Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Hard Counter
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"Aah!!"
*Tumble, tumble.*
Liche tumbled across the ground.
She had rolled so much that her clothes were a complete mess, and her pretty face was covered in dust and scrapes.
"Ouch, that's gotta hurt."
Rolling like that is no small pain.
The ground wasn't level, nor was it soft.
This rocky mountain was a terrible terrain, steeply sloped and littered with loose stones.
Tumbling in a place like this, it was no wonder her delicate skin was getting scratched up.
So, what was I doing while Liche was rolling around?
I was sitting on a mat, munching on popcorn and watching the show.
As a bonus, Yui and Luna were sitting next to me.
Dozens of minutes had already passed since the hunt began.
Usually, a fight doesn't last this long unless the opponents are evenly matched.
Judging by the situation alone, the salamander had the upper hand.
The reason it was taking so long, despite that, was because Liche, though lacking in form, was skillfully dodging and weaving.
After rolling around that much, one might expect her to give up, but her plea for help wasn't just empty words—her persistence was impressive.
"Liche's attacks don't seem to be working at all."
"Because it's a hard counter."
It wasn't that Liche couldn't beat a single C-rank monster.
She just had a bad matchup. On top of that, several factors combined to put her at a disadvantage.
The salamander, like the King Slime I caught, is a monster balanced for a three-person party.
So right now, Liche is doing the work of three people all by herself.
Furthermore, as a fire-breathing monster, the salamander has a resistance to fire.
Liche, on the other hand, is human.
Humans, naturally, have no resistance to fire.
Not only that, but Liche's only attacks are fire magic, which are ineffective.
The salamander, however, also has sharp claws and teeth, and tough hide that nullifies most physical attacks.
In short, it completely outclassed her.
She was using her mana like a barrier to block as much damage as possible, but as the fight dragged on, her mana was bottoming out and her stamina was draining.
In other words, even though she was holding on well, if things continued like this, her defeat was guaranteed.
And if she found herself on the verge of death, I wasn't going to save her. I'd just turn around and go home.
If the limit of all her whining for help was dying because she couldn't even beat this, then she should just forget about revenge and everything else. She'd be better off dead.
"By the way, Luke. I have a question."
"Permission granted."
"...That 'level' thing, doesn't it go up when you defeat monsters?"
"That's right."
"Then why did you choose the salamander, which is difficult for Liche, instead of the easy-to-beat King Slime?"
Just as Luna said, the fastest way to get stronger is to raise one's level.
Until now, I've always hunted monsters just for the experience points, and it's true I became strong enough to steamroll most events in a short period.
However.
"Do you think Liche and I are the same?"
I don't have mana anyway, and it doesn't matter whether I have new techniques or not.
Because I can cover for a lack of technique with skills.
So for me, just raising my level quickly is all that matters. But Liche?
She doesn't have a status window like me, nor does she have skills. Epiphanies and techniques are entirely up to her.
What's the point of her hunting King Slimes to level up?
When the demons show up later, is she going to use a level 100 Fireball?
She needs to be using a level 1 Sunspot Flare.
That's why I deliberately skipped the King Slime and came for the salamander.
You only gain enlightenment and develop new techniques when you're pushed to the brink of death.
"Couldn't you just teach her the techniques Liche used in the novel?"
"I know what the techniques are, but how am I supposed to explain them?"
How can someone like me, with no mana, tell Liche how to manipulate her mana to use some technique!
You think I can say something like that?
"If I handed you a smartphone, Luna, do you think you could explain its internal structure?"
"I see... you have a point."
"Ah, she's rolling again."
While Luna and I were talking, Liche was struck by a fireball and sent flying from the impact.
After tumbling several times, Liche rolled to a stop right in front of the rock where we were sitting.
"Hah... hah..."
"Should we eat and then continue?"
"......?"
As I, lying spread-eagled, casually suggested we break for lunch, her head snapped around at the sound of a sudden voice.
Then her eyes met mine, and she looked startled.
It seemed she hadn't even realized when she'd gotten so close to us.
"...No, I'm fine."
"You've already used up almost all your mana."
"I can still stand, so I'm okay."
Is stubbornness a new skill you've learned?
*-Grumble.*
But Liche's body, ignoring its owner's will, loudly proclaimed its hunger.
"......"
She must have still had a sense of shame, because at that sound, not just her face, but even her ears turned bright red.
The problem was, while we were dawdling like this, we'd overlooked one thing: the hunt wasn't over yet.
"......!"
Suddenly, a huge fireball came flying toward us.
It was launched by the salamander that had been fighting Liche just moments ago.
Liche, having been hit many times already, quickly detected it and leaped away.
"Wh-what are you doing?! Dodge!"
I just took the hit.
I could already nullify most magic-related things. There was no way I'd get hurt by a mere salamander.
And I expected as much, which is why I went after the King Slime back then.
It's just too easy.
"Heave-ho."
After taking the fireball, I got up from my seat.
If Liche didn't want to eat, I could just eat by myself.
But if a stray spark flew out and knocked over the pot, I really wouldn't be able to stand it, so I was taking preventative measures.
As soon as I stood up, I walked toward the salamander.
Naturally, seeing me approach, the salamander went berserk. It kept shooting fire at me as I walked, and when I got close, it bared its teeth like a savage chihuahua.
"Hmph! Behave!"
I landed a solid punch on its blazing hot body, and the flames on it went out as it went limp.
I grabbed it by the scruff of its neck, dragged it over, tied the wire rope I'd bought for the Rhino Horn hunt around its neck, and secured it to a nearby rock.
And when I returned.
"...For some reason, I feel so deflated."
"Whatever."
***
Lunch was tonkatsu, one of a man's soul foods.
If you're wondering why tonkatsu all of a sudden, there's no particular reason.
I just felt like eating it.
Even I, who doesn't know the first thing about cooking, know how to make tonkatsu.
Besides being a bit of a hassle to make at home, the process itself is simple, and the ingredients were all common enough to be found even in this medieval era.
In fact, since bread was a staple food, breadcrumbs were plentiful.
I couldn't replicate the sauce exactly, so I just threw together some tomatoes, sugar, and vinegar to make something palatable.
When it comes to food, no fantasy world can compare to Earth.
Tonkatsu, in particular, is a dish loved by even the pickiest of kids, so it was the perfect food for a kid like Yui.
"Mmm~!"
Tasting it for the first time, Yui placed her hands on her cheeks, her whole body expressing her happiness.
See? Nothing beats tonkatsu for pleasing kids.
Luna seemed to be eating calmly on the outside, but her wagging tail and twitching ears revealed what she was thinking.
And Liche was just moving her mouth, thinking about something seriously, with an expression like an exploited laborer.
I wasn't curious about what she was thinking, so I just kept eating.
"Luke, what do you think?"
"About what."
"The reason I can't win."
*That's because you're ridiculously weak.*
The strong don't worry about such things.
Liche, who seemed so strong when I only read about her in the novel, looks endlessly weak now that she's outside the academy.
"Why are you asking me?"
"An observer can make a more objective judgment than the person themselves, can't they?"
You're just passing the buck.
No, I find it more surprising that you don't know what the problem is.
Was she always this dense?
"Have you mages ever considered that you lack imagination?"
"...Imagination?"
"Magic is a supernatural power that twists the laws of nature, isn't it?"
"You can create fire with mana as a medium even without oxygen, make ice in the middle of a barren field with no water, and move the earth without a shovel."
"Yet with all that power, all you do is release it as is or create walls."
"Is it because you have power? It makes people's imaginations poor."
It feels like humanity has actually regressed with the advent of magic.
"Hey, didn't you see Lucia use her magic last time?"
"I did, but... how do you know about that?"
"I read about it in the novel."
I didn't see Lucia casting her magic firsthand. I was inside the Behemoth at the time.
But I know about it because I read the description of her using magic in the novel.
"Didn't you think anything after seeing that?"
"...I thought it was incredible."
"That's why you guys are trash."
I mean, a superior version of your own magic was demonstrated for free right in front of you, and all you could think was that it was 'incredible'?
Do you know what people who work in a hotel kitchen do first?
Washing dishes.
Why? So they can watch and learn.
But this girl, Liche, watched and learned nothing, only thinking it was 'incredible.' It's like being told to wash dishes and only ever washing dishes.
"First, learn how to make a blue flame."
"A blue flame? Isn't that only possible if you have a huge amount of mana, like the Headmaster?"
"Luna. Example."
Luna, who can interpret my words without me having to say much, would have understood what I meant.
Explaining further is a pain, and nothing is more certain than seeing it for yourself.
So I decided to show her an example instead. Of course, since I have no mana, Luna would do it.
Luna raised a hand.
A cool breeze began to blow around her.
The trivial wind, which could hardly be called an attack, gathered above her hand according to her will.
Soon, the wind formed a single sphere that rotated on its own, without any further mana being injected.
This is called compression.
Luna then flattened the sphere of wind.
When Luna lightly swung the resulting blade-like shape, a nearby rock was sliced apart as if it were tofu.
It's an attack that adds application to compression.
"Oh. So it works."
"Didn't you tell me to do it because you knew it would work...?"
"When did I say that?"
I told you to try it, not that I knew it would work.
I mean, I don't have mana, right? So I just imagined it.
Thinking, 'Wouldn't this be possible?'
"Anyway, I showed you, didn't I?"
"...You did."
Well, if it were Lucia, she could probably float dozens of those swords around herself and perform a sword-control technique.
The point is, saying you can't do it because you lack mana is just an excuse.
After that, Liche shoved the rest of the food into her mouth and shot to her feet.
She immediately walked toward the salamander.
The unconscious salamander happened to regain consciousness just then and recognized Liche as an enemy.
The two immediately began to fight as before, but the situation was different now.
A large fire appeared in Liche's hand, but she didn't just throw it like before.
Instead, the fire gradually subsided, until only a small, white sphere—too small to be considered an attack—remained in her hand.
It meant one thing: it was far stronger than when the flame had been red.
The color of a flame changes with its temperature, but she was still in the intermediate stage, so I wasn't expecting a blue one yet.
Liche gently sent the fireball flying.
Like blowing on a dandelion puff. Very slowly and quietly.
One might wonder who would ever get hit by something like that, but for now, it was enough. She could work on its weaknesses later; the salamander was tied up, after all.
*-Krrrrrrk!!!*
The salamander tried to counter it by shooting fire as before, but all the fire it shot was swallowed up by the fireball Liche had sent.
The tiny flame absorbed the fire shot by the salamander and even the flames on its body, growing to the size of a soccer ball.
The slowly moving fireball touched the salamander's body but didn't stop, piercing through its hide and melting its flesh and bone.
And finally, it ended the show with a large explosion.
Liche, who was watching the scene,
"I did it..."
collapsed after muttering that one phrase.