New chapter of Nameless Hero is out! (1/2 chapters)
Crimson Girl
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The power of money was incredible.
With Shia and Salamander along, we hitched a ride on the carriage to Soltaire, and it was over in no time. Even though I exchanged it for gold and had to pay some fees, I had quite a bit of money from my earnings in the labyrinth city.
When I moved from Dali Amor to Soltaire on foot once, it took three days and nights. I was a child back then, but even now, it would definitely take me two or three days to walk it. But I arrived in just one day, so this must be the power of horses… no, the power of money.
As we approached the town, I felt nervous, and my heart raced. It had been about five years since our last reunion. I was sure I was not the only one who has changed. But I must have changed my impression more due to reaching puberty.We passed through the forest road of the Diarren Forest by carriage. Unlike the Lucur Great Forest, this side is filled with coniferous trees, making it just right for logging.
Were the bears I hunted during the Liberta recruitment exam also preparing for hibernation this season?
From here, the scenery looked familiar. There was nothing that had changed. We emerged from the forest and could see the hill. The sun had already tilted, and the autumn sky at dusk was streaked with thin cirrus clouds. The wind was a bit chilly. Compared to the year-round tropical climate of Azarigrad, this was quite comfortable.
“Here is…?” (Shia)
Shia parted her long blue hair, gazing at the scenery. The wind blowing here feels pleasant. She mentioned that she recognized it; does she have some memories here?
“Have you been to this town before, Shia?” (Jack)
“Yes.” (Shia)
“It’s a tranquil and nice town.” (Jack)
“Yes, I’ve admired it since I passed through…” (Shia)
“If it seems impossible, you can use honorifics, you know…” (Jack)
“…I think it’s okay… maybe.” (Shia)
She’s still a bit of a quirky girl. She should just speak naturally to make it easier. I wonder if she’ll get used to speaking casually one day.
—
While we were having that exchange, we were dropped off at a carriage stop on the edge of town. From here, we walked along the countryside path through the fields. Since it’s slightly uphill, this final sprint can be tough after a long journey. Large dire wolves were lying in wait on either side of this path. If we strayed from the road to a deserted area, those dog-like creatures would pounce on adventurers and merchants in search of blood and flesh.
When I had just joined Liberta, I was often brought here for training. Compared to bears and grizzlies, they were still manageable, but I still struggled with the agility of the dire wolves. It was at that moment when I was reminiscing about the past and feeling a bit nostalgic.
—Gyrgyr… the sound of energy spinning rapidly echoed from afar.
That sound was filled with madness.
Is it a sound like energy condensing?
I felt like I had heard it somewhere before.
At the same time, from the depths of the plains, dire wolves were desperately fleeing toward us.
“What the…?” (Jack)
—Hah… hah… hah…!
The little dog-like creatures were running for their lives. There seemed to be about six or seven of them in the pack. They rushed past us, me, Shia, and Salamander, without even glancing our way.
We stood there in stunned silence, watching the scene unfold.
“It feels a bit dangerous.” (Jack)
“What are they running from?” (Shia)
When I casually glanced in the direction the dire wolves were fleeing, an astonishing sight entered my view.
There was an enormous fireball, so terrifyingly large it was almost grotesque.
Is it a fireball…?
It looked like the hawks I had seen at Lucur Beach. Its oval-shaped body, wrapped in blazing flames, had limbs sprouting from it, and those legs moved rapidly across the ground, attacking the dire wolves. After crawling around, it left scorch marks behind.
“W-what?!” (Jack)
Such magic, though I couldn’t tell if it was magic or not, I had never seen anything like that fire mass. The moment that fireball determined it had fallen behind the pack of dire wolves, it retracted its protruding limbs and began to slither like a snake, moving with a serpentine motion. Its movements were agile and quite unsettling.
“Salamander, what is that?” (Jack)
“I don’t know… I’ve never seen anything like it.” (Salamander)
“Why don’t you, the fire sage, know?!” (Jack)
“I was holed up in the Baira Volcano, so how would I know what’s happening in the world?!” (Salamander)
Even the fire sage couldn’t identify the fireball’s true nature.
Soltaire should have been peaceful. What’s happening? Has a new species of monster appeared?
That “giant snake” circled the plains, leaving flames in its wake, and cornered a lone dire wolf that had fallen behind. The dire wolf, bewildered and losing its escape route… it was pitiful, even if it was a monster. It whined in fear, and the rest of the pack watched anxiously as it struggled. However, that frightened dire wolf was mercilessly swallowed whole by the “giant snake”. The moving flames opened wide, devouring the wolf in one bite. Its movements resembled those of a machine rather than a living creature.
But even after consuming the dire wolf, the “giant snake” was not satisfied. It transformed into an enormous sphere and floated up.
…It’s shape-shifting.
Once that sphere rose into the air, it spun rapidly, scattering its fierce flames. Only the charred remains of the dire wolf were left gruesomely on the ground. That spinning sphere charged toward the pack of dire wolves from the sky.
“It’s relentless… that movement isn’t that of a living being. It’s some sort of magic.” (Salamander)
“Magic?” (Jack)
While Salamander and I were talking, Shia readied her longbow on her back. It seemed she wanted to shoot down that fireball.
“Shia…?” (Jack)
“I might use the power of the wind.” (Shia)
“Can we extinguish it with wind magic?” (Jack)
“It might be one of those ‘you won’t know until you try’ situations…!” (Shia)
Shia nocked one arrow, taking a low stance as she prepared her bow, channeling all her strength. She must have felt the urge to help since the dire wolf looked like it was being bullied. It was indeed cruel for a monster to act that way.
Then that projectile traced a straight path and dove directly into the center of the target. As expected of Shia Randall. Even without the power of the Aerial Volga, she could hit a moving aerial target with ease. Especially since the target was so large, it was easy to hit. That arrow, wrapped in a current of air, collided with the fireball, making a sound like a gas eruption as it burrowed into the flames.
“…What?!” (Jack)
However, it ended in failure. The arrow that had penetrated the center of the fireball lost its strength and was swallowed just like the dire wolf. Without losing momentum, the fireball continued to spin rapidly. Shia was bewildered and couldn’t do anything more. The fireball paused slightly but continued to attack the pack of dire wolves without paying us any mind.
“What the hell is that…?” (Jack)
“It’s a higher tier of advanced fire magic… It’s almost a step away from demigod-level magic. The fact that something like that can be controlled so precisely means a considerable magician is hiding nearby.” (Salamander)
Salamander was warning me.
A higher tier of advanced magic? So, it really is magic… The advanced magic I know is the “Blaze Gust” that Lindsay used. But this is more versatile, constantly changing the shape of the flames. A step away from demigod-level magic… how many magicians have come to a town like this?
But for such powerful magic, the way it’s being used isn’t particularly clever. If it’s used carelessly like that, it could easily start a wildfire.
“Shia, guide that thing directly with the wind. It’s dangerous to leave it be, so let’s extinguish it for now.” (Jack)
I said that and rushed toward the scene of the disaster.
I readied the machine attached to my right arm, taking aim. The Insignia Arms is a cylinder developed by the earth sage Gnome-sama that crystallizes and releases my anti-mana.
Taking advantage of the opening created when Shia controlled the air to disrupt the movement of the fireball, I shot the crystal into it. It didn’t have much power, but the moment it touched, it could extinguish it. With no resistance at all, that enormous fireball dissipated into thin air.
All right, it’s working properly… I don’t know what the principle is, but it seems this power doesn’t work against strange new magic. After various tests, it appears that it can properly nullify the five elemental attributes of fire, ice, lightning, darkness, and holy. It can also negate more classical wind and earth magic, at least in theory. I had been losing confidence lately, but it seems I’m okay.
After watching the pack of dire wolves flee with their tails between their legs, I hurried back to Shia.
“What was that?” (Shia)
“I don’t know…” (Jack)
Just as we were pondering the identity of that magic, a cute scream suddenly confused us again.
“Waaahhh!! That’s unfair, unfair! That’s just unfair!” (??)
“?!” (Jack/Shia)
A soft voice echoed from afar.
The speaker sounded quite young. What now… that overly cute voice rang out.
It came from the lookout tower in the town. This rural town has a lookout tower that offers a good view, and it seems that someone had been watching the dire wolves flee from a high vantage point. Apparently, that person dissatisfied that the magic had disappeared. And it sounded very young.
For now, we decided to head toward that tower.
—
We climbed the ladder and stealthily approached. There was a presence of a person, but the breathing was ragged. It seemed that the other person was feeling more fear than we were.
“…Haa… haa…” (??)
Even while feeling the other person’s heavy breathing, I quietly climbed up to the tower.
As I slowly reached the top of the airy storehouse, the owner of the voice caught my eye.
“…Um… a demon…?!” (??)
She was very wary of me.
The owner of the voice was a little girl dressed all in red.
I’ve been meeting a lot of little girls lately, but it’s not like I’m seeking them out. It’s not like I’m seeking them out. It’s just that I happen to see a lot of little girls. So, it’s not like I like little girls or anything. If anything, I prefer older girls. I want to be spoiled by the calmness of an older woman.
Anyway, that aside, the child in front of me was on guard.
I wondered that she was… about 5 or 6 years old. She was really small. She had distinctive, fiery red hair that she wore long and pulled back, and for a child, her eyes were quite distinct. I sensed something of a strong will from her overall appearance.
Gnome-sama also had scarlet hair with a hint of red, but this child’s was a purer red. Her hair was crimson, as red as blood. I had only known one other person in my life with hair that red.
“Uh… ugh…” (??)
The child’s large, clear, emerald-green eyes were wet with tears. But she wasn’t calling for help. She was probably just trying to act tough. She held her tiny little hands out in a boxing stance.
“…Wh-hey, that magic just now was—” (Jack)
“W-my master’s, Kano’s Flame…um…that…ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!” (??)
Just as I was about to reach out my hand to the child, the child seemed to be chanting a spell….
Perhaps because she was frightened of me and chanting in a hurry, her words were choppy in places and she was slurring her words at times, making it hard to believe she was chanting properly. But the magic manifested. Red mana gathered in the child’s small clenched fists and at the tips of her feet. Soon it turned into burning flames, strengthening her hands and legs.
“Strengthening magic…!?” (Jack)
“Ehhhh!!” (??)
—And then her delicate, red body leapt forward. Her limbs, strengthened by the flames, leapt towards me. She was an unusually combative child. Her burning fist was small but powerful as it approached. It was like a thrown barrel of fire.
I easily warded it off and dodged. She seemed to be using the flames in her legs as boosters to compensate for her speed with magic, but she didn’t seem to be very good at close combat. I dodged her clumsy flying kick with ease.
“Eh…?! Why?” (??)
Fighting in a narrow wooden tower while wrapped in fire magic is not very clever… If this continues, the fire will soon spread to the surrounding area and the entire tower would collapse.
But the little girl didn’t stop fighting. Even if I dodged her, she continued to try to punch and kick me, her target. I would sometimes lightly guard against them with a sword strike, but I was afraid of a fire if I didn’t stop soon.
“That’s it.” (Jack)
I caught the foot that came flying at me with my right arm and grabbed the sole of her small foot. At the same time, the fire magic that had strengthened her foot disappeared.
“Ah!! Stop!! Let go!!” (??)
Then, I hung her upside down. Perhaps because she was wearing a short red skirt, as she hung down it rolled up, revealing her pure white panties.
“White panties huh…” (Jack)
“Ahhh!!” (??)
The little girl’s face was turning redder rapidly. Now her whole body was red except for her bare legs. Her hair, face, clothes, everything was bright red.
“You pervert!! Stop it!” (??)
“You should stop! It’s dangerous to be firing fire magic in such a small space!” (Jack)
I scolded the white panties… no, the girl.
“Wha-aat!! Someone, help me! This person is perverted!” (Lenalee)
Completely different from before, she was asking for help for the first time in this situation.
How rude. The dangerous person is this child, so why should I be treated like a pervert? And besides, I haven’t used any violence. I’m not being violent, Medna-san. Certainly, if you look at this situation from the sidelines, it might look like I’m hanging a little girl upside down so I can see her white panties. But it was this girl who suddenly attacked me. I was acting in self-defense, just blocking her attack. Yes, hanging her upside down was self-defense. As a result of self-defense, her white panties were in full view.
So, in other words, it can’t be helped that her white panties are in full view because it was self-defense.
“…What are you doing, Lost-san?” (Shia)
I was so engrossed in the panties that I didn’t notice the person who had climbed up the watchtower behind me.
When I turned around, it was a half-elf with blue hair and a cold expression. His polite language was almost murderous. The blue was cold, just like the red girl.
“Shia… This is self-defense.” (Protagonist)
“I don’t see any justification for this.” (Shia)
All Shia could see in her dirty eyes was the image of a pervert peering at a young girl’s underwear.
Bad luck on this journey. How did this happen?
—
Perhaps Shia’s presence reassured her, but the girl also calmed down.
I need to ask her about the situation. She’s such a young girl, so her parents must be in this town. What’s with a girl like that hiding alone in the watchtower? And then there’s the fire magic that attacked the dire wolves earlier…
“Onee-chan~! Your ears are cute.” (??)
“I’m half-elf.” (Shia)
For now, the three of them were taking a rest in the shade of a single cedar tree in a field on the outskirts of town.
The little girl sat on Shia’s lap, rubbing her body against him and playing with her pointed ears.
Shia always gives off a childish vibe but seeing her with a real little girl like this really makes her feel like a big sister. The contrast between red and blue… a pretty good combination.
“What’s your name?” (Shia)
“I’m Rinalee! What about you, Onee-chan?” (Rinalee)
“Shia Randall.” (Shia)
“Shia-oneechan.” (Rinalee)
“What is it?” (Shia)
“Hehe.” (Rinalee)
Huh? Her name is Rinalee, then. She seems to like Shia quite a bit.
“By the way, my name is—” (Jack)
“I don’t want to know my perverted Onii-chan’s name.” (Rinalee)
“…” (Jack)
I see. Well, whatever. Anyway, this girl needs to be returned to her parents. But, or rather, maybe, this bright red style and that belligerent attitude. Somehow, I have an intuition skill inside me… or rather, it’s a guess that anyone could make.
“Ouch! Stop! Who do you think I am!” (Salamander)
“Hehe… that lizard is cute!” (Rinalee)
Furthermore, Rinalee had forcefully dragged out Salamander, who was hiding on Shea’s shoulder. She had grabbed the body and tail with both hands and was pulling violently.
Innocent cruelty… children can be quite cruel. Children don’t mind torturing insects and small animals.
Pity. Pity Salamand, the Sage of Fire. She had boasted about the pride of the dragon race and how she was the strongest spirit, but now he’s being played with by a child like this…
I wanted to say she got what he deserved, but the way she was being pulled was so cruel that even though she was a Salamand, I felt sorry for her.
“This is Sala-chan. She’s a Red Dragon.” (Shia)
“Dragon?!” (Rinalee)
Rinalee’s eyes lit up when she heard the name.
She pulled harder on the body.
“Come on…! Stop it!” (Salamander)
Finally unable to hold back any longer, Salamander spewed flames from its mouth with a fairly high intensity, showering it on the innocent face.
Is that a case of self-defense?
But Rinalee didn’t flinch at all.
“It’s on fire! It’s on fire!” (Rinalee)
The red lizard found it even more amusing and forced its jaw open. It stuck its finger in there and played with it. Salamander was crying. Large tears were streaming from its usually dry eyes.
“Her resistance to fire is too strong… what’s with this brat…” (Salamander)
“Did Rinalee-san make that spell?” (Shia)
“Magic?” (Rinalee)
Shea seemed to use polite language and the honorific “san” even when speaking to children.
I’m not sure if she’s being polite or putting up a wall… but I’m happy that she took that wall down when it came to me.
“It’s the fire magic that attacked the dire wolves.” (Shia)
“Yeah. I did it.” (Rinalee)
“…” (Jack)
Is it possible for a child of about five years old to be able to control advanced magic so precisely? I remember the advanced fire magic Blaze Gust that Lindsay used at the Gala Ruins. I remember Lindsay using a wand to control it, and I think she had a hard time controlling it. Even after using it, her magic was depleted and she was staggering.
Even so, Rinalee was calm. Moreover, even after using that magic, she attacked me using an enhanced spell as well. I wonder just how much endless mana she has.
“…” (Shia)
It wasn’t just me, even Shea and the fire sage Salamander were shocked.
High fire resistance. quasi-god level fire magic. Red hair. Strong fighting spirit. I concluded that it was probably about 90% that. A child who displayed extraordinary firepower with fire magic. She was so strong that it was hard to understand in some ways…
But there was no doubt about it. This child, Rinalee, was Alfred and Lindsay’s child. Her red appearance and belligerent personality were similar to Alfred’s. But her facial features and fluffy hair were very similar to Lindsay’s.
What the hell. What were those couple doing leaving such a dangerous child alone?
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