Ann’s Journey

After descending into the mountains, the journey remained peaceful for a while. Occasionally eerie cries echoed through the forest—perhaps monsters or perhaps beasts—but since there were no warnings from Milora-sama, I could remain at ease knowing they would not attack me.

However, just when the path narrowed and my attention was focused on my footing, a serious voice from Milora-sama reached me.

‘Henriette, three monsters are heading your way.’

‘…What kind of monsters are they?’

‘Big Boars.’

Big Boars… if I remembered correctly, they were monsters that used earth magic and charged with their massive bodies.

‘I will try to face them.’

Judging that they were not extremely strong monsters, I decided to gain some real combat experience. But if it became dangerous, I would flee immediately. I engraved that firmly in my mind.

‘Make sure you don’t get injured.’

‘Of course.’

Feeling a cold sweat slowly forming on my skin, I turned toward the direction Milora-sama indicated and began preparing to cast magic…

then the rustling sound of shaking trees reached my ears.

‘They’ll arrive in a few seconds. One first, then two a little later.’

Before I could respond to Milora-sama’s words, the sounds of rustling trees grew louder and louder… and the Big Boar appeared before me.

Perhaps it had noticed my scent, because the aggressive Big Boar immediately launched a charge.

I stepped out of the Big Boar’s straight path and fired a Wind Cutter toward its vital point—its eye.

“I did it… ah—!”

I was so happy that the spell had struck exactly as I imagined and injured the Big Boar that I reflexively made a triumphant gesture.

But in that moment of carelessness, the Big Boar let out a low growl and launched a spray of stone fragments.

Since I had not been prepared at all, I could not defend against the attack with magic. All I could do was raise my arms in front of my face to form a barrier and protect my vital points.

The stone fragments struck my right arm directly, and the pain was so intense that I could not exert any strength at all.

‘Henriette! To the Divine Domain!!’

Milora-sama’s shout echoed in my mind, and in my dazed state from the pain I somehow activated Divine Domain Interference.

“Henriette! Are you okay!?”

After arriving in the Divine Domain and collapsing onto the ground, Milora-sama ran over to me, and the moment I saw him I felt relieved, as if the pain had eased slightly.

“…I’m sorry. I was careless.”

“You don’t need to apologize—use Heal quickly!”

Seeing Milora-sama more panicked than I was somehow made me happy, and while feeling my cheeks loosen, I cast Heal. Since Heal was the magic I was best at, the injury healed instantly.

Haah… that hurt so much. I had learned for the first time that when pain was too intense, a person could become unable to move from the shock.

“Seriously, Henriette! Why do you look a little happy!? You almost died!”

“…I’m sorry. I was happy that Milora-sama was worried about me.”

“This isn’t the time to say something like that!”

Milora-sama scolded me, but his ears were red with embarrassment.

“Next time, absolutely don’t let your guard down!”

“Of course. I was just so happy the magic hit that I celebrated without thinking.”

If those stone fragments had struck a vital point, or if it had been a more lethal attack, my life could have been in danger. I had to reflect on that and improve.

I truly lacked overwhelming real combat experience. I only understood how dangerous monsters were as information, and I had not yet truly grasped how much damage my attack magic could deal.

I needed to firmly internalize that understanding first.

“I think I will try defeating weaker monsters first. And I will also start running and strength training to improve my physical abilities.”

“That’s a good idea. Even if you mainly use magic, physical ability is still important. I’ll help too!”

“Thank you very much.”

After resting for a while and returning to the mortal world, I asked Milora-sama to find monsters weaker than Big Boars so that I could gain experience more safely.

About thirty minutes after I started walking along the mountain path, a suitable group of monsters appeared.

‘Henriette, there are three Horn Rabbits in the forest just ahead.’

‘Understood. Thank you.’

If there were only three Horn Rabbits, I should be able to defeat them easily. The thing I needed to watch out for was their high-speed charge using wind magic. If I could avoid that, I should be able to defeat them without injury.

I slowly moved toward the place Milora-sama indicated and prepared to cast magic.

Just like with the Big Boar earlier, I heard the sound of rustling trees. The moment I braced myself for monsters to leap out— a white shape burst out of the bushes at great speed.

“…Wind Cutter!!”

I froze for only a moment, but quickly regained my composure and cast the spell. The Wind Cutter struck the Horn Rabbit exactly as intended and slammed its body into a nearby tree.

“Wind Press!”

Even after defeating one, I did not let my guard down this time and immediately cast another spell toward the two that leapt out afterward. Wind Press was a spell that generated a powerful downward gust over a wide area.

The two Horn Rabbits struck directly by Wind Press were slammed into the ground with tremendous force.

“Did I… defeat them?”

‘Henriette, you should finish them off properly. The one hit by Wind Cutter is definitely dead because its neck is cut, but the other two might not be.’

‘Understood.’

Before approaching them, I used Wind Cutter again to slice their vital points, and after confirming they were dead, I finally relaxed my body.

For now, I had successfully completed a subjugation on my own. I must have been very tense, because I felt extremely tired.

‘Henriette, congratulations. You fought calmly.’

‘Thank you very much. I managed somehow on my own. However… what should I do next?’

Normally they would probably be dismantled, but I did not have that skill. In fact, I had barely even touched a dead monster before.

‘You can store them in the Divine Domain. That way they won’t spoil. Eventually Henriette can learn how to dismantle them, or you can ask Luca or Rebecca to do it.’

‘…Is it acceptable to bring dead monsters into the Divine Domain? If it would make Milora-sama uncomfortable, I could dig a hole somewhere and bury them…’

Since I did not want to do anything that would make the living goddess Milora-sama uncomfortable, I asked that question, but Milora-sama replied cheerfully that it was fine.

‘Let’s create a place to store the monsters you defeat. I’d rather they not be in plain sight.’

‘Thank you very much. Then I will bring the monsters with me to the Divine Domain.’

After that, I continued defeating monsters and bringing them into the Divine Domain, steadily gaining experience while heading toward the Imperial Capital. Luca and the others also sent word through Lady Seremees, confirming that they were safe, which relieved me.

If I walked steadily, the Imperial Capital was about one more week away. During that time, I would do my best to become stronger.