Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Volume 7

by Funa

  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…