The Saintess (15)
After leaving the innkeeper and the villagers with a warning to stay careful, we climbed the mountain.
Even as we ascended, the Young Master kept a close eye on the tracks left on the ground.
“We need to know at least which direction they went.”
Well… we couldn’t comb through that entire vast mountain, after all.
“What do we do when the sun goes down?”
It was still up, but dusk would come soon enough.
“It’s dangerous, but we have to find them.”
If we failed, the monsters would head down into the village. That meant the search had to continue even after nightfall…
“This is going to be a hard journey.”
“We’ll just have to pray we find them quickly.”
Climbing the mountain itself was manageable, at least.
When we reached the midpoint, someone signaled for a short rest. We leaned against the trees and caught our breath.
“Mary, are you all right?”
“I’ve used a bit of Holy Power, but I can manage. Don’t worry about me.”
“Don’t hold back on the Holy Power. I’ve got more than enough to spare.”
“Learning to ration it properly is a skill in itself. I should treat this as training.”
Sister Mary said it for my sake, I knew.
Once we’d rested enough, the Young Master asked for a blessing before we moved on.
“From here on, we need to stay truly alert.”
“I know.”
We were already halfway up the mountain. Running into a monster at any moment wouldn’t have been strange.
Sister Mary gathered her bags, rose, and immediately cast the blessings.
Blessing of Swiftness, Blessing of Strength, and Sharp Senses—three in all.
Sharp Senses was new to me. It sharpened both sight and hearing until even the faintest sounds of the forest reached my ears.
“Not bad.”
“Yeah… with this…”
My sister and the Young Master moved around a little, getting used to their strengthened bodies.
I gripped my spear and loosened up as well.
Having my body suddenly reinforced really did change the way everything felt.
“All right. Let’s move.”
We advanced slowly, combing the mountain as we went. Plenty of tracks would have been nice, but once we entered the mountain proper they became hard to find.
“We won’t cross paths with them, will we?”
“We can only hope not.”
The search continued, and time slipped by. The sun sank, and twilight gradually settled over the land.
“We’ll need the blessings refreshed soon, and some light sources as well.”
“Yes, just a moment.”
Sister Mary stopped walking and offered a prayer. Holy Power settled over us. Then she and I each cast light magic to illuminate the surroundings.
“Hah… this is tiring.”
The Young Master analyzed every trace in the forest and led us onward. His movements made it clear he had properly learned tracking techniques.
People really do need to study… The man who usually just grinned foolishly looked surprisingly sharp like this.
“Hm?”
Suddenly the Young Master began examining the ground with intense focus. He looked so serious I almost felt bad interrupting.
“Did you find something?”
“No. Tracks of a different monster.”
Then why that reaction?
“Looks like a gnoll… but it was killed.”
More precisely, only parts of a gnoll’s corpse remained…
“So another monster hunted the gnoll.”
In other words, this was inside a monster’s hunting range…
“Then…?”
“Yes. There’s a good chance it’s nearby.”
My sister, who had been listening, tightened her grip on her sword and scanned the area.
Then the Young Master did something strange.
“What are you doing?”
He raised his sword and brought it toward his own arm.
“What’s the best way to lure a monster?”
“Huh?”
I couldn’t follow what he was getting at.
“You let it know there’s prey right here.”
With that, he slashed his arm with the blade.
Blood poured freely. I panicked so hard I nearly lost my mind.
“I’ll let a suitable amount flow, then heal it.”
“Ah—r-right.”
His calm voice finally let me pull myself together.
“We don’t know when the enemy will come, so stay sharp.”
At his word, my sister and Sister Mary moved into position. I stared at the Young Master. Blood was still streaming from his arm.
“A-are you okay?”
“Yes. It’s only a shallow cut. I’m fine.”
He scattered the blood that had pooled on his arm around the area. There was so much of it—was he really all right?!
I was fretting and shifting from foot to foot when he suddenly reached out and patted my head.
“I’m truly fine. Now, heal me, please.”
“Ah… o-okay.”
I collected myself, drew up Holy Power, and cast a healing spell. The wound wasn’t deep, so it closed in an instant without leaving a mark.
He casually wiped his arm clean.
“All right, Miss Julian. You should prepare as well.”
“R-right…”
Hah. At least explain before you do something like that! I still couldn’t believe how badly he’d startled me. Still, seeing the wound vanish without a trace settled my nerves.
We set up light magic while keeping watch. Drawn by the scent of blood, an animal appeared.
“Nice bait.”
The Young Master grinned, picked up a stone from the ground, and threw it. The rock flew at high speed and struck the animal cleanly.
“Now then… let’s spread a little more blood…”
He scattered the dead animal’s blood around. As we moved about spreading it, monsters drawn by the scent began to show themselves.
Gnolls, goblins, orcs—their habitats should have been different, yet they appeared at nearly the same time. The blood really was working.
“Aren’t we going to tire ourselves out before we even hunt the real target?”
“This barely counts as a warm-up. No need to worry.”
“Yeah, we’re fine.”
My sister and the Young Master flicked the blood from their blades as they spoke.
Well… I hadn’t used much Holy Power either.
“Mary, are you okay?”
“Yes. I was able to rest while the two of them fought.”
Was that so?
It was true that with the monsters coming to us, we moved less.
Monster corpses piled up around us. Now there was no need to scatter extra blood—the reek of it already filled the air.
“Let’s rest and wait.”
We had cast the bait. Now it was time to reel in the big catch.
While we waited I reviewed every spell I could use. Which ones would actually land effective hits on a troll?
We were in a forest, so fire magic was out again.
Wind magic would probably be most useful… but how tough was a troll’s hide? Could my wind blades cut it?
I was fretting endlessly.
This was exactly when past-life knowledge came in handy. I dredged up everything I’d read in novels and manga and searched for something useful. And I found it.
Spin the wind into a high-speed rotation to amplify its power. Or layer two whirlwinds spinning on different axes so their opposing forces create a devastating repulsive force in the middle.
Two methods, even.
The problem was actually casting them as magic…
“Still, I have no choice but to try.”
I muttered it to steel myself.
I can do this. I can do this…
The forest was silent. So quiet that the breathing of the person beside me sounded loud.
And the senses sharpened by holy magic grew razor-keen in that stillness. My hearing was so sensitive I could catch the soft rustle of leaves in the breeze—until it suddenly picked up something alien.
A monster’s breathing. Rough, savage snorts…
Had the others heard it too?
I turned my head. Everyone wore tense expressions and adjusted their grips on their weapons.
They all heard it…
The bait scattered around us had finally hooked the big one. For mere monsters to move this cautiously… I couldn’t afford to let my guard down for a second.
Rustle, rustle. The sound of leaves being crushed underfoot and branches snapping grew steadily closer.
The monsters were coming.
I didn’t know how many. But it wouldn’t be few. My hair stood on end. I was so tense I swallowed hard.
Damn it, if you’re coming, just come already…
I held my breath and prepared a spell.
The one I chose was Hail—something that could blunt a charge.
Its power was mediocre, the difficulty high, and its uses limited, but it could at least slow a monster’s momentum.
Monster silhouettes appeared ahead.
I gripped my spear tightly, ready to cast at any moment.
Crack! The sound of a thick branch snapping came from the right. I turned my head and saw a monster.
“Monster!”
I cried out in shock. An ambush from the right instead of the front! When had it climbed into the branches?
“Ignore that side! The front is the real threat!”
I snapped my gaze forward again. Three identical monsters were charging straight at us.
A pincer attack…
Monsters using a pincer attack!
I trusted the Young Master and focused only on the front.
“Hail!”
I dropped hail along the path of their charge. Fist-sized chunks of ice fell. The monsters stopped in place and flailed their arms to block them. I couldn’t deal real damage, but the charge was halted.
“Binding Circle, Holy Chains.”
Sister Mary’s chant rang out. A magic circle formed on the ground where the monsters stood.
Pure-white chains and light born of Holy Power appeared and bound them.
“It won’t hold long!”
The monsters strained, trying to snap the holy chains.
The vanguard was already engaging the one that had ambushed from the right.
The ones in front were restrained.
Now.
Now was the time for an attack spell.
I drove my spear into the ground and activated magic in both hands.
“A whirlwind in my right hand… and another in my left.”
The axes of rotation were different. The right-hand whirlwind spun clockwise; the left spun counterclockwise.
I was copying a technique I’d seen in a manga from my past life.
Would it actually work in a real fight?
No—it would work.
I poured Holy Power into them recklessly, increasing the spin speed and swelling the size of the whirlwinds.
“It’s breaking!”
“Just a little longer!”
The bindings were about to snap. It still didn’t feel like enough…! But if they dodged it would be worse, so I fired.
I thrust both hands forward and launched the whirlwinds. Forcing the two together left a violent trail as they shot ahead.
I held them together by sheer force even as they tried to repel each other and fly apart. The instant the whirlwinds struck the monsters, blood sprayed in every direction.
All three monsters caught in the dual whirlwinds had their skin slashed and carved to pieces.
Is it working? Is it actually working?
My concentration slipped for a second. The whirlwinds I’d been forcing together rebounded violently.
My outstretched hands were flung left and right, and my body was shoved backward—but Sister Mary caught me.
“Well done.”
I looked at what I had created.
The monsters I’d attacked were little more than wretched chunks of meat.
They still had form, of course. But they were no longer moving.
Wait—this was a hastily thrown-together spell, and it was this strong?
I was stunned.
“Don’t let your guard down—finish them!”
“Ah—yes!”
They weren’t moving, but these were monsters with exceptional regeneration. They might get up again.
I had to seal that off.
I grabbed the spear I’d planted in the ground, steadied my breathing, and prepared the next spell.
There was plenty that could catch fire, so it was risky—but if I wanted to stop regeneration, this was best.
“Fireball.”
A fireball formed at the tip of my spear. I thrust it forward and it flew. The fireball struck the motionless monsters dead-on.
Even from a fair distance I could smell burning flesh.
Are those three dead…?
I kept my guard up and checked the side. The monster that had ambushed from the right was being handled well by my sister and the Young Master. No—they had the upper hand.
One would close in and pin the monster’s movements while the other struck from behind or the flank.
The monster couldn’t respond properly to either side and flailed about while its wounds multiplied.
“Holy Arrow.”
Sister Mary’s voice rang out, and an arrow of pure Holy Power shot sideways.
It struck the thrashing monster cleanly in the neck. The damage didn’t seem major, but its gaze snapped toward us for an instant.
“Hah!”
Startled, I cast quickly.
“Lightning Bolt!”
I fired the lightning I’d formed overhead. The monster seemed to understand the danger and leapt back to dodge.
“Perfect!”
The spot it retreated to already had the Young Master waiting. He swung a sword charged full of mana and severed the monster’s leg.
That was the end.
With its leg cut and unable to move, my sister and the Young Master carved into it relentlessly until it finally stopped moving altogether.