by Funa
matter if it took them one hour or ten—the pay was all the same. Thus, several of the orphans had gathered, in order to finish the task as quickly as possible. They figured this would make their client the happiest, and anyway, the leader of their group had decided it would be too difficult for a single child to try and do the entire job alone.
Besides, completing the job was not their only aim.
“All right, everybody got that?”
After Lenny completed her explanation and left, one of the orphans, a boy of around eight or nine, who appeared to be the oldest among them, issued a reminder to the group.
“Big brother Veil’s—and subsequently, our—benefactor is staying at this inn. It pretty much goes without saying that he’s still head over heels for her, right?”
The other five nodded.
Somehow or the other, it would appear that these orphans were the children looked after by Veil, the boy who Mile used as her “sacrificial lamb” at the graduation exam.
Again and again, Veil had impressed upon the orphans that all their good fortune was thanks to a girl named Mile, and that, should anything ever happen to him, they ought to pay the favor back to her in his stead. Though he never explicitly shared his true feelings for her, they were obvious enough that even the youngest of the orphans, who were no more than four or five years old, could easily figure out how he felt.
“If we run into our benefactor, let’s take a break and talk to her. We need to try and find out her interests, hobbies, and things like that. And then, we need to tell her how great our manager is—and then mention Veil’s name. And then we say something like, ‘What?! You know big brother Veil?!’ so we can arrange a reunion. We can’t mess this up. Got it?!”
“Yeah!!!!!”
Three days later…
“This is weird… We’ve tried working at all different times, but we’ve never run into her…”
On a break, the boy who served as their leader pondered this conundrum, just as Lenny came around.
“Hm? What’s the matter?” she asked.
The boy hesitated for a bit, then ventured, “Um, I’d heard that there was an all-girl hunting party that was lodging here long-term, but we haven’t run into them at all…”
“Oh, you must be talking about Miss Mile’s group!” Lenny answered, offering the boys a smile and an explanation. “When those ladies are here, they fill the baths for us using magic. So the only time that we hire you all is when the ladies are away from the capital on business. In other words, you’ll never encounter that party while doing this job.”
Lenny had relatively few chances to speak with children her age or younger, so rather than using the formal patterns she usually employed while speaking to adults, she took a more relaxed, childlike tone. In fact, it seemed that she had purposely come by when the orphans were taking a break, just so that she could talk with them. However…
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!”
The orphan boys fell to their knees in the dirt, despair upon their faces. They did not seem to be enjoying this conversation at all.
“N-no way… All of our hopes… All of our big plans…”
“Our dreams of establishing the party Griffon’s End, and training everyone into first-class hunters, under the guidance of Veil and our benefactor…”
Apparently, these orphans had all heard Veil’s tales of Mile from their days at the prep school.
“Hm? Huh?”
Lenny only gaped at them, not understanding what was going on in the least…
3. All-Purpose Mage
“Oh, it’s Reina!”
As the members of the Crimson Vow were looking over the job request board one day, a voice called to them from behind. When they turned to look, they saw Fran, one of their classmates from the prep school, along with the three members of the Flaming Wolves, who had been their allies in that fateful escort mission.
Reina greeted them mildly. “Well, if it isn’t Fran and the Flaming Wolves. It’s been a while.”
“Oh, Fran, have you joined up with the Flaming Wolves?” Mile asked with interest.
“Eheheh, that’s correct. As you know, initially, I was in a party of our classmates, but they all turned out to be somewhat unreliable. For someone starting out, it’s a lot safer to have the guidance of people with more experience. I’ll be able to advance much quicker this way!”
Fran’s chestnut hair was cut in a short bob, from under which shone big, round brown eyes. Fran was incredibly cute—small in stature, but bright and full of energy—and had been very popular at the prep school. Additionally, Fran was a mage by profession, something that the Flaming Wolves were sorely lacking. Fran’s magical skills covered a relatively wide and useful range, from combat to healing magic.
“I’m only a newbie, but they’re taking really good care of me. I’m so happy right now!”
“Really? That’s wonderful!”
It was probably a bother for the party that Fran had left, but that couldn’t be helped. All of this was voluntary, so everyone had to pick the path that was best for them.
After they stood and talked for a while, the Flaming Wolves’ job acceptance paperwork was completed, and the groups parted. Just before they left, their leader, Brett, hung back, leaning in toward the Crimson Vow.
“Honestly, I’ve really got to thank you all. Thanks to that incident, our names got around, and we gained a lot more credibility. Now, with little Fran with us, our party has more balance… If we could get just one more mage to join, our group would be complete, but at this rate, I’m confident that it’ll happen soon. The only problem we have now is figuring out which one of us three is going to get to date Fran first and smother all these sparks that are flying, you know? Ha ha ha!”
“…………”
With that, Brett departed, leaving the four to watch him go, their expressions inscrutable.
“Ah… I wonder if those boys know…”
“From the way he was talking, I’m guessing that’s a ‘no.’”
“I’m thinking they don’t. I’d bet a gold piece on it.”
“Oh, me too! I’ll wager ten gold on that.”
“In that case, it isn’t even a wager!”
The all-purpose mage, Fran. A graduate of the Hunters’ Prep School’s twelfth class.
With soft chestnut hair and big, round eyes.
A short and slender, but bright and energetic, adorable youth.
The third son of a poor farming family, or so they had heard.
Indeed, the third son.
The four girls of the Crimson Vow prayed for happiness for Brett, Chuck, and Daryl in their next lives.
Chapter 25:
The Wonder Trio, Secret Hunters
The capital of the Kingdom of Brandel is a city that is home to two academies: Ardleigh and Eckland.
On the evening of a rest day, in one part of that city, three girls were walking together.
“I wonder if she’s doing well…”
“I’m sure she’s fine. Wasn’t it you, Miss Marcela, who once said, ‘Even if a dragon stepped on her, she would never break’?”
“That’s right! In fact, I bet she’s somewhere this very minute, saying, ‘I wonder how Marcela and the girls are doing…’”
“Perhaps so… No, I’m sure of it!”
It had been eight months since that fateful day. Marcela, Monika, and Aureana were now third-year students.
After graduation, Marcela would be returning to her home to begin her training in domestic skills; likewise, Monika would go home to help out with her family’s business, while also searching for a potential husband. Aureana, who had received a scholarship, would have to take up work in a public office in order to repay her debts. They had only one year left to lead their carefree student lives.
They were walking down a fairly narrow avenue, some distance from the city center. Though this was by no means some derelict, untraveled lane, it was not long before the three girls found their path impeded by two men. Ma
rcela quickly glanced behind them, to see two more men standing there.
They were surrounded.
“Can I help you with something?” asked Marcela, betraying not a hint of fear.
Monika and Aureana could do no such thing. They clung to each other, clearly frightened.
“What? We just thought you gals might like to come have a good time with us.”
“If you wish to court any of us, you may send your representatives to make a formal introduction and properly petition our fathers.”
“Wh…?”
Naturally, she was not being serious. There was no way that some rogue or disgraced hunter would petition to make the formal acquaintance of the daughter of a noble. Marcela was different from Adele. Totally different.
“D-don’t screw with us, you little… Just come with us already! There’s someone who can make good use of you!”
As he shouted, the man reached toward Marcela.
“Ignite!”
“Oww!”
Aureana let off one of her spells, which were weak in power but still useful in everyday life. The spell, normally used for lighting a fire, singed the man’s outstretched arms.
“Y-you little bitch! Y’know, they told us that we only had to bring ’em the noble’s daughter! They said it didn’t matter if the commoners were dead or alive! You can regret that little trick of yers in hell!”
The man pulled his hands back and drew his sword.
“Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!!”
As he swung down his sword, Aureana’s life flashed before her eyes. Just then, Monika thrust herself between Aureana and the blade.
“Wha…?!”
The man panicked as the noble girl, who he had been instructed to deliver unharmed, had stepped in front of his blade. Hurriedly, he tried to stop his swing, but it was too late. There was an unfortunate sound, and a dull ka-shunk!
However, the sword had not sunk into the noble girl’s body. What the sword had struck was the mass of ice that had suddenly appeared in front of her.
“Wha…?”
“Ignite.”
Before the man could react, Aureana whispered the word stoically. Violently, the man’s hair flared up.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!”
As the man flailed around, trying to extinguish the flame atop his head, Aureana stared at him with cold eyes. She was angry. Incredibly angry.
“Water Ball!”
A volleyball-sized sphere of water appeared at the behest of Monika’s spell, which was truncated to only the name. It flew into the face of the other man, who was standing ahead of them, and stopped there.
“Ugh! Guhbluhbluhbluh!”
Naturally, the man, who had inadvertently sucked air into his windpipe, swung his head violently to try and remove the sphere, but the water would not budge. No matter how he tried to flick it off with his hands, or run around to shake it away, the globe would not leave his head, and eventually his movements began to grow sluggish.
In the instant that Aureana’s spell drove the man away, Marcela turned around and began a spell aimed at the men behind her. Just like Monika and Aureana, she only needed to say the spell’s name. Of course, they did not truly need to say anything at all, but when they had the time to, saying the spell’s name made it that much more efficient.
“Fire Shot!”
Two flame bullets shot out, aimed for the right shoulders of the two men standing behind them. They dropped their swords and fell, rolling. Marcela had plenty of room, it seemed, to properly aim her attack.
In the two years since the girls had first received magic lessons from Adele, they had by no means been playing around. They had spent a year and two months of that time with Adele. For the eight months after, it had been just the three of them. Still, for the sake of their futures, their research and efforts had continued.
The three girls, who were quite bright, had continued to research the principles of magic that Adele had taught them, negating their initial lack of magical power. Of course, they had not been expecting to suddenly be swung at by men who aimed to take them captive. Yet though their situation was dangerous, they could not falter: if they went easy on fiends as weak as these, they could easily be captured.
“Now then, perhaps you might tell me who it was that hired you…”
As she stood, grinding her foot into the rogue, he wailed that they had been misled, that they hadn’t been warned that Marcela was a remarkable mage, but just told to expect some stupid noble schoolgirl. They hadn’t known that even her commoner companions could use magic.
In the midst of these complaints, some nearby hunters finally came running.
Apparently, the men would be turned over to an expert for further questioning.
Later, they headed to the hunters’ guild to explain what had happened. Along the way, Aureana, who was wearing an unusually displeased expression, suddenly turned to Marcela.
“What was that all about, Miss Marcela?!”
“Oh? What do you mean?”
“When that man tried to attack me! Why would you do something so dangerous? Are you not afraid to die?! Your life is worth so much more than—”
“Miss Aureana,” Marcela interrupted. “Of course I am afraid of death. However, compared to the fear of losing you before my very eyes, doing nothing to stop it, and having to live with that regret for the rest of my life… the fear of death is nothing.”
Marcela smiled as she spoke, but Aureana was indignant.
“Please don’t toy with me! Are you saying that it means nothing if I have to watch you die before my very eyes—just to protect me?! There is nothing more frightening than that! Would you have me carry that weight on my shoulders for the rest of my life?!”
“Ah…”
With her own grave oversight pointed out to her, Marcela froze, her mouth agape.
“I-I understand now…”
“In that case, I pray that you will not do anything like that ever again!”
Marcela shook her head back and forth. “I cannot promise that.”
“Wh-why not?!”
Marcela, perplexed at why the other girl would ask a question with such an obvious answer, furrowed her brow as she replied. “Because you are my dear friend, and I am who I am—the girl Marcela.”
“……”
No matter what she said, it was hopeless. Aureana was certain of at least that much.
There was nothing to be done for it. She looked at Marcela, a splendid noble girl, suddenly overcome by a sense of honor and gratitude…
“That is about the sum of it.”
In the guild master’s office, on the second floor of the hunters’ guild’s headquarters, the three girls explained what had happened.
The guild master was sitting not at his desk, but at the table situated in front of it. His back was to his desk and the three girls were in a row facing him. A clerk, who also served as his secretary, sat diagonally behind him.
“Hmm. If some fiend were to get their hands on Lady Marcela, who is a fond associate of the third princess… Might they have had some particular aim in mind? Did they wish to curry your favor? Or perhaps hold you hostage? Well, we’ll have our experts investigate something along those lines. Honestly, though, to challenge three mage hunters so forcefully, even if you’re only D-ranks, they really must not have done their research…”
“Ahaha…”
Indeed, the three girls were now D-rank hunters.
By hooking Monika and Aureana into her “Adele Simulator” by means of a “connection system,” Marcela was able to form a “Super Adele Simulator,” in order to predict Adele’s actions. The results of their predictions were something along the lines of the following:
Where might she be?
She was still in the country: 6% chance
She had fled the country: 94% chance
What might she be doing now?
Hiding out somewhere deep in the woods 5% chance
Living undercover in some n
oble household: 4% chance
Working…
as a live-in maid: 7% chance
at a shop in some town: 9% chance
as a hunter: 69% chance
Other: 6% chance
And so, just in case it might help them, the three had decided to register as hunters.
Their goal was to reach a C-rank by the time they graduated. Or, at the very least, a D-rank.
By the time they graduated, they knew, Adele would definitely be a C-rank. It was unlikely, too, that she would become a B-rank or higher. Even if she had the opportunity to do so, she would want to remain at a C-rank, where she would stand out less. This much they were confident of.
Blessedly, thanks to the knowledge that Adele had imparted to them, Marcela had the magical strength of a standard mage, Monika had that of about the lowest level of mage, and Aureana had half that still. And, thanks to the fact that they could cast in their heads—which was not the so-called “silent casting” of this world, but rather Adele’s special brand of “directly visualizing the intended effect, without saying an incantation at all”—they could work magic at a miraculous speed.
Of course, in order to conceal their special talents, they purposefully took a bit of time with their workings, telling people that they learned how to cast quickly inside their heads by “practicing so hard we were vomiting blood.”
In any event, thanks to this efficient means of casting, the three of them could produce a force far greater than what one might expect, given their apparent magical strength. Indeed, their practical magical power exceeded that of the average mage. Because of this, when they registered with the guild, they were able to utilize the skip system to start out at a D-rank.
Naturally, they kept all of this a secret from their families.
The girls did not truly have any intention of living their lives as hunters.
They merely thought that, should they encounter Adele again someday, being registered with the guild would leave their own field of options just a little bit wider.
Besides, once they had the qualifications of a C-rank hunter, there was nothing that could stand in their way. When it came to seeking a spouse, there would be no greater proof of their magical ability than to say, “As a mage, I possess the qualifications of a C-rank hunter.”