I Said Make My Abilities Average! (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 57

Chapter 57:

The Mysterious Kidnappers 

One evening, the Crimson Vow stopped by the guildhall to turn in their goods after a successful day of hunting. On their way back to the inn… 

“Wehehe, cat ears, cat ears…” 

“Mile, can you stop going around town saying weird things with that creepy look on your face?!” 

“Miley, that’s kind of…” 

“You’re being suspicious. Someone’s gonna call the guards on us…” 

The other three groused at Mile’s behavior, waiting at any moment to hear, ‘Officer, that’s the one!’ However, Mile did not appear to care a jot. 

“Squishy squishy, fluffy fluffy, honest, and adorable…the perfect little sister! Aah, I can’t wait for another sweet evening with little Faleel tonight…” 

“………” 

Utterly resigned, the other three just shrugged their shoulders. 

“Faleel, we’re back… Oh!” 

Faleel, who was typically at the counter at this hour, was nowhere to be seen. 

“I wonder if she’s in the restroom?” 

Such a thing was possible, of course. She was human (read: a beastgirl), after all. 

“Oh, it’s you all, is it?” The inn’s owner emerged from the kitchen, looking worried. 

“What’s the matter?” asked Mile. 

The man replied with a troubled look. “Faleel hasn’t come home. Normally, she’s back by now. I mean, I have to assume that she’s just off playing with friends and didn’t notice the time. Unlike Faleel, her friends don’t have to help out with household chores, so there’s probably still some time before they have to be back home for dinner.” 

Despite the logic of his words, the owner seemed worried. It was only natural—his daughter was still a very little girl. While it brought him some relief to think that she might be with friends, it did not change the fact that he was concerned. Usually, she wore a hood or bonnet when leaving the house, but she was still a child, and it was possible that she might unwittingly let it slip while she was playing…and of course, there was always the possibility that anti-beastfolk contingents already knew about her and might be lurking about. 

The population of the capital was great enough that it was not unheard of for elves and dwarves and beastfolk—as well as half-breeds of all three—to be present within the populace, though their numbers were few. While public discrimination and persecution were thus relatively unusual, beastfolk were often looked down upon or teased behind their backs. Unlike elves and dwarves, with whom humans were generally friendly, beastfolk were thought to be kin to demons—or at best, a group of backwards forest dwellers. 

Thankfully, things never went as far as serious injury or any life-threatening assault, for anyone who took things too far would be caught and persecuted as a criminal. After all, the top brass in the kingdom and all its territories wanted to avoid war with the beastfolk, particularly because war against the beast tribes would not be one of army against army on the battlefield. Instead, it would be an onslaught of guerilla combat, with any humans who entered the woods ending up dead. Woodcutters and hunters would lose their stomping grounds, causing acute harm to the economy. Any routes through and near the forest would become dangerous, and thanks to the rapid rise in escort expenses and the higher rate of injury, it would no longer be feasible for merchants to regularly travel. If things got especially bad, most of the feudal administrations would begin to go bankrupt. 

Therefore, no one risked offending the beastpeople on a whim. 

…Normally. 

Yes. Normally. For in any world, there are degenerates and fools, including those who would wish to stir up conflict between humans and beasts. Arms dealers, mercenaries, foreign provocateurs… 

“Why don’t we go and fetch her? Where does she usually—?” 

In the midst of Mile’s question, the door swung violently open. A man around thirty, holding hands with a girl of five or six, burst through the doorway, a dire expression on his face. 

“Dafrel?” the owner addressed him. 

The man known as Dafrel shouted, “Faleel’s been abducted!” 

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!” 

The man hung his head, speaking in a pained voice.“Just a little while ago, my daughter came home crying. When I asked her what happened, she said that Faleel had been dragged away by some strange men. I’m so sorry, I’m truly sorry!” 

When they finally calmed the sobbing little girl, Methelia, they learned that several strange men had suddenly appeared where the two girls had been playing. They shouted, “There she is!” and seized Faleel, before silencing her and dragging her away. 

“Faleel tried—hic—to bite their fingers and kick them, but—snff—they put a cloth over her mouth and tied her up and—hic—took her with them… I tried my best too, but they pushed me away… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Methelia began to wail once again. 

“Wh-what do I do…?” 

Though the innkeeper was quite a large fellow, he shrank into himself, fretting. Understandably, he appeared rather shaken. 

He’s no good to us like this! We have to do something. Reina thought. Just as she tried to speak, however… 

“IS THAT SOOOOO?!?!?!” 

“Eep!” 

The inn’s owner, Sir Dafrel, little Methelia, three members of the Crimson Vow, and the matron, who had rushed from the kitchen, sensing something was wrong, all suddenly yelped in fear. 

“IS THAT SOOOOO?!?!?!” 

The voice, which sounded as though it had risen from the very depths of hell, was Mile’s. 

Mile, who was now trembling with rage. 

There were various levels to Mile’s anger: First, there was pouting and sulking. This meant that she was just in a bit of a bad mood, and though she might grouse and be cross for a little while, it was nothing much to worry about. Then, there were the times she showed no expression at all. This meant that she was quite angry. In these instances, she was cool, composed, and relentless in dealing with her enemies. This happened when, for example, she took on stalkers in her previous life or bandits in this one. 

Finally, there were the times when she truly showed her anger. This was the case when someone harmed her allies or someone else important to her. For example, during the fight against the elder dragons… 

“ Little miss, would you mind showing me to the place where Faleel was abducted? You’ll take me there, won’t you? ” 

Nodnodnodnodnod! Methelia nodded vigorously. 

“ Well then, let’s get going! ” 

She’s scary! She’s so scary! Reina thought. However, as the leader of the Crimson Vow—er, well, as the true director of the party, with the most experience as a hunter—there was something that she had to do. 

“Pauline, you go with the owner here to the Guild! Have him place an emergency request and then accept that request immediately!” 

“Huh?” 

Both Faleel’s father and Sir Dafrel seemed perplexed. 

“Th-this isn’t the time!” the owner protested. “If you want money, I’ll pay you afterwards! Just hurry up and find Faleel! Please, I need you to find my daughter!” 

“Calm down!” said Reina, explaining, “We are going to give this search our all. That’s precisely why this step is necessary. If we head out immediately, this will officially be nothing more than an independent operation. Assuming that we find Faleel and a battle breaks out, it will be considered a personal conflict, and if the abductors have been hired by a noble or someone else with wealth, there’s a chance that we’ll be labeled as attackers or villains. And if that happens, then we might never get Faleel back.” 

“Oh…” The owner was nearly speechless. 

“That’s why we file the emergency request. If you make a public announcement to the Guild about Faleel’s kidnapping, file an emergency request for her rescue, and ask for the capture—or annihilation—of the offenders, Pauline can accept it, making our mission an official request. Anyone who might try to hinder us becomes an enemy of the Guild. And you know that no upstanding hunter, mercenary, aristocrat, or merchant would ever want to make an enemy of the Hunters’ Guild, don’t you?” 

Indeed, just as the merchant company and local lord involved with the incident in Pauline’s hometown had fretted over such a thing, the owner of the inn knew that going up against the Guild could prove fatal for anyone, regardless of their position in society. Reina was not the only one aware of this; the other three members of the Vow knew it just as well, nodding along with her explanation. Such fundamental facts had been covered at the Hunters’ Prep School. Classroom lessons were not just meant for nap time, after all. 

“Plus, if we should end up in a tight situation, as long as we’re on an official job and abiding by their terms, the Guild will send us backup—even if our enemy turns out to be a noble or merchant. In other words…” 

“In other words?” the owner asked, his breath caught in his throat. 

Reina grinned wickedly and replied, “In other words, we’ll be able to ensure our enemies learn that whoever tries to mess with little Faleel—with any friend of ours—will soon come to find they’d be better off dead. Those kidnappers are going to find out very, very soon what happens to anyone who tries to lay a hand on a friend of the Crimson Vow…” 

At these words, a big smile spread across Mavis’s face. A smile that would make anyone who knew Mavis back away very quickly. 

The smile was…dark. In fact, it was a terrifyingly dark expression, which the truly warmhearted Mavis would never show in any normal situation. 

Pauline, meanwhile, had on her usual smile… Which was to say, it was a wicked grin. 

Yet the scariest was still Mile, whose face was utterly lacking in expression. She was truly the most frightening of them all. 

“The terms of the job,” Reina declared, “will be Faleel’s rescue and the capture of the criminals—or else, their annihilation! If someone’s behind this, we’ll wipe them out! Now, Crimson Vow, roll out!” 

“Let’s go!!!” 

While Pauline and the owner headed to the guildhall, the others followed Methelia to the site of the kidnapping. The matron and her sons remained behind to mind the inn. 

“………” 

Mile’s continued silence induced terror in the rest of the group. Reina, Mavis, the owner, Dafrel, and his daughter were all livid too, but the powerful, oppressive aura emanating from Mile’s entire being was overwhelming. 

Finally, Mile broke her silence to ask, “Reina, what do you suppose those criminals were after?” 

Feeling Mile’s aura brighten just a bit, Reina replied hurriedly, “I-I wonder. The only things that come to mind are fairly random—trafficking or some sick perverts who want to use a child as a plaything and kill her for sport… The other possibility is someone who was after Faleel specifically because they knew that she was half-beast.” 

“Because she’s half-beast, you say?” 

“I mean, of course. There’s all sorts…people who think that beastfolk are lower life-forms or people who say that having beasts living among humans is going to bring down some sort of divine judgment on everyone… And obviously there are people like you, Mile, who are just really into beast—Eep!” 

“Don’t lump my appreciation for beast-eared girls in with those cretins!” 

Mile was definitely still terrifying. 

“Regardless, it is most likely that Faleel’s beast lineage is the reason for all this. Whether they intend to sell her or have some other purpose in mind…” 

“Huh?” 

The others looked perplexed at Mile’s remark. 

“Wh-what makes you so sure of that?” 

“Well, Methelia herself said it: when the kidnappers spotted Faleel, they shouted, ‘There she is!’ That means that they had to have been aiming for Faleel from the start, hadn’t they? Any normal ransom-seekers or slavers or perverts would have taken little Methelia along too, wouldn’t they? Given that they didn’t abduct—or even try to silence—her means that they mustn’t have had any intention of doing harm to anyone other than Faleel. Normally, a criminal tries to eliminate witnesses to delay the discovery of their crime or to prevent them from giving testimony. A flick of a knife would be enough to buy them the few extra seconds they needed. However, the fact that they didn’t even try that means that we’re dealing with some fairly honorable individuals… At least when it comes to anyone besides Faleel.” 

“S-silence me?!” 

“A f-flick of a knife?!” 

Finally realizing the danger that she had been in, both Methelia and Dafrel went pale as sheets. 

After running for between ten and fifteen minutes, they finally arrived at the field where Methelia and Faleel had been playing. In fact, it was not particularly far, but a child’s legs were not very speedy. Though Dafrel had tried to carry his daughter on his back at first, she was around six years old, meaning that letting her run on her own was actually faster. 

“Th-this is it! This was where those men…” 

Methelia pointed ahead to a spot where the grass was disturbed—the place where Faleel had tried to fend off her attackers and where Methelia had tried to help her friend. 

Suddenly, Mile shouted something very peculiar. 

“Smell, become sight!” 

“What??” Both Reina and Mavis spoke up, understandably confused. 

“It’s a spell to turn my sense of smell into vision.” 

…Obviously. 

“And what the heck does that mean?!” Reina protested, leaving Mile with no choice but to elaborate. 

“If I were a dog, I could track Faleel’s scent. However, we don’t have a trained dog or any article with Faleel’s scent, so instead I’m using magic to enhance my sense of smell. That way, I can track her scent myself. Normally, smell is something that you sense with your nose, but my nose doesn’t have the ability to determine the strength or the direction of a particular smell. So instead of trying to detect the smell with my nose, I’m changing the scent traces to visual information so that I can ‘smell’ with my eyes!” 

“………?” 

Neither Dafrel nor any member of the Crimson Vow appeared to have any idea what Mile was talking about. Methelia was, of course, not even part of the equation. 

“Never mind! Our time is precious here, so please just hush and follow me!” 

With that, Mile began to look intently all around her. 

“There it is! Let’s go!” 

Picking up on the scent trail of the kidnappers, Mile walked forward, her eyes to the ground. The other four quickly followed behind. 

“Mile,” asked Reina, “do you really know Faleel’s scent that well?” 

“Reina, why exactly do you think I’ve sniffed her so many times before now?!” 

“………” 

Everyone, save Methelia, was thoroughly taken aback at Mile’s matter-of-fact reply. 

Truth be told, of the two scent trails that had come from the direction of the inn, one had clearly headed back the way they’d come, while the other stretched off the opposite way. The one that had returned was clearly Methelia’s. Several other scents had come from the opposite direction and then retraced their steps. With that evidence, determining which smell was Faleel’s was a no-brainer. 

“Mavis,” said Mile, “Pauline and the owner should be finished up at the Guild by now. I think I’ve got a lock on the direction, so I’m going to proceed this way for a little while. Can you go back to the Guild and fetch Pauline?” 

“On it!” 

After a short time, Mavis returned with Pauline, the owner of the inn, and five other hunters in tow. 

“Wh-what are they doing here?!” Reina raged. 

Pauline lowered her head in apology. 

“S-sorry. They overheard us when we were going through the emergency request process with the receptionist and said that they wanted to take the job, too. I told them that we would be taking the job, but they just—I even told them that the pay was only going to be one silver, and they still…” 

“When these five were just starting out and sleeping at inns, they stayed with us for a time,” the owner chimed in. “They would cuddle and dote on Faleel, too… I set the pay for the job to be only one silver, like you said, but they said that was fine. Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, even having just one more hunter is a big help. So, I gladly accepted their kindness. We can all work together!” 

The Vow were in no position to refuse. They could understand Faleel’s father’s feelings, as well as the feelings of the party that had tagged along. 

Plus, in the case of an emergency request, the client did not get to choose who took the job. If they wanted to do that, they would have to place a direct request—the logic being that if they had time to be choosy, then it probably wasn’t an emergency after all. Of course, the circumstances this time called for the request to be placed as an emergency. It gave the job priority at the Guild and spread news of the request, thus suiting their purposes. 

At any rate, the Crimson Vow had already accepted the job. They still had the right of refusal, but not even Pauline could deny the owner’s request to bring along another party. 

Even Reina realized that there was nothing she could do, shrugging her shoulders. 

Finally, the other party spoke up. “You all can rest at ease now that we’re here! Just leave this to us, and we’ll show you a thing or two! We are five maidens, protected by the Goddess’s grace—the Servants of the Goddess!!!” 

“So, what are you doing, Mile?” 

From here on out, this would be a job for the hunters. Despite their desire to tag along, Faleel’s father, Dafrel, and Methelia were told that, as laymen, they would be an impediment to the groups’ progress. They were sent back to the inn, and as was good form, the two parties briefly introduced themselves to one another—all the while following Mile. 

They previously had met one another at the Guild. However, the Servants had merely butted in on the Crimson Vow’s conversation at that time, so the two parties had never been formally introduced. 

Watching as Mile stared at the ground while leading the group assuredly forward, Telyusia, the 19-year-old leader and the eldest among the Servants of the Goddess, asked the obvious question. 

“She’s tracking the scent,” Reina replied. 

“Tracking the scent???” the Servants asked in unison. 

“Is she a dog?!” 

“Mile, are you half-beast too?” 

“Sorry for farting earlier!” 

“Shut your mouths!” 

“Oo-oh! She’s a feisty one…” 

Mile appeared to be growing angry, which was no surprise. Judging by the fact that the kidnappers had tried to capture Faleel without harming her, and that so little time had elapsed, it was too soon to assume that Faleel was in any real danger. Still, the longer they took, the more the danger grew for the beastgirl. To slip up because they were in a rush would be unforgivable, so Mile was conducting herself carefully, without missing any necessary steps. However, she had no time to let her attention be drawn away by frivolous matters. 

In fact, heightening her own senses and turning olfactory signals into visuals ones did not mean that she had lost her own sense of smell entirely. This was not truly a matter of exchanging sight for smell. After all, if her visual signals turned into olfactory ones, she would not be able to function. Thus, both her sight and her smell remained as they were, with any divergent scents appended to her field of vision. With that information, along with her own, already heightened sense of smell, she could accurately distinguish and follow Faleel’s scent. 

Mile stopped as they reached a fairly wide roadway. “The smell is growing weaker here,” she declared. “They must have carried her this far and then loaded her into a wagon or something to take her from here.” 

“Hmm… That must mean…” 

Reina worried that Mile would no longer be able to track Faleel’s scent, but Mile immediately reassured her. “No, it’s fine. It’s just…” 

“Just, what?” 

“It’s time for us to fly!” she said and broke into a jog, with the Crimson Vow and the Servants of the Goddess following desperately behind. Of course, what was a “jog” for Mile was incredibly fast for the rest of them. 

“I don’t think it was a passenger carriage—probably a delivery wagon. There’s still quite a bit of scent to follow.” 

If they were riding in a passenger vehicle like the sort on Earth, very little smell would escape, meaning that tracking would become quite difficult. In the case of a delivery wagon, with its open bed, this was no issue. Plus, such a vehicle would not be able to pick up any considerable amount of speed. The only time one might travel at full tilt was when one had to go very far, very fast, uncaring of whether the wheels or the axles or even the wagon body itself broke down—for instance, if one was pursued by bandits or monsters. It was unusual enough for a wagon to travel at that sort of pace that such a thing would stand out. There was no way that a group of kidnappers would want to bring such attention to themselves, and besides, it would wear out their horses too quickly. At the rate that the two parties were going, they should have been more than able to catch up with the wagon in no time at all. 

“Hmm… The scent’s weaker now,” Mile said suspiciously. 

Looking ahead, the reason became clear. 

“The city gates…” 

Indeed, it was necessary to pass through the city gates to exit the capital. In order for the kidnappers to do this without being caught, it was likely that they would have shoved Faleel into a box or barrel. Nevertheless, it was still the case that for some distance beyond the city limits, there was only one road big enough for a wagon to travel along. Plus, even if Faleel’s scent dissipated, the scent of the kidnappers and the horses was still strong in the air. There was no way that Mile could lose track of them, at least for as long as Faleel was forced to remain on that particular wagon. Thus, the chase continued! 

“All right, it’s just as I thought!” 

A short time after they had passed through the gates, Faleel’s scent grew stronger again. Keeping the girl in a cramped box or barrel for very long was risky, so at the appropriate moment, once the wagon had gained enough distance from the city, they must have let her back out. 

The others had no idea just what it was that was “as Mile had thought,” but if things were as she suspected then that was probably not bad news. They continued to run, saving their breath by withholding any unnecessary questions. 

“This is it!” 

After proceeding for a short while, Mile came to a halt at the spot where the road veered off to bypass the forest. It was already beginning to grow dark. This world’s moon was rising, but its light would not reach beyond the trees. 

“Here, Faleel dismounted the wagon with three humans. The four of them headed into the forest, while the wagon continued down the road. I’d guess that they wanted the wagon to gain some distance from the capital on the off chance that they were spotted or followed.” 

The kidnappers were right to be cautious—after all, Mile and the others had been following them this whole time. 

“Anyway, that wagon’s not any of our concern. We can deal with capturing the rest of the kidnappers tomorrow once their friends are taken care of. Our focus now is Faleel!” 

The other eight nodded silently in agreement. 

“We might encounter the enemy at any moment now. Keep sharp!” 

They nodded once more. 

“Let’s go!” 

Up until now, they had merely been following along behind Mile, but now, there was no telling when the enemy might appear. They proceeded quickly and quietly, keeping a close watch on their surroundings. 

“I can’t imagine that they would have their main hideout this close to the capital,” Telyusia remarked. “These woods aren’t all that deep, and D and E-rank hunters are always coming through here to hunt and gather. This must just be a temporary waypoint for them. Or else…” 

“Or else?” asked Pauline. 

“Or else they chose this to be the scene of the crime.” 

“………” 

The scene of the crime. Thinking about the meaning of those words, everyone’s expressions hardened. 

They proceeded on silently for a short while more, when suddenly they heard a cry like the hoot of an owl. 

Huh-hoo! Hoo hoo, hoo hoo, hooh! 

“We’ve been spotted,” Mile announced calmly. The Servants of the Goddess nodded, but the members of the Crimson Vow were dumbfounded at this revelation. 

“How do you know?” asked Reina, voicing their shared thought. 

Mile explained: “We haven’t heard any bird cries so far, but we just heard one at a short range as we approached. Besides, the call wasn’t a regular one—there was some sort of pattern to it. I have to guess that it was a night watchman pretending to be a bird in order to relay some information. If I were to establish a birdsong code in order to relay information as a watchman, I would decide on a pattern of sounds to let the others know how many people were approaching—with individual signals for one to four, and one each for five and ten. For example, huh-hoo would be five, and a single hoo might be one, and so forth. Finally, there would be a signal to convey the level of threat. Hohohohoo would mean soldiers, hohoo would mean tough veteran hunters, and just hooh would mean useless young female hunters—or something along those lines.” 

Reina, Mavis, and Pauline listened, awestruck. The Servants, on the other hand, looked as though this information was completely obvious to them. 

“M-Mile, do you have a fever or something?” asked Reina. 

Normally, Mile would have groaned in annoyance at such a jab, but this time she completely ignored it. 

“They’re coming. Four groups of four—sixteen men total!” 

The magic Mile had used to determine this remained within the scope of “investigating with surveillance magic,” rather than the prohibited “asking the nanomachines for information about an opponent,” so she drew on it without reservation. After all, someone’s life hung in the balance—Faleel’s, to be specific. 

At her words, both parties moved quickly from their travel positions into battle formation. 

Given the hastily combined nature of their two-party force, trying to fight as a single unit would be out of the question. Without fully knowing each other’s strengths, they could not efficiently collaborate. Therefore, both parties formed into separate lines. The Crimson Vow had Mavis and Mile in the front line, with Reina and Pauline at the back. The Servants’ front line consisted of Philly, the lancer, in the middle, with the swordswomen Telyusia and Willine flanking her; Tasha the archer-slash-dagger-wielder was at the midline, and on the back line stood Lacelina, the fourteen-year-old mage and youngest of their group. (While they flattered Lacelina by calling her an ‘all-purpose’ mage, in reality, she might be more fairly classified as a ‘jack of all trades and master of none.’) 

Tasha fought primarily using her bow, but in the event that an enemy should break through the front lines or appear from the sides or behind, she would discard it and draw her dagger to defend herself and Lacelina while covering the front line’s backs. 

On top of having to be prepared to adapt to a myriad of situations on the fly, there was a high risk of her losing her bow, as Tasha had to quickly judge a place where she might discard her weapon. It would be a huge loss if her bow were to be trampled underfoot in the scuffle, and since she didn’t have time to store it on her back, she had to quickly find a place that would not be disrupted by the battle and which she might easily reach with a light toss. Even then, she was left with her dagger, forced to fight at close quarters with a weapon that had a shorter reach than her opponents’. Poor Tasha… 

“Mavis, try focusing your strength and directing your spiritual power to your eyes. Then think, ‘Strengthen my eyesight so that I can see in the dark!’” 

“Huh? S-sure, all right.” 

Just as Mile directed, Mavis steeled herself. 

“Uh? Oh my goodness! It feels like my vision is getting brighter…” 

“………” 

Reina and Pauline looked on suspiciously. This “spiritual” power was turning out to be quite an all-purpose skill. It seemed as though it could do just about anything. 

In any event, now they were ready to fight! 

“Who’s there?!” 

Surprisingly, the girls found themselves not being attacked but questioned. Furthermore, what they saw before them now was a single very suspicious-looking man, wrapped in a black cloak with a sword at his side. The others remained lying in wait. Were they aiming for a surprise attack? Or did they hope to simply explain away their presence, believing that the girls had stumbled into the woods by chance? There was no reason for them to think that the girls had tracked their scent and followed them. If they had already confirmed visually that they had made a clean escape, it was not ridiculous for the men to assume that the young hunters had just happened upon them. 

Of course, few people would have a reason to be deep in the forest late at night, so the probability of such a thing occurring was relatively low. Even if this were but a small thicket near to the capital, the woods at night were still a dangerous place. Unless they had some emergency affair to attend to, no one would normally choose to be wandering about in a place like this, particularly not a group of young ladies. 

“We’re hunters. What’s a group like you doing out in the forest in the middle of the night?!” 

Oof… The Servants of the Goddess were greatly vexed. The enemy had gone out of their way to have just a single person appear before them, meaning that they had a valuable chance to lead the conversation and get the other to let something slip. This way, they might obtain useful information. And yet, here Reina had carelessly revealed that they were already aware of the enemy’s true number. Thankfully, her remark seemed to have flown over the man’s head, but it was still a misstep in their negotiations. 

The man bristled. “That’s what I should be asking!” 

Mile’s face twisted as well. Normally she would have grinned and ignored Reina, but right now, gathering information was key, so she was far more serious than usual. Even if they got into a battle and won, there was no guaranteeing that they would get the information they needed. It was better to get the enemy to let something slip while they could still talk, and to that end, they should not be giving anything away. 

“Just what in the world are you all doing out in the forest in the middle of the night?!” 

“When you ask someone a question, it’s customary to explain yourself first! What are you all doing here?!” 

A battle of words unfolded as both Reina and the man refused to cede control of the conversation—of course, it was only natural that two parallel lines would never meet. Apparently, their opponent was not particularly bright, or at the very least, not especially skilled in the art of persuasion… 

“Now!” the man shouted. He had given up on warding them off with words. 

At his command, the remaining men emerged from out of the bushes and trees: fifteen in total. Waiting in ambush did not appear to be part of their strategy. 

Given that none of them had emerged from behind the girls, the men did not seem to have the intention of preventing anyone from running; their formation indicated that as long as no one broke through their lines, then that was good enough. 

All the men were dressed in plain clothes with black cloaks on top, and each held a sword in their hand, just like the first man to appear. While certainly no one would wear full plate armor in the forest, it was odd that there were so many of them, all raring for a fight, without even leather armor atop their clothing. 

Furthermore, they did not appear to have any mages among them. With this many assembled, it would normally be good to have at least two or three within their ranks. Perhaps there were not enough capable men or this grouping had just happened to come together… 

“They might be disguised. Watch out for magic!” Telyusia warned the Crimson Vow. Clearly, the Servants needed no such warning. 

“………” 

Though their party included Mile, who was dressed as a swordswoman even though she was primarily a mage—and though they had previously come up against mages who were pretending to be normal swordsmen during the false bandit incident—the thought had somehow not occurred to Reina and Pauline. However, Mile and Mavis had already considered such a possibility. 

Meanwhile, the Servants of the Goddess appraised their enemies. Who knows how strong they are in battle, but they’re clearly amateurs when it comes to negotiations… 

If they had been hiding their strength and wished to overwhelm the girls with sheer force, they would have launched a more sudden surprise attack. Ideally, they should have taken word from their commander as the signal to attack at once. Yet with his command, the enemy simply appeared in groups. 

Still, the fact that they were bad at negotiating did not itself mean that they were necessarily unskilled in battle. Soldiers and assassins did not make their bread and butter from chatting with the enemy, and their lack of speaking skill was no indication that they were not strong fighters. 

As the men hustled in, the first one who had shown himself retreated to the three who were likely the rest of his unit, and with that, it seemed that the other side’s battle preparations were complete. 

The Crimson Vow and the Servants of the Goddess were lined up with the Vow on the left and the Servants on the right, leaving about two meters between the two parties. It was necessary to allow that much distance in order to fight safely alongside an ally whose strength and battle style one did not know. However, it was still a short enough distance that there was no fear of an enemy slipping in without suffering an attack from both of the two sides. 

Splitting into two groups, the enemy advanced toward the Crimson Vow and the Servants of the Goddess. Judging by their numbers, appearances, and the high proportion of individuals taking the forward guard, the Servants clearly came across the greater threat, but perhaps the opposition was not interested in breaking up their practiced team formation—or perhaps they merely thought that they should be lowering their strength to match their young opponents… 

At any rate, the battle was currently split into eight against four and eight against five. The kidnappers were twice their number, at least roughly. Even if the division had been seven on four and nine on five, it would not have made much of a difference. A four-woman party that included underage girls should be swiftly dealt with, and then they could concentrate their efforts in taking down the remaining group. 

Just then, the enemies came rushing in. 

Each group of four was broken into two lines, with roughly two meters between front and back; two of these groups went for the Crimson Vow, and two went for the Servants of the Goddess. More than likely, the front two of the first team planned to engage their opponents’ front line, while the other two flanked to the left and right to launch an attack from the sides. In the meantime, the back team would slip around behind their opponents and take out their back line. It was a formation that would assure an instantaneous victory. 

Fighting with an enemy in closed quarters was not merely a matter of taking on their front line; it meant being prepared to deal with their full forces at close range. This was the only proper tactic for a group of swordsmen with no mages among them. 

“Gravel, crush my enemies’ eyes!” 

The enemies were by no means the only ones who had prepared themselves for battle. Lacelina, who had been murmuring the incantation for her spell underneath her breath, now shouted the command phrase to release her attack. 

Actually creating gravel was a bit too much of a challenge for a jack-of-all-trades mage like Lacelina, so her spell merely gathered up rocks, dirt, and mulch from the ground and sent the lot flying. Even if the spell specified “gravel,” the attack really consisted of all manner of debris. 

Hearing her words, the enemies reflexively tried to shield their eyes with their arms—all while rushing straight toward enemies who were armed with swords and spears. 

“Gwah!” 

“Gyahh!” 

“Waaaaah!” 

Taking a spear through the shoulder, a sword smack to the side, and a blade in the gut, three of the men were felled in an instant. Of the first team, only one man remained. 

“Uh…” 

At this rate, the rear team would never be able to go for the Servants’ back line. If they even tried it, they would be attacked from the side as they tried to pass through—and even if they did manage to break past, they would be sliced at from behind the moment they tried to launch their own assault. 

The last man hurriedly fell back to safety, grouping in with the rear team. Just when it looked as though they would be pushed into a deadlock of five-on-five, Philly, the Servants’ lancer, leaned her body slightly to the left, while Telyusia, to her right, leaned slightly to the right. 

“Windsurge!” 

At Lacelina’s second shout, the men dug their feet into the ground so that they would not be bowled over by the force of the rushing winds coming their way. But just then—whoosh!—an arrow came flying through the air. Indeed, this was the reason that Philly and Telyusia had leaned away: to allow the arrow to pass. 

“Tch, what a wobbly little arrow!” 

The man who stood in the arrow’s path gave a leisurely swing of his sword. Though he was apparently unskilled in negotiations, he was well studied in the martial arts. Though perhaps that studying had been only at a dojo and not on the actual battlefield… 

“Hmm?” 

The arrow struck deep into his right shoulder. 

“H-how…?” 

The man stared dumbly at the arrow in his arm, so shocked that his brain had yet to register the pain. Indeed, the wind spell that Lacelina had used just prior was not for the sake of knocking down their enemies—such a powerful spell would be beyond a mage like her anyway. However, a soft breeze? Now that she could manage. At least enough to shift the course of a flying arrow just before impact… 

They’re strong! 

After firing their first shots, Reina and Pauline had left the enemy to Mavis and Mile and were now engrossed in watching the Servants’ bout, their eyes wide in shock. The girls were not particularly skilled in swordsmanship, spears, or magic. This is not to say that they were lacking in talent; however, they were still young. Their technique was unpolished, and their magic was crude and lacking in power. 

And yet, they were strong. 

Unthinkingly, Reina spoke. “This is what it looks like when you work your way up from F-rank to C-rank without losing a single person along the way… These are the Servants of the Goddess…” 

As a party, the Crimson Vow was undeniably strong. However, what they were was merely a collection of strong individuals. Their fighting skill relied on each of their individual strengths—nothing more, nothing less. 

The Servants of the Goddess, however, were different. 

Though each of their members had only middling skill, they were strong together. 

Reina was chagrined. 

If the two parties were to face off against one another, there was no doubt that the Crimson Vow would win. Still, Reina could not shake a feeling of deep embarrassment. 

And as for Mile and Mavis? 

Currently, they were fighting with great concentration and great restraint, trying their best to keep the remaining enemies from approaching Reina and Pauline without hurting or killing any of them. As a result, they had no time to be watching anyone else’s fight. 

Speaking of which… 

Before the fight began, Mile and Mavis had moved up front, while Reina and Pauline fell to the back, leaving a sufficient gap between them. Though they were fighting against an enemy force that consisted only of frontline fighters, there were no mages stupid enough to approach an enemy if they didn’t have to. 

“Frozen Helix Shot!” 

“Ice Nail!” 

With ample time to prepare, Reina and Pauline incanted their spells in their heads, firing them off with a shout to increase their power. 

It was shocking to see that the men had not readied themselves for the possibility of a surprise attack. They knew that there were mages about, but perhaps, seeing that said mages were only little girls, they had underestimated them—or perhaps they had never actually battled against mages before. At any rate, Reina and Pauline welcomed the advantage. 

“Gwah!” 

“Gyaah!” 

The two men who had been trying to slip around the sides of the party stopped in place, crying out in pain as Pauline’s ice nails split into two swarms, striking the men in the shoulders, arms, legs, and guts. Though they were not gravely injured, they crumpled to the ground. At the same time, Mile and Mavis faced the two who were attacking from the front head-on with their swords. The four men of the rear team, who were tasked with slipping past to attack the back line while the front line had their hands full, stepped out to move in for the offense, only to be stopped by Reina’s magical attack, which they took at full force. 

“Gah!” cried one. 

“Owwww!” cried another. 

“Waaaaaah!!” cried the final two. 

At Reina’s behest, the soft earth of the forest floor had coagulated into around twenty relatively small helix shapes, which rained down on the men in a high, arcing path, like a parabola. There were three main reasons for such an attack pattern: first, it avoided striking Mile and Mavis, who were up ahead; secondly, it raised the speed and force with which the shots would hit; and thirdly, few people were accustomed to being attacked from above. Finally, so as not to be an embarrassment to the name “Helix Shot,” each shot rotated on its own axis. 

Because they were in a forest, Reina could not utilize her specialty fire magic. Furthermore, because their allies were so close—and because the Servants would be watching—Pauline could not use her “hot” magic. Nonetheless, simply barring them from using their two most powerful, specialized spells still left the two with a fair bit of leeway. 

Of the men who had taken Reina and Pauline’s magical attacks, two were still crumpled, perhaps unable to move. Those who had attacked the party from the front had been struck down by Mavis and Mile. The remaining four were not greatly injured, but thanks to being pierced by the ice nails and pummeled by earthen shots, their will to fight had dropped dramatically. This meant that Mile and Mavis, who were engaging in restrictive maneuvers in an attempt to incapacitate the men without killing or seriously injuring them, were now facing some unexpected difficulties. 

Rather than going after Reina and Pauline at the rear, the four had refocused their efforts on Mavis and Mile. 

The two of them can handle this, thought Reina and Pauline. Even so, they held a set of attack spells just in case, keeping tabs on their own fight even as they turned to watch the Servants. The attacks they held were ice javelins, which could be fired simply and precisely, meaning that they would be ready to help at a moment’s notice, if need be. 

“Huh?” 

Watching the Servants of the Goddess, the two were dumbfounded. What they observed was the party emerging safe and sound as they felled their opponents by way of their mediocre magic, swordsmanship, lancing, and archery. 

They’re strong! 

While they did not voice the thought, this much was clear to both Reina and Pauline. These girls possessed a strength that was quite different from their own. Though they were not especially skilled, they were formidable. Their power was one that Reina had never known when she was alone, relying solely on her own abilities. It was a strength that she now sought to find among the Crimson Vow. 

The battle that had started as eight against five was now five on five. On top of that, one of the opponents who was still standing had arrows sticking out from his right shoulder, which meant that the Servants of the Goddess currently had the upper hand. 

“These little wenches…” 

The men had likewise noticed the individual lack of skill in each of the Servants. Clearly, they judged, the timing of their attacks had just happened to line up. The girls had gotten lucky. 

However, Reina and Pauline thought differently. 

When it came to actual combat, you were lucky if you could make use of even half of the fruits of your training. If one were to secure certain victory in a real fight, it would only be thanks to training that amounted to hours, weeks, and months beyond the battle in question. Anyone who chalked up the results of the girls’ fighting to mere chance was not someone who had a lengthy future ahead of them. 

Every one of their moves had been intentional. From purposely shouting the command word for the spell loud enough to trigger countermeasures, to making the men brace themselves against the wind magic so that they would not be able to dodge the arrows that would strike them down in time, to firing those arrows so that the wind magic would hit them from the side just before impact… 

Spears had a long reach. It was difficult for the men to go up against Philly, who was positioned in the middle of the forward three, her spear brandished. Even if they could deflect the spear and leap in to attack her, the very act of moving that spear would leave them open to flanking attacks from the two swordswomen, Telyusia and Willine. Behind them, Tasha’s arrows were already nocked, and Lacelina was murmuring her next spell. 

For these men, who wielded only swords, to go up against a party that had been carefully composed to account for everyone’s specialties, was the height of recklessness. Without overwhelming numbers or exceptional skill, there was no hope for the Servants’ opponents. That said, with eight against five, these men did have the advantage of numbers. And though it seemed they had not much actual combat experience, their swordsmanship was nothing to scoff at. They probably assumed that this group of young, female hunters were scarcely better than amateurs, that their skills were nothing special. In fact, this assumption was not incorrect. However… 

Even though the battle was now five on five, there were two back and mid-line fighters among the Servants. The clash against the front line amounted to only three against five. Therefore, no matter how hazardous it might have been for the men to attack, owing to the spear’s long range, they would quickly be able to overwhelm the young women with numbers. After a momentary pause to regain their balance, the five of them swooped swiftly in for the kill. Just then… 

“Dust Storm!” 

In the time that her enemies had wasted before making their move, Lacelina had completed her next spell. The men had done her a great service in providing the mage ample time for her spellcasting. 

Normally, an enemy who did not have a mage of their own would deal with an opposing mage as swiftly as possible, even if it meant taking a fair bit of damage. When the first three men had been felled, the fourth should not have fallen back. Rather, the four others should have come up quickly from behind to make a united stand. Had they done so, three of them could have halted the front line, while the other two moved around to take out the back and the middle. Even if an arrow were to be fired their way, they could have struck it down, or—in the worst case scenario—levy one of the men as a sacrifice before summarily taking out the archer, who would be left defenseless in the moment after her attack, and the mage, who would be similarly at a loss, having had no time to prepare her next spell. 

In fact, all that would only have been possible if the Servants of the Goddess had not already prepared for just such a scenario. 

I bet you they have prepared for just such a thing, thought Reina and Pauline. If they hadn’t, there was no way that they could have made it this far without having a single vacancy among their ranks. 

The name of the spell that Lacelina had let loose this time was impressive, but it turned out to be nothing more than a simple gust—a strong wind, lacking even the power to blow a man away. Yet that simple gust began to disturb the ground, swirling toward the enemies in a spiral. Just as the spell’s name had suggested, it was pulling dust up from the earth. 

Of course, the men were not stupid enough to be felled by Lacelina’s wind spell a second time. Rather than reacting in the same manner as before, they stopped their feet midstep and turned their bodies to the side, positioning themselves so that the front line of the Servants would serve as their shields. This would not net them a complete defense against the cloud that was swirling toward them, but at least it was better than taking it head-on. Yet just as they narrowed their eyes, calculating the timing of their attack for when the dust storm had ended, the five Servants of the Goddess rushed in. 

Yes, all five of them. Tasha had discarded her bow in favor of her dagger—which, though it was called a “dagger,” was not some piddling knife but a blade around fifty centimeters in length that would stand up splendidly to any enemies in whose defenses she could find an opening. Lacelina was there as well, brandishing her staff like a spear. At some moment or other she had shed the iron cap on the butt of the staff (the part which strikes the ground), revealing a fiendishly sharp metal implement. 

“A sword…staff?” Reina uttered in astonishment. 

“Why that’s no different from a spear!” said Pauline in turn. 

Normally, a mage would never participate in melee combat along with the forward guard, and a staff was typically a bludgeoning weapon rather than a tool for piercing. Furthermore, while the two of them had certainly heard of a so-called “sword cane,” which had a blade hidden inside, a “Swordstaff: Spear Edition,” was something new entirely. Yet there was no mistaking that a spear-type weapon—with its longer reach and ease of use, even for a beginner—was the obvious choice for the slight, young Lacelina. 

The men, who had positioned themselves in such a way as to avoid the dust cloud, noticed Tasha and Lacelina’s movements a moment too late. By the time they realized what was happening, the five Servants fell on them at once, with Tasha between Telyusia and Philly, and Lacelina between Philly and Willine. 

Thanks to the dust storm, the men, who had stopped mid-attack and were now waiting, could not see clearly. While they’d expected to face a direct attack from the three frontline fighters, they had figured that with five on their side, they could still easily take down the opposition. Stricken with surprise that they were being run down by not only the front line, but inexplicably the middle and back lines as well, they were too slow to react. 

In a situation like this, even a moment’s delay might mean a fatal blow. 

“Th-they’re strong…” Reina and Pauline said at once, and in that moment, the men facing both the Servants of the Goddess and the Crimson Vow were stripped of the strength to fight once and for all. 

“We better get going. We’ll leave them here,” Mile said to the group, after separating the sixteen now-powerless men and binding them all with the fishing line from her inventory. 

The line was thin and strong, and in addition to having their arms secure behind them, their thumbs had been bound together, so if they attempted any struggle, the line would slice through, and it would be bye-bye fingers. The men had assumed that such thin thread would be a cinch to break, thinking they would merely have to flex their muscles to snap the strings. However, at Mile’s explanation, the blood drained from their faces. There was no use in this world for a swordsman who had no thumbs. 

“We don’t have the time to tort—er, interrogate—them, and I get the feeling that the kidnappers are close by. It’ll be quicker if we just press on from here. Let’s go!” 

On top of having their hands, feet, and fingers secured, the men had been tied together and lashed to a large tree, so it would be quite difficult for them to run. And unlike rope, fishing line could be tied unbelievably taut, unable to be undone without something sharp. Naturally, Mile had already confiscated and stored away all of the men’s knives and swords. 

While this was going on, Mile and Pauline had healed any particularly grievous injuries the men had sustained—though of course they had not healed them completely, only enough so that they would not die before the girls returned to retrieve them. 

Unlike the Crimson Vow, who had held back, there were those among the men who faced the Servants of the Goddess who would very possibly have died if left as they were. Seeing them healed back into a stable state, the Servants’ eyes went wide. 

Unbelievable!!! they all thought. 

The men they had just faced had been little more than the opening number. The real battle would be what came next, and yet here the Vow were, fruitlessly wasting their energy on healing the enemy? What softhearted fools! When things were down to the wire and victory escaped them, the magic that they wasted now was sure to be the cause. 

Even the men whose injuries should have proved fatal had their bleeding stopped and their breathing steadied. How could these two use their unworldly healing powers without reservation on their enemies? 

They were unbelievable. Like two heavenly maidens from a fairy tale… 

As the members of the Crimson Vow set off again, the Servants of the Goddess followed behind, shaking their heads in bewilderment. By this point, Mile had already determined the position of Faleel and the kidnappers with her location magic. As such, the previous battle had not been for the sake of gathering information, but, as Mile would have put it, for “taking out the trash.” 

Knowing that Faleel was still safe, and having secured her position, Mile began to feel just a little bit more at ease. Without this knowledge, she would not have been able to hold back in the previous battle, and while men might not have died, the force of her attacks would have been sufficient to break every bone in their bodies. 

It was growing quite dark now, but somehow the group managed to stick with Mile as they proceeded ever forward. Just when they began to think that they would not be able to go any farther without lanterns, Mile stopped. 

“There.” 

The group broke out of their marching column and grouped around Mile. Following her pointing finger, they looked through a gap in the trees ahead, into a wide, treeless area. In the clearing were around thirty men. Just as before, their clothes were unkempt, but they were all wearing black cloaks. There did not appear to be any women among them. Roughly twenty stood in a circular formation near the middle of the clearing, with seven or eight more on the outside around the perimeter. 

The men standing in the middle were all holding staves and were, presumably, mages. The men on the perimeter were all outfitted with swords. It would seem that the perimeter men were meant to guard the mages behind them. 

The clearing was bright, lit by burning braziers here and there. And in the very center of the circle was… 

“Lattice Power, Barrier!” Mile said softly, calm finally returning to her face as she whispered, “Phew, that’s one thing off my mind!” 

Indeed, there in the middle of the circle, laid out on a blanket on the ground, was Faleel. There was no telling whether Mile, with her superior vision, had confirmed that Faleel’s chest was rising and falling with each breath or whether her radar had confirmed the vital signs for her. Either way, she could be certain the beastgirl was unharmed, and now that she was surrounded by Mile’s barrier, her safety was assured even if a battle should happen to break out around her. 

“Now, what to do? It looks like everyone in the middle there is a mage, which means that we can’t carry on like before. If we go in unprepared, we have no chance of winning. Plus, if they take little Faleel as a hostage, we won’t be able to rescue her… Even if we make use of the magic that Reina and the others have, Faleel might be caught up in it, or taken hostage anyway…” 

Apparently, the reason that the earlier lookout-slash-guard forces had no mages among them was because all of their mages were gathered here. Having this many mages in one place was a clear imbalance, especially when compared to the number of frontline fighters on the scene. 

Following Telyusia’s suggestions, everyone had just begun to ponder a plan of attack when Mile began moving boldly forward. 

“Well, let’s get in there!” she said. 

“Huh?!” 

At Mile’s words, the Servants were agog, but the members of the Crimson Vow merely shrugged their shoulders and followed behind. 

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you doing?! Have you gotten so flustered you’ve lost all reason? Wait a moment!” 

As Telyusia desperately tried to stop Mile, Mavis turned to her. “Sorry! That’s just Mile for you!” 

“Wh-what does that mean?! That doesn’t explain anything!” Telyusia muttered, unable to accept Mavis’s explanation. However, the Crimson Vow continued to march ahead behind Mile, leaving the Servants no choice but to follow their lead. 

“Whatever! If something goes wrong, it’s not my fault!” 

The Servants valued safety first and never acted without a plan for every eventuality. This was the first time in a long while that they had leapt before they looked, entering into a dangerous situation with no escape route in mind. The unease was clear on their faces, but they had no intention of leaving either the Crimson Vow or little Faleel behind, so they had no choice but to follow Mile. 

“Who the hell are you?!” one of the guardsmen demanded. 

The distance between the site of their previous battle and this clearing was not great. Naturally, the men here should have been able to hear the false bird call from before and would have concluded that their fellow guards-slash-lookouts would deal with the intruders. And thus, it was hard for this group to comprehend what it meant for the girls to show up completely unannounced, with no word from their lookouts. 

“We’ll be taking Faleel back now.” 

The guards from the outer rim had already gathered, blocking the girls’ path. At Mile’s words, the men could already tell that there was no point in questioning them farther. They drew their swords. 

Upon gauging that a third of the girls’ combined numbers were mages, the men called for further reinforcements from the inner circle and were joined by six more men. The remaining fifteen or sixteen mages remained where they were, without a care for the newcomers. Together, they began what could only be described as a suspicious incantation. Some of the girls began to worry that they were preparing an attack spell, but there were no words that that conveyed a clear indication of violence. Instead, they droned on and on in abstracts. It was almost more like a prayer to a god than a spell, when you thought about it… 

Though of course, if it were a prayer that involved the abduction of a little girl, then it was more likely directed to a devil than a god. 

“Hurry up and take them out! We must return to the circle to complete the spell of summoning!” 

One of the mages who had joined the group as a reinforcement was kind enough to confirm the girls’ suspicions. 

“A summoning spell…” Mile murmured, her voice low. 

[ Summoning + Kidnapped Girl = Sacrifice ] 

Based on what Mile knew from her previous life, she could not possibly come to any other conclusion. 

“Aha!” 

Zip! 

Reina, Mavis, and Pauline’s eyes popped open in shock. 

“Ahahaha…” 

She was laughing. Mile was laughing…but her eyes were not smiling at all. 

“Ahahahahahaha!” 

A swirling haze filled her dead eyes. Were such a scene depicted in a manga, there would have been spirals turning within them… 

At that moment, the enemy mages fired their spells. Five of the six joined in on the attack, while the sixth held a defensive spell, ready to let loose. 

Three of the men each aimed one fireball at the opposing mages, while the other two lobbed firebombs at each of the parties as a whole. 

For such young women to have felled the lookouts, the mages concluded, it must be the case not only that their melee fighters were more than just amateurs, but also that their mages were skilled. After all, appearance was a poor indicator of magical ability. 

This was the logic behind the mages’ plan of attack. Even if deflected with a sword, a firebomb would explode, and even if their opponents moved away, they would still be party to a substantial impact—at least enough to make them lose their footing. And of course, the final mage was ready and waiting to safeguard against any magical attack from the opposing side. All said, it should have been a flawless strategy. 

How did the Crimson Vow react to the three magical bursts flying their way? 

Reina and Pauline neatly deflected the fireballs with magical shields. And as for the explosive firebomb flying at the other two… 

“Anti-Magic Blade!” 

Before Mile could even make a move to cast the firebomb away, an excited Mavis stepped forth, beaming and trembling with the thrill that her day had finally come. The moment Mavis’s blade sliced through the firebomb, it vanished without so much as a sound. Her Anti-Magic Blade had made its battle debut. 

Meanwhile, on the Servants’ side… 

In spite of Lacelina’s limited abilities, she valued her own life and was able to hastily conjure a protection spell to fend off the fireball aimed at her. Tasha, meanwhile, had nocked an arrow the moment she saw the enemies making moves to attack and now let it loose. The arrow collided with the still-flying firebomb, causing it to detonate in midair. Both fireballs and firebombs were far slower than any bow and arrow, so tracking their trajectory was a simple feat for any skilled archer. 

“Wh…?” 

The five enemy mages were flabbergasted to see all of their attacks so easily deflected—particularly the man who had launched the bomb that fell to Mavis’s Anti-Magic Blade. 

Defensive magic was something that they knew. They could use such spells as well, and it was perfectly normal for a mage to be able to conjure one in a short amount of time. Thus, they figured it was enough to simply force the opposing mages into guarding in order to render any spells they had silently prepared useless. At the same time, they would make the frontline fighters move to deflect their spells in order to protect their allies, causing injuries to all. For these parties to have perfectly guarded against every attack and emerged unscathed was unfathomable—as unfathomable as the fact that a bow and arrow had vanquished a firebomb… Sure, they reasoned, such techniques were not unheard of. Really, it was something that almost anyone could achieve if they had luck on their side to guide their arrow’s course. 

However, there remained one glaring improbability: the girl who, with a swing of her sword, sliced through an explosive spell and not only avoided detonating it but made it vanish into thin air. 

Such things should not be. They could not be! 

The magical attack that the six men had launched had been thwarted by a mere three mages, an archer, and a swordswoman. The men assembled were stunned at this utterly inconceivable turn of events, and as a result, the eight swordsmen stood stock-still, forfeiting their moment to strike. 

While the enemies were momentarily frozen in place, the girls wasted not a second in preparing their next spells. Lacelina was the first to attack. 

“Ice Needle!” 

It was an area attack, targeted toward all six of the enemy mages. While its attack power was low, it was still a spell that would be unpleasant to take head-on. At the very least, if the mages were struck by the needles, their own incantations would be interrupted. 

At Lacelina’s words, the sixth mage unleashed the shield spell that he had been holding to protect all six of them. With a spell as weak as this one, it mattered little if the shielding effect was lessened a bit by spreading it over a wider area. 

However, just a moment after Lacelina, Reina and Pauline completed their incantations also. And in their momentary surprise, the spells of the five enemy mages were a beat too late. The man who had used the first shielding spell was only just now beginning his next, and it was up to one of the other five to defend them. 

It was then that Reina and Pauline shouted the activation words for their merciless spells. 

“Burn them to the bone!” 

“Winds, swirl!” 

The clearing was wide, so the possibility of a wildfire spreading was low. Even if a blaze were to spark, Mile and Pauline were both present, so extinguishing the fire would be simple. Having judged as much, Reina decided to unleash her most powerful spell. Pauline, recognizing Reina’s incantation, chose the wind spell in order to assist. 

The six men were enveloped in an eddy of flame, battered by a howling wind. 

“Magic Barrieeeeeeer!!!” shouted the man who had been desperately preparing a shield spell as two others switched midway from their attack spells to defensive ones. 

Each of the men present valued his own life. It was only natural that they would prioritize defending themselves over attacking. Plus, if they were able to keep the attention of the girls’ mages, then it would be easier for their swordsmen to overrun the rest of their opponents. They had an important role to fulfill. 

Of course, it was not as though the melee fighters were merely sitting and twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the magic battle to conclude. The battle was six-on-three, and they couldn’t fathom the idea of their allies losing to a group of young girls, but while their allies weretending to the magical side of things, their duty was to crush the front lines and then rush the back lines to take them out as well. A mage group without their front line had no hope of standing up against a simultaneous assault from swords, spears, and magic. They would be crushed in an instant. 

With this in mind, the eight swordsmen launched their assault. 

The ones who faced this attack were the four sword wielders—Mavis, Mile, Telyusia, and Willine—along with Philly, the lancer. Tasha, the archer, fired an arrow at point-blank range before quickly drawing her dagger and leaping into the fray. 

Of the eight men, pairs of two moved to oppose Mavis and Telyusia, who appeared to be the strongest of the sword wielders, as well as Philly, while one went to Mile and another to Willine, who looked to be the two youngest. Perhaps thinking that Tasha’s arrows could easily be fended off with a sword, they were saving her for last. Surely with most battles being two-on-one, the girls would be vanquished in the blink of an eye, and there would be so little delay that she would not have the time to fire off a second arrow. 

But then… 

Whsh, chnk! 

“Gaah!!” 

Tasha’s arrow pierced one of the enemies in the gut without him making so much as a move to avoid it. Somehow, she had rushed all the way to the front line, a hair’s breadth from the enemy and fired off another shot. There was no way that he could have avoided or deflected it. Then, after falling back, she had tossed her bow away and drawn her dagger. 

With this, the three frontline fighters of the Servants of the Goddess became four, and the enemies opposing them were diminished to four as well. And while the enemy might have more polished skills, as compared to the Servants’ middling abilities, the young women clearly had experience in battle. Such was the current scene. 

“Gwah!” 

“Gyah!” 

“Guh!!” 

“Gah!” 

And then, the four men fell—struck down by Mile and Mavis who came in from behind, smacking them down with the flats of their blades. 

“Huh…?” 

The Servants were stunned. 

Mile, and Mavis with her True Godspeed Blade, needed little more than a few seconds to defeat enemies who were inexperienced in battle. Had they left it to the Servants, people would have been seriously injured, which would be a huge bother, so they thought they ought to take care of this situation as quickly as possible. This wasn’t the graduation exam or a sporting match, so there was no need to overtax anyone’s abilities or make a spectacle. 

With the front line now taken care of, they all looked to observe the mages’ fight where Reina continued to incant her specialty, Crimson Hellfire. Finally, she released the spell. The flames had been bolstered by Pauline’s wind magic but miraculously woven in such a way as to not threaten the lives of the enemy mages or break through their protection magic. Once surrounded by the swirling flames, the mages could not see their opponents, so even those who had been in the midst of casting attack spells had to give up on accuracy and fire only in the girls’ approximate direction before switching to shielding spells. 

What they were doing now was usually referred to as protection magic, but the result was more a kind of magical protection: in other words, they were protected just fine against magic, but things like bows and arrows—or combat spells that had physical components such as earth and ice magic—would pass right through. With their vision obscured, these mages, who were not masters of the blade, would have no way of deflecting such attacks if they did penetrate the flames. And so, the mages circulated wind and water magic behind their magic shield in the hope of lowering the temperature of the flames. 

Yet suddenly, the six mages fell to the ground, as though they had reached their limits. It was unclear if they had succumbed to the heat of the flames or if the fire had sucked out all their oxygen and asphyxiated them. 

“Hmph! Well, that was easy. As for the rest of them…” Reina turned her gaze to the remaining mage corps, fifteen or so of them still carrying on their strange chant, rotating in a circle with Faleel at the center, unaffected by the change of circumstances. 

Just then… 

Slam! 

Thud! 

“Gwah!” 

“Huh…?” 

Reina fell onto her backside at a quick shove from Telyusia. She looked up to see a small, silver object protruding from the girl’s torso. Clutching her side, from which blood now poured, Telyusia fell to the ground. 

“Wh… H… Huh…?” 

Reina was stunned, unable to move. Several images ran through her head: first, that of her father, cut down by bandits while trying to protect her. And second, the faces of the members of the Crimson Lightning, flying through her mind, one by one. 

Without a word, Philly dashed forth, driving the butt of her spear into the chin of the mage who, from his position on the ground, had magically propelled his small utility knife toward her fellow party member. With the man now face-up in the dirt, she drove the dull end of the spear hard into his gut once more. Willine ran up after her, kicking the man in the side. Once the man was unconscious, they circulated among all of the other fallen mages, striking them with foot and spear to make certain that none of them retained the will to fight—though it appeared that the rest of them were already unconscious in the first place. Going to the trouble of injuring them any further was little more than a nuisance. 

The attacking mage, the bulk of whose strength had been decimated by Reina’s fire spell, had perhaps decided that his best course of action would be to use his scant remaining magical power to perform not a magical attack, which could be blocked, but a physical one, which could not be magically shielded against. If this was to be his final attack, then he may as well use it to take out the strongest of the enemies, after which her small and clearly mediocre companions could all be dealt with handily. At least, that was the man’s expectation. 

“Wh-why would you…?” Reina asked Telyusia, crouching forward. 

“Wh-what do you mean, ‘why?’” Telyusia forced out, her face twisted in pain. “C-can you imagine what would happen i-if word got out that junior hunters had been seriously hurt while we were right there w-with them…?” 

She then looked to Philly, who had just returned from disabling (though not killing) the remaining mages. “Philly, it’s up to you from now on. Looks like I’ll be going to the Goddess’s side just a little ahead of you, but I’ll be watching over all of you. It’s your turn, Philly. You’re the leader of our party now. Keep following your dreams…” 

“Telyusia!” 

“Leader!” 

“Miss Telyusia!” 

“Nnh…” 

It was a fatal wound. 

The knife had not pierced her heart, so she still appeared to be all right, but in this world, a wound to the abdomen always proved fatal. To start with, there was obviously the possibility of the liver or kidneys being punctured, but there was also the prospect of damage to major arteries or the rupturing of the intestines, which would cause the bacteria of the gut to proliferate, bringing on peritonitis and several days of agonizing pain, followed by death. 

Indeed, Telyusia’s death was already as good as certain. 

However, there was no time to mourn her. The tears could come later. Now, they had a duty to attend to. They had to save Faleel! 

With these thoughts in mind, the Servants wiped their tears away, standing up proudly. But just then… 

“Ha!” 

Gush! 

“Gaaaaah!” 

Suddenly, Pauline unceremoniously gripped the knife that was thrust into Telyusia’s side and yanked it out. 

“Huh?!” 

A cry of shock came from the four other Servants. It was common sense not to remove the implement until any preparations for healing had been made. When you removed the knife, the wound itself would open wider, with blood spurting from the point of entry. Death from blood loss would come swiftly. And yet, Pauline had drawn the knife out without even a moment of hesitation. 

“Reconnect and mend the blood vessels, repair the nerves, multiply cells, reconstruct muscle tissue, annihilate foreign bacteria, numb the pain receptors… Mega Heal!” 

“Huh…?” 

The Servants looked on, stunned, as Telyusia’s wound closed before their eyes. Telyusia herself could only blink, her mouth hanging open soundlessly. 

“Do you really think I’d let someone who saved our Reina die from just a little wound like that? And besides…” Pauline gave a haughty grin and continued, “Looks like I’ll be going to the Goddess’s side just a little ahead of you, but I’ll be watching over all of you. It’s your turn, Philly. You’re the leader of our party now. Keep following your dreams…” 

A deep blush spread over Telyusia’s face. 

“It would be a piteous shame if the speaker of such iconic words were not there to live on as they became a legend among hunters everywhere.” 

“G-g…” stuttered Telyusia. 

“G-g…?” the four other Servants repeated. 

“Gaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” 

The Servants of the Goddess had previously observed only the healing work that Pauline and Mile had performed on the group of lookouts. However, that had merely been for the sake of keeping the men from dying—nothing more than stopping any blood flow and repairing the functioning of their internal organs. Besides, no amateur would be able to recognize the fact that the internal organs and blood vessels had been repaired just from seeing the men’s exteriors. Pauline and Mile had left the visible openings of the wounds as they were to keep the men from trying anything foolish. 

Therefore, while the Servants been surprised at Pauline and Mile’s healing abilities before, they would never have guessed that the two mages were that good. 

To bring a person who was certain to die back into the world of the living… Was that truly a power that any mortal hands should be able to wield? 

“No!” “Don’t!” “Please don’t tell anyone!” Telyusia’s tears seemed to protest, even as the eyes of the four other Servants welled with tears for a different reason. 

Lacelina, overcome with rage that her friend had been hurt, felt her head growing hazy with an emotion she could not hold back. Impulsively, she turned toward the men who were still rotating like a magic wheel and fired off a spell. 

“Fire Rain!” 

This particular spell had a penetrating power that was next to nothing, but it could easily rain down upon a large area. Against a large number of opponents—and moreover, as an attack that could be launched with some restraint—it was not a bad choice at all. Plus, it used up little magical power and required barely any elaboration in the incantation to produce a burning fluid that would stick to the targets’ clothes. And yet… 

Whsh! 

“Huh?” 

The fire rain vanished. 

The countless burning droplets had not been repelled—they vanished completely just before striking the men, as though they had evaporated. 

“…Fireball!” 

Next up, Pauline tentatively fired off a spell. It was a simplistic but fairly strong basic fire spell. 

Ka-bwsh! 

“Wh…?” 

All of the mages, save for Mile, were terribly taken aback. 

Next, Tasha, who had now retrieved her bow, and Philly, with her spear, launched a direct attack in tandem. 

Their blows did not pass through, and the circle of mages calmly continued their ritual as though they hadn’t realized that they had been attacked at all. 

“Bwahaha… It’s pointless!” As they all stood puzzled, a voice called to them. 

It was one of the swordsmen, sitting on the ground, his arm and his ribs broken. Of course, the girls were aware that some of the melee fighters were still conscious, but since they had been rendered powerless to grip their weapons and launch an attack, they had left the men as they were. There was little chance of them throwing their weapons either, but they still took caution (as they did not wish to divulge too much information about their abilities, Mile had not put their weapons in storage as she sometimes did). 

“The further that ritual proceeds, the more the mages’ magical power grows. No magic or physical attack can harm them. All that’s left now is to wait for the ritual to be complete. Then, ‘It’ will appear and grant our wishes in exchange for the sacrifice. Bwaha-bwahahahahahaha!” 

Hearing this, Mile muttered to herself, “Magical Engine, internal pressure rising…” 

Her expression was still firm, but apparently, she was back to her usual self. 

The reason that the main corps of the enemy party had not taken part in the battle, sparing only the melee fighters and a few mages, was, first and foremost, that it was unfathomable that they could lose to just a few little girls. Yet, more importantly, staying out of the fray bought them valuable time even if something went awry with the rest of the fighters. Therefore, they had concentrated only on the ritual, not bothering to send out any additional forces. If nothing else, throwing too many of their forces into battle at once would leave both their battle party and their ritual party at half-strength. 

“Inferno rise, burn hot enough to melt the rocks, hot enough to turn them to vapor, hotter still, more violent still…” 

Reina began a spell. She did not dash out the words as quickly as she always did. No, these were slow words, words of power. 

“I told you, it’s pointless! No matter how skilled you think you are, that barrier will never be broken by some little girl’s spell!” 

She persisted, ignoring the swordsman’s taunting, voicing the words of a spell that none of the others had even heard of—a spell to vaporize rock. Even Reina, the one chanting this spell, could not have possibly had any concrete idea of what temperature would be required to bring such a thing about. Only that it was an absurdly high one… 

And then, she voiced the command phrase. 

“Scorching Breath!” 

A high-temperature jet, several millimeters in diameter, spewed forward. The concentrated stream bored a hole in the magical barrier that went through to the other side. One of the mages in the circle fell to the ground. 

A peculiar light shone in Reina’s eyes. Just as it did in Mile’s. Just as it had in the moment she was reborn as “Crimson Reina, the Bandit Slayer”… 

“Wh…?” 

Neither the sneering swordsmen nor the mages in the circle could conceal their sudden unrest. However, despite their distress, the mages continued their ritual as though nothing had happened. If they were to pause the ritual now, not only would it not come to fruition, but the barrier would dissolve, and they would have to face these inexplicable intruders, who remained unharmed despite facing down the lookouts, the guards, and six of their mages. They had no other choice but to continue on. 

After Reina’s attack, Mavis approached the barrier. And then, slowly, she thrust her sword in. 

Ka-shnk. 

It passed through the barrier without the slightest hint of resistance. 

And then, another mage fell. 

Plod plod plod plod. 

Mile walked right up the barrier, stopping just inches away, and shoved her right arm through. 

Thwmp. 

She seized the nearest mage by the nape of the neck and dragged him out. 

“Whaaaaaaaaaat?!?!” 

Seeing the Servants fall upon the man who had just been dragged out, the other mages, who had just barely managed to ignore the fact of Mavis’s sword, could not hold back a cry of shock. 

“H-hurryyy!!! Forget the fifth stage—let’s just wrap up the incantation! Preparing the words, in five, four, three, two, one… Now!” 

The mages, who had thought there was no doubt they would complete the ritual safely, were now thrown into a tizzy, sweat dripping from their brows. These young girls had ripped through their magical barrier as though it were paper, but the mages were not prepared to give up just yet. It would be a race against the clock. 

Mile remained unworried. She had put a full-strength barrier around Faleel. Even an elder dragon could not have harmed her. Well, an “elder dragon, or something of equivalent type.” As the nanomachines had informed her that her own power was equal to half the abilities of such a creature, she could be confident. Besides, with those same nanomachines on her side, it couldn’t possibly fail. Even if the mages did carry on with their little ritual—and even if some summoned fiend did appear before their very eyes—it was no matter. If they wanted to sacrifice their own souls for the sake of some reward, then that was well and good in Mile’s book. 

And so, Mile was in little hurry—until suddenly, she heard a frantic voice ringing in her ears. 

LADY MILE, PLEASE STOP THEM! THIS IS NO GOOD! 

WE ARE PROGRAMMED TO CARRY OUT ALL UNPROHIBITED MAGICAL COMMANDS, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY ARE GOOD OR EVIL. THEREFORE, WE MUST ENACT THE WILLS OF BOTH SIDES, SO AS NOT TO VIOLATE OUR MOST BASIC TENETS. THIS IS A SITUATION THAT OUR CREATORS COULD NOT HAVE HYPOTHESIZED. 

THIS SCENARIO HAS BECOME DIRE! IF YOU DO NOT STOP THEM AT ONCE, A DISASTER MAY OCCUR! 

Never before had she heard the nanomachines sound this desperate. Apparently, what the men aimed to achieve with their final incantation was something rather unsavory. Enough so that even the nanomachines were disturbed… 

Well, if even they were bothered, then that changed things. This was no laughing matter. Mile had assumed that so long as Faleel’s safety was assured, it was fine to let things run their course, but now it was time to step into the fray. 

Initially, she thought that she might feign putting her hand into her breast pocket, but because of the leather armor, there was no way for her to do so now. Instead, she shoved her hand in down the top of her chest piece and withdrew it, a small parcel gripped in hand. Though she pretended the parcel had been drawn from within her armor, in actuality, it came from her inventory. Indeed, it was one of the spice hand grenades, which she had assembled back when they were producing the spices for the restaurant owner. 

Behind her, she could hear the Servants whispering among themselves, “Oh? Padding? Did she have padding in there?” Suddenly, it occurred to Mile that her hearing might be a little too good. 

Sh-shut up back there! she spat venomously within her heart and then stiffened when she realized that, because she had no reason to hide the fact of her storage magic from the Servants of the Goddess, she could have simply taken the item out of “storage” as she normally would. 

For no reason at all, she had just caused herself heartache—and an unconscionable ridicule. Consumed by rage at both herself and the universe, Mile unleashed her explosive secret technique. 

“Eruptiiiiing! Burning! Fingeeeeeeeeer!!!” 

Then, the parcel in hand, she shoved her right arm through the barrier and flung the grenade toward the mages within. 

“Red Tornado!” 

And with that second shout, she withdrew from the barrier. 

Inside, a whirlwind whipped up. It was not particularly powerful—only strong enough to circulate the air within the barrier… However, it was bright red. 

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” the men all screamed. 

Just then, near the center of the circle, where Faleel was still lying on the ground, fissures opened up in the air itself. A strange aura began to emanate outward from the fissures. Yet, the moment the red air crept inside of it… 

“GYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!” 

With a desperate scream, the presence vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared. The fissures in the air closed, and quiet returned to the clearing, almost as though nothing had happened at all. 

“………” 

There were no signs of movement within the barrier. In fact, the barrier itself seemed to have dissipated. Likewise, there were no signs of movement from the six other mages, who were still collapsed on the ground. Two of three of the enemy swordsmen were still conscious, but their eyes were wide, and it did not appear as though they would be making any sudden movements. 

The four members of the Crimson Vow appeared utterly unaffected. As far as the Servants were concerned, however… 

“Th-that’s…a waste of good spiceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!!!!!” 

Seriously?! 

*** 

While Mavis headed off to the Guild to fetch reinforcements, the others began the work of detaining the men. All told, between the lookouts and the additional forces in the clearing, there were around 47 in total—far more than they could reasonably be expected to relocate on their own. They would have to rouse the men enough to allow them to walk on their own two legs, and with so many mages in the mix, doing so might be dangerous. If there were any among them who were capable of silent-casting or using abbreviated spells, a surprise attack could come at any moment. Plus, it was unlikely that they would cooperate enough to march in any straightforward fashion. 

The reason that Mavis had been the one to go was simply that she was the fastest. Plus, they couldn’t possibly send one of the Servants, who were the senior party, to be the errand girl. Reina and Pauline were way too slow, so they were out of the question, and Mile needed to remain on the scene in case of any emergency. Therefore, Mavis was the obvious—really, the only—choice. Even Mavis herself could see this, so she accepted her duty without question and set off running at once. 

In truth, there was one more reason why Mavis had been chosen: thanks to her “spiritual powers,” she had excellent night vision. Torches and light spells would grant only a short range of vision, and because of the shadows they cast, it became more difficult to discern shapes, so one had to proceed with caution. Furthermore, with torches came the risk of wildfire, requiring even more care. 

Granted, returning with the response team would be a slower affair either way, but there wasn’t anything that could be done about that. 

The lookouts had been left where they fell, but given the way that they were bound, it was unlikely that they would be able to escape. It was not as though the status of their injuries would have allowed them to make it very far anyway. Plus, even on the off chance that one of them did break free, it was unlikely that they would head anywhere besides this place, where a large number of their comrades were gathered. 

In the clearing, after all the men had been bound and gathered into one spot, they got the still-conscious men to tell them who was the highest-ranking among them and then forced said man to inhale some awakening herbs to rouse him. The answer had come easily. Apparently the identity of their leader was not something that they felt the need to conceal. 

Naturally, the moment the barrier dissolved, Mile had dissipated the capsaicin particles in the air and cleared away what lingered upon the mages’ clothing and mucus membranes. If she hadn’t, it would make things difficult for their faction as well. 

“Now then, there are a few things that I would like you to tell me: Why did you kidnap Miss Faleel? What did you intend to do with her? Which feature of hers do you find the most adorable? And, I suppose, while you’re at it, you can tell me your reasoning behind this whole thing.” Mile spoke with a grin, though her eyes were entirely unsmiling. 

Seeing this, the leader replied, his face twitching, “W-we’ve done nothing to be ashamed of! We were merely conducting a ritual that would allow us to summon our god, with a child tainted with filthy beast blood as the sacrifice!” 

“That is absolutely something to be ashamed of!!!” the Crimson Vow and the Servants of the Goddess screeched all in unison. Still, the man looked on blankly. Of course, shame required both self-awareness and some kind of conscience—or at least a concept of what was and was not acceptable—something that a group of religious fanatics might lack. 

“Are you seriously telling me that using a young girl for a sacrifice doesn’t weigh on you just a little bit?” asked Reina, cutting straight to the crux of the matter. “Also, why did you choose her? Furthermore, what sort of god demands a sacrifice in the first place? That’s something that only a great devil or an evil god would ask for, isn’t it?” 

“It’s because that creature carries the blood of beasts! Beastmen, elves, dwarves—and naturally, demons—are all unclean creatures, brought into this world to sway foolish men from the path of holiness. To sacrifice one of those uncouth fiends is only the natural course—the mark of a good and just mind! And of course, the reason we chose that one is that, well, there aren’t any demons in the area, and when we tried to capture any adult elves or dwarves or beasts, it went really poorly… I mean! Surely our god would be overjoyed to receive a pure young girl, unsullied by the ways of adults…!” 

The man answered earnestly—perhaps a bit too earnestly, as though he could see nothing at all wrong with the actions that they had taken—though his face twitched as he spoke. He revealed not only their official stance but their true motives as well. Clearly, he thought that the Crimson Vow and the Servants, who were all pure-blooded humans, would understand where he was coming from. 

It was true that even several people would find it difficult to capture a dwarf or beastperson, with their honed physical strength and keen reaction times, or an elf, with their advanced magical powers, without being killed or suffering serious injury. Particularly for a group who were as unaccustomed to actual battle as these men seemed to be. 

Though the man had not seemed inclined to talk at first, with some persuasion from Reina and Pauline—especially Pauline—the gist of the situation became clear. 

The men were members of a fanatic religious order, which spanned numerous nations. Among them were chief members, who devoted their entire lives to the order, as well as some normal believers, who had lives outside of the order as well. 

The pantheon that this group believed in consisted of a group of gods that had “appeared from another world, possessing great powers.” These otherworldly gods had appeared numerous times in the distant past, engaging again and again in fierce warfare against the gods of this world, both sides striking equally, until, finally, the invaders returned to their own world, and the gods of this world vanished off to who-knows-where, leaving humans behind. Abandoned, the humans made preparations in case the invading gods should one day reappear. In that process, the four subservient humanoid races were born: elves, dwarves, beastfolk, and demons. 

Rather than remaining faithful to the gods of this world, who had cast humans aside and run off, leaving them to endlessly perpetuate the gods’ edicts, was it not better to welcome the invading gods and receive their protection? After all, the gods who had fled were weak and negligent. Those sorry excuses for gods were not present, had not returned, and had not granted humanity the slightest bit of protection. 

It would seem that these were the founding tenets of this order’s teachings. 

Wait, that sounds like… 

Indeed, while Mile completely disagreed with the men’s general philosophy, she had in fact heard stories that very closely resembled this legend—not one, not two, but three times now. The first time had come from the elves, via Dr. Clairia. The second, from the elder dragons, via Berdetice. And the third—though it was far vaguer than the other two—had come from the chief elder of the fairies. Yet, it was a story that had been lost among the humans, with their short life spans and the swift overturning of generations—or a story that should have been lost. 

No human alive should know about this. How can this religion have such a story now…? 

“So what you’re saying here is that you’re a bunch of bankrupt nobles who could never make it to the upper echelons or half-baked merchants who could never make the big time but still burned with ambition, basically wishing on a shooting star and risking everything that you had? You have no idea if gods from another world would even be able to understand you—and if they did, who says that they’d have any interest in catering to their believers’ trivial whims in the first place? They might just drag those believers back to their own world and use every one of them as their personal slaves, or even their next meal… Plus, what if their believers back in their own world are orcs or ogres? The kind of gods that monsters would revere would have to be evil deities or devils.” 

“Shut your mouuuuuuuth!!!” the leader shrieked, veins bulging in his forehead as Pauline casually pointed out one flaw after another in the logic of his story. It seemed that these criticisms were not wholly foreign ones. 

“Mm… Hm? Where…where am I…?” 

Zip zip zip zip zip! 

As Faleel’s eyes finally opened, the Servants of the Goddess rushed to her side at lightning speed, leaving the Crimson Vow in the dust. When Mile cleared the capsaicin from the air, she had released the lattice power barrier as well. 

“Are you all right? We took care of those nasty kidnappers! You’re safe now!” said Telyusia with a grin, crouching down next to Faleel. 

“Huh? It’s the Servants of the Goddess…” 

Faleel looked up at them, perplexed. 

“If you’re ever in danger, Faleel, we’ll always come running, no matter where, no matter when. So you’ve got nothing to worry about!” 

“Oh, thank you!” cried Faleel, sitting up and squeezing Telyusia tightly. 

“N-nooooooooo! Th-that was supposed to be my reward! That’s a violation! A foul!!!” 

The clearing resounded with the sound of Mile’s anguished screams. 

It was already the next morning when Mavis returned, reinforcements in tow. When she had arrived at the guildhall, it was already late at night, and the only people she could recruit were hunters who had been drinking in the tavern. Plus, there was the matter of procuring carts and drivers, and the fact that most were rather opposed to delving into the forest in the middle of the night. The Guild’s decision that they would depart in the morning was more or less inevitable. 

Having surmised that this might be the case, Mile returned alone to the spot where they had left the lookouts after some time had passed to administer additional healing magic. Forcing them to pass the whole night as they were would be a weight on her conscience. 

At the same time, she provided the men with food and water from her inventory. Once their wounds were healed, their empty stomachs and parched throats would suddenly intensify. It wasn’t as though the increased cellular regeneration could come from nowhere, after all. 

Afterwards, she returned to the site of the ritual, and the questioning of the enemy leader continued. Since no one other than Mile had any idea what the man was talking about, the rest served merely as onlookers. Mile would be the one to give their report when they returned to town. Though they hated the idea of relying on Mile alone, since the exchange was a rapid one, dealing with legends the likes of which they had never heard, they had few other choices. 

A short while after first light broke, Mavis finally arrived with the reinforcements. The wagons were apparently waiting back on the highway. 

“Sorry we took so long,” Mavis apologized, though they all knew it wasn’t her fault. 

The other three smiled and waved back. 

“You all again?” asked Felicia, a tired look upon her face. 

“Hey! What’s a clerk like you doing here, Miss Felicia?” 

“We heard there were a number of perpetrators. You couldn’t expect us all to just sit around meditating.” 

That really didn’t explain anything at all. However, the other guild employees and hunters were nodding fervently in agreement, so the Crimson Vow got the feeling they shouldn’t be asking any more questions and abandoned their inquiry accordingly. 

“We’ve already heard a report of the situation from Mavis, of the Crimson Vow. We would like to hear confirmation from the Servants of the Goddess or at least a report on the general circumstances of what’s come to pass.” 

Apparently, even the guild master himself had come out, perhaps worried that, if mishandled, this incident could blow up even more than it already had. 

The mysterious abduction of the daughter of a prominent merchant, the kidnapping and attempted murder of a young beastgirl by an anti-beastperson hate group, the revival of a dark god by a cult of worshippers… Sure enough, no matter how you spun it, this could get pretty bad, pretty fast. 

At the guild master’s request, Telyusia took a step forward and replied, “Miss Faleel, the jewel of the inn, was abducted right before her friend’s eyes, and her father placed an emergency request which we accepted jointly with the Crimson Vow. We tracked the criminals to this site, where they were conducting a suspicious ritual, and put a stop to it. We then rescued Faleel, who was on the verge of becoming a sacrifice. Furthermore, the men were the first to attack.” 

It was an incredibly abbreviated explanation, but Mavis should have already filled the Guild in on the details. Since this was merely an inquiry to confirm whether or not Mavis’s report was truthful, it was enough. Unlike the Crimson Vow, who, in spite of their skill, were newcomers with mysterious origins, the Servants of the Goddess had already been active in this town for some years and were known to be a reliable party in and of themselves. 

“Hm… I see. Thank you for your hard work. Your actions in this matter have done a great service for our Guild, and we shall see to it that all of you receive additional recompense and contribution points for your efforts. Moreover, we will tender a report to the Crown to ensure that you receive an official reward from that quarter.” 

“R-really?!” Telyusia shouted, her eyes wide. 

“Mm-hm… The promised pay for this job was only one silver, you see. I would say that what you have done merits far more than that,” the man said with a smile. 

The Servants took each other’s hands and leapt for joy. After all, such fortune was something that rarely fell into the laps of the Servants, who, unlike the extreme outliers who were the Crimson Vow, took each day one steady step at a time. Such an event might even bump their reputation from that of low-end C-rankers straight to a mid-class in one fell swoop! 

Once the offenders had all been restrained and loaded into the wagons, the whole group began its return to the capital. Naturally, the lookouts had been retrieved as well. 

The mages had all been gagged tightly, with cloths stuffed in their mouths, so that they could not recite any incantation. In addition, they were blindfolded so that they could not perform any silent casting. Still, lookouts were assigned to them just in case, ready to bash in their skulls the moment they saw anything suspicious. 

The men would be questioned once they returned to the capital, but that was a job not for the Guild but for the city guard, or perhaps even agents of the Crown itself. Both parties would likely be summoned to give their testimony when the time came for that, and since their cooperation was directly linked to their reward, they were in no position to complain—particularly not the Servants. 

The two parties walked down the highway alongside the transport wagons. Faleel rode atop Philly’s shoulders. Mile wanted so desperately to be the one carrying her that she was practically weeping tears of blood, but she had been denied the role. “You’re far too small, it wouldn’t be safe,” Philly had told her. 

A short while after they began walking, Telyusia said, “By the way, Reina, darling…” 

When introducing oneself, a maiden never offered her own age, so the Servants were all convinced that Reina was only twelve or thirteen years old. 

“While it’s clear that you have intense magical power—and a lot of it—and that, even for a C-rank, your practical senses are incredibly honed, you mustn’t rely so much on that power, neglecting to consider the little things or letting your guard down. You need to think more about cooperating with your friends and never turn your back on an enemy until you’re certain he has perished. Even a child can play dead, after all!” She patted Reina gently on the head as she spoke. 

Reina’s cheeks began to take on a scarlet tinge. 

Oh noooooo! She’s gonna bloooooow!!! 

The faces of the other members of the Crimson Vow began to twitch. Not only was Telyusia speaking to her like a child, something they knew Reina abhorred, she was also explaining things to her in a condescending manner, and she was patting her on the head! It was a trifecta that would brew a perfect storm. 

Reina, her head bent, then spoke softly. “…You’re right.” 

Sh-she’s gone sooooooooooft!!! 

In a world in which she was surrounded by people who wanted to use and abuse her, Reina had survived by bluffing her way through life. Everyone who had ever offered her help, asking nothing in return—everyone who had ever cherished her for being herself—had all perished. She could rely on her companions among the Crimson Vow, of course, but they were her equals—no, even worse, they were naive and guileless fools who relied on the senses she had honed through years as a hunter to defend and to guide them. They were people who relied on her, not people whom she could truly depend upon. 

She dreamed of someone who did not hesitate to put her own life on the line to save hers. A reliable figure, one on whom she could depend, in whom she could have absolute faith. For Reina, who had lost both her father and the Crimson Lightning, such a person was her heart’s greatest desire. 

And now one such figure had appeared: an older girl who had put herself in the way of an enemy attack to shield Reina with no regard for her own life. 

Reina couldn’t help but soften. 

*** 

So, what was that all about? Mile questioned the nanomachines as the party walked down the road, still sulking that the honor of carrying Faleel home had been stolen from her by Philly. Her companions, seeing that she was in a bad mood, elected to leave her be, leaving her to converse with her invisible friends unimpeded… The Crimson Vow had long ago learned not to bother speaking to Mile when she got like this. 

AND WHAT MIGHT YOU BE REFERRING TO? 

Don’t play dumb! What was all that, ‘Please stop them! This is bad!’ nonsense?! What are you hiding from me, Nanos? And what in the world was that thing that appeared in the air for a split second? What were they summoning? And seriously, you’re telling me it’s susceptible to chili peppers? 

‘………’ 

After some time, the nanomachines finally replied. They had probably paused to consult with central processing. 

NORMALLY WE WOULD BE PROHIBITED FROM IMPARTING SUCH INFORMATION TO A COMMON MORTAL, BUT SEEING AS YOU HAVE A LEVEL-5 AUTHORIZATION, LADY MILE, YOU ARE NOT EXACTLY “COMMON,” ARE YOU? THEREFORE, WE MAY DISCLOSE SOME OF THIS INFORMATION TO YOU ON THE CONDITION THAT YOU SHARE IT WITH NO ONE. 

What are you talking about?! I’m a completely normal girl! 

‘………’ 

Ugh, whatever! I won’t tell anyone! 

Apparently, Reina’s speech patterns were beginning to rub off on Mile. 

As it turned out, the bit of information that the nanomachines were able to impart unto her was the truth behind the tale of the aforementioned “gods.” 

The “gods of this world” that the legend spoke of were in fact not the ones to whom the nanomachines referred as their Creators—in other words, beings like the one who had granted Mile’s own rebirth. Rather, they were people of the ruined ancient civilization—the people who were depicted in the mural in the first set of ruins Mile had come across. Naturally, to the people of the current day, legends of a strange, ancient, scientifically advanced culture would sound just like the land of the gods. 

And, as for those “gods from another world”… 

NO SUCH THING, OF COURSE. 

Obviously! 

If the ones being referred to as “gods” were merely people of a civilization that was slightly more advanced than that of modern-day Earth, then it was unlikely anyone who started a brawl with them would be a god or devil, either. Most likely, they were some other intelligent life-form with an equal level of technological advancement, or perhaps some less-developed race with technology that had not come so far, who could not wipe the others out easily… Or perhaps some kind of monsters… 

Whatever they were, compared to the “godlike figure” who had been responsible for Mile’s rebirth, or any of his compatriots, they represented even less threat than a flea. 

Yet even those “godlike figures,” though they could support the people indirectly, could not exhibit any large-scale interference or aid anyone in a direct way. Therefore, any conflict that arose could be the affair of only the participants. It was likely only after this earlier civilization’s inevitable destruction that the “large-scale interference, as an experiment and as an aid to the planet,” that Mile’s “God” had mentioned would have occurred. Of course, that large-scale interference had been the seeding of the nanomachines… 

Yet, this too had ended in failure. The remaining intelligent life-forms on the planet, whom the people of today referred to as “gods,” fled this world when they found themselves on the brink of collapse, and then the “godlike figures,” having lost interest in the planet entirely after the failure of their experiment led to a long-term stagnation of its civilizations, ceased their guidance and abandoned the planet as well (even though a few of them did feel guilty about it). 

Hm? So, in that case, that “summoning magic” was… 

IT WAS NOT “SUMMONING” MAGIC BUT DIMENSIONAL LINKING MAGIC—MAGIC THAT CAN CONNECT THIS WORLD TO OTHERS. ANYTHING THAT MIGHT COME THROUGH IS ONLY WHATEVER LIFE-FORM HAPPENS TO ENTER THE GATE, WHEREVER IT HAPPENS TO OPEN… 

HOWEVER, IT IS RARE THAT ANY CREATURE, INTELLIGENT OR OTHERWISE, WOULD CHOOSE OF ITS OWN FREE WILL TO ENTER A SUSPICIOUS FISSURE IN THE AIR. THEREFORE, THE CREATURE IN QUESTION MUST TRULY HAVE WANTED TO GET AWAY FROM WHERE IT WAS—OR HAD A CLEAR VIEW OF OUR OWN WORLD… 

Finally, Mile was starting to get the picture, but the number-one concern she had about the situation had yet to be assuaged. Again, she pressed the nanomachines. 

So, why were you all so worried? If it was just some normal creature that came through, not a god or anything, than it could be a dragon for all you all cared. It wouldn’t really matter, would it? Even if it tried to eat those mages, or caused a bit of mayhem, it’s not really something for you all to get worked up over, is it? 

……… 

If you can’t tell me that much, then what’s the point of telling me anything?! 

……… 

After another brief pause, the nanomachines replied, sounding a bit resigned. 

WELL, IT CONCERNS THE CONTENTS OF THE CONVERSATION THAT YOU SHARED WITH OUR CREATOR, ABOUT WHICH YOU PREVIOUSLY INFORMED US… 

Indeed, some time ago the nanomachines had expressed great interest in hearing about their Creator, in other words the “not-a-God” fellow who had brought Mile into this world. Understanding where they were coming from, Mile recounted her conversation with him word-for-word, to the best of her memory. For the nanomachines, it must have been a feeling akin to hearing news of their parents, from a hometown they had not visited in decades. 

THIS WORLD HAS BEEN DESTROYED AND REBORN, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, YOU INFORMED US. IT HAS LOST COUNTLESS CIVILIZATIONS, AND EACH TIME THE SCANT SURVIVORS HAVE HAD TO START OVER AGAIN FROM THE BEGINNING… 

Ah, yes… Mile was already aware of at least that much. 

DO YOU NOT THINK IT PECULIAR THAT THIS WORLD WOULD END UP ON THE BRINK OF RUIN AGAIN AND AGAIN, DESPITE THE CREATORS ASSISTING IT EACH TIME—NO MATTER HOW INDIRECT OR HOW MEAGER THAT ASSISTANCE MIGHT HAVE BEEN? 

Hm…? 

She hadn’t thought about this, or rather, had assumed it was only natural that most civilizations would eventually reach a hurdle that they could not overcome and that this hardship would lead to their decline and eventual ruin. Whether it was pollution or energy depletion or travel to the stars, there were countless hurdles that could stand in a civilization’s way… 

However, by the nanomachines’ implication, this was not the case. 

WOULD YOU NOT THINK IT MORE APT TO CONSIDER THAT THERE MIGHT BE CIVILIZATION-DESTROYING FORCES THAT ARE PERIODICALLY VISITED UPON THIS WORLD? FORCES THAT WE, WHO HAVE BEEN FORBIDDEN FROM ANY LARGE-SCALE OR DIRECT INTERFERENCE AND FROM ACTING UPON OUR OWN WILL, CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT? ALL WE CAN DO IS LEND OUR POWER TO THE CREATURES OF THIS WORLD WHO WOULD OPPOSE THEM THEMSELVES, IN THE FORM OF “PSEUDO-MAGIC”… 

Th-that means… 

WE THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS STILL MORE TIME, BUT IT APPEARS THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD WHO WOULD HASTEN ITS DESTRUCTION. IN ORDER TO PROTECT AGAINST THIS, IT CANNOT BE WE WHO ACT AS THE SAVIORS, BUT PEOPLE WHO USE US, ACTING OF THEIR OWN WILL. WE NEED THOSE PEOPLE. 

A question suddenly leapt to Mile’s thoughts from the depths of her heart. 

So were there really no other worlds that I could have been reborn into? Were my ridiculous abilities really a miscalculation or mistake on God’s part? This seems awfully suspicious… 

Normally, the nanomachines had a tendency to offer unprompted replies to the undirected thoughts within Mile’s head, but this time, they ignored her completely. Mile found that all the more suspicious. 

So then, what is the source of all this…? 

THAT IS ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE CAN PROVIDE AT THIS TIME. 

Huh? 

TELLING YOU ANYTHING FURTHER WOULD REQUIRE, AT MINIMUM, A LEVEL-7 AUTHORIZATION. FRANKLY, WHAT WE HAVE IMPARTED UPON YOU ALREADY SURPASSES THAT WHICH YOU, AT LEVEL 5, SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO KNOW. WE WERE ONLY ABLE TO SKIRT THE RULES WHEN TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE FACT THAT YOU ALREADY POSSESSED A MEASURE OF INFORMATION DISCLOSED BY THE CREATOR HIMSELF, THE FACT THAT YOU ALREADY POSSESS A FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING OF CONCEPTS THAT THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD COULD NEVER COMPREHEND, AND FINALLY, THE IMPORTANT ROLE YOU PLAYED IN RESOLVING THIS MOST RECENT INCIDENT. 

Clearly, they had no choice, and neither did she. Mile, who had already promised herself that she would not go asking the nanomachines willy-nilly about every little thing that occurred, was in no position to be giving them the third degree now. Plus, even if she did want to push further, there was no way of overturning an objection from the nanomachines. The nanomachines may have possessed more flexibility than the average machine, but once they had made a decision about something, they stuck to it. 

I see… Well, the next time that there is some piece of information you are allowed to tell me, you will, won’t you? 

AS YOU WISH. 

And so, the escort troop proceeded on to the capital.