“Well, it seems nothing’s been gnawed on, Taciturn Disciple (Aria). Did you process them properly?”
“I did as you taught me.”
When I showed her the spider heads and webs I’d packed in the bag, my master frowned slightly.
“One of the eyes is crushed. Couldn’t you have taken it down more cleanly?”
“I’ll do better next time.”
When I answered honestly, my master grinned and ruffled my hair.
“Well, it’s quite an achievement to hunt a Rank 3 monster at Rank 2. I’ll process the body first, so wash your muddy feet and bring it to the processing area in the backyard, Taciturn Disciple.”
“Understood, Master.”
Master (Serejula) took the two bags and went deeper into the house. I returned to the entrance, washed my feet with 【Water】, and headed to the backyard with the spider’s body.
It had been four months since I’d ended up with “Master,” and at the age of eight, I had grown a little taller.
Who is this “Master”? Why does she live so deep in the forest? To explain that, we have to go back to after that battle four months ago.
＊
To escape Grave’s pursuit, I jumped into the raging torrent of the swollen river, casting 【Harden(Hard)】 just before hitting the water, turning my muddy maid outfit into a makeshift life preserver.
But I still couldn’t show my face above the water. Without resisting the current, I curled up and dove deep, desperately suppressing my presence until I had gained some distance.
The odds of survival were low. Although I had managed to use my clothes as a life preserver and keep my face above water, the dark night made me lose track of which way was up, and the raging current relentlessly tossed me around, draining my stamina.
And there were probably monsters in the water. It wasn’t just that there were few high-rank monsters that attacked people near the shore; the water was teeming with low-level monsters.
I didn’t know if monsters could even be active in this violent current, but if I were attacked, I wouldn’t be able to do anything in my current state.
Focusing as if sharpening my mind, I used Stealth and strained Night Vision and Detection to figure out my direction.
Night Vision, which uses the reflection of Mana Particles, was difficult to use in the raging current. Night Vision that uses colors was also hard to understand, with only the color of the water. So I used both, staring intently into the dark water, and just before suffocating, my vision suddenly cleared, and I was able to confirm my direction.
I briefly surfaced to take a breath. If I could recognize the ‘color’ of Mana Particles even underwater, I should be able to see the creatures swimming there.
As I focused on that, the range and accuracy of Detection expanded, and I sensed a snake-like presence approaching me from the schools of fish swimming at the bottom of the river. I instantly slashed at it with the Combat Art 【Thrust】.
I could fight even in the water. If I knew which way was up, I could breathe. Then, the only problem was the stamina to endure until the river’s flow became gentler.
Fortunately, the effects of the Mana Recovery Potion were still lingering in my body. I squeezed the light Mana Particles from the Magic Stone in my heart, suppressing the consumption of stamina and the drop in body temperature as much as possible.
I won’t give up. I can’t die yet. As long as there’s a possibility that Grave will harm Elena in the future, I will become strong enough to surpass him and defeat him.
While activating the light Mana Particles within my body, I used Mana Control to cover the surface of my body with Water Mana Particles, attempting as much Stealth as possible.
How many minutes… how many hours… did I drift in the water? Just as my consciousness became hazy and my concentration was about to break, the river’s flow slowed with the sunrise. I slashed at another snake that attacked me and, carrying its corpse, was able to get out of the water for the first time in hours.
My body was freezing, and I had almost no Mana or stamina left.
If I were attacked by monsters or wolves in that state, I would be done for. I dragged my powerless body into the bushes and waited for my stamina to recover while using Stealth.
If I hadn’t been circulating even a little Mana to use Body Enhancement on my internal organs, I would have frozen to death. A few hours later, with the little Mana I had recovered, I used 【Cure】, started a fire, and roasted the water snake’s corpse, devouring it to restore my stamina.
In fact, it took a full day for my body to move properly again.
With the Mana that had returned before my stamina, I treated all the wounds on my body with 【Cure】. …Was it Sera who told me not to leave scars on my body?
Was it the organization’s order that my life was targeted, or was it Grave’s decision alone?
Either way, if Grave is in that organization, it’s the same thing. I choose to break away from them.
I will become strong and kill Grave. If anyone tries to stop me, I am prepared to turn my Blade against Sera and Viro.
What to do now…?
With the eyes of that organization, which has connections to the nobility, it was dangerous to go to a large city.
I could go to a village or a small town. Even so, I should avoid anything but the countryside. The Adventurer’s Guild was also unusable until things cooled down, so I needed to find a new way to survive.
I was near the border, and it might be possible to go north and cross into another country, but I had only one “lead.”
Perhaps because I struggled so desperately in the water, the Skills 【Throwing】, 【Stealth】, 【Night Vision】, and 【Detection】 had risen to Level 2.
Throwing was probably due to the battle with the Water Spirit and the fact that I had been using Throwing a lot recently. Stealth and Detection were one thing, but Night Vision, which should only be attainable up to Level 1 by humans, had reached Level 2, perhaps as a result of combining the conventional method with my own unique color-seeing Night Vision.
I was almost killed, but it wasn’t all bad.
First, I needed to prepare to hide myself, so I ran through the forest along the river, using my leveled-up Stealth and Detection, and headed to the temporary base I had made in the forest.
When I reached the simple base in the forest, I took off the tattered maid outfit and wiped off the remaining mud. Then, I changed into the jacket and pants I had been using on my journey so far, and finally, I wrapped a shawl around my neck to hide my face.
I had lost all my weapons except for the Black Knife, but in the simple base, there was a thin Knife I had received from Sera and a steel Knife I had received from Feld, which I equipped on my belt and boots.
I didn’t have any Throwing Knives, but I thought that I could manage with ordinary Knives now that my Throwing Skill was Level 2. When I tried throwing the steel Knife, it pierced about five centimeters into the tree trunk without any problems.
I put the hidden money, salt, portable food, and dried herbs into the bag that had contained my clothes and slung it over my shoulder.
The place I was aiming for was about two days’ journey into the forest from there.
Finally, I boiled water in a clay pot made with 【Harden(Hard)】, added salt, and drank it down, replenishing my moisture and salt. Then, I ran silently through the darkening forest.
With 【Stealth】, 【Night Vision】, 【Detection】, and 【Utility Magic】, I wouldn’t have too much trouble in the forest. There were Goblins and wolves along the way, but there were no high-rank monsters that could find me while I was hidden.
And two days later… I found the “house” made of wood, stone, and earthen walls in the place I had marked from the memories of that woman in my “knowledge.”
The garden was a little wider than I remembered, and there were a few more weeds, but there was no mistake.
I knocked lightly on the door, but there was no answer. I disarmed the trap on the door that remained in my “knowledge” and entered—
Thunk! A strange Knife pierced the doorframe.
“…Who’s there? Breaking into someone’s house like that, you’re an ill-mannered brat.”
From the table in the back of the room, a woman dressed in a wizard’s robe like something out of a picture book, played with a strangely shaped Knife while sending 【Intimidation】 at me.
…Strong. I can’t make an accurate assessment because her appearance is hidden by the hood, but I estimate that she is at least Level 3, just from this paralyzing Intimidation.
“I came to return this.”
With the least provocative movement, I fluttered the ‘Handwritten Herb Book’ I was holding in my hand. The Intimidation directed at me disappeared, and instead, my Master of Magic, the woman, snorted as if laughing while emitting a slight Killing Intent.
“Hah, are you an acquaintance of that idiot disciple? What happened to that idiot disciple who stole money and items from me and ran off? Is she finally dead?”
“I killed her.”
When I answered quietly and calmly, even the Killing Intent disappeared for a moment, and silence fell.
“…I see. It must have been a pretty pathetic death. I’ll give you that book. You can sell it for some money. Now, get out of here.”
Even that woman seemed to have some affection for her disciple. Originally, I was just planning to return the book, but now I have more business with this woman.
“I want to learn Magic from you.”
“…Didn’t I tell you to go home? You won’t get anywhere learning from an old hag who lives in a place this far from civilization and can only raise idiot disciples.”
The voice belonged to a young woman. Yet, I knew that she referred to herself as an “old hag.”
“Because I’m of the ‘Evil Race’?”
At that moment, silence fell again, and the next instant, a killing intent so intense that it stiffened my body assaulted me.
“…Who told you? Did that idiot disciple blab? I don’t remember raising him to be that stupid… What do you think I should do, now that you know?”
If I hadn’t experienced killing intent from high-ranking individuals like Feld, Viro, and Grave, I would have lost consciousness or the will to fight.
But, though I trembled, I wasn’t afraid. I felt the threat, but not the terror.
“I want to learn Magic from you.”
“………What are you?”
When I stared straight at the woman, my master, and spoke the same words calmly, the killing intent subsided, replaced by a slightly exasperated air.
“It’s a long story. A lot has happened since your disciple attacked me.”
When I hinted that I was the victim, not the perpetrator, she seemed convinced. The woman, my master, sighed deeply and stood up.
“Come over here and tell me everything. I’ll at least make you some tea.”
As she spoke, the woman, my master, removed her hood, revealing lustrous, obsidian-black skin that made her look no more than thirty, and long ears extending from her silver hair.
A Dark Elf… It was said that their skin color was due to selling their souls to the dark god, and they, who lived on the west coast of this continent, were called the “Evil Race” here.
“Call me Serejula. What’s your name?”
“Aria is fine.”
The Evil Race was currently in a continuous state of war with the southwestern nations, and even the woman’s “knowledge” didn’t explain why this Dark Elf was in Claydale, at the southeastern edge of the continent.
But that didn’t matter to me. I just wanted more knowledge and the strength to defy fate.
I told her how I was attacked by that woman and almost had my body stolen. I explained that I had accidentally obtained only the knowledge from the Magic Stone where the woman had duplicated her spirit.
Honestly, I didn’t really understand what an “Otome Game” was, so I couldn’t explain it well, but when I said that I wanted to avoid becoming a noble and following a strange fate, Serejula nodded deeply, as if she had an idea of what the woman had done. After pondering for a while, she leaned back in her chair and pointed to the passage behind her with her thumb.
“For now, use the room in the back. It’s that idiot disciple’s room, but it’s half a storage room now. You should understand, right?”
“…Huh?”
Serejula grinned at me as I tilted my head slightly, not understanding the meaning.
“I’m saying I’ll train you. I’ll make you strong, just as you Desire. Be prepared, Taciturn Disciple.”
The next chapter will return to the original timeline.
Magic training and its results.
The next update is scheduled for Saturday.