Ultimate Otome Survival – Chapter 143

The Searth Continent also has four seasons. Even as spring ends and summer approaches, the Northern Mels Union has only just seen the arrival of its short spring, but in the southern Kingdom of Claydale, even the northern Seyles Barony has become swelteringly hot.
 Deep within the forest of such a land, a woman in a simple, everyday robe was picking vegetables and herbs from her garden, placing them into a basket. Still crouching, she stretched her stiff body, rising to her feet and raising both arms.
“Ughh…”
 As she stretched, her silver hair flowed, shimmering in the sunlight, and her skin, still appearing to be in her late twenties, shone like lustrous obsidian.

A Dark Elf. A race said to inhabit the western depths of this Searth Continent, possessing long lifespans and refined appearances like the Forest Elves.
 Though few in number, they are said to have existed on this continent even before the Cruz, the indigenous people of the human race. They had minor interactions with the Cruz, but when the Mersenians’ “Holy Church,” who had migrated here a thousand years ago, vilified the Dark Elves as servants of evil gods to avoid war with the Cruz, they were persecuted by all races. Out of resentment, they began to call themselves the “Evil Race,” enemies of humans.

However, after a thousand years, the reasons for fighting changed. At the time, they fought against all races to vent their resentment, but now, that animosity was directed more towards the Holy Church than the human race. To weaken the Holy Church’s power, they repeatedly waged wars against human nations, attempting to dismantle the framework of the state.
 Serejula, a female Evil Race feared as a “War Demon” by both humans and Evil Race in those wars, grew tired of a life knowing only battle. She faked her own death, deserted the Evil Race Army, and hid in this land.

Returning from the garden, Serejula ate a meal of freshly picked vegetables and leftover stew, then made potions to give to the few acquaintances she had among the traveling merchants.
 Amidst this same routine, she recently had other things to do. Once night fell and she determined that she wouldn’t need to use much Mana, Serejula began the “experiment” that had become her new daily task.

“――【Iron Rose】――”

With that murmur, Serejula’s silver hair swirled as if blown by the wind.

【Serejula】【Race: Dark Elf♀】【Rank 5】
【Mana Capacity: 387/425】【HP: 215/250】
【Overall Combat Strength: 2006 (During Special Body Enhancement: 3786)】
【Combat Art: Iron Rose /Limit 38 Second】

“……Tch.”
 As her Mana visibly decreased, Serejula deactivated Iron Rose and inadvertently grumbled, as if sighing in exhaustion.
“How can that Taciturn Disciple use something like this so easily…”

A year ago, Aria, her beloved disciple who had returned once, told her the principle of the Combat Art called 【Iron Rose】, which was named by a Spirit in the Dungeon.
 Since it was a Combat Art, anyone could use it if they met the conditions. In fact, Serejula was able to activate it, though it took time.
 However, the condition of converting Mana Particles in the body into pure Mana became an obstacle. Even Serejula, who had reached level 5 Mana Control and could purify Mana to some extent, consumed more than 10 Mana per second.
 At this rate, it was unusable. She hypothesized that the cause was the purity of Mana, but that was probably not the only factor. Considering that her hair color didn’t change unlike Aria, Serejula wrote down the experimental results and considerations on paper for her reckless disciple.

Just as Serejula was teaching the Taciturn Disciple (Aria) the Magic she had devised, Aria was also teaching her master (Serejula) the Magic she had created.
 Relatively harmless Magic like 【Feel】 and 【Phantom Pain】 were one thing, but Magic that utilized the Shadow within the body, like 【Shadow Storage】, was unprecedented. The difficulty of learning it was high, and since it was unknown what effects it would have on the human body, Serejula was also conducting research on 【Shadow Storage】 using her own body.
 At that moment, Serejula, who had been studying Magic at the table in the living room, suddenly raised her face.
“……Someone’s coming.”
 Extinguishing the 【Light】 she had lit with 【Dark】, Serejula stood up, taking a hatchet from 【Shadow Storage】.
 Someone was outside. But it wasn’t a human presence. Noticing that no hostility could be felt from that presence, Serejula shouldered the hatchet and headed for the entrance, forcefully pushing the door open.
“As expected, Mystic Beasts have good manners. ……Are you alone?”

――Yes――

Sparks flew from the antennae extending from its ears, and its figure lurking in the night momentarily emerged.
 There, a huge Mystic Beast resembling a black panther, with fur as black as the darkness of the deep forest, stood quietly: a Kuaal, Nero, who acted together with Aria.
 Nero had only come here once with Aria, but Nero had never approached Serejula.
 Why was the Kuaal, a Mystic Beast who didn’t open its heart to humans and existed above them, here? While wondering about the absence of Aria, the only one to whom this Kuaal had opened its heart and given the name Nero, Serejula felt an ominous premonition and decided to communicate while maintaining a certain distance.
“So? What do you want? What happened to my Taciturn Disciple?”

――Moon――
 ――Darkness――
 ――Battle――
 ――Evil――
 ――Transfer――

“Wa, wait a minute.”
 Serejula stopped Nero’s thoughts, which were trying to convey something, and pressed her brow as if she had a headache.
 The Kuaal emitted weak electricity from its antennae to inhibit Magic and convey its will. However, the language system was too different from that of the Kuaal, who was said to have appeared from another world, and if it was conveyed all at once, the meaning was unclear, and the electrical signals also caused a headache.
(How can that Taciturn Disciple understand this so well…)
 The last time they came, Aria translated all of Nero’s intentions. It seemed difficult to communicate with Nero without Aria, but Serejula felt something like “impatience” from Nero, sighed, and glared at the giant beast in front of her.
“Tell me from the beginning.”

After listening to Nero’s incomprehensible explanation, she finally understood what it wanted to say around the time the sun began to rise.
“……That Taciturn Disciple fought a Vampire of the Evil Race and was transferred with the Princess using Magic?”

――Yes――

That was the simple summary, but various other information was conveyed, and an enormous amount of effort was consumed to understand it.
 One of the reasons was that Nero hadn’t actually seen the scene, but Serejula, who had been given an explanation of the flow of Mana detected by Nero, a Mystic Beast, finally grasped the situation by morning.
“That Taciturn Disciple was caught up in the transfer. But your senses detected an anomaly in the Spatial Transfer… Probably slightly off from the Evil Race Nation. That child is also a Spatial-type Magician, so I think she resisted… Judging from past cases, there’s a high possibility that the transfer point was off.”
 Serejula, a former Evil Race soldier, speculated on the actions of the Evil Race.
 She remembered that there were certainly tools in the Evil Race Nation’s treasury that could use Spatial Transfer. Serejula didn’t remember there being any Magicians of Rank 6, so they probably used those tools.
 Serejula had never actually used them, but even if a Dark Magician who manipulated Spatial-type Magic could use them, it was highly likely that problems would arise for others who couldn’t clearly imagine the transfer point.
“……Did she fall into the desert or the Calfaan Empire? So? You told me that, and what do you want me to do?”

――Ride――

“…………”
 Serejula was speechless as Nero turned its back and lowered its posture.
 Mystic Beasts don’t carry humans on their backs. It’s impossible to even tame a Mystic Beast. Nero only recognized Aria as a companion and allowed her to ride on its back, but that itself was something that couldn’t happen according to common sense. Moreover, Nero was saying that it would even carry Serejula on its back to go rescue Aria and increase the chances of finding her.
“『…………』”
 The two glared at each other in silence.
 Why would Nero go so far for Aria? But when Serejula applied that to herself, she realized that she couldn’t explain it in words either, and she loosened her cheeks in self-deprecation.
 Serejula was also worried about Aria. She believed that Aria would protect the Princess and return safely, but at the same time, she realized that she was worried about Aria like a daughter.
 At that moment, Serejula felt that something had connected between her and Nero. The reasons were different. But the goal was the same.
“I understand. Let’s go.”
 And so, the Dark Elf and the Mystic Beast Kuaal set off on a journey to the west. Following their hearts.
“Elena, are you still okay?”
“…Yes, I’m still alright, Aria.”

Elena and I took a nap until evening, and when the temperature dropped, we started moving.
Elena’s heart Magic Stone had shrunk, making her body stronger, but her stamina still wasn’t up to par with a healthy person. We decided that instead of taking the time to prepare to cross the desert here, we should aim for a village where people lived, avoiding the ruins, while we still had enough food and stamina.
But we weren’t just moving aimlessly. Elena remembered the geographical information of this continent as a map, and from that, we deduced where people might be living.
If we went south from the ancient city ruins, we would reach the Calfaan Empire. However, it would take months to get there even by walking, so we had to consider that journey reckless.
What I thought was that since there were ruins, there was a high possibility that adventurers seeking materials and Magic Stones would gather there. This was a gamble, but it was better than searching aimlessly.
Where was that place? The ruins were vast, but unless they were completely self-sufficient there, we both speculated that it would be on a straight line between the ruins and the Calfaan Empire, in a flat area near a rocky area where water was likely to be found.
Considering Elena’s stamina, moving during the day was dangerous. At night, there was a possibility of being attacked by monsters, but if we moved away from the ruins, strong monsters wouldn’t appear.

“Giiii!”
Elena’s water magic stopped the movement of an insect-type monster that was over one meter long, and I jumped in, stabbed my Knife into the gap in its shell, and chopped off its head.
It was only a Rank 2 monster, but you can’t let your guard down against an enemy you’re seeing for the first time. Even if you chop off the head of an insect-type monster, it will live for a while, but that should eliminate the threat for now.
Normally, we would dismantle it to obtain materials and Magic Stones, but now we were focused solely on moving and prioritized moving forward.

Having set a goal, Elena became more positive and began to rely on my instructions in battle, rather than just being protected. Even if it was just bravado…
If it were just me, I could survive even by eating monster meat. But Elena couldn’t. Because she knew that, Elena desperately began to struggle to survive.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
A slight hint of fatigue could be seen on Elena’s face.
Elena is strong… but fragile.
She would hate to be offered a hand as a weakling or a burden. Knowing that, Elena reached out with a small smile to my hand that I offered her as I walked behind her, and we began to walk hand in hand across the cloudless, starry desert.

We moved at night and rested in the shade of the rocks during the day. We occasionally hunted rock lizards and ate their meat, and after four days of traveling like that, we finally discovered a small town from the top of the rocky area we were moving through.

The story will begin at the start of the chapter when we arrive at the town.

I feel like the progress is a bit slow, so I want to write about Aria and Elena more thoroughly next time.