Chapter 25:
The Wonder Trio, Secret Hunters
The capital of the Kingdom of Brandel is a city that is home to two academies: Ardleigh and Eckland.
On the evening of a rest day, in one part of that city, three girls were walking together.
“I wonder if she’s doing well…”
“I’m sure she’s fine. Wasn’t it you, Miss Marcela, who once said, ‘Even if a dragon stepped on her, she would never break’?”
“That’s right! In fact, I bet she’s somewhere this very minute, saying, ‘I wonder how Marcela and the girls are doing…’”
“Perhaps so… No, I’m sure of it!”
It had been eight months since that fateful day. Marcela, Monika, and Aureana were now third-year students.
After graduation, Marcela would be returning to her home to begin her training in domestic skills; likewise, Monika would go home to help out with her family’s business, while also searching for a potential husband. Aureana, who had received a scholarship, would have to take up work in a public office in order to repay her debts. They had only one year left to lead their carefree student lives.
They were walking down a fairly narrow avenue, some distance from the city center. Though this was by no means some derelict, untraveled lane, it was not long before the three girls found their path impeded by two men. Marcela quickly glanced behind them, to see two more men standing there.
They were surrounded.
“Can I help you with something?” asked Marcela, betraying not a hint of fear.
Monika and Aureana could do no such thing. They clung to each other, clearly frightened.
“What? We just thought you gals might like to come have a good time with us.”
“If you wish to court any of us, you may send your representatives to make a formal introduction and properly petition our fathers.”
“Wh…?”
Naturally, she was not being serious. There was no way that some rogue or disgraced hunter would petition to make the formal acquaintance of the daughter of a noble. Marcela was different from Adele. Totally different.
“D-don’t screw with us, you little… Just come with us already! There’s someone who can make good use of you!”
As he shouted, the man reached toward Marcela.
“Ignite!”
“Oww!”
Aureana let off one of her spells, which were weak in power but still useful in everyday life. The spell, normally used for lighting a fire, singed the man’s outstretched arms.
“Y-you little bitch! Y’know, they told us that we only had to bring ’em the noble’s daughter! They said it didn’t matter if the commoners were dead or alive! You can regret that little trick of yers in hell!”
The man pulled his hands back and drew his sword.
“Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!!”
As he swung down his sword, Aureana’s life flashed before her eyes. Just then, Monika thrust herself between Aureana and the blade.
“Wha…?!”
The man panicked as the noble girl, who he had been instructed to deliver unharmed, had stepped in front of his blade. Hurriedly, he tried to stop his swing, but it was too late. There was an unfortunate sound, and a dull ka-shunk!
However, the sword had not sunk into the noble girl’s body. What the sword had struck was the mass of ice that had suddenly appeared in front of her.
“Wha…?”
“Ignite.”
Before the man could react, Aureana whispered the word stoically. Violently, the man’s hair flared up.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!”
As the man flailed around, trying to extinguish the flame atop his head, Aureana stared at him with cold eyes. She was angry. Incredibly angry.
“Water Ball!”
A volleyball-sized sphere of water appeared at the behest of Monika’s spell, which was truncated to only the name. It flew into the face of the other man, who was standing ahead of them, and stopped there.
“Ugh! Guhbluhbluhbluh!”
Naturally, the man, who had inadvertently sucked air into his windpipe, swung his head violently to try and remove the sphere, but the water would not budge. No matter how he tried to flick it off with his hands, or run around to shake it away, the globe would not leave his head, and eventually his movements began to grow sluggish.
In the instant that Aureana’s spell drove the man away, Marcela turned around and began a spell aimed at the men behind her. Just like Monika and Aureana, she only needed to say the spell’s name. Of course, they did not truly need to say anything at all, but when they had the time to, saying the spell’s name made it that much more efficient.
“Fire Shot!”
Two flame bullets shot out, aimed for the right shoulders of the two men standing behind them. They dropped their swords and fell, rolling. Marcela had plenty of room, it seemed, to properly aim her attack.
In the two years since the girls had first received magic lessons from Adele, they had by no means been playing around. They had spent a year and two months of that time with Adele. For the eight months after, it had been just the three of them. Still, for the sake of their futures, their research and efforts had continued.
The three girls, who were quite bright, had continued to research the principles of magic that Adele had taught them, negating their initial lack of magical power. Of course, they had not been expecting to suddenly be swung at by men who aimed to take them captive. Yet though their situation was dangerous, they could not falter: if they went easy on fiends as weak as these, they could easily be captured.
“Now then, perhaps you might tell me who it was that hired you…”
As she stood, grinding her foot into the rogue, he wailed that they had been misled, that they hadn’t been warned that Marcela was a remarkable mage, but just told to expect some stupid noble schoolgirl. They hadn’t known that even her commoner companions could use magic.
In the midst of these complaints, some nearby hunters finally came running.
Apparently, the men would be turned over to an expert for further questioning.
Later, they headed to the hunters’ guild to explain what had happened. Along the way, Aureana, who was wearing an unusually displeased expression, suddenly turned to Marcela.
“What was that all about, Miss Marcela?!”
“Oh? What do you mean?”
“When that man tried to attack me! Why would you do something so dangerous? Are you not afraid to die?! Your life is worth so much more than—”
“Miss Aureana,” Marcela interrupted. “Of course I am afraid of death. However, compared to the fear of losing you before my very eyes, doing nothing to stop it, and having to live with that regret for the rest of my life… the fear of death is nothing.”
Marcela smiled as she spoke, but Aureana was indignant.
“Please don’t toy with me! Are you saying that it means nothing if I have to watch you die before my very eyes—just to protect me?! There is nothing more frightening than that! Would you have me carry that weight on my shoulders for the rest of my life?!”
“Ah…”
With her own grave oversight pointed out to her, Marcela froze, her mouth agape.
“I-I understand now…”
“In that case, I pray that you will not do anything like that ever again!”
Marcela shook her head back and forth. “I cannot promise that.”
“Wh-why not?!”
Marcela, perplexed at why the other girl would ask a question with such an obvious answer, furrowed her brow as she replied. “Because you are my dear friend, and I am who I am—the girl Marcela.”
“……”
No matter what she said, it was hopeless. Aureana was certain of at least that much.
There was nothing to be done for it. She looked at Marcela, a splendid noble girl, suddenly overcome by a sense of honor and gratitude…
“That is about the sum of it.”
In the guild master’s office, on the second floor of the hunters’ guild’s headquarters, the three girls explained what had happened.
The guild master was sitting not at his desk, but at the table situated in front of it. His back was to his desk and the three girls were in a row facing him. A clerk, who also served as his secretary, sat diagonally behind him.
“Hmm. If some fiend were to get their hands on Lady Marcela, who is a fond associate of the third princess… Might they have had some particular aim in mind? Did they wish to curry your favor? Or perhaps hold you hostage? Well, we’ll have our experts investigate something along those lines. Honestly, though, to challenge three mage hunters so forcefully, even if you’re only D-ranks, they really must not have done their research…”
“Ahaha…”
Indeed, the three girls were now D-rank hunters.
By hooking Monika and Aureana into her “Adele Simulator” by means of a “connection system,” Marcela was able to form a “Super Adele Simulator,” in order to predict Adele’s actions. The results of their predictions were something along the lines of the following:
Where might she be?
She was still in the country: 6% chance
She had fled the country: 94% chance
What might she be doing now?
Hiding out somewhere deep in the woods 5% chance
Living undercover in some noble household: 4% chance
Working…
as a live-in maid: 7% chance
at a shop in some town: 9% chance
as a hunter: 69% chance
Other: 6% chance
And so, just in case it might help them, the three had decided to register as hunters.
Their goal was to reach a C-rank by the time they graduated. Or, at the very least, a D-rank.
By the time they graduated, they knew, Adele would definitely be a C-rank. It was unlikely, too, that she would become a B-rank or higher. Even if she had the opportunity to do so, she would want to remain at a C-rank, where she would stand out less. This much they were confident of.
Blessedly, thanks to the knowledge that Adele had imparted to them, Marcela had the magical strength of a standard mage, Monika had that of about the lowest level of mage, and Aureana had half that still. And, thanks to the fact that they could cast in their heads—which was not the so-called “silent casting” of this world, but rather Adele’s special brand of “directly visualizing the intended effect, without saying an incantation at all”—they could work magic at a miraculous speed.
Of course, in order to conceal their special talents, they purposefully took a bit of time with their workings, telling people that they learned how to cast quickly inside their heads by “practicing so hard we were vomiting blood.”
In any event, thanks to this efficient means of casting, the three of them could produce a force far greater than what one might expect, given their apparent magical strength. Indeed, their practical magical power exceeded that of the average mage. Because of this, when they registered with the guild, they were able to utilize the skip system to start out at a D-rank.
Naturally, they kept all of this a secret from their families.
The girls did not truly have any intention of living their lives as hunters.
They merely thought that, should they encounter Adele again someday, being registered with the guild would leave their own field of options just a little bit wider.
Besides, once they had the qualifications of a C-rank hunter, there was nothing that could stand in their way. When it came to seeking a spouse, there would be no greater proof of their magical ability than to say, “As a mage, I possess the qualifications of a C-rank hunter.”
No, they had no intention of living as hunters, but at least for the time being, they figured that they might be able to arm themselves with the general knowledge and skills of such, so they temporarily joined up with other novice parties to collect herbs, as well as hunting jackalopes, goblins, and the like.
And, of course, they never turned down invitations from parties of F to D-rank boys who might ask the girls to join up with them. Not even once.
The girls typically did not take on harvesting or extermination jobs, making them a rather unique party. Still, as D-rank hunters, they took on most other recommended tasks…
Such as escort missions.
They were not guarding merchants or anything like that. It was true that, normally, a C-rank party would be requested for those jobs, but students such as the Wonder Trio would not be able to take on jobs that would take them away over a long period.
Instead, the Wonder Trio was frequently requested to escort young girls, just for the day.
When the daughter of a noble or wealthy merchant could not go out because of concerns for her security, the three of them would escort her, secretly acting as guards in the guise of sisters, friends, or attendants.
Because they appeared to be merely a group of lovely preteen girls, they could stay with girls in the restroom or the bath, and even when they were sleeping. They had no need to carry weapons and could fend off a surprise attack of even several attackers—at the very least, stalling for time until help could arrive.
There were always normal guards nearby, so fending off attackers for even a short amount of time was enough, and these girls, who performed their guard duties with certainty, were incredibly treasured.
They took these jobs not only on their days off, but on weekdays as well, in which case they convinced the school to give them a pass, regarding this duty as a permissible alternative to their attending class. Luckily for them, there were those influential enough at the academy who were happy to allow this.
Furthermore, they were almost never attacked, so the girls ranked up A-grade after A-grade on their job completion reports.
As they did not often do much rummaging around on the guild’s first floor, there were many hunters who did not even know of the girls, and even when they saw them around now and then, seeing them only in uniforms, without any sort of other protection, they assumed they were clients, guests of the guild master, or the friends of family of some guild employee who had come for a visit—nothing more.
Thus, they were the guild’s secret weapon, a group of guard specialists formed eight months ago, the lovely uniform-clad girl hunters of the Wonder Trio.
As they reached a break in the conversation, the guild master took up a cup of the black tea that had been set on the table before them, and the girls picked up their cups as well.
Silently sipping her tea, Marcela’s eyes drifted to the guild master’s desk behind him, on top of which sat several items.
For some time she had been acutely aware of the four objects positioned there. They looked rather like dolls and seemed very out of place atop the desk of a guild master.
When Marcela took a closer look, she realized that they were indeed dolls, in the shape of young girls.
The four of them were each adorned with light armor, like something a hunter would wear. Two of them outfitted with swords, the other two with something like mages’ staves. They looked very much like an all-girls’ hunting party.
Perhaps they were thinking of using these dolls of young girl hunters to popularize the image of hunters and recruit more young folk?
One of the girls was a tall swordswoman, with her hair painted a golden color. Another was a mage, with brown hair and a large bust. The third of them was a short, childlike mage with red hair.
And the final one had silver hair, with a cute and amiable countenance, as well as a rather pleasant, vacant look about her…
Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft!!!
Marcela spat. All the tea that was in her mouth was propelled directly onto the guild master, who sat before her.
Startled at the enormous spray, Monika and Aureana, who had their cups to their mouths and had just sipped in the bulk of their tea as well, followed Marcela’s gaze, and…
Pfffffffffffffft!
The secretary, who had been seated behind the guild master, pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and rushed over to him, but the guild master waved her off gently with his left hand.
After wiping his face with his own handkerchief, he carefully refolded it and placed it back into his breast pocket. He did not notice the clerk’s chilly gaze.
“W-we’re so sorry!”
The three girls apologized hurriedly—in such a way that their gazes never so much as flicked toward the desk.
They wanted desperately to ask about the dolls, but if they let on that they had such a strong interest in them, there would definitely be an investigation on the horizon.
His Majesty, the king, had not given up on searching for Adele. The girls were not so foolish as to think that he would. They were different from Adele! Different!
And so, they left the guild. On the way home…
“It seems like she’s doing well.”
“So she is a hunter after all.”
“And she’s already standing out…”
The girls could not keep a straight face.
“Pft…”
“Aha…”
“Ahahahahahaha!”
Passersby glanced suspiciously at the three girls, who had all suddenly burst out laughing, but the girls’ laughter continued to ring out.
***
“…And that is all for the actions of Lady Marcela and company for today.” So spoke the man who had been assigned the duty of watching over the three girls, secretly guarding them from the shadows. He had made his report to an audience of the king; the first prince, Adalbert; the third princess, Morena; and the second prince, Vince; along with the prime minister and the chief guard, Bergl.
“Why did you not step in to help when Miss Aureana and Miss Marcela were in danger?!” Morena shouted angrily, having heard his full recounting.
“Ah, well, I never thought that they would actually be faced with injury or…”
“Just what did you think that guard duty entailed?”
“……”
“Never mind. Leave us.”
“Yes, sir…”
After the guard had left, the king said to Morena, “I’ll pick a new one.”
“Next time, please actually pick someone reliable!”
“Of course.”
The guard had watched over the girls since before the time they were attacked, up until they reached the guild. Of course, he could not enter the guildhall with them, so he only watched over them on their way back to the dormitory, and then, once that duty was finished, returned to the palace. Listening in on the girls’ conversation in the guise of a passerby, he had only heard as far as Aureana and Marcela’s quarrel.
“As for the mastermind of this operation…”
“Understood! I’ll handle it, don’t you worry!”
“Hm. But…”
The king was mildly fearful for Morena, who worried so deeply for Marcela and the others.
Just then, the first prince, Adalbert, spoke up. “She stood in the way of an incoming blade, all for the sake of a commoner… And then acted as though it were no large feat at all. What a truly interesting person…”
“Miss Marcela is a wonderful girl! She’s strong—and cute too…” Just like Adalbert, Vince seemed extremely interested in Marcela.
“Wh…?”
The king, the prime minister, and the others, who had been wondering which of the two boys they would set up with Adele once they found her, were completely lost for words at the sight of this sudden interest from not only Adalbert—who had never shown any interest whatsoever in the noble girls who always flocked around him—but also from Vince.
Morena, of course, could only think, Between Miss Adele and Miss Morena, I wonder which shall become my elder sister-in-law, and which the younger…
Dreaming of that lovely future, a pleasant smile crept across her face.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login