Research (1)
The battle ended with almost absurd ease.
"Is it… over?"
I asked just to be sure, still not quite believing it.
"Yes. It seems to be finished, for now."
Maximilian turned to look at the monster's corpse, then edged a little farther away from me.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah—nothing."
I'd been so worried, and then the fight had fizzled out like a damp firework. Well—no one was hurt, so I supposed I ought to be grateful. Still, it left me feeling oddly hollow.
"The monsters were trolls, just as expected."
The ones Emma and Maximilian had brought down were relatively intact, so I could still make out their shapes. They looked much like the illustrations I'd seen in the bestiary.
"So this is a troll…"
Judging by the marks Emma and Maximilian had left, clean cuts were rare; most of the wounds were shallow and scattered. Tough hide, just as the books said—even a Knight Class fighter couldn't slice through it easily.
"Maximilian?"
He had been staring for some time at the place where the three trolls had fallen. Their corpses were burning. Even I had to admit it wasn't a pleasant sight.
"What kind of magic did you use, exactly?"
"Pardon?"
"I saw you cast a powerful wind spell… but those traces—what on earth…?"
"Hmm…?"
At his words, I took a closer look at the devastation I'd caused. The ground had been gouged out as if something had ground it away, and everything along the path of the spell had been obliterated—reduced to scorched ruin. The troll corpses were still on fire, so it was hard to see them clearly, but blood and scraps of flesh were splattered all around, and the forest beyond had been completely destroyed.
"Ah… well…"
I had used what knowledge I had to amplify the spell's power. But did magic like that even exist?
I hadn't studied every spell in existence, so I couldn't say for certain.
Last time I'd flipped through a magic compendium and learned of various spells, but nothing in it had looked quite like this.
"I just… layered the whirlwinds on top of each other."
No one seemed to understand. It was hard to explain in words. I didn't fully grasp the principle myself—I'd simply copied something I'd seen in a manga in my previous life.
"Remarkable power."
Maximilian approached one of the burning troll corpses.
"That's dangerous!"
Afraid the heat would hurt him, I hurriedly cast water magic to put out the flames.
Splash! Water met fire and steam billowed outward. The fire still hadn't gone out, so I kept conjuring more water until it finally died.
"The fire's out. You should be fine now."
"Haha. It would have been nicer if you'd said that before acting…"
Oh? The water that had hit the flames must have sprayed in every direction—Maximilian was rather thoroughly soaked.
"I—I'm so sorry…"
"No, I approached too hastily myself."
He laughed and told me it was fine, but I still felt terrible. He stepped up to the now-extinguished corpse and began prodding it thoroughly with his sword.
"Making sure it's dead?"
"Yes. Just in case it's still ali—"
The moment he started to speak, the troll's body moved. It lurched upright and flung itself away from us.
"It can't be—!"
It had survived that attack? I cast my mind back to when I'd used the spell. That one hadn't been at the center of the blast. In other words, it hadn't taken the full force of the crushing winds head-on.
Even so, it should have been badly wounded… And I'd fired a fireball at it afterward, trying to burn the corpse. Had it really endured the pain of its own body burning just to stay alive?
The troll tried desperately to flee, but its movements were sluggish—its muscles and skin charred by the fire. Emma, by contrast, was lightning-fast. She closed the distance on the fleeing monster in an instant and swung her sword.
The troll screamed as the blade cut into it. It had endured the agony of burning flesh just to escape—and even that had failed.
While I was still lost in that thought, my companions finished the troll off.
"I didn't expect it to play dead and wait for an opening…"
I said as much, but watching Maximilian deliver those finishing blows, I suspected he'd already had an inkling.
"Did you notice?"
"Not exactly. It was a clever one, so I thought it best to be thorough."
Fair enough… They'd been smart enough to understand the concept of a diversionary attack.
"And at the Academy, they teach us to always confirm the kill."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Things can hide among the corpses."
"Ah…"
Lessons learned from experience, I supposed.
Once the finishing blows were done, the battle was truly over, and we could finally rest.
"You've worked hard."
I said it to Sister Mary, who had struggled alone with all the luggage.
"Thanks to Julian's powerful magic, the fight was short. I'm quite all right."
If my spell hadn't landed properly, the battle would have dragged on. She would have had to use more holy magic, and probably move around a great deal more…
"I—is that so?"
Hearing it said to my face still made me bashful.
"Yes. I never imagined you'd bring down those enormous monsters in a single stroke…"
That… had surprised me too. I'd just copied something straight out of a manga from my past life.
"Haha…"
"What will you do now?"
Maximilian asked.
"About what?"
"Will you head down to the village? Or camp out for the night?"
Ah! Looking up, I saw the moon and stars already out. Right—it was the middle of the night.
"What should we do…"
Traveling after sundown was dangerous. And this place wasn't suitable for camping either.
"Even if we camp, we can't stay here—we'll have to move."
"Yes, quite so."
Then, before we left…
"Let's gather anything useful first."
Monster corpses littered the area. I headed first for the relatively intact troll.
"If we're collecting blood…"
"Use this."
Sister Mary handed me a leather pouch.
"Thank you."
Emma, catching my intent, shifted the troll's body slightly and drove her knife into its chest.
The blood still remaining in the corpse began to flow out.
"Ugh, what a waste."
If we'd collected it right after the kill, we could have gotten more—and fresher—blood…
I'd been too distracted to think of it.
"Is there anything else you need?"
"The hide's unusable, I take it?"
"Yes. It would be difficult to work with."
"Please gather some of the troll's tendons for me."
"Understood."
Unfortunately, the troll's blood only filled about a quarter of the leather pouch. Looking at the blood that had soaked into the dirt, I felt the waste keenly.
Knowing it might become a key ingredient in potion-making made it sting all the more.
We hadn't managed to collect many tendons, either.
The two trolls I'd killed with magic were too thoroughly destroyed to salvage anything from, and even the muscles of the one that had played dead and fled were in poor condition. Its remarkable regenerative ability had restored them somewhat, but they were worthless now.
To try running in that state… what a tenacious creature.
I neatly organized the materials we'd gathered, packed them away, and wrapped things up.
"Is it all right to leave the corpses?"
"Animals will feed on them, or they'll become fertilizer for the plants."
Fair enough…
We gathered our things and started down the mountain. Unlike the climb up, each of us carried our own pack, so we could move with lighter hearts.
The only problem was the dead of night.
"This is going to be hard to go any farther."
Sister Mary and I lit the surroundings with light magic, but we still couldn't see any real distance. In the middle of the night, with no way to check far ahead, it was nearly impossible to keep our bearings. Pressing farther down looked hopeless.
"I'd prefer to go a bit more, but let's camp here."
"I think that's best."
With Sister Mary's agreement, we quickly set about preparing camp—building a fire, clearing the ground, pulling out sleeping bags… even pitching a tent.
"Emma, shouldn't you change clothes?"
I could see spots stained with troll blood.
"I will."
She said she'd change once camp was ready.
"I should change too."
Was it the tension? Or all the fretting? I'd broken out in a cold sweat and felt thoroughly clammy.
"Maximilian?"
"Yes?"
"Could you go over to that corner and turn your back?"
He looked a little awkward. One man and three women… in a situation like this, a man had no room to argue.
"Yes, of course."
He neither looked disappointed nor put out. He quietly put some distance between us, turned his head, and planted his forehead against a tree. That way, even if he turned around, it would be obvious.
"All right—let's change."
"Haha, sorry about this."
"Just hurry up and change."
A part of me—the part that was still a man inside—wondered if this was really okay. But outwardly, I was a woman. And I could hardly tell Sister Mary I'd once been male, could I?
I changed carefully, making sure not to look at Emma or Sister Mary. Honestly, washing up would have felt better, but this wasn't the time. That could wait until we stayed at an inn or somewhere similar…
Once we'd all changed, I called Maximilian back.
"We're done."
"Are you?"
"Yes."
"You must all be tired. Why don't you leave the night watch to me and get some sleep?"
He offered to take the entire watch alone.
"No need. We should take turns."
Everyone insisted on standing watch. Sister Mary argued that she'd come along to assist me, so the least she could do was take a shift. Maximilian insisted that as the only man present, he ought to be the one. Emma looked as though she didn't care who did it, so long as someone decided already.
"Then I'll decide."
I spoke firmly and arranged a rotation everyone could live with.
"Is this really fair?"
I took the most comfortable slot, Emma the next, Maximilian the most inconvenient hour, and Sister Mary the last.
"Wouldn't it be better for Emma to rest more than me?"
"Mary, you worked hard carrying all the luggage by yourself at the start."
"That was simply my duty."
"Then resting is simply your due as well."
"Miss Mary—if you won't even listen to the Saintess…"
The moment Maximilian began to speak, Sister Mary immediately backed down.
"Hah… very well."
Once everyone had settled in for the night, I gathered the clothes we'd just taken off.
"What are you planning to do?"
"Aren't you going to sleep?"
"Haha. Sleep isn't coming easily."
I left him be and got on with what I'd intended.
"Just some laundry."
I conjured a large sphere of water in midair and held it steady. After dropping the dirty clothes inside, I pulled out a magic tool I'd bought in Wizheim.
The ultrasonic vibrator!
I poured a generous amount of holy power into it and tossed it into the water sphere. It began to vibrate at once.
As the vibrations spread, the water sphere churned violently, battering the clothes within. I kept the sphere intact so it wouldn't burst.
"So that's how you do laundry."
"Normally you'd fill a big basin with water and put the clothes in—but we don't have one, so this will have to do."
It was a method only someone who could use magic could manage.
After a good long while, the water looked somewhat murky. So it really was washing them, then?
I created a second water sphere, transferred the clothes into it, and dropped the magic tool in again. The dirty water I dumped out into the forest.
"It takes quite a while."
"Yes. You have to repeat it a few times."
Still, it was easier on the body than doing it by hand.
Though, factoring in the mental effort of maintaining the magic… was it really any better?
Using it the proper way, in a large basin, would probably be a bit less taxing.
Maximilian looked tired; he stood watching beside me, yawning.
"Just go to sleep."
"Haha… I suppose I should."
"You worked hard today."
"Not at all. Thanks to Miss Julian's magic, it was easy."
He said we'd won far more easily than expected. We went back and forth praising each other's contributions until, worn out, Maximilian finally turned in.
I watched quietly as he drifted off.
"You really did work hard…"
If not for Maximilian's sound judgment, could we have helped those villagers at all?
If I'd been alone… or even just traveling with Emma—could we have managed?
Even with Sister Mary along, could we have faced four trolls?
It would have been impossible. The village would have kept being attacked until it was destroyed.
Because Maximilian had come with us, we'd been able to help those people. Because he'd made the right calls and led us, we'd been able to complete the subjugation.
At first, I'd found it awkward that he'd forced his way into the journey…
"We've received so much help from him."
Traveling with Maximilian had become the natural order of things. Our sense of camaraderie had grown stronger, too.
Even so, one day we would part ways.
Thinking that, I felt something…
"What a shame…"