“W-Who are you?!”
The bandit was thrown into confusion by the “White Girl” who had suddenly appeared before him.
Had this woman killed his subordinate bandits? What was the meaning of this act?
The girl had pure white hair, but she looked young, as if she had only just reached adulthood. Her clothes were of high quality, and at first glance, she might have seemed like a young lady from a good family.
There was no way such a slender little girl could kill anyone.
However, the red blood splattered as if to defile her white hair and skin, and the fact that her delicate, fish-belly white hands were bloodstained, betrayed the man’s thoughts.
More than that…
The girl, blood-soaked and smiling as if it were an everyday occurrence, made it clear that she was a fundamentally different existence from them.
Hyuu–
“Hih!”
Perhaps due to his fear, the moment the man flinched at a faint presence, something grazed past his face, and he felt something wet on his cheek.
“…It missed.”
The man realized from the girl’s words and the blood that was now thickly smeared on his cheek, despite not having been touched, that it had been her attack, and he scrambled back to create distance.
“Y-You lot! It’s an enemy! Kill her!!”
When the bandit, who had only now recognized her as an “enemy,” raised a clamor, the bandits, who hadn’t even understood the situation with their comrades suddenly dying, finally realized that this White Girl was the one who had killed their companions and began to move with furious expressions.
Without knowing who this girl was.
Without knowing what consequences their actions would bring…
“Well then, shall we begin?”
Amidst it all, only the White Girl was smiling, as if admiring a flower.
＊＊＊
Perhaps because I’m still not used to it, my hand-chop missed.
They’re going along with my plans, so I thought I’d at least grant them death in a single blow… Even when I rarely try to be kind, things just don’t go well, do they?
Oh well…
If I’d killed them too easily, they wouldn’t have understood how their comrades died. Since they’ve gotten all motivated, I suppose I’ll gratefully make use of them.
“Woman!”
One man lunges at me without even readying a weapon. My, what a vulgar face…
He really doesn’t understand, does he?
“–Kahyu.”
Stepping back slightly, I slit his throat with a caressing hand-chop, and the man stumbled past me, collapsing headfirst onto the forest ground.
“Hey, what’re you doing?!”
“I’ll take care of her!”
The men, still not understanding, complained to their fallen comrade. I dodged the men attacking me one after another with the slowed perception from Physical Enhancement’s Thought Acceleration, slitting their throats, snapping their necks, and reaping their lives at a speed invisible to their eyes.
“W-What the hell is this?!”
To the men who had finally understood that they were the ones being hunted, I offered a sweet smile.
“It’s alright.(・・・・)”
The life-extending method Samantha-san taught me. To put it simply, the secret to longevity she still practices was, in a way, quite simple.
It was to train Physical Enhancement, something ordinary Magicians don’t do.
I can use Physical Enhancement too, as it’s necessary for Thought Acceleration. For that reason, I even practiced Martial Arts, which I’m not good at, against Monsters.
But my <
But Grandma was different. While using Level 4 Martial Arts, she could achieve Thought Acceleration one level higher than that.
What made that possible was Mana Control.
It’s an essential technique for using magic efficiently, suppressing consumption, and increasing its effects, but it seems she uses it to control Physical Enhancement, strengthening not only the muscles in her limbs but even her internal organs.
“W-What is this woman?!”
“D-Don’t come any closer!”
I chased the fleeing and confused bandits at twice their speed, overtaking them, circling around, and killing them as I passed by.
It’s not like I’m killing them solely with Physical Enhancement. With my current self, there’s a limit to how much I can strengthen myself even with Mana Control.
But Grandma knew a way to train it efficiently.
That was to use Utility Magic.
Utility Magic, which uses faint mana that doesn’t generate Magic Stones in the heart. By handling it precisely, it becomes training for controlling Physical Enhancement, and it itself becomes a respectable “weapon.”
“Gyaaaaaaaah!?”
“H-Help…”
I clad myself in wind like gloves to increase my defense, created sharp earthen claws from the dust in the air, and fine water particles created a mist of light and shadow, obscuring my form.
But I don’t use “fire.”
Because it’s a promise with Aria-san…
To the last frightened, lucky man who dodged my blow, I offer gentle words for his final moments in this world. It’s alright… Rest assured.
“Dying isn’t that scary, you know.”
＊＊＊
After exterminating the bandits, we received a certain amount of reward from the Adventurers Guild.
No matter how much they said a Rank 5 had wiped them out, the reward wouldn’t normally be paid out immediately without confirmation from the Guild or soldiers, but apparently, the feudal lord who heard Aria-san’s name approved it right away.
In the town square, the lord and his wife, a young couple, grandly declared that the bandit trouble had been resolved, and the residents raised voices of joy.
Hmm…
As I thought, you two seem happier in that kind of position…
“Well then, I’m headin’ home!!”
“…Huh?”
At Samantha-san’s abrupt statement, after she had drunk her fill of mead now that the matter was settled, I couldn’t help but ask her to repeat herself…
“What about the training? Aren’t you going to teach me?”
When I instinctively asked back, remembering the good-natured Dark Elf Serejyura-san, she looked at me strangely in return.
“White Lass!! You learn through practice! What I use is merely my own style! From now on, you should hone it and make it your own technique!! Well then, farewell!! I want to go play with my Great-Great-Grandchild quickly!!”
Shouting as if she were on the other side of the street, Grandma disappeared in a cloud of dust in the blink of an eye, before I could stop her.
I instinctively furrowed my brow and looked at Aria-san, but she didn’t seem to mind and started packing her belongings.
“She got to drink her mead and was satisfied, right?”
“She does whatever she pleases… Not that we’re ones to talk.”
As I let out an involuntary sigh, Kitty-chan on Aria-san’s shoulder yawned as if exasperated.