Volume 2 - CH ss - 2

I wonder how much time has passed since I, a dark elf drifted to this country.

I’m being called as an evil race by the mankind, so various things happened before I settled down here, but now I’m thinking that even all those things were good things.

There is a child who is calling even someone like me as master. When I was with the evil race army, I only thought of myself and couldn’t do anything for the youngsters there, but I managed to get some pupils after coming to this country.

Well, I don’t want to call one of them a disciple of mine though. He was a son of the leader of the troublesome guild that became troublesome and he strangely got attached to me after I taught him sorcery.

There is also my health condition, so I took up residence in this forest at Baron Seylace’s territory, but after that, that idiot disciple suddenly showed up. At that time she was a woman who had just come of age, so I think she was slightly older than even the guild leader’s son.

At first I was wary with her. Even though I had only just settled down in the forest, how did she manage to learn of my location? Sooner or later I was planning to inform a respectable merchant who I got acquainted with from the assassin guild’s work, but at that time it was only the guild leader who knew of where I am.

That woman said this with a smug face while I was wary like that.

『You’re a sorcerer from the evil race right? I know all about you. You’re going to help the heroine some dozen of years from now and teach her magic, so teach me too.』

……I can’t describe how did I feel at that time. Did she never consider me killing her from exposing my identity as evil race……. She was too idiotic that I pitied her from just how idiotic she was that I unthinkingly accepted her as disciple.

To be honest, I couldn’t understand anything about the 『otome game』and 『heroine』 things that she talked about but, she was really motivated……though it was all just wasted efforts. She was bad at studying, even though at first she demanded me to teach her light magic, she only learned things that she was good at, thinking that she was going to die if I let her go out there like this, I also taught her short sword skill but, it took me five years to make her learned the skill to some degree.

She complained saying that she wanted to have 『adventurer debut』 while she was still a teenage but, I didn’t give a damn.

After that she left to be an adventurer, and yet she would return when she got difficulty with money, and she continuously took the potions I made without permission. Well, I wouldn’t mind if it was just several potions but, when I pointed that she was still single no matter how much time passed, that idiot disciple said some incomprehensible excuse like 『I’m a mojo after all』. (TN: Mojo=unpopular woman)

She was able to create that kind of thing with just some passing knowledge, so she should be able to achieve great success as a sorcerer if only she put serious effort, or even if she couldn’t she should at least be able to become a fully-fledged researcher though…….

But, that fellow was gone because of that passion of hers. In exchange she sent that child to my place.

.

「Master, I finished drawing water.」

「Next is chopping wood. We’re going to train after the meal, so finish it in one hour, surly disciple.」

Aria. She is a pitiful kid. Not only that idiot disciple twisted her, she even tried taking over her body and sent her destiny into disarray in the end. ……Well, that child has come to term with it so easily, to a degree that is unthinkable for a child though.

The person herself isn’t thinking of the hardship as hardship at all. At first I thought that she was influenced from seeing the memory of that idiot disciple but, that’s not the case.

I think originally she would become a strong and serious child, while her heart still remained pure. But she came to term about the adult memory as “knowledge” and she abandoned the pure child aspect of herself.

That child is strong with her objective of becoming strong. Children normally will have their attention distracted toward new matters because of their ignorance while learning things bit by bit, but that child is taking the initiative to step on a thorny path without giving attention to any other things.

That aspect differed from that idiot disciple who somewhere in her heart underestimated the matter of living despite having the same knowledge.

Really……she was an idiot disciple.

In that regard, Aria is serious to an excessive degree, but she is lacking in a lot of things thanks to her skipping over her cultivation of aesthetic sensibility. When I noticed I also started correcting her deficiency but, that child is someone who can simply do most things after being told, so the adults around her often forgot to treat her like a kid.

A normal child can’t possibly do something like filling a water jug fully with daily life magic. Even wood chopping will exhaust a normal child completely midway. I too at first told her to do various things with the assumption that she wouldn’t be able to do it, and yet she completed all of them without letting out a single complaint.

Well, that’s alright. It’s a good thing after all. But this child conversely can’t do normal things.

In regard to food, she understands completely what her body required in order to grow, and she eats properly in accordance to that. It’s a good thing. But she doesn’t have any fixation with food ingredients.

I’m making homemade alcohol from medicinal herb in my house but, I almost screamed when she showed to me the alcohol jug was crammed full a lot of carnivorous bees, claiming that it’s good for my body…….

But well, there are problems but she has gotten better recently. At the beginning, even though she was the one who came here asking to be a disciple, her wariness toward me was like a wounded stray cat.

I made her used the idiot disciple’s room as it was but, I never that she would always sleep at the corner of room wrapped in blanket even though there is a normal bed there. Furthermore, I could sense her waking up just from me passing in front of the room. Just how bad the environment she was living in until now?

……Now then. Let’s eat the creative cuisine of the surly disciple again today.

.

「Then, we’re going to train inside the forest today. Follow me surly disciple.」

「……Roger.」

Aria’s reply came slightly slower when I talked about going into the forest. I never told her about it but, that child has noticed that my body is unfit.

As one’s magic power grow bigger and they become able to use elemental sorcery, 『magic stone』 based on the element will form in the heart.

Animal that has magic stone in their body is generally called monster. The bigger their magic stone, the bigger the monster’s body will become. Monster also instinctually know that they will become stronger by strengthening their magic stone, so they ended up seeking human with magic power to become their prey.

Even if monster doesn’t has element, they can obtain great magic power by fattening their magic stone and body simultaneously. But such monsterification never happened to human. So human can’t obtain more magic power pass a certain degree if their magic stone has no element. Human’s magic power is increased by obtaining elemental magic stone. That’s why human is thinking that obtaining a lot of elements is a proof of excellence, but the magic stone will swell up each time the magic stone increase its elements which caused a pressure to the heart.

It’s fine if a human has one or two elements. Even three won’t pose a problem if the owner isn’t a warrior type. But, having more than four elements will cause the owner to be unable to do any strenuous activity. And if a magic stone with four elements is formed during childhood, some might die just from that.

If someone do a stupid thing like getting all elements, they will surely have a short life where they are constantly in pain. Even I who has four elements ended up in this state where I can’t fight for long thanks to continuously fighting for dozens of years in the battlefield.

「What’s with that face? I’m alright so look sharp-」

「Yes.」

I won’t have any problem if it’s just hunting low ranked monster inside a forest.

When Aria came here, she already had the strength to defeat a rank 2 monster by herself. She compensated for her small body and low status with intelligence and sorcery. She also fought in a way that wasn’t like a child using her childlike body.

She is strong for a kid but, as expected there is a limit to it.

It seemed Aria managed to get some proper meal in the place of that princess who she considered as 『the same kind』, even so she is thin compared to children her age. Her increased magic particles acted as nutrient in the place of the nutrition she lacked until now to make her grow rapidly, even so she was still as light as the slum children.

Perhaps because I told her to always use meat when cooking, her thinness has improved considerably since coming here. Right now I’m only making her to do nothing but the basic, but her body should grow even more when her skill in sorcery and close quarter combat leveled up.

The reason why human can grow rapidly when their magic power increase during childhood is still not understood but, perhaps it’s the same reason why monster is enlarged when their magic stone swelled up.

Animal that turned to monster will have long lifespan, so human with high magic power being able to retain their youthful look might be because the body of human who obtained magic power turned to something close to an elf like me.

Aria is saying that her body is getting heavier from getting some meat in her body and her center of gravity changing. I think that’s most likely because her secondary sex characteristic is starting to grow from her body obtaining sufficient nutrient other than just magic particles.

For these several months, her shoulders and waist has gotten much more rounder. I’m a dark elf so I don’t understand in detail how much the body of human race should grow but, isn’t that child growing too quickly?

It’s said that normally a human child can grow from magic power to have an appearance of three years older at most. But, just like how there can be difference in growth between different children but, she looked like a boy when she first came here, but I think that she might look completely like a girl when she have her next growth spurt.

「…………」

I’m a bit uneasy now…….

I only ever had raised my young little sister. And even that little sister was entrusted to my clan until now, so I don’t know the right way to raise a girl who is growing mature.

In this first place, this child has skipped over learning a lot of things that a mother would usually teach her daughter, so she has no girl common sense. It seems she has the “knowledge” that came from the experience of that idiot disciple, but I don’t think she can comprehend it fully, and I also can’t imagine that idiot disciple had gone through a decent period as a girl.

What should I do so that this girl can have the “feeling of shame” of the average people?

Perhaps after she has her next growth spurt, the people around her will look at her as a young woman even though she is eight year old in the inside. Even though her way of thinking is far from a normal year old and instead like a bloodthirsty veteran mercenary, her heart to feel shame is no different than a toddler!

Furthermore, this child, she is really pretty in the standard of human right? If that kind of girl carelessly exposed her arms and legs, the brats who are still in the cusp of manhood will easily go off track of their life path won’t they? Physically-.

I can’t just dismiss this concern just because she is still a kid. This child has something that draws everyone’s eye to her.

But well, perhaps it’s a good thing in a sense. After all if she grew up innocently like she originally was, she might cause the young nobles to get crazy in the head with her appearance…….

I already became like a doting parent toward her even though I have only met her for several months. It made me laugh.

.

「──Master.」

Oops, I got distracted there. Aria’s whispering voice dragged me back into reality.

Aria who is in front of me used hand signals that meant “front”, “enemy”, and “caution” to call my attention.

These hand signals are used by adventurer scouts. Due to its convenience, not only the adventurer guild, even mercenary guild, thief guild, and assassin guild are also using it.

The adventurer who taught Aria about it only taught her the simple signs, but I have been teaching her the signs for more practical battle.

Well, that means I’m the superior teacher here compared to that adventurer.

「Surly disciple, go.」

「Roger.」

Aria reacted to my voice and soundlessly leaped forward.

The opponents are two demon wolves. Perhaps they are parent and child or mates……anyway there isn’t any presence of their children that I can sense within my detection range. Most likely they are individuals that strayed from their pack to make child.

Demon wolf is a wolf that turned into monster from magic particle, so they are two sizes bigger than normal wolf. They got bigger in proportion to their strength and brutality, but their mode of life itself isn’t any different from when they were animal. They are rank 2 monster.

『Growl』

One of the demon wolf let out a growl. It might heard the faint sound of grass being stepped on. Aria threw her hidden weapon in that instant. The demon wolf growled and dodged, but the hidden weapon changed its trajectory and slashed the demon wolf’s leg.

『GAAAAA!』

The other demon wolf noticed that they are under attack and immediately assaulted Aria.

「──Feel──」

『Gyain!』

The demon wolf’s physical ability is superior than Aria. But, the demon wolf that leaped as fast as an arrow felt the sensation of its eyes being touched by Aria’s magic and it faltered for a moment. Aria put her hand on it as though to pinch its nose as she rolled on its back to dodge while putting string around its neck.

From there Aria strangled its neck while riding on its back and her hand stabbed the demon wolf’s neck with her black knife──

「──Pain──」

『Gyann!』

The first demon wolf that was about to leap from the side got hit by Pain. Aria leaped at the frozen demon wolf and swung her knife in a large arc.

「──Thrust──-」

The Battle Technique of short sword that Aria unleashed lopped off the demon wolf’s head.

Not even a minute has passed since she initiated the fight. It was a rational ambush and annihilation. Aria has fought powerful enemy despite still a kid. The bloodshed that she had survived is different.

「……How is it?」

「Well, good job. If there is anything to correct, at best it’s only about the way you use Feel. I’ll teach you other spot that you can aim with that magic. Dog species’s nose is more sensitive than their eyes. You should study about each monster’s trait.」

「Got it.」

Aria nodded with a composure that is unbelievable coming from a kid who has just fought two monsters. I drew back the magic power that I was pooling in my hand back to my body. Guess there wasn’t even any need for that.

The hidden weapon and string that Aria used are something that I had in my house and told her to use after hearing about her ability. The string was made from a spider monster, but its conduciveness for magic power isn’t really good. It will be better if I procure a specially made string for her. It will also serve as training if I made Aria hunt for the material.

Really, her performance was truly too excellent for a kid. Aria has no strength. Her reach is also short. Even just a single blow might kill her. Even her only strong point, her speed is only at the level that just barely matched an adult.

Even so she compensated for those with intellect and sorcery, and her guts that enabled her to suppress her emotion to defeat a superior enemy.

If it’s Aria then she will be able to do it. Not just sorcery, I’m also hammering bit by bit into her the technique of “War Demon” that I had tempered in the battlefield for more than a hundred years. Right now she is still unable to make the technique her own but, when Aria’s competency reached rank 3, she should become able to fight even me if it’s just in close quarter combat.

I was unable to master martial art thanks to the magic stone in my heart. But, if Aria can keep growing at this rate, she should be able to realize the ideal in my mind. The genuine “War Demon” who possessed both high level sorcery and martial art.

And then, she might even be able to finally combine “light” and “darkness” that I was incapable to achieve.

「……Surly disciple.」

「What?」

「I won’t let you bring back the wolf’s meat even if you stare that hard at them.」

「……Got it.」

.

Even Aria who was like a stray cat and didn’t feel like a kid at all has gotten really used with the life here.

This feeling of achievement is the same like when you have finally managed to tame a wild animal by feeding it. Even though at first she never gotten into a deep sleep, recently it seemed she has finally managed to feel assurance. She became able to sleep soundly when I’m there.

I approached the sleeping Aria and sat down beside the bed. She is a kid who isn’t like a kid, even so as expected she is a kid in the end.

Actually she is still in an age where she should be pampered by parents, but Aria was living by pushing down that loneliness to the bottom of her heart and put a lid on it using “knowledge”. I heard that the princess who is the same kind with Aria is also like that. The noble society really is a harsh world for children.

I gently caressed the sleeping Aria’s hair. Then Aria clung on my hand that is caressing her hair although she is still not awake.

「…………」

I can’t hope to have children. But……perhaps this is what a mother who has daughter feel…….

I’m feeling apologetic to Aria’s actual mother for feeling like this but……can she forgive me at least just for now?

「Rest well……I won’t let anyone hurt you while you are here.」