“Even if you’re lucky enough to get an apprenticeship in Äußerst, won’t you be taken back to your village? You’re still a kid.”
“Taken back by who?”
“People from the village who were against it? And your family.”
“No one’s coming. My family… they’re all dead already.”
Schloss answered expressionlessly. But she could tell that painful emotions were seeping through his voice and the depths of his eyes. It was a sadness he was desperately trying to suppress, yet it was leaking out.
“I see.”
Übel replied nonchalantly, offering neither comfort nor encouragement. She didn’t think of herself as heartless. Besides, she figured Schloss wasn’t exactly looking for empathy or sympathy anyway.
“My dad, my mom, my big brother… they were all amazing mages. I always respected them, looked up to them… that’s why I decided I’d become a mage too. But they were against it, saying it was too dangerous… and I understand that. I really do. I mean, they all actually died… but still…”
Schloss looked down, clutching the hem of his clothes tightly.
“I still want to be one. There must be fun things about it too… and I hate feeling like I’m the only one left out.”
“You might die too, you know?”
“That’s why I’m going to have a strong mage train me!”
He retorted, sounding almost angry.
Übel couldn’t see much of a future in that. While many mages formed master-disciple relationships, she felt the “training” Schloss was talking about had a different nuance. But telling him that would probably only make him more depressed.
I’ll leave the job of teaching him reality to some other adult, Übel decided, and she gave him a small smile.
“I hope it works out for you.”
With that, the conversation died, and the two continued walking in silence.
At first, Schloss could barely keep up, but as he grew accustomed to walking the narrow animal trails, his pace stabilized. At this rate, they would likely reach Äußerst by tomorrow evening.
Provided nothing happened.
“Ah.”
Übel let out a small sound and came to a halt.
“What’s wrong?”
“Could you crouch down for a second?”
“……?”
Looking suspicious, Schloss did as he was told. Immediately after, Übel manifested her staff and swung it horizontally with a sharp whoosh. Simultaneously, she activated Reelseiden—the magic that cuts through almost anything. If Schloss hadn’t ducked, his head would have gone flying.
“Wha—What are you…!”
As Schloss stood there speechless, Übel jerked her chin toward the ground. There lay a bird monster, sliced clean through, breathing its last. It looked like a crow but possessed an unnaturally developed beak and talons. A single peck or scratch from it would cause a normal person a serious injury.
“These guys usually attack in swarms.”
Übel looked up. A massive number of crow monsters were already perched on the trees, surrounding them. They watched for an opening with cold, inorganic black eyes.
Normally, they were nothing. She could handle them more easily than swatting flies. But now she had Schloss with her. Could she handle them all while protecting a frail child? These monsters were tenacious; they would hunt you to the ends of the earth until they were shown the difference in power. Running wasn’t an option.
“Well, I’ll manage somehow.”
Übel pulled a knife from her coat—one she had “borrowed” from the bandits’ hideout. She handed it to the tense-looking Schloss.
“If they look like they’re going to attack you, do something about it with that.”
Schloss looked at her with an expression of pure disbelief.
“I—I can’t! I’ve never fought before…”
“Then this is your first battle.”
“But—” Schloss faltered. He was completely terrified. Übel thought about telling him to just take it easy, but it didn’t look like they had time for idle chatter.
The sound of flapping wings erupted.
The crow monsters descended all at once from eight directions.
In an instant, Übel pinpointed the locations of every enemy through sight and mana detection. She lowered her center of gravity, coiling her body like a spring. The moment they entered her range, she spun, unleashing a circular slash. The monsters within range were bisected so cleanly it was as if the trajectory of her slash was visible as a physical line.
The second wave came.
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They seemed to have a bit of a learning capacity; this time, they dove in one by one. But that actually made them easier to deal with. She sliced them down individually as they charged. The piercing shrieks of their death throes vibrated against her eardrums as black feathers danced in the air.
In less than three minutes, half the swarm had been cut down.
The monsters must have realized they were no match for this mage.
So, they changed their target.
Instead of Übel, they charged straight for Schloss.
“How annoying,”
Übel muttered, intercepting them while staying close to Schloss. Because her movements were restricted, she couldn’t swing her staff exactly how she wanted. It was stressful not being able to cut loose properly. I really am better suited for fighting like a loose cannon, she thought—just as one monster slipped past her side.
—Oops.
She could barely kill it now, but if she fired a slash, she might cut Schloss along with it. Could Schloss kill just one on his own? No. Even with the knife, he was too paralyzed with fear to do anything.
After a moment’s hesitation, Übel decided to rely on brute force rather than magic. Specifically, her leg. Turning on her heel, she kicked the monster with all her might. She felt the sensation of its bones shattering through her toe. Flying creatures really are fragile.
She focused on the battle to ensure no more slipped through. Eventually, the monsters gave up the assault and the swarm flew away. However, one single monster—the one Übel had kicked—was twitching in spasms on the ground. It looked like it would die even if left alone, but she had to make sure it was finished.
Übel turned to Schloss.
“Hey, there’s an enemy left.”
“Eh…?”
“You have a weapon, and there’s an enemy of humanity nearby. So, there’s only one thing to do, right?”
“B-but… Übel, you should just do it…”
“You want to be a mage, but you can’t even kill one dying monster?”
She spoke provocatively on purpose. Just as Übel intended, Schloss’s face flushed red, and he gripped the knife tighter.
“Don’t let your guard down. You never know what a dying monster might do.”
This wasn’t education or anything like that; she had no interest in raising Schloss into a mage or a warrior. It was pure curiosity. A child who looked like he’d never even killed a bug was about to kill a monster for the first time. She simply wanted to see that moment.
Schloss swallowed hard and approached the monster.
“H-how should I do it?”
“Cutting the neck is most efficient. The heart works too, but you don’t know where it is, do you?”
“Right… okay.”
Schloss looked down at the monster. The hand holding the knife was trembling, and sweat beaded on his forehead. He looked incredibly tense. But he seemed to have made up his mind; after a few deep breaths, he raised the knife high.
With all his strength, he plunged the knife into the monster’s neck.
A spray of blood spurted out. For a moment, the monster’s body bucked and spasmed before going limp. The dead creature began to crumble away into dust like sand, starting from its extremities.
Schloss didn’t let go of the knife; he remained frozen, breathing raggedly. Übel spoke to him in a consoling tone.
“Well done.”
They ended up camping out that night.
Schloss sat with his knees pulled to his chest, staring at the crackling campfire. He had been quiet ever since he killed the crow monster. Even during the day, he had a dazed look on his face, giving only empty responses like “Ah” or “Yeah” whenever Übel spoke to him. It seemed the event had been quite a shock for him.
It was a sensation Übel didn’t quite understand.
“Do you cook or anything?”
Übel took a grilled fish on a stick from beside the fire. She had caught it in a nearby river. She’d charred it a bit, but that was normal for her, so she ate it without concern.
“No… not really.”
“I see. I used to leave it all to my big sister too. But when you camp alone, you have to prepare your own meals. Catching fish, wringing a bird’s neck… killing a monster is no different from that.”
“You have an older sister?”
Übel found it unexpected that he reacted to that part. She had meant to convey that killing a monster was no big deal.
Übel took another bite of the fish and dug through her memories of her time with her sister.
“Unlike me, she was very skillful. She did all the housework. She was kind and always smiling. But whenever I came home injured, she’d get this sad look on her face.”
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