs that were a bit above their stature, thinking it would be a good learning experience, some took extermination requests beyond their abilities at rural villagers’ entreaties, and on and on…
The members of the Crimson Vow were plenty skilled, but such parties were apt to take on jobs that were just a bit beyond their abilities. Thus, the rate of return from journeys taken by naturally skilled and confident parties was even lower than that for journeys taken by weaker parties, who recognized their own limitations.
The guild staff, at least, would know when parties who did not return had simply taken up residence in another country, because they received registration transfer documents from the new branch those parties would be registering with. Still, there were plenty of parties who were gone for years without any such documents ever arriving.
Yet now, a rookie party had returned safely, without losing a single member or, apparently, suffering any serious injuries. This was a natural cause for celebration.
***
“We’re back!”
“Welcome ba—Big Sis!!!”
Lenny practically leapt over the reception desk.
“W-welcome back! I’m so glad you’re safe! Congratulations on completing your journey!”
Her greeting was not very Lenny-like, but this was probably her form of ceremonial phrasing. Whether she was speaking to favored guests or guests who had only stayed a few nights, her manner toward anyone who had journeyed far, and still chose to stay at the inn again, was always the same.
Previously, on the Crimson Vow’s return from the westward leg of their travels, her greeting had been a bit different, but then, she had probably just been flustered from the shock.
Lenny was so moved that there were tears in the corners of her eyes. Seeing this, tears began to well up in the eyes of the members of the Crimson Vow as well. Until…
“Perfect! Now the cost of running the baths will go down! Between the baths and you all, we’ll attract more customers, and we can save on meat thanks to whatever monster parts you brought back. Oh, and you can teach us some recipes from the other lands you’ve visited!”
Sounds like she hasn’t changed…
With that, the members of the Crimson Vow felt all over again that they were truly home.
***
For the first time in a while, the girls ate a huge meal and slept soundly. The next day, they popped in at the guild to—
“Hey! Why didn’t you all come to see me yesterday?!”
—immediately be called into the guild master’s office and yelled at?
“Well, we did tell all of the hunters and guild staff that we were back… And I mean normally, a rookie C-rank party returning from a journey isn’t something to bother the guild master about, is it?” Mavis rebutted.
“Er…” the guild master faltered. “W-well, I mean before that! Why did you all head right back out without saying anything after you got back from your first journey?!”
This time, Reina took the wheel.
“After our first journey? But this was our first journey. When we stopped by previously, it was because we just happened to be passing through in the middle of our trip. We didn’t want to trouble anyone by going to the bother of reporting we were back just to head right out again.”
“Wha…?”
Sure enough, on their previous visit they had neither reported that they were back nor that their journey had concluded, so there was nothing he could say to argue with this.
“Guh… W-well, fine. This time you’re really back, no mistaking that!”
“Ah, yes. Our first training journey is now complete,” said Mavis.
The guild master heaved a great sigh.
First .
Of course, no hunter would be expected to go off on only one such journey. There were many reasons why one might set out. To escape the daily grind. To test one’s confidence and skills. To grow stronger. Guild master or no, he could not put a stop to them leaving in the future.
The guild master himself had made many such journeys in his youth, so he was in no position to complain.
“All right. Anyway, congrats on making it back safely. We look forward to even more great things from you!”
“Yeah!!!” all four shouted, pumping their right fists into the sky. There was no other reply for a hunter that truly encapsulated the essence of “You can count on us!” the way this one did.
***
After making their presence known the previous day, they had headed straight to the inn, so today, after the guild master released them, the Crimson Vow took a good look at the job board and checked out the request slips that had been left without any takers. Then, they detained a few staff members and hunters who looked like they had time on their hands and asked about the current state of things, inquiring after any recent rumors. Realizing that they were a bit behind on the times, the members of the Crimson Vow decided to take a week’s holiday.
A week was rather short for a rest, considering they had just returned from a lengthy journey. Save for those who had very little chill, or else were burdened by money troubles, it was not at all strange to see parties take even three weeks off. Knowing that many hunters ruined their bodies via injury and fatigue after pushing themselves too hard, sensible parties took the time to stop and recover before resuming work locally.
However, in light of Mile and Pauline’s healing magic, this was not an issue for the Vow. They could heal a blown-off arm back to battle-readiness in just ten seconds…
“Okay, so let’s take a week off to pop in and say hi to all the folks who have helped us out and vice versa. After that, back to the grindstone—for power and money!”
“Yeah!!!”
The guild staff and hunters watched fondly as the members of the Crimson Vow shuffled off. Naturally, there was no one who went out of their way to tell them about the three girls who had been here previously.
Should they ask, all anyone would say was that those girls were off on a training journey. This was not particularly confidential information, being something that most hunters and staff were aware of. So, they would have no problem telling the Vow this piece of information about those girls…when they asked.
Still, no guild employee would freely offer up information about a hunter of their own initiative. Even for normal hunters, that was just bad manners. Plus, while the members of the Crimson Vow have asked around plenty about local politics and monsters, not once had the questions, “Was there anyone looking for us?” or “Did a party of three girls pass through here?” come up.
There were plenty of people who came asking after the Vow, anyway. People who wanted to join their party, nobles and merchants who wanted to contract them, and so forth. As the girls had not requested to be notified about such things, there was no need for the staff to relay every single inquiry.
The more anyone thought about it, the more they thought that, while those three girls had been extraordinarily skilled, that alone was not enough to prove that they were connected to the Crimson Vow. They did not seem to have any information at all about the Vow, and the Vow seemed to have no interest in finding out if anyone had been asking after them. The chances were high that those girls were merely admirers of the Crimson Vow and were following after them in hope of joining forces.
Plus, the Crimson Vow was a party formed right in this very city, and half the members were citizens of this land. Chances were slim that hunters coming from another country would have any connection with them.
Therefore, it would be simply bad manners to go around spreading information about these other hunters without their permission.
As such, the Crimson Vow learned nothing about those three strange little girls…
***
The holiday began.
Of course, one week (really, six days) was not nearly enough time for Mavis or Pauline to make a trip back home. And so, naturally, they had little choice but to kick it around the capital.
Mile visited the library, donated an orc’s worth of meat to an orphanage, brought a feast down to the urchins who lived in the so-called “rain shelters” (though they provided little shelter from the rain and made a mockery even of the name “hovel”) down at the river banks in the name of “trying out a few new dishes,” and kept busy with all sorts of other activities. At night, she stayed up late writing something. It was fine for her to sleep in every morning, so she had no worries about staying up until dawn.
Mavis attended lessons at a sword dojo, occasionally tagging along with Mile to visit the orphanage and the urchins, and instructing them in the way of the sword. Her hope was that when one day these orphans became E-rank hunters and went out fighting orcs and goblins, this training would prolong their lives at least a little more…
Reina also went to the library. She pored over reference tomes and researched magic, read the biographies of hunters who rose to A-rank at a young age, and did lighter reading, including some novels…
Incidentally, Reina had a habit of taking out quite a few books from the library. So much so that she racked up an immense tab in what were not especially cheap deposits. Though she was not so into books that she would take up writing as a hobby, in the vein of Mile—er, Miami Satodele—it seemed she did quite enjoy reading.
And as for Pauline, well, she counted her money…
“ Hee hee. Eheehee. Ee hee hee hee hee hee…”
…and counted her money.
“I found you! I’ve found youuu!!!”
“Wha…? Who are…? Oh wait, you’re that fathercon elf from that one time…”
One day in the middle of their break, upon returning to the inn, Mile was suddenly set upon by the elf scholar they had met during the elder dragon and beast men incident—Dr. Clairia. Indeed, she was someone Mile and Reina felt a close affinity to, somewhere around the chest…
Mile was not good at remembering faces, but apparently the professor was, and it was unclear if this was because she was an elf or because she would never forget a bosom buddy.
As Mile had spent the day on her own, she currently did not have Reina or Pauline to act as her shield.
“ Fathar-Kon ?”
“O-oh, it’s a word that means you’re amazingly intelligent!”
“R-really? Well, you’re right about that.”
Dr. Clairia was easily duped by Mile’s quick cover-up.
She was a simple mark. Far too simple…
“A-anyway, I finally found you! I went all the way west to Vanolark looking for you all and stopped in at home to see my father, snuggled with him and snuggled with him and snuggled with him, and slept next to him, and snuggled with him, and snuggled with him to really replenish all my ‘father energy’ stores. Then, when I turned around and came back here, you all were nowhere to be found! I had no choice but to wait for you to return, for days and days… Why would you do that to me?!”
“U-um, we didn’t do anything!”
Dr. Clairia’s accusations were almost entirely false. Or rather, entirely false. And also, what was with all the snuggling?
“What can I do for you?”
Certainly, the fact that she had been looking for them meant that she wanted something, so there was no better way to get the conversation rolling than simply asking what it was. Perhaps she wanted to make a direct request of the Crimson Vow or consult them regarding the incident with the beastmen?
As it happened, Dr. Clairia’s reply to Mile question was as follows:
“I’m going to make you mine!”
“The yuri twist is heeeeeere!”
In her previous life, Mile had at least a vague awareness of such things. Her mother’s personal collection in her parents’ library had contained a hint or two.
However, everything Mile had seen had been of the softer variety. Lots of soeurs, and some soeurs , and some more soeurs …
Still, Misato, Mile’s predecessor in her previous life, had not overlooked such things.
“Yuri? What’s that?”
“Oh, if I were to tell you the equivalent flower name from here, I’m not sure it would translate. Um, how do I put this? Uhh…”
“Well, whatever—that doesn’t matter.”
As Mile fretted over how to explain herself, Dr. Clairia continued.
“I want you to stay with me for a little while, so I can study you. Until I grow weary of it… Yes, perhaps for about 100 years.”
“ I’ll be dead in 100 years! I would definitely hit the end of my life span before that!”
“Ah…”
The professor’s face suggested she had forgotten that important detail.
“It’s just that you have a whiff of elf around you, so I…”
In Europe in the middle ages, the typical life expectancy for anyone who made it to adulthood was roughly forty to fifty years. The total average life span worked out to only twenty to thirty years, but that was factoring all of the children who died in infancy, mothers who died in childbirth, and the many, many others lost to the wars going on at the same time.
Furthermore, many people fell prey to illnesses that were easily fixed with the medicines of modern Japan. Even if injuries could be tended by healing magic, illnesses were not so simple. In this world, humans could die of something as simple as appendicitis. Additionally, many monsters lived in this world. So, naturally, this shortened the life expectancy even further.
One hundred years was a span that even one who would call themself a village elder could never attain, akin to immortality… If one was a human, of course.
Elves, however, were creatures that lived a quiet life in the forest, resistant to illness and adept at healing magic. An elf at one hundred years was still scarcely more than a child. So, the difference in perception between an elf and a human was not something easily overcome.
However, Mile was not concerned about that right now.
“Wh-whiff? Do I stink?! I really do stiiiiiink!!!”
This was the second time now that she had been told she had an unusual smell—the beastmen had told her the same thing previously.
When a human said that someone had an “unusual” smell, what they meant was that they reeked. Particularly in a world where perfume technology was not very advanced, and rather than being something that gave a vaguely pleasant scent, perfume was a substance that overwhelmed the senses with a garish odor that would have offended most modern Japanese sensibilities…
“Gaaah! Aaaaahhh!!”
Dr. Clairia finally realized how terribly she had misspoken when Mile suddenly crouched down to the ground, clutching her own skull.
“Oh, no! That’s not what I meant! It’s not a weird smell, it’s… Wait . Why are you so upset to hear that you smell like an elf?! Does that mean you think elves stink?! How impertinent! I won’t forgive you!!!”
Things were already falling apart.
The situation only got worse until Lenny, troubled by the commotion happening in front of the inn, called in Mavis and Reina, who had already returned, to intervene…
***
“So, since you’re going to be my subject from now on, starting tomorrow you’ll be living with me!”
“This is the first I’m hearing of this!”
Reluctantly dragged back to the Crimson Vow’s room, Dr. Clairia returned to the subject of her study of Mile, as though it were perfectly natural, and furthermore, already settled. Learning that her own transfer had apparently already been decided for her, Mile was indignant.
At some point, Pauline had returned as well, and now all four members of the Crimson Vow were assembled.
“Here you are trying to strong-arm someone without considering their circumstances or receiving their consent! You’re no better than Aetelou and Sharalir. I can’t believe elves are all such thoughtless creatures. I won’t be surprised if your bad reputation starts to spread…”
“Wh-wha?! Aetelou and Sharalir?! You all met those old hags?! Wait, don’t tell me, you already promised them something?! I was here first! I found little Mile first, so she’s mine!!!”
Dr. Clairia began wailing the moment she heard those other elves’ names. Apparently she held a similar animosity toward the pair.
“I don’t know what they told you, but I’m not like them! If you help out with my research, you’re sure to be thanking me afterwards, and—”
“Get her out of here!” Reina commanded as Dr. Clairia started up again.
“Yes’m!” said Mavis.
“Yes’m!” Pauline echoed, in a manner very much like a old guard in one of Mile’s fairy tales.
As a rule, Mile was not permitted to participate directly in these sorts of things, lest she misjudge the amount of force necessary and cause a disaster.
“Hey! What’re you doing? Get off of me! Mile, to my side! Wah, Mile!! ! ”
Though she put up a fight, Dr. Clairia was swiftly expelled from the room and shoved straight down the hall as Reina and Mile looked on.
“That isn’t the last elf we’re going to see. More of her sort might pop up again anywhere in the world…”
A dark prophecy spilled from Mile’s lips.
“What was that about?” Reina grumbled.
Thinking that she already had Mile in her grasp, and that it would be best to aim to return the next day at a time when she was alone rather than force the issue, Dr. Clairia had peacefully retreated.
To soothe the displeased Reina, Pauline said, “Well, this sort of thing always happens.”
“Must be nice to be so popular, Mile!” Mavis joked.
“No no, I could not possibly compare to you, Lady Mavis! A regular Don Juan you are! Perhaps I ought to send a letter by guild post and tell that young noblewoman how to contact you here…” Mile replied.
“No, stop! I’m sorry!!” Mavis paled, bowing her head.
Indeed, if there was anyone else who should know a thing or two about being popular in a way you didn’t want to be, it was Mavis.
“Really, I never thought I’d hear something so cruel out of you Mavis, someone who should know how much trouble it is to be followed around!”
“I’m sorry! Lighten up already,” Mavis apologized desperately in the face of what appeared to be genuine displeasure from Mile.
Of course, while it was genuine anger, it was still only at a Level 1, so really, there was not much to worry about. It was at Level 2 where they began to get concerned—when Mile’s expression melted away, and she went utterly stoic. After that was Level 3, where Mile showed a smile that did not reach her eyes, followed by Level 4, where that smile faded, and her faced morphed into a deep, primal displeasure. When things reached this level, there was one thing that could be assumed: if she looked at you like that, you’d better abandon all hope. Yes, it was the same as with the clerk at a certain guildhall—one No-Hope Felicia.
***
One way or another, the week drew to a close. Now returning to their hunting work, the Crimson Vow were at the guildhall perusing the job board, when—
“We are the Servants of the Goddess, on a journey of self-improvement. We will be staying here for a little while!”
They heard a somehow familiar voice, speaking a somehow familiar party name.
“Huh…?” said four voices.
“Oh!!!” replied six others.
Sure enough, it was the all-female party, the Servants of the Goddess, who they had forcibly matched…er, kindly connected with Leatoria of the house of Aura.
“What fate for us to encounter one another along our journeys!” said Telyusia, leader of the Servants.
“Ah! Actually, this is our headquarters. This is the branch where we registered, and Pauline and I have family in this kingdom. We just finished our journey the other day,” replied Mavis as representative of the Crimson Vow.
“Oh, is that so? I suppose there would be a far greater chance of running into each other when one party is staying put, rather than us both moving about hither and yon.”
It was difficult to say if one would truly come to this conclusion when carefully calculating the mathematical probability, but in the moment, everyone understood what she was saying and agreed.
“Isn’t it a bit soon for you all to be on such a journey?”
It could not have been very long since the Servants’ promotion to C-rank, and moreover, they had only just welcomed Leatoria, a complete novice. It was a bit hasty to be departing on their journey so soon after that, Mile thought, but when she asked…
“I’m sorry.”
For some reason, Leatoria was apologizing to her fellow party members.
“Huh?” Mile was dumbfounded, not understanding what was going on.
Telyusia gave a wry smile and explained, “Ah, well, to tell you the truth, Leatoria’s father, Baron Aura, is a huge worrywart. He had a guard follow her around, and we could only take easy—or rather, safe —jobs, and it was such a big pain…”
“Ah…” The members of the Crimson Vow all understood.
The Servants of the Goddess hadn’t really had much choice.
“It was getting depressing, so we decided to set off on our first journey. That said, we’re mostly focusing on improving our coordination, rather than raising our individual battle power, so we aren’t going to push ourselves too hard. This is a journey to practice fighting lots of different, moderately powerful monsters. We wouldn’t be able to fight too many varieties if we stayed in one place, after all. Also, we don’t intend to be gone for very long. After we stay in this country for a little while, we’re going to start straight back home.”
The Servants were the sort of party who were not very strong individually, but whose strengths were multiplied immensely by their coordination. They were the sort of party Reina wished for the Crimson Vow to be as well. And so, they had likely set out so that they could take their time integrating their newcomer, Leatoria, into the group without Baron Aura’s interference.
So kind of like a training camp for inducting new employees?
Per Mile’s thinking, the trip probably was for the sake of strengthening relations between the members, doing some basic training for their newbie, and integrating Leatoria into the party more swiftly. They would never get any peace back in their hometown, where Leatoria would be expected to stop in at home all the time.
“I’m sorry to cause you all so much trouble,” said Leatoria apologetically, bowing her head.
“Not at all!” said Telyusia. “You can fire attack spells from the back line or protect Lacelina with your war club, which leaves her free to focus on support spells—and without having to worry about protecting Lacelina or surprise monster attacks from behind, Tasha can move more freely. It’s a huge tactical advantage. That’s a really big deal for this party!”
Previously, Tasha had her hands full, between providing ranged fire with her bow, defending against surprise attacks from the rear and flanks with her short sword, and protecting Lacelina, the mage. There was great merit in giving her more leeway in her movements.
Furthermore, there was the added bonus of letting Lacelina focus on support spells, which were her specialty, as well as obtaining someone who could use both attack spells and a bludgeoning weapon. The extent to which this raised the Servants’ battle ability was incalculable.
Additionally, the bludgeoning weapon that Leatoria wielded was not a staff, like Reina’s or Pauline’s, but a war club. It could deliver powerful crushing, pulverizing, and sweeping blows, effective against both those enemies with hides so thick blades do not pass through, and those that were resistant to magic.
Telyusia likely had never dreamed that they could raise their potential so much simply by adding a single member.
“So, we have nothing but gratitude for you all for introducing Leatoria to us,” said Telyusia to the members of the Crimson Vow, her words deeply sincere. Leatoria smiled sweetly and bashfully as Tasha patted her on the shoulder.
Leatoria already seemed to be quite taken with the party, no longer interested in tagging along with the Crimson Vow.
Would she have had such a carefree smile now, if she had joined up with the Crimson Vow?
Thank goodness… thought the members of the Vow, utterly relieved to know that entrusting her to the Servants instead of themselves had not been a lapse in judgment.
“Oy! You know those girls?” someone called out to the Crimson Vow. It was the guild master.
Apparently, he had made a rare trip down from his office.
It seemed a little rude to already be referring to a C-rank party who had come from another country as, “those girls,” but no one was about to go complaining about a guild master. This was probably just how he was.
“Ah, yes, they helped us out quite a bit when we were visiting their home city.”
There was no need to go into the details, particularly without the other party’s consent, so Mavis offered only a minimal explanation.
Reina, however, couldn’t help but add, “They saved my life.”
“Whaaaaaaaaat?!?!”
A cry echoed throughout the guild.
Wait! Someone had saved the life of a member of the Crimson Vow ?!
The members of the Crimson Vow were so skillful that they could secure not only their own safety but rescue other parties in the midst of life-threatening circumstances.
What kind of monsters are these girls? thought the hunters and guild staff, looking at the Servants in stunned silence.
At Reina’s words, Telyusia smiled lightly and waved.
“I suppose that did happen. But it’s the duty of a senior hunter to protect someone more inexperienced, isn’t it? We would never forgive ourselves if a party of our juniors were hurt while traveling with us.”
No matter how highly the Crimson Vow were regarded, as far as the Servants of the Goddess were concerned, they were nothing more than a party of junior, rookie hunters. As a result, the members of the Crimson Vow were individuals who needed protecting—possessed of strength and firepower that far outranked the Servants, but falling far behind them in knowledge and experience. In fact, there were a great number of ways in which the Crimson Vow could not hold a candle to the Servants, who had clawed their way up from an F-rank by their own strength and efforts, so this was not at all a self-aggrandizing conclusion for them to have come to.
If they were to fight each other in earnest, the Crimson Vow might win, but that was irrelevant. The Servants were the senior party, so it was their duty to guard and teach the Vow. By this thinking, the Servants regarded themselves highly—er, looked down on…or put on airs—at any rate, they gave off the air of considering themselves above the Crimson Vow.
And meanwhile, Reina, who everyone was already aware hated that sort of thing, for some reason did not seem unhappy about this at all, looking pleased even, and in fact regarding them with respect.
No way, thought the crowd.
Right here, in this very moment, in the capital guild branch of the kingdom of Tils, a legend was being birthed about the supremacy of the Servants of the Goddess—though they were totally unaware of this.
As a result, there was now no one here who would attempt to meddle with the Servants unnecessarily. Everyone valued their own lives too much.
“Why do we have one outrageous party coming to this town after another? And they’re all relatively beautiful girls… I mean, I’m glad! This is great! But still!! Damn it, will someone put the moves on them already and get them to settle down here?!”
The guild master appeared to be mumbling something under his breath. Thankfully, neither party overheard him. Or rather, with Mile’s heightened senses, it was likely she heard him, but she had the compassion to let the man’s grousing go in one ear and out the other, so he was safe.
“Anyway, this time you are all guests in our hometown! Dinner’s on us!” Mile declared. She did not bother to discuss it with the others, but even Pauline seemed to have no objections.
They were a party they had worked alongside before, if only temporarily, as well as a senior party of all women, on top of which they had used their own bodies as a shield to protect Reina. Even a miser like Pauline was not so shameless as to try to scrimp on a few half-gold here.
Of course, because it was Telyusia who had taken the blow from that knife, it was a wound that was easily healed, not the sort of fatal blow that would mean instant death, but had it struck Reina, given her height, physique, and stance, it might have hit her in the head or neck or heart, some vital area that would have brought her very close to instant death if struck. Thus, there was no doubting that Telyusia had literally saved her life.
“All right, so let’s hurry up and find a place, and—”
“No no no no no!”
The other three halted Reina as she cheerfully moved to set out.
“It’s still morning, and the Servants just got here! First they need to gather information and then take a rest! We can have the welcoming party this evening. This evening !” Mile explained.
“Ah…”
This seemed to bring Reina back to her senses. No matter how smitten she was with Telyusia, her savior, being so eager was a bit out of line. She knew that her heart was only aflutter because she had met the first person on whom she could really rely since the passing of her father and the Crimson Lightning.
However, the Servants of the Goddess would soon be heading back home. The other three could only watch tepidly over Reina and let her do as she pleased for these next few days.
***
“Icicle Javelin!”
“Icicle Arrow!”
“Icicle Bolt!”
“Icicle Dart!”
Unable to use her fire magic in the forest out of consideration for the damage it might cause, Reina fired one ice spell after another, striking her prey.
She was perhaps a little too fired up.
“Reina, that’s enough…”
“You’re getting worked up here…”
“I mean, not that we don’t understand why, but…”
The other three looked on wearily.
The ferocious display from Reina made it seem as though she was so looking forward to the welcoming party that she thought that killing prey faster would make the night come faster as well.
Finally, it was the evening. The party began, and Reina, who had been so gung-ho she had gone so far as to select a restaurant ahead of time and meet with the chef, clammed up the moment everyone was gathered.
What an odd duck…
The other three could only shrug. It could not be helped. She was still a young girl, after all.
Even so, she seemed in high spirits.
Once the welcoming party had finished, Reina, who had looked quite pleased despite having little to say, suddenly made an unthinkable proposal.
“Miss Telyusia, would you have a battle with us?”
“Huh?”
Telyusia, and the rest of the Servants, appeared a bit surprised at this question.
Mavis double-checked to make sure that Reina had not been imbibing any strong spirits, while Pauline pressed a hand to her forehead to confirm she did not have a fever, and Mile suddenly looked a bit excited, like something fun was about to happen.
“Reina, are you being serious?”
“Yes! I think our party is still lacking in tactical ability, in coordination. We usually rely on the fact that each of us has a lot of individual skill in battle… So, our party’s power is additive. By comparison, the Servants’ battle style amplifies your power more dramatically. When you put your strengths together, it’s not like adding but multiplying. I want the Crimson Vow to be that sort of party, too.”
Reina’s cheeks reddened slightly, but she did not appear intoxicated. Furthermore, what she was saying made perfect sense. Everyone understood her meaning.
Telyusia went quiet, deep in thought. Perhaps because the others typically left this sort of decision to their party leader, they said nothing, only awaiting her response. As for the Crimson Vow…
“Um, I’m the party leader,” Mavis muttered, forlorn.
“Very well. I accept your proposal!” Telyusia finally replied, cheerfully. The other members looked excited as well.
There were no objections from the Crimson Vow, even the gloomy Mavis. What Reina was saying made plenty of sense to all of them, and the whole party was more or less intrigued by the proposition.
What Mavis was distressed about was something else entirely: the fact that this sort of proposal was supposed to be left to her, the party leader.
At any rate, no one else really minded.
“But if we fight like this, it’s going to be 6 versus 4. It’s doubly bad if the ones with greater numbers are us, the senior party. Maybe if it were the other way around…”
Naturally, that was a hard circumstance for a senior party to swallow.
“So, why don’t we make it 5 on 5? We’ll switch up the teams a little bit also to make the job balance better. It’s hard to compare our parties in terms of general power, so this should be good practice for us all, don’t you think?”
“Agreed!” Reina immediately replied.
The other three members of the Crimson Vow looked on wearily.
Well, I guess that’s all right…
It’s a fair suggestion.
Though Reina went along with it without even thinking just because it was Telyusia who suggested it…
Telyusia then continued: “In that case, we’ll form teams—”
“I’ll be on your team, Miss Telyusia!” Reina piped up immediately.
Reina’s gonna be on their side?!?!
The eyes of the other members of the Crimson Vow narrowed. They had assumed Reina had hoped to learn something by fighting against the Servants.
She just wanted to fight alongside Telyusia!!!
Taking a number of factors into consideration, the teams were split up as follows:
The (Mostly) Crimson Vow Team
Mavis (Sword)
Philly (Spear)
Tasha (Bow / Short Sword)
Pauline (Magic)
Mile (Sword / Magic)
The (Mostly) Servants of the Goddess Team
Telyusia (Sword)
Willine (Sword)
Lacelina (Magic)
Reina (Magic)
Leatoria (War Club / Magic)
If Tasha took on primarily a rearguard duty with her bow, and one ignored the position of midguard, splitting only into vanguard and rear, then it worked out to a nice balance of each team with two vanguard, two rearguard, and one versatile fighter.
Naturally, it was the party leaders, Telyusia and Mavis, directing each team. In reality, it was Reina who took the lead fairly often in battle for the Crimson Vow, but there was nothing to be done about that.
There were in fact many times when Mile took the lead as well, but that was chiefly against non-sapient targets. For this bout they planned on having her as nothing more than Mavis’s assistant. Pauline often had some strong proposals when it came to battle planning as well, but she was clearly unsuited to split-second decisions and direction in the heat of battle. And, naturally, direction could not be left to Philly or Telyusia, who were not familiar with the Vow’s battle style.
The Goddess team was of course under Telyusia’s direction. Philly was the second in command and so was usually in charge of assisting Telyusia and taking over when Telyusia was down, but for now she was on the enemy side, so Willine took up the role.
“Okay, so we will use wooden swords and a pole with a cloth on the end in place of a spear of the same length. The arrows will have their heads removed and replaced with cloths of the same weight. Hold back the power in your magical attacks so that even if you hit, they will only blow your opponent back and not hurt anyone. Staves are fine as they are, and as for the war club…I guess we’ll just wrap that. It would be bad to swing around something wooden in the same way you would a weapon that weight, and the sensation of it is sure to throw you off anyway.
“You can use the strongest defensive spells you like—even ones that will ward off attack spells entirely. Of course, we’ll be holding back with attacks, so it’s unlikely that they would get through anyway,” Telyusia summarized, after some discussion.
This ruling was a bit inconvenient for Mile, who specialized in busting through enemy defenses with her overwhelming power, but there were few who could use such defensive arts in the first place, and this was not the sort of battle where she would win simply by bulldozing her opponents with brute force. As such, neither Mile nor the other members of the Crimson Vow had any objections.
“The match will take place tomorrow, at the second afternoon bell. We will use the foothills of the rocky mountains, southwest of the capital. No spectators. Sound good?” said Telyusia.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Naturally, the battlefield had been chosen so that fire magic and whatever other kind of attacks they wanted could be used without causing a natural disaster, or making trouble for anyone. The lack of spectators would of course allow them to use any aces up their sleeves, secret spells, killer techniques, or other hidden tricks without worry.
As for the timing, there was one important factor: Once the battle was through, they would all use Mile’s “portable bathhouse” to wash off the sweat, before enjoying a nice dinner under the stars. Then, they would all have a sleepover in the tent. It was to be a real girls’ night.
Mile, meanwhile, was mildly nonplussed as Reina gave a detailed order of all of the ingredients she would like to have prepared…
***
“Is everyone ready?” Telyusia asked one last time, though of course they had all finished their preparations in the capital before walking out together, so she already knew the answer.
Naturally, it had been behind a building near the city gates that they prepared, not in the middle of the guildhall or anything. Doing that would have been as good as ensuring that some idiots would take interest and come tailing after them.
Of course, Mile would have immediately detected any such idiots with her search magic, but it was best to take precautions anyway, since it would have been a pain to deal with trespassers.
The Crimson Vow’s team all nodded, and the battle was ready to begin.
They did not start immediately, waiting for both sides to take some distance, so they might race to be the first into the fray.
The conditions of victory were to land attacks to all members of the opposing team, such that, were this a real battle, they would be judged no longer able to fight and would be forced to retreat from the line of battle. Alternatively, the enemy leader might declare that the battle was over.
Once there was a fair enough distance between them, Telyusia gave the signal, and they began.
“Fireworks Launcher!”
It was only natural to start with a long-range attack. The first attack was a fire spell from an abnormally fired up Reina. As the name suggested, it was an area attack, a great number of sparks raining down like fireworks.
“Barrier!”
There was no need for Mile to go out of the way to use her lattice power barrier; this was a simple area spell, so it was simply guarded against. Such diffused magic could not get past a defensive wall.
At any rate, the fireworks spell was one Mile had taught Reina in the first place. There was no way that she would not be aware of its power and characteristics. It was a big mistake on Reina’s part to forget something so fundamental when choosing magic to elicit an intended effect.
She must have been flustered, trying to impress Telyusia…
Reina, a natural artillery battery, then began incanting her next spell inside her head. As she was not voicing the incantation, this was what would most typically be referred to as silent casting. However, unlike the methods that Mile taught to the Wonder Trio, this method was not truly without an incantation, so there was still some time required before the next spell could be fired off. It was in this gap that Mile fired her attack.
“Ice Spear!”
The tip of the spear was round and blunted, and so would not actually cause any injury upon a hit, but it was an attack with enough certain force to drive someone from the battlefield. It was aimed straight for Reina, the source of the other side’s long-range magic. And as she was currently in the middle of incanting an attack spell, she would not have time to deploy any defensive spells.
Furthermore, while Reina could deflect physical projectiles with the barrier she had learned from Mile, Lacelina and Leatoria could only shield against incoming magic. Even deflecting physical projectiles relied on the nanomachines’ homing capabilities.
However…
“Ha-humph!”
Somehow, Leatoria bashed the ice spear away with her war club. At the same time, she fired off an attack spell.
“Ice Arrow!”
To get someone off of the battlefield, an arrow was plenty. Furthermore, an arrow was simpler than a spear, so many more could be fired. Leatoria fired off six arrows, all aimed at Mavis.
Leatoria, a magical war club wielder, was most suited to deal with Mile, the magic knight, so if the now-enemy Tasha were to switch from her favored bow to her short sword, that would be a sign that the vanguard was at a disadvantage, and it was the perfect time to crush them.
Plus, an arrow was faster than a spear. If she could knock Mavis out before the vanguards collided, the enemy would lose both their primary vanguard and their control center all in one hit.
Pauline, with her support magic, might be able to defend them, but that would still mean wasting one of her spells. They would still have Lacelina in reserve, and Reina could use that time to prepare another spell to fire right after.
To space out the magical attacks, rather than having all three fire at once at the start of battle, was not for the sake of showing off. A synchronized firing of spells meant that their attacks could be guarded against at the same time and might leave all the mages defenseless and unable to use their next attack or defensive spell right away. The rearguard could be wiped out all at once from an enemy’s magical attack.
Just when Leatoria’s ice arrows (with blunted tips) should have struck Mavis…
“Anti-Magic Blade!”
The six arrows were struck down in an instant.
Mavis’s anti-magic blade was intended to fend off magical projectiles, but there was no reason she could not simply knock away the ice arrows, which were made out of solid ice, with the body of the sword. Furthermore, even while she was not using her micros, she could still utilize her True Godspeed Blade. This was not a cheat, or doping, via the medicine she had received but a skill built up by strengthening her own muscles and honing her “spiritual” powers. As such, there was no shame in using it. Naturally, one other such art fell into this category as well.
“Wind Edge!”
“Huh?”
Mavis, the vanguard swordswoman, who was not supposed to be a magic user, fired off a wind spell. Its target was—
“Lacelina!!” Leatoria called, panicked.
This did not mean that it was Lacelina she was aiming at. In fact, Mavis’s target was the vanguard, who were tasked with plunging in while the rearguard mages were dealing with magical attacks from the other side. Specifically, her target was the central vanguard and team leader, Telyusia. She was aiming at the person in the same position as her, for the same reason Leatoria had aimed her attack at Mavis. There was nothing at all strange about this.
So, naturally, the reason Leatoria had called out to Lacelina to warn her was so that she could protect Telyusia with the magic she had in reserve.
However…
“I-Ice Arrow!”
What Lacelina had been preparing was an attack—one which a blade of wind was not suited to fending off.
In order to fire off her Wind Edge, Mavis required her favored sword as a conduit. Or so Reina had assumed, not realizing that Mavis’s new left arm had also been styled specially as a conduit for her magic. Thus, Reina had never predicted that Mavis would have been able to use her Wind Edge in a battle with wooden blades.
Furthermore, a magical shield was useless against a wind-type spell, which, whether it was magic or “spirit” or whatever, was different in property from a mass of magic. Air was an element that already existed, after all. While attack magic could be guarded against, air, which was gaseous, would still mostly push its way through.
In other words, whether Lacelina had used an attack or defense spell, the Wind Edge attack would have bypassed it.
And so…
“Guh! Barrier!”
Reina had no choice but to use the barrier spell that Mile had taught her, one that could be erected as a wall and would fend against physical projectiles. Though she should have been focusing on magical attacks as the team’s battery unit, her gambit of switching to a defense spell based on her intuition was a success. Still…
Ugh! Both my magic and Lacelina’s have been wasted on a surprise long-range attack from Mavis!
Their magical rhythm was ruined. This was a grave difficulty in a magical battle with no time to rest.
While the respective rearguards wreaked havoc on one another, the vanguards finally collided.
“True Godspeed Blade!”
Mavis swung her blade, announcing the name of her attack, while Telyusia silently struck back, not having the excess energy for such a pointless thing as declaring her spell’s title. Then, she bashed away a spear, which had come flying toward her from behind Mavis, while at the same time Willine leapt out.
“Guh!”
Mavis struck back at Telyusia’s blade as she forcefully tried to correct her stance, knocked out of place by the sudden gust of wind from beside her. It should have been Lacelina’s job to assist with a quickly cast wind spell, the fastest and most familiar thing for her to cast.
With her own spell, Reina attempted to put an end to this, and…
Shunk!
“Ugh!”
She took an arrow to the chest. A headless arrow, its tip wrapped in cloth.
It had been fired by Tasha’s bow.
She had been distracted perhaps, her focus consumed by choosing the most effective target for her next attack and selecting the right spell, finishing the incantation more quickly in order to make up for her and Lacelina’s wasted magic. For Reina, this was a fatal mistake.
“N-no way…”
Regret it all she wanted, it was too late.
Perhaps it was because she was flustered. Or because she had underestimated Mavis. Or because her mind was on protecting Telyusia, and she lost her cool. Or perhaps, it was because she had forgotten to pay enough attention to Tasha, who besides being capable of melee combat with her short sword, could also attack with her bow, which had a far greater range than any spell.
The fact that what Reina had been struck with was a cloth-wrapped arrow, and not one with a head, was probably a good hint to her about how to protect her own life in the future.
Regardless, for now she would have to retreat. She was out of the battle.
Straight away she had failed, without taking out any member of the enemy team. In front of Telyusia, no less. Yet no matter how deep her depression, the competition went on.
There was no time to worry over people who had already been “sent to the morgue.” Her fellow teammates continued battling, completely ignoring the fact that Reina was now out. This made sense; a corpse could not fight nor would she be permitted to advise her allies. There was no reason to waste a single bit of brain power on compassion for a corpse (read: Reina).
It was now 5 versus 4—Mavis versus Telyusia and Philly versus Willine, with Tasha, Mile, and Pauline against Leatoria and Lacelina.
Telyusia’s side was at an overwhelming disadvantage. The loss of Reina was more or less a fatal blow. At the very least, if she had brought along Pauline, they might have been able to preserve a better balance, but that was currently beside the point.
Furthermore, Lacelina was not the type who excelled at attacking magically. Rather, she was more comfortable supporting the vanguard from behind—shifting the equilibrium of the vanguard’s efforts just a little with her scant magical power. That was how she should have been fighting, but given that the enemy side had more mages, she had to rise to meet them and was not able to take advantage of her own strengths.
If Lacelina were fully free to act, there were a number of things she could have done, such as tripping up Mavis or deflecting the spear that Philly threw with wind so that Willine could move in. However, even if Leatoria was dealing with Mile, the enemy side still had Tasha and Pauline.
Things were going swiftly downhill.
“ Graaaah! ! ”
Just then, Leatoria went in swinging. It seemed she would be able to push right through from there, but instead she forced her way into the battle of the vanguards.
Unlike a battle of magic, a melee battle could be decided in a second. Thus, it was fine for her, with her varied skillset, to incant a spell while swinging her war club. By firing a spell along with the swing of her club, would she single-handedly finish this? Or else, would she coordinate with Telyusia or Willine to take down one of the vanguard fighters, striking down another with her magic and defeating them all in one fell swoop? Perhaps she would strike at the rearguard with her magic instead?
What they saw now was not the Leatoria of before, who had thought of her club as nothing more than a means of self-defense—a backline mage through and through. She was now a pro hunter, using every last ounce of her strength to protect her allies.
“Take that!”
“Gwah!”
Philly, the lancer, was by no means weak, but she was not nearly powerful enough to fend off a simultaneous attack from Willine’s sword and Leatoria’s club. Though she knew Leatoria’s attack was coming, she had to give her all to staving off Willine’s blow, and there was nothing she could do about it. She was blown away.
Besides wrapping her club in several layers of cloth, Leatoria was also holding back, so, though in this case Philly was blown back without much actual damage, were this a real battle, she would have suffered several broken ribs at least. Moreover, Leatoria would have likely been swinging downward from atop her head, so naturally, that was it for Philly’s participation in battle. She was off to the morgue.
Without stopping to rest, Leatoria turned to swing her club at Mavis, when—
Kchack!
Mile came rushing in at full pelt and stopped the blow. She had caught it before the club had picked up much speed, so she was able to avoid cracking her wooden sword.
Normally, Mile would have shouted something like, “Oh no you don’t!” but she had no such leeway right now. She actually seemed mildly flustered, believing it was her fault that Philly had been lost, because she had acted a moment too slowly in dealing with Leatoria as she switched from a magic to a melee attack. Dealing with Leatoria should have been Mile’s responsibility.
Willine, who then was left without a target, turned on Mavis, who was battling with Telyusia, but Tasha, who had switched back from her bow to her short sword, moved in to intervene, halting her.
Normally, this was the place where Lacelina would jump in with a support spell, but she was currently holding a defense spell in preparation for any magical attack that might come in from Pauline and could not move. In this match, she had been hardly any help to her friends, not taking part in her usual battle style at all.
Pauline, on the other hand, held back on using her hot magic, both because she realized it was too dirty for such a fight and because she would rather keep it concealed—a huge show of self-restraint on her part. Apparently, the people she had previously used it on were ones she could not hold back on, and she was trying to become a bit more flexible in that regard.
“Fireball!”
Leatoria unleashed the spell she had been holding at point blank, aimed at the person was obviously her most suitable enemy: Mile.
Mile, naturally, should have been holding a similar spell, so Leatoria could not allow her to use it. Plus, getting Mile out of the fray would be a huge boon.
However, Mile had been expecting this and defended herself with a barrier.
What she had been preparing was a defensive spell, so that no matter who Leatoria aimed her attack at, they would be fine. Given their close distance, she seemed to have deemed that her sword would be plenty for attacking. However, Leatoria was equally aware of this—or more so. Forcing Mile to use up her spell had merely been for the sake of removing an uncertain element from the mix.
We’ve won! Leatoria was confident.
There was no way Telyusia, their dependable party leader, could lose to some greenhorn who had only been a hunter for a little over a year. And Philly, who was mainly an archer, and wielded a sword more akin to a dagger, inferior in reach, was no match for Willine, who specialized in a proper short sword.
Besides, handling Pauline, the healing magic specialist, should have been an easy job for Lacelina, who could do just about anything. If Leatoria could just hold off Mile, once the rest of them had finished off their respective opponents, they could join in to help her, and with many against one, the battle would be over.
Of this all, Leatoria was certain. However…
While Mavis was not one to let things slip, she was facing Telyusia now with her own strength, not relying on her “spirit” power. No matter how many more years of experience Telyusia had, Mavis had been trained from her youth by her father and brothers, all first-rate swordsmen. She had more than enough power to fight back against a young C-rank hunter.
On the whole, fighting against Telyusia, who had come up with a number of techniques to deal with the fact that female swordsmen did not always have the raw power of their male counterparts, was good practice for Mavis, who thus far had only received instruction from her family and Mile, all of whom were absurdly powerful, along with Ladimarl, who was more or less the same.
Tasha, meanwhile, specialized in a weapon with shorter reach, but as both an archer and short sword wielder, she had spent her time providing backup for the three members of the vanguard, and so she was well aware of the quirks of all their fighting styles. If she were not, there would be a danger of friendly fire, and she would never be able to judge when it was time to switch from her bow to her blade in the midst of a melee. Thus, she put up a far stronger fight than Leatoria assumed she would.
Lacelina was meanwhile fully absorbed in fending off Pauline and could not provide any support spells for her allies. Not knowing when Pauline might fire off an attack spell, she could not afford to release the hold on her defensive spell. If a spell were to come flying at the vanguard now, and she were not there to defend against it, they would almost certainly be destroyed. Even if she were to fire a spell at Pauline right after Pauline released hers, this would not be certain to take her down. And if she did not put up a defensive barrier in time, attack spells were not something that could be avoided… She couldn’t very well just duck behind a rock.
At any rate, Leatoria continued her assault on Mile, still certain that fate was on their side. Leatoria felt Mile to be the greatest threat, and felt that, as a fellow user of both melee weapons and magic, it was her duty to be the one to deal with her. Thus, she was dead set on fighting against her. However…
She was now in the midst of a melee skirmish, at far too close a range to incant any spell. All her hopes now rest on her war club.
“Rrraaaaaaah!!!”
As Leatoria swung down her club with all her might, Mile effortlessly caught the blow with her sword.
No matter how strong Leatoria’s muscular strength, if she was up against Mile…
Snap.
“Huh?”
Ka-boom!
“Whaaaaat?!”
Mile went flying backward.
Indeed, a sword was a sword, but what Mile currently used was a wooden sword, meant for sparring. It was not her usual, favored blade. Meanwhile, though it was safely wrapped in layers of cloth, what Leatoria was using was her usual club. It was more than strong enough to break through a wooden sword.
In a real battle, Mile’s mysterious sword would have been enough to stop it. And of course, even if she was blown away with a single strike, Mile was still Mile, so that was no big deal for her. Just as it had not been in the battles with the rock lizard and elder dragons.
However, there was no point in arguing that right now.
She had left the line of battle. It would be impossible to judge this any other way, as far as the Servants of the Goddess were concerned.
“N-no waaay…” Mile muttered in shock, sitting on the ground in the spot she had been flung to. There was nothing more she could do at this point.
The tides of battle turned in an instant.
Tasha used an opening to fell Willine, and Pauline, shaken by the wild turn that was Mile’s defeat, let the spell she’d been holding fly toward Leatoria. However, it was deflected by Lacelina, who at the same time released her defensive spell. In that moment, in the opening left by Willine’s defeat, Leatoria’s club—still handled with less than her usual power—landed a “killing” blow on Tasha.
Pauline, Lacelina, and the now-free Leatoria all began preparing their next spells, but Pauline, who not only had started first, but was the quickest with incantations, was the first to fire.
“Fireball!”
“Fireball!”
“Fireball!”
Three decently weakened fireballs flew out one after the other.
Whoever struck first would be the victor. It was only natural that they would all choose the same spell, the one that was the quickest to cast but had the most decisive killing power.
It was then that…
“Aah!”
“Eek!”
Leatoria took Pauline’s fireball, and while Pauline had avoided Lacelina’s, she took Leatoria’s.
Obviously, Pauline did not have the time to strike back at both of them, so Lacelina was left unscathed.
And, meanwhile…
“Guh!!”
There were grunts from two sides as Mavis and Telyusia took simultaneous blows from one another.
Currently, the only one left standing on the battlefield, fully unharmed, was…
“J-just me…?”
Indeed, the mediocre mage, Lacelina, was the final survivor…
***
“Well fought, everyone!” Mile announced, raising her glass for a toast.
“Sure was!!!” the ten members of the combined parties crowed, emptying their mugs in unison.
Naturally, the four members of the Crimson Vow and the underage members of the Servants—Lacelina and Leatoria—were imbibing juice instead of liquor… Well, not all that “naturally,” since the fact was that there was no prohibition against underage drinking in this country. Still, the Crimson Vow rarely drank outside of special occasions, and Lacelina and Leatoria simply were not the drinking sort, besides a bit of wine at formal dinners.
They had already had a leisurely refresh in the “portable baths” Mile had produced from her inventory, the tent for the sleepover was already pitched (or rather, pulled fully pitched from the inventory) and the portable toilet (made of stone, with perfect defenses, and also pulled from the inventory as is) was already in place.
Most of the food had been cooked beforehand as well, and stored away by Mile. Only the roast had been grilled over the fire, so that they could enjoy it fresh.
Once everyone was fairly stuffed, a retrospective on the day’s battle began.
The battle had not been a mock fight for the sake of determining who was superior between the Vow and the Servants, but more of a friendly spar, or something to that effect—a learning match to study one another. So the results did not truly matter.
“I didn’t get to fight like myself at all today,” said Lacelina, her head hung, though she had been the last woman standing. It sounded nice to say that she was the last, but the fact of the matter was that she was not a high-priority target and had merely avoided being struck until the end. Naturally, even she was well aware of this. “I can’t use powerful attack spells, so I just support the vanguard with the little bit of magic I have. I’m only good at tipping the scales just a smidge, when the battle is fairly balanced—but when the other side has mages, too, and it turns into a ranged battle, I’m no use at all. And when it comes to a battle of magic, I’m just not strong enough… Up until now, we’ve hardly ever fought any opponents who had proper mages among them…”
Indeed, if one was a proper mage, there were plenty of professions open to you: hunter, personal bodyguard to a noble or merchant, special army unit, and so forth. Even living amongst the common folk, between gathering water, sparking fires, and healing, you were sure to never miss a meal.
Thus, bandits hardly ever had mages amongst them, and even if they did, they would typically be those dolts who couldn’t cut the mustard as a proper mage or those who could achieve little more than the equivalent of household chores.
Plus, little time had passed since the Servants of the Goddess rose to C-rank, so they had not taken many escort jobs, and even taking such a job did not ensure a particularly high likelihood of actually fighting against bandits.
As such, the Servants had practically no experience fighting against an enemy that had proper mages among them.
Of course, the others had realized this weakness of theirs as well. Thus, they had leapt at the chance to include Leatoria amongst their number. They had thought that this eliminated the underlying issue, but today’s battle had proven to them otherwise.
In today’s battle, they had faced off against two accomplished mages, as well as one “spirit” power wielder.
They had had three mages on their side as well, but once they lost Reina, the most powerful among them, they had no room to ignore the opposing magical side and assist their vanguard allies.
However, the Servants of the Goddess already had six members. Adding any more than that would start to cause problems, and with another mage, that would make for three on the vanguard, one versatile fighter (Tasha), and three mages on rear. It would be horribly imbalanced…
Besides, it was not easy to scout out female mages in the first place.
“Lacelina, we’re just going to have to raise your firepower or teach you to fight melee as well,” said Telyusia.
“Guh…”
This was the only logical conclusion. However, it still hurt for Lacelina to hear it. Indeed, if that were such a simple matter, they would have already done so.
“Well, that will be something to focus on from now on, anyway. Now that we have Leatoria, it’s fine if we only have one mage, and chances are low that an enemy side will ever have more than two. Still, Lacelina, if you’re aiming to rise higher than C-rank, you can’t just remain as you are now. And you can’t start slacking, assuming that Leatoria will always be there.”
Indeed, Leatoria was still the daughter of a noble household. It was unlikely she would be permitted to live the life of an unmarried hunter forever.
“Ngh…”
Lacelina was in despair. However, things were what they were. The whole point of this match had been to bring such weaknesses to light so that they could be made aware of them.
Speaking of depressed mages, there was one other such magic user present.
“Don’t worry so much, Reina! In every battle someone has to be the first to fall. It just so happened that it was you this time. It’s great that it didn’t happen during a real battle, right?” Mile asked, attempting to comfort her, but there was no response.
Apparently, she was too busy dealing with the fact of her immense embarrassment right in front of Telyusia, at having been eliminated from the fray immediately, without taking out a single enemy or really being of much use at all. The other members of the Vow tried to cheer her up, reminding her of how her first area attack had slowed their movements and recalling that she had protected Telyusia with a barrier spell, but she still seemed certain that she had accomplished nothing—except letting Telyusia down.
Leatoria, meanwhile, appeared elated. She had assumed Mile to be immensely powerful, and yet Leatoria had easily defeated her. Well, as easily as one could hope.
“Hey, what’s with all these dishes?”
“This is ridiculously good!”
“Chomp! Gromnomnomnom!”
Come to think of it, this was the first time that the Servants had seen Mile’s “storage” in action or experienced her cooking. Yet when she’d brought out the tent and the baths and such earlier, they had accepted it without question. Perhaps they had a very deep respect for the customary discretion of hunters…
However, even the Servants’ discretion was no match for the allure of food.
“M-Mile, are you sure you wouldn’t like to joi—” Telyusia unconsciously began, before Philly and Willine frantically covered her mouth, interrupting.
To try and poach someone away from another party right in front of their fellow party members was an egregious violation of etiquette. To put into perspective just how rude it was, it would be no surprise if things were to come to blows in response.
Indeed, knowing that there was no way that Mile could have mistaken those words, Reina glared at Mile jealously.
She simply could not bear the fact that Telyusia had extended an invitation to Mile and not to her. Never mind the fact that she most certainly would have refused, even if the invitation had come her way.
Reina truly was a difficult person…
When the slumber party began in the tent, Reina made certain to station herself next to Telyusia. She was wrapped up in a discussion of swordsmanship with Mavis, against whom she’d had a splendid fight, and Reina could not get a word in edgewise, but she still seemed happy just to see Telyusia’s face.
Sh-she’s really into her… thought Mile and Pauline, taken aback at just how truly smitten their party member was.
***
“They’re really gone…”
One week was over in the blink of an eye.
“When we told him we were going away on a training journey, Baron Aura said, ‘That’s not what you said before!’ and flew into a tizzy, so we really need to hurry back,” Telyusia explained, and so the Servants headed home after just one week’s stay.
Strangely, Reina was either not especially bothered by this—or at least she did not seem too concerned. Even if they had to part, she knew they were doing well. That seemed to be enough for her.
As long as they were both alive, they would meet again someday. So long as neither one perished.
That was how it felt to Reina.
After that one week, which was in essence another week’s extension to their one-week holiday, the Crimson Vow decided to make a proper return to normal work. Yet, just as though he were waiting for this very opportunity—and in fact, he probably truly was—the guild master summoned them.
“I’d like to make a special request of the Crimson Vow. The job would be to guard a small merchant caravan, and the destination is…the Albarn Empire.”
The Albarn Empire.
The same nation that had sent out that platoon in order to disrupt the trade routes.
The same nation that had tried to invade Mile’s, or rather, Adele’s home country of Brandel.
Of course, even that nation likely still did trade with other countries—both in an official and commercial capacity. So, there was nothing at all bizarre about this request in and of itself, and nothing strange about a merchant needing protection from bandits and monsters.
However, there was clearly something strange about the fact that the guild master himself had called them to his office to make this direct petition, and moreover that he had called it a “special request.”
This was not a normal job.
That much was clear to the Crimson Vow…
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