Five major yakuza organizations existed within the Azukai Empire, where we lived.
The Cineraria Family controlled the underworld in the empire’s western region. Naturally, it violently competed with yakuza organizations from other regions over territory and influence.
And at that moment, a total of twelve armed members of the Nemophila Family, which controlled the empire’s north, were…
Fast asleep.
Yes. They were sleeping soundly and comfortably.
“Hey, Crow. I put every last one of ’em to sleep. They acted all strong, but they were surprisingly pathetic.”
Penne proudly whipped her pink twin-tails back and forth as she spoke. Yes. I truly thought her sleep magic was extraordinarily useful.
“Good work, Penne. Your training paid off.”
“Yeah. Fighting was way easier than before, and the derivative magic landed perfectly. We’re going to the young miss after this, right?”
“Yes. I’ll store these men now. We need to treat their injuries too.”
I collected the sleeping men into my subspace. Then, while handing Penne an alchemical potion, I asked how she’d defeated them.
◆ ◆ ◆
Members of the Nemophila Family from the empire’s northern region.
Those guys showed up after Crow vanished into subspace with the temple bastards.
Apparently, they saw the young miss leave to lure out the others and decided it was their chance to take Crow’s head. They’d seriously underestimated him, just like I had until recently.
The armed men closed in around me.
“Hey. Where’s the candidate for the next underboss?”
“Hah? What do you want with him?”
“What the hell does it have to do with you? Hurry up and tell us.”
The guy who looked like their leader pointed his index finger at me.
Hmm. That was…
“Magic Bullet, huh? By the way, have you actually trained your skills?”
“What? What the hell are those?”
So he hadn’t.
In other words, he couldn’t use Parallel Thought—the skill I’d learned while nearly crying. If he tried to fire Magic Bullet, he’d have to stop moving.
What a weakling.
In that case… Leg Reinforcement.
“Magic—”
“Too slow.”
I drove the heel of my palm into his solar plexus and used Sleep magic.
One down.
Until Crow taught me, I’d decided my Sleep magic was useless.
The effect of magic generally changed according to the difference between the caster’s mana and the target’s. This magic couldn’t put someone stronger than me to sleep. Even against someone of equal strength, I had to touch them. And if they were weaker, punching them was faster than putting them to sleep.
See? There was nowhere to use it.
My magic was just like me—a defective, useless failure.
That was what I’d always believed.
I denied myself, gave up on myself, and hated myself. The person who underestimated me more than anyone was me.
And yet…
“Crow… found it for me.”
Derivative magic: Sleep Mist.
I couldn’t have used this derivative magic without training my skills.
Its core was Mana Diffusion. I’d thought it was a garbage skill that did nothing but scatter mana into the surroundings and waste it.
Seriously, Crow had overturned every value I possessed.
I spread mana through the air and layered Sleep magic over it.
Ordinarily, the mana covering a person’s body would repel the Sleep magic. But if they inhaled the mist and it took effect from inside, it worked extremely well.
Admittedly, it would do nothing against people with absurd mana like the young miss and Crow.
The men dropped one after another into sleep.
“…Two left. I’ll give you credit for having instincts good enough not to breathe in the mist.”
I spoke to the two who’d avoided the Sleep magic and rested my hand axe on my shoulder.
I poured mana into my eyes and used Mana Detection.
According to Crow, everyone was far too easily deceived by the mana someone displayed on the surface. This skill projected faint mana toward the target, then examined how it reflected.
If the mana inside the target was weak, mine entered smoothly. If theirs was strong, more of mine bounced back. I was still practicing, so my accuracy wasn’t very high.
Apparently, mastering the skill further would even let me examine my surroundings.
I still had a long way to go.
“Huh. That walking pile of muscle is pretty strong.”
Parallel Thought. Thought Acceleration. Meditation. Mana-Organ Reinforcement. Leg Reinforcement.
The musclehead looked troublesome to fight, but the man in glasses was a weakling wasting mana by spilling it outward in a bluff. I decided to eliminate him first.
When I ran with sudden changes of pace, the man in glasses quickly lost sight of me. I circled to his side and punched him in the cheek.
Naturally, I didn’t forget to apply Sleep magic at the instant I touched him.
Once the man in glasses fell, only one remained.
That was what I thought.
“Got you… You made me work for it.”
With a rustle, vines coiled around my arms and legs.
I see. The musclehead’s magic controlled plants. It didn’t appear especially fast, but he used it skillfully. He’d probably sacrificed the man in glasses to prepare a trap.
“You’re pretty strong, girl. I thought I’d trained myself reasonably well, but I doubt I could beat you head-on… so I’ll use a trick instead. Don’t start screaming about cowardice.”
“Hah. There’s no cowardice in a yakuza fight. We’re staking our lives. Of course you think about how to use every card you hold to win.”
“Ha ha ha! You’ve got spirit.”
The vines pulled tight. Even when I tried to draw back my limbs, they didn’t budge.
I see.
“You know, I love insolent little girls like you… Hehehe. Just imagining the moment that defiant attitude snaps and turns obedient sends a thrill through me.”
“…Sigh. I still have a long way to go.”
“What’s wrong? It’s too early for your spirit to break. Squeeze out every last bit of stamina and mana and keep struggling. The real fun begins once you can’t move even one finger—”
So noisy. So irritating.
I’d only just learned this skill, so I couldn’t control it well unless I closed my eyes and concentrated like this.
Sigh.
I was still far from standing beside the young miss.
Mage Hand.
A third arm formed from mana spun my hand axe through the air faster and faster, then sliced through the vines binding my right arm at their base.
Once my dominant arm was free, all I needed to do was swing the axe a few times.
“What?! Brat… Is that axe a magic tool?”
“No. Apparently, we’re still missing a few materials needed to turn it into one. I’m actually looking forward to it.”
Besides, this hand axe was enough against someone of your level.
I poured mana into my legs and ran.
The man extended nearby vines, attempting to block my path. I see. It was quite versatile magic.
But…
“—Magic Bullet.”
The man’s face twisted in shock when I used magic arts while running.
I understood how he felt. Ordinarily, only an experienced mage could perform something like this.
But freezing with a stupid expression in the middle of battle was underestimating me far too much.
“Damn—Magic—”
“Too slow.”
I knocked his chin upward with the axe handle, touched his body with my left hand, and applied Sleep magic.
Phew.
Somehow, I’d won.
He might have been the perfect opponent for testing the results of my training. Before, I probably would have lost without ever managing to approach him.
I spent a while catching my breath.
Meditation gathered magical elements. Mana-Organ Reinforcement generated mana. I sent mana through my injured arms and legs and applied Healing Reinforcement.
Why had I never practiced skills before?
They were useful.
Plain, but useful.
While thinking that, I sensed a familiar presence… A painfully ordinary person approaching as leisurely as though he were taking a stroll.
For someone with such an unremarkable presence to be absurdly strong—this world truly made no sense.
“—Hey, Crow. I put every last one of ’em to sleep. They acted all strong, but they were surprisingly pathetic.”
Afterward, when I observed him with Mana Detection, Crow extended several Mage Hands with perfect naturalness. They wriggled through the air, wrapped the men in mana, and tossed them one after another into subspace.
I see.
No wonder I couldn’t beat him.
Apparently, I still needed Crow to train me much more.
◆ ◆ ◆
“…That’s roughly how the fight went. The last guy had useful-looking plant-control magic, but his skills, magic arts, and martial ability were all mediocre.”
“I see. Good work. Would you like a dried persimmon?”
While feeding Penne, I inwardly sighed with relief. Honestly, without Mage Hand, the situation might have become slightly dangerous.
But she’d truly grown much stronger in this short time. Naturally, her earlier effort was also why the skills settled into her so quickly and she’d progressed this far.
“Dried persimmons are so good… What happened on your side, Crow?”
“Everything went according to plan. I gave the temple spies a mountain of Barrier-Inspection Rods and forced a debt on them. The undercover investigator’s eyes were practically blazing, so he may manage to sell them successfully.”
“Hehehe. You’re wicked.”
Our transaction had misdirected the Spirit Temple and bought us the minimum time we needed. Penne had put the infiltrators sent by the Nemophila Family of the empire’s north to sleep.
All that remained were the many varieties of traitors with Resina.
“So which way is the young miss?”
“Hmm… That direction. I’m sensing her with Mana Detection, but the situation seems quite chaotic.”
And so, we headed toward Resina.