bookworm

Upon entering the room, they were directed to sit down and served hot tea straight away.
“I’ve already heard the gist of the situation from this young lady. Now, you all aren’t thinking of doing anything strange, are you?”
“Strange? Why, no! We would never think anything like that!”
While the other three averted their gazes, Mile looked the guild master straight in the eye and added, “Just a little counterattacking, revenge, overthrowing, and annihilation! That’s it! Nothing strange at all!”
“……”
The guild master slumped back at this setback.
“The guild is ready to assist in the current matter. An area merchant has picked a fight with the capital branch of the hunters’ guild—we can’t possibly keep silent about that. We need to teach them what it means to mess with our people.”
Indeed, if anyone picked a fight with someone associated with the guild, it was as good as picking a fight with the guild itself. If the guild let itself be trifled with even once, there was no turning back. This incident was not something they could overlook.
Even the fact that the captured men had been handed over in front of the guild, rather than being taken straight to the guard’s holding cells, had been for the sake of putting on a show for the other hunters. The implication was, “If you take on illegal requests, this is what will happen.” There was no better way to reiterate the fact that it was much safer to only take on jobs through the guild.
If they went outside the guild, the guild wouldn’t be there to help them when they got in trouble.
“There’s no point in trying to stop you, is there?”
The girls shook their heads.
The guild master sighed, resigned.
“I guess it can’t be helped… Just promise me this: when you go, please take just one person from our ranks with you. They can serve as a witness afterward, and they can negotiate for the cooperation of the guild there. Plus, if the number of people in your party is different, it will be easier to deceive your opponents, which should give you an added advantage.”
While Mile worried over a reply, Reina spoke up in her stead.
“I suppose we have no choice…”
Thus, it was decided that the Crimson Vow would take a “plus-one” along with them on their trip to Talwess, the capital of the lands under the control of Viscount Boardman, and the home of Pauline’s family.
“We can take a scheduled carriage toward Talwess three days from now. Until then, we should prepare ourselves and lay out a battle plan,” Reina proposed on the way home from the guild.
Of course, it wasn’t smart to say much more than that while they were still on the road. The rest, they would discuss back at the inn.
On their return, Mile headed to the reception desk to inform little Lenny of their upcoming absence.
“Oh, Lenny, in three days’ time we’re going away for a little while. Have you managed to find a mage who you could ask to run the baths?”
“Whaaaaat?! Not yet! I’ve gotta hurry up and look then! Mommmm!!!”
The news was received with panic.
***
And so, three days later…
The Crimson Vow stood waiting at the passenger carriage station, along with a girl who appeared to be around fifteen years old.
She wore a fluttering skirt and a loose jacket, with the buttons undone. Otherwise, the girl who greeted them looked just like any normal townsperson.
“My name is Theresa. I’m from the guild. I’ll be working with you on this operation. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Oh! Pleased to meet you, too. Since we’ll be party allies for the time being, would you mind telling us what your specialties are?” As the party leader, Mavis had to ask this necessary question.
“Ah, of course. I’m a C-rank, backline fighter—a knife wielder.”
“Huh?”
Three of the Crimson Vow tilted their heads in unison.
It was fine that she was a C-rank hunter. If she had started as an F-rank at ten years old, and she had the aptitude and worked hard, then reaching a C-rank by the age of fifteen wasn’t all that strange. The Crimson Vow were C-rank hunters of about the same age, after all. Perhaps Theresa had even graduated from the prep school, too.
What they found troubling was that she was both a backline fighter and a knife wielder.
How could she fight on the backline while using a weapon with such short reach?
Normally, a knife was a supplementary or backup weapon, something used for cutting up hunted prey and the like. Its reach was short, and if you threw it, you wouldn’t have a weapon anymore. Therefore, a hunter whose main weapon was a knife was more or less unheard of.
“A knife? Are you s—ow!”
Just as Mile started to ask an innocent question, a kick in the leg cut her off.
“Wh-what was that for, Reina?! That hur—eek!”
She turned to complain to Reina, who had struck Mile with the toe of her boot, but when she saw the terrifying look on the other girl’s face, she let out a small shriek.
“N-never mind…”
Mile, who had raised her voice more from surprise than hurt, quickly withdrew her question.
“My primary function will be to act as an observer from our guild, as well as a liaison with the higher-ups at the guild branch in Talwess. Though I’ll be pretending to be a member of your party, I won’t be participating in any battles, nor accepting responsibility for any actions that you take. In exchange, I will not make any move to stop you all from doing anything that you choose to. You are free to act however you like,” Theresa explained. At this, the other four nodded.
They were most grateful to hear that she was acting primarily as a witness and would not interfere with any of their plans.
After that, Theresa excused herself to find a restroom before their departure. When she was out of sight, Mile asked Reina, unhappily, “What was that about earlier?!”
In a hushed voice, Reina replied, “Quit asking about her profession. It’s pretty clear what her job is if her main weapon is a knife, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“Just think about it. What kinds of circumstances would allow a girl to earn her keep as a knife wielder?”
Mile thought hard.
“Umm, you could sneak into places while pretending to be a normal girl, or secretly work as a guard, or assassinate someone… Or assassinate someone… Assassinate… Oh…”
Earlier, when Theresa had announced her specialty, Reina had been the only one not to tilt her head in confusion. This was because, of course, she had already pieced it together.
“Got it? So don’t go nosing around. Both because that’s the unspoken rule of being a hunter, and also because it might help prolong your life a bit.”
Mile, Mavis, and Pauline nodded, all looking slightly queasy.
After a short while, Theresa returned, and they all boarded the carriage together. Just behind them, a man boarded as well.
“Third Brother…”
No one at all was surprised.
Of course he would follow them. Everyone had expected this.
So that they did not stand out as a party of all girls, followed by a single man, they reluctantly elected to pass themselves off as “a party of six, with five women and one man.” It was a one-time party for a temporary gig. Unlike Theresa, Ewan would probably be participating in battle along with them, so they needed to let him in on their plans.
When Ewan wasn’t busy pouting, he was, in fact, a full-fledged knight. It was likely he was genuinely talented, and observing a real knight’s strategy and fighting style from a close proximity would be a useful tool in their own growth. When they thought of it that way, perhaps Ewan’s presence wasn’t such a raw deal after all.
As the carriage traveled on, the Crimson Vow chatted inside with Theresa. Naturally, Ewan elected only to listen, wary of cutting into a conversation between the girls. Of course, because other passengers were present, they could not have a particularly in-depth discussion—they were limited to “girl talk” and other general topics.
“So Miss Theresa, did you attend the Hunters’ Prep School as well?”
“No, when I graduated to a C-rank, the prep school still had yet to be established.”
“Wha…?” asked a perplexed voice.
“I was promoted in the normal progression, starting from F-rank.”
“Huh?” joined another.
How odd.
Even if one were to join the guild proper as an F-rank hunter right at ten years old, it would still take at least four years to make it to a C-rank, no matter how much of a prodigy you were. Yet somehow, when she achieved that rank, the prep school hadn’t existed? The same prep school that had been established a full six years ago?
It didn’t add up.
“When my children were born, I retired as a hunter and started working as a member of the guild staff.”
“Whaaaat?” three voices chimed in.
“And then my husband became the principal of the school, which had just been established.”
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!” came the full chorus.
It couldn’t be. She was Elbert’s wife?!
“W-w-w-wait a minute! If that’s true, Miss Theresa, just how old—”
“Asking about a hunter’s private life is against the rules!”
“Bu-b-b-b-but…”
As Mile wailed in confusion, behind her, Ewan, his face pale, crossed himself for safety.
***
It was the first night of their carriage journey.
Mile and the others had already more or less established their plans, but now that Theresa and Ewan were in the mix, they would need to go over everything once more.
As always, this took place inside the tent that Mile carried with her. Just in case, Mile put a sound-dampening magic around them as well.
“…In any case, we first need to establish what the charges are. We need to confirm whether or not what those men said was the truth. Even if they weren’t lying, they might still have taken the job from someone pretending to be associated with the company, so we’ll need to collect evidence regarding that as well…”
As Mile went through her re-explanation, Reina grumbled that it shouldn’t matter, since they already knew they were bad guys. But in her heart, she understood this as well. She had raised the same complaint during their initial discussion, but eventually consented to Mile’s way of approaching things.
Furthermore, it shouldn’t take a particularly substantial effort to confirm the details of the job request. The incident of long ago involving those thieves was one matter, but with a little questioning it should be fairly easy to confirm whether or not someone had hired those C-rank hunters. Instigating the abduction and murder of citizens from the capital was enough of a criminal act in and of itself, so if they could establish at least that much, there should be no difficulty convicting the parties involved.
Naturally, they would ask the authorities to give them the third degree, in the hopes of getting them to confess to crimes from the distant past while they were at it.
Theresa had no intention of interfering with the girls’ plans, and so she positioned herself to listen only as a precaution. For his part, Ewan agreed that it was necessary to undertake a thorough preliminary investigation, so there were no objections from either of the pair.
And so, on the fourth evening of their journey, the carriage finally arrived in Talwess, the capital of the lands of Viscount Boardman and the town of Pauline’s birth.
Though Talwess was the capital, this was merely owing to the fact that it happened to be the largest in the territory, and one that the main highway passed through. In truth, it was only of moderate size, and one would be hard-pressed to really call it a city.
“Well then, we had better find ourselves somewhere to stay,” said Reina, taking the initiative as always.
After a brief rest, they headed toward an inn.
Pauline had recommended the place on the basis of it being “the sort of inn where the clientele isn’t so great, so even if you’re sort of suspicious-looking, you won’t stand out.” There, they would rent one four-person room and two singles.
“Do you have a four-person room and two singles available?” Reina asked the man at the reception counter.
The man’s eyes opened wide in shock. This inn was not the sort of place that young girls stopped by very often. However, the rooms were cheap, and it was a place where slightly suspicious-looking people would be able to stay without hassle, so now and again they did receive female guests. Yet what the man was most shocked by was not the fact that these new guests were a party of young girls, but rather, by the appearance of the young girl behind Reina.
Short black hair spilled from the edges of her hooded visage, with only a pair of eyes peeking out from the gaps between the bandages that covered her face. Even for a receptionist accustomed to suspicious customers, this one was exceptionally suspicious. Perhaps even the most suspicious he had encountered this entire month. By a landslide.
However, this man was a seasoned veteran of his profession. While he was a tad surprised, he quickly collected himself, and replied, “We have the rooms. How many nights are you planning to stay?”
“We aren’t sure. We’ll let you know the day before we plan to leave,” Reina informed him, after which they discussed the lodging rate and amenities, and he handed over the key.
The black-haired girl, of course, was Pauline.
Her hair had been colored since before they boarded the carriage, but she had waited until after they disembarked to slip into the shadows and wrap the pre-prepared bandages over her face. If she had worn them from the start, she would have attracted far too much attention from the other passengers while they rode—something that would have been both inconvenient and unbearable, in light of Pauline’s shyness.
She could have used magic to color her hair, but this came with concerns about the spell’s longevity, so instead she decided to use dye, which was convenient and had a proven track record of being secure and combat-proof. Using dye had the potential to damage one’s hair, but Pauline, at least, would be able to repair—that is, heal—it easily. Any change in color could be mitigated by using cleaning magic to break down the components of the dye as well.
The Crimson Vow headed straight to their room to rest until dinnertime. They had done nothing but ride in the carriage, but between the harsh jostling of the road and the stress on their aching backs and bottoms, they were exhausted. Ewan seemed to be heading off to his room to rest also.
Theresa delivered her luggage to her room, and then set out again to make an appearance at the guild.
The next morning, after breakfast, they all set out together.
It would be conspicuous for a group of six to move as one, so they split into three pairs. Today’s mission was mainly one of reconnaissance, so by splitting up, they not only stood out less, but would also be able to gather more information.
The first team consisted of Mavis and Ewan, who likely would not have consented to teaming up with anyone else. Pairs two and three were Reina and Theresa, and Mile and Pauline.
As they still had yet to make a move, the chance of danger befalling anyone but Pauline was low. Therefore it was decided that she should be accompanied by Mile, who, among the other three, was the most self-sufficient. Furthermore, it would be unwise to place Theresa—who had come with the intent of having the smallest possible role as an active party member—with Pauline, as she was perhaps the most belligerent. Even the notion of having any other team arrangement was unthinkable.
As someone who was their senior had been dispatched with them, it would be questionable if that person were not treated as their leader for the duration. Therefore Theresa, though she was similar in appearance to the Crimson Vow, was selected for this role—in such a way that she would neither stand out nor truly take the initiative, remaining on the sidelines. Still, there was no sense in pairing her up with the leading actress in this production.
Theresa seemed as though she wanted to team up with Mile, but it was not her place to make that decision, so she kept her mouth shut.
And so, the three teams set out to their designated destinations to investigate.
Team Reina headed for the guildhall. Team Mavis turned toward the area where the merchants congregated. And Mile, along with Pauline—her eyes to the ground and her face hidden deep within her hood, completely obscured by tightly wrapped bandages—headed toward the residential district.
That evening, after each team had concluded their investigations, returned to the inn, and finished up their dinner, the whole group gathered in the largest bedroom.
“All right, let’s go over what everyone found out.”
As always, it was Reina who kicked off the discussion.
“First, let me give a rundown of what we learned at the guild: Apparently, the five-man band of C-rank hunters, employed now and then by the Beckett Company, hasn’t been seen around town in about ten days. The Company often employs them for tasks outside the guild, when they need someone to do work that seems shady. Judging from their names and appearances, there is no doubt that those are our guys. On an unrelated note, it turns out that the Company often hires people without hunters’ certifications to serve as their bodyguards. These are folks who specialize in guard work and nothing else.”
“What we found out in the commercial district follows what Pauline told us to a “T.” The Beckett Company is known for its forceful business practices and near-criminal tactics—which is to say that even when they do things that are blatantly illegal, they always manage to play the victim when the authorities get involved. There are quite a few other merchants who the Beckett Company has made trouble for, or who otherwise hold grudges against them. My brother here was able to get a lot of information out of the female shop employees.”
At Mavis’s explanation, Ewan looked rather proud of himself. The four other ladies listening noted the fact that Ewan had only interviewed women.
As Mile and Pauline had concentrated their energies on paying a surreptitious visit to Pauline’s mother and brother, they had nothing in particular to contribute to the report.
“So far it seems that the testimonies of the men being held back in the capital haven’t changed. If there were any new contradictions in their stories, the guild master would contact me without delay. It’s been approximately seven days since they were handed over to the city guard. On a particularly fast horse, a messenger could reach here from the capital in about a day and a half. In other words, we know that nothing has changed in five and a half days, at the very least. They don’t seem like the type who could stand up to interrogation from the guardsmen for very long, let alone withstand the techniques of the palace’s own information extractors.”
Theresa’s report clinched it: there was no possibility that the captured men had falsely accused the company president.
At first, the girls considered getting themselves into the employ of the president, who would no doubt be irritated that the men he hired had yet to return. However, as they discussed the specifics of passing themselves off as down-on-their-luck hunters willing to take on illegal work, one look at each other’s faces assured them that this would never work. So, they rethought their plan. Clearly, they wouldn’t be fooling anyone.
Well, Mile thought, the justice system here was different enough from that of modern-day Earth that even circumstantial evidence should be enough to convict them.
She had proposed frightening the man and beating him within an inch of his life. However, everyone else had declined this offer. In order to preserve the business and let Pauline and her family take back possession of the shop, they couldn’t simply fell the bad men with some pseudo-assassination.
It was a sound argument. If they went about this poorly, then they would be deemed criminals as well.
Their goal was not merely to take down the president and his crew, but to see Pauline’s family’s honor restored.
The members of the Crimson Vow racked their collective brains.
***
The next morning at 9:00 AM, just after the Beckett Company had opened shop for the day at the ringing of the second morning bell, four figures appeared outside their door.
They were four girls. From among them, the smallest, a girl of around eleven or twelve, produced a simple-looking item.
Bwooong!
Suddenly, a loud and unusual sound rang out, and the people around stopped in their tracks, turning to look at the girls.
Bwong-bw-bwooong!
After the sound had rung out, the girl cried out, “Vengeance is nigh! Vengeance is nigh! A young girl’s father was murdered, her mother and brother and the shop her father built were all stolen away! Now, her vengeance is nigh! All ye gathered, please take care not to stand in the way, nor take injury from the fearsome spells that will soon fly!”
The forty-seven ronin (minus forty-three) were making their stand at the lord’s mansion. There was no snow on the ground, but it was at least the early morning.
The spectators’ eyes were sparkling.
This was a world of few amusements. The citizens of this town scarcely ever came across interesting events, let alone ones that they would be able to tell others about for decades to come. Furthermore, the stars of the show were a group of lovely young women, and their foe was an unscrupulous merchant, steeped in infamy. It took very little effort to guess which party was in the right, and which was in the wrong.
People began to gather around, and by the time the merchants stepped out to see what was going on, a sizable crowd had surrounded the Beckett Company headquarters.
Reina, meanwhile, muttered to herself, “What does ‘nigh’ even mean, anyway?”
“What is going on out here?!”
Perhaps having been informed by his employees about the commotion outside, the president of the Beckett Company—in other words, the very man who was Pauline’s sworn enemy—stepped out of the door with some fellows who looked like bodyguards by his side. What he saw was a crowd surrounding his shop and four young girls standing before them.
“P-Pauline!”
Indeed, there stood Pauline, the dye cleansed and the brown of her hair restored with magic. Her bandages had been removed, and her face was plain to see.
“You’ve come back on your own! What is the meaning of all this?!” the president demanded, looking out over the crowd.
“This is your audience. They’ve all come to bear witness as you are captured and brought to justice…”
“Wh-what are you saying?!”
The president was stunned at these unexpected words from the usually meek and mild Pauline.
“Two and a half years ago, you hired bandits to kill my father and took over our shop using forged documents. I won’t let you dare say that you’ve forgotten that! Furthermore, you have committed another crime, and this time, there’s no hiding it: you attempted to harm citizens of the royal capital, which is under the direct control of His Majesty, the king himself. This is an attack on the king’s own ground—an act of treason!”
At these wild accusations, shouts of anger began to rise from the growing mob.
“I-I’ve no idea what you’re talking about! What proof do you have…?!”
The president panicked to hear such things said before so many people.
However, Pauline coolly continued, “Proof? Didn’t you think it peculiar that you hadn’t seen any signs of the men you hired to attack my friends, and that those same friends are here with me? That’s right, your hunters have been captured and are being questioned by the palace guard. Or, perhaps I should say, they were being questioned. They’ve already confessed everything, and right about now, the guards from the capital are probably headed this way…”
“Wh…”
Upon seeing his reaction, the crowd knew at once: Everything the girl said is true.
Pauline had purposely linked the crimes of the far past to that of the present, in the closely held hope that as long as there were witnesses to the present events, those of the past might be proved just as easily.
The president, meanwhile, finally realized that by remaining speechless, he had sealed his own fate. However, it was already too late. The recognition of his guilt had begun to spread throughout the crowd. There was no choice but for him to quash this by force. As long as he could root out the main offender in all this ruckus, he could deal with all the residual effects later, somehow or other. He had connections just for circumstances like these. He’d paid bribes just for circumstances like these.
“Seize the ones spreading these hideous rumors!” he shouted as he signaled to his guards, falling back.
The sign he had given was one that he had used many times before: Kill them.
The five bodyguards gave small nods and stepped forward. Four of them drew their swords, while one stood just a little behind them, brandishing a staff.
“Oh, so they intend to kill us to silence us! The man has as good as acknowledged his sin! Since they have drawn their blades to slay us, we haven’t a choice! To battle we must rise! We act now in self-defense!”
As Mile shouted this long-winded explanation of her actions, she drew her sword. The other three drew their weapons in turn. Reina and Pauline had already begun preparing their spells.
The bodyguards forwent any sort of needless shouts, such as, “Die, you wretches!” or, “Prepare yourselves, knaves!” Instead, wordlessly and immediately, they launched their attack. Unnecessary chatter was reserved for third-rate killers or worse, and these men appeared to be second-rate fighters at the very least. Reina and Theresa had heard that these men did not possess guild certification, but this certainly was not for lack of ability. There must be some other reason at hand.
As the battle began, Reina and Pauline concentrated all their energy on the enemy mage. As they were unaware of their enemy’s capabilities, this was a standard precautionary measure. Moreover, this was the first time they were able to take full advantage of their absolute faith in Mile and Mavis’s ability to completely shield them from the four swordsmen at the front. After all, if you were set upon by your enemy’s forward guard while keeping all your concentration on the backline, you would be killed for certain.
The two had finished their spells now, their proverbial fingers on the trigger, waiting to speak the final, simple words that would release the attacks. And then the swordsmen moved their way.
Each of the four men aimed for one of the four girls. They intended to render the girls defenseless in one blow, with their mage as a backup precaution. Clearly, they were vastly underestimating the rage, swordsmanship, magical attack power, and casting speed of these young ladies.
Nonetheless, Mavis and Mile handily took on two of them apiece, stopping the ones who had aimed for the backline fighters as well as their own opponents. They swung upward to block the attacks coming their way, then back down to disarm the ones headed for the backline, stopping the men in their tracks. In the over half a year that they had spent together, they had practiced together a fair bit. This level of synchronized movement was no sweat for the party.
Seeing this, the enemy mage panicked, and released the trigger on the spell he had prepared, letting it fly toward Mavis. It was an icicle javelin.
As they were fighting in close quarters, it was crucial that he select a spell that would not affect anyone but his intended target. Thus, a spell like this was ideal. Furthermore, because it carried its own innate kinetic energy, the icicle could easily pierce through any magical protection that might be enacted.
However, in this case, it was the wrong move.
Even if the enemy mages were kept in check, aiming at the frontline fighters, rather than the mages, left them completely free to attack.
If these were your average, garden-variety novice hunters that the men were facing, this likely wouldn’t have been a problem. For a magic-user who was confident in his skills, who had plenty of experience in combat and specialized bodyguard work, it would not be difficult to defend himself against the spells of novice magic-users even after they had already been let off. However, while Reina and Pauline were certainly “novices,” one might only call them that while mentally appending “somewhat out of the ordinary.”
“Earth Shield!”
“Icicle Javelin!”
Both of their spells were set into action, the icy spear that had been flying Mavis’s way crashing into the wall of earth that had suddenly risen from the ground, and the blunt end of another ice javelin flying toward the enemy mage.
By the time the icicle spear—or rather, the blunt icicle rod—struck the enemy mage in the gut and knocked him to the ground, the four enemy swordsmen were all rolling on the ground. The crowd cheered in a frenzy, while the president went very pale.
Just as Pauline moved to try to question the man again, a voice came from behind her.
“Well, well, what’s all this commotion about?”
The girls turned to see a hunter, who looked to be in his thirties, standing by. Judging by the sword sheathed at his waist, he was a frontline fighter. He had wily good looks that gave the impression that he would have been quite popular with the ladies back in his day, but he had a quiet demeanor and seemed to have aged gracefully. The few blades of stubble that remained unshaven from his cheeks lent him a rugged, pleasant look.
He was a veteran hunter, one who had worked his way up from the bottom. This was something you rarely saw.
Seeing this man, the hope of salvation appeared in the president’s eyes. This look told Mile everything.
I bet he’s going to say something like, “Master, please help me!”…
“Master, please help me!”
Yep, there it is.
“You girls look like hunters, but what’s going on here?” the man called Master asked. He did not seem as intent on obeying his employer’s orders as on ascertaining the circumstances of the situation.
And interestingly, he had not asked the question of his employer. Did he not trust the man? Or did he merely think it would be faster to inquire of his opponents themselves?
“We’re apprehending a criminal.”
“A criminal, you say?”
“That’s right. This man hired robbers to kill this girl’s father, then stole his business using forged documents. Later, he illegally hired a group of hunters to murder us—citizens of the royal capital—which is an act of treason,” Reina explained.
Hearing this, the man turned to the president, who was shaking his head wildly, and asked, “Is this true?”
“Sh-she’s lying! This is all slander!”
“Well, sometime in the next few days a guard wagon should be arriving from the capital, so you’ll see soon enough. What would you like to do until then?” Reina asked the hunter, casually ignoring the president’s desperate denial.
“Unlike those goons writhing around there, I was hired officially through the guild. Therefore, if you were all government officials or soldiers—or, if you were under the orders of an employer or the Crown, I wouldn’t do anything. Since that doesn’t seem to be the case, I have no choice but to keep guarding the man I’m contracted to. You’re all hunters, so you understand, don’t you?”
“I guess it can’t be helped. However, since it’s four against one, would you like to take this opportunity to surrender?”
“I can’t do that. I’m a B-rank hunter. If I surrendered to a group of four rookies, my reputation would be ruined, and I can’t allow that. In any case, I can’t exactly see myself losing.”
“I see… Well then, let’s do this.” Reina sighed, moving to brandish her staff.
Just then, Mile interjected from beside her, “Reina! This is a real match!”
“Huh???”
The other three, as usual, were stunned at Mile’s strange words.
“This isn’t a story tale! No matter how much we fight in the name of justice, bullying a weakling in front of all these people wouldn’t feel right! Plus, it wouldn’t be any fun at all for our spectators to watch!”
Seeing how the other three nodded silently in agreement, the crowd suddenly understood.
“Gotcha. Well then…”
“Wait! Wait wait waaait! What on earth do you mean ‘in the name of justice,’ and ‘bullying a weakling’?! What does that mean? Do you think I’m the problem? Are you saying I’m a ‘weakling’?!”
“Huh? You aren’t?” Mile asked, clearly perplexed.
The hunter roared, “Of course I’m not!!! I already told you, didn’t I?! I took this bodyguard job officially through the guild! If you all were working officially, through the appropriate channels, I would just shut up and hand him over. However, all I know is that you’re a bunch of random assailants acting independently on a grudge. So, I have to follow through on the job I was hired to do and defend him! Furthermore, all of my companions are off in other towns on business. I took this job on independently just to kill some time, but I’m actually the leader of a B-rank party. My individual rank is close to an A-rank! Do you understand? I’m not lying, and I’m certainly not a weakling!”
“No, the way you have to insist on that just makes you seem even weaker…” Mile said suspiciously.
“I’m NOT!!!” the B-rank hunter screamed, red in the face.
“Well now, it seems like this crowd is really heating up, so…”
“You did that on purpose!”
“Your opponent now shall be Mile, the average magical knight beauty…”
“Where?”
“Huh?” Mile, intending to ignore the hunter’s complaints and continue her spiel, let out a small sound of confusion.
“I’m asking, where is this ‘beauty’ who I’m supposed to be fighting?”
The hunter looked around theatrically, a faint smirk upon his face.
You jerk…
Mile sighed. It was her own fault for getting too into it and slipping that ‘beauty’ comment in there. However, there were plenty of people in this world who would refer to themselves as something like the “beautiful knight” or “brilliant magical beauty”… weren’t there? Even when it came from something like the “Headless Killer-Beauty Incident,” you still got from it that she was a beauty, regardless of the fact that she was headless, right? That was the sort of thing Mile had been going for.
It was the kind of declaration everyone made! You couldn’t just jump right into battle! Was this his revenge for making fun of him?!
At the thought, Mile was grinding her teeth internally.
She would harness this rage, and…
“I’ll do it.”
“Huh???”
“This should be my fight,” Pauline said, taking a step forward, while the other three looked on perplexed.
“Pauline…?”
“It’s fine. Despite how I may look, I too am a member of the Crimson Vo—”
“EH-HEH-HEH-HEM!!!”
Mile, Reina, and Mavis all let out a loud and rather forced-sounding cough, interrupting Pauline’s words.
Indeed, they had already decided ahead of time that this job was not one being undertaken by the “Crimson Vow,” but rather by “Pauline and her delightful companions.” They didn’t want word getting around that the Crimson Vow had been involved in an operation that resided in such a grey area. This was not a real job, but rather a member’s individual undertaking.
Pauline swiftly recalled this and tried to change around her words to cover for her mistake.
“…I too am thirsty for blood, as a member of the Order of the Crimson Blood…”
The other three were stunned at the overcorrection.
The crowd recoiled.
“J-just what kind of party are you all?”
The other hunter was taken aback as well.
“Today has nothing to do with our party. We aren’t here together as party members—they came here of their own accord to aid me in a personal battle. They’re just my friends… no, they’re my best friends!”
The other girls realized something: Pauline’s words were suddenly much simpler than her usual manner of speech. Someone who had never met her before would scarcely notice, but for her friends, who had known her for so long, it was clear. Furthermore, they understood what this meant.
“My name is Pauline. I have risked everything to take vengeance upon my father’s foe. And as thanks to the friends who have put their lives and their futures in my hands for the sake of my personal vengeance…”
Pauline was not speaking to her opponent. She was reciting words that she had rehearsed in advance. As she spoke, all the resources of her brain were focused on a different task.
“Go!”
As Pauline raised her staff, the hunter gripped the handle of his sword to draw it.
“Owwwwwww!!!”
The hunter screamed, pulling his hand from the handle. His palm was dripping, red with blood. When he looked down to the still-sheathed sword, he saw that the handle was suddenly covered in thorns.
“Wh-wha…?”
He reeled for a moment, but anyone who could truly be caught off guard by such a simple thing could never be called a B-rank hunter.
“Damn it! You’re a shadow-caster?! And you cast a high-level spell silently in your head, while still speaking normally?!”
As he spoke, he quickly glanced to his backup shortsword, glad to see that nothing was sprouting from that one. He swiftly gripped the handle of the shortsword and drew it.
“Hooooooooot!!!”
And with as much force as he had drawn it, he flung the shortsword forward.
“Secret technique, ‘Heat Blade!’”
Pauline shouted the name of her technique (read: spell) with a satisfied look.
Indeed, as the hunter had guessed, this was shadow-casting: a high-level technique by which one secretly cast a spell without an incantation while talking about something else and pretending not to be doing anything magical. Naturally, this was difficult to achieve while speaking to one’s opponent normally, so Pauline could only do it while mechanically reciting words that she had prepared ahead of time. Even so, it was an impressive feat.
Incidentally, the “Heat Blade” spell was a reference to the weapon used by a giant golem in one of Mile’s bedtime stories, though she had it a bit backwards as to which part got hot—the blade or the handle. As Mile heard the name that Pauline gave it, she thought to herself, Shouldn’t she be calling this “Heat Grip” instead?
“D-damn it! Well, at least I can still use my fists.”
As he spoke, the hunter tried to throw a punch Pauline’s way, but just then, he fell to his knees on the ground.
“Uh… huh? What? Why am… I…?”
And just like that, he collapsed on the ground.
“I never said that the handle of your sword was the only thing I had raised the temperature of. By slowly raising the temperature of your body bit by bit, it seems you’ve fallen right to pieces as well…”