The Clumsiest Hero in the World
The ground shook with a deafening BOOM!
My eyes snapped open and my body jerked upright before I could even think. I had stayed up until dawn yesterday, utterly exhausted from being hounded by my two disciples. They had insisted on sparring until I was ready to drop, so I had planned to sleep in for once. But the thunderous roar in my ears and the acrid smell stinging my nose had me bolting out of bed in an instant. Without a second thought, I dashed outside.
“Master! Master!”
“Maaaster!!”
Two girls were sprinting toward me from the distance, waving their arms wildly. One had fox ears and a fluffy tail—a beastkin. The other had long, pointed ears—an elf. They were Garam, the Sword Hero, and Jenia, the Spear Hero. My very first and second disciples, who had spent a great deal of time under my guidance.
The only reason these two would be panicking like this was painfully obvious.
It had to be about the newest disciple I had taken in recently—the one who would be their youngest junior sister. She was a walking disaster who brought chaos wherever she went, far beyond anything they could have imagined.
“…Garam. Jenia. What happened?”
“Hurry, Master! You have to come right now!”
“The youngest set the forest on fire again! It’s a total mess!!”
“That’s it, Master! That! That!!”
“Emergency! Emergency! Level One Emergency!!”
“…Sigh.”
Another heavy sigh escaped me. She had only been here for a short while, yet she was already trying to burn the entire mountain range to the ground. If only she were some kind of pyromaniac obsessed with flames, or a mad scientist type. At least then I could understand it. But the disciple I was heading toward right now was the Magic Hero.
She was so ridiculously clumsy that I sometimes wondered if she was even qualified to be called a hero at all.
This was probably another case of her trying to cast a spell and messing up spectacularly. If she had just focused a little, she could have stopped it. But given her personality, that was simply asking the impossible.
Whoosh—!
…Wow. It was burning bright red. Really burning. If you’re going to cause an accident, at least do it in an empty clearing. I had even prepared the perfect spot where she could blow up the entire area without causing any real damage. So why in the world had the fire spread into the forest beyond it?
“Ah! Master! Master!”
Up ahead, a girl was pacing back and forth in a total panic. Her hair was tied back tightly, and she was clutching the staff I had given her with both hands. The moment our eyes met, she came sprinting toward me. If she ran like that, obviously…
“Kyaa!”
Thud! Crash!Thump—!
Just as I expected. I knew it would happen. The sight was so frustrating to watch that I let out yet another sigh.
“Pfffrrr!!”
My third disciple, the one who would come to be known in this world as the Magic Hero, pushed herself up from the dirt. Daisy Blossom shook the soil off her face and hurried over to me.
“I-I’m sorry, Master. I made a mistake while using magic…”
“Explanation later. Put out that fire first. At this rate you’re going to burn the whole mountain down.”
“Ah, yes! Understood!!”
Daisy answered energetically and began drawing a complicated formula in the air with frantic gestures. She muttered something under her breath, and soon a magic circle formed above her head.
But she seemed completely focused on the spell. Had she prepared any defenses on this side before casting? A sudden wave of unease hit me. I quickly grabbed Garam and Jenia by the scruffs of their necks.
They always said that if something felt off, the bad premonition was usually right. I prayed desperately that this time I was wrong.
“Flow that ripples and surges, rage wildly forth!”
Daisy lightly tapped the ground with her staff. A stream of water glowing with blue light suddenly burst upward. The water quickly swelled into a massive river that charged fiercely toward the blazing forest.
The enormous flames that had been devouring everything were completely swallowed by the torrent.
“How was that, Master?! I’ve been focusing on water-attribute magic lately!”
“If you were focusing on it that much, wouldn’t it have been better to put the fire out the moment it started?”
“Ah… you’re right. I got so flustered that I just stood there going ‘uhhh…’ I’m really sorry!”
Daisy suddenly spun around and bowed deeply to me. Recognizing her own mistake and apologizing was a very good attitude.
But if you’re going to apologize, maybe wait until after all the magic is finished?
“Hey, hey! Daisy!”
“Yes?”
“That spell—!”
I shouted, but it was already too late. Because Daisy had once again let her mind wander and shifted her attention elsewhere, the river that had been flowing only toward the fire began spreading in every direction. And of course, that included the spot where we were standing in the clearing.
“Whoaaaa?!”
Seeing the wall of water rushing straight at us, I immediately leaped into action. Just as I had prepared, I grabbed Garam with one hand and Jenia with the other, seizing them by the backs of their necks, and shot straight up into the air.
“Kyaa?!”
“M-Master! Wh-what about the youngest?! The youngest?!”
“Unfortunately, this master only has two hands, Garam.”
And maybe a little shock therapy would help her come to her senses.
“M-Maaaster!!”
The instant Daisy, now swept away by the water, let out a gurgling scream, the spell naturally collapsed. Since the caster herself had been caught in it and could no longer supply mana, the massive river that had covered the entire area vanished in the blink of an eye.
“Keh! Cough, cough!!”
Daisy had been hit with both a fire deluge and a water deluge in quick succession. At this point, she should have been wide awake from the shock. She sat there blankly for a moment before suddenly exclaiming, “...Huh?!”
Our dear hero seemed excited about something again. Soaking wet from head to toe, she was going “Ooooh?!” with sparkling eyes.
“Oh! Wow! Master! I just thought of something amazing! What if drinking water created by magic restores the mana you spent?! I’m suddenly insanely curious about this?!”
“…”
Garam and Jenia’s constant bickering was a bit annoying, but at least they both carried the seriousness expected of heroes. But this Magic Hero who had arrived after them? Seriousness? Not even a trace.
The reason was simple. The developers had once again extended their demonic touch toward Daisy Blossom, the Magic Hero. They had crammed in a character setting that was completely unfunny and uninspiring: clumsy, forgetful, and far too frivolous for a mage.
And Daisy didn’t just match the setting—she exceeded it. She attracted every possible accident and incident, and her unique brand of clumsiness dragged her into even more trouble. She would space out while walking and trip over absolutely nothing. Every time she climbed stairs she would bump into something and end up covered in bruises. If you praised her for using magic well, she would get so excited that she’d giggle and then accidentally cause a magical overload.
Truly, something went wrong almost every single day.
It was a blessing that I had chosen to live deep in the uninhabited mountains. If there had been a city or village nearby, the accidents would have been far worse.
“Master! Master! Daisy caused another landslide!”
“Master! The youngest blew up the waterfall!”
“Master! Daisy tripped while running and she’s bleeding!”
“Master! The youngest says she broke her arm just from walking—is that even possible?!”
“Master!….”
Master, Master, Master, Master. My ears were practically growing calluses. One day, afraid I was actually going to lose my mind, I sat Daisy down and spoke to her seriously.
“Daisy Blossom.”
“Yes, Master!”
“Among the qualities a hero must possess is composure. No matter how talented or strong someone is, no one will follow a person who is merely frivolous.”
“I’m not that frivolous, though…?”
“I know. Your thinking itself isn’t frivolous at all. The problem is that your behavior is far too light. No matter how brilliant your ideas are, if your clumsiness keeps causing accidents everywhere you go, it’s all meaningless.”
Daisy was growing rapidly by making full use of what I had taught her. Thanks to the mana cultivation method based on the Cheonma Shingong, a teenage girl had already reached the level of a grand mage. So what I needed to focus on wasn’t her skill, but that inherent clumsiness of hers. I had to find a way to at least dampen it.
At my words, Daisy looked dejected and promised to be more careful. For the next three days or so, things were quiet with no incidents. It had been so long since we enjoyed such peace that not only me, but Garam and Jenia as well, were happy.
BOOM—!
And then, exactly on the fourth day, we had to watch an entire lake in the forest disappear without a trace.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…What exactly did you do, my dear disciple?”
“W-well, you see… I was just trying to make a small pond next to the lake and install one of those watermills Master showed me. So I tried to dig a channel for the water to flow in. But since it was too hard to do with strength alone, I used magic…”
“Exactly what kind of magic did you use to create a terrifying crater instead of a simple pond?”
They say that mages have to use incredibly difficult spells, so they inevitably become extremely calculating, cold to the point of excess, and precise as a knife cut. Yet for some reason, Daisy was the complete opposite of that image.
After that, I told her to stay in a corner somewhere and focus only on magic research. Only after reducing her accident-causing stat a little did we finally manage to regain some semblance of a quiet daily life.
Later, Garam and Jenia descended the mountain first. Other disciples arrived. And finally, when there was nothing more to teach Daisy, I permitted her to leave the mountain as well.
“Daisy Blossom.”
“Yes, Master.”
“There are things this master has emphasized again and again. Recite them for me.”
“Think once more before you act. If you want to do something, start by thinking first. When you’re debating whether to do it or not, don’t do it. When you’re debating whether to say it or not, don’t say it.”
“There was one more, wasn’t there?”
“Ah. Yes. And when you truly decide to act, don’t rush—do it slowly, very slowly. That’s what you said!”
“Good. Don’t forget those rules and make sure to follow them. Understood? No more accidents.”
“Yes! Understood, Master!”
Daisy’s energetic reply rang out. Even so, I let out a small sigh.
I hadn’t felt this anxious when sending Garam or Jenia off. If the anxiety came from a lack of skill, that would have been easier to handle. But her skill was outstanding—her nature was simply too clumsy. The fact that this was what made me anxious left me feeling a deep sense of self-reproach.
“Then I’ll be going now, Master!! Take care of yourself while I’m gone!!”
“Alright. If you understand, can’t you at least watch where you’re going while you walk, Daisy?”
“Don’t worry! That’s why I’m walking slowly! Anyway, I’m really going now?!”
“I said watch where you’re going! Or just stop moving!!”
“Hehe! I told you not to worry! I won’t fall! I don’t space out nearly as much as I used to, you know?!”
Just as Daisy had claimed, she walked away without tripping even once. Soon her figure grew distant, waving her hand far off in the distance.
“…bye! Master!!”
I couldn’t quite hear what she was saying, Daisy.
As I sent yet another disciple out into the world, complicated emotions welled up—both relief and a touch of loneliness.
“Kyaa!!”
“…”
Those feelings vanished the instant I turned around and saw Daisy sprawled on the ground after tripping.