Magic Battle

On the day of the inquest meeting.

I headed for Orphen, the largest city in the eastern region, in the carriage Vincent had prepared for me.

“So we will be acting separately according to plan.”

“I will absolutely prove myself useful.”

Ciel and the former mobs saw us off.

The journey would take about two hours.

Inside the pleasantly rocking carriage, I slowly got myself ready.

“Which of these looks more villainess-like?”

“In that case, I think this hair ornament would be a good choice.”

“You’re right!”

Vincent came along with me.

As a senior who shared the same hobby and as the Elegant and Perfect Butler, he understood my intentions and gave me suggestions beyond what I asked for.

As we exchanged opinions, my appearance became even more refined, cool, and stylish.

(So cool…! This is me…!)

I struck a pose before the mirror and let my cheeks loosen.

After soaking in my delight for a while, I came to think of one problem with my body.

(My height… if only I were a little taller, it would be perfect…)

Because I was not tall enough, I could not deny the feeling that I looked like a child trying hard to seem grown-up.

(I’ve been trying so hard, drinking milk and doing those hanging exercises to get taller, so why…?)

There was one facet of this absurd world, full of nothing but unreasonable and uncontrollable things.

Effort was not always rewarded.

Sometimes it ended without ever being rewarded.

Even so, perhaps one had no choice but to grit one’s teeth and keep trying.

Because if you gave up, you could change nothing.

Because the only one who could change yourself was yourself.

(All right! Starting tomorrow, I’ll drink even more milk! I’ll do hanging exercises!)

Renewing my determination, I gazed out the window.

The carriage was advancing along a narrow road cut through the forest.

This road, with poor visibility and little traffic, was one that absolutely had to be taken to go from Lineage to Orphen.

(…Huh? It feels like I can’t hear the birds or animals.)

A faint sense of unease.

From my senses formed in my previous life living in the countryside, in a forest this thickly overgrown, I should have been hearing a few more bird and animal cries.

(There are no birds or beasts in this forest…?)

No, that was strange.

Impossible.

If so, then only one possibility came to mind.

(The birds fled because they sensed something nearby and were wary of it.)

Just what was happening?

It was just as I focused my senses, trying to identify that something from the atmosphere outside.

“Eek! A monster! A monster…!”

The coachman’s scream.

A rumbling of the earth and the sound of branches breaking.

Wings covering the sky.

Arms like great trees.

A tail tipped with arrowhead-like spikes writhed like a serpent.

“A dragon…!”

What stood there was a gigantic fire dragon.

The horses screamed and backed away.

“A wyvern, then.”

There was a trace of tension mixed into Vincent’s calm voice.

“I believe it is relatively small, but even at this size its danger level is on the scale of a natural disaster. There should even be records of one wiping out an entire town and causing over a thousand casualties.”

“Why is there a wyvern in a place like this…?”

This forest was supposed to be a safe region without dangerous monsters living in it.

No matter how one thought about it, it was strange for a monster like this to be here.

“Summoning magic, most likely. I believe there is a skilled mage nearby.”

“Could it be targeting us?”

“I believe that possibility is high.”

To be able to use summoning magic of this level meant that, even within the magical kingdom, the caster would be one of the truly formidable.

Count Schönheite must have decided not to choose his methods and to erase us by force.

“I will draw the dragon’s attention. Lady Mythia, please evacuate somewhere safe.”

“No…! Then Vincent will…”

“Lady Mythia is the hope of this corrupt country. I will protect you no matter what.”

After instructing the coachman to turn back, Vincent leapt from the carriage.

“No…!”

The hand I stretched out to stop him did not reach.

The coachman was holding me back.

“No. We must flee! There is nothing we can do!”

The horses bolted forward with desperate faces.

Vincent’s back receded farther and farther away.

I could sense that Vincent had already steeled himself for death.

Vincent was more capable than anyone and could do almost anything, but no matter how skilled he was, the opponent was simply too much.

Fighting one-on-one against a wyvern was not something a human could possibly do.

And yet Vincent had chosen to fight instead of run.

To protect me, his master.

I felt that things could not stay like this.

If I abandoned Vincent here, then surely I would lose something more precious than life.

“Put me down.”

The coachman shook his head.

“You must not. Even if you go back now, there is nothing Lady Mythia can—”

I took a deep breath, then said,

“I told you to put me down.”

The coachman’s eyes widened.

Agitation.

He must never have imagined being overawed by a ten-year-old girl.

I used the opening to shake off his arm.

I jumped from the carriage and ran toward Vincent.

The coachman had said, ‘There is nothing I can do.’

Those words were correct.

I was a failure with no magical aptitude beyond household magic, and the enemy was a master capable of handling a wyvern through summoning magic.

The difference in power was obvious.

Within the common sense of the magical kingdom, there was a gap in power between me and the enemy mage that could never be bridged.

But I was not afraid.

Even if I was inferior in ability, what mattered was how it was used.

I would prove that wisdom and ingenuity could overturn it.

More than anything, I was a girl who was going to become the coolest villainess in the world.

No matter how dire the situation, I would never abandon precious companions.

(Wait for me, Vincent… I’ll absolutely do something about this…!)

A tall butler facing a wyvern to protect his master.

The mage could not believe that decision.

It was a choice that could only be called foolish beyond recklessness.

Perhaps the man had confidence in his skill, but there was almost nothing a human could do when facing a wyvern.

Even if he managed to buy time, it would only last a few seconds.

Far too meager a result for a life laid down.

However, that did not mean the mage had lived in a world soft enough to relax his hand.

If an opening showed itself, he exploited it thoroughly and secured victory.

As it turned out, that judgment saved him.

(Fast… that butler is no ordinary man.)

In that instant, he realized it.

Those movements, honed through insane repetition, had already gone beyond the realm of human skill.

(He is likely a highly renowned opponent… and the way he concealed his strength and invited my carelessness is dangerous too…)

An ordinary mage would have had absolutely no hope of winning.

However, he was a master known as one of the most powerful figures in the magical kingdom’s underworld.

The wyvern under his command had been brought forth by a large-scale summoning spell that required months to prepare the necessary amount of magical power.

Defeating a wyvern of this level alone was close to impossible.

Naturally, the butler’s aim turned toward the caster.

Kill the caster and nullify the summoning magic.

The most effective strategy against a mage who used summoning magic.

However, this time his opponent was too strong.

The mage’s personal ability had reached a realm comparable to that of the wyvern itself.

The tall butler fought on equal terms with inhuman movements, but little by little his stamina was consumed and he was driven into a corner.

(So he cast away his life to buy time and protect his master. Impressive.)

If possible, the mage would have preferred to finish him a little sooner, but the butler’s ability had far exceeded expectations.

If he rushed for the win and exposed an opening, there was no knowing what might happen.

To be honest, it felt as though there had been no option except to take the time to wear him down.

He had won the fight, but considering that the butler had fulfilled his purpose of protecting his master, the result was, in the end, more like a draw stained with blood.

(I can chase down Mythia Lumiore later and finish her off.)

Looking down at the butler, who was breathing hard, the mage thought,

(First, I will make certain to kill this butler here.)

The wyvern spread its wings.

Its massive claws gripped the earth.

Its roar toward the sky was preparation for its breath.

What would be released was an inferno that would evaporate everything in an instant.

The magical power compressed within its jaws distorted space itself.

It was at the moment the butler, realizing defeat, bit his lip.

A presence of immense magical power.

A chill like liquid nitrogen being poured down his spine.

He could not breathe.

At the quality of that biting magical pressure, the mage was struck speechless.

(Who in the world…?)

An unexpected third party had appeared.

Yet instinctively he understood.

There was no room left to choose methods.

What stood there was an enemy that had to be killed with every ounce of power he possessed.

He changed the aim of the breath toward the newly appeared third party.

The line of light unleashed scorched everything away.

The earth shook.

Light dyed the insides of his eyelids red.

A scorching wind burned his skin.

Right after overwhelming violence trampled everything, the mage opened his eyes and saw a sight he had never expected.

A small girl drawing near without a single wound, despite having faced a breath that should have evaporated everything.

Cold sweat ran down his neck.

It was then that the dragon’s body jerked as though convulsing.

That faint abnormality visibly grew larger in an instant.

With the earth trembling beneath it, the giant body collapsed.

The wyvern had had its consciousness cut away, and it fell powerlessly to the ground.

(What in the world…?)

Confusion.

But there was no time to think.

A magic circle unfolded.

An attack spell was released.

And yet it could not inflict even a single wound on the girl’s body.

(Why… how…?)

What was most terrifying of all was that she had not unfolded any magic circle herself.

She was using neither the defensive magic known as ordinary magic nor even a magical barrier.

(This is absurd…)

The presence of magical power compressed enough to distort space.

A body thrashing about in search of oxygen.

And yet he could not draw breath.

Violent magical pressure.

Something was obstructing his breathing.

His consciousness grew hazy.

His vision dimmed.

He felt the touch of small stones stabbing his cheek.

The gritty taste of sand.

“‘Magic for watering plants.’ It is looked down on in this country as beginner-level household magic, but as I continued researching household magic, I realized something.”

The girl, wreathed in the presence of strange magical power, said,

“‘Magic for making small, light things float.’ If you combine it with this household magic and then fix flowing water in place exactly where it is, the two spells produce an entirely different effect.”

Looking down at him, she narrowed her eyes with a smile.

“Did you know? A person can suffocate on a single cup of water.”

She used water magic to block his airway and suffocate him.

To make magic act directly inside a living body should require magical control far beyond the realm of normal people.

To the mage, the smiling girl looked like a monster.

As though she were a villainess reigning at the summit of the underworld—

(Just what is this child…?)

He never got the answer to that question.

Leaving the afterimage of his fading vision behind his eyelids, he lost consciousness.