by Funa
Their dismay was understandable. The spell was one that was meant only to be used against high-level monsters. It was a fatal spell, and unless the caster purposely held back or stopped the spell before it ran its course, there would be no hope of survival.
It was a mighty spell, the fastest she could fire, the one she was best at—and yet Reina had fired it right at the other magic user, who was caught in a maelstrom of unease, agitation, and fear.
Though he had considerable ability, the mage, who his elder party member still considered “half-baked,” was naturally a backline fighter. His role was to fire off powerful attacks of magic from the back of the group. Thanks to his party’s advance and mid-guard fighters, never once in his years of combat had he ever taken a direct attack.
He had almost never dealt with a magical attack, either. Save for elder dragons, monsters weren’t particularly bright, and even monsters who could use magic tended to attack only the nearest enemy, meaning they hardly ever reached the back line. Besides, guarding against the magic wrought by monsters was a breeze for someone of his abilities.
Even when facing other humans in combat, serving as an escort or the like, it was rare to face magic users of particular skill. A person who was particularly skilled in magic, after all, had no need to waste their time on criminal acts and common banditry. Therefore, the magic user, who had been a part of high-ranking parties from an early age onward, had never been put in a truly life-threatening situation. As a result, he was relatively unprepared to come face to face with combat magic—his own specialty.
When he volunteered for this job, he had figured merely that it might be a good opportunity to train juniors. He hadn’t thought that it would disintegrate into a situation that would cause the party’s reputation to crumble—nor had he ever suspected that he himself would be put in a position where he might contribute to their ruin. Mentally unprepared, the mage’s heart filled with fear and unease.
If she doesn’t hold back or stop before she hits me…or if she makes a mistake due to some lack of skill and I’m struck with magic that powerful—or if she feigns a lack of skill and actually hits me with a perfectly aimed blow…
Wife and children aside, could he really stand to die a pointless death in this arena?!
At this thought, his mind went reflexively to the one attack spell he could use in an instant, the one that would never fail him. In moments, the little girl was surrounded by raging hellfire, her form obscured.
When the mage came to his senses and realized what he had done, he was stunned, but it was already too late. Until the flames burned themselves out, there was nothing he could do. The only thing left to worry about was whether or not any bones would remain to hand over to her loved ones.
“Ah, aah, aaaah…” The mage collapsed on the ground. The spectators, believing themselves to have witnessed the little girl’s demise, were shocked into silence.
And then, the flames gradually subsided, revealing…
“Oh? Are we finished already?” Reina asked, cool as a cucumber.
“Wait, huh…?” the mage said.
“My specialty is fire magic,” Reina explained, “but lately I’ve been getting pretty good with ice and protection magic too.” She looked down at the mage, who was sitting on the ground, devoid of all will to fight, and muttered, “When people say that ‘the best offense is a strong defense,’ I suppose this is what they mean?”
Then, she began to chant a spell that would settle the battle once and for all. “O raging flames of the deep, consume my enemy and burn him to the ground! Hell—”
“Th-that’s enough!! Match oveeeeeer!!!” The referee signaled the end of the fight.
Her face remained calm, but truthfully, Reina was a bit angry.
***
“Wh-what on earth was that?! What happened with the students this term?!” The finance officer did not conceal his amazement.
“I didn’t catch the attack spell,” said Count Christopher, “but it could’ve been a real catastrophe if it hadn’t been stopped when it was. There’s no doubt it would have struck, and… At any rate, that defense magic alone is more than ample indication of her abilities, so that should be enough for the test.” Relief visible on his face.
Elbert was silent. Thought he had suspected that the four girls had hidden their abilities, he had never imagined the extent of their true powers.
“Th-that was amazing! Truly amazing!” said the king.
“Father, if I went to the prep school too, do you think I could become as strong as they are?”
The king turned to the bright-eyed prince and princess and patted them softly on the head, muttering, “Is this the dawning of a new era? Our world has been stagnant for so long…”
***
“Win.”
That was Reina’s message as she passed Mile, who grimaced.
As they watched Reina retreat and Mile take her place, the Roaring Mithrils began to quarrel.
“She’s a magic user, so I should obviously be the one to fight!”
“No, look at her! She’s definitely a swordsman! I’ll fight!”
The oldest mage and the middle-aged lancer both argued their cases, explaining why they should be the next to take the field.
After listening for a while, Gren, the greatsword wielder, passed down his decision as the party leader.
“I will fight.”
***
Now, Mile and Gren—the leader of the Roaring Mithrils—stood face to face in the center of the arena.
“What the hell are you guys?” he asked her.
“Huh? You mean us? We’re just average graduates from the Hunters’ Prep School, aren’t we? Perhaps we’re a bit of an anomaly…”
“How can you be ‘average’ if you’re an anomaly?!”
Mile grinned at the man’s straightforward response—after all, who wouldn’t smile in the face of a quip like that? “Let me introduce you to Mile, the completely normal magic swordsman!”
“Who the hell is that?!”
“Oh, er, well I figured if I called myself that, it would catch on. That’s good, isn’t it? Being ‘normal’…”
“That’s not my question! Well, actually, I’ve got a question about that as well, but… What is this ‘magic swordsman’ business?! Are you a mage or a swordsman? Which is it?!”
“I guess you’ll just have to fight me and find out!”
“Well then, let’s start!”
And so, the battle began.
Blam bang thwack bang!
Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shing!
After exchanging a number of fiercely powerful blows, Mile’s high-speed assault began.
It was no longer possible to even hear separate strikes.
The volleys continued at such speed that the spectators couldn’t see their blades, and, stunned and enthralled, they began to cheer.
“Well, this is getting fun. Mind if I go a little bit faster?” Mile asked.
“Y-you brat! You’ve been holding back?! Go for it, show me your best!”
“Okay!”
KLANG KLANG KLANG!
KA-KLANG KA-KLANG KA-KLANG!
It appeared that Gren had been holding back as well, and even with Mile’s speed increased, it was clear they were equally matched. Gren’s expression began to twist, but it wasn’t from pain or discomfort.
Anyone who knew Gren would recognize the expression as one of his rare smiles.
“Ha.”
“Bwa…”
“Ahahahahahahahaha!”
“Bwahahahahahahaha!”
“No way… The boss is smiling…”
Over in the waiting area, the Roaring Mithrils exchanged looks of shock.
***
“What is this that we’re witnessing?” the finance officer muttered.
“The last dance between a demon and an angel?” It was the prince who answered him.
It certainly wasn’t wrong to say that it looked as though the two were dancing.
The art
of dance, and the art of war. There was an inextricable link between the two.
“Can you see their swords?” the king asked.
Elbert answered him with a soft, “No…”
The hands of Count Christopher, the legendary S-rank hunter, were shaking. “Elbert, can I…?”
“You mustn’t, Count!”
It seemed he wanted to fight as well.
Though the spectators had begun cheering, they fell again into a hush. They didn’t have time to chatter or shout.
If they took the time to do that, they wouldn’t be able to engrave the battle into their memories. Surely, the details of this fight would be passed down again and again for ages to come…
Ka-snap!
“Oh…”
Unable to take the strain of such force, Mile’s sword finally snapped. It was only a cheap thing meant for mock battle, so this was no surprise.
Mile lacked Gren’s technique, and the burden of the sword wore on her. However, neither of them was satisfied.
“Want to change swords?” Gren offered. “You can use your own if you like.”
Mile knew she couldn’t possibly use her mystery blade here. “No, I’m fine.”
Instead, she slowly drew the thumb and forefinger of her left hand over the remaining portion of her blade, stopping at the end of the space where the blade used to be.
“Special technique, ‘Light Beam Blade’!” she said, and a blade of light appeared there, in the trail left by her fingers.
“What is that?!” Gren’s shout echoed throughout the stadium.
“So, you’re a swordsman who fights with a magic blade! That’s what makes you a a magic swordsman.”
“Huh? No, it’s just that I can use magic, too…”
Smack!
“W-well, fine! Let’s continue!”
“Okay!!”
Gren told himself that she couldn’t possible have cast such a difficult spell silently, just by waving her hand. The audience, on the other hand, had been unable to hear their hushed conversation and hadn’t realized that Mile had cast the spell without words.
And then, the fierce battle began to rage again, as Mile used high-speed moves, turned backflips, and maneuvered to her heart’s content. With her full physical potential hidden and limits put on her godly strength, Mile was a fine opponent for Gren—though she was no expert swordsman.
“Clone Technique!” she cried.
“What is this mimicry?!”
Mile had tried to enact a copycat technique, running quick laps between two points, but such things were not so simple in reality. All Gren had to do was swing his sword down in the middle of her path for an easy strike.
“Th-that’s fighting dirty…”
“Be serious!” Gren retorted.
Mile stopped her maneuver and moved back into the fray. “Battering Blade!”
“Whoa! You’ve got a lot of power in that body—not just speed!”
Gren, blocking Mile’s attack, sounded surprised at the amount of strength behind her swing.
What came next was one punishing blow after another. Mile’s strength and speed made up for what she lacked in skill and technique, but with Gren’s skill and experience, he stood up to her head-on.
No tricks were needed—this was a straightforward, all-out battle.
How fun! How exciting!
A grin of delight was plastered on Mile’s face, the sort of smile that even a much older adult could understand. In her previous life, she had never taken part in any competitive sports, spending all her time on games, RPGs, and the like.
The fight was a time of bliss that she wished she could enjoy forever.
However, no matter what she did, it would have to come to an end soon.
Mile had lost herself in the moment, but the second it became clear that Gren was reaching his limit, his pace slowing, she came back to reality.
Crap! I did it agaaaain!!
Though she had planned to show off a bit from the start, she had never intended to go this far. Everything had its limits.
Her face paling, Mile asked Gren in a small voice, “Sorry, I have a bit of a situation. I need to lose. Could you beat me? Ah—but, painlessly! If you can!”
“Got it.”
In Gren’s decades as a hunter, he had seen a great deal. He quickly understood that Mile was subject to some peculiar circumstance, and that she’d gone further than she had meant. It seemed that he himself had become part of the problem, and as he’d certainly had more than enough fun, he didn’t mind following through with her request.
“Hooah!” he grunted.
“Gwahh! You got meeee!!”
They were two peas in a pod.
A perfect pair.
The spectators were baffled to see such a brutal end to the elegant match, but soon, speculations began to spread throughout the stadium.
“There must have been some special circumstance.”
“I bet she let him win out of deference to a senior hunter.”
The jig was up.
Yet, standing in the middle of the grounds, Mile’s performance was not yet complete.
“You may have won against me, but take heed! There is another, before whom we Four Sages are nothing but mere mice! Lord Veil, please avenge me!”
“Huuuhh?!?!”
At Mile’s sudden declaration, both Gren, and Veil, over in the waiting area, let out cries of confusion.
“H-hey, kid…”
“Look it’s complicated! Complicated!” she said.
“I-I see…. Wh-what is this impertinence?! Who would dare stand up to me?!”
Seeing Mile’s desperation, Gren had no choice but to play along.
***
“The boss is acting strange…”
The Roaring Mithrils were alternatively gaping, in a tizzy, and trying desperately to hold back laughter.
And then there was Veil, who emerged from the waiting area, his face grim.
***
“What’s all this fooling around?”
“No, wait. There must be some reason for all this. Isn’t that so, Elbert?” the king said, turning to the principal.
“That one, as well as the three girls before—they’re all in this together.”
“I see…” the king mused.
***
“Mile!” Elbert said to her, as she returned from the fighting grounds. “What the heck was that?! That should’ve been a total victory for you!”
“No no no! If I’d won the fight, I would’ve stood out way too much to be starting as a C-rank hunter. That’s bad! Besides, it would have been awful to give that much of a blow to their reputation.”
“W-well, I suppose that’s true…”
Upon hearing this, and recalling what she herself had done earlier, Reina suddenly felt a bit guilty. Maybe she could have dialed things back slightly. The mage she had faced was still over in the waiting area, after all, huddled in a ball and mumbling feverishly.
***
Now, in the center of the stadium, beneath the watchful eyes of the audience, Gren and Veil faced off.
After Mile’s words, Gren had no choice but to keep fighting. Just as Mile had anticipated.
“Are you conspiring with those guys, too?” Gren asked Veil.
“N-no! Please don’t lump me in with them!”
“Sorry. My mistake.” Gren’s apology was sincere.
As long as the boy was just a normal student, it would not matter that Gren was already worn out from the previous battle.
“Shall we begin, then?” he asked. “Come at me!”
“Yes, sir!”
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
“Wh…! You tricked me!!”
“I haven’t tricked you!”
Gren was becoming rather short of breath. Though Veil’s speed paled in comparison to Mile’s, his technique was far superior, and he was at least as fast as Mavis, which was saying something. Gren, having already been more than satisfied by h
is fight with Mile, felt exhaustion beginning to set in, his will fading.
That was the moment when Veil attempted a different sort of attack.
“Air Bullet!”
“Wh—?!”
Air Bullet. That simple phrase carried all the image Veil needed for this simple wind spell.
Due to their difference in height and the fact that Veil had fired from below, the shockwave of compressed air caused Gren’s stance to crumble.
His reflexes were already slow from fatigue, so when Veil’s sword swung toward him, Gren’s legs shook. Still, no matter how badly he lost his composure, he refused to be defeated so easily. But then…
“Magic Blade!”
With a sharp sound, the blade of Gren’s sword fell to the ground, sliced clean off. In the moment after the shearing, the magic dissipated from Veil’s sword, and it became once again a normal, blunt practice blade, which he used to strike Gren against the side.
“Guuh!”
“Match over!”
Gren, the A-rank hunter, the leader of the Roaring Mithrils, had just suffered a painful defeat.
However, despite his loss, the man in question was completely calm. He knew exactly why he lost and was confident that he would never repeat the same mistake in the future.
The one who was truly stunned was the victor, Veil.
“I-I won…? Against a B-rank hunter?”
“Oi, kid. If you think that victory was all your doing, you’re going to end up dead somewhere. Got it?”
“Ah, y-yes sir. That’s obvious… But, um, well…”
“Okay, then. And, well, a victory’s still a victory. Rejoice today and resolve to do even better tomorrow. In any case, our party may be B-rank, but I’m an A-rank. Remember that!”
“Y-yessir! Thank you very much, sir!”
Amidst scattered applause, Veil headed back to the waiting area, his arms and legs swinging stiffly.
***
Yeeeeeeess! It’s all going according to plan!
Back in the waiting area, Mile was gloating.
She was over the moon with the success of her plan to have Veil go last so that the impression she herself had left was lessened.