bookworm

“I have a request.”
Three days before the final assessment, after their afternoon lessons, Mile and company were called to the office of the principal, and head instructor, Elbert. When they arrived, they were shocked to see Elbert kneel before them.
“I’m begging you. The final assessment is in three days, and I need each of you to give it your all!”
“Huh…?”
Elbert proceeded to elaborate.
Six years ago, the Hunters’ Prep School had been established on a trial basis, thanks to the efforts of Count Christopher, a legendary S-rank hunter turned noble.
Since its founding, many splendid hunters had emerged from the school’s ranks, but their track record was still short, and they had yet to produce anyone of A-rank or greater. As long as the bulk of nobles didn’t consider the program a waste of funding, and assuming it did well upon being thoroughly assessed, the school would be able to expand to full capacity. However, there was also the possibility that the budget would be cut, or withdrawn entirely…
“Normally, the selection exams for the class following yours should already have been completed by now,” Elbert said. “However, as the next term’s budget hasn’t yet been finalized, they’ve been delayed. We haven’t told the current prospective students, but at this rate, there’s a chance that the school might not make it to the next term at all.”
“I see…” said Reina, who seemed at least somewhat aware of the circumstances. “I did think it odd that there didn’t seem to be any selection exams happening. The ones for our class were all finished before last year’s final assessment…”
“I noticed that the facilities and equipment had yet to be refreshed, and I guessed it was something like that…” Pauline muttered.
Mile, who had bypassed the selection exam, and Mavis, who was generally oblivious to such matters, had not suspected a thing.
“Currently, under Count Christopher, this prep school came into being with the intention to allow hunters to bypass the minimum term requirement for promotion, instilling even those outside the school with the abilities necessary to reach higher levels. The eventual aim was to gain enough of a foothold to start changing the rules and regulations of the guild as a whole.
“It’s very important that we not allow this place to be squashed.”
With this, he looked at the four of them.
“As your opponents for the mock battles in the exit exams, we’ve requested the participation of a party that’s at the very top of B-rank, nearly A-rank. Furthermore, there may be quite a crowd in addition to our patron, Count Christopher. The officials of the local guildhalls will come to see the results of the school’s curriculum, while the guild masters themselves will be on hand to take a look at you rookies. Hunters will scout graduates for their parties. Nobles, wealthy folk, and commoners starved for entertainment, all love the spectacle and novelty. Most importantly, however, it’s quite possible that the finance officials who hold our budget in their hands may be in attendance, perhaps even along with the king.”
Elbert bowed his head. “I’m begging you, please show us your best at the assessment! I know you girls have been hiding your true potential, and it’s easy to imagine that there must be a reason for that. Therefore, all of us instructors have pretended not to notice.
“However, even knowing this, I must implore you! Without this school, young people like you would have to waste precious years of their lives gathering herbs and hunting jackalopes. This school is an absolute necessity! We need you to help beat this into everyone’s heads!
“I beg you! I don’t want this school to disappear!” Elbert bowed so low that his forehead was on the desk. The four girls stood, gaping, for some time.
“Leave it to us!”
Two voices rang throughout the office, shocking Mile.
“How can one possibly refuse such a sincere request from the teacher who has cared for us?!” Reina said. “When this will have such an immense impact on the lives of all future hunters?! This school is vital for people like us. We will meet your expectations!”“Besides,” Mavis added, “this is a splendid chance to put our names out there. How could we run from that?! Please leave it to us!”
“…I beg you,” the principal said again.
Seeing Elbert, who was usually so confident, with such a pitiful look, Mile decided, finally, to cooperate.
Thank goodness she had prepared a sacrificial lamb for just such an occasion…

***

And so, the day of the final assessment arrived.
It was held in a stadium near the palace, a spectacular, recently built state-of-the-art facility. Not only could it hold numerous guests, but it also employed strong barriers and protection magic, so as to avoid damages to the facilities or injuries to the viewers during magical battles.
“All of our preparations have paid off. Today, we’ll see not only the finance officers, but also other influential nobles. Even their Majesties the king and queen, and their Highnesses the prince and princess will be in attendance. The countries’ guilds will be well represented, as well.
“This year, when we were extending the invitations, we told them, ‘We have some truly excellent rookies.’ So please don’t let us down!”
At Elbert’s proclamation, Mavis and Reina swapped looks of exhilaration, while Pauline stood awed. Mile was white as a sheet.
In just a few short moments, the exit exam mock battles would begin. Their results would determine not only the fates of the graduates, but the fate of the Hunters’ Prep School itself. The exit exam mock battles, called grad battles for short, weren’t undertaken by all of the students. Only a handful were hand-selected by the instructors to participate. Typically, these were the students who had the abilities and characteristics to qualify as a C-rank hunter, the rank with which they would graduate if they did well. Even if the students selected didn’t wish to participate, in many cases, they would be strongly encouraged to do so by the instructors.
Those who failed the exam, refused it, or were judged by the instructors to be underqualified to participate, graduated automatically at a D-rank.
Many of these students still strove to rise to C-rank relatively quickly, having met the minimum requirements through their training at the school. Even failing wasn’t such a tragedy, as these students were only considered to be just a bit lacking. After all, anyone who was truly useless would have dropped out ages before.
This time, there had been forty exam hopefuls. The entire class. Since they had nothing to lose, the students had all figured that there was no harm in trying. Even before Elbert’s request, Mile herself had hoped to participate in the exam. Being a D-rank would be inconvenient for a solo hunter, and so she had put in her application early on, before Reina had proposed that they form a party after graduation.
Of the forty students in their class, eighteen would be participating in the grad battles: the four from Mile’s party; five swordsmen, including Veil; two spear users; three archers; and four magic users. Their opponents for the battle would be the B-rank party, the Roaring Mithrils, who had only six members—unusual for a group of their rank.
Parties of F to C-rank often had smaller numbers, four to seven people on average, but at B-rank and higher, you normally saw parties of ten members and up. Sometimes, there were even twenty or thirty hunters on a roster, so that if any member was injured or ill, they could still take on jobs, and the party could divide and conquer. In most of those cases, however, the parties often included people with lesser skill, as well a handful with less-than-ideal personalities…
In the case of the Roaring Mithrils, however, their numbers were few but truly elite. Everyone in the party was an exceptionally skilled hunter. The group consisted of their leader, a greatsword wielder of about 40 years old; a skilled lancer of approximately the same age; a youngish swordsman in his mid-20s; and three mages, one older, one in his late 30s, and another closer to her late 20s. They lacked an archer, but with mages who were skilled in long-range attacks, the party had no need for one.

***

Finally, Elbert, the principal, announced the start of the exit exam mock battles. The test began.
In order to truly show off the test participants’ skills, they had to face up against a party with a clear difference in raw power. For this purpose, the school typically requested a B-rank party. For them, the battle would be an easy job, as any hunter in the group could take on several students at once.
Since being able to work well with rookies was a necessary skill for any high-ranking hunter, the test takers would be facing only the younger members of the party, while the leader and the older mage would sit back and observe the participants’ performance. Still, though they were young in comparison to their leader, the rest of the party members were still B-rank hunters, each with such strength that, in any other party, they would have been heavy hitters themselves.
The first several mock battles progressed smoothly. While the test takers didn’t win the matches, thanks to their opponents, they were able to show off their strengths and come across as worthy fighters. Each had a satisfying battle. Of course, a great deal of this was thanks to their opponents’ considerable skill and forethought; however, most of the participants didn’t appear to notice this and seemed satisfied with their own display.
Finally, it was down to Mile’s party and Veil.
Mile’s group would be tested first, and Veil would be last.
Naturally, Elbert had arranged it this way, on Mile’s request.
“You can do it, Pauline!”
“I know you can win! Keep your cool, and be careful!”
“The whims of fate can turn a battle. Just give it your all, and fight with no regrets.”
The other three shouted words of encouragement as Pauline trembled from stress and nerves. Her timid nature had reared its head, and she couldn’t seem to muster the will to continue.
“It’s nice of you to say those things, but… I guess if I were a freak like you, Mavis, or if I had Reina’s childish stubbornness, or maybe if I were as oblivious as Mile, then I wouldn’t be so nervous…”
“Er…”
Mavis, Reina, and Mile had taken fatal blows before their matches even began.

***

“It’s your turn now, is it, young lady? What are you trembling for? It’ll be fine.”
Pauline’s opponent was Olga, a young magic user in her late 20s, who had already faced several other participants who specialized in utility and healing magic. She had the same magical specialties as Pauline. However, as a B-ranker, she could also wield a staff reasonably well in self-defense.
“P-please treat me kindly…”
“Of course. Are those girls over there your friends? They’re all so little! If the prep school is letting in bitty things like that, I wonder if their standards have fallen…”
Clack!
“What’s this? Are you trying to knock me out in your first blow? Maybe they should disqualify you…”
Crack!
“Well then, I suppose I’ll let you take the first strike. Do as you like…”
“Shut the hell up, you flat-chested bitch!”
“Wh…”
Time seemed to freeze.
The acoustics of the stadium were designed to create a calculated reverberation so that spectators could hear the conversation between the fighters. Although quiet comments did not always reach the spectators’ seats, Pauline’s words echoed through the arena easily—which meant that, while the onlookers hadn’t heard Olga’s first utterance, which she’d made half to herself, Pauline’s scream of rage had reached their ears. Quite easily.
“Wh-what did that girl just say?!”
Not only had Pauline just cursed at a B-rank hunter, her senior, but she had insulted the woman’s body. It was an egregious jab.
Worse still was the fact that she had done so quite loudly, in front of the country’s bigwigs, the leadership of numerous guilds, and a number of other spectators.
Their party’s name was going to become famous—just not exactly for the reason they hoped.
Reina clutched her head. Mavis paled.
“Eugh… F-flat-chested…”
Behind them both, Mile was devastated.
“What’s with this rookie?!”
“Has she no manners at all?”
Even among the spectators’ seats, which had first fallen silent, a clamor now began to grow.
“It seems like she snapped. That’s the only explanation,” Reina started. “But Pauline’s not the sort of person to lose her cool just because someone insults her. Do you think that woman was making fun of us? Now I guess we just have to wait and see whether Pauline can just shout back insults—or if she can back it up with some results.”
Even Reina had been flustered, but she was quick to recover. Was it simply because of her own brashness or because she truly believed in her friend?

***

“You insulted my friends—you’re going to regret that!” Pauline cried.
“Fl-flat-chested… flat-chested bitch…” The older woman was trembling with rage.
Fairly tall and slender, Olga was, in fact, quite a beauty. Combined with the fact that she was a B-rank hunter, this had made her rather popular in the past. However, she had yet to find herself a good man, and as the years went on, she felt more and more conscious of her lack of a partner.
Slapped in the face by Pauline’s insult, Olga was reeling. “Flat-chested… Flat-chested…”
“Blaze, O heart of mine! Let my rage become the flames and the fire that burns before me! FIIIRE! BWAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!!!”
A shuddering ball of flame, nearly a meter in diameter, appeared before Pauline, swiftly snapping Olga back to reality.
A fireball? Olga thought. It’s huge, but it doesn’t look very cohesive. Of course, it’s quite impressive that a specialist in utility magic can use an attack spell at all, but it can’t possibly have much power…
“GOOOOO!!!”
The fireball moved toward Olga, who shielded herself calmly. “Come to me, magic barrier, shield me from that fireball!”
The ball collided with Olga’s conjured barrier; however, without sufficient power to destroy the shield, it simply washed over it.
Fire covered Olga’s field of vision, but she was unhurt.
“With attack magic like that—gwahh!” Olga screamed in anguish as a sudden pain raked her left side.
When she looked to her left, she saw a staff, jammed between the gaps in her leathers.
The end of the staff withdrew and flew towards her again.
“You braaaat!” Ignoring the pain in her side, she pushed the staff off with all her might and in quick succession, swung her own weapon at her opponent’s body and launched a kick at Pauline’s stomach with her right leg.
Huff… Huff… Huff…
Olga quickly assessed her injury, and while the pain was great, it didn’t appear to have broken any bones or ruptured internal organs. Even though the attack had been aimed at a gap, her leather armor had done its job well enough.
Struck by both the kick and the heavy staff blow, Pauline collapsed. Perhaps Olga had broken one of her bones.
Though Olga might be reprimanded later for using excessive force on a student, it had nonetheless been unseemly for that girl to speak as she had to a senior hunter. Olga’s response had only been inevitable.
“Erase the pain and heal the wounds! High Heal!” As the healing magic began to wash her pain away, Olga let out a sigh. She glanced her opponent’s way to find Pauline already on her feet again.
Pauline’s face was twisted in pain, though, and her left arm was bent at an unnatural angle.
“How rude!” the girl said. “I fought so hard to surprise you with that blow, and you just shook it off with a single spell? Healing magic is so clever and useful, though… And with that in mind…” Pauline trailed off with a crooked grin, then said, “Numb the pain, restore the bones, join and mend them! Restore the tissue, repair the blood vessels, refresh the nerves! Mega Heal!”
“Wh-what is that?!” Olga said.
“Allow me to…” Pauline swung her left arm, which should have been completely shattered, leaving Olga and the spectators lost for words.
Silence fell over the stands again.
“H-how…?” Olga muttered.
Simply being able to use recovery magic and basic healing magic, as well has having decent self-defense skills, would be enough to see one comfortably recognized as a C-rank healing magic user. On top of that, though, Pauline could use attack magic—weak though it may have been. Nevertheless, she could swing her staff at full force. And there’d been that ridiculous healing spell, too!
Once, Olga had heard from a physician about the existence of a powerful healing magic—one that surpassed even her own “High Heal” spells. It had the power to mend shattered limbs in an instant and was far beyond what she herself would ever be able to achieve.
And that little girl had such an ability?
“Impossible…”
Ignoring Olga’s muttering, Pauline started to chant another spell. “Burn, O heart of mine! Let my rage become the flames, and come to me, blazing fire!”
“Wh-what? The awkward fireball again? Do you really think I’m going to fall for your little smoke and mirror trick again?!” Olga screamed in rage. Combined with the healing magic she had just seen, she was certain the girl was trying to make a fool of her.
“Hm? Fireball? What are you talking about? What I used before was ‘Fire Wall.’ This is Fireball.”
“Wh…?”
Pauline continued her spell, unconcerned with Olga. “Compress!”
“No way! Your only attack magic is that faulty spe…”
The fire shrank and split into two complete orbs. Olga cried out.
“Do you think I went through special training just to acquire that measly level of attack magic?” Pauline said. “Now, hammer of rage, bear down on the fool who insulted my companions! GOOOOOO!!!”
Ka-bwoosh!
Before she could react, the fire orbs clipped both of Olga’s shoulders, and she flew backwards into the stone wall.
Olga sat slumped, her face blank.
“Round oveeeeer!”
As the end of the match was announced, Pauline turned on her heel and walked away.
“WHOAAAAAAAAA!!!”
There was a great roaring cheer from the stands. In reply, Pauline raised her right hand gently.

***

“So that’s the ‘amazing rookie’ you mentioned then, is it?!” said the finance officer. “I would say that ‘amazing’ was an understatement! To tell the truth, I didn’t believe you. I thought you were just exaggerating so that you could get your budget through. I’m sorry to have doubted you!”
Elbert was taken aback at the finance officer’s candid apology.
Beside them, the prep school’s benefactor, Count Christopher, was grinning happily.
“That is one impressive young lady!” said the king. “It’s nearly unheard of to see such powerful healing magic, especially in combination with ingenuity and the ability to launch attack magic as well. In fact, she would make an excellent court magician. Which means this school is useful for scouting talent, after all. And this term has been particularly fruitful…”
Elbert made a strange face.
“Hm? What is it?”
Elbert answered, his expression troubled, “Um, well, there was something I heard this girl say earlier…”
“Oh? What was it, then?”
“She was laughing, but I think her exact words were, ‘Ha ha! I’m only the weakest of the Four Sages!’”
“………”

***

“You did it!”
“You were wonderful! This is the start of a glorious future for our party!”
“That was amazing, Pauline!”
With Pauline’s pre-match insults already far from their minds, the other three congratulated their friend on her victory.
Pauline sat down, red in the face, her expression still twisted. The tension that had built up as a result of her anger seemed to finally be fading, her sanity restored—or perhaps, she was suddenly recalling all the things she had said in front of that huge crowd, inspired by the flights of fancy born from Mile’s bedtime stories.
“Well, Pauline did her best. You can’t afford to lose, either!”
Mavis nodded at Reina’s words, equipping herself with her practice sword and stepping out into the area where the mock battles were being held.
Then came the second hunter who would surely suffer at the hands of his own hubris—Mavis’s opponent, a swordsman in his mid-twenties. At his age, normally, he would have still been well within C-rank. However, not only was he already a B-rank, he was one of the Roaring Mithrils. While he was still nowhere near the level of their leader, an A-rank hunter named Gren, the man had enough talent to be considered a true prodigy.
Moreover, he had a pompous manner and a pretty face, and he was popular with all the ladies in the capital, which surely played a role in making the Roaring Mithrils just a little more famous.
Yet no matter how young he was, there was still nearly a decade between him and the seventeen-year-old Mavis. That age difference was representative of the difference in practice and experience between the two sword users, as well—not to mention the discrepancies in physical build and power.
Their difference in real combat experience was perhaps the most notable. For Mavis, who never employed any kind of trick, the chance of winning against a sly hunter like this one was extremely slim.
However, such things didn’t concern Mavis. She knew she just had to throw all her strength into the battle. Thus, with that in mind, she exchanged formalities with her opponent and drew her sword.
“I humbly accept your lessons,” said Mavis.
“Sure,” the swordsman replied, in the magnanimous words of a senior hunter. “Go ahead and give it all you’ve got.”
“Special technique, ‘Godspeed Blade,’ attack!”
With that declaration, Mavis launched her offensive.
Whoosh!
“Whoa!”
Shing!
The swordsman blocked Mavis’s lightning-fast attacks, his face panicked.
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
Mavis was unrelenting, and as the swordsman continued to block her attacks, his expression grew dire.
“Guh! What is this?”
Facing a far fiercer battle than he expected, the swordsman answered each one of Mavis’s sallies with rapid attacks of his own.
However, Mavis fielded these blows almost nonchalantly.
“Huh? Is this all…?” Mavis said. Lately, her only opponents had been Mile and Veil, as the other students were now loathe to go up against the three of them. As a result, her expectations had become somewhat skewed.
Thus, though she had come in with high expectations about the challenge of facing a B-rank hunter, she found that he was slower than Mile or even Veil. Was this truly her competition?
Unthinking, she muttered in disappointment. “Wh-what did…?”
Despite putting a real effort in his swings, the hunter was being crushed by a prep school graduate.
His pride in his B-rank status was shrinking to just an iota, and his face began to pale.
“Well then, let’s try it from here…” Mavis muttered.
Thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack!
“Wh-whoa…”Though he had only narrowly managed to protect himself in the face of Mavis’s attacks, the swordsman was finally getting used to her speed, which was gradually increasing. “Well, now that I’m finally warmed up, let’s do this for real!”
“Wh-what…?” Mavis exclaimed, then pressed forward.
Blam blam blam blam blam blam blam blam blam!
Ka-shing!
“Gwahh!” The young swordsman took a blow directly to his left side and crumpled nearly in half.
“WHOOOOOOAAAAAA!!!” An excited roar rose from the stands. The rookie had just felled a supposedly expert swordsman in a single blow!
Yet the test had only gone on for a short time, and there was no call announcing the end of the battle. The aim of the match wasn’t to decide a victor, but to see the abilities of the test taker, so calling it too soon would defeat the purpose of the fight.
“Ugh…” the swordsman groaned. Though Mavis used only a practice sword, it was no different from being struck with an iron bar. Things were not helped by the fact that the hunter wore leather, rather than metal, armor.
The swordsman mustered all his determination in order to stand, biting back the pain.
As he finally readied his sword again, Mavis spoke coolly.
“Currently, I’m using ‘Godspeed Blade’ at 1.2 times speed. Next up, I’ll face you at 1.3 times.”
“Wh-what…?”
Ka-slam!
“Gwahh!!”
Even in perfect physical condition, he couldn’t have stood up to this expedited blade—in his current condition, there was no contest.
“Match oveeeeer!! Someone call a medic!”
The end of the match was finally declared, as it became clear that the swordsman wouldn’t be returning to his feet without assistance.
Still unsatisfied by the battle, Mavis huffed, disappointed. “I still had two more levels…”
Then, amidst ear-splitting cheers, she left the stage.

***

“Wh-what was happening with that swordsman?! She was so fast I couldn’t even see her blade!” The finance officer was enraptured. Count Christopher’s eyes were wide as well.
“That was incredible! This girl must have been that ‘amazing rookie’!” said the king.
“Lately, her favorite sentence has been, ‘How come I’m the only one getting left behind?!’” Elbert replied, a strange expression on his face.
“My, she was rather splendid…” said the princess from behind them as her heart began to beat faster.

***

“Great work!” Reina called to Mavis as she moved to the center of the stadium, a daring grin spread across her face.
One of the Roaring Mithrils’ magic users, a man in his late thirties looked to the elderly mage, then to Gren—the sword-wielding party leader—with a troubled expression, but both of them were silent, impassive.
The magic user had confidence in his strength. Certainly, he was no match for Anselm the Dragonslayer, the old-timer who was their party’s chief magic user. However, the difference between them boiled down to nothing more than a difference in experience. Anselm had lived and worked as a mage and hunter for nearly twice as long as he, so naturally his knowledge and technique were far superior. By the time the man reached Anselm’s age, he would be just as strong or stronger. In fact, he was already stronger than the old-timer had been back in his thirties. Even now, had he fought with all his might, there was a chance that he could beat the now-enfeebled old man.
Still, the man, who was normally filled with such confidence, was trembling.
Somehow, members of the Roaring Mithrils, a party said to be on the verge of an A-rank promotion, had been bested by graduates of the Hunters’ Prep School not once, but twice.
That was absolutely unforgivable. Who would ever nominate them for an A-rank at this rate? Who would even entrust their party with high-ranking jobs?
The more he thought about it, the more sure he became: there was no way that any B-rank hunter could possibly lose to a student. Yet they had. Twice in a row! It had to be a set-up—a plot by an enemy who wanted to drag the Roaring Mithrils through the mud and ruin their reputations.
The school had produced some strong rookies, clearly. But the notion that there might be more who were even stronger was ridiculous! However, what if that were true? What if, by some slim chance, he lost as well?
Was he really the right one for the task? Would it not be better for the old-timer, or even their leader, to handle this?
Was he really going to lose to a child in front of all these people? If that happened…
Steeling his troubled heart, the mage proceeded onto the field.
The girl was a combat magic specialist, so they kept some distance between themselves as they squared off.
“Looking forward to a good match,” she called. “By the way, do you have any family?”
“…!!”
Why would she ask a thing like that?!
Was she already thinking about his survivors?!
Hopelessly intimidated, the mage lost all composure. Then again, his composure had probably already fled before he ever set foot on the field.
“O raging flames of the deep, consume my enemy and burn him to the ground! Hellfire!”
“Wh—you idiot! Stooooop!!” The scream came from the Roaring Mithrils’ waiting area.
Their dismay was understandable. The spell was one that was meant only to be used against high-level monsters. It was a fatal spell, and unless the caster purposely held back or stopped the spell before it ran its course, there would be no hope of survival.
It was a mighty spell, the fastest she could fire, the one she was best at—and yet Reina had fired it right at the other magic user, who was caught in a maelstrom of unease, agitation, and fear.
Though he had considerable ability, the mage, who his elder party member still considered “half-baked,” was naturally a backline fighter. His role was to fire off powerful attacks of magic from the back of the group. Thanks to his party’s advance and mid-guard fighters, never once in his years of combat had he ever taken a direct attack.
He had almost never dealt with a magical attack, either. Save for elder dragons, monsters weren’t particularly bright, and even monsters who could use magic tended to attack only the nearest enemy, meaning they hardly ever reached the back line. Besides, guarding against the magic wrought by monsters was a breeze for someone of his abilities.
Even when facing other humans in combat, serving as an escort or the like, it was rare to face magic users of particular skill. A person who was particularly skilled in magic, after all, had no need to waste their time on criminal acts and common banditry. Therefore, the magic user, who had been a part of high-ranking parties from an early age onward, had never been put in a truly life-threatening situation. As a result, he was relatively unprepared to come face to face with combat magic—his own specialty.
When he volunteered for this job, he had figured merely that it might be a good opportunity to train juniors. He hadn’t thought that it would disintegrate into a situation that would cause the party’s reputation to crumble—nor had he ever suspected that he himself would be put in a position where he might contribute to their ruin. Mentally unprepared, the mage’s heart filled with fear and unease.
If she doesn’t hold back or stop before she hits me…or if she makes a mistake due to some lack of skill and I’m struck with magic that powerful—or if she feigns a lack of skill and actually hits me with a perfectly aimed blow…
Wife and children aside, could he really stand to die a pointless death in this arena?!
At this thought, his mind went reflexively to the one attack spell he could use in an instant, the one that would never fail him. In moments, the little girl was surrounded by raging hellfire, her form obscured.
When the mage came to his senses and realized what he had done, he was stunned, but it was already too late. Until the flames burned themselves out, there was nothing he could do. The only thing left to worry about was whether or not any bones would remain to hand over to her loved ones.
“Ah, aah, aaaah…” The mage collapsed on the ground. The spectators, believing themselves to have witnessed the little girl’s demise, were shocked into silence.
And then, the flames gradually subsided, revealing…
“Oh? Are we finished already?” Reina asked, cool as a cucumber.
“Wait, huh…?” the mage said.
“My specialty is fire magic,” Reina explained, “but lately I’ve been getting pretty good with ice and protection magic too.” She looked down at the mage, who was sitting on the ground, devoid of all will to fight, and muttered, “When people say that ‘the best offense is a strong defense,’ I suppose this is what they mean?”
Then, she began to chant a spell that would settle the battle once and for all. “O raging flames of the deep, consume my enemy and burn him to the ground! Hell—”
“Th-that’s enough!! Match oveeeeeer!!!” The referee signaled the end of the fight.
Her face remained calm, but truthfully, Reina was a bit angry.

***

“Wh-what on earth was that?! What happened with the students this term?!” The finance officer did not conceal his amazement.
“I didn’t catch the attack spell,” said Count Christopher, “but it could’ve been a real catastrophe if it hadn’t been stopped when it was. There’s no doubt it would have struck, and… At any rate, that defense magic alone is more than ample indication of her abilities, so that should be enough for the test.” Relief visible on his face.
Elbert was silent. Thought he had suspected that the four girls had hidden their abilities, he had never imagined the extent of their true powers.
“Th-that was amazing! Truly amazing!” said the king.
“Father, if I went to the prep school too, do you think I could become as strong as they are?”
The king turned to the bright-eyed prince and princess and patted them softly on the head, muttering, “Is this the dawning of a new era? Our world has been stagnant for so long…”

***

“Win.”
That was Reina’s message as she passed Mile, who grimaced.
As they watched Reina retreat and Mile take her place, the Roaring Mithrils began to quarrel.
“She’s a magic user, so I should obviously be the one to fight!”
“No, look at her! She’s definitely a swordsman! I’ll fight!”
The oldest mage and the middle-aged lancer both argued their cases, explaining why they should be the next to take the field.
After listening for a while, Gren, the greatsword wielder, passed down his decision as the party leader.
“I will fight.”

***

Now, Mile and Gren—the leader of the Roaring Mithrils—stood face to face in the center of the arena.
“What the hell are you guys?” he asked her.
“Huh? You mean us? We’re just average graduates from the Hunters’ Prep School, aren’t we? Perhaps we’re a bit of an anomaly…”
“How can you be ‘average’ if you’re an anomaly?!”
Mile grinned at the man’s straightforward response—after all, who wouldn’t smile in the face of a quip like that? “Let me introduce you to Mile, the completely normal magic swordsman!”“Who the hell is that?!”
“Oh, er, well I figured if I called myself that, it would catch on. That’s good, isn’t it? Being ‘normal’…”
“That’s not my question! Well, actually, I’ve got a question about that as well, but… What is this ‘magic swordsman’ business?! Are you a mage or a swordsman? Which is it?!”
“I guess you’ll just have to fight me and find out!”
“Well then, let’s start!”
And so, the battle began.
Blam bang thwack bang!
Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shing!
After exchanging a number of fiercely powerful blows, Mile’s high-speed assault began.
It was no longer possible to even hear separate strikes.
The volleys continued at such speed that the spectators couldn’t see their blades, and, stunned and enthralled, they began to cheer.
“Well, this is getting fun. Mind if I go a little bit faster?” Mile asked.
“Y-you brat! You’ve been holding back?! Go for it, show me your best!”
“Okay!”
KLANG KLANG KLANG!
KA-KLANG KA-KLANG KA-KLANG!
It appeared that Gren had been holding back as well, and even with Mile’s speed increased, it was clear they were equally matched. Gren’s expression began to twist, but it wasn’t from pain or discomfort.
Anyone who knew Gren would recognize the expression as one of his rare smiles.
“Ha.”
“Bwa…”
“Ahahahahahahahaha!”
“Bwahahahahahahaha!”
“No way… The boss is smiling…”
Over in the waiting area, the Roaring Mithrils exchanged looks of shock.

***

“What is this that we’re witnessing?” the finance officer muttered.
“The last dance between a demon and an angel?” It was the prince who answered him.
It certainly wasn’t wrong to say that it looked as though the two were dancing.
The art of dance, and the art of war. There was an inextricable link between the two.
“Can you see their swords?” the king asked.
Elbert answered him with a soft, “No…”
The hands of Count Christopher, the legendary S-rank hunter, were shaking. “Elbert, can I…?”
“You mustn’t, Count!”
It seemed he wanted to fight as well.
Though the spectators had begun cheering, they fell again into a hush. They didn’t have time to chatter or shout.
If they took the time to do that, they wouldn’t be able to engrave the battle into their memories. Surely, the details of this fight would be passed down again and again for ages to come…
Ka-snap!
“Oh…”
Unable to take the strain of such force, Mile’s sword finally snapped. It was only a cheap thing meant for mock battle, so this was no surprise.
Mile lacked Gren’s technique, and the burden of the sword wore on her. However, neither of them was satisfied.
“Want to change swords?” Gren offered. “You can use your own if you like.”
Mile knew she couldn’t possibly use her mystery blade here. “No, I’m fine.”
Instead, she slowly drew the thumb and forefinger of her left hand over the remaining portion of her blade, stopping at the end of the space where the blade used to be.
“Special technique, ‘Light Beam Blade’!” she said, and a blade of light appeared there, in the trail left by her fingers.
“What is that?!” Gren’s shout echoed throughout the stadium.
“So, you’re a swordsman who fights with a magic blade! That’s what makes you a a magic swordsman.”
“Huh? No, it’s just that I can use magic, too…”
Smack!
“W-well, fine! Let’s continue!”
“Okay!!”
Gren told himself that she couldn’t possible have cast such a difficult spell silently, just by waving her hand. The audience, on the other hand, had been unable to hear their hushed conversation and hadn’t realized that Mile had cast the spell without words.
And then, the fierce battle began to rage again, as Mile used high-speed moves, turned backflips, and maneuvered to her heart’s content. With her full physical potential hidden and limits put on her godly strength, Mile was a fine opponent for Gren—though she was no expert swordsman.
“Clone Technique!” she cried.
“What is this mimicry?!”
Mile had tried to enact a copycat technique, running quick laps between two points, but such things were not so simple in reality. All Gren had to do was swing his sword down in the middle of her path for an easy strike.
“Th-that’s fighting dirty…”
“Be serious!” Gren retorted.
Mile stopped her maneuver and moved back into the fray. “Battering Blade!”
“Whoa! You’ve got a lot of power in that body—not just speed!”
Gren, blocking Mile’s attack, sounded surprised at the amount of strength behind her swing.
What came next was one punishing blow after another. Mile’s strength and speed made up for what she lacked in skill and technique, but with Gren’s skill and experience, he stood up to her head-on.
No tricks were needed—this was a straightforward, all-out battle.
How fun! How exciting!
A grin of delight was plastered on Mile’s face, the sort of smile that even a much older adult could understand. In her previous life, she had never taken part in any competitive sports, spending all her time on games, RPGs, and the like.
The fight was a time of bliss that she wished she could enjoy forever.
However, no matter what she did, it would have to come to an end soon.
Mile had lost herself in the moment, but the second it became clear that Gren was reaching his limit, his pace slowing, she came back to reality.
Crap! I did it agaaaain!!
Though she had planned to show off a bit from the start, she had never intended to go this far. Everything had its limits.
Her face paling, Mile asked Gren in a small voice, “Sorry, I have a bit of a situation. I need to lose. Could you beat me? Ah—but, painlessly! If you can!”
“Got it.”
In Gren’s decades as a hunter, he had seen a great deal. He quickly understood that Mile was subject to some peculiar circumstance, and that she’d gone further than she had meant. It seemed that he himself had become part of the problem, and as he’d certainly had more than enough fun, he didn’t mind following through with her request.
“Hooah!” he grunted.
“Gwahh! You got meeee!!”
They were two peas in a pod.
A perfect pair.
The spectators were baffled to see such a brutal end to the elegant match, but soon, speculations began to spread throughout the stadium.
“There must have been some special circumstance.”
“I bet she let him win out of deference to a senior hunter.”
The jig was up.
Yet, standing in the middle of the grounds, Mile’s performance was not yet complete.
“You may have won against me, but take heed! There is another, before whom we Four Sages are nothing but mere mice! Lord Veil, please avenge me!”
“Huuuhh?!?!”
At Mile’s sudden declaration, both Gren, and Veil, over in the waiting area, let out cries of confusion.
“H-hey, kid…”
“Look it’s complicated! Complicated!” she said.
“I-I see…. Wh-what is this impertinence?! Who would dare stand up to me?!”
Seeing Mile’s desperation, Gren had no choice but to play along.

***

“The boss is acting strange…”
The Roaring Mithrils were alternatively gaping, in a tizzy, and trying desperately to hold back laughter.
And then there was Veil, who emerged from the waiting area, his face grim.

***

“What’s all this fooling around?”
“No, wait. There must be some reason for all this. Isn’t that so, Elbert?” the king said, turning to the principal.
“That one, as well as the three girls before—they’re all in this together.”
“I see…” the king mused.

***

“Mile!” Elbert said to her, as she returned from the fighting grounds. “What the heck was that?! That should’ve been a total victory for you!”
“No no no! If I’d won the fight, I would’ve stood out way too much to be starting as a C-rank hunter. That’s bad! Besides, it would have been awful to give that much of a blow to their reputation.”
“W-well, I suppose that’s true…”
Upon hearing this, and recalling what she herself had done earlier, Reina suddenly felt a bit guilty. Maybe she could have dialed things back slightly. The mage she had faced was still over in the waiting area, after all, huddled in a ball and mumbling feverishly.

***

Now, in the center of the stadium, beneath the watchful eyes of the audience, Gren and Veil faced off.
After Mile’s words, Gren had no choice but to keep fighting. Just as Mile had anticipated.
“Are you conspiring with those guys, too?” Gren asked Veil.
“N-no! Please don’t lump me in with them!”
“Sorry. My mistake.” Gren’s apology was sincere.
As long as the boy was just a normal student, it would not matter that Gren was already worn out from the previous battle.
“Shall we begin, then?” he asked. “Come at me!”
“Yes, sir!”
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
“Wh…! You tricked me!!”
“I haven’t tricked you!”
Gren was becoming rather short of breath. Though Veil’s speed paled in comparison to Mile’s, his technique was far superior, and he was at least as fast as Mavis, which was saying something. Gren, having already been more than satisfied by his fight with Mile, felt exhaustion beginning to set in, his will fading.
That was the moment when Veil attempted a different sort of attack.
“Air Bullet!”
“Wh—?!”
Air Bullet. That simple phrase carried all the image Veil needed for this simple wind spell.
Due to their difference in height and the fact that Veil had fired from below, the shockwave of compressed air caused Gren’s stance to crumble.
His reflexes were already slow from fatigue, so when Veil’s sword swung toward him, Gren’s legs shook. Still, no matter how badly he lost his composure, he refused to be defeated so easily. But then…
“Magic Blade!”
With a sharp sound, the blade of Gren’s sword fell to the ground, sliced clean off. In the moment after the shearing, the magic dissipated from Veil’s sword, and it became once again a normal, blunt practice blade, which he used to strike Gren against the side.