Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Volume 6

by Funa

  Their current allies? Who cared about them?! After they won one of the girls’ hearts, they could throw a big party for everyone. The other guys would be thanking them with tears in their eyes.

  Now then, which to aim for?

  The cool and collected Mavis, who could be approached as a fellow wielder of the sword? The meek little Mile, who had storage magic and outstanding sword skills herself? It would be three or four years until she was of marrying age, but it was probably a bit soon to be thinking of that anyway.

  And of course, it was hard to neglect the buxom Pauline or the svelte Reina. With a mage for a girlfriend, one never needed to worry about injury—and magic was useful for all sorts of other things as well.

  Somehow sensing all these desires, wishes, ambitions, and wild dreams swirling in the air around them, the Crimson Vow began to grow uneasy, and as soon as their business was finished, they swiftly moved to leave the hall.

  However, just before they stepped outside, Mile suddenly paused as though she had just recalled something. “Ah, sorry guys, can you wait here a minute? There’s something I need to do. I’ll be right back!”

  Rather than heading to their usual destination, the job acceptance window, she moved toward a counter that they had little familiarity with: the one that dealt with clients who placed requests and other members of the general public.

  She had done something of the sort at least once before—when sending out that letter, or rather, package, that the elderly elf had tagged onto. So, this time, the others thought nothing of it, waiting patiently just in front of the entrance until Mile finished her business.

  “Excuse me, I believe there’s a package for me? It should be addressed to ‘Miami Satodele,’ with this branch hall as the destination…” Mile said quietly so that no one else could hear. As this was not the counter where hunters accepted jobs and gave their completion reports, but the one intended for the general public, the receptionist, of course, was not No-Hope Felicia.

  “Please wait a moment,” said the receptionist as she stood from her seat.

  She vanished behind a door for a few moments and then returned with a small parcel. She retook her seat, and then, facing Mile, asked, “What is the nickname of the giant monster that attacks seafaring boats, whose parts are used in creating medicines for afflictions of the eyes?”

  “The Ophthalmologist’s Blight!”’

  “Correct. That is the password. Here you are!” she said, handing the package over.

  Incidentally, there was no such creature as the one that the riddle had mentioned. It was merely a question that the sender knew that only Mile, or rather, ‘Miami Satodele,’ would know the answer to. It was a nonsense question that no one else would be able to answer.

  Mile returned to her party. “Sorry to keep you!”

  “Let’s get back to the inn,” Reina replied. “We’re taking tomorrow and the day after off for some personal time, remember?”

  Overhearing this, the ears of the surrounding male hunters began to prick up. They were likely thinking that if the Vow were going to be going around town separately, then they might just get the chance to encounter one of them. Unwittingly letting such information slip in a place like this would turn out to be a big misstep on Reina’s part…

  After they had returned to the inn, Mile opened her parcel, examining the two letters that were inside. One of them she put into storage, but the other she opened up in front of the others.

  “It’s a letter from Lenny!”

  “Hang on! When exactly did you tell her we were going to…? Oh right, that parcel you sent from the other town, right? I guess we’d already decided that we would be staying in this city for a little while by then. Well then, let’s all see what it says.”

  And so, they passed the letter around.

  ***

  Early one morning, when Lenny was tidying up outside of the inn’s front door, a man had called out to her.

  “Pardon me, is there someone by the name of Lenny here?”

  “Ah, well, that would be me…”

  For a stranger to have some business with the inn made sense, but there was no reason for any strange adults to have business with Lenny, who was still a child. Though she had tentatively replied, her body tensed with wariness, gripping the broom as she instinctively shifted into a battle stance.

  “Whoa now, I’m no one suspicious! I’m just a messenger; I came to deliver an item to you!” the man hurriedly said, digging into the bag on his shoulder and pulling out something that appeared to be a letter, which he presented to Lenny.

  “What’s this?”

  “I’m only the messenger here! I wouldn’t possibly know… The postage has already been paid by the sender, so there’s no charge to you.”

  Surely enough, Lenny’s name and that of the inn were inscribed on the back of the envelope as the letter’s destination. However, the name of the sender was not written, so even if she wished to return it, she couldn’t. The sender must not have wanted others to be able to tell who had sent it just by looking.

  “Who is this from? And who is it that you work for?” Lenny asked, but the man simply shook his head.

  “I cannot answer that, and I do not know the sender’s name. Well, I mean, of course I know the name of the person who forwarded this on to me, but they might not have known the name of the person who addressed this to you, or they simply may not have wished to tell me. So please don’t ask me what their name is. I cannot tell you my name or my affiliation, either. Doing so would interrupt the flow of information and jeopardize certain secrets.”

  Lenny was quite bright, so the moment she heard this, a light bulb came on in her head. She broke the seal on the spot, read the first few lines of the letter, and then shoved it straight back into the envelope.

  “U-um, can I get you to send a reply to the letter you received? And can you include a letter from me as well?!”

  After a brief think, the man smiled kindly.

  “If you can write your reply straight away, I would be happy to take it.”

  “Please come with me!”

  Lenny grabbed the man by the hand and dragged him into the still empty dining room. Ignoring her speechless father, she urged the man into a chair and placed three mugs of ale and some snacks on the table before him, and set to work desperately writing her letter.

  “It’s going to take me a little while to drink all these…”

  Drinking three mugs of ale first thing in the morning was rather against the man’s general policy.

  Well, that’s fine, I suppose, he thought. I’m not gonna get drunk off of this much, and no one’s going to complain about me heading straight back after drinking these. Though I mean, I’d rather not set a bad precedent, but if I avoid the store and workshop and slip into the office from the back door, I should be fine… This little girl seems like she’s very important to them, after all. It’d be cruel to rush her.

  And so, leisurely, he put the first mug to his lips.

  The man received the letter to the sound of Lenny’s endless thanks. He gave the girl his regards and then left the inn behind.

  He set out through the capital streets, which had now begun to fill with people, sometimes slipping through the crowds, sometimes darting down narrow back alleys, taking an absurd and circuitous route so that he could not possibly be tailed, before disappearing through the back door of a certain shop.

  “Honestly though, what’s with all the secrecy? Well, that’s what they wanted, so I’ll follow instructions for now. I wonder what they could be up against these days… I guess this just comes with the territory when you’re dealing with eccentrics like these…”

  As so the man sat down at his desk, absorbing himself in office work so that none of the workers would have to see him until the smell of all three mugs of ale had worn off.

  ***

  “Say Mile, you like to read books, right? You wanna read these?” Reina asked as she handed Mile two recreational tomes.<
br />
  “Huh? Why do you have these, Reina?! These are really expensive!”

  Indeed, books in this world were ridiculously expensive. Even Mile would prefer borrowing them from the library to purchasing them herself.

  Furthermore, there were few books meant for recreation.

  Scholarly anthologies and the autobiographies of nobles and such were put out with the aim of spreading knowledge and attaining renown, so a fair number of books were produced with little concern paid to profit. Whether or not the information they contained was the truth was another matter. Even certain types of history books, depending on the country, were produced with a higher emphasis on popularity than moneymaking.

  However, this did not work for recreational books. Given that every single copy had to be reproduced by hand at scribing shops, the price per unit could not easily be lowered, and so the works had to be ones that would be guaranteed to sell at a price high enough to turn a sufficient profit. It was a budding industry, and as a result, literary culture at large was still a fledgling concept in this world.

  Plus, books were delicate, and any belonging to someone constantly on the road would soon fall to tatters—assuming that one did not have access to a realm of temporal stasis like Mile’s inventory space. Therefore, it was hard to imagine that Reina herself would buy such a book.

  “I borrowed them. If you pay one gold as a deposit, you can borrow a book for three days at the library here in exchange for three silver. Sticking around inside of libraries where everyone’s just reading silently with serious looks on their faces gives me the creeps, so I took the books out. I feel like it’s just as good as paying an admission fee. Anyway, since I already paid the money to borrow the books, I figured it’d be more cost-effective if we all got a chance to read them. This author is really funny—I’ve read tons of their books before, but it looks like there are two new ones out, so I ended up borrowing them both.”

  Mile then took the books that she was offered and read the titles.

  King Lear. The tale of an old king beloved by his three daughters.

  The Sorrows of Young Hamtel. The tale of a troubled young man who is unable to defeat the ferocious cockatrice that comes to live in the yard of his home.

  Author: Miami Satodele.

  Mile stared at the two books, trembling.

  “I-I don’t m-mind going last, so, um… P-Pauline and M-Mavis can go ahead and r-read them first…”

  “You sure? Well, you do read pretty fast, so I’m sure it’ll be fine if you get the last crack at them. Mavis, Pauline, you wanna read these?” Reina asked, moving away from Mile.

  Enough sweat ran down Mile’s face to fill a bucket.

  Later that night, once the others were sound asleep, Mile, who was a night owl and always the last to go to bed, sat awake writing, her page illuminated by a light spell behind a darkening barrier.

  Once she came to a stopping point, she reached into her inventory and withdrew a letter, looking it over again. It was the other letter that was enclosed in the parcel along with Lenny’s.

  Dear Ms. Satodele,

  We have safely received your latest manuscript. We will begin manufacturing and reproduction at once.

  Proceeds for the previous volumes have been favorable, and there have been talks of a dramatization. Payment for your manuscript has been forwarded to your account at the Merchants’ Guild.

  Additionally, the secondary letter you included has been delivered as requested. I believe it should go without saying that the enclosed is the reply that we were entrusted with.

  We shall be passionately awaiting your next work.

  Sincerely,

  Melsacus, Orpheus Publishing

  Mile wanted to spread interesting tales throughout the world, a joy which to her, was more valuable than even the pocket change this secret venture earned her. She wanted to bring forth epics and make the people around her smile.

  And, most importantly, she wanted to lay the groundwork for a global enlightenment, one that would make everyone finally be able to understand the punchlines of her jokes.

  The fact that there was not a person in this world who would understand the genius inherent in “Please Kenji, an Animage,” was hopelessly, desperately tragic.

  Miami Satodele. This was made of a jumble of three names: Mi-sato, A-dele, and Mi-le. An anthology of Mile’s three lives. That was who Miami Satodele was.

  “I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna spread my Japanese folktales—nay, my stories of the world—all across this land if it’s the last thing I do!”

  However, there was one thing Mile did not know.

  Both Mavis and Pauline had noticed that the contents of the books that they had borrowed from Reina very closely resembled things that they had previously heard only in Mile’s Japanese folktales, and thanks to this, it was only a matter of time now before one of them uncovered the truth…

  Chapter 52:

  Leatoria

  Several days later, it was time to make their first visit to Leatoria since she began her new diet. By now, they could check on her condition and would be able to tell whether the treatment was having any effect, and whether there had been any visible changes. If there were no results, then Mile would have to employ her secondary method, so it was important to be sure. There was no time to waste when a person’s life was in danger.

  And so, the Crimson Vow once again journeyed to the Aura family estate.

  Naturally, they were on foot this time.

  Though they were dropping in unannounced, it was not as though they were seeking an audience with the baron himself. All they had to do was find the butler, Bundine, or some other lower-ranking employee, and ask them how Leatoria was doing. That was all there was to it. No one ever expected a vacuum salesman or an evangelist to make an appointment before dropping by. This was very much the same.

  “It is splendid to see you again! Please, come in. The Baron will see you straight away!”

  Apparently, it was not at all the same. Bundine came running when he heard that the Crimson Vow had stopped by and led the group immediately to Leatoria’s room. When Bundine opened the door and urged the four inside, what greeted them was…

  “Oh hey! Good to see you all again!”

  Leatoria was vigorously performing an exercise that resembled yoga.

  “Wh-wha…?”

  Reina could barely form words. The other three could say nothing at all.

  Leatoria seemed a little too healthy…

  “My my! So sorry to keep you all waiting!”

  Before the members of the Crimson Vow could recover from their shock, the baron arrived.

  “Not only have her lethargy and the numbness in her legs gone away, her constitution, which has always been rather poor, has improved as well. Her appetite has increased, and now, well, see for yourself! I cannot thank you enough,” the baron said, bowing his head.

  “N-no, please don’t lower yourself, sir!”

  Having a baron bow to her again and again while she was passing herself off as a commoner was far too unsettling for Mavis, who quickly protested.

  “St-still, this is…”

  Thankfully, Leatoria was now wearing normal pajamas instead of a prim nightgown, so the effect was not quite as egregious as it could have been; however, she persisted in doing exercises in a stance that was at least a little inappropriate for a young lady to be taking in front of the eyes of gentlemen.

  For a weak little wisp of a girl, she was almost a tad too powerful.

  “My body feels so light! I’m having so much fun moving around. For the first time ever, I think I know what it’s like to truly be healthy!”

  Hey, nanos?

  PRESENT!

  Um, what the heck is happening here?

  YES, WELL, AS A BONUS, WE INCLUDED SOME UNIQUE COMPONENTS IN THOSE PILLS, AND WELL… WE VOLUNTARILY DECIDED TO HELP IMPROVE HER CONDITION, YOU SEE.

  I knew iiiiiiiiiiiiiitt!!!

  Mile had suspected that the truth ha
d to be something to this effect. Were that not the case, there was no possible way that Leatoria could have shown such drastic improvement so quickly.

  “Um, if she’s this healthy now, why is she still in her pajamas, being treated like an invalid?”

  “Uh…”

  At Mavis’s straightforward question, the baron, Bundine, and Leatoria all went stiff for some reason.

  “Well, it’s just that we’ve always seen Leatoria lying down, so…”

  “Nightclothes suit her ladyship so well that it’s rather impossible to think of her in anything else…”

  “It’s more comfortable this way, so…”

  Whoa now!!!! the members of the Crimson Vow thought as one.

  “You little slob! Go change your clothes immediately!”

  Whoa whoa whoa now!!! thought the Crimson Vow, minus one.

  They all knew that Reina’s order had come from a place of seniority, but the fact remained that Reina appeared to be the younger of the two, and she was speaking to a noble—right in front of the girl’s father, no less.

  A horrible spasm ran across Mavis’s face, but the baron only winced and left Bundine to handle getting Leatoria into some proper clothing, leading the Crimson Vow to the parlor himself.

  “As you can see, you may consider the job complete. Thank you again.”

  When they entered the parlor, the baron withdrew the job completion form from his breast pocket straight away and handed it to Mavis. Apparently unperturbed by Reina’s hubris, he had correctly deduced that Mavis was their leader. Well, in truth, it might have only been that Mavis was the eldest of the party or his assumption that she must be a noble. By appearance, Reina appeared to be no more than twelve or thirteen, after all.

  No, wait, come to think of it, Mavis actually had introduced herself as the leader last time…