by Funa
Previously
When Adele von Ascham, the eldest daughter of Viscount Ascham, was ten years old, she was struck with a terrible headache and just like that, remembered everything.
She remembered how, in her previous life, she was an eighteen-year-old Japanese girl named Kurihara Misato who died while trying to save a young girl, and that she met God…
Misato had exceptional abilities, and the expectations of those around her were high. As a result, she could never live her life the way she wanted. So when she met God, she made an impassioned plea:
“In my next life, please make my abilities average!”
Yet somehow, it all went awry.
In her new life, she can talk to nanomachines and, although her magical powers are technically average, it is the average between a human’s and an elder dragon’s…6,800 times that of a sorcerer!
At the first academy she attended, she made friends and rescued a little boy as well as a princess. She registered at the Hunters’ Prep School under the name of Mile and at the graduation exam went head-to-head with an A-rank hunter.
The party she formed with her classmates, the Crimson Vow, made an impressive debut! But one problem after another has come hurtling their way—from golems, invading foreign soldiers, and fathers who are too protective of their daughters, to elder dragons, the strongest creatures in the world!
And then suddenly, a clash between the Crimson Vow and Mile’s friends from her first school, the Wonder Trio?!
A lot has happened, but now Mile is going to live a normal life as a rookie hunter with her allies by her side.
Because she is a perfectly normal, average girl!
Chapter 46:
Demons
“D-demons…”
The members of the Crimson Vow were stunned. They had been certain that they were dealing with beastmen, but now their opponents had suddenly revealed themselves to be demons.
“Wha?! But y’all already knew we were demons, didn’t ya?!”
The demons, who had lowered their hoods on the assumption that they had been found out, were equally surprised.
“Sorry! We really weren’t trying to deceive you or anything…” Mile scratched her head apologetically. “But since we already have a pretty good idea of what’s going on here, how about you all tell us the rest?”
Though Mile had asked cordially, it was only natural that the demons weren’t about to assent so readily.
“Q-quit messin’ around! It’s you who’s gonna tell us everything you know! Get ’em!” the leader ordered.
When they had fought the beastmen in the past, the Crimson Vow had assumed their opponents to be demons before they showed their faces and steeled themselves accordingly. It was the other way around this time, and the Crimson Vow were thoroughly unprepared.
The fight began, and they witnessed it—the demons’ superhuman strength, the stuff of legends. The Crimson Vow were taken aback, but of course, there was one among them who was primed to resist.
“Friends, there’s no need to fear! Whenever such devils appear in tales, a hero always emerges from among the humans. This means that the stories of their power are merely an exaggeration—they couldn’t possibly be as strong as all that. After all, it’s rare for a hero to actually be as mighty in real life as legends make them out to be. Demons are no different. They might be stronger than beastfolk, more magical than elves, and hardier than dwarves, but they’re still nothing more than just another type of humanoid!”
At Mile’s decree, Reina and Mavis straightened up a bit, their resolve renewed. However, Pauline had a question: “But…doesn’t that mean that they’re still superior to humans on every front?”
Reina and Mavis paled again.
“Please keep your logic out of thiiiiiiiiiis!!!!” Mile wailed.
Hm, she thought. This is bad. There are four of us on each side. If this turns into a one-on-one battle, people are gonna get hurt and maybe even die… I believe in everyone, but there’s always that million-to-one chance, and it’s possible that someone may have no choice but to deal their opponents a fatal wound. What to do?
That’s it!
The perfect plan popped into Mile’s mind fully formed.
“Please wait!” she shouted.
The approaching demons stopped in their tracks.
“What? Y’all gonna give up and surrender?” asked the leader.
Mile shook her head. “That’s not it. I was just thinking, if we jump into an all-out brawl like this, it won’t be very…aesthetic, will it?”
“Huhhhhhhh?”
All voices present, save for Mile’s, rang out in harmony.
Even Reina and Mavis were stunned this time.
“Wh-what exactly—”
“Do you mean by ‘aesthetic’?”
“What in the world is she on about?” the demons’ leader asked.
For once even Mavis could not answer.
“What we need is a one-on-one tournament,” said Mile.
Everyone else was flabbergasted at this proposal, so she explained:
“Don’t you think it would be sacrilege for us to have such a glorious battle as this and leave everyone stuck concentrating on their own matches, not getting to witness their comrades’ bouts?”
Two of the demons, who seemed particularly enthused at the prospect of fighting, nodded their heads in agreement.
“So here’s the plan. Each of our sides will put forward one fighter at a time, while the others observe without interfering. We’ll have four rounds. Whoever takes three rounds is the victor. The losing side will consider themselves captured and surrender at once. Should we end up with a tie, we will rule that the prowess of our groups is equal and confer with one another on equal terms. How does that sound?”
“Give us a moment.”
The demons held a quiet discussion among themselves. “All right,” they replied. “We’ve got no objections.”
More than likely, they assumed that the chances of demons such as themselves losing to a bunch of little human girls were… well, you should know the drill by now. Plus, the proposed tournament would be a good way to kill some time. The Crimson Vow had no objections either, already used to leaving negotiations to Mile, at least when commerce was not involved.
“Are we all in agreement, then?”
And so, it was settled.
“Pauline will be the advance guard, Reina will be up after her, Mavis is the lieutenant, and I’ll be the big boss.”
Mile arranged their lineup in order of strength, with the strongest members going last. The others would probably be doing the same.
Now and then, an enemy might switch it up on purpose, sending in their second against the other side’s advance guard, their lieutenant against the other side’s second, and their boss against the other side’s lieutenant. Then, once their victory was secured with those three matches, they’d send in their advance against the boss as a throwaway. However, Mile thought it unlikely that the demons would do such a thing.
“M-Mile, are you sure it’s all right to make me the lieutenant? W-wouldn’t it be better for me to be the advance guard?” Mavis stammered nervously.
Mile just grinned. “Don’t worry, Mavis, there’s no way you could lose! You’re an aspiring knight, after all!”
“I…I guess you’re right. Yeah, that’s exactly right!”
The tense expression faded from her face, and the corners of her mouth twisted into a smile.
The two teams hammered out a set of rules, with provisions allowing that, if the spectators judged that their team
’s fighter was in danger, they could call off the match or step in to protect their teammate from the enemy’s attacks—though in that case, the round would be considered a loss for their side. This portion of the rules had, of course, been Mile’s doing. It provided a way for victory to be achieved without either side taking grave injuries or suffering fatalities.
Even if they ended up losing the tourney on the whole, it wouldn’t be a huge deal. As long as they could finish without anyone getting seriously hurt or dying, then the worst case scenario was just that they’d have to tell the demons the truth about taking on the job and go over the details of the previous incident. That was no huge loss. Even if they returned to town with only the intel that they were dealing with demons this time, their job would be regarded as a success.
Plus, since the humans already knew about the investigation being conducted by beastmen and demons at the elder dragons’ behest, the demons had no reason to detain the Crimson Vow. Once they had given their information, they would probably be released.
And if they were not released, then they could always run, of course. Running away after they had been captured would not constitute breaking their promise.
Not that Mile had even the slightest intention of losing in the first place.
On a small plain where the cliffside opened up, Pauline stood facing a demon around thirty years old. That said, even if the man appeared to be thirty, demons’ ages did not align with their appearances, so the girls couldn’t be sure how old he was.
Pauline appeared to be trembling—perhaps from fear or nerves. When they had assumed the beastmen to be demons last time, they had felt a sense of trepidation, even despair. This time, it had been the opposite at first—they’d thought that their opponents were beastmen and that their victory would be quick and easy. Yet here before them stood a band of demons. Now Pauline had to face one of them in a test of magic, face to face. No human would assume a straightforward victory was guaranteed.
The spectators all sat together, Crimson Vow and demons alike. Sitting in two groups would have made them more vulnerable to any wayward spells, and this way they would be able to glean information from one another as they talked among themselves. The demon who had previously been pierced by Mile’s bullet had been dragged along by his companions and now sat among the spectators as well. Though his wounds had been healed, the magic the demons used was not the somewhat unnatural power Mile and Pauline wielded. Therefore, it would still be some time before he regained his strength. For now, he was down for the count as far as combat went.
Finally, Mile shouted from the makeshift stands:
“Okay! Ready, set, fight!”
“Ice Javelin!”
“Earth Wall!”
A wall of dirt arose from the ground to protect the demon against Pauline’s icicle attack. To shield against the barrage of materialized ice, a physical, rather than a magical, barrier was necessary. Conjuring rock would require a sizable amount of magical energy and skill, but dirt was nothing. Both spells were simple things, with the full incantations omitted.
“…Ice Needle!” Pauline attacked again, this time muttering a short spell in a soft voice. The small needles of ice that materialized were swiftly warded off by a blast of wind magic.
“………”
Not in the least bit distressed by the attack, and showing no signs of incanting a spell, the demon man began to approach Pauline, who now stood unmoving.
“It’s useless,” he said. “A little human girl’s magic could never touch us, and any spell of ours is sure to break through your barriers. Whaddya think? How about you surrender now? That way you won’t have to get hurt, yeah?”
Pauline shook her head from side to side, tears dotting her eyes.
Of course, if she took the full brunt of a demon’s magic, it would easily break through any barrier she could conjure.
That was, if she took it head-on.
“Well, I gave ya the chance. I’ll try and settle this quick, then. Hopefully it won’t hurt ya too bad.”
The demon brandished his right hand arrogantly, taking on a languid spell-casting stance, but Mile made no move to intervene. “Water, bind around that girl’s limbs and freeze in place to—”
And then, as he began to cast his spell…
“Gwah!” He stopped, a look of utter disbelief upon his face as sweat began to stream from his entire body. “Gyaaaaaah!!”
He clutched his behind and began writhing on the ground.
Pauline appeared to be shaken by this, unable to do a thing.
However, that was not Pauline’s MO. Not at all.
“I was trying so hard not to laugh, I almost started crying…” Apparently, Pauline was not trembling in fear but actually holding back laughter. As she feigned terror, she had secretly and quietly begun to cast a short-range “heat” spell underneath her opponent’s feet. A weak air current raised it into the bottoms of his pant legs, aiming straight for his most sensitive mucous membranes.
“Wh-what happened?! What the heck just…”
The demon spectators were in a panic. Still, they watched as their companion wailed, cried, and writhed on the ground before them, showing no signs of being ready to intervene and forfeit the round.
And then, Pauline began another spell.
“Blade of ice, pierce my enemy’s heart! Ice—”
“Enough! Enough, we forfeit! The match is over!”
The demon leader’s face twisted at this show of excessive force, and he quickly called an end to the match.
If we can just win the next three rounds, we’ve still got this, he thought to himself, though an inescapable premonition of doom began to bubble up within him…
First round winner: Pauline of the Crimson Vow.
The next round, round two, would be Reina versus a boy demon of around twelve or thirteen years old.
In fact, though the boy physically appeared to be around the same age as Reina, as with the previous contender, there was no way of knowing his true age. Then again, Reina herself was actually sixteen years old anyway.
The two squared off against one another.
Unlike Pauline, who was the sort to resort to dirty tricks, Reina was an in-your-face type of mage, a devastating force of nature. However, this meant that she was not well suited to fighting an opponent with even more powerful magic at their disposal. Such as a demon…
Naturally, Reina was well aware of this. Still, no matter how unfavorable this matchup, she had no choice but to fight. It wasn’t as though she would always be paired up with opponents over whom she had the advantage.
“Fire Lance!”
This time, the demon boy was the first to attack. He had just witnessed something of a tragedy in the previous round, so he was likely on his guard—and understandably so.
“Barrier!”
Reina, of course, was not limited by the fact that she was an attack-type mage and released the protective spell she had silently been holding.
However, no matter how well defense magic guarded against an enemy attack, it didn’t guarantee victory—especially when you faced an opponent who far outranked you in magical strength and skill. If your defense wasn’t perfect, then you were better off spending your energy on attack spells from the start. Still, for some reason, Reina’s first move was to defend herself.
The barrier spell that Mile had trained Reina to use was also far stronger than the norm, so no matter how powerful the demon’s attack might have been, it would not break through easily.
“Wh…?” The demon boy was shaken. Somehow the likes of a little human girl had managed to ward off his magical attack.
“Firebomb!”
“Magic Wall!”
This time, the demon boy was the one who had to guard against Reina’s attack.
“Flare Storm!”
“Barrier!”
“Hellfire!”
“Wall!”
The match dragged on and on as their volleys continued, neither able
to break through their opponent’s barrier. If things continued this way, it was sure to spell disaster for Reina, who fell somewhat behind the demon boy in magical power. Both the demon boy and Reina herself were becoming increasingly aware of this fact.
After innumerable rounds of this, Reina’s turn to attack came once again. However, she did not incant a spell.
Instead, she rushed toward her opponent at full speed.
“Huh?”
The boy was struck dumb with shock for a moment but quickly regained his cool.
“I see, you’ve realized that your magic is no match for mine, and you’ve come to strike me directly with your staff then, have you? You do realize that I am still a demon, do you not? Magic may be my specialty, but I have mastered the basics of the art of the staff as well. That you might expect a mage like me to fall short in martial combat against a little human girl is just—”
The boy jabbered on and on until suddenly Reina’s staff flew from her hands and landed on the ground in front of him, stunning him into silence.
“Huh…?”
She let go of her staff just before a direct attack?
What was the meaning of this? Why would she do that?
There was no way that an empty-handed little girl, especially a mage, whose physical skills were not especially well honed, could defeat a demon by striking or throttling him.
Perhaps because he was so rattled by this incomprehensible action, the boy’s response was delayed. His certainty that he could defeat a weak, unarmed human girl with a swing of his staff was a testament to the naivete of his youth, which left him paralyzed.
Squeeze!
“Wh…?”
By the time the boy finally realized what was going on, he found Reina clinging to him tightly.
There was a warm, soft sensation against his chest.
Th-this is…
The boy turned bright red. To date, he had never had a girlfriend, and so had never had a chance to embrace a girl, or even hold hands with any young ladies who were not his own sister. And now, a girl’s sweet fragrance was wafting into his nostrils…