Self-Taught?(3)
It was early morning. After finishing my preparations to head into the labyrinth and coming downstairs, I found Rydia and Beni already waiting there ahead of me.
“Good morning, everyone. Did you all dream about me?”
“I sleep like the dead after drinking, so I don’t dream.”
“Ever since I merged with Shadow, I only have nightmares?”
Rydia was clutching her head from a hangover, while Beni—perched on the table again for some reason—answered with total nonchalance. I couldn’t stand the awkwardness and let out a long sigh.
“...Can we just stick to saying good morning?”
“Sure.”
“Hi hi.”
-Grr.
A mini Shadow rose from the small shadow beneath Beni’s feet and wiggled affectionately. No, looking closer, it had reshaped the tip of its tentacle to mimic her appearance. Eyes, teeth, tongue—everything was there.
...I wonder if it can transform into other people too.
The thought of something resembling Beni standing beside her made me snort with laughter for a moment. Then I stood in front of the table where she sat and simply stared at her.
“Wh-what?”
“Hmm.”
I slowly looked her over from the top of her purple head down to the toes poking out from the hem of her skin-tight dress, then smirked.
“Beni. Would you please call me the genius mage YonaYona?”
“...What are you suddenly talking about?! And what the hell is YonaYona?!”
“You call yourself BeniBeni, so why can’t I do the same?”
Grumbling pointlessly, I handed back the beginner magic book I’d been using as a pedestal for a goddess statue.
“I used it well. Thanks to you, my hand’s gotten a lot better.”
“Did you really absorb everything in a single day? Even if it’s only basic magic, is that even possible…?”
The way Beni’s eyes widened made my conscience sting a little, but admitting I hadn’t learned a single thing would wound my pride too much.
“H-hmph! Once it’s in my hands, something like this is as easy as stealing a kid’s wallet!”
“Why are you trying to steal from pitiful children?!”
“It’s fine because I’m that pitiful child!”
“It’s not fine! Stop the cycle of crime!”
Beni bounced around like a freshly caught mackerel, insisting it was wrong. While I was enjoying her energetic reaction, Elly—now in her neat uniform—emerged from the back of the storeroom.
“Don’t worry, Beni. Yona doesn’t rob the pockets of poor people or little kids in the first place.”
“...Is that true, Elly sis?”
“Yeah. Instead, he picks the pockets of full-grown adults pretty often.”
“???”
Beni tilted her head in confusion. I kindly explained it to her.
“Think about it. Even if you take money from kids, it doesn’t amount to much, right?”
“R-right?”
“Exactly. So you should target the wallets of grown adults. Preferably the slightly nasty ones. Those types usually carry a lot of cash.”
“......”
“It’s a simple matter of efficiency. Ahem.”
“Th-this is an issue of ethics and crime, you idiot!”
Beni shrieked and hopped in place. I gently patted her shoulder to calm her down.
“Ahaha! Don’t get so worked up. If you get that excited……”
I trailed off and dangled the wallet I’d secretly lifted from her earlier right in front of her face.
“You might get pickpocketed like this?”
“My wallet?! When did you take it?!”
“When I patted your shoulder earlier. While your attention was focused on my hand, I swiped it with the other one.”
“Even if I didn’t notice, Shadow shouldn’t have any blind spots… Ah! You’re an accomplice!”
Beni finally realized Shadow had noticed my sleight of hand but pretended not to see. She started slapping the shadow repeatedly. Of course, Shadow took a few hits as if annoyed, then silently slipped back into the darkness.
“You two seem pretty close now?”
“This?!”
“It’s better than yesterday, isn’t it?”
“...When you put it that way, I can’t really argue.”
It really did look more comfortable than before. She no longer seemed to view Shadow as something she had to forcibly control, and her fear of unpredictable erosion had lessened. That probably meant Shadow would bare its thorns at her less often too.
The erosion itself wouldn’t disappear completely, but we seemed to have succeeded in slowing its progress considerably.
“Anyway, Beni. Why did you come today?”
“I called her.”
The answer came from Rydia, not Beni. She took a sip of the honey water Elly had brought her, then let out a heavy sigh while still writhing from her hangover.
“Yona. Today you’ll be going into the labyrinth with just Beni.”
“Huh? Why? Don’t tell me… you’ve already gotten tired of me, Lady Rydia?!”
“...Don’t phrase it so strangely. Something urgent just came up.”
“Urgent?”
“Yes. The guild summoned me.”
High-ranking adventurers receive all sorts of benefits from the guild. In exchange, the guild can request their help in emergencies… though it’s called a “request,” it’s practically semi-compulsory. Refuse, and you have to cough up every benefit that came with your title.
“What was it about?”
“Some insane mage caused an accident at the Magic Tower and fled. It’s a common occurrence.”
“Is it really that common…?”
While I blinked at Rydia’s indifferent response, Elly lit a magic herb cigarette and added a more detailed explanation.
“Accidents happen at the Magic Tower every single day. Most of them can be cleaned up internally, so outsiders rarely hear about it.”
“Heee…”
“But when a high-ranking mage causes the accident, the story changes. The scale of the cleanup grows that much larger. If it stays inside the tower, fine. But if the damage spreads outside, they call in other adventurers for a swift resolution.”
“So Lady Rydia is that resolver?”
“Correct. Rydia has a sturdy body and can handle multiple weapons, so she can adapt flexibly to any situation. That’s why she gets called for sudden incidents like this so often.”
“Ooh…”
When I turned to look at Rydia, our eyes met. Despite frowning from her hangover, she flashed a V-sign with her hand.
“Yay.”
The lifeless brag was included free of charge.
“Is your hangover really okay?”
“Yes. Circulating aura clears it up quickly.”
“...Then why aren’t you doing it?”
“Using aura to sober up is uncool.”
“Isn’t it just stupid?”
“There’s a world that a minor like Yona wouldn’t understand.”
“......”
Thinking back to when I was twenty in my previous life—freshly adult and chugging every kind of alcohol like a madman—it really did seem like Rydia was the weird one here.
I stared at her with pitying eyes for a moment. Misreading my gaze, Rydia this time raised both hands in V-signs.
“Yay.”
It was an expressionless double peace sign.
Shaking my head, I reached a hand out to Beni.
“Beni. Shall we head out first then?”
“That’s fine, but… we should eat before we go.”
“Ah.”
“Elly sis is standing behind you looking super depressed while holding sandwiches.”
“......”
When I turned around, Elly’s ears and tail were drooping as she gazed at the sandwiches with a forlorn expression.
“...As expected, you need food to build up strength! Shall we eat properly before we leave?!”
With that, I quickly sat down at the counter. Elly’s sandwiches were packed with meat and tasted fantastic.
***
“Then first, would you show me the results from yesterday?”
On the second floor of the labyrinth with just the two of us, Beni spoke as I checked the safe zone number.
“Just a second. This is… number 32. Okay, good. What did you say, Beni?”
“Basic magic. Show me what you learned yesterday. You seemed so confident, which means you must have picked it up… but knowing how to use something and using it well are two different things, right? Let’s start with the moist water droplet.”
“Ah, about that…”
I scratched the back of my head and laughed awkwardly.
“Actually, I didn’t learn any of the other basic spells.”
“? Then what was with that smug act when you returned the book?”
“Instead, I became able to do something like this.”
I stretched my hand out into empty air. Then I instantly released the mana boiling near my heart.
Boom!
With a bursting sound, a formless shockwave shot forward. The knowledge engraved in my mind said it was useful in a pinch but inefficient, so I hadn’t expected much… but this power was stronger than a serious punch from my skinny arm. That was plenty.
Beni’s eyes widened for a moment at my mana discharge, but her expression quickly turned lukewarm.
“Huh. It’s clean. Given the technique’s nature, it’s bound to waste a lot, but there’s no excessive leakage. Still, this isn’t magic.”
“Wait and see. There’s one more.”
I kept my arm extended and focused. The seething mana began circulating along a fixed route. A clear image rose in my mind. But this alone wasn’t enough. After all, this was a 2-star spell, not 1-star. So I added a short chant.
“Devour the sacrifice. Violent Flame.”
Whoosh!
A massive blaze roared to life a short distance from my hand. Moving or throwing it seemed impossible, but a flame the size of my body was threatening enough on its own.
Just advancing from 1-star to 2-star had evolved the firepower from a matchstick to campfire level. I turned to Beni with a proud smile.
There she stood with her mouth hanging open blankly. Her sharp shark teeth actually looked cute once you got used to them.
“H-how did this happen? Suddenly a spell on the level of 3rd-circle?”
“Ah, this was 3rd-circle? No wonder it felt so strong.”
Made sense. Between 1-star and 5-star there were only four stages, but for basic magic to reach the level of great magic in just those four steps, it was only natural that each star increase would cause the power to skyrocket.
To the confused Beni, I dropped the final bomb.
“Oh, and I also awakened aura.”
Beni fell into confusion!
“Wasn’t that the basic magic book I lent you?! Huh?! It wasn’t some ancient magic tome or something?!”
Beni was frantically rummaging through her inventory, but the way her butt line poked out toward me was cute, so it was fine.
...That dress was seriously overpowered.