Headbutt Victory and the Clothes-Melting Slime

"Go on, then — try and stop me!! Commoner!!"

"Wh— commoner, did you just say!!"

I brought Scarlet down hard toward Kael — carefully angled, of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠course, so it wouldn't actually hurt him.

KRAANG—!

"Th-that was tremendous power."

James looked on in open wonder, as though he'd just witnessed something extraordinary.

"Hahaha! See that? That's my junior's skill for you!"

"Still… someone's going to get hurt at this rate."

"No need to worry. Her opponent is Kael."

"Hoo~"

I lifted Scarlet and swept my gaze around. Each swing packed so much force that the surroundings were often too wrecked to see clearly. Through the dust of the debris, Kael came bursting out. I caught him at once and met his strike with the greatsword.

Oh? He shaped the wind into something like a blade?

KANG!

Kael and I locked blades and began to trade blows.

Screeeech—

"Not bad. But this is as far as you go."

"Hoho. You're taking this far too seriously, commoner."

"…Kh!"

Perhaps the nickname had nicked his pride. His magic pressed harder against me.

Whoooosh—

But it was nowhere near enough. So long as I held Scarlet, nothing in the world could stop me.

Time to wrap this up.

"I shall finish this now."

"What?"

I lunged straight in and drove a headbutt into Kael's skull.

THWACK!

"Guhhk!"

He crumpled where he stood and went out cold.

Ah… did I hit him a little too hard?

Even from a distance I could feel the collective shock ripple through the onlookers.

I-it'll be fine… right?

In the stunned silence, Charles burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! What a brazen young lady! That's my junior!"

"My, my~ She really went and did it♡"

"……."

Serena wore the fascinated look of someone who'd just seen something truly remarkable. Lilie seemed thoroughly startled as well.

"Th-that's incredible… so that's Miss Franc's strength…"

Erica made no effort to hide her astonishment.

"Haa… well. He brought it on himself, so there's nothing for it. Please escort him to the infirmary."

James pressed a hand to his forehead with a look of pure exasperation and ordered the attendants to carry Kael away.

Marie came running straight to me.

"Franc! Are you all right?"

I'd been pretty shaken when I went flying earlier, but thinking back on it now, it had felt a bit like riding a roller coaster. I was fine.

"Of course~"

"No — I mean Kael… h-he's going to be okay, right?"

Uh… he should be fine, probably?

"We ought to follow them to the infirmary as well!"

The entire student council trailed after Kael.

In the infirmary, Kael lay on a sickbed. Consciousness seemed to return; his eyes slowly opened.

"Ugh… an unfamiliar ceiling…"

He squeezed his eyes shut, then pushed himself upright.

"He's awake!"

"Are you all right, commoner?"

I checked him over carefully.

Mm. He looks fine. Thank goodness.

"…I am not a commoner. Do not look down on House Sylphid."

Kael fell silent for a moment, then spoke again.

"…That was remarkable skill. Had anyone taken that finishing blow cleanly, none would have survived it."

"Ohoho, thank you for the compliment~"

"I don't know how long you'll last at this academy with that sword of yours — but I look forward to working with you."

Kael held out his hand.

He was a pretty decent guy after all, wasn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he?

I took his hand firmly.

"Yes. I look forward to working with you as well, Kael."

"R-right. Yeah."

"That's a relief. You all have classes remaining, so let's call it here."

James brought the matter to a close.

"Everyone, good work~♡"

"Have a good day!"

"……."

Once the others had gone, only Erica remained.

"Oh my. Don't you have somewhere to be, Erica?"

I asked out of genuine curiosity. Erica hesitated.

"W-well… I'm a first-year too, same as you…"

"That's true?"

"I-I'd like us to get along…! Will you be my friend?"

"!"

Marie flinched ever so slightly.

Well… no reason not to, I thought.

"Gladly. I shall be your friend!"

"!… Th-thank you!…"

Marie suddenly linked her arm through mine and turned toward Erica.

"I-I'm Franc's fri…end too! Please take care of me, Erica!"

"Y-yes!"

Kael watched the whole exchange with a thoroughly bewildered expression.

Once all the classes were finished, there was apparently something called after-school time. After school, students joined clubs to make friends and deepen bonds, or spent the hours honing their own talents — an event period, more or less.

Marie and I stood before the bulletin board, browsing for a club to join.

"Hmm~ Is there anything like a tea party club?"

"I'd love to try growing flowers!"

And then a familiar voice cut in.

"What, looking for a club?"

It was Kairin. I hadn't seen her since the entrance ceremony, and I was glad to.

"Oh, commoner! Good day to you!"

"I'm not a commoner…"

"What brings you here, Kairin?"

"Ah — ahem, ahem…"

She hesitated for a moment.

What is it? Does she already have a club of her own?

"I-it's just… I was wondering if you'd want to go hunt monsters together."

"Eh, monsters?"

Are we even allowed to leave campus?

"You clearly don't know — guild activity counts as after-school activity too."

"Is that so~"

So that's why Kairin had been parked at the adventurers' guild all that time.

"S-so? How about it? I was thinking we could hit the Labyrinth we went to before."

"Hmm~"

I considered it. Raising my adventurer rank would probably improve my standing, and getting stronger meant I'd be able to cut down any beast that came my way… but did I really need to, in the middle of all this peace?

No.

The demonkin still hadn't appeared in this world. If I was going to face them when they eventually did, growing stronger was unavoidable.

"Very well."

"!"

"Let's go to the Labyrinth together!"

I turned toward Marie. I wanted her to come too.

"Marie, shall we?"

Marie thought for a brief moment, then nodded.

"Hmm~ Hehe, all right!"

Kairin hummed under her breath, looking faintly pleased.

So she wanted us to come along after all.

"Right. Let's go. Follow me."

And so a three-person party was formed, and we headed for the Labyrinth we'd visited that day.

Before the Labyrinth. No matter how many times I saw it, the place was magnificent.

"Want to try going a little deeper this time?"

"What happened to the Minotaur floor that collapsed before?"

"Looks like it's been restored. Judging by the stream of injured people coming out, anyway."

"Why don't we take it step by step? It's our first day, after all."

Marie offered the suggestion calmly.

"Let's do that. Before my Scarlet, everything is equal anyway!"

"You really are overflowing with confidence… and the fact that you've got the goods to back it up just makes it more annoying."

Kairin shoved open the massive stone doors as she spoke.

"All right. Let's go as far as we can."

"Yes~!"

"Yes!"

I still didn't fully understand how the Labyrinth was put together, but the layout was completely different from when we'd first entered. Did the corridors reconfigure every time the doors opened?

Truth be told, I had designed this Labyrinth myself. It was also supposed to appear in the story of the world after Franc's death — but it had been implemented in such a heavily altered form that I hadn't even recognized it as my own work. At this point, why I'd been reincarnated here, and why this world had called me in the first place, were questions I still needed more time to answer.

The early floors of the Labyrinth held goblins we could put down without much trouble.

"Humans!!"

"Kihihahk!… Wait, no?!"

The goblins started to panic.

"That human! It's the one from the rumors!…"

"Oho~ So you know me well. Hoho."

I swung Scarlet without hesitation and cleaved them clean in two.

"They recognized you, Franc. Must be the goblins from that day."

"They're all lowly creatures either way."

I had no idea how the rumors had spread, but before me they were nothing more than fuel for leveling up. And the more intelligent monsters always gave me the creeps — like cockroaches that had learned how to talk.

"Come on. Next."

The Labyrinth was practically a museum of monsters. We cut through them with ease, pausing now and then to poke through the treasures and trinkets they carried for fun.

I'll pocket some of these for guild proof or trade them in for a bit of pocket money.

There were mimics, too. Among them, the bones of people who'd fallen for the ones that looked blatantly suspicious. Don't most people take a little care before opening something like that?

"Careful. Some of those might be monsters."

"Obviously~"

I swung Scarlet in a wide arc and smashed the whole lot to pieces.

KRA-KRA-KRAANG

"If you just smash everything, problem solved!"

"They really were all monsters…"

"A-ahem. Let's keep moving."

"You were about to open one, weren't you?"

"Was not."

A little farther on, a cluster of suspicious-looking slimes was milling about ahead of us.

"Slimes. Careful they don't splash—"

Trash mobs! Just cut them down already!

"Hah!"

I swung Scarlet wide, same as before. The slime burst like a water ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠balloon, spraying liquid everywhere as it dissolved — and every drop of it landed squarely on me.

SPLASH—

Huh? Why is it going sizzle-sizzle?

"Hey!!"

Kairin shouted. I looked behind me.

"What are you doing?! I told you to be careful of the splash!"

Hhk — my clothes are melting?

Aaah, so it was a clothes-dissolving slime!

"F-Franc! Your clothes! They're melting completely!"

Marie panicked and grabbed at the dissolving fabric.

Ah. Too late.

My red undergarments began to show through.

"Argh, seriously! We can't keep going like this!"

"Oh no! My mistake~ Here, allow me to brush it off for you."

"D-don't look!"

Hah — sky blue…!

Kairin's face went red enough to burst. Marie was so mortified she didn't know where to put herself.

"Kyaaaa!"

Whew. Small mercies(?) — at least it didn't melt the underwear too.

I strode calmly back the way we'd come, scooped up some goblin cloth, and handed it over.

"Cover yourselves with this for now~"

"How are you so calm about this?!"

"Well, it's only us girls here, isn't it?"

"Th-that's still…"

Kairin fidgeted and mumbled.

"Still?"

She squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.

"I don't want you seeing me like this!"

"Me neither!"

Marie cried out as well.

Hmm… getting a legal(?) look at Marie's figure is a lucky break, though.

And right in the middle of all that, Scarlet helpfully absorbed something without a shred of tact, and a status window popped up.

…That skill is seriously suspicious. Super suspicious.

And so our thoroughly chaotic after-school activity came to an end.