I'll Burn Them All!
“I never thought Master would actually come out! I was planning to visit you one of these days!”
Crash! Bang!
“But the senior sisters and junior sisters kept stopping me. Even Gerard, our one and only cute junior disciple, kept telling me not to. So I figured Master must be busy?”
Clang! Crash!!
“Who knew Master was planning to come down here?! And not just you—our adorable youngest and even Grandmaster too!! If you were going to do this, you should’ve sent a letter at least… Gyah!”
Thud!!
Yeah, I was wondering when she’d trip again. In a place this chaotic, with her running around like a madwoman, it would be stranger if she didn’t fall.
“Good grief.”
Iris, sitting beside me, let out a sigh that screamed she was at her limit. Even the Fighter Hero, who cared about nothing but battle, was reacting like this. Truly, there was nothing left to say but “impressive.”
“Grr! Ptui! A letter would’ve been nice.”
Daisy said this while offering me a teacup. Somehow, she’d managed to fall without breaking it this time.
“Ah, you don’t have to worry about the cups. I put reinforcement magic on everything that could break. Unless you hit them with a hammer, they won’t shatter!”
“…”
I wondered how I’d ever managed to keep this girl around. She hadn’t been this clumsy before. Why did she seem to get worse the older she got?
“Grandmaster, have a cup too!”
“…Thank you.”
“You two as well… Youngest? That’s the youngest, right?”
“Yes, Senior Daisy. Please take care of me.”
“How strange. I thought Master said he wouldn’t take any more disciples after Ester.”
“Daisy. Enough about Ester. Iris has already heard that story to death.”
“Ah, really? Understood, Master! Would you like more tea?”
“I haven’t even taken a sip yet. If you pour more, it’ll overflow.”
“Aha? You’re right! Sorry! Then how about you, Grandmaster?”
“…I’ve had a sip.”
“I see! Then our adorable youngest… Ouch!!”
“Senior Daisy! A-are you all right?”
“Ahahaha!! I’m fine! I just bumped my shin on the table leg!”
This was chaos. Absolute chaos. We might as well go out for lunch at this rate. The mages I knew were supposed to hate noise, hate entertaining guests, hate talking to people. They were supposed to be obsessed with research, holed up in their rooms and never coming out.
But Daisy was living here, half by choice and half by force. She’d thrown away every trace of a mage’s usual composure and cold rationality. Who in their right mind would look at that and think “Hero”?
“Ah, right! I almost forgot!!”
Whatever had excited her, she was running around again. Just as I started worrying she’d trip once more—
“Gyah!”
Crash!!
“…Gerard. I’m pretty sure a cabinet just fell over. Go check.”
“Understood, Master.”
Gerard stood and headed toward the noise. A moment later, Daisy’s grunting and Gerard’s sigh drifted over.
“Disciple.”
“Yes, Master.”
“I knew your disciples were unusual. But why has that one gotten even worse?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting here like this. I think this is just fate.”
“Calling everything fate. She’s simply strange.”
Well. Master still didn’t know. And she never would. None of them could ever escape the “predetermined mold.”
“Master! Catch!”
“…What’s this?”
“A protective magic scroll! It took thousands of failures to make this one just for you!”
Thousands? That was an absurd number. Just as I reached for the scroll from Daisy’s hand, a question slipped out.
“Daisy Blossom.”
“Yes, Master! Excited, right?! Curious what it is?! I’ll explain right now—”
“This scroll is actually reliable, isn’t it? It won’t malfunction?”
“Of course! What do you take me for?! I’m the Mage Hero, Daisy Blossom!!”
“You’re the same girl who once tried to cast a cooling spell and summoned a lightning bolt instead, then a water bomb the next time? This master has suffered more than once or twice.”
This was why I—and all my other disciples—had gone pale. Back when she was learning magic, her clumsiness had caused endless disasters. She’d cast fire magic only for water magic to shoot out instead. She’d aim at one spot and the spell would drop somewhere else entirely. Magic that was supposed to have zero destructive power would suddenly carve a hole in the floor. The mistakes were always in the most obvious places.
If she simply lacked talent, that would’ve been one thing. Those kinds of failures usually meant the spell didn’t activate at all. But the Mage Hero’s motto was “I don’t know, just cast it!”—and she pulled it off anyway. Her magical talent was downright cheat-like. The defensive magic circle currently protecting the Royal Capital was her work. It blocked every attack from outside. The problem was that her ridiculous clumsiness completely overshadowed that skill, dragging disaster wherever she went.
“Ugh… But I’ve improved a lot lately. I don’t trip nearly as much anymore!”
“You just tripped, bumped into things, knocked things over, and broke stuff. All in the last few minutes.”
“That’s daily life! When I’m casting magic, I focus properly, so don’t worry!”
At her words, I glanced at her. Among my disciples, Daisy was the easiest to read. Lies showed plainly on her face, and she couldn’t hide them. If something was bothering her, she’d blurt it out from worry. Even when she tried to keep a secret, she’d end up confessing everything first. That was the ultimate klutz, Daisy Blossom.
Yet she met my gaze head-on, without a hint of hesitation. That meant she was confident—at least when it came to magic.
“…If you’re that sure, I suppose I can trust you.”
“Right?”
“At least when it comes to magic. Daily life is another story.”
Right after I finished speaking, Gerard trudged back inside. He sat down with a heavy sigh. Apparently, cleaning up the cabinet Daisy had knocked over had been more work than expected.
Once we finished our tea and the atmosphere settled, I finally told Daisy why we’d come to the Royal Capital.
“…”
Daisy listened quietly through the entire story. Honestly, this wasn’t like her at all. She was so silent it made me uneasy even as I spoke.
“…That’s the end of my story.”
“…”
“Daisy? You were listening, weren’t you?”
“…AAAAAHH!!”
Bang!
“Those damn Demon God Worshippers! I knew it! They actually dug a trap to bury my cute junior disciples and junior sisters—and they almost got Master too!! This is why I should’ve stopped researching magic and gone out to burn them all to ashes!!”
Bang bang bang!!
“I can’t take it anymore! From today on, I’m quitting magic research! What’s the point?! Those rats are running wild everywhere! I’ll burn them all to cinders!!”
Daisy slammed the table repeatedly, shouting at the top of her lungs. She was so worked up that even Iris tried to stop her, but she kept screaming that she’d kill them all.
“And what? What did you say?! While I’m here? While the Mage Hero is here, they dare cause trouble inside the Royal Capital? Wow, I’ve never been this blatantly ignored before! Those bastards—KYAAAAH!!”
“Shut up, girl. My ears are ringing.”
Thankfully, Master’s physical suppression calmed Daisy down. The Heavenly Demon’s honeyed fist had landed squarely on her head, and she rolled around screaming.
“It hurts so muuuch!! It really hurts!!”
It probably did hurt like hell. But rolling around for a full minute seemed like overkill.
“Daisy. That’s enough. Get up.”
“B-but it really hurts!!”
“Your youngest gets hit like that ten times a day.”
“Huh? Really? Is our youngest’s head okay? She didn’t turn into an idiot, did she?”
“I’m not an idiot?! And my head’s sturdy, so I’m fine!”
“Ah, so our youngest’s special ability is having a hard head? Iris, you’re amazing!”
“That’s not it!!”
Lately, we’d been alternating between carriages and tents. Now that we were in proper beds inside this spacious house, everyone had fallen asleep immediately. Everyone except me. My mind was too cluttered, and sleep refused to come.
So I quietly slipped out of my room and into the backyard. The night air was pleasantly cool, so I decided to get some fresh air.
“…Damn it.”
I’d thought I’d find something quickly, but nothing had turned up. I came here to stop them, yet I couldn’t do anything. It was frustrating, and since Iris didn’t know anything more either, there was nothing to do but feel stuck. From here on, everything depended on how they moved.
“Can’t sleep?”
I turned to see Daisy standing behind me, holding several books.
“…You. What in the world are you wearing?”
“This? My pajamas.”
Were her pajamas too revealing? Was the moonlight making her skin visible, creating a strange atmosphere? No. Not at all. As if Daisy would ever wear something like that.
“Those are pajamas?”
“Yes.”
“…”
She was covered head to toe in fluffy fur, like a rabbit. She even had a fur hat on. It wasn’t winter, and the weather was perfectly normal. Why on earth did she sleep in something like that?
Why was it that every single one of my disciples seemed normal at first glance, only to reveal something completely off-kilter?
“Master. There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Go ahead.”
“The Royal Capital really is in danger, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I’m not certain, but the probability is very high. We’ve already encountered extremely powerful enemies. Would those kinds of people be satisfied with just one city? No. They’re definitely planning something big.”
“…In that case, the Royal Capital is the best target.”
“And possibly the place they’re least wary of. There are high-ranking knights, tight security, and even the Mage Hero stationed here.”
“I’m not that big of a deal. I’m just a mage who uses a bit of magic.”
“You’re the only mage who can cast spells with just words, without calculations or hand signs. If you go around saying that, you’ll get beaten up.”
Daisy fidgeted and gave an awkward laugh. For someone so clumsy, she always got shy whenever she was praised. She should’ve been jumping around shouting “Master praised me!!” instead.
“I really worked hard.”
“I know.”
“I’ll show you. This time, for sure.”
“That’s an answer worth looking forward to.”
“I’ll burn them all. Every last one. Master, please look forward to it.”
“…Yeah.”