Chapter 41:
The Home of Yesteryear
It was several days later.
The merchants and the carriage arrived safely in the capital, and the Crimson Vow received their job-completion stamps from both parties, along with the payment that came directly from the passengers.
Because the merchants had already made their deposit with the guild, as was the norm, the payment for that contract came from the guild’s coffers. However, the passengers had contracted the girls directly, so they were expected to pay them out of their own purses. Should the job be something done outside of the guild, the Crimson Vow could pocket all the money, but if they wished to have it processed as a guild job, the girls would have to pay the guild their cut.
Granted, there was scarcely a hunter around who would go and purposely involve the guild in a job that was already completed just to pay the guild their processing fee—but the Crimson Vow were not just any hunters. They wanted those promotion points, they wanted to be B-ranks, and they wanted any tasty morsel of a job that would improve their reputation to appear in the official guild records. Accepting an emergency contract would reflect well on them—and besides, it was not as though they were wanting for money.
They parted ways with the two groups in front of the Merchants’ Guild and then headed for the Hunters’ Guild.
Before they passed through the city gates, Mile had stowed herself away inside the wagon, and the moment they left the caravan behind, she darted away into a back alley while the others waited. When she returned shortly after, her hair was golden, her eyes were brown, and her face was one that they did not recognize.
With her hair and eyes, it had merely been a matter of altering the pigment, and she had camouflaged her face by bending the light waves around it. She had not made drastic changes to any of her features, but together, the effect was enough to make her look as though she were a different person entirely.
The other three stayed as they were. They had no acquaintances in this country that they knew of, and even if they should happen to be recognized, it was not as though it would cause problems for them to encounter someone they knew. As far as everyone but Mile—who would be in grave danger if her true identity as “Adele” were revealed—was concerned, this city was nothing more than another stop on their travels.
And so, once Mile’s transformation was complete, the four of them headed off to the guild without a care.
In her hand, Mavis gripped the end of a rope, with six men fastened to it. These were of course the bandits, who they had dragged down from the carriage.
Of course, the men’s wrists were tied together, but their arms were bound tightly to their bodies as well—snug as a bug in a rug, one might say—so there was no possible way they could try to run or fight at full power. In addition, noose-like coils were knotted around their necks.
Indeed, the way they had been bound, so that they could not possibly escape, was almost excessive.
Exactly who was responsible for this was unclear.
Here she was, for the first time in so long, in the capital of Brandel Kingdom.
Mile had lived in this city for nearly a year and two months, but she had never once set foot in the Hunters’ Guild.
As she nervously passed through the door of the guildhall, the bell jangled, and all the hunters present turned their way. Then, the moment they saw that it was only some party of rookies, their attention dissipated, and the hunters returned to what they had been doing before. In every guild in every town they had ever set foot in, this was the customary reception.
“Pardon me. We would like to have a completed escort job and an on-site emergency contract processed,” Mile requested at the reception window.
“Oh, certainly! Step right this way!”
The clerk moved out from behind the counter to lead Mile to a conference table. The paperwork required for emergency contracts was a bit more complicated than that for a normal job.
After Mile came Reina, Pauline, and Mavis—and behind Mavis, six bandits on a rope, who shuffled their feet through the open door.
“Wh…?!”
All the hunters sitting around at their tables, and all the guild staff behind the counters, suddenly sprang straight up.
“Oh yes, by the way, we would like to turn in some bandits as well.” Mile hurriedly amended her request.
Apparently, she had already forgotten.
***
The proceedings at the guild were concluded without incident.
The processing for the emergency on-site contract and the inquiry around it went smoothly, and the reward money for turning in the bandits, along with their cut for the bandits’ future sale as criminal slaves, was as expected. What was unexpected was the envelope that the driver of the coach handed them, inside of which was a small bonus reward from the coach drivers’ union.
Even if the money they received was not much, recognition like this improved the guild’s reputation as well, so they were more than happy to receive the honor—and the promotion points that went along with it. And so the Crimson Vow left the guildhall with smiles plastered across their faces.
“Mm…”
After the Crimson Vow exited the hall, the clerk who had processed their paperwork looked contemplative.
“What’s wrong, Sharon?” asked her coworker, worried.
The clerk, who still looked rather uncertain, replied, “Hmm, it’s just, those girls who were here a moment ago… I get the feeling that I’ve seen them somewhere before. I mean, if you had come across a party of cute young kids who could capture six bandits all on their own, without injuring the bandits and without taking any injury themselves, you’d think that you’d remember them, wouldn’t you? Argh! I just can’t think of it! I’ve got nothing but brain fog!”
It was only natural that the clerk could not place the Crimson Vow. She might have remembered if she had been dealing with someone who looked exactly as she recalled, but only a vague resemblance could not be expected to ring any bells. It would be one thing, too, if they were faces she had seen countless times, but in this case she had only caught glimpses of their likeness, now and again, in the figures sitting upon her boss’s desk…
Plus, the one who had that unmistakable silver hair had altered her appearance.
“Mmm, nngh…”
“Enough already! Just forget about it, and get back to your work!” her coworker scolded.
And so, the clerk known as Sharon gave up on remembering.
Thus, a potential branch of all the possible paths of history crumbled into dust.
That evening, Mile and the others decided against taking a room at an inn. In order to best minimize the risk of Mile being discovered, they planned to leave the capital that night, as soon as all their affairs for the day were in order.
“All right, so, following your lead, we’ll head over there sometime after they’re done with dinner for the evening. Have you finished up your letter?” Reina asked.
“Ah, y-yes, here it is…”
Mile withdrew a letter from her storage space and handed it to Reina.
“Good. We should try and eat early ourselves. Don’t look so worried, Mile. We’ll be in and out of there before you know it!” Reina assured her with a broad smile, the letter pressed safely to her chest.
***
Late that evening, once classes were over, and both extracurricular activities and dinner for the boarding students had concluded for the night…
Three girls passed through the front gates of Eckland Academy.
Perhaps they were students returning from an after-school outing. There was a girl with red hair, wearing an academy uniform. She was followed by another girl who was particularly well-endowed in one area, wearing a gym uniform, perhaps having gone out for some exercise. They were likely third years, though the gatekeeper found his eyes unfortunately drawn to the parts of the second girl’s body that did not appear to belong to a twelve or thirteen-year-old at all.
The last to come traipsing through the gate, looking rather embarrassed, was a girl with golden hair and the appearance of a swordswoman—likely the older sister to one of the other girls.
There were no problems here. It was far from the sort of scene that required an investigation of any sort as they did not appear suspicious in the least.
So the gatekeeper thought to himself, as he continued to keep his watch.
***
Knock knock!
“Hello? Who is it?” Marcela asked, hearing a knock on the door of her dorm room.
A voice from the other side of the door replied, “A thief…”
“Why the heck would you say that?!” another voice scolded.
“Sorry, it’s just that Mile always answers like that in these kinds of situations…” the first voice replied.
“Since when?! Anyway, what are you gonna do if she starts thinking we’re acting suspicious?!”
They were already acting plenty suspicious.
Marcela rubbed her temples with her middle fingers.
It had been quite a while since she had felt this particular variety of exasperation. She felt almost nostalgic somehow.
“…So, who’s there?”
“A thief…”
“Enough with that already!”
Intrusions like this were common around the time a new group of freshmen entered the academy.
They wanted to talk to her.
They wanted to be her friend.
Please, be my mentor!
Grant me the Goddess’s protection as well!
You’ll take me into the Wonder Trio, won’t you? Or rather, I suppose that would make us the Wonder Quartet! Ho ho ho!
However, Marcela had turned them all down. She had not expected anyone to come crawling back now after all this time.
Just as she was pondering how to handle the situation, she heard a tiny voice. They had been making such a huge fuss before—why speak softly now?
As she pondered this question, she had the distinct impression that her ears were playing tricks on her.
“Bakery. Wringing from the air. Crooktail’s bone. Stepmother and stepsister. Somewhere in the countryside…”
Slam!
“Gyaah!”
Reina had pressed her face to the door, whispering, when suddenly that door was flung open at full force.
Reina toppled back, blood streaming from her nose.
***
“…My apologies.”
It was several minutes later.
Thanks to Pauline’s healing powers, the blood pouring from Reina’s nose had stopped, the pain vanishing with it.
“Th-that’s fine. I know it wasn’t on purpose…”
After hurriedly dragging the three girls into her room, Marcela ran off to fetch Monika and Aureana. They each brought their own chairs and crowded into Marcela’s dorm room.
Reina, Mavis, and Pauline sat on the bed, while Marcela, Monika, and Aureana each perched on their chairs, facing them.
When it came to an interrogation, it was usually the one who had the higher vantage point who had the upper hand. This principle was what led Marcela to choose this particular seating arrangement. Nevertheless, Marcela could not have lived with herself if she did not offer a proper apology for what she had done.
However, now that that was over and done with, she had no mercy left to spare.
“Let us cut to the chase. The color of the ribbon on your uniform is the one worn by third years. However, I have never seen anyone like you in our year. And you there, in the gym clothes. Those are also of the color worn by third years, but again, I have never seen you before. In other words, you all are trespassers, impersonating students.
“Over half of the students at this school are young ladies of noble birth. As a result, I have no doubt that being caught on these grounds illicitly would be deemed a capital offense…”
The blood drained quickly from their faces.
“W-wait! T-take this!”
What Reina pulled from her breast pocket was a letter, placed inside something that looked like a split bamboo rod.
As she handed this item over, she shouted, “O-onehguy-day-gozighmass!”
“C-come again? I have no idea what you just said.”
“Er, well, that’s just something else that Mile says in situations like these…”
Truly, Reina was in no position to be judging others.
“What in the world is this?” Marcela asked, though she had already correctly judged that the item was a letter.
She withdrew the document from its container and flipped to the back.
…where the sender’s name was not written.
However, Marcela had already realized the truth.
The words that had been whispered from outside of the door. This mysterious trio who she somehow felt that she had seen before.
Somewhere or other, she knew she recalled seeing these three girls, though not in the flesh.
The wheels of her Adele Simulator spun at full tilt…
“Lower intelligence, separate from common sense, and increase carelessness times five…”
The Crimson Vow were rather taken aback by this strange incantation, but Monika and Aureana looked on, calm and knowing.
And then…
“There!”
Suddenly, Marcela thrust her right hand out into the empty space beside Mavis.
At the same moment, Monika and Aureana dodged, startled.
And then, the seemingly empty space in front of them shuddered, and the silhouette of a human—with Marcela gripping it by the collar—materialized before their eyes.
“Gaaaah!”
“Eeeeek!”
The human figure shouted, and Monika and Aureana shrieked.
“I thought you might be there!” Marcela crowed triumphantly.
“H-how did you…?”
Mile, who had now materialized fully, was speechless. Monika and Aureana looked on in curiosity, eyes round.
Mile had already undone the light-wave-bending magic that she had used to fuel her transformation and had returned to her original face and her silver hair. Terribly shaken, she stared at Marcela in disbelief.
Her sound, her smell—every trace of her should have been perfectly concealed.
There was no way that Marcela could have known she was there. It was impossible!
As Mile wracked her brain, Marcela replied, coolly. “…How did I know? That’s simple: It is because you are you, and I am me. Did you truly believe that yours truly would be unable to detect you?”
Yet even as she spoke, her eyebrows slowly began to knit together. Moisture welled in the corners of her eyes.
Then, she threw her arms around Mile, squeezing her tightly.
“Uuh… U…uwah…”
“Adele!”
“Oh, Adele!”
As Monika and Aureana threw their arms around her from both sides, Mile began to wail, too.
The others watched, tears streaming down Mavis’s face as well, while Reina puffed her cheeks out unhappily.
Even as she clung to Mile, her tears overflowing, Marcela cast a sidelong glance at Reina, understanding her expression instantly.
…Looks like I’ve got a rival!
Mile continued to weep, completely unaware that any of this was happening.
They were on the brink of something truly terrifying—and the only one who realized it was Pauline…
***
“So, what happened with everything here after I ran away…?”
Once everyone finally calmed down, the time came to fill each other in.
Mile isolated the room with a sound barrier, and Marcela, as the representative of the three, began her tale.
“Since you left, we have made a number of connections and obtained some information of undeniable veracity. First off—and this is something it rather pains me to say, Miss Adele—your father is no longer alive. He was charged and found guilty of the murders of your mother and grandfather and of trying to seize control of the Ascham family legacy after chasing away the sole legitimate heir—which would be you. All of this constitutes a capital offense. When you’re charged with an offense like that on three counts, there is no escaping your sentence, no matter what defense you offer up. Then again, it was not as though there was anyone willing to speak on his behalf—not a soul would defend him.
“You were aware, Miss Adele, that you are the sole legitimate successor of the Ascham line—the only one who still carries the family blood? And that your father, who had only married into the family without any legitimate claim, was nothing more than a steward until you were able to assume official control of the estate?”
Mile nodded.
She had never been told any of this directly, but based on her own recollections—as well as everything she had observed after her reawakening as Misato and the details she was able to infer through the lens of Misato’s superior knowledge—she had determined that there was a high probability that this was the case.
However, no matter how horridly this man had behaved in life, he was still Mile’s father. And so, Marcela relayed this news with a grave expression, in consideration of Mile—or rather, Adele’s feelings—but Mile did not appear bothered at all.
The only memories she had of him were from before her reawakening and the subsequent integration of Misato’s experiences with Adele’s. In truth, those memories were few, and none of them were good.
He was a stranger for whom she felt nothing.
No, he was a monster , who had murdered her kindly mother and grandfather and mistreated young Adele.
As far as Mile was concerned, this was all that man was to her.
The only father she had was the one she called Father in another life, when her name was Misato.
“I see. What of the others? What’s become of the house of Ascham now?”
While Marcela was rather stunned at how entirely unshaken Mile appeared, she continued her exposition.
“Your stepmother was charged with the same offenses. Anyone else who was complicit to or abetted their crimes, as well as anyone who perjured, accepted bribery, or who tried to flee prosecution, was charged accordingly.”
“And my stepsister, Prissy?”
“Ah, well, it was judged that a child as young as her could bear no true sin and that she only behaved in the manner she did under her parents’ influence. However, she did lose both of her parents to their felonies, and there’s little guesswork involved in knowing the fate of a young girl who has lost her status as a noble. There was talk of sending her to a convent, but your father’s family, even if they had no means—or really, any desire—to save their own son, still wanted to protect their granddaughter. They have adopted her as their own daughter.
“His Majesty permitted this, for it seems that our fair kingdom has truly been blessed with a benevolent ruler. I daresay she may be able to strive for some measure of happiness yet, not as a noble by name with any shred of rightful inheritance, but as a common girl, under a noble family’s care…”
“I’m glad.”
Though Prissy had been cruel to her in many ways, it had after all been nothing more than childish bullying; it was not as though the girl’s actions ever had any longstanding impact on Mile’s life. Mile’s response, and the warm smile that accompanied it were reflexive, at the joy of knowing that her stepsister, who had committed only the crime of being born to rotten stock, had not met some terrible fate and would still be able to strive for a normal existence.
That’s just the sort of person Miss Adele is, isn’t it? That’s why it’s so good to be her friend!
Mile’s kindness never falters…
So her two sets of friends, new and old, appeared to be thinking.
“So, Miss Adele, control of the Ascham household now falls to you. Though your whereabouts were unknown at the time, his majesty issued an official decree to this effect in the gathering hall at the palace. In other words, you are now the head of the house of Ascham, her Ladyship, the Viscountess Adele von Ascham.
“For the time being, his Majesty has assumed direct control of the Ascham territories, but as the issues with your family and the attempts on your life have been resolved, he intends to return your inheritance to you posthaste upon your return and relinquish the office of controller of the estate.
“Currently, the house of Ascham is one known to have been shaken by scandal, but the moment that you reclaim control, the Crown will dispatch managerial experts and reputable stewards, house staff, and the like to assist in the redevelopment of your territories. Once that redevelopment is successful, thanks to your involvement with Her Highness, the third princess Morena, you will rise to the rank of Countess, after which you will be engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince or His Highness, the second prince.
“In the case of the former, your status would rise yet again, putting you on the same level of succession as the second prince. Alternatively, in the case of the latter, you would become a Duchess upon—”
“Welp! Now that everything I needed to do in this country is taken care of, I guess we better get going on to the next one!”
“Yeah!!”
“Huh?”
Mile cut in abruptly, interrupting the discussion of her own affairs. With this, and seeing the speed with which the other three girls voiced their approval and stood to leave, Marcela immediately lost her cool.
“Wh-what? Now wait just a moment! Where do you think you’re going?! Miss Monika, block the door! Miss Aureana, the window! We won’t let you get away agaaaain!”
***
“ Hff hff hff hff hff hff hff… ”
The seven girls, scattered about the room, writhed in exhaustion, their clothes rumpled.
Indeed, the battle—more a catfight than an all-out brawl—had finally fizzled to a stop.
“Wh-what’s with these girls?! How could we lose to a group of mere students?! Ones younger than us at that!!” Reina screamed, pinned to the ground.
Indeed the battle had ended in utter defeat for the Crimson Vow.
Seeing as they were in a girl’s dorm room at an academy, fighting against enemies who were not hunters but merely civilian students—students who, moreover, were not even bad people—they had to avoid causing any unnecessary harm to the girls. Therefore, the Crimson Vow had to try to merely suppress their enemies and escape using only brute force and restrictive magic, ruling out fire magic and other more deadly techniques. Yet while their opponents were not strong, the Crimson Vow could not manage to compete with the girls’ speedy restrictive and water magic, and were easily overwhelmed.
“B-but how…?”
Despite her self-imposed limitations, Mile was utterly stunned that she could be so easily overwhelmed by the opposing group’s spells.
Marcela replied, smugly, “You were gone for over a year, Miss Adele. Did you really think that we spent all of that time fooling around?”
“Wuhh… St-still, improving that much is crazyyy!” Mile wailed.
“Now then,” said Marcela. “Shall we continue our conversation?”
***
“So, if I just sell the estate and pocket all the proceeds…”
“Are you out of your mind?!” Marcela shouted.
Mile’s proposal was swiftly denied.
“Your family’s land is a gift from his Majesty, the king himself. In return for protecting, governing, and developing that land, you are eligible to receive the privileges of a noble! It’s not something you can just sell off like an old cow!”
Mavis nodded emphatically as well.
“So in that case, I’d have to relinquish everything to the king… Or else turn it over to a relative…”
“Well, yes, that is the usual course of action. When a noble household is unsettled by scandal, their lands are confiscated or their manor demolished, with the noble themself confined to house arrest, his children disinherited, and ownership of the estate reassigned to some distant relative or the like. However, that is only what applies under normal circumstances. That is not going to be the way things work out for you, Miss Adele.”
“Huh?”
Marcela continued to crush Mile’s plan into tiny pieces.
“Do you really believe that his Majesty would allow you to escape so easily? The son of your grandfather’s elder sister, or some such relative, has already tried to force his claim to the Ascham family estate, but his Majesty quickly denied him. This fellow was incredibly obstinate about it—no matter how many times he was told that there was already a legitimate heir, he insisted that anyone who had absconded from the country to whereabouts unknown should be disowned from the family. There was some anxiety that he might try to harm you or otherwise interfere with you in some way in the future, and I believe the whole thing turned out rather unfortunately for him…
“Anyway, the situation seems to imply that his Majesty is intent on having you, Miss Adele, serve as the head of the house of Ascham…”
“……”
Mile was amazed. She was amaz-eggs and bacon.
“Wh-what do we do…?”
Mile and the Crimson Vow fretted.
Meow!
Just then, a black cat slipped through a window into the room.
“Oh! Crooktail!”
Mile grinned as her old friend Crooktail, known to others as “Cricket Eater,” slinked around her back.
“He’s just trying to leave his scent on you, isn’t he?” Mavis asked.
“No, his back is itching, isn’t it?” Pauline wondered.
“No, I’m pretty sure he’s asserting his dominance, isn’t that right?” said Reina. “Like, ‘Yes, this person is my servant.’”
“Sh-shut up!” Mile roared, with unusual vehemence.
It was only following a desperate plea from the Crimson Vow that the Wonder Trio finally agreed to allow them to leave.
“Well, I suppose it is far too soon for you to be tied down by any engagements or marriages. We are all still only twelve years old, after all. Enjoy your freedom for a little while longer.”
It should be noted that, despite Marcela’s assumptions, Mile had a birthday early in the year and was already thirteen.
“M-Miss Marcela…”
Tears glistened in Mile’s eyes.
“You can spare us a little more time, though, can’t you?” Marcela asked. “I’d like to talk about what’s happened since then.”
“O-of course!”
For some time after that, Mile and her old friends had a lively exchange about all that had occurred since Mile—or rather, Adele—left the academy. Reina and the others listened quietly. They would have plenty of time to talk with Mile from there on out, so they had no interest in interfering with the scant time that the younger girls had together—a time that meant the world to Marcela and the rest of the Wonder Trio.
***
“So, should we get going soon?”
Reina finally cut in, seeing that the four girls appeared liable to keep talking until the sun rose if they let them.
The later it got, the more inconvenient it would be for them to leave. Students passing through the gates in the late evening were one thing, but students coming and going in the middle of the night or early in the morning were certain to give the guards pause, and they hardly wanted to be detained and questioned.
Regrettably, even good things must come to an end. Marcela and the others were all too aware of this.
“I suppose you must. However, this is not our final farewell, Miss Adele. I’m sure we will be seeing each other again very soon.”
“Y-yes, absolutely!”
What the four girls would regret most would be a final parting.
“Oh, that’s right!” Marcela said, as though suddenly remembering something. “The three of us have a bodyguard. They don’t follow us around during school hours, but they accompany us whenever we leave the premises, and tail and investigate anyone who is not a student or their associate entering the school grounds.”
“Wh…?”
The Crimsons Vow’s faces twitched.
“Oh, but I believe you all should be fine. Miss Adele could not have been spotted, and besides—the pair of you were wearing academy uniforms, while you appear to be their older sister. I bet they thought nothing of it. It’s still early enough that you should be able to pass yourselves off as an older sister returning home and her younger sisters coming to see her off.
“Please do take care, though, next time you come to visit. I get the impression that any letters or packages addressed to us are being inspected before they make it into our hands. The last time I asked my father to send me a package, when it arrived I found that there were gaps in the wrapping paper and the packaging showed signs of tampering. Inside, the papers were all in disarray, as though someone had hastily opened and shuffled through them.”
“………”
Everyone was stunned at Marcela’s prudence.
I-Is this girl really the same age as Mile? Reina wondered. Though, come to think of it, while Mile’s an airhead most of the time, she can be really clever in a pinch. The lesser nobles of Brandel are a force to be reckoned with!
I would have never noticed or even thought of something like that, thought Mavis. To think that I could be outwitted by a twelve-year-old girl… How pitiful.
The two could not hide their shock at Marcela’s insight in spite of her age. Only Pauline looked on with a smile, as if to say, Hm, well done …
However, there was something that none of them realized.
Though Marcela always took the reins as the leader of the Wonder Trio, the smartest of their group was not, in fact, Marcela, but the quiet and inconspicuous Aureana.
The reason that she sat so quietly—not speaking, only observing—was so that she could commit all that she noticed to memory and analyze it later. It was Marcela who led the pack, but when it came to the important decisions, Aureana was the one to guide her on the correct path. Usually, Marcela assumed that she had come to a conclusion on her own.
Aureana had entered the academy not on a noble’s coattails or via the standard admission but as a penniless commoner who had overcome the mile-high hurdle of the academy’s scholarship exam. She was the true ace up the sleeve of the Wonder Trio.
***
And so, the Crimson Vow left the academy behind.
With a casual and confident stride, they strolled through the front gates. Mile had once again used her light-bending magic to enter stealth mode so that she could not be detected by the naked eye.
As they passed, Mavis nodded politely to the gatekeeper, who smiled and waved his right hand in reply.
“This seems like a good spot to get changed. Over there, on the left,” said Mile as she passed into an alleyway, still rendered invisible by her cloaking.
The other three followed behind her, no one particularly surprised by the instruction. They had already changed like this before entering the academy, after all.
Plus, they were exiting the capital late at night.
While this was not especially strange for a merchant or a hunter, it would be an absolute no-no for a young female student wearing the uniform of Eckland Academy. In such ensembles, they would most certainly be stopped and questioned.
Plus, while wearing a normal uniform was suspicious enough, seeing a little girl with a prominent chest wearing gym clothes that were strained by her size would most certainly warrant an investigation or an arrest.
“Please don’t ever make me wear this agaaaain!” Pauline wailed, her skin burning from the stares of all they had passed by going both to and from the academy.
Truthfully, even within the school, all of the guards’ eyes had been focused on her…
As always, Mavis had gotten off scot-free because the uniforms were nowhere near her size. She averted her eyes.
“All right, let’s just get you out of that before it… Oh.”
Mile suddenly trailed off.
“Ah…” the other three responded.
A group of five thugs had suddenly appeared, all of them wielding cheap swords.
They were surrounded.
“Oho! We got us some Eckland students, don’t we?! You girls know it’s awful late to be hangin’ out in alleyways like this. Y’all come out to play? And whoa! What’s with you there, missy? You’re really lookin’ for some, ain’tcha?!”
“See?! This is why I didn’t want to wear this!” Pauline shouted at an empty place beside her—not out of fear, but rage.
“Yes, yes, here you go.”
Mile, still hidden, took the group’s staves and swords out of storage and handed them to Pauline, who in turn handed Reina and Mavis their respective weapons.
Truthfully, a mage’s staff had nothing to do with magic. It was a simple bludgeoning weapon used for self-defense, not a magical wand. However, Mile got the impression that the staff was something that Pauline truly did need in this particular moment.
The thugs, meanwhile, gawked in surprise, having just watched the weapons poof out of thin air.
“St-storage magic? I bet we could sell these girls fer a ton!”
While it might stand to reason that someone who could use a power as rare and difficult as storage magic might also be strong in other areas, the ability to use it did not always correspond to combat magic abilities. In fact, there were many cases of individuals who were exceptionally skilled in utility magic and utterly hopeless when it came to attack spells.
And so the thugs, judging by Pauline’s age and her meek and mild appearance, reckoned that combat magic likely was not her forte.
Why were they so careless? Put simply, it was because they were thugs.
In addition to the first girl, they faced only a child and a swordswoman. With five of them and three of the girls, the thugs figured that apprehending them would be a cinch. They circled in, swords in hand.
Naturally, they had no intention of killing their prey. If they killed them, the girls wouldn’t be worth a single copper—and plus, they wouldn’t get to have any fun with them.
One of the thugs facing Pauline came toward her, brandishing his sword. The sword was merely there for the sake of disarming Pauline if she attempted to use her staff. A staff swung around by a woman was little threat to begin with, this thug believed. Plus, at such close range, there would be no time for her to cast a spell.
“Jet Spray!”
Bwoosh!
“Gaaah!”
The man screamed and pressed his hands to his face as two small, powerful jets of water, wrought by Pauline’s silent incantation, struck him directly in the eyes.
“My eyes! My eyes!!”
He had yet to drop his sword, but striking a man who was standing still, his hands over his eyes, was a mere trifle—like taking candy from a baby.
Pauline struck him with her staff before knocking his sword away.
And then, her assault continued.
Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam!
Yes, it was a technique that Reina had perfected. A hurricane of blows dealt by a staff. The most frequent target was Mile.
Though the water jets had been powerful, they were not forceful enough to gouge the man’s eyes out or cause him to go blind. It was but a simple jab.
It was after this that Pauline’s real attack began. She began to strike the man in earnest, venting all of her anger and frustration.
Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam!
“O-oww! St-st-stop iiiiiiiiiiiiit!!”
The other four men, stunned at their companion’s unbelievable defeat at the hands of a support-magic user, rushed in to rescue their ally and take down this unexpected foe. However…
“Icicle Javelin!”
Four icy spears suddenly flew toward two of the men, striking each of them in the gut.
“Wha…?! You can do spell-free casting, too?!” shouted one of the men who had not been hit by Reina’s attack, frozen in shock next to his companion.
Reina’s two targets writhed on the ground, unable to speak. Naturally, she had been holding back, and the tips of the spears were blunted, so they had not pierced the men’s flesh. However, they had still been struck by two very intense gut punches.
When it came to performing magic, neither Pauline nor Reina spoke their full incantations aloud, enacting the spell with only a shouted keyword.
Compared to totally silent casting, ‘spell-free casting,’ or speaking an incantation in your head and then uttering the spell’s name, was at the next highest degree of difficulty. There were very few mages who could use an attack spell in this way.
“I guess that means I’m up last, huh?” Mavis called out to the remaining two, swinging her sword at incredible speed, as though she was warming up for the real thing.
The two men turned on their heels at once and tried to make a break for it.
Suddenly, the air before them shimmered, and a human form appeared.
“You’re not getting away that easily.”
“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”
***
“Think that’s enough?” asked Pauline.
“Yeah. Any more than that would be a waste…” answered Reina, after relieving the men of all their possessions and binding them hand and foot.
Mile confiscated all of their swords, knives, and other weapons, packing them away in her inventory on the logic that they might come in handy later.
“These guys aren’t hunters, so this isn’t any of the guild’s business,” Reina contemplated. “They don’t seem like proper bandits either, just a bunch of lowlife thugs, so we won’t get any special reward for capturing them, and I don’t think they’ll sell ’em off to the mines, either… In other words, turning them in alive won’t net us any coin, and since it’s unlikely they’ll receive a very severe punishment, there’s really no good reason to bother.
“So I think this is good enough. I’m sure it’ll hurt for these guys to lose even garbage swords like these, and I’m sure that if they go wandering around unarmed, all the people who they’ve bullied in the past will find some way or another to deal with them… Or, I suppose I should say, I’m sure some passerby will find them rolling around on the ground, all tied up like this…”
The other three nodded.
“Now then, let’s do this,” said Mile. “Shroud of Darkness!”
After Mile withdrew Reina and Pauline’s regular clothes from storage and handed them over, she summoned a barrier of darkness several meters in radius around them, and the two quickly changed. Mile and Mavis, who were, of course, already in their own clothing, had no reason to change. The shed uniforms were then placed back into storage.
The four passed through the city gates without further incident.
Seeing hunters making a hurried exit in the middle of the night was not an especially rare sight.
As of yet, they had not detected any sign that Mile’s—or rather, Adele’s—presence had been discovered. However, it was better to be safe than sorry. With magic to light their way, the Crimson Vow quickly moved as far as they could away from the capital.
***
“So, they’re gone, then.”
“Yes. They’ve left us.”
After the Crimson Vow made their exit, Marcela and the others sat in a daze for some time. Finally, they began to come back to themselves.
“Well, the most important thing is that they’re safe and that they’re enjoying themselves,” said Marcela, but her expression was clouded.
“Um, your face is…” Monika started, but no one asked her to elaborate. They all knew what she meant.
“Journeying for the rest of your days at Adele’s side, huh?”
“……”
It was rare for Aureana to misread the room so acutely. Monika and Marcela were deeply silent.
“Um, Miss Marcela, Miss Monika, I’ve been doing some thinking…” she continued. “In just a few months, we’ll be graduating. Miss Marcela, you’ll be returning to your home to begin bridal training, and Miss Monika, you’ll be helping out with your family business while doing the same. As for me, I’ll be working a civil service job somewhere in order to pay back my scholarship loan.
“If Adele happens to return home after we’ve all parted ways, we may never see her again. If Adele starts asking around to find us, she’d be in grave danger of being discovered by an associate of the Crown, some obstinate noble, or affiliate of the church…”
“Oh.” The other two were lost for words at this revelation.
“And so, I was thinking… Now that the two of you have far more value to society than just being a noble’s or a merchant’s daughter, it shouldn’t be a problem if you take a bit longer than usual to marry, should it? Say, even if five or ten years go by—even if you’re eighteen or twenty-three—before it happens, you shouldn’t have any issue still netting some worthwhile proposals, should you?”
Just where was Aureana going with this?
The moment the two of them realized what she was getting at, their eyes began to sparkle.
Though Marcela had sat in a daze since Adele’s departure, the wheels in her head suddenly began to turn at full speed.
“After we graduate, suppose we got ourselves into the employ of Her Highness, Princess Morena? Have her prepare an official post for us—something like ‘The Viscountess Ascham Search Party,’ directly under her command. With that, we would be working in service of the Crown, which would help toward the repayment of my scholarship and gaining valuable work experience that no noble could ever be ashamed of. Even a merchant parent would never complain about a job that gets you connections to the Crown and the royal family. Plus, you’d receive a large stipend and wages…”
“I’m iiin!”
“Y-you’re a genius!!!”
“Aha…”
“Eheh…”
“Ahahahahahahahaha!!!”
We will find her.
We have the ‘Super Adele Simulator’ on our side, after all.
And when we find her, we can send information back to Her Highness, now and then. “The search for Viscountess Adele von Ascham continues,” etc.
And all the while we’ll journey with a normal young hunter named Mile at our side.
It may only be for a brief period in these few decades we call a life.
But those few moments are sure to be fun and exciting—the treasure of a lifetime. Memories that sparkle like diamonds.
Somehow, I just know it…
Side Story:
The Crimson Vow vs. The Wonder Trio
The Battle for Mile
S ometime later in a certain kingdom, the Crimson Vow were walking through town when suddenly a voice called to them from behind.
“My, it has been a while!”
On this particular day, Mile was off on her own taking care of some individual business, so Reina, Mavis, and Pauline were working as a trio. The moment they turned to see their interlocutor, disgust spread over Reina’s face, clear as day. “Bweh! You all again…?”
“You should never greet a young maiden with so crude a response as ‘Bweh!’ That’s not language that a proper lady should even be using in the first place,” said the newcomer.
“Well, aren’t you proper?! I don’t have any use for that fancy noble-ish talk of yours.”
“I am not ‘noble- ish ’! I am a true and proper noble!”
“But Mavis and Mile don’t talk that way,” Reina replied.
“Wha…? P-please don’t ever compare me to those two! If you’re going to do that, why I’ll have to start comparing the peddler’s daughter to ‘Jane the Hustler’!”
“…My apologies.” Reina’s apology was sincere.
“Um,” said Mavis, rather uneasily, “Just who is this ‘Jane the Hustler’ who you’re comparing me with?”
“Forgive us!”
The two bowed their heads in apology to Mavis. Apparently, this “Jane the Hustler” was quite the seedy character.
“So, what do you all want this time?” asked Reina.
The girl placed her hand to her heart and replied, “We have come to take back what is rightfully ours: Miss Adele. She belongs at our side!”
The girl’s two companions gave an emphatic nod.
“We are the three splendid sisters blessed by the Goddess…”
“The Wonder Trio!!!”
Kaboooom!
With no regard for the fact that they were in the middle of town, the Wonder Trio—Marcela, Monika, and Aureana—struck a pose as an explosion sounded and tricolored smoke streamed behind them.
It was very much reminiscent of the Crimson Vow’s performance at the graduation trial of a certain Hunters’ Prep School.
“Nnh…”
Reina clutched her skull.
“Damn it, we can’t lose to them! We are three allies, bound at the—”
“Quit it!” Reina shouted, chopping Mavis in the forehead to cut her off. “Anyway, let’s take this somewhere else! Come with me!”
Seeing how a crowd was beginning to gather at the commotion they had caused, the six girls quickly changed locations.
“Now then, what is it you wanted?” asked Reina.
“I already told you!” Marcela yelled. “Miss Adele belongs with us…”
“Ah, yes, yes, once upon a time there was a poor young girl who believed such foolish things…” said Reina, aping the manner of Mile’s Japanese folktales.
“Please do not mock me! Just what do you ladies know of Miss Adele? Do you truly believe that she is happy remaining with you? Are you certain that you are not merely a pack of leeches, relying on Miss Adele for every little thing?”
“Wha?! Wh-what did you…? You’re always going on about ‘Adele this , Adele that ’… No girl by that name exists anymore! The girl you’re referring to is Mile, a C-rank hunter, our classmate and roommate at the Hunters’ Prep School! If you’re looking for someone named Adele, then maybe you need to take your search elsewhere.
“She is the one who chose to leave her old name and home behind to live as ‘Mile, the rookie hunter,’ so if you’re so willing to ignore that girl’s wishes and continue reducing her to who she was back then, then maybe you are the ones who are doing her a disservice!”
“Wh-wh-wh-wh…”
“Whatcha got to say?!”
“What are you saying?!”
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrngh…”
With each barb, the girls struck harder and harder at each other’s most sensitive spots until they both were seeing red. Monika and Aureana, as well as Mavis and Pauline, looked back and forth between the pair nervously when suddenly the two shouted the decisive words at one another:
“Bring it!”
“Let’s settle this!”
“First of all, we must decide the method of combat. That way there won’t be any whining and complaining from you lot afterward saying, ‘Oh, that match was a setup, so it doesn’t count,’ or ‘You only won because you chose something you’re good at.’”
“That sounds like something you would say!”
“Nnh…”
“Mmnh…”
“Grrrrrrrrrgh…”
Since at this rate the two seemed likely to end up stuck in an eternal feedback loop, the other four took it upon themselves to lead the discussion, mutually agreeing on a mode of combat.
Well, to put it more precisely, they agreed on a method of deciding a mode of combat.
Each side wrote four different contests on a piece of paper, and then each was required to choose two entries from the other side’s list. Those four chosen entries became the chosen modes.
The results of this were the following: a cooking battle, a shopping battle, a comedy battle, and a battle of smiles.
For each contest, both sides would select one representative from their team to compete. The team itself was free to decide which member would represent them.
As it would be necessary to have Mile herself serve as the judge for these contests, they parted ways, resolving to reconvene the following day with Mile in tow.
“Tomorrow, we’re gonna show you all what’s what, once and for all.”
“As shall we! Go on now. Enjoy your final evening with Miss Adele.”
“Grrrrrrrrrngh…”
***
And so, the next day arrived.
“Wh-what the heck is this…?”
Mile, who had been detained by Reina early that morning and forbidden to eat breakfast, was not in the best of spirits. Her stomach growled. However, she knew that her friends would not force her to do something so heinous as skip breakfast without good reason, so, while she was annoyed, she allowed Reina to escort her down the stairs after breakfast had concluded. When she reached the dining hall and saw that there was only one occupied table in the room, she gasped.
“Miss Marcela, Miss Monika, Miss Aureana! It’s been ages! So that’s what this is all about? Gosh, you guys…!”
Mile blushed and giggled. Utterly ignoring her, Reina announced, “Now then, let’s begin!”
And so the flames of battle were kindled.
“Round One: A Battle of Culinary Skill!”
“Huh? Wha? Huhhhh?”
Mile was baffled.
“Our side will be represented by Aureana.”
“And we’ll have Pauline. Let’s do this!”
Mile still had no idea what they were doing, and so glancing at their befuddled friend out of the corners of their eyes, Aureana and Pauline headed straight for the kitchen. At some point, the owners of the inn, apparently having been notified ahead of time, had taken seats at a table in the back of the room. One got the impression that they would be participating in the tasting. That way they could steal some recip—ahem, further their interests in the culinary arts.
It was at this point that Mile finally grasped what was going on.
Ah, okay. They’re each going to try and make a special dish for me to enjoy, and then I’ll have to select a winner. I remember there being a TV show like this a long time ago, back when cooking shows were popular…
Thirty minutes later, two dishes appeared before Mile.
In the interest of fairness, both dishes were prepared using only ingredients that were already available in the inn, with any specialized or expensive additions prohibited. Furthermore, they could each prepare only one dish. Just what dishes might they be able to make out of such limited ingredients…?
Mile grabbed one of the plates and pulled it toward her.
Chomp.
“Oh…”
Chompchompchompchompchomp!
“It’s so good…” she uttered, almost without thinking.
Pauline grinned.
She had prepared karaage using the magic-infused cooking style that Mile had perfected.
Using only standard ingredients, she concocted a perfect karaage seasoning, and with a pan, oil, and a little skill, along with her own culinary knowledge, she succeeded in perfectly recreating the cooking Mile normally did with magic. The fact that she had accomplished what was normally wrought by complex magics with only manual techniques meant that she had, in truth, surpassed Mile. The dish was nothing short of a miracle.
Of course, she had used chicken instead of rock lizard meat, but this meant that she had actually recreated the original dish Mile knew from her previous life without even knowing it.
As for Mile, she had never thought the day would come when she would be able to eat karaage cooked by someone other than herself. There is no joy more universal in this world than having your own dish recreated by someone else’s hand. The fact that it was so perfectly seasoned only elevated her joy to another level.
Seeing how thoroughly satisfied Mile appeared, Pauline knew that her victory was all but assured.
Then, Mile started on the second dish.
“Hm?”
Chompchompchompchompchompchompchompchomp!
“Th-this dish…”
Mile was stunned.
Aureana explained: “It’s an old family recipe of mine, passed down from my grandmother, to my mother, to me—our special technique for making a stew out of whatever ingredients are available. I thought that it might be something you would enjoy…”
Hearing this, Pauline smirked inwardly.
Mile, who was by birth a viscount’s daughter, most surely had a discerning palate. By nature, she was the sort who would happily gobble down anything put in front of her without complaint, but if she had to compare the two dishes in terms of flavor, the one she would give the highest marks to would surely be…
“This is delicious! I’ve never eaten this before, but somehow it fills me with nostalgia… Both of these dishes were absolutely amazing, and I would love to eat both of them again, but if I had to choose then I would pick this one!”
“Wha…?”
Pauline crumpled to the floor in shock.
Indeed, Mile was incredibly fond of the taste of home cooking, and she liked the style of improvised cooking that was passed down from grandparent to grandchild. This was the sort of cooking that she always yearned for. In her previous life, she was on bad terms with her grandparents, and her mother was not especially good in the kitchen. In this world, she had only ever eaten the food prepared by chefs in her noble home, as well as the prepared meals at dorms and inns and such. Indeed, she had yet to ever encounter such a meal.
“Sorry, Pauline. Your fried chicken was delicious, but I assume the point of this contest wasn’t just which dish tastes better but which one I like better—right? So, I choose this one.”
Yes, while Mile might normally mince her words and soften blows with bejeweled turns of phrase, when it came to matters of food and war, she was a viper.
“Well then, that would be the match! Let’s move on to the next one, shall we?”
The Wonder Trio left the inn in high spirits, with the Crimson Vow—sans Mile—dragging their feet behind. Only the innkeeper and his family remained in the room, quietly tasting all the food that was left behind.
***
“Round Two: The Shopping Challenge!” Reina announced after the group had relocated to the capital’s shopping district. “The goal of this round is to find the item that Mile would most enjoy, for the cheapest price. You will each receive three silver pieces, with which each representative will purchase a present for Mile. Our side chooses Pauline!”
Pauline was up to bat again. Owing to her previous defeat, she was smoldering with a fighting spirit and raring to go. If there was nothing else that she knew, it was the art of commerce, and she was so confident she could burst.
“And we will choose Miss Monika!”
If it was a matter of commerce, this competition would be too difficult a challenge for Aureana, the commoner, or Marcela, the noble. Monika was the natural—the only—choice.
“You have thirty minutes, starting now. Begin!”
At the signal, Pauline and Monika rushed off into the shopping district, each with their three silver pieces clutched tightly in hand.
Thirty minutes went by.
“…A pendant?”
Indeed, Pauline had purchased an adorable pendant.
“You don’t really have any decorative accessories to wear besides the ribbons you use to tie back your hair—right, Mile? Of course, wearing a ring would make gripping a sword more difficult, and gemstones are reflective, so there’s a higher probability of being spotted by a monster or human enemy. Materials that might make a sound if they strike something are dangerous, but I thought it would be nice for you to at least have something to wear while you’re in town. You’re still a girl, after all!”
“Th-thank you, Pauline!”
Mile gladly accepted the gift.
“Eheheh…”
Seeing how she smiled, the Wonder Trio unthinkingly grinned as well.
“…What’s this?” Mile asked, receiving the next gift.
“I’d suggest you peek inside to find out—carefully, so that no one else can see.”
“O-okay…”
Mile thought this instruction a bit suspicious, but she did as Monika said.
“Huh…?”
It was underwear.
Inside the package was a pair of underwear.
“Underpants?”
The moment Pauline heard Mile’s muttered question, she was certain of one thing:
She had won.
“We caught a glimpse of you yesterday, Mile, Just how long are you going to keep wearing that same old underwear?”
“What? But I wash them regularly, and I have plenty of spares…”
“You dummy,” said Monika. “No matter how many pairs you have to cycle through, eventually they’re going to stain or start to wear out. Sooner or later, they’ll just fall apart. Why haven’t you replaced them? It’s not as if money is an issue for you anymore.”
Mile hung her head.
“That’s… it’s because…”
Suddenly her voice began to warble, tears welling in her eyes.
“Th-that’s because they’re the ones Miss Marcela gave me… Th-the first gift I ever got from a friend…”
“You wha—?!” Marcela shouted, turning red. “That’s the nonsense reason that you’re still wearing them?!”
“It’s not…”
“Hm?”
“…a nonsense reason. It’s not a nonsense reason! It’s really the first—the very first…one I ever got…”
As Mile wept, Monika patted her on the back, consoling her.
“So then, won’t you wear these, too? They’re a present from all three of us.”
Mile gave an emphatic nod through her sniffles.
And once more, Pauline crumbled, her hands and knees planted on the ground.
Anyone watching could see that the Wonder Trio had prevailed again.
***
“Round Three: Comedy Battle!” Reina announced, displeasure clear on her face.
They were now in the Crimson Vow’s room at the inn.
“Whoever makes Mile laugh the quickest wins! First up, the Wonder Trio!”
Aureana was the first to step forward.
“Adele, you remember Cricket Eater, right? Well, he found himself a wife and had some kids. And then his missus ran out on him, leaving him to bust his butt raising the kids she left behind!”
Pfft!
As this battle was a time trial, Aureana forewent any joke with a punchline that would take a lot of time to build up to, opting instead for a one-liner. Without skipping a beat, Mile fell for it, snorting with laughter.
Pauline was already holding her face in her hands.
“Next up, Pauline!”
The Wonder Trio looked puzzled at the announcement.
“Why do you choose Pauline every time?! Are you truly that lacking in variety? Maybe that’s why you’re so fixated on Miss Adele…” Marcela said, sounding exasperated.
Reina shouted back, embarrassed, “Th-the best battle strategy is to offer up the combatant who’s most suited for the fight, isn’t it?!”
“Well, it’s not like I really care, anyway. And I suppose your tactic is not in violation of the rules.”
Marcela looked at her smugly, as if her response were perfectly crafted for the sake of ridiculing the others. Reina gritted her teeth. However, now was not the time to make a fuss. The fact that neither she nor Mavis would be of any use in this scenario was simply obvious, even if Reina herself was loath to admit it.
And now, Pauline, already shaken by the record set by the Wonder Trio, stepped up to the plate.
“Gya-aha-gahaha! St-stop it, Pauline, stooop!”
Yes, Pauline had leaped straight over to Mile and begun tickling her sides.
“The winner is Pauline! One point for the Crimson Vow!”
“Objection!!!” the Wonder Trio roared, in what was, for them, rare form.
Reina sneered and said, “Oh? I don’t recall a rule that said that the method couldn’t be a physical one. The only stipulation was, ‘whoever makes her laugh the fastest wins,’ wasn’t it? Isn’t the one who can think of the best approach—or in other words, the smartest method—the one most suitable to be Mile’s companion? Does this not count as a mark of superior ability? Or do you intend to contest the victory after the fact, based on a rule that never existed, just because you lost?”
“Gah… V-very well, then! Now, it’s time for the next match!”
Overhearing this exchange, Mile tilted her head quizzically.
***
“Round Four: A Battle of Joy! This is the final contest! Whoever can make Mile the happiest shall be the victor! First up, the Wonder Trio!”
The Crimson Vow had gone first in both of the first rounds, so the Wonder Trio stood to begin the remaining two.
This time, Marcela took the stage.
“Miss Adele, we three shall be by your side, now and always. Even when you retire from being a hunter, even if you get married, even if you have children—we shall always remain friends. Our families will grow together, and we shall always, always, live a happy life together…”
“M-Miss Marcelaaaaa!”
Mile threw her arms around Marcela, overwhelmed with emotion.
“O-objection!” shouted Reina.
“…What is it now?” Marcela asked coolly.
“Obviously, I’m objecting to you leveraging the outcome of the battle for the possession of Mile in order to win a victory before that victory’s even decided! I don’t care if you tell her you’ll be by her side, but what’s this ‘we three’ nonsense?! Are you planning to chase us away and keep Mile all for yourself?”
“Oh really? Are you saying that there is a precedent for that objection? As long as we do not break the established rules, then we are free to do whatever we want, aren’t we? Who was it now who was speaking of obtaining victory via the ‘smartest method’?”
“Uh… Guhh… Y-you little—”
“What was that?”
“You vile little—”
“What are you all talking about?”
“Huh?”
As Reina and Marcela glared at one another, Mile’s voice came from behind them.
“I keep hearing you talk about ‘possession’ and who’s ‘suitable’ to be my companion… Just what is all this about?”
She was angry. Mile, who appeared to have grasped the true meaning of these events, was well and truly mad.
When Mile was fuming and pouting, her cheeks all puffed out, she was nothing to worry about. That just meant that she was a little peeved. However, when she had no expression at all… That was when you knew that a calamity was about to strike. You could tell from her face, but more so, from her harsh and cold demeanor. When she got to that point, you had better apologize quickly—or else there would be hell to pay.
And then, there were the times when Mile moved beyond her expressionless state and showed her anger again.
That was dangerous. That was incredibly dangerous.
To date, the only time anyone had ever witnessed this was during the battle with the elder dragons when she thought her friends were going to die.
This is bad!!!! everyone thought as one.
“I did think that it was awfully strange… This morning, I was having a lot of fun. I thought that all of you were staging this competition in order to entertain me, and I was enjoying it. But then, the atmosphere got tenser and tenser, and you all started saying weird things. In which case… I see now. I understand what’s going on here.”
“A-aaaah, um, well…”
Reina and Marcela both stammered nervously. The other four took a few steps back.
“I am no one’s prize!!!”
“W-we’re sorryyyyy!!!” the whole group shouted.
Mile was terrifying when truly angry. She was always so good-natured. And yet…
“Just what were you intending to have me do? To make me choose between my friends?! Miss Marcela!”
“Y-yes?!”
“Miss Marcela, if you had to choose between Miss Monika and Miss Aureana who to remain friends with, and were forced to cast the other by the wayside, which of them would you choose?”
“Wh-wha?! How could you possibly expect me to choose?! How could I toss one of them away, just like that?!”
Then Mile turned to Reina and said, “Reina, who would you choose? Between Mavis and Pauline?”
“Wha…? You can’t expect me to make that choice!”
So said Reina. However, Pauline thought back to the night where she was nearly abandoned alone at the inn and muttered to herself, “I would definitely be the one left behind.”
“My point exactly.” Mile continued. “And that is the sort of choice you all were trying to force me to make. You decided this all on your own without even asking my opinion.”
“Ah…” The six fell completely silent.
“But seven people is way too many for a C-rank party… A split of the earnings would be too low,” said Pauline.
“Yes, and with 1.5 on the front line and 5.5 on the backline, the balance would be atrocious,” added Marcela.
Naturally, Mile was the one split into 0.5. She counted half for each side.
What the two girls were saying was true enough, but then Monika lobbed in her own bomb.
“Surely having too many mages is a problem, but aren’t our roles important as well? As far as origins go, we have two daughters of merchants and one daughter of a traveling peddler, along with three nobles. We’d have two chiefs of staff, and a third, Adele, in special circumstances. We’d have two people who like to handle finances and negotiation and two who like to take charge. Along with one who surprisingly takes the reigns in emergencies…”
“Who’s this unexpected emergency leader you’re talking about?”
Mile’s question went ignored.
“This is hopeless. It absolutely wouldn’t work.”
“It is hopeless.”
“I think it is…”
Everyone was suddenly pessimistic.
However, Mile, as per usual, was unable to read the room.
“Don’t worry, guys! In my country there’s a saying: ‘With enough captains, a ship can climb a mountain!’ With enough people putting their heads together, the impossible becomes possible!”
“Mile, are you sure you know what that means? Do you really think that’s the correct interpretation?” asked Mavis, eyebrow raised.
For Mavis, who came from a family of knights—in other words, a military family— it was far too easy to imagine the fate of a small platoon that had too many captains.
“In any case, Miss Adele,” said Marcela, “I believe that traveling with us, the Wonder Trio, is the best choice for you.”
“Don’t just hop right back into it and start saying whatever you want! Plus your party’s name is the Wonder Trio , isn’t it?! It’s not a ‘quartet’—it’s a ‘trio!’ You can’t have your numbers going up! Mile is ours!!!” Reina vehemently objected.
“I don’t know what we’d do without Mile! She’s our precious piggy ba— dearest friend , after all!”
“Just a minute! What were you about to say, Pauline? Piggy ba…? Just what were you trying to saaay?!?! Also, did any of you hear a word of what I just said?! We’ve looped back around to the beginning…”
“Maintaining the status quo would mean that Mile has to remain where she is.”
“Are you saying that you would try to drag Mile away by force? Did you not hear anything that she just said?”
“Don’t suddenly remember what she said when it’s convenient for you!”
“No, but we should be the ones to look after Miley…”
“What do you mean, ‘look after’?! I’m not a child!”
“But aren’t you?” the group asked in chorus.
“Graaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
And so, things dragged on as they always did.
In the end, another pointless day drew to a close with absolutely no progress whatsoever…
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