After parting with Solomon, Mira checked the distance to her next destination on the map again. Meanwhile, one maid was spying on her from behind a column. It was Lily. She had wanted to hear Mira’s thoughts on the Magic Robe Set, so she finished her duties twice as fast as usual to get more free time and had since been waiting there for Mira to finish talking with Solomon.
(Ahh, the way her coat moves is just as we imagined. Her thighs peeking out every now and then look perfect as well. The skirt isn’t too long nor too short, and it moves easily with the hem swaying at a nice rhythm. It’s all just as we planned.)1
Lily observed every little detail of the Robe Set’s movements as Mira walked. But that did not go on for too much longer, the strange aura surrounding her had been noticed by the other people at the castle, who were all staring at her, and Mira had followed those gazes to find Lily as well.
「What are you doing?」
「…Err… observing the passage of time… would be accurate enough, I guess?」
As Mira shot her a doubtful stare, Lily walked out from behind the pillar and gave an enigmatic reply while striking an enigmatic pose.
「What does that even mean?」
「Let’s put that aside! It’s almost time for lunch so would you want to eat with me? I’d love to hear your thoughts on your clothes as well.」
「Oh right, I had told you we could talk. Alright, let’s go then.」
Mira closed the map and checked the time. It was barely a few minutes past noon. When Mira nodded in agreement, Lily quickly led her to the maids’ quarters, almost rushing her to get there.
「Why are there so many of them..?」
Mira was currently surrounded by more than a dozen maids in the dining hall.
「Do you have any problems moving around?」
「Did you notice any wrongly sized parts?」
「We tried to make the interior cloth as nice to the touch as possible, but how does it feel?」
Bombarded by the ever-increasing questions, rather than having lunch, Mira was currently being stalled from trying out the fruit-topped french toast laid in front of her, which scent kept teasing her nose. Unable to refuse to answer them, she replied one question after another, taking a bit more than an hour since she arrived at the dining room for her to finally be able to eat.
To end her meal, Mira cleared her throat with some milk coffee and exhaled a sigh. Almost all the maids had returned to their work locations, leaving only Lily there who had already finished her duties.
That became a chance for Lily to speak a bit more about herself, mentioning how she had a younger sister that attended Arkite Academy, while her father had passed away during the Defense of the Three Gods’ Countries.
「That reminds me, I met this vice-elder called Amaratte. She seemed oddly interested in my attire.」
「Oh, Lady Amaratte you say?!」
As Mira placed her milk coffee cup on the table, she recalled the incident with Amaratte and mentioned her. While Mira looked completely disinterested, Lily was the opposite, looking surprised but happier than anything as she leaned forward towards Mira.
「Yes… also, she mentioned that she would like to order a set for herself as well. Would that be possible?」
「But of course. We’ve been eyeing Lady Amaratte since… err. Tell her that if she’s fine with us handling it that we’ll gladly take her order!」
Lily’s eyes were set ablaze, but only for a short instant. She quickly looked more composed again as she accepted the order with a triumphant tone. Since Amaratte always had an uninterest expression, they were always hesitant to ask if she would be interested in their clothes. But now that Mira had relayed her wishes to them, giving them permission to proceed, there was nothing that could stop Lily and the other maids.
「I see, I’ll tell her you said that then.」
「Is it really okay to ask that from you? Then please tell her to come by whenever she has time so we can measure every nook and… err, we can get her accurate measurements. 」
「Alright.」
With that, Mira stood up, thanked her for the food, and left the dining room. Meanwhile Lily ran off to tell everyone who would be involved to form a meeting to discuss Amaratte’s clothes.
(This doesn’t feel quite right after having experienced being in that wagon…)
Mira was inside the small forest that separated the castle walls from the high class district, slightly further away from the castle’s main gate. She was taking out her fur coat while looking at the azure sky above, reminiscing about her aerial trip inside the wagon carried by Garuda.
「I’ll have to bear with this until mine is finished.」
She muttered to herself as she assigned a summoning spot in front of her.
[Summoning Magic: Pegasus]
The magic circle in front of her floated up towards the sky, letting thunder and lightning fall down, and then after a bright flash, the white figure made its appearance. Lastly, the magic circle shattered, the fragments taking the form of winds and completing the appearance of the winged horse Pegasus, the carrier of thunder.
Pegasus folded his wings and neighed slightly, and the moment his eyes spotted Mira he turned his face away.
「Hm…?」
Albeit some exceptions, any summon that generally did not require a Rosario Summoning Circle was unable to speak. And even if they did possess speech, if there was something they wanted to convey they would show it through their attitude first.
「It’s been a while, have you been in good health?」
Mira walked closer to him, trying to look at his face as she spoke to him, but Pegasus would avert his eyes and then turn his face the other way. Even without words, Mira could guess what Pegasus’ attitude meant. It reminded her of the times when her little sister would get mad.
「Are you mad at me?」
Mira asked, trying to confirm her hunch. In response, Pegasus turned to look at her, though his face still showed he was in an ill mood. His eyes showed the loneliness from not seeing her after so long, as well as irritation at being left aside for so many years. Even if she was unable to comprehend all of his feelings, it was clear enough that he was angered.
(I’ve always spoiled him after all… this much should be expected after not meeting for thirty years…)
「I’m sorry. It might sound like I’m making excuses, but I wasn’t here in this world during those thirty years. I only came back recently, so I’m really sorry I couldn’t contact you earlier.」
Mira apologized earnestly like that. A moment later she felt something strike her small frame. Pegasus had butted his head at her. Mira simply fell back, while Pegasus let out another guttural neigh like a cry and rubbed his head on her chest. He closed his eyes filled with sorrow, letting out large tears fall.2 Mira was slightly taken by surprise with the suddenness of it all, but she resisted the ticklish feeling knowing Pegasus had missed her and wrapped her arms around his neck, dearly caressing his mane.
After a while Mira felt like enough time had passed like that and stood up, looking straight at Pegasus.
「There’s a favor I want to ask of you. Can you let me ride you while you fly?」
As soon as Mira asked that, Pegasus’ eyes opened wide and shone brightly, moving closer to her again before pushing his snout between her legs trying to urge her to mount quickly.
「Ohh, you’ll let me mount you? Good boy.」
Mira patted his head gently before she put the coat on and mounted on Pegasus’ back. When he felt her firmly straddling his back, her warmth passed onto him, he spread his wings wide. He was ready to take off, so he turned his head back as a way to ask where they would go.
「Well Pegasus, fly towards this direction.」
Mira gently stroked his mane as she pointed west-southwest, towards the Forest of Praying Children. Pegasus neighed loudly in acknowledgment and began flapping his wings up and down, gradually speeding up. When the sound of the wind being fanned away by the wings got to its loudest, there was the slight sound of hooves striking the ground and Mira’s body felt affected by increased gravity as they shot up towards the sky. Since this time there was nothing obstructing her view below, like with Isenfald, she could clearly see the castle’s main gate and the open space behind it.
「Good, good. This seems like it’ll be rather comfortable as well.」
Thanks to the fur coat, the cold that bothered her so much before was negated as well. But being able to see the scenery below her was also something she was happy about, since Isenfald’s body was so large it made it hard to look below the other time.
Pegasus was in a very good mood as he ran through the sky as well, leaving a trail of electrified particles behind them as a manifestation of that, which looked like a river of light even with the sun overhead.
Mira wrapped her arms around Pegasus’ neck and looked back at Lunatic Lake, turning smaller into the distance with every passing second. She could also see the academy and the Five Pillar Institution, which made her start to think which she should visit first the next time she was there.
They flew for a few hours, during which Mira would sometimes check her map and make minute adjustments to their course. They had already crossed over a large mountain range, but since Mira was not used to riding yet her legs began hurting, so they landed at a small village they spotted from above where she went to a small diner to enjoy the feeling of solid ground.
(Hmm. At this pace I might arrive at my destination tonight, with the help of Pegasus.)
As Mira joined the scarce other customers there, her attire made her stand out more than anyone else. But since she had a bracelet that showed she was a high-ranking adventurer, no men were courageous enough to approach her. This village was rather isolated from major cities, and there were no hunting grounds or famous dungeons nearby, so it was rare for a high-level adventurer to visit, so everyone just limited themselves to observe her from a distance.
Meanwhile, Mira was focused on her map, seeing how far she had traveled and making simple calculations to know how much longer it would take her to arrive there.
The results she arrived at were that she would get there at around ten in the evening. Being in a forest at night meant that one’s sight was almost completely dark, so it would be easy for her to go past the ruins. But more importantly, Mira was in no mood to work until so late.
She slowly sipped on some mixed berry ale while searching for any good lodging spots near the forest.
(This place seems the best, I should be fine if I stop there.)
She had found a place around two hours away if she flew with Pegasus, a village close to the Forest of Praying Children.
The Forest of Praying Children covered a vast expanse of land, and the sacred tree she was looking for was deep inside it, so waiting for the next day was inevitable.
Mira’s break lasted thirty minutes, then she paid, washed her hands, and left the village. Since it was a small village that could even be described as rural, the toilet was a pit latrine, and when she caught a glimpse of the pit when she was done there, the sight reminded her slightly of the underground graveyard.
Flying again, Mira saw the sun slowly setting down the horizon, while the stars began to twinkle, a sight which made her let out voices of admiration.
Not much later she saw the pitch-black forest with tree canopies that swayed in the wind like living beings, and near there the glimmer of multiple artificial lights, the fires lit to illuminate the village where she had decided to spend the night.
Pegasus used those lights to orientate himself as he descended, landing on a nearby grass meadow where Mira thanked him before sending him off.
The place felt too large to be called a village, but too small to be considered a city. When Mira checked its name on the map, it was listed as Hunters’ Village.
When Mira opened the door of the only inn in that village, a soft bell rang and 「Welcome!」 said a cheerful man.
The inn also worked as a restaurant, and seeing all the customers inside, it was safe to say it was a prospering business. The customers’ clothing and equipment made it easy to assume they were mostly adventurers, a number of which stopped eating and reflexively turned to look at the newcomer.
Feeling all those curious stares on her, Mira quickly approached the counter. The owner of the establishment looked like a sensitive house-husband, as opposed to the worker who first welcomed her.
「You look like quite an unusual guest. How many are with you? And are you going to stay for the night or only eat here?」
Mira sat down at an open spot at the counter.
「I’ll stay for the night, I’ll also have some food. Only for one person though.」
「Oh, only one? That a girl like you came to such a remote place like this can only mean that you’re a spellcaster…I’ve always been interested in those.」
The man sitting to her side overheard the order and turned to look at her, speaking with an admiring voice.
The young man had a long sword fastened to his back, while his respectively toned body was concealed by a black leather coat. His facial features had good proportions as well, a friendly smile on his lips.
「Ah, I’m sorry for butting in like that. I’m Alfeil, a swordsman as you can see, though I always aspired to be a spellcaster.」
As he introduced himself, Alfeil looked incredibly jealous of Mira. Every time he would meet a spellcaster during his adventures, he would speak to them like that.
「By the way, can I ask what type of spellcaster you are?」
He was still smiling as he asked that. He seemed a bit too over-familiar, but Mira felt comfortable seeing his carefree expression, so she stuck her chest up proudly as she announced:
「I’m a summoner!」
Hearing that, the adventurers surrounding them all stopped speaking, turning around with pitiful and grim stares. Seeing that reaction, Mira slouched her back and sighed knowing it would still take some time before the summoners were revived.
But there was one person who showed a different reaction.
「If you came this far alone, then summoners must be really amazing!」
Alfeil had an even more longing look in his eyes as he praised Mira. As he stated, Hunters Village was not a place a lone novice adventurer could ever get to.
When the other adventurers heard Alfeil, they also realized that much and raised voices of admiration.
「Alfeil, could you let the young girl order what food she wants first? I’m sure she must be hungry.」
「Ahh right, I’m sorry.」
Seeing how everyone was acting, the owner noticed it would take a while before the conversation died, so he interrupted them to show Mira the menu. 「Thank you」 she said while taking it, ordering a set of fried chicken with herbs and honey ale.
Alfeil was truly enthusiastic about spellcasters. He spoke at length about Concept Magic that could be very useful even for mundane tasks, and also happily showed off all the magic wares he owned, which he used as a substitute for spells just so he could feel a bit like a spellcaster.
He had magic wares of all sorts, but most of them were Active Magic Wares. They could only be used a limited number of times, but since they did not need any mana to function, they were highly valued amongst adventurers.
It was impossible for a magic ware to activate a high-level spell, but most low-level ones were usable through them, with the exception of summonings, onmyoji shikigamis or necromancy, no magic ware could activate even a low-level spell of those kinds. That was a fact Alfeil deeply lamented.
By the time Mira’s order was ready, Alfeil’s interest had shifted entirely to summoners, which not many pursued and he was unable to try through magic wares. He really wanted to see a powerful summoner in action.
The surrounding adventurers grimaced seeing a young adult begging a younger girl countless times saying 「Please show me!」 while lowering his head. But those who arrived later knit their brows thinking him a pervert, not knowing what he wanted to see from the young girl.
Finishing her dinner, Mira went to the training grounds of Hunters’ Village together with Alfeil. It was already night so their surroundings were dark, but one of Alfeil’s magic wares illuminated their path. He explained that the training grounds could be used by any adventurer or hunter who wanted to practice, so Mira should be able to use her summonings as much as she wanted there.
「Well, if you’re that interested I guess I can show you.」
Mira spoke with a self-important voice, glad that someone had finally recognized a summoner. But her posture remained extremely calm as she activated a summon, a Dark Knight shrouded in an imposing air appearing from a magic circle ahead of them.
「Ohhh! Did you just summon this? It’s so black, and looks so strong!」
Alfeil was excited seeing a summon for the first time in his life, running up to it and looking at it in awe. Then he turned around to ask.
「Can I try having one match against it?!」
His eyes were full of expectation, shining like those of a puppy that was presented with a treat, which made it clear just how depressed he would be if she refused.
「Well, go ahead if you want.」
Hearing that, Alfeil jumped with joy. At the same time, Mira looked more intensely at him, discerning his strength.
She was able to grasp that as a swordsman he was first class, but his magic power was below average. That made her uneasy regarding his resistance against magic attacks.
All there was left to see was if he had the necessary ability to live up to his stats.
Alfeil took a couple of steps back from the Dark Knight and unsheathed his sword, the blade glittering silver while carrying a particular coldness to it, and Mira was also able to see the power of a spirit residing in that sword.
(Oh… an ice spirit, I see.)
As Alfeil gently held his sword ready, his appearance gave off a more serious impression, completely different from before. Mira could tell he was cutting off his emotions in preparation for battle. That change, as well as the intimidating air surrounding him now, showed her that he had mastered the sword more than his stats indicated.
「As they say, a wise falcon hides its talons, or however that went, huh.」
「Right back at you, to not flinch even an eyebrow after seeing me like this, makes me wish I’d know at least a bit of the extent of your power already.」
The two laughed a bit, then Mira walked back until she found a wall to rest her back on. Meanwhile, Alfeil took multiple deep breaths while firmly grasping his sword.
「Let’s begin then.」
As soon as Mira said that, the Dark knight threw the sword in its hand high up into the air, pulling another sword from a small floating magic circle and pointing it towards Alfeil.
When the first sword reached its peak it began descending while turning in the air, creating a whooshing sound.
A moment later the sword appeared out of the darkness of the night.
Illuminated by the magic ware’s light, it left a black trail before it stabbed the ground.
With that as a signal, Alfeil lowered his body and darted ahead. He held his sword to the side, the silver blade shining like a flash of light as the distance between the two decreased in the blink of an eye, and then the ice sword was swung aiming towards the Dark Knight’s torso.
He went on the offensive as soon as the match started. His speed was certainly first-class, and as a result, the Dark Knight was pushed onto a defensive position, stopping Alfeil’s sword with its black blade so his sword could not reach its body.
(He is plenty strong as well… maybe even more than Emera. But his speed is more striking, he might even be faster than my Dark Knights.)
Mira objectively measured Alfeil’s strength from far away, trying to figure out how much of the Dark Knight’s power she should show.
Still resisting Alfeil’s sword, the Dark Knight forcefully swung his blade. That was done with so much force that Alfeil was unable to resist and was blown into the air.
「It’s strong, this one is strong!」
Alfeil exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement. After a quick dance with his feet he killed the momentum, his face glimmering with a devilish smile.
There was a clang of two swords again, the moment Alfeil had regained his posture the Dark Knight had swung its sword on him. That impact was stronger than anything he had felt before, which led to a grunt of agony escaping his mouth. But even then, he was still smiling.
Their blades were locked only for a few seconds, sliding the tip of his sword a moment before he absorbed all the momentum from the Dark Knight’s blade and slashing at the now defenseless side of its body.
His movements were certain, the blade drawing an arc in a flash and piercing through the Dark Knight, the force brought by his two hands greatly increasing his power as he sliced the Dark Knight’s body in half.
「I’m sure you can do much better than this. Please, come at me seriously!」
As the dust raised by the fight was still in the air, Alfeil spoke to Mira without turning around. Like he had said, that Dark Knight was still not using all its power. Now that this was reality for Mira, her actions could determine the life or death of someone else, so Mira would not allow herself to carelessly go all out against someone whose abilities were still not fully determined for her.
「Have you fought with all your strength and still lost recently?」
Mira asked that to finish her assessment. In response, Alfeil shook his head.
「Not really recently. The last time was around five years ago.」
Watching his back as he replied, Mira realized something. Alfeil was in a quest to find strong opponents. From his attitude, she could guess he had challenged multiple other people in the past, and won every time. But he was still not satisfied with his strength, so he kept looking for other strong people. Mira could relate with that restless desire.
He was simply looking upwards, stretching his hand in an attempt to reach even higher places.
「Sorry for not taking this seriously. In return, I’ll let you taste something from five years ago.」
「That’s… exactly what I want!」
The corner of Alfeil’s lips twitched upwards while an icy fog began covering his blade like a breath.
