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

by Funa

“That was terrible!” The redness still had not fully faded from Reina’s cheeks.

  Meanwhile the nanomachines in the knife at Mavis’s side, who had never got to make their debut, were sorely disappointed.

  “Well, I guess we should have expected that,” Pauline muttered. “It was a pretty big deal for the Guild, so of course they would have to get the information out to neighboring guildhalls to warn them and prevent something like that from happening again. Unless you tell the employees and the hunters as well, it’s not much of a safeguard, so naturally, anyone affiliated with the Guild would know about what happened… As far as us being an all-girl party, well, I know that there aren’t a lot of them, but it can’t really be that rare. That said, a party of four girls dressed as nobles stopping by a guildhall is a little…”

  She trailed off with a shrug.

  “Y-y-y-y-you! If you already realized that, you should have said so from the start! Why didn’t you say anything?!”

  “Because it was more fun this way?”

  “Why are you saying that like it’s a question?!?!”

  No matter what, Pauline was still Pauline…

  And so, that night, the Crimson Vow made camp outdoors, far away from the town.

  ***

  A few days later, they arrived at a town of a more reasonable scale. They still had yet to cross the border, so word that, “the noble maiden’s party is not to be messed with,” had probably reached this place as well. Thus, everyone was dressed in their usual garb as normal hunters.

  “I’m tired of dealing with all these petty little things. We are the up-and-coming C-rank party, the Crimson Vow! Nothing more and nothing less. We need to fight some honest, head-to-head battles and raise our ranks!”

  “Yeah!!!”

  As per usual, they entered the guildhall, waited as everyone looked them over, and then headed to the information board, when…

  “What?”

  They all froze.

  B-Grade Special Bulletin: Forces from the Albarn Empire have invaded the Kingdom of Brandel. All travelers bound for the region should take caution.

  “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!”

  The Kingdom of Brandel! It was a country where they had stopped just a short while ago and then had left behind. As well as…

  “Mile, that’s where you’re from, isn’t it?”

  “It is. And my family’s lands are near the northern edge, which shares a border with the Albarn Empire…”

  A land that had abandoned her, and which she had abandoned in turn. A country that she had left behind, never to return to again. A kingdom with which she no longer had any connection…

  And yet, Mile began to look queasy.

  “Come with me!” Reina shouted, dragging everyone to a reception window. “Please tell us everything that you know about the invasion!”

  The clerk replied with a smile, “General information is free, but detailed information will cost one-half gold…”

  “Give me all the details!”

  “All right, please go right over there. Wellis, if you would!”

  The clerk called over the young lady who appeared to be in charge of information and directed the party to follow her into another room…a natural course of action when sharing information that came with a fee, as you wouldn’t want to go blabbing it to everyone around.

  “Now then, I shall explain what we know about the situation.”

  After receiving the one half-gold payment, Wellis began to explain. According to her information, several days ago, the Albarn Empire had suddenly invaded the Kingdom of Brandel, its neighbor to the south, without declaration of war. At present, there were reports of fighting from the territories closest to the border. Currently, the Ascham fief was not involved in the fighting, but should those other territories fall, the Ascham lands would be next.

  “As of yet, the Empire does not seem interested in engaging in an all-out war. Of course, this assumption is based on an expert analysis of the power of the troops they have deployed, the state of their supply lines, and various other statuses; however, it is not a guaranteed fact… What we can assume is that this is a tentative strike and that they hope to claim territories that are in geographically strategic locations, possibly for the purpose of afterwards engaging in a full-scale assault.

  “While the Kingdom is of course enraged by this, the difference in military strength between them and the Empire is overwhelming. Furthermore, they lack any preparations for warfare, so it would be foolish to try and quickly scrape up some troops and toss them at the imperial forces until something sticks. They probably intend to forfeit the backwater territories close to the border to focus on their own preparations and launch a counterassault later.

  “Obviously, the Kingdom is in the right in this situation, but it seems that the Empire is insisting on some false claim about the successor of the house of Ascham, whose fief currently has no official ruler, and is launching a sortie on those grounds. Naturally, there’s no other kingdom who would believe them, but that’s the reasoning that they seem to be operating under, nevertheless.”

  “How do you have so much information?!” Reina exclaimed.

  It was shocking. Considering what they had just received, one half-gold was cheap.

  “Wh-where did you get all that information from…?” Mavis continued, equally surprised.

  However, the guild employee known as Wellis merely gave an impish smile and said, “That…is a secret!”

  As down in the dumps as she was feeling, Mile could not help but be reminded of something from her past life—and could only barely stop herself from offering a reply. Truly, she was a twisted girl…

  After Wellis had finished her explanation and exited the room, the Crimson Vow remained inside. Given that they had paid the fee, it was agreed that they might have the room to themselves for a little longer.

  “So it seems like the Empire has their sights set on the Ascham lands… What are you going to do?” Reina asked, facing Mile.

  “I-I’m not going to do anything about it! I no longer have any connection with that country nor with those lands. I am Mile, a C-rank hunter of the Crimson Vow!” said Mile, feigning serenity, though her trembling body, pale face, and wrought expression betrayed her.

  “So then, what of the land where you were born, the place where you were raised? Aren’t there people there who you knew? People who looked after you?” asked Mavis.

  “………”

  “Officially speaking, those are your lands, Mile. Aren’t the ones who live there your people?” chimed Pauline.

  “………”

  Mile, her head hung, could not reply.

  “Well then, I’m going to place a request,” Reina said abruptly.

  “Huh?”

  Mile was not certain what she meant.

  “I’m assuming that you’re thinking that you don’t want to get the rest of us wrapped up in your personal affairs. So I’m going to place an independent request to the Crimson Vow—to get out there to the Ascham lands and do something about this!”

  “What…?”

  An independent request: i.e., a job requested directly of a hunter from a client, without going through the Guild. These were useful for those who did not wish to pay a handling fee to the Guild. It also meant that it was fine for the job to contain provisions that the Guild would disapprove of.

  The flipside of this was that the hunters would receive no contribution points from the Guild. It also meant that neither the client nor the hunter received any protections in the case of either side lying or breaching contract—in other words, withholding payment or falsifying job results. Furthermore, neither side had any guarantee that the other was who they said they were, and so forth.

  In short, it was possible that the people you hired to be your escort could actually be the bandits themselves, lacking any qualifications as hunters, and you would have no way of knowing.

  An independent request could be dangerous if the people with who
m your formed the contract were not people with whom you were closely acquainted, in whom you had complete faith. However, as long as you knew the other side and could trust them, they were usually fine.

  “I am requesting an independent contract with the C-rank party, the Crimson Vow. The stipulations are as follows: Travel to the lands of Viscount Ascham and rescue anyone associated with our good friend Mile. The payment for the job is one silver piece. Will you accept my request, Miss Party Leader?”

  “I humbly accept your request, my beautiful lady…”

  “Beau…?!”

  Though she was the one who had begun this charade, upon seeing the sincere and serious expression with which Mavis replied, Reina went red in the face. She still had a long road ahead of her in the study of looking cool.

  “Y-you guys…”

  There were tears in Mile’s eyes.

  Pauline looked to her and said warmly, “You’ve saved us so many times, Mile. And several of those times involved the personal affairs of myself, my family, and Mavis’s family, didn’t they? Still, even if that weren’t the case, that wouldn’t change the fact of us accepting this request now. And that’s because…”

  Pauline, Mavis, and Reina all cried, “As long as the blood flows red through our veins, our friendship is immortal!!!”

  Mile clung to Reina, sobbing, while Mavis’s shoulders slumped, wondering why she was never the one who got the hugs. Pauline looked on with a shrug.

  Side Story:

  Good Luck, Mariette!

  A long time ago, Mile took on a home tutoring request, the goal of which was to prepare a young lady named Mariette, the daughter of the owner of a mid-sized mercantile company, for the scholarship entrance exam of August Academy. She crushed the entrance exam and made a glorious school debut, but what had become of her after that?

  Dying to know, Mile slipped away to see for herself one rest day.

  “Um, excuse me, are you all students of August Academy?”

  The three uniformed girls were surprised to be asked such a question by someone they had never met before, but this stranger was a cute young girl, who seemed to be more or less around their age and had something of a dull look about her. Factoring this in, and seeing as they outnumbered her three-to-one, they did not feel the need to be especially on their guard.

  Plus, one could tell fairly easily what school they attended at a glance, based on their uniforms, so there was no real need to conceal the truth.

  “Yes, that is correct…”

  Whether it was because they were raised well, or because Mile appeared to be older than them, the girls answered her politely.

  “I actually wanted to ask you a few things about your school… Oh! I’m not anyone suspicious, though! I’m currently a hunter, but I used to attend an academy in another country, so I was feeling a bit nostalgic… If you don’t mind talking with me for a bit, I’d be happy to treat you to whatever you’d like at that café over there!”

  “Huh?”

  The girls were a bit shaken. The café that she had pointed to served sweets and cakes that used a lot of sugar and juices made of expensive fruits, meaning that it was out of the budget of most young women. Though their school was one attended by the children of nobles, it was still the lesser of the two academies in the capital, which meant that the students were neither royals, the upper classes of nobles, nor the children of wealthy merchants, but rather, the lesser sons and daughters of lower nobles and the children of middle-class merchants. Thus, the students who attended their school were not the sort to receive ample allowances.

  In truth, Mile had spent the day lurking about town observing the various students of the academy for a while, finally leaping upon the group who seemed like they were the most lacking in funds.

  The three girls, who had been so suddenly assailed by this strange girl and offered a deal that was delicious in more than one way, startled to bristle, putting up their guards… Not.

  The three were young ladies of a middle-class but comfortable nobility, after all.

  Were they of a lower class—in other words, normal peasants—they might have been more cautious. And if they were of any higher class, such as wealthy merchants or high-ranking nobles, they would be likewise on their guard, having had a certain amount of self-defense ability and knowledge of their own status drilled into them. Those ranking in the middle had the least sense of the potential danger in such situations.

  Plus, there was Mile’s appearance to take into account. She was perhaps one or two years older than the three ten-year-olds and had a somewhat vapid, somehow comforting face that seemed to put you at ease. She did not appear to be a bad person.

  The girls quickly winked at one another and replied, “Gladly!!!”

  Except for the details of the security system, there wasn’t really anything about the academy that they couldn’t let other people know. There was nothing that the girls themselves needed to hide, and it was not as though there were nondisclosure agreements they had signed or any other privacy regulations they were obligated to comply with.

  “…And that’s how Crooktail, the ‘Cat with Seven Names,’ came to live in my dorm!”

  “Ahahahaha!”

  By now, the girls had already eaten five plates of sweets and downed three glasses of juice each. They listened and laughed as Mile told stories of her academy days. Until…

  “Hang on! How come I’m the only one talking heeeeeeeeeere?!?!”

  “Ah…”

  Finally, Mile realized that there was something a bit off about the whole situation…

  As it was the first time they had met, and it seemed a little weird to be drilling the girls for information right off the bat, Mile had begun to give a bit of a dramatized self-introduction in order to put the girls at ease and make the conversation a bit smoother. As the conversation went on, she began giving them advice on the subjects they had trouble with in school, and giving them tips on how to use magic, and before anyone realized it, the topic had shifted to Eckland Academy, with Mile doing all the talking.

  “W-well then, I suppose it’s our turn to tell you about our academy, then…”

  Sweat began to pour down the backs of the girls’ necks as they spied the mountain of plates and cups piled up on the table. The conversation shifted, and finally Mile got to hear some stories of August Academy. After listening to them talk about this and that for a while, she finally cut to the chase.

  “So, I believe that there is a Miss Mariette at your school…”

  “You know her, Miss Mile?!” the girls all chimed.

  “Ah, y-yes! Only by name, though…” Mile was a bit taken aback at how readily the three replied.

  “Ah, the defender of the academy, Lady Mariette…”

  “The sacred maiden, Lady Mariette…”

  “Lady Mariette, the goddess…”

  The three then began to tell Mile the tale of a legend.

  Of Lady Mariette, who rescued a freshman who became entangled with an upperclassman.

  Of Lady Mariette, who always corrected the teachers’ mistakes.

  Of Lady Mariette, who brought someone back from the dead.

  Wait! Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait!!!

  The first two tales were perfectly fine…but what the hell was with that third one?!

  Mile was amazed. Yes indeed, it was as usual.

  She was amaz-eggs and bacon!

  ***

  On a weekday the following week, Mile stood near the gates of August Academy, wearing her old Eckland Academy school uniform and using light magic to hide her form.

  It sounded weird to say that she had any form while she was hiding it magically, but, nevertheless, she did.

  She had donned the academy uniform as a contingency for the off chance that the light magic dissipated and her true form was revealed, figuring that, rather than a geared-out hunter suddenly appearing on the campus of an academy attended by the children of nobles, someone who was clearly a student undertaki
ng a formal education in another country—even if they were not a student of this school—was far less likely to cause alarm. If she were a student of appropriate age from another country, there were plenty of reasons one could think of as to why she might be there, such as that she had been invited, or was someone’s friend, or an exchange student. Either way, Mile presumed, she was far less likely to cause a stir in her uniform.

  And so, Mile strolled boldly in, right through the front gate.

  Now then… It’s just a jump to the left and then a step to the right… No, wait, go in through the gate and turn to the right…

  Even if she was only speaking to herself, Mile could not neglect the opportunity to make a joke.

  Now, I think the first-years’ classrooms are in this building?

  She followed the instructions she had been given by the three girls she had spoken to the previous week, finally finding the classroom with a nameplate reading, Year One – Blossom Class. Mile stared at it silently.

  Incidentally, the classroom just beside it read, Year One – Kitten Class.

  These aren’t consistent at all… It seems like they aren’t broken up by academic levels the same way Eckland was. Still, class names normally go by letter or number, so I wonder if naming them like this was actually intentional… I mean, I guess I can understand picking a different method, but why are these names all so cute?

  It was almost like a kindergarten.

  As all the students were not yet assembled in the classrooms, the doors were still wide open, so Mile easily slipped inside.

  Now, where is Mariette…? Oh, there she is!

  There she sat, in a seat toward the front of the room.

  It’s been a while, but she’s looking well. And as adorable as ever…

  Mile’s standard suspicious grin spread across her face.

  Finally, the teacher arrived, and it was time for class to…

  Huh?

  For some reason, Mariette stood from her seat and walked up to the chalkboard. The teacher then sat down in the seat where Mariette had been sitting…