bookworm

“Uh…”Millelina suddenly went silent, as she realized that she had unintentionally given up some classified intel.“Th-that’s… A-anyway, no human would ever be able to see through the magical wall that we’ve all conjured!”“Mm-hmm…concealing magic, then? Then your nest would be found somewhere with a hint of magic or where the surrounding scenery doesn’t look quite right…”“Wha-wh-wh-wha?!”“D-damn!” Millelina’s mouth flapped stupidly. Yet she just kept giving up more and more information. “The forty-seven members of our clan shall never be brought to our knees by anyone!”“Oh, go on then… Your population is forty-seven, you say?”“Aaaaaaaaaargh!!”Realizing how much vital information she had now given away, Millelina crumbled.“B-but, we still have a trump card! Miss Wintergale! She’s so splendid in combat, they call her the ‘Battle Fairy’!”“Mm-hmm, so there’s one opponent to be cautious of, and, judging by her name, she uses blizzard-type combat magic…”“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”Was this level of idiocy common among fairies? Or was this a special characteristic of this individual, Millelina? Even the other fairies would probably think that a girl who was also known as the “Electric Fairy,” would at least be a little bit brighter…So Mile thought, but it did not seem that she would be getting any more information out of the girl.Still, now that it was beginning to grow dark, finding a hidden village was going to prove difficult. There was only one thing to do now…Nanos!HERE WE ARE!The fairy-shaped golem from before, which had remained unmoving for some time, suddenly began to warp in shape, changing color.“Wh…?”Millelina was stunned at the sight.The golem was now the spitting image of Millelina.“How’s the voice sample?”“Save me! Save me!” the golem replied, in a voice that sounded exactly like Millelina’s.“Ngah! Aaah! Graaaaaaaaah…”Ignoring Millelina, who was trembling and red in the face, Mile ordered, “Liftoff!”“Rasah!”With that, the golem once again took flight, a string attached to its back…***“Now, what to do with you all?”Night had fallen, and Mile now had forty-seven fairies, bound, incapacitated, and rolling on the ground around her.The one called Wintergale had fainted the moment her dear friend’s back popped open and four extra arms came out.“Well, I guess there’s no point in me trying to track down the fairies’ ‘hidden nest’ now.”It was the catch of a lifetime. She had gotten bite after bite on her cast-out line. Mile was quite pleased with her fishing prowess.“Oh, I’d better take off the sound barrier…”So that they would not interfere with her fishing, Mile had been keeping all of the captured fairies inside of a sound-dampening field. The fairies were desperately flapping their mouths, but no sound came out. However, when she removed the barrier…“What are you going to do to us?!”“Release us at once, you fiendish human!”“Do whatever you want to me, but please, spare my wife and daughter…”“I’m gonna burn ya! I’m gonna burn ya to the ground!!!”“Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”They were noisy. Incredibly noisy.“Come on, guys, I already told you I don’t have any bad intentions. I just wanted to talk a bit, and I thought that we might be able to make friends.”“Who the hell are you kidding?!?!?!” came a chorus.Seeing how the fairies raged at her, despite her friendly demeanor, Mile was speechless.Could you blame them, though? Suddenly capturing and restraining someone was not something that anyone who aimed to be a friend would do…A short while later, after Mile promised the fairies that she would let them go as soon as they heard her out, that she would not force them to talk, and that she would tell no one that she had encountered them, the fairies finally began to calm down and grow quiet.She decided to withdraw her tent from her inventory and move the fairies inside so that they could have a more leisurely conversation. Even the fairies were a bit stunned to see how casually she produced the item.“Might I get you to loosen these bindings a bit?” asked an old man who appeared to be the eldest of the group, most likely the village elder. Of course, Mile could not comply with his request. No matter how small they were, fairies were still quick, and fairly decent at magic.Honestly, Mile was not worried for her own safety. She merely worried that if she had to guard herself against a simultaneous attack from all the fairies and recapture them all at once in this dark and cramped tent, she might end up squashing them in an instant.When she explained as much, the fairies fell quiet again.“Come now. This’ll be over soon! I really just have a few questions to ask you all! So please, try and bear it for just a little while longer,” she said, before silently placing a request with the nanomachines.Would you be able to block the fairies’ magic until we’re finished talking?IF YOU, LADY MILE, AUTHORIZATION LEVEL 5, SO DIRECT IT, THEN NATURALLY THAT INSTRUCTION SHALL BE PRIORITIZED. DUE TO THE SMALL SIZE OF FAIRIES’ BODIES, THEIR THOUGHT PULSE EMISSIONS ARE WEAK, AND THUS THEY ARE UNABLE TO PRODUCE ANY LARGE-SCALE MAGIC TO BEGIN WITH, BEYOND THEIR FLIGHT CAPABILITIES.That much put her at ease. No matter how weak their magic might be, it would be irritating to have the tent set ablaze, and they still might be able to burn through the strings that bound them.Then, if you would, please!ROGER THAT!“Now, I’ll cut to the chase. What I would like to ask you all about is the matter of an ancient civilization, information of which should have been passed down through your various generations…”“Hm?”Surprise spread across the face of the fairy Mile presumed to be the village elder.“Y-you know about the Land of the Gods…?”Behind the elder, other fairies were fussing that they couldn’t produce fire or magic, but the old man ignored them.“Yes. So far, I’ve already heard about it from an elf and an elder dragon. So, I know the general facts, but I desperately needed to know if there was any new information I could gather from the stories passed down among the fairies…”Hearing this, the elder was stunned even further.Indeed, an elf was one thing, but he would have never thought that he would hear of a human who could have such a conversation with elder dragons.“I see. In that case, I suppose I can tell you—”“Chief!”“Chief, no!”Countless fairies tried to stop the elder, but he kept them in check.“There’s no point in trying to keep it a secret. On the contrary, I believe that this is a tale that the gods and our ancestors wished us to tell. This tale is merely one that has been lost among humans, whose generations turn over so quickly. I believe it is a joyous thing, if these stories may find life once again among the humans.”“………”And so, the elder told his story—the story that had been passed down among the fairies, whose lifespans were far, far longer than humans’.Mile learned almost nothing.The elder’s tale was scarcely any different from that which Mile had already heard from Doctor Clairia, the elf, and the elder dragon, Berdetice. No, in fact, compared to theirs, this story was perhaps even more lacking in information.Well, it didn’t really matter. Even just finding out how much information had been passed down among the fairies was enough to satisfy the aim of this expedition, after all. Plus, she had set aside her whole five-day break for this endeavor, so to have achieved her goal on the very first day was a bonus.Besides, “fishing for fairy friends” had been incredibly fun…even if it was probably a nightmare for the fairies.Indeed, having gotten her fill of an enjoyable excursion, Mile was satisfied.Then, suddenly, Mile saw before her…A fairy… larva?Indeed, it was a larval fairy—or rather, a young fairy girl.“Would you like to come with me, as a pe—er, a mascot? I can feed you delicious food, as much as you like! Well, not so much that you get too fat to fly, of course…”There was a devilish gleam in Mile’s eye.“Huh?” asked the girl. “Oh, wh-what should I do?”Tempted by the promises of endless delicious food, the little girl was troubled. However…A sudden roar came from the crowd. “Do you really think we’d let you do thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!”“And also, just what exactly was it you were about to say?! ‘Pe—’? What is ‘pe—’?”“Uh, well, th-that was…”“You were about to say ‘pet,’ weren’t yooooouuuuu?!”Pe—Mascot Acquisition: Failed.“All right, I’ll let you all go now. Thank you for everything.”“Huh?”The fairies appeared surprised. Apparently, they had not actually expected Mile to honor her promises.She understood why. If she were to take all these fairies, whom she had already captured, back to town with her to sell, she could make a fortune so great that her children and grandchildren could live in the lap of luxury for their whole lives. There was no human who would let such a catch slip right through their fingers.Mile was doing a bit of thinking as well.I really have done something a bit cruel, haven’t I? Seeing a monster shaped like their friends suddenly break open its back would have to be rather traumatic, one might suppose…A “bit” cruel this was not. A bit cruel would be…I guess I’ve probably given them one more strike against humans as well… This is bad! This is really bad! If it’s true that I, who wanted to strive for a newfound peace with the fairies, have done exactly the opposite… I just couldn’t bear it!These were Mile’s thoughts as she busied herself undoing the fairies’ bonds, when suddenly, an idea popped into the back of her head. Abruptly, she put the tent back into her inventory.“Illusion magic, dispel!” she said suddenly, performing an incantation inside her head…or rather, giving instructions to the nanomachines.Refract and diffuse the light! Gather moisture into ice! Neutralize gravity and maintain formation…Yes, it was a callback from the far, distant past—Mile’s Goddess Form!!The condensation in the air froze, taking form as two pure white wings of crystallized ice sprouting from Mile’s back. A halo of light floated over her head, and light particles glistened all around her…“Wh—?! I-It can’t be! The All-Mother…”Hm? No? Not a goddess then?Mile was a little surprised at the elder’s utterance, but whether they thought of her as a goddess or as this so-called All-Mother, it made little difference.“Yes, it is I. I have come to assure myself that you, my children, are still telling our tales of yore, and that you are leading happy lives. It brings me ease to see you all in good health. Well then, be of good cheer!”Whoosh!With those special words, Mile’s form vanished into magical light. And with that, she ever so stealthily left the clearing behind.Perfect! she thought. Now they’ll think that those horrid things were the work of the E-Ferario or the All-Mother or something like that—and their hatred of humans won’t spread! It’s a little different from my plan to blame it on the goddess, but everything turned out okay in the end!And so Mile returned home, a triumphant spring in her step…“Oh my, oh my… I can’t believe that the All-Mother herself is watching over us!”The village elder and all the other fairies were so moved they were trembling.“Still, just when we thought that there might actually be a human who keeps her promises, it turned out to be the All-Mother. I guess there’s no mistaking it—there’s no such thing as a trustworthy human in this world. This is all the more reason that we must be cautious. That was probably why the All-Mother did as she did, to send us a warning…”And so, a rare and precious opportunity to raise the value of humans in the eyes of fairies went utterly wasted.Chapter 55:

The Four Stooges

(Minus One)
“So, it seems like Mile’s gone off on some mysterious solo mission for the duration of our break,” said Reina, her eyes on Mavis and Pauline. “But I’m assuming that you two don’t have any particular plans, do you?”The two of them shook their heads.Five days was far too short for either of them to make a round trip back to their home country of the Kingdom of Tils, so they hadn’t even considered trying it. As it was their first time in this country, there was nothing around that they even knew of to do on their own.Truthfully, though the idea behind taking this vacation was to give each of them time to do things alone, Reina had had it in mind to go out and do something fun with the four of them, so she was a bit stunned to hear Mile say, “I’m leaving the capital for a bit. There’s something I need to do.”At that point, though, it was already too late to take back her original proposal, and given the fact that it was so rare for Mile to express her own desires, Reina figured that it was more important to respect her wishes and left the matter be.Anyway, the four of them were always together. They could go and have fun together another time.“Well, there was something that I was thinking that we could use these five days to try out.”“What? You mean without Mile?”Pauline’s surprise was to be expected. The Crimson Vow was a four-person set, with Mile at the middle.It was true that Mavis was the official party leader, and that Reina always took the reins, but somehow or other, deep in their hearts, they all felt that Mile was the heart of the party. Her exceptional abilities aside, she was something like a mascot, or unifying force at the core of their solar system…“That’s right. I think we all rely on her too much anyway, so every once in a while we ought to try and see what things are like without Mile, for the sake of our own futures…”Indeed, though they lived carefree lives now, there was no telling when something might happen. Obviously there was the chance that one of them might die on the job, but losing members to illnesses and other circumstances was to be expected in the life of a hunter as well. The Crimson Vow in particular had a particularly large variety of “other circumstances” that could affect them.Though Reina, the Lord of Rain and Thunder—er, solitary wanderer—was a non-issue, Pauline worried after her family’s shop, which her mother and younger brother were working so hard to keep afloat. As for Mavis, she was still head over heels for her father and elder brothers. And then there was the reality that they each had their own dreams: Pauline of owning her own business and Mavis of becoming a knight. Sooner or later, there was sure to be talk of marriage…which was a possibility for Reina, too. In short, none of them were likely to remain hunters for their entire lives.And of course, there was Mile, the true problem child.Though she was currently neglecting her duties, she was in fact the land-owning head of a noble household. While she held no interest in either her rank or her estate, Mile was still very young. It was possible that one day she would come to gain some awareness of the duty she owed her family name, besmirched now but held high for generations by her mother and grandfather and the generations before them, as well as her responsibility toward the people who lived on her lands. Plus, it seemed that the royal family had some interest in what became of Mile…It was all too evident that one day the Crimson Vow would have to disband, or else resign themselves to having to recruit new members. Should that happen, they could not be accustomed to letting their every pattern revolve around one specific individual. So thought Reina, who got the feeling that, of the four, she would be spending the longest portion of her life as a hunter.“I guess you’re right,” said Mavis. “I approve, then. Pauline, what do you think?”“I agree too. We really do rely a little too much on Mile…”Thus, it was decided that the three of them would try doing something on their own.***Later on, deep within the forest…“I don’t see anything around here. Mile, would you use your search ma… Ah.” Reina trailed off and continued to walk.“I’m getting hungry…”“I think we could probably stop to eat now. Mile, would you take some… Ah.”“Oh.”None of them had thought to bring any food with them.Since they normally had access to Mile’s storage space, full of fresh fish, meat, vegetables, bread, and fruit, even when they went out on expeditions, no one ever paid any mind to preparing food for their trips. Now that they thought about it, they hadn’t brought any cookware or tableware, either. And naturally there was no camping gear…Well, they had planned to return within the day. However, the three still should have made at least the minimum of gear preparations, just in case. One never knew when something might happen in the forest, after all.“………”This was bad.They all silently agreed.They had become far too accustomed to a life of convenience.Negligence. Over-reliance. An inhibited ability to sense coming dangers. Even depravity.Those were the greatest killers of hunters, far greater foes than even the monsters they stalked.About two hours later, the three girls dined on a meal of tree fruits, a jackalope they had finally snagged, and plain water. Given that the amount of time they would be out only warranted eating one meal, they could have simply packed some jerky and hardtack, in which case, they would not have needed to waste so much time on acquiring and preparing food. And of course, if Mile had been there, she would have simply pulled out an already-prepared meal…Reina shook her head wildly at the thought.No! After the members of the Crimson Lightning were killed, I lived all alone. Properly alone! This—this weakness is not what Crimson Reina is all about!Reina was appalled at her own degraded condition, but Mavis and Pauline’s concern was not nearly as grave. Their travels with the Crimson Vow were the first time in their lives that they had lived as hunters, so they had been entirely spoiled by the convenience that was traveling with Mile. On top of this, they lacked the innate awareness of danger that Reina had. Without any other comparable experiences, it was more than likely they had come to believe that the status quo was the usual way of things.This is bad. This is bad this is bad this is bad this is bad!!!Putting herself aside, Reina was overwhelmed with a sense of fear at Mavis’s and Pauline’s limited independence as hunters. At this rate, they would never be able to make it in any party that did not contain Mile. This was even more serious than she previously thought.“I see one! There’s an orc moving all alone—a fairly small one!”“This should be a breeze. We’ve got room to work, so try not to lower its sales value too much, okay?”As always, Mavis was the quickest to spot their prey.Even without Mile, an orc was basically small fry as far as the Crimson Vow was concerned. Accordingly, Reina had decided to make “killing something without lowering its sales value too much” the topic of their special practice.Quietly, Reina and Pauline incanted their spells.“Ice Javelin!”“Bl—inding Mist!”The orc stood still, shocked at the spear of ice that had just materialized from thin air and pierced into its side. A red mist began to float around its face, and the orc started to rub its eyes.The word that Pauline had started to say was “Blessing,” which would have indicated a type of healing magic. However, the spell had turned out to be an attack on her opponent. That was Pauline for you—when she invented a new spell, it was a tricky one.Mavis took advantage of the opening to leap out from the trees, slicing the orc’s head off in one fell swoop. She was not using her True Godspeed Blade, of course. Special techniques were best saved for special times. Furthermore, an orc that was standing stock-still and rubbing its eyes was not even worthy of being called an enemy. Of course, this was only possible because of Mavis’s skill and the help of the mysterious blade that Mile had provided; it was not something that could easily be achieved by just anyone. Orcs’ necks were thick, and their bones were sturdy.“That felt good. We didn’t put a single scratch on the parts that sell for the most, and we didn’t cause any damage to the environment. Ten out of ten. Now, Mile, if you would…”“Ah…”Of the three girls assembled there, two of them were slight, waifish mages.Even a small orc could be estimated to weigh just shy of 300 kilograms.And there was no one there who could use storage magic.***“C-can we rest for a bit?” Pauline wailed.“We just took a break a little while ago!” Reina rebuked.“B-but isn’t it more efficient to take regular breaks, rather than pushing ourselves?” Mavis argued.As it would have been utterly impossible for them to carry back the entire orc, they had taken with them only the ears, as proof of elimination, and as many of the most valuable parts as they could carry.Even without the head, hands, bones, and internal organs, which no one would care to eat, the orc still weighed around 200 kilograms. No matter how hard they pushed themselves, they would only be able to carry around half of that. They took only the good portions of the flesh and then the heart, liver, and the tongue. All this was divided up among the three, with Pauline and Reina both taking far smaller portions of the load than Mavis. Everyone had their strengths and weaknesses, so even Mavis could not complain about this.“After we get this back to town, should we go back and pick up the rest?” Mavis asked.“………”Reina and Pauline answered her with silence.“Well, I mean, I just thought I’d ask! You don’t have to look at me with those dead eyes… Plus, I’m sure that by the time we got back, all the good stuff would have already been eaten up by small animals and other monsters, anyway!” she hurriedly added.Still, the hollow look in Reina and Pauline’s eyes did not change.The day after they hunted the orc, the three girls decided to take a rest.Given that they were already in the midst of a full-party five-day break, this was of no consequence.However, the reason they were resting was that their bodies were so sore they could not move. That was all there was to it.And then, the third day came.“Let’s do this! But this time, no orcs!”Mavis and Pauline nodded emphatically.“All we’re going to gather is herbs that sell at a high price and are easy to transport. If we hunt anything living, it’s only going to be extermination targets, and all we’ll be taking back is proof of the kill. And we’ll be camping out tonight.”Once again, there were nods all around.Reina knew that they had sufficient combat strength between them, and her assessment was apt. If they got into a battle with other humans, or even against a monster, the Crimson Vow could put on an impressive display. Even without Mile.They had Reina, the fire-magic wielder. They had Pauline, who had not only healing and support magic but also combat spells and a few other fairly dirty tricks at her disposal. And they had Mavis, whose abilities with a sword rivaled those of a B-rank hunter and could even surpass those of an A-rank, at least for a short time and provided she had her pills. Truly, now that she had her “spirit”-powered sword techniques, the Wind Edge and the magus killer Anti-Magic Blade, Mavis had perhaps been getting a bit carried away as of late.Together they had the strength of a C-rank party twice their number. Even if they found themselves surrounded by ogres, they could prevail… It would not even be inappropriate to say that they already had the strength of a B-rank party.Even the guild was aware of this fact, but unfortunately, under the current rules, there were still a minimum number of contribution points and years spent as a member of one’s current rank that were required for promotion, and as it stood, the Crimson Vow, who had only a scant amount of time as C-rank hunters under their belts, did not yet qualify to take the rank promotion exam. Even though they were accumulating those contribution points at breakneck speed…At any rate, what the girls needed now was not battle training, but “Mile-free” training.This was the conclusion that Reina had come to.“I think it’s probably about time to start making camp, then?” said Mavis, seeing that the sun had already begun to set.“You’re right.”Reina nodded in agreement, thinking that it was about time to stop hunting for the day anyway.The three searched for an appropriate place to set up their tent. Though we say tent here, if they were to carry a complete set of thick and sturdy hides and pelts treated with moisture-repellant, along with wooden poles and sticks of the appropriate strength and size, it would be heavy, awkward, and generally a huge pain. Carrying something like that along with them would mean that they could carry almost nothing else and would not be able to take any gathered materials or prey back with them.Thus, they had decided only to roll up some waterproof cloths and hides, and use the trees themselves, as well as any sticks they found around them to make a shelter just substantial enough to stave off any wind and rain.Given that the tent packed away in Mile’s storage (read: inventory) could be stored and withdrawn without having to be put together each time, regardless of its volume or weight, it was intricate and painstakingly assembled, but there was no one else in their group who had that capability. The tent materials and tools that the girls were using were ones rented from the guild. Mile had no clue that her friends would have gone off to do any work during their vacation and had left all of the gear stored away in her storage (read: inventory), so it couldn’t be helped.The guild kept a certain amount of spare equipment in stock to lend to financially-strapped newbie hunters and for use during emergency requests placed with the guild. For the most part, these were pieces of used equipment donated by hunters who had swapped their gear out for newer things, items left behind by hunters who had died, and secondhand goods from other various avenues, but given that they were loaned out for next to nothing, they were still a blessing.And then…“How is it dark already?!”“Oh, come on! I just gotta get this part—get in there…”Not only had it taken them quite a bit of time to locate a place to set up that would keep them safe even in a sudden change of weather, the Crimson Vow, whose members had been used to having all of the necessary framing parts packed away in storage, even before Mile had begun carrying the fully assembled tent, were fighting an uphill battle, wholly unprepared to be constructing a tent from scratch.Reina had some previous experience, but Mavis and Pauline were more or less at a loss. By the time they somehow or other managed to rig a tent together, it was already completely dark out.“………”Dinner preparations went off without a hitch.They had packed along some hard tack and jerky just in case, but thankfully they had also snagged some jackalopes and birds along the way, so that became the centerpiece of their meal.Most normal hunters would avoid eating what they had caught in order to save money, but the Vow were not hurting for cash, and without Mile, their transport abilities were relatively diminished, lower even than those of most other parties, so they decided to just eat their catches on site.The cooking itself went favorably, thanks to the use of magic, with Reina to ignite the fire and Pauline to oscillate the water molecules to make them boil and so forth. This was one area where they were not lacking without Mile around. Fire magic was only useful for lighting the logs, anyway. Applying magical fire directly to the food would not cook the meat well; the outside would be charred and the middle left raw.“Mile, the spice ple… Ah.”“………”“Um, I could use my hot magic to—”“I’m good.”“Never mind, then.”On the evening of the fourth day of their break, the Crimson Vow arrived back at the capital. They had managed to bring back a relatively large amount of slightly pricey medicinal herbs, a fair bit of sellable prey, and the inedible parts of prey marked for extermination in the daily requests as trophies. For two days and one night’s work, the outcome was not bad at all…for a normal party.However, the three had become accustomed to their earnings from when Mile was around. Their clearly abnormal earnings.They collected their reward, divvied up the pay, and then stared at the coins piled in their hands.“………”They had to do better so that they could survive and call themselves competent C-rank hunters, even without Mile’s help.Also, they really ought to cherish Mile more—but no, even if she was the youngest and had the most exceptional ability, she was still just a member of the party, and the four of them were equals. On the contrary, giving her special treatment would be disrespectful to Mile in a different way.The best thing that they could do was put in more effort themselves in order to make up for Mile’s shortcomings, the places where she fell behind because she was still so young. And in order to do that, they had to work harder, in pursuit of the day when they could finally, truly, stand shoulder to shoulder with the wondrous girl that was Mile.On this, Mavis, Reina, and Pauline all agreed.***“I’m back!”On the evening of the fifth day, just before dinner, Mile returned.“Welcome back. Did you enjoy your break?”“I did! I finally fulfilled my lifelong dream!”“I’m glad to hear it. W-we decided to do a bit of hunting for practice while you were gone, just us three, but we already split the earnings among ourselves. You’re okay with that, right? I mean, not that it was that much to begin with, anyway…”Reina had no desire to keep anything hidden from Mile, and one of them was bound to spill the beans in casual conversation sooner or later anyway. So, it was better to just get it out of the way and tell her ahead of time, Reina thought.“Oh, of course! We all agreed on that when we formed this party, anyway,” Mile said, as though this were a completely obvious thing. “I got done with the thing I had planned a bit early anyway, so I decided to do a bit of side work myself. I only ended up bringing in about twenty gold, though…”“Wha…?”Pauline’s neck creaked as her head pivoted slowly toward Mile.Reina’s face twitched.And Mavis’s face was one of resignation.Looks like we’ve still got a long way to go.***“Mile, I’ve got a request,” said Reina a few days later.“Me too,” added Pauline, an equally serious look upon her face.“Oh? What is it?” asked Mile, intrigued.“I want you to teach me to use storage magic.”“Me too!”“Uh…”The inventory that Mile accessed while feigning the use of storage magic could only be reached by individuals who were of a Level 3 authorization or higher, and thus able to communicate directly with the nanomachines. Even the storage magic that normal people could use was difficult to access without sufficient talent.This was not surprising. If it were a skill that could be taught and acquired easily, it would not have nearly as much value.It was one thing to store something temporarily, but keeping something in storage while concentrating on other tasks, and even while sleeping, required a constant invocation. It was a high hurdle, both mentally and in terms of magical strength—absurdly high.“I don’t mind teaching you all, but well, to be honest, it’s incredibly difficult.”“Don’t worry, we can handle it!!”A few more days later…“Why?!?!”It turned out that Reina could not even access hyperspace to begin with. Pauline, who could muster up a strength greater than that of any mortal man in the name of earning money, could at least tentatively access hyperspace, but once she put something in to store it, all that she stored was spit right back out the moment she lost focus. Plus, she could only hold a few dozen kilograms. This alone was not enough to claim that she could properly use storage magic. Though if she could at least get to the point where she only had to take the items out of storage and undo the spell while she was sleeping, then she would at least be tentatively worthy of the claim…“I’m not even sure if you’ll be able to keep things from falling out of there like this…”“I can’t let anything fall out!!!”Mavis looked on, resignation upon her face once more.We really do still have a long way to go…