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

by Funa

  “Now then, let us begin our lesson!”

  Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!

  Mariette began giving the lesson, the teacher taking notes along with all the other students.

  Wh-what the heck is going on heeeeeeeeere?!

  On Earth, even in the distant past, the study of mathematics was fairly advanced. Thus, it was fair to assume that it would be decently advanced in this world as well. However, that only applied to knowledge shared between the most qualified individuals. Complex math was not something that was typically conveyed by the typical methods of information transfer and teaching methodology, so one would not expect the average layman to be able to solve complex equations. Likewise, one would not expect a teacher in charge of instructing ten to thirteen-year-olds to be a top scholar. Indeed, the sort of person who would be hired as a teacher would likely be the sort of individual who was only slightly more advanced at mathematics than your average citizen, while also being in charge of teaching other subjects concurrently.

  Were the math lessons that I drilled into her during those few days too much? Did I overdo it again?!

  Sweat began to pour down Mile’s forehead.

  Now then, next up should be combat lessons…

  Mile, still cloaked, observed the students as they moved outside of the building.

  Hang on, they’ve already moved the first-years up from wooden swords to metal practice swords with real blades?!

  Indeed, the students appeared to be having real contact matches, though blows to the head and other vital areas were still forbidden.

  Still, they’re gonna seriously hurt themse—

  Just as Mile thought this, one student took a fast and fairly heavy blow to the side. They had almost certainly broken a rib. But then…

  “Please take care of that,” said the teacher, bowing his head…to Mariette.

  “Of course! Broken bones, be as you were! Gather what you need from the body and repair yourself! Torn muscles and bruised organs, return to full form! Heal!”

  The injured student, who had been crouching on the ground, stood up, good as new. None of the other students appeared surprised. In fact, they all seemed to be quite accustomed to this.

  “You really are a savior, Lady Mariette. The fact that everyone can have sparring matches with real blows from the very start means that their rate of advancement is well beyond that of their other peers. At this rate, they might even be able to practice with real swords, soon.”

  Apparently, even the teachers had taken to calling her “Lady.”

  Even though the teacher seems like he’s a noble, and Mariette is just a commoner…

  Mariette’s day continued, with her peers, the upperclassmen, and the teachers all looking to her in reverence. During their breaks, students from other classes and years came flocking around her.

  It seemed like it should be quite the bother, but seeing how happy and full of energy Mariette was, Mile was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

  Well, I suppose it’s about time for me to get out of here, Mile thought, taking break time as an opportunity to begin her exit.

  Still, I’d love to be able to see her face up close, just one last time. She’s such a lovely girl, it’s sort of puts my mind at ease to watch her…

  Mile snuck up right beside Mariette and peered closely at her face, when…

  “You creep!” Mariette shouted, thrusting her right hand out into a space where there was nothing.

  “Gaaaaaaaaah!” Mile shouted.

  “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” the students screamed.

  The space that should have been empty began to tremble, and in that spot, a human shape appeared. The students instantly began to panic. One girl swooned in shock.

  “H-h-h-how…”

  “Teacher?” asked Mariette.

  “Teacher???” her classmates echoed.

  The whole situation had gotten out of hand. Just as it always did…

  “So you came to check in on me because you were worried about how I was doing?”

  “Ahaha, well, something like that… Please, don’t report me to the guards!”

  “I mean, sure, that’s fine…” Mariette said with a bit of a cringe, though she still appeared happy to see Mile.

  “L-Lady Mariette,” said one of her classmates from behind, “What did you mean earlier when you called her ‘Teacher’?”

  “Oh! This lady was the one who tutored me so that I could get into this academy. She really taught me a lot.”

  “What?! She t-taught you? That means that she must be even more amazing than…”

  “………”

  The classroom fell into silence.

  A voice then piped up once more, this time directed to Mile.

  “Oh, Miss Mile! Thank you for all the advice you gave us the other day! Thanks to you, I’ve started to get a handle on all the math I couldn’t understand before, and I think I was able to get over a few hurdles with my magic, too! What are you doing here?”

  Mile turned toward the voice, only to see the three girls she had spoken with the previous week standing there. They had apparently come over from their own classroom during break time, though it was unclear if this was because of Mariette or merely because they had some other friends they wished to speak to.

  “Hm?”

  Creeeeeeeeak…

  Mariette’s head, which had been directed toward the three girls, turned toward Mile with a certain unmistakable sound.

  “Wh-why would you come here and watch me from the shadows when you’re out there talking to other people and teaching them things?! What is the meaning of this?! Huh? What is the meaning of thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis?!?!”

  Mariette grabbed Mile by the collar and began to shake her.

  “Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?!?!”

  It was the first time that the other students had seen such rage from Mariette, a girl who was always calm, collected, and beaming. They couldn’t believe it. They looked on, stunned at Mariette’s behavior. Moreover, they looked at the mysterious girl, who had apparently taught Mariette so much. If they could get that girl to teach them, then they too could…

  Naturally, they all had the same thought at once.

  “T-teacher! Won’t you come be my private tutor, too?”

  “No, tutor me! You have to come teach me! Just name your fee!”

  “No, me! Focus just on me…”

  “You fools! Obviously I will be the one to hire her!!!”

  “Gaaaaaaaah! I knew this would happen! This is why I hid! Mariette, I thought I forbid you to speak of me! No one must speak of me! Farewell!!!”

  With that, Mile ran straight to the window and leapt outside.

  “Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!”

  The students crowded around the windows in a panic to see…

  Nothing. There was nothing there but the blowing winds.

  After that, no matter how much her classmates begged and pleaded, Mariette would not speak to them anymore of her mysterious teacher.

  All that the other trio of girls knew of Mile was that she was a “graduate of a foreign academy,” and, having heard the gag order that comprised her parting words, they refused to speak further on the subject as well.

  Soon after that, Mariette, who was looked up to by everyone but had unfortunately no close friends with whom she was on equal footing, found a sisterhood in those same three girls…

  Bonus Story:

  Mile vs. Reina

  “Mile, I want you to go out with me.”

  “Hm? Oh, um, I’m not really looking for a soeur or anything…”

  “‘Soo-er’? What language is that? I was saying that I want you to go out and do some shopping with me.”

  “Oh. I see…”

  Despite Mile’s initial misinterpretation, going shopping was totally fine with her. Still, there was something that bothered her about the proposal. “Reina,” she asked, “you seem to invite me out now and then but never Mavis or Pauline. Why is that?”

  “Tha
t’s because neither of them make me look good… Oh.”

  “What?”

  Mavis and Pauline were silent, but both of their faces spoke volumes. Now she’s done it…

  Mile’s head turned toward Reina, her neck creaking with a certain unmistakable sound. There was a stiff smile upon her face, but her eyes were not smiling at all.

  “What did you just say?”

  “Oh, um, I didn’t actually say anything?”

  Reina hurriedly tried to take back her words, as though she realized how bad they sounded. However, she’d said them far too loudly and clearly to pretend otherwise.

  “I. Said. What. Did. You. Just. Say?!”

  “Oh, j-just shut up! Look, when I’m with you, it’s just that it makes me look a bit bigger! In height and bust!” Realizing that there was no way she could cover this up, Reina explained herself clearly. However, with Mile, that was a bad move.

  “I-I can understand the height, but our busts are pretty much the same size! Plus, you’re already sixteen, but I’m only thirteen! That’s like being proud of yourself for having a bigger bust than a five-year-old! That’s just sad!”

  “Wh—?! Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what?!?!”

  “What is it?!”

  “Y-you little!!!”

  Th-this is bad!!! thought the other two.

  Mile, who almost never got angry, was filled with rage. Reina had merely refused to back down after realizing that she was in the wrong, but Mile was well and truly angry. This was turning very quickly into a bad situation. The way things were going, the next step was inevitable.

  “I challenge you to a battle!”

  “I accept!”

  With little other choice, Mavis allowed herself to be designated as the referee.

  “Can we not just come to a compromise?”

  And so, the battle began.

  Naturally, this was not a battle of swords or spells. Were it to come to that, things would not end well for either of the combatants or for their surroundings. Thus, the method of battle was as follows:

  “Now then, let the one-round, no-limits, no-holds-barred ‘Roast Battle’ begin!”

  With Mavis’s signal, the match was underway. Reina was the first to lob an attack.

  “You flat-chested shrimp!”

  “Guh… You growth-stunted runt!”

  “Gah! You! Y-y-y-you stumpy little bean pole!”

  “Gwuh! L-Look, it’s Reina the hag, so ugly even an orc would pass her by!”

  “Gwah! Well, there goes Mile the washboard, so flat that when she goes to a public bath, the people tell her, ‘The men’s baths are that way!’”

  “Fwah!!”

  “Um, it looks like you coughed up some blood… Mile, are you ready to forfeit?” Mavis asked worriedly.

  However, Mile shook her head side to side.

  “N-not yet! I’m still in this!”

  Then she summoned up all her strength, and…

  “My, if it isn’t Reina, the woman of sixteen years, who, when she tries to smile and flirt with Ash at the weapons shop, gets scolded, ‘Whoa, settle down there, kiddo!’…”

  “Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

  “Oh, she’s fallen down twitching… Looks like we have a winner! The victory goes to Mile!!!”

  Mavis grabbed Mile’s hand and lifted it high in the air.

  Pauline, wishing to compliment Mile on her victory, then said, “Congratulations on the win, Mile! Still, it must be nice to have such a small chest. I’m so jealous. I bet it doesn’t even bounce around and get sore when you run. They don’t get sweaty underneath, your shoulders don’t get stiff, you can crawl faster, and you can even talk to guys without them ogling you! I really am jealous of you…”

  “Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

  “Oh, she vomited blood and passed out… The victory goes to Pauline!!!”

  “Huh?”

  Pauline stared on blankly as Mavis grabbed her hand and hoisted it into the air…

  Afterword

  Long time no see, everyone. FUNA here.

  Welcome to Volume 7. It’s been nearly two years since the release of Volume 1.

  This time, Faleel was rescued from a mysterious organization!

  Mile brought down the wrath of the heavens on the fiends who kidnapped her favorite little catgirl!

  Reina proved she has a mind like a steel trap, and Mile has a mind like a swamp.

  Mile was granted a small glimpse into the secrets of this world, courtesy of the kidnapping incident. Then there was the continuation of the Leatoria arc and the tale of the bandits. I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

  Then, as I’m sure you may have heard… We’re getting an anime! The production planning is underway! Of course, there are plenty of productions that have flopped before they even started. It’s too soon to relax! We mustn’t set our hopes too high!!!

  Even so, an “anime,” huh? That has such a nice ring to it, and I can’t help but have high hopes…

  Of the over 550,000 works published on Shousetsuka ni Narou, only a few hundred have made it to publication. Of those, only a few dozen have been made into manga. And of those, only the smallest proportion have been made into an anime.

  Of course, I dreamed of something like this, but I never thought I would see the day when it would actually come true…

  Even having my work published was a dream come true. Two years and four months ago, I published the very first chapter of my first serialized work, Saving 80,000 Gold in an Another World for Retirement, with that dream in my head.

  I began publishing Didn’t I Say To Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! on the same day that I concluded my second work, I Shall Survive Using Potions! About eight days later—which was two years and two months ago—I received an offer of publication.

  One year and ten months ago, Volume 1 of my first-ever published work was released.

  And then, I was contacted about the first stages of planning for an anime version.

  These two years have really passed in the blink of an eye.

  Well, of course, I spend most of my waking hours in front of a screen now, so even as the days roll by, there really isn’t much about those two years that stands out in my memory…

  Publication, manga version, anime version… As the beat marches on, I feel as though I’ve already surpassed the ‘Narou Dream,’ but please let me keep dreaming just a little while longer.

  This wonderful dream of an exciting fantasy world, along with Mile and the others—and you, the readers…

  Along with the release of Volume 7 of Didn’t I Say To Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Volume 3 of the manga version is now available. Volume 3 of both 80,000 Gold and Potions, along with Volume 2 of both their manga versions, will soon be available from Kodansha’s K Light Novel Books imprint.

  It’s a jet stream attack!

  Please enjoy both series from Kodansha alongside the Average books.

  The manga version of Abilities can be read online at Comic Earth Star (http://comic-earthstar.jp/), and the manga versions of 80,000 Gold and Potions can likewise be read online at Wednesday Sirius (http://seiga.nicovideo.jp/manga/official/w_sirius/).

  Please enjoy these adaptations alongside the novels.

  And finally, to the chief editor; to Itsuki Akata, the illustrator; to Yoichi Yamakami, the cover designer; and to everyone involved in the proofreading, editing, printing, binding, distribution, and selling of this book; to all the reviewers on Shousetsuka ni Narou who gave me their impressions, guidance, suggestions, and advice; and most of all, to everyone who’s welcomed my stories into their homes, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

  I hope we can meet again, in Volume 8, and that we can stay together just a little while longer, for the sake of my hopes and the Crimson Vow’s dreams, and for the success of the anime…

  Now then, everyone, let’s say it all together, softly.

  “Just one step closer to our dreams…!”

  —FUNA


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