Today, the first volume of “The Otome Game Heroine’s Strongest Survival” has been released!
Illusion Magic, 【Real Breaker】
Illusion Magic, much like how water and wind composite magic has a lightning system, is a composite magic combining illusion and reality—Darkness and Light—and is a type of ‘Creation Magic’.
It creates ‘Form’ through Darkness and bestows ‘Presence’ through Light.
It would likely be difficult to master Creation Magic any further than this. If one could master both Light and Darkness—and perform it, they should probably even be able to create pseudo-‘life’.
And then, by creating flesh and bone from earth, making blood flow with water, granting body heat with fire, and enabling breath with wind. If one masters all six attributes and possesses nearly infinite magical power, it would become possible to step into the ‘Domain of Gods,’ creating even ‘living beings’.
Even with such Illusion Magic, a mere mortal, not a god, cannot achieve great things.
All I could do was capture and replicate my ‘current state,’ making it persist as an ‘existence’ for a few seconds.
Even that alone is originally quite an advanced composite magic, but with 【Iron Rose】, the particles of light releasing surplus Magical Element from my entire body skipped the processes of Magical Element equalization and cloaking myself in it. The advanced illusion created thereby forged a living presence that even high-ranking Phantasmal Beasts like dragonkin could not distinguish from reality.
【Real Breaker】—the ultimate illusion rejects the reality of the world held by the enemy.
Even so, it would have been impossible if my 【Light Magic】 and 【Dark Magic】 hadn’t reached level 5. No, perhaps I should say they leveled up because I managed to succeed even just once… Because of that, my other master, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, gave me a rather suspicious look.
“Aria, you… aren’t you getting a bit too strong?”
Viro muttered, directing a gaze at me that was a mixture of exasperation and surprise.
After a life-or-death battle, we defeated a rank 7 Black Dragon. But I, having forced myself to use 【Iron Rose】 after taking a mana recovery potion, had used Battle Arts consecutively with my whole body and was now unable to move.
Jesha’s right arm, who had also used Battle Arts consecutively, seemed to be in much worse shape than mine; he was receiving rough treatment from Master Serejyura while getting his head smacked.
Beyond them, Dolton and Feld were examining the Black Dragon’s corpse. Viro should have been participating in that too, but perhaps he ran off because it was troublesome, or maybe he was concerned about me, his disciple, after all. Viro is my scouting-type master, but if his disciple gained this much power in just five years, maybe it’s understandable for him to be exasperated…
“Watching Viro’s and Mira’s battles, I realized I still need to train harder.”
“You still plan on getting stronger!?”
I have gotten stronger. But still, ‘that girl’ is stronger than me.
In truth, I think I’ve approached the strength I envisioned, but I was made to realize anew just how important experience is. Viro seems to think I’ve surpassed him, but from my perspective, there’s still much I can learn from him. …I won’t say it though, because he’ll get carried away.
“Life is about learning. As long as I continue to do so, I can still become stronger.”
“What kind of ascetic are you?”
As I lay immobile on the ruin floor, Viro crouched down and poked me with something like a twig. …Is he a child? If it weren’t for these parts of him, I could genuinely respect him.
“Hey you, what are you doing to my Taciturn Disciple?”
“Geh!”
Viro, whose head was suddenly grabbed from behind by Master Serejyura, let out an involuntary, strained yelp. Viro shouldn’t have met Master Serejyura before, but I wonder if he heard something from Mira?
Master Serejyura isn’t usually one to interact much with people she’s just met, but since she emphasized ‘disciple,’ I thought perhaps she found out Viro was a scouting-type master and came to greet him.
“No, wait a sec, that hurts!”
That’s a rough greeting…
“…Master, is Jesha alright?”
“Both my Taciturn Disciple (Aria) and that muscle-girl too, you’re always doing reckless things! Well, his right arm is in bad shape, but it’ll be back to normal in about three days.”
“Un.”
Ignoring Viro’s screams, Master Serejyura and I continued our conversation.
I was glad Jesha’s injuries weren’t too severe. According to Jesha, it’s highly probable that the town of Cutlass won’t return to how it was and will fall under the Calfaan Empire’s rule. If that happens, then even as the guildmaster’s daughter, he apparently won’t have a place in the Hoglos Company, and he laughed, saying he’d start over from scratch in the Empire. But…
“…What’s Jesha doing?”
“Well now…”
When I said that, looking towards Jesha, Master Serejyura, for some reason, grinned slyly.
Jesha, with his immobile right arm slung from his shoulder, wasn’t staying quiet at all; he was shouldering his weapon and pestering Dolton.
Dolton is a Mountain Dwarf like Jesha, and though he’s using a halberd this time because of the desert battle, he’s fundamentally an axe-wielder like Jesha, so perhaps Jesha is asking him about weapon handling.
“He’s quite proactive, isn’t he? As for me, I’d welcome more ‘girls’,”
Mira, who had just finished setting up a Monster ward using spirits, appeared and said that. Mira, a Wood Elf, apparently fought Master Serejyura several times back when Master Serejyura was a War Oni. Ignoring Master Serejyura completely and speaking only to me, Master Serejyura muttered in exasperation at Mira.
“You… are you really at an age to be called a ‘girl’?”
“I’m a hundred years younger than you, though!?”
I don’t really care about Master Serejyura’s or Mira’s ages, but the two of them just don’t seem to get along.
Wood Elves and Dark Elves have never gotten along well to begin with, but it’s not like they’re seriously at each other’s throats. It seems they’ve decided not to be hostile anymore, but I heard that Master Serejyura never disliked Mira from the start, and because of that, she teased her repeatedly on the battlefield, leading to their current relationship.
Mira had a laid-back demeanor when she was in human towns, but come to think of it, I remembered someone saying she had mellowed out (・・) from living in a human town for a hundred years.
Perhaps this was her original personality. As I was surprised, thinking she had this side to her too, Viro, who had taken the chance to flee, was being scolded by Feld, who was stripping materials from the Black Dragon. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but sigh, and beside me, Nero, who was lying down with his eyes closed, wagged his tail as if in agreement.
＊＊＊
“First, we need to decide what to do with the materials.”
In the end, we couldn’t move from the battlefield that day, so Master Serejyura, Mira, and Viro set up Monster wards around the area, and we ended up camping out.
We didn’t just stay to camp; along with the corpses of the Evil Race Soldiers, we were burning the Black Dragon from which we had taken materials in the ruins.
The Black Dragon might not like being put together with them, but it’s probably better than being left exposed to the elements. Dolton, saying one should pay respect to the strong, poured his own fire-brew over the Black Dragon.
I still can’t fight, but I’ve recovered enough to somehow sit up and eat on my own. Speaking of food, most of the Monsters around here that can be used as ingredients are insect-types, and Viro, who apparently has a trauma related to eating insects, was grimacing, but the others, even Mira, ate without batting an eyelid.
“Materials, huh… Even with all of our expanded bags, we can’t carry that much back, Dolton.”
“That’s why we’re discussing what to do, Viro. At least the meat is impossible.”
It’s said that pure dragonkin… especially Elemental Dragons, have no parts to discard in their materials. It’s one thing to mourn it, but we’re adventurers. If we don’t take materials or eat the meat, it’s no different from simple murder.
Even a dragon’s blood and organs can be materials for alchemy, and its meat is known as a delicacy. However, dragon meat is strong in Magical Element, and ordinary people would undoubtedly get an upset stomach. If one were to eat it, it’s said that a skilled cook would need to process it, and it would be eaten by shaving off slivers with the tip of a knife.
Dolton and Jesha, dwarves with strong stomachs, and Nero the Phantasmal Beast, also seemed to have tasted a little, but they really only ate a tiny bit.
“Hey, War Oni. Are there any parts you want?”
“Oh my, are you offering to share?”
When Master Serejyura laughed in apparent surprise at Dolton’s words, Dolton let out a light sigh.
“You guys were fighting it first. That alone gives you the right to take some. Just, hand over the Magic Stone.”
It seems Dolton and the others incurred a considerable debt to the Calfaan Empire to get here.
I was also relieved that Elena had safely reached the Calfaan Empire, but I heard she negotiated with the Empire to help me, and along with Sera who assisted her, she worked very hard.
Elena… I’m so glad you’re safe.
So, Dolton-san said he needed Magic Stones because his goal was to repay a part of that debt by offering the Elemental Dragon’s Magic Stone to the Emperor. In fact, if we didn’t do at least that much, there would be Imperial nobles who would show dissatisfaction with adventurers from another country like Dolton-san and me, who also hold noble status, operating within the country.
“In that case, dragon blood and dragon eyes will do. Both are top-quality alchemy materials, and you guys wouldn’t be able to carry them all the way to the Empire, right?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
The expansion bags everyone had, just like my Shadow Storage, only had an effect that made things slow to rot, so it was impossible to bring back organs raw. Master, on the other hand, could process them with alchemy and could also apply preservation treatment periodically.
Jesha-san had also fought at the beginning, but thinking about the future, she wanted a few scales and the money from selling the materials. Nero didn’t want anything, and when I said I didn’t want anything either, I was handed a single scale.
“What’s this?”
“You don’t know? It’s a Dragon’s Reverse Scale.”
Dragon’s Reverse Scale… If I recall, it was a single scale that protected a dragon’s vital spot. It was the largest scale with the highest hardness, and aiming for this scale meant declaring your intention to ‘kill the dragon’.
As a material, it was certainly a good item, but more than that, this Gekirin (Reverse Scale) was given as a ‘Proof of a Dragon Slayer’ to the one who had achieved the most.
“You should keep that. Everyone agrees.”
“Yeah…”
We wouldn’t have won if even one person had been missing. But seeing everyone smile at me as I received the Gekirin, I steeled my resolve to call myself a ‘Dragon Slayer’ and nodded firmly.
Dolton-san had a larger storage bag than everyone else, but even so, large items wouldn’t fit, and it had its limits.
We burned the meat, bones, and organs that we couldn’t take with us. The smaller scales too. It was a waste, but just the larger scales and fangs should be worth several years’ earnings for the Rainbow Sword.
Viro-san, like Jesha-san, only took a few scales and some money, but Mira-san was talking with Master about something and discussing taking back the wing membranes. Apparently, she planned to use them to make equipment, but seeing those two discussing the alchemical processing needed to bring them back without any issues felt a little strange.
“And Feld. The horn you broke off, you use it.”
“…Is that okay?”
“That’s right. You’ll need it, won’t you?”
The Black Dragon’s horn that Feld had broken off was its thickest part, and that alone would probably be worth several hundred large gold coins. The reason it was given to Feld was because he had lost his own greatsword breaking it.
Just like the Rank 6 Minotaur horn I used to strengthen my weapon, the fangs and horns of high-rank Monsters possess properties close to minerals due to Magical Element. Especially the horn of an Elemental Dragon, which devoured minerals during its time as an Earth Dragon, is itself a special metal, Living Metal (Adamantite).
He would use the Black Dragon’s horn as material to craft a greatsword. Feld’s Magic Steel greatsword was made by Galbas-san, and Feld apparently planned to request Galbas-san to make the new one, partly as an apology for breaking the old one.
I’m interested in a weapon that uses that as its main material. I’d like to visit Galbas-san myself after so long, but I decided against it because it’s better not to leave Elena’s side for a while.
More than anything, I want to see Elena…
The next day, I had recovered enough to walk, but I was entangled by tentacles and forcibly placed on Nero’s back, and we set off to traverse the ruins.
“…So boring.”
Jesha-san muttered that beside me. Jesha-san was so energetic you wouldn’t think she was injured, but like me, she had been made to watch most of the fights.
Monsters did attack, but with such a strong group, there was no need for us to lift a finger. In the first place, with a Rank 5 Kua’arl present, Monsters of Rank 3 or lower didn’t even come close.
If there was a problem, it was probably just the insect-eating, but when I asked Viro-san why he disliked it so much, he made a terribly disgusted face and said, ‘It’s your fault.’
…Did something happen?
“But, Dolton-san… you’re amazing!”
“…”
At Dolton-san’s back as he fought against Monsters, Jesha-san’s eyes were sparkling like a young girl’s.
In fact, converting to human years, Jesha-san was in her late teens, so it wasn’t wrong to call her a young girl. But seeing her like that, the word ‘girl’ that Mira-san had used strangely bothered me.
After about ten more days, we passed through the ancient ruins, and the town of Cutlass, which even felt nostalgic, finally came into view. There, Elena had apparently negotiated and sent out a search party from the Calfaan Empire to look for me, and they were supposedly waiting.
In other words… that would be the place where I’d part ways with Master and Nero.
“Nero and I will take our time returning to the Kingdom of Claydale. Unsociable disciple, you go and reassure your friend quickly.”
“…So we really can’t go back together?”
“The Empire isn’t stupid, you know. If they found out I’m a War Oni, it’d be troublesome, so no thanks to that.”
–Affirmative–
Nero, who disliked people, also chose to return on foot like Master. Apparently, they had reached this desert in a month, but they planned to take their time on the way back, spending over two months.
So Nero had opened up to Master too… In reality, they didn’t seem that close, but he trusted her enough to let her ride on his back.
Friend… When I sent Elena away from the battlefield, I called her my friend. When we meet next, will Elena accept me…?
But because Master said that, I was able to feel a little more positive.
I watched Master ride on Nero’s back as they disappeared to the east, until I couldn’t see them anymore. When I returned to where everyone was waiting for me, Feld, who had seen how attached I was to Master, unusually spoke to me in a considerate way.
“Ah… Right, if you’re still tired, want me to carry you on my back?”
“…”
He’s usually dense, but he’s really a sweet person. My body was mostly able to move already, but thinking this was his way of joking and showing concern, I lightly placed my hand on his shoulder, and then in one leap, jumped onto Feld’s shoulders.
“W-Whoa!”
“You’re going to carry me, right?”
I chuckled a little at the somehow flustered Feld, and quietly looked out over the desert.
As I thought, the view from Feld’s shoulders is wide.
Somehow, Viro-san and Jesha-san are starting to look like heroines?
Next time, to the Calfaan Empire!
As I wrote in the foreword, the first volume has been released.
If you have any impressions or thoughts about the book, I’ll be waiting for them on my activity report page.