Part 3 of 8
Magic swords contain a lot of power.
If you unleash all that power at once, it results in unbelievable destructive force.
The price is that the magic sword itself is destroyed in the explosion.
“Dammit!” Tagawa shouts furiously. “They must’ve sent in Kusama to destroy the teleport points and trap us inside the barrier!”
That explosion must have destroyed all the teleport points.
Those were the only way to get in or out of the elf village.
In other words, everyone in the village, including us, is now trapped here unless the barrier is deactivated.
The barrier that’s meant to protect the village now imprisons it.
Glancing at my companions’ faces, I see their expressions can be sorted into two groups.
About half of them are frustrated like Tagawa, while the other half, especially Katia, are lost in thought.
Finally, my eyes meet with Hyrince’s.
Right, I didn’t thank him yet.
“Mr. Hyrince, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
If Hyrince hadn’t rescued me earlier, I would’ve been caught in that explosion, too.
After making the snap judgment that there was no way to save the remaining elves, he left them, grabbed me, and ran.
Hyrince probably figured that if he didn’t drag me out by force, I would have tried to do something to save the elves, even though it was impossible.
And he was probably right.
I know all this.
There was nothing I could have done.
I couldn’t stop the sword from exploding, or protect the elves from the explosion, or anything.
If I had stayed behind, all I would have accomplished was adding one more death to the list.
Still, I can’t help feeling like I should have been able to do something.
No, wait. There’s still something I can do.
“Shun. Don’t use it.”
Hyrince shuts me down as if he’d figured out my decision moments before I did.
He knows exactly what I’m planning now.
“Why not?”
“It’s a miracle that most people wouldn’t believe. You mustn’t show it off to complete strangers. It’ll only cause trouble in the future.”
What I want to do is use the Mercy skill to bring back the dead.
But Hyrince stops me.
The reason he’s not referring to it by name is because we don’t know who might be listening.
Even I can imagine that if people found out I can revive the dead, it would cause a whole lot of problems.
But if there was ever a time and place to use it, wouldn’t that be now?
“Besides, doesn’t it have certain limits, as far as we know? Can you even use it if there’s nothing left but ash?”
I have no response for that.
Mercy’s ability to revive the dead isn’t all-encompassing.
If the body is severely damaged, it won’t work.
The bodies of the elves inside the still-blazing tree are most likely far beyond the help of my Mercy skill.
“Shun. Hang on to that power for now. The real battle hasn’t even begun.”
“What do you—?”
Suddenly, an overwhelming chill runs through me.
It’s a torrent of fear like nothing I’ve ever felt before.
The power I’m sensing is far, far away.
That’s the only reason I’m still standing.
If I felt that kind of power up close, I would probably pass out on the spot.
“What the hell is that?!”
Tagawa says what we’re all thinking.
Everyone looks pale and panicky.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the strangeness doesn’t stop there.
The barrier covering the elf village disappears as easily as a soap bubble that’s been popped.
“The barrier!”
I don’t know whose voice that is.
But all of us are staring up in horror.
There’s nothing else we can do but watch.
As my thoughts slowly return to me, I understand the meaning of Hyrince’s words.
I knew something was off.
Even if we were trapped in the elf village, they grow their own food already, so it wouldn’t be that big of a problem.
There would be no reason to turn off the barrier in a panic.
If that was Hugo’s goal, he’s not as smart as I thought.
The imperial army would be the ones suffering if they stood around waiting outside for the barrier to be taken down.
There are dangerous monsters roaming out there, so they wouldn’t be able to scavenge for food safely.
I wasn’t sure initially what the imperial army stood to gain by destroying the teleport points.
From their perspective, they were just losing their only way into the elf village.
That’s probably why Katia and the others looked like they were thinking hard about something.
But if the barrier is broken, that all goes out the window.
We were operating under false assumptions.
Kusama didn’t break the teleport points to trap the elves inside the barrier.
It’s just the opposite.
We were afraid that the imperial army would use the teleport points to invade the village, but they were worried the elves would use them to run away.
They broke the teleport points to prevent us from escaping.
“You guys better run, too.”
I remember Kusama’s words.
Damn it. They were never going to let us run away in the first place!
I shout immediately. “Fei!”
“I know! But look the other way, all right?”
Knowing exactly why I’m calling for her, Fei begins transforming into her wyrm form.
As she does so, we turn our backs to her.
“All right, I’m ready!”
With Fei’s transformation complete, we hurriedly climb onto her back and take off into the sky.
Our goal is the outer perimeter where the barrier used to be.
Because that should be where the imperial army is invading.
TO CATCH A THIEF
Any bad boys and girls out heeere?
If I find you, you’re in biiig trouble!
It’s been a few days since that suspicious bunch broke into the baby bloodsucker’s family’s mansion.
During that time, the Demon Lord’s been holed up in the Bottom Stratum of the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
What’s she doing down there?
I’m curious, but if she’s not gonna move, I’m certainly not complaining if it means I don’t have to constantly worry about her catching up to me.
So, since I’m able to relax a little for once, I’ve been spending my free time dealing with robbers.
If you couldn’t tell by the way the baby bloodsucker’s carriage was attacked, there are lots of robbers in this world.
Living outside the city, they terrorize passersby to steal their food and money.
These thieves are very belligerent and surprisingly cunning.
They prey on the weak but they’re smart enough to keep their distance from the strong.
Since they live outside of town, their group must be strong enough to defeat the monsters in the area without a problem, making them generally more dangerous than the local monsters.
That’s an excerpt from the Spider Press publication An Illustrated Guide to Dangerous Creatures.
It’s true, though. The robbers really are worse than the monsters here.
Because they’re choosing to maliciously attack people.
I mean, at least the monsters that attack other living things indiscriminately are just following their instincts.
On top of that, the thieves in this neighborhood seem to be directly connected to the elf organization who’s after the baby bloodsucker.
One of those elves has been sneaking around outside town, meeting with them and stuff.
As I suspected, those robbers who attacked the carriage were connected to the elves’ plan.
But why are these elves acting like the mafia?
I thought elves were supposed to be peaceful, nature-loving tree huggers.
But these elves aren’t hugging trees at all!
In the end, I decide that if these robbers are working with the sinister elf organization, might as well throw ’em in the garbage.
It does benefit me, too, you know.
Humans give tons of experience points.
’Cause their own EXP tends to go more toward skills than stats.
Humans generally have lower stats than monsters, but in exchange they have a lot more skills.
Which means the EXP they give is pretty high, considering how weak they are.
Especially for the thieves who’ve built up their skills like crazy to survive outside of town.
Humans who kill other humans give extra points, too.
They’ve built up lots of EXP from killing other high-EXP-granting humans, after all.
But now it’s their turn to provide EXP for me!
If I kill thieves, the residents of the town are happy, and Baby Drac’s family is happy, too, since that means less enemies for them.
And I’m happy because I get lots of experience in the process.
Forget killing two birds with one stone. This is at least three or four.
I’d be a fool not to!
So I use Panoptic Vision to search around the area for robbers.
And boy, do I ever find them.
We’re talking triple digits here, in all shapes and sizes.
Why are there so many?
Like, that’s definitely overkill.
Are they supposed to be a bad rodent infestation or what?
Seriously, talk about an unsafe area.
Or is this the normal way of things in this fantasy world?
If so, this place is pretty scary.
These enemies are stronger than monsters, and they’re swarming around in droves.
What kind of impossible game is that?
Actually, what I really wanna know is why all these guys are thieves in the first place.
But I guess I don’t really need to know their backstories.
To prepare for my quest to exterminate these robbers, I picked up a few new skills.
Since I gained the ability to use Evil Eyes even on super-distant targets when Clairvoyance evolved into Panoptic Vision, I figured I might as well pick up a new Evil Eye or two.
I went for Sealing Evil Eye for three hundred skill points, Antimagic Evil Eye also for three hundred skill points, and even Warped Evil Eye for a whopping five hundred skill points.
If you add these three to the four I already had, plus Future Sight, that makes exactly eight eyes.
Now my eyes are all fully loaded.
I’ve finally completed the combination I’ve been aiming for since I first found out about Evil Eyes!
So these are the three I just picked up:
<Sealing Evil Eye: Deals Seal-attribute damage to anything in the user’s field of vision.>
<Antimagic Evil Eye: Deals Antimagic-attribute damage to anything in the user’s field of vision.>
<Warped Evil Eye: Deals Space-attribute damage to anything in the user’s field of vision.>
Yeah, I know. The explanations don’t really explain anything.
First of all, it turns out “seal” is a status condition that can prevent the target from using skills.
That definitely sounds promising, but judging from my experience so far, I’m guessing it’s going to be pretty difficult to use in reality.
But I picked it up anyway in the hopes that I might be able to seal the Status Condition Nullification skill down the road.
If I can do that, then I’ll really get a chance to unleash the fury of the other Evil Eyes.
Seal is itself a status condition, so it seems entirely likely that it won’t work in the first place, but I think it’s worth a try.
Next there’s Antimagic Evil Eye, which, as the name suggests, prevents the target from invoking magic.
It’s not unlike those dragon-scale skills that have given me so much trouble in the past.
I do have a lesser version of those skills that I absorbed from Mother called Dragon Barrier.
But the nice thing about Antimagic Evil Eye is you can start inhibiting the opponent’s use of magic as soon as you see them.
Put another way, skills like Dragon Scales and Dragon Barrier dampen the power of magic that’s been invoked, but Antimagic Evil Eye makes it harder to start up the magic in the first place.
All in all, I can use Antimagic Evil Eye to hinder someone’s use of magic, then block the incomplete spell with Dragon Barrier.
Combined with my high base magic defense power, does this mean I basically won’t take damage from magic anymore?
Anyway, last but not least is Warped Evil Eye.
This nasty thing can warp space in any place you can see.
I tried it out a little bit, and it’s super-hard to control.
But since I’m pretty familiar with controlling Spatial Magic, I was able to warp things pretty freely once I got the hang of it.
Warped Evil Eye is also considered a Space-attribute attack spell, so if there’s anything in the space you’re warping, it’ll get twisted around, too.
Snap! Just like that.
I tried it on a tree, and it hollowed out the trunk.
Snap! Just like that.
That’s pretty cruel.
Well, I can use this from a long distance thanks to Panoptic Vision.
And unlike most Evil Eyes, this one targets space instead of living things, so I can warp whatever I want.
Doesn’t that mean I could hollow out the inside of someone’s head if I wanted to, too?
Snap! Just like that.
Although, since its target is space, that means it can actually be avoided, unlike my other Evil Eyes.
Gotta take the bad with the good, I guess.
If you’re wondering why I picked up this Space-attribute Evil Eye even though I have Spatial Magic, it’s because Spatial Magic attacks are insanely hard to use.
Sure, there are attack spells in Spatial Magic.
Ones that cut through space and stuff like that.
But to use Spatial Magic, unlike any other magic, you have to set up a designated target area.
It’s basically defining where the magic will be activated, but it’s also a huge hassle.
Since you have to do that on top of the rest of the magic process, it’s slower than any other magic I have.
That’s all well and good, since in exchange it comes with the way-too-useful Teleport spell.
But in battle, where a moment’s delay can mean life or death, it’s usually safer to use a different magic attack besides Spatial Magic.
It was almost like I didn’t have a Space-attribute attack at all.
That’s why I picked up an Evil Eye with the Space attribute, even though I technically have the magic already.
Now I finally have a Space-attribute attack I can use instantly.
Taking my new Evil Eyes out for a test drive, I wiped out a big bunch of robbers.
And now it’s time for some initial reviews!
First is Sealing Evil Eye.
It’s stupid and hard to use!
It takes a super-long time, and when it’s done, it can seal only one skill.
One!
I know it’s probably because its skill level is low, but that’s pretty awful.
To the point where I’m kinda regretting picking it up in the first place.
Next, Antimagic Evil Eye.
Sooo, about that. Since I was using Panoptic Vision to attack from a distance, I didn’t really get a chance to try it.
I mean, my targets can’t even see me, y’know?
So of course they didn’t use magic, and of course I didn’t get to test out Antimagic Evil Eye.
Yep. Evaluation pending!
Finally, Warped Evil Eye.
This one’s kinda hard to pin down.
Unlike other Evil Eye attacks, this one targets the space in my field of vision, not the enemy’s.
So it doesn’t get a guaranteed hit like the other Evil Eyes.
If the enemy moves out of the space I’m targeting with the attack, it’ll miss.
On top of that, if there’s an object in the space I’m targeting, it makes it more difficult to twist it based on how solid the object is.
Sometimes that delay meant my target moved before the spell activated.
That said, being able to directly attack the opponent’s body is pretty sweet.
You can just target places that won’t be hard, like, say, brain tissue.
Just give it a little twist.
It’ll literally blow your mind!
Yep, pretty nasty.
As of now, Jinx Evil Eye is still way more powerful and convenient, but who knows? Maybe when this one’s skill level gets higher, it’ll have uses of its own.
So that’s the analysis of my new Evil Eyes.
I’m not quite sure how to feel, really.
But since I defeated a ton of robbers in the process, I gained a huge amount of experience and even managed to level up.
That’s a victory in my book.
I wonder if more robbers will show up soon?
THE CONSPIRATORS: THE PONTIFF OF THE WORD OF GOD
“I see… My team of Word of God intelligence agents who were hiding disguised as robbers have all been wiped out?”
My subordinate nods meekly.
“Yes, sir. However, the spies who have been long disguised as residents of Keren County, merchants, and so on are unharmed. And since other robbers besides our disguised agents were killed as well, it would appear the thieves were the target, not our agents.”
I cannot help but sigh at this report.
This all started when the disguised intelligence team we’d sent into Sariella was destroyed.
And those who were disguised as robbers suddenly dropped all communication.
We hurried to investigate, but we were not prepared for what we discovered.
“Dear me. We have an unexpected interloper on our hands.”
You must forgive me for the idle complaint.
After all, a major part of the network we were setting up in Sariella has suddenly been crushed by the appearance of a powerful outsider.
I review the report once more.
It contains information on the mysterious monster that suddenly appeared in the labyrinth and exhibited inexplicable behavior: the Nightmare.
These documents include all the tracks that we know to be connected with the Nightmare.
A postscript on the final page describes the aboveground appearance of a queen taratect at the same time as the Nightmare’s discovery, complete with an eyewitness account from the oldest Divine Beast.
If the Nightmare is a spider-type monster, it must be the offspring of Lady Ariel.
One can only wonder why Lady Ariel would do such a thing when she has hitherto never intervened with worldly goings-on, but it is impossible to divine meaning behind her movements and the Nightmare’s alike.
It looked as if Lady Ariel was searching for something, but in my later investigations, I have been unable to determine what she might have been attempting to find.
The Nightmare’s behavior is yet more mysterious.
I do not understand what thoughts motivate its actions.
At times it helps people, and at other times it attacks them.
If all this is in accordance with orders from Lady Ariel, the intent is completely lost on me.
“Well? Are there any signs that the Nightmare might know about the other spies?”
“Not at the moment.”
What is Lady Ariel trying to do?
Surely she did not simply set out to dispose of some robbers.
Am I to take this as a warning to us?
Perhaps she means to tell us not to lay a hand on the land of Sariella.
However, I cannot agree to such a request.
In which case, our only option is to observe with utmost vigilance.
And Lady Ariel is not the only one to watch.
“Do we know whose employ the other thieves were under?”
“It seems they were members of a human trafficking organization operating not just in Sariella but all over the world. And the masterminds behind this organization are the elves.”
I already half expected my subordinate’s reply.
The elves. Potimas Harrifenas.
What in the world has moved him to create a human trafficking organization?
I cannot say, but surely any actions taken by that man will cause more harm to the world than good.
I must expose and stop him at once.
But right now, we must deal with the Goddess followers first.
Until we clean up this problem, we will never be able to stop a worldwide human trafficking organization.
Our forces are so concentrated on the Goddess at this stage that we simply do not have the resources to spare.
We have already made up our minds to destroy the Goddess’s religion.
Ariel’s unknown machinations concern me, but we cannot change our plans now.
We have prepared too much.
The deaths of some intelligence agents disguised as thieves will have no great bearing on our plan.
That damn lord of Keren County has made great efforts to avoid war with Ohts, but the center of Sariella is beginning to lean toward open conflict.
Little do they know that we have been slowly guiding them toward it all along.
If a spark emerges with Ohts, it is sure to spread into a wildfire all on its own.
Sariella’s Goddess religion despises the Word of God, and we Followers of the Word of God view them as heathens in turn.
With the coals of hatred already thus ignited, one simply needs to prod those embers until they burst into the flame of war.
Quite laughable, when one considers that the Goddess and the Word of God are in fact one and the same.
“Shall I continue the report?”
Oh dear. I must be more mindful.
I let my thoughts wander in the middle of listening to the briefing.
It is a bad habit of mine.
“The robbers have all been wiped out, but there are still elves remaining in Keren County, sneaking about on business unknown. Shall we eliminate them?”
The elves are still lurking about after their forces have been destroyed?
To what end?
According to the reports, the elves have taken aim at Lord Keren and his family not once but twice.
Is Lord Keren their target?
However, I cannot imagine why Potimas would have any need to target Lord Keren.
There is no connection between them to my knowledge.
For that matter, I do not understand his motivation behind carrying out human trafficking in various places, either.
Kidnapping. What does he aim to accomplish by stealing away a great deal of children?
No, wait.
Is it the opposite?
Could it be that he needs not a great deal of children but a select few, and he has made this large-scale operation to mask that fact?
But why would he go to such extreme lengths?
What kind of child could possibly be worth that much trouble?
I do not have enough information to determine that.
Any further contemplation would be mere speculation—nay, delusions.
However, it does seem quite possible that he is targeting specific children.
If so, could the elves’ target in Keren County be not Lord Keren but his child?
That is certainly worth considering.
Once the problem of the Goddess worshippers is dealt with, it may be the hint that helps me expose Potimas.
“Let them be. However, be sure to monitor them closely.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hrm.
Come to think of it, the elves have yet to target the Nightmare, even though it has now protected Lord Keren and his family from them not once but twice.
Could it be that they, too, have decided to let it swim free in order to lie in wait for an even bigger fish?
In that case, the angler in question is surely none other than Potimas Harrifenas.
The Nightmare of the Labyrinth, eh?
That creature has a strong connection with the land of Ohts.
As Lady Ariel’s offspring, it is doubtless potentially dangerous to meddle with, but it may yet serve our cause, as well.
The best-case scenario would be if Lady Ariel and Potimas go head-to-head themselves, but it would be difficult to ensure such a thing.
This situation is likely to require a careful hand and a watchful eye.
Such a complex game we play.
Who will emerge victorious?
Will it be Lady Ariel, Potimas, or myself?
In any case, whoever controls the events in Keren County is sure to take the lead.
“We must be more thorough in our intelligence operations in Keren County. Send along every piece of information you can find, no matter how trivial. We had best assume the battle has already begun.”
This is a true matching of wits, in which each of us tries to predict and outwit the others.
Perhaps we should throw in a move of our own?
“The adventurers who encountered the Nightmare in the Great Elroe Labyrinth are in Ohts now, are they not? Send them a request, one that will not provoke their suspicion. A request that will set them up to encounter the Nightmare once again.”
Now, how will our Nightmare react?
Whether it helped those adventurers by chance or for some larger purpose, I should hope that it will send some kind of response.
How will it warp the stone I have thrown in?
THE BATTLE OF THE ELF VILLAGE: BECAUSE I’M THEIR TEACHER
I am a weak person.
The barrier covering the sky disappears in an instant.
This is the barrier that has protected the elf village for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years.
All the elves except for me stare up at the sky, dumbfounded.
They must be in complete shock that the barrier they thought was impenetrable is suddenly gone.
This is why I tried to warn them that the barrier might vanish.
“Everyone. Please prepare yourselves for battle. They’re coming.”
I use Wind Magic to help my voice reach the frozen elves.
Hearing me, they all seem to gasp collectively as the tension of the current situation dawns upon them.
They must realize now that if the barrier is gone, the imperial army is going to attack.
“The barrier is broken. However, the device itself that generates the barrier is still intact. All we have to do is hold out until the barrier can be restored.”
As the daughter of the chief, my voice is strongly respected by the elves.
Even now, they seem to be calming down little by little as they listen.
“Besides, this is our forest, essentially the garden of the elves. No human troops can win against us, especially here. Let us show them how foolish they are to challenge the elves in the middle of a forest.”
I make up some encouraging words to stir their fighting spirit.
To tell the truth, this situation is not so simple.
We do have the advantage of being on home ground, but the numbers are overwhelmingly in the enemy’s favor.
Besides, our opponents are demons and the experienced army of the militant Renxandt Empire.
I know this will be a difficult battle.
The elves must have some understanding of that, too, but morale is very important.
As the elves regain their composure and mentally prepare themselves for battle, I’m relieved that, for the time being, they seem to have overcome the shock of the barrier breaking.
Although, to be honest, I have no idea whether the barrier will actually be restored.
I do have concerns that the barrier might be irreparably broken.
And I know all too well that there is a high likelihood that I am right.
Because of my unique skill.
Student Roster.
I am most likely the only person in the world with this skill.
It records a general summary of my former students’ presents, pasts, and futures in their reincarnated lives.
When I close my eyes, the roster rises from deep within my mind.
If I open the roster, I can see my students’ names listed in order of their seat number, and when I focus on one name, I can read more information about that person.
However, the information this skill provides is exceedingly simple.
The “past” is a record of the moment they were born.
It tells me where they came into this world.
However, that’s as far as the record goes.
The “present” summarizes the person’s current condition in one word.
Healthy, Sick, Fatigued, and so on.
It doesn’t reveal their current location.
And then there’s the “future.”
This part gives a rough estimation of when and how the student will die.
It uses a standard year of 365 days, with the day of my birth as the starting point.
When I open the Student Roster to Kengo Natsume’s name, it states that he will be killed in action in the elf forest.
Killed in action. In other words, in battle with someone.
Thanks to the scouts I’ve had watching him in secret, I know that he is with the imperial army right now.
In other words, he was outside the barrier.
The fact that Hugo is fated to die in battle in the elf forest was a hint that their forces would find a way past the barrier.
This was why I suspected all along that the barrier might be destroyed.
And that Hugo is likely to die here.
My body trembles.
When I remember the names of the four students who have disappeared from the Student Roster, I tremble even more.
When a student dies, their name disappears from the roster.
Hugo’s name, Kengo Natsume, will most likely disappear soon, too.
And unlike the previous four students, his blood will be on my hands.
I thought I was prepared for that, but I still can’t stop shaking.
It takes everything I have just to hide this from the elves.
If they think I’m trembling in fear, the morale I raised will quickly plummet.
Then we won’t be able to take on the imperial army.
How did it come to this?
I only wanted to save all my students.
In my previous life, I was a teacher.
Being a teacher was my dream from a very young age.
I always wanted to be the kind of teacher who could share a laugh with her students.
And I spared no effort to make that happen.
That meant learning about anything that children of the current generation would be interested in.
Games, manga, novels, the Internet…
I tried to develop an interest in anything I thought I might be able to talk to them about.
I might have actually gotten addicted to those things…
Ultimately, I changed my manner of speech, invented a new persona, and became the kind of strange, slightly pathetic teacher I thought would be easiest to befriend.
I may have gotten carried away with the “pathetic” part, but that’s all right.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Was this really enough?
Was it really my dream to laugh with my students as a fake me?
But I was too afraid to show them my true self and shatter the image I had worked so hard to build up.
In the end, I spent my days contenting myself with the situation I’d created.
Then I was reincarnated into another world.
My last memories are of teaching my class.
Then my recollections of that life cut off abruptly, and the next thing I knew, I was a baby.
The time until I understood what was happening was very difficult.
Since I was a baby who had just been born, I could scarcely move my body, and my eyes and ears weren’t fully functioning.
I must confess I flew into a panic then, crying and shrieking.
When my eyes could finally see and I realized that I’d become a baby, I was even more shocked than before.
For one thing, the ears of the people around me were long and pointy.
Thanks to the nerdy knowledge I’d spent so long accumulating, I knew right away that they were elves.
And I understood my own situation, too.
Reincarnation in another world. It’s very trendy in stories online right now, and I’d been sucked into such a story.
But I am weak.
I couldn’t be strong and build a brand-new life for myself like the protagonists of those novels.
I couldn’t give up my old identity.
As I was overwhelmed with confusion, I latched on to one specific part of that identity.
I am a teacher.
Meaning I have to prioritize my students above all else.
That’s the ideal teacher I always wanted to become.
Fortunately for me, I was born with a very convenient skill for this task.
The Student Roster skill.
However, the information I learned from that skill only threw me into despair.
Most of my students would die within less than twenty years.
Unable to accept the facts, I hid trembling from reality for several days.
However, reality did not change, and I couldn’t stop time only by ignoring it.
Then I noticed something.
The name of the student whose time of death was the earliest, who was written to die while still a baby, had disappeared.
My roster had an empty space.
When I saw this, I knew I had to do something.
Of the remaining students, ten were set to die within two or three years.
I used the abilities we know as “skills” to try to do something about it.
If a mysterious power like the Student Roster skill existed in this world, surely there must be a skill like Telepathy, too.
Thus, I paid skill points to acquire the Telepathy skill.
Fortunately for me, my father is Potimas, the chief of the elves.
The average person would likely question their sanity if their infant daughter started suddenly talking about reincarnation and such, but Potimas accepted my story easily.
As it turned out, Potimas already thought of me as a special case from the beginning.
At any rate, though it was risky, I took the bet and was able to convince Potimas to promise to protect the reincarnations.
The rest was simple.
I could tell from the “past” descriptions in my Student Roster where my students were born.
We simply needed to search in those areas.
Unfortunately, there were a few students we couldn’t reach in time, but we were able to secure most of them safely.
Sometimes we accomplished this with money, other times with… Well, there’s no point in mincing words—with kidnapping.
This was, of course, a crime.
But the elves did not hesitate to carry it out.
The elves have their own motivations, you see.
Their goal is a world with as few skills as possible, in order to best combat the administrators.
And as it happens, reincarnations are born with a great deal of skill points, along with a single extra-strong skill.
If such a reincarnation was to acquire and strengthen a lot of skills, then according to the elves, they might catch the eyes of the administrators and be exploited for their purposes.
I have good reason to believe this story.
One of the causes of death listed in my Student Roster is “divested of skills.”
Even now, it’s still listed as the cause for Shun and Katia, among others.
Initially, most of my students were fated to die for this reason.
I suspect this would indicate death brought about by an administrator.
Now that many of my students are in the elf village in an environment where they can’t improve their skills, the number of skill-related deaths on my list has decreased.
The “future” information changes fairly frequently.
However, no matter what I do, there are students whose predetermined causes of death still have not changed from “divested of skills.”
Worse, all these deaths are meant to happen at the same time.
This year.
And I have no information about the future past that point.
Aside from the students who are meant to die this year, the others’ “future” information is all blank.
Just thinking about what that might mean frightens me.
My own name is not listed on my roster, you see.
That’s only natural. After all, I am a teacher not a student.
I don’t have any information about my own fate.
But it’s easy to draw conclusions.
The students who are still fated to die by being divested of their skills are those with a great deal of skills.
And I have a great deal of skills as well.
Most likely, I am going to die along with them.
I assume I don’t have any information past that point because I’ll be dead by then.
I’m scared. I don’t want to die.
I thought about using Skill Elimination.
But I need to keep the power of my skills at least until I’ve dealt with Hugo.
Besides, if I did use Skill Elimination to erase my skills, I don’t know what the elves would do.
Skill Elimination essentially surrenders your power to the administrators.
If I give their opponent my power, the elves may start to view me as an enemy.
I have no doubt that Potimas would be willing to purge me without even the slightest change in his expression.
Even more importantly, that might endanger my students who are in the elves’ care.
The elves are not protecting them out of goodwill, after all.
That leaves only one option.
I must turn the tables on the enemy who comes to rob us of our skills, most likely an administrator.
I don’t know if I can even do such a thing, but I have no other choice.
But before that, I have to deal with Hugo.
As his teacher, the blame lies with me for letting him end up like this.
I must take responsibility for that.
…And Hugo isn’t the only case for which I need to take responsibility.
I recall Kudo’s cold eyes glaring at me.
Am I doing a good job of protecting my students?
I don’t really know.
Perhaps if I told them everything, they wouldn’t hate me so much, but there is one curse associated with the Student Roster.
Namely, students are forbidden from reading it.
In other words, I cannot tell my students anything I have learned from the Student Roster.
I don’t know what the penalty is for breaking that rule, but I can’t afford to take any unnecessary risks.
No matter how I attempt to explain it to the students, there would be no avoiding mention of the Student Roster.
And so, I have no choice but to keep silent.
As of now, the only problem it’s caused is a bit of resentment for me.
My students’ dissatisfaction hasn’t yet reached an explosive breaking point.
In that case, being hated by one’s students is simply part of a teacher’s job.
I ought to just resign myself to their enmity. This sort of thing is no big deal.
…That’s a lie. It breaks my heart. I’m not strong enough.
I’m frightened. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want any of them to die, either.
Am I doing the right thing?
Have I made a mistake?
Am I doing a good job as their teacher?
Someone, please tell me.
“Ms. Ooookaaaa! Aw yeah, this is perfect! So nice of you to come out to meet me!”
Hugo appears, along with the imperial army.
He’s their general, yet he’s charging ahead at the front.
“I’m happy to see you, too.”
I’m not really happy, of course.
But I have to scold a student who’s chosen the wrong path.
I don’t know if that’s really the right thing to do.
But I have no choice but to do it.
Because I’m their teacher.
A LORD PERPLEXED
What in the world is going on?
These incidents of late wear on my body and mind alike.
What with the huge outbreak of bandits, the successive kidnapping incidents that have followed, and so on, the order within my territory has sharply declined all at once.
The abnormal increase in the number of bandits already smells of some kind of international incident, and as we were investigating, the carriage containing my wife and daughter was attacked.
Fortunately, my wife and child are safe, but it seems my trusted retainer Merazophis was briefly in grave peril.
And yet, when I received this information, when I laid eyes on him, he bore nary a scratch.
And Merazophis himself is the one who relayed this report to me, no less.
He explained that, of all things, a spider monster saved them from the evil clutches of the robbers.
My wife insists that the creature must have been the Divine Beast.
Indeed, in the texts of the Goddess whom our country of Sariella worships, there is a Divine Beast that serves the Goddess herself.
My wife seems to believe that this spider monster is that very same Divine Beast.
At any rate, just as I was breathing a sigh of relief that they were safe, we discovered the bodies of some unidentified but suspicious-looking humans in our home the very next day.
Based on that timing, I can only assume they must have been in league with the robbers who attacked my wife and daughter’s carriage the previous day. I have ordered Merazophis to investigate, but we have yet to learn just what we are dealing with.
But not long after that day, all the robbers in the county suddenly vanished, so perhaps there is no longer any point in investigating.
The culprit behind that was found immediately.
The spider monster who seems to have saved my wife and daughter has been sighted lurking in the woods near our town.
At that point, I simply had to laugh.
To think that a monster able to quickly and quietly dispose of bandits would exist so close to our town.
My wife exclaims that the Divine Beast has saved our town, but I cannot say I share her delight.
Regardless, we must proceed with caution lest we incur the wrath of the spider monster.
Yet despite my intentions, those adventurers who arrived from Ohts have made contact with the monster.
And since they have been spreading word of the spider monster in the town, now the masses are all aware of its existence.
Why has it been one major event after another as of late?
To make matters worse, my wife has been spreading her Divine Beast theory all through town.
My dear wife, is the Divine Beast truly more important to you than your own husband?
Thanks to her, the people of the town are beginning to seriously believe that the spider monster is the Divine Beast.
Even though this is certainly not the case!
We have already discovered the creature’s true identity through our investigation.
It is a dangerous monster commonly known as the “Nightmare,” which escaped from the Great Elroe Labyrinth in Ohts.
A monster that has attacked people in the past.
We have no way of knowing when it might decide to attack us on a whim.
So it is beyond dangerous to worship such a creature as the Divine Beast.
However, now that my wife has taken the initiative to announce such a thing, I cannot simply come out and deny that it is the Divine Beast.
If I take one wrong step, I may even be impeached.
“Ha…ha-ha. Whatever should I do, Merazophis?”
“Master, please stay calm. Remember, I am here.”
Thank goodness. What everyone really needs is a trusted, understanding confidant.
“Master, you are surely correct that the Nightmare is likely not the Divine Beast, but is it not possible that the thing possesses intelligence?”
I can’t help but let out a groan at Merazophis’s suggestion.
“Yes, that thought has crossed my mind. In fact, let me state my conclusion: The Nightmare most likely has very high intelligence indeed.”
“Then is it possible that it would understand speech, as well? We may be able to negotiate, if so.”
“Merazophis. It is not that simple. That thing is still a monster. Even if it does possess the same level of intelligence as a human, we may not be able to communicate. After all, do you believe that you could hold a conversation with a Word of God fanatic?”
Merazophis is silent at that.
It’s difficult enough to reach an understanding between humans, never mind with a monster.
At any rate, we must monitor the Nightmare closely lest it turn its fangs on us next.
This is a powerful monster that was able to easily dispose of thieves whom we had been utterly incapable of dealing with.
It even destroyed a fortress in Ohts.
I doubt there is anything we humans could do to stop it.
In that case, the best I can think to do is pray to the Goddess that it will not ravage our lands.
“Master, are you perhaps worrying a tad too much?”
“What? Merazophis, surely you, too, do not believe that creature is the Divine Beast that will save our land?”
I suppose the monster did heal Merazophis’s injuries when he was on the verge of death.
No doubt he is hesitant to speak poorly of a creature that saved his life.
He has always been an almost excessively diligent man.
Honest if slightly awkward, he repays any favor to the best of his ability.
“I am grateful to it for saving you, too, you know,” I admit.
I am as relieved that it saved Merazophis as I am that it protected my wife and daughter.
“However, that is only my personal opinion. As a statesman, I must respond to emergency situations such as a dangerous monster lurking near town with the worst-case scenario in mind.”
Perhaps the Nightmare really is the Divine Beast.
Perhaps it really will save our land.
But it is equally possible that it will be the ruin of our town.
We have no way of knowing just yet.
As a leader, I must proceed by assuming the worst.
I cannot put my people at risk by acting in accordance with idealistic wishes.
“Merazophis, what do you think of the Nightmare? Please tell me your honest impressions.”
I inquire, moved by a sudden curiosity.
“I…am not sure, myself.”
Merazophis’s response is uncharacteristically hesitant.
Generally, he has a black-and-white personality and prefers to respond to things with a simple yes or no.
It’s highly unusual for him to give such an unclear answer.
“It is difficult to pin down. Perhaps one might say it was wicked yet honorable… No, perhaps not. I cannot put it into words, I am afraid.”
Wicked yet honorable?
That certainly is difficult to understand.
Honorable, though…?
Wickedness would be easy enough to understand, but does that Nightmare have a sense of honor, too?
“Excuse me! Pardon my intrusion, but I have urgent news! The Nightmare has saved a deathly ill patient!”
When my subordinate bursts in with this report, I feel like I can grasp the honor Merazophis mentioned.
What in the world is that spider?!
LET US FIGHT
My Wind Magic flies directly toward Hugo.
However, it vanishes into nothing right before it reaches him.
The girl who is now standing in front of Hugo has dispersed it.
“Miss Negishi.”
“I keep telling you not to call me by that name.”
Negishi’s smile barely masks her irritation as she blocks my way.
She has a skill that can negate magic.
As long as she stands on the front lines, the magic-using elves are bound to be at a disadvantage.
“Sophia. Don’t interfere.”
Yet Hugo is willfully throwing that away.
“Oh? Are you quite sure?”
“Yeah. I have to get revenge on Oka with my own hands.”
Hugo fearlessly takes a step forward.
“I see. I’ll just watch and learn, then, I suppose.”
Negishi steps back along with the boy and girl at her side, then leans against a tree with her arms folded.
It seems she really does intend to sit back and watch.
I don’t know how long she plans to stick to her word, but for my sake, I hope it stays that way.
“Elves are the enemies of God! Their only fate is death!”
Unfortunately, the others don’t seem so willing to step down.
Yuri, the other reincarnated girl at Hugo’s side, assaults me with a merciless magic attack.
“Hey! I told you: Don’t interfere!”
“I cannot simply watch on when the enemy of God stands before me! Why have you sided with the elves, teacher? Elves are heretics who do not listen to the words of God. Those who would defy God will meet with certain death! That’s why we have to slaughter every elf, all of them, so we can send them to hell where they can reflect on their sins. Yes, let them repent in hell! Surely you would not work with such sinners, would you, Ms. Oka? If you do, I’ll have to punish you as a heretic, you know? You must repent. Repent! Teacher or no, all heretics must die! Do you understand? So please tell me you’re not a heretic. It’s not too late. I’m sure God would forgive you. Will you devote yourself to God now?”
Yuri rants as if she’s gone mad.
There’s no way she’s in her right state of mind.
I have to defeat Hugo and free her from his brainwashing right away.
“Please wait a little longer, Miss Yuri. I promise I’ll bring you back to your senses.”
“Ms. Oka, you’re the one who needs to come to your senses, all right? You must not believe the elves’ filthy lies! I know you are an elf, too, but if you admit they deceived you, I’m sure God will forgive you! Just confess, all right?”
Clearly it will do me no good to keep trying to reason with her.
She’ll only keep talking around in circles.
In that case, it’ll be faster to simply defeat Hugo, the source of all this evil.
I narrow my eyes and focus on him, and his lips twist into a smirk.
“Come on, then! Hurry it up, or I’ll just have to come after you first!”
Hugo beckons, trying to provoke me. At the same time, the army behind him begins to move forward.
“Intercept them!” I call an order to the elves and at the same time fire another Wind Magic attack at Hugo.
Unlike the diversion spell that Negishi dispersed a little while ago, this one is at maximum firepower.
The level-four spell of Tempest Magic, Dragon Wind.
Putting it bluntly, this spell creates a tornado.
The storm swallows people up like blades of grass.
Having lost all his skills and stats at one point, Hugo has no way to defend against it.
It’s been some time since that happened, but it would be all but impossible for him to work his way back up to his former strength from square one in that time.
I know that he has a Seven Deadly Sins skill.
However, the skill he has is most likely Lust.
According to the elves’ records, the Lust skill grants a brainwashing ability.
It seems to be terrifyingly strong brainwashing, but still, it is not a directly battle-related skill.
The title may have increased his stats somewhat, but nothing more.
He won’t be able to stand up to my magic.
The tornado swallows the soldiers who step out in front of Hugo, sucking their lives away in an instant.
Then it closes in on Hugo…
“Graaah!”
…and is scattered by his sword.
What?!
How could he destroy that spell?!
“That crap’s not gonna work on me!”
A swing of his sword sends a black fog of darkness gushing toward me.
I parry it with Wind Magic.
At the same time, I realize how Hugo stopped my Dragon Wind.
His equipment.
That sword must be made from dragon materials.
Weapons and armor made from monster materials sometimes retain the special properties of that monster.
If it canceled out magic, it’s safe to assume that his sword contains dragon parts.
And since it can unleash a Dark-attribute attack in addition to its magic-inhibiting abilities, it must be made from parts of a particularly rare kind of dragon: a dark dragon.
No doubt about it: This is a rare and powerful sword.
I look over Hugo’s appearance again, reassessing.
Instead of armor, he’s wearing somewhat Chinese-style clothes.
However, the monster bones wrapped around the shoulders indicate that these clothes, too, have been tailored from monster parts.
In short, he’s using high-performance equipment to make up for the fact that his stats have been weakened.
“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Those half-assed spells are never gonna touch me! Did you really think I was just gonna stay helpless forever after you stole all my power?!”
I deploy multiple Wind Magic spells at once, but his sword blocks every last one of them.
I don’t think relying on your equipment is anything to brag about!
Judging that magic alone won’t be effective, I pull out my bow.
Then I cast Wind Magic on the bow to loose an arrow.
Accelerated by the power of the wind, the arrow flies forward like a bullet.
With this spell, the arrow is powerful enough to bore a hole through something if it lands a direct hit.
Since his stats have been lowered, Hugo shouldn’t be able to react to that speed in time to dodge or defend against it completely.
He may not die from it, since he’s protected by high-quality equipment, but the damage is sure to be severe.
But despite my expectations, Hugo dodges the oncoming arrow.
“What?!”
An exclamation of surprise escapes my lips.
Part 3 of 8