I Said Make My Abilities Average! (LN) - Volume 16 - Chapter SS1

Bonus Story:

Mile Roars

“IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING,” sighed Pauline.

“Finally!” Mavis said.

“Here we are…” Reina muttered.

“Yes.”

Soon, the Crimson Vow would be issuing a warning to every citizen across the continent. They had debated the contents of this broadcast over and over until they were all agreed.

“Are you sure about this, Mile? Laying everything bare like that?” Reina asked, worry in her voice. Mavis and Pauline, however, said nothing.

The members of the Crimson Vow were about to take on a suicide mission—the four of them alone, versus tens of thousands of monsters. They hoped to buy some time until the various troops who had been dispatched to the capital of Aubram, far to the east, could return. It was unclear how long 

they could last, but if they could hold off the monsters for even a little while, it would give everyone holed up within the fortified cities a bit of a reprieve. Every hour they could buy had the power to alter the fates of many. And so, Mile felt not the slightest shred of doubt about her decision.

“I’m absolutely sure. We have to use every trick in our arsenal to get people to believe in us. If we can convince a few more people to stay inside where it’s safer, it’s worth it. Even if it’s going to make our lives a whole lot harder when the battle is over…”

Frankly speaking, none of them—not even Reina—had the slightest illusions about being able to return to a normal life when all was said and done. Still, they couldn’t afford to abandon all hope of gaining a great victory against the monsters and returning home as heroes. This kind of faith was a prerequisite for any leader of a hunting party going into decisive battle, Reina thought.

“But I’m the leader…” muttered Mavis softly. It was as though she could sense what was going on deep down in Reina’s heart. 

Of the members of the Crimson Vow, the only one who would really be adversely affected by having her true identity revealed was Mile. Fame would be no hardship for Reina or Mavis, and in fact, would help achieve their end goal of making a name for themselves and becoming A-rank hunters. Pauline, likewise, would welcome any renown as a free advertisement for the day she would start her own business. 

Mile was the only one who wished to be anonymous. But at least for now, she couldn’t afford to think about what would happen afterward—she wasn’t sure there even would be an “afterward.” Unlike the other three, she hadn’t even thought about what might happen in the future. All she wanted to do was get as many people to believe them as possible, so that they could take the appropriate actions. That was all that mattered.

LADY MILE, THIRTY SECONDS UNTIL START TIME!

Thanks!

With the nanomachines’ cooperation, Mile stood before the backdrop they had all prepared—or rather, stuck her head through a hole in it—and waited.

TEN SECONDS REMAINING… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!

“Roar! Rawr!!!”

***

“It’s over,” sighed Pauline.

“It’s done,” said Reina.

“That’s it,” agreed Mavis.

“That does it…”

The continent-wide emergency warning broadcast, a once-in-a-lifetime event, was finished. 

Mavis had become not only a knight, as she always hoped, but a holy knight, anointed by the angels. Reina, as a great sage blessed by the Goddess, had spread the name of the Crimson Lightning far and wide. Pauline, meanwhile, had made sure the business her mother and brother were tending to was known in every corner of the continent. Mile was the exception, not wishing to publicize either her original name or her pen name, but that much was to be expected. 

They were in the final days of their lives, after all. One could not blame them for hoping to make the most of it.

“Two and a half years, huh? You were just twelve years old when we first met, weren’t you, Mile?”

“I was. You were fifteen, Pauline was fourteen, and Mavis was seventeen, if I recall correctly. Actually, that means that Mavis is nearly twenty now…”

“Quit talking about my age! I’m already scandalously old for a noblewoman!”

Indeed, it was a bit unseemly for a nobleman’s daughter to have reached such an advanced age with no marriage prospects.

“It’ll be fine!” Mile assured her. “It’s not as though you’re unpopular. You’ve just been avoiding proposals so you can chase your dreams!”

“We even had to go out of our way to break up at least one proposal,” Reina noted.

“Um…” 

Mile and Pauline averted their eyes awkwardly.

“Don’t worry about it!” said Mavis. “I had absolutely no interest in getting engaged or married at that point, so you honestly saved me. Forcing myself into a marriage wouldn’t have been fair to the other person, either.” 

It would have been quite advantageous for her family, though, and her prospective betrothed had not been a bad option by any means. 

“Anyway,” said Reina. “Now you’re a holy knight—a friend of the angels. When this battle is over, you’ll have suitors practically throwing themselves at your feet, so don’t even worry about that!”

“Y-you think so?”

“We know so!”

Mavis smiled bashfully at her friends’ assurances. Deep in their hearts, the other three sighed: Man, she is too gullible… 

“Wait, Mavis, are you saying you’re going to get married once the war is over?!” asked Pauline.

“Quit planting death flags on me!” Mavis shouted, her face twisting up. She knew all about the concept of “death flags” from the stories Mile told them every night. “Anyway, you’re going to start your business once the battle’s over, right?” she shot back.

“Don’t bring any death flags near me!” Pauline shrieked.

It takes two to tango, thought Mile and Reina, shaking their heads. 

“At this point, we may as well paint ourselves in flags! That way…”

“The author will get so embarrassed about the blatant foreshadowing that he’ll decide to pull a fast one on the readers and give us a happily ever after!!!”

Such was the unspoken rule in all of Mile’s stories.

“In that case…” Mile was ready to stick a flag in herself as well. “When the battle is over, I will—”

“—go find a beastfolk village to wallow in and get your fill of ‘fluffy paradise’!!!” the other three all chorused.

“How did you know?!?!”

It really was far too easy to guess what was on her mind.

“I guess that just leaves me, then. For the sake of the Crimson Lightning, I will—” Reina started, then abruptly shut her mouth. Apparently, now that she was aware she was in the presence of a renowned author—her favorite writer, who was in reality Mile—she was too embarrassed to express her desire to write a book.

“Hm? Why are you going red all of a sudden? What’s up, Reina?”

“No fair, Reina! You have to tell us yours, too!”

“The only way for us to counteract the flags is for us all to say at least one…”

Reina grew redder and redder, panicking at the others’ demands. Guessing something was up, they began to question her, wicked smiles upon their faces.

Only a few days remained of their carefree everyday lives…