Volume 2 - CH 2

Heroine Survival Vol 2 Chapter 2

「Looks like the spider doesn’t manage to have a bite of you, surly disciple. Did you deal with it properly?」

「I did it just as instructed.」

I showed master the spider’s head and sticky string that were stuffed into the bags. Master frowned a bit seeing that.

「You crushed one of its eyes. Couldn’t you defeat it more cleanly?」

「I’ll do better next time.」

Master grinned when I answered like that obediently. She then patted my head roughly.

「Well, it’s a good job no matter what if a rank 2 can hunt a rank 3  monster. We’re going to process the torso first, so wash your dirty feet  first before bringing it to the processing spot at the backyard, surly  disciple.」

「Roger, master.」

Master went to the back of the house with the two bags. I returned to  the entrance and washed my dirty feet before lifting up the spider’s  torso. The season had changed and four months had passed since I tumbled  into master’s place. Now I’m eight years old and have grown a bit  taller.

Who is this person who I called master? Why am I living deep inside  the forest like this? I need to go back to four months ago after that  fight in order to explain it.

I jumped into the strong current of the river’s rising water in order  to shake off Grave’s pursuit. I used Hard just moment before I entered  the water, changing the dirty maid uniform to be an improvised life  buoy. But I still couldn’t rest easy. I curled my body and dived deeply  without resisting the strong current’s flow. I continued suppressing my  presence desperately until I gained some distance.

My chance to survive was low. I managed to to turn my uniform into  life buoy, but I lost direction of which was up or down inside this  darkness of the night. The strong current toyed with my small body and  mercilessly robbed me of my stamina.

And then most likely there were monsters inside the water. There were  few high ranked monster that would approach the bank and attacked  people, but the inside of the water must be teeming with low ranked  monster. I didn’t know whether monster could do activity inside this  violent current, but I would be helpless if I got attacked in my current  state.

I sharpened my mind and focused in using Stealth. I used my Search  and Night Vision in full force to at least learn my direction. The Night  Vision that used the reflection of magic particle was hard to use  inside this violent current. The Night Vision that was looking using  color was also incomprehensible because I was inside water where  everything was blue colored. That was why I used both Search and Night  Vision to at least gaze inside the dark water the whole time. Then while  I was in the verge of choking and put between the interstice of life  and death, my vision suddenly opened and I managed to grasp my  direction.

My face broke out the water surface for just a moment and I sucked in  air. If I became able to differentiate magic particle’s “color” even  inside water, then I should be able to “see” the living thing swimming  in the water. I expanded my Search’s range and accuracy while keeping  that in mind, felt a presence that felt like a snake approaching me from  the fish swarm swimming at the bottom of the river, and immediately cut  it down with Battle Technique, Thrust.

I could fight even inside water. I could also take a breath if I  understood my direction. In that case the only problem left was my  stamina to keep enduring until the river’s flow slowed down.

Fortunately the effect of the mana recovery potion was still  remaining inside my body. I squeezed out light mana from the magic stone  in my heart and suppressed my stamina’s exhaustion and the decrease of  my body temperature as much as possible.

I wouldn’t give up. I still couldn’t die. There was a chance that  Grave might harm Elena in the future. So I had to obtain the strength to  surpass and defeat him without fail.

Even while I rejuvenated my body with light magic particles, I used  mana control to cover my body’s surface with water magic particles and  attempted to camouflage myself as much as possible. How much time had  passed since I was carried by the water flow……. When my mind turned hazy  and my concentration was almost cut off, the river’s flow finally  turned gentler together with the sunrise. I cut another snake that  attacked me and carried its corpse with me as I managed to get back on  land after several hours staying in water.

My body was freezing. My stamina and mana were also mostly exhausted.  I would easily lose if monster or animal attacked me in this state. I  dragged my powerless body and hid myself inside a thicket. I used  Stealth while single-mindedly waiting for my stamina and mana to  recover.

During that time, if I didn’t circulate the little mana in my  possession to strengthen my internal organs, I would surely die from  cold. A few hours later, I used Heal on myself using my slightly  recovered mana, made fire, grilled the water snake’s corpse, devoured  the meat, and then focused myself completely on recovering my body.

.

A whole day passed before I finally could move my battered body properly.

My mana had recovered earlier than my stamina and I healed all the  wounds on my body with Cure. ……I thought it was Sera who told me to  never leave any wound remaining on my body.

I wondered if my life was targeted by the order of that organization  or if it was just Grave’s arbitrary decision. Either way, it didn’t  matter as long as Grave was in that organization. I chose the path of  separation from them.

I’d become strong and kill Grave. If anyone got in the way of that, I  resolved myself to turn my blade toward them, even if it was Sera or  Viro.

But, what should I do from now on……. As long as that organization  that was connected to the nobility existed, it felt like it would be  dangerous to enter a large city. At best I could only stop by at a  village or small city……even so I should avoid other place than the  countryside. The same with the adventurer guild, I couldn’t use them  until the heat on me died down, so it was necessary for me to grope for a  new way of living.

Right now I was near the border, so perhaps going north from here and  crossed the border was a feasible choice. However, I still had a single  prospect left.

First I checked my condition before taking action. Perhaps because of  my battle against Grave and my struggle against death inside the water,  my Throwing, Stealth, Night Vision, and Search skills had leveled up to  level 2.

Throwing must had leveled up because of the fight versus the water  spirit and because recently I had kept using only Throwing. Putting  aside Stealth and Search, human should only be able to obtain Night  Vision until level 1. It became level 2 light be the result of me  combining the original method of night vision with my unique color  sight.

I almost got killed, but I should just consider it as good thing that it became a “nourishment” for me to grow.

First, in order to hide myself and prepare, I used my leveled up  Stealth and Search while running through the forest along the river. I  headed toward the simple base that I previously created in the forest.

When I arrived at the simple base in the forest, I discarded my maid  uniform that was in tatters and washed off the remaining mud on my body.  After that I changed into the tunic and trouser that I was using during  my travel to here, and for the last I wrapped a shawl around my neck to  hide my face.

I had lost all of my weapons except the black knife, the other thin  knife that I received from Sera and the steel knife from Feld were in  the simple base. I stored them on my waist band and my boots.

I didn’t have throwing knife, but if it was now that my Throwing  skill had become level 2, I should be able to manage somehow. With that  thinking, I threw the steel knife as a test. It stabbed into the tree  trunk without problem.

The money that I was hiding, the salt and portable food, the dried  medicinal grasses were put into the bag where I stuffed my clothes and I  shouldered the bag.

My destination was two days of walking through this forest from here.  At the end I used Hard and boiled water in a clay jar. I put salt into  it and drank up the hot water to replenish the water and salt in my  body. Then I started running soundlessly inside the forest that was  starting to turn dark.

Stealth, Night Vision, Search, then livelihood magic. With them I  wouldn’t find too much difficulty even inside a forest. I also  encountered goblin and wolf midway, but there was no high ranked monster  that could discover me when I was hiding.

.

Two days later……at that location that I headed toward based on that  woman’s memory inside the “knowledge”, I discovered a single 『house』  that was made from wood and stone and mud.

The garden had become slightly bigger compared to that woman’s  memory. The weeds were somewhat increasing but there was no mistake that  this was the right place. I tried knocking the door lightly, but there  was no reply from inside. I dismantled the trap on the door using the  information remaining in the “knowledge” and stepped inside──

*Tan-!* There was such sound as a strange shaped knife pierced the door.

「……Who’s there? Entering someone else’s house without permission like this, you really don’t know any manner aren’t you brat.」

From the table located at the back of the house, a woman wearing a  robe that looked like the picture book description of a magician toyed  with a strange shaped knife while sending Pressure at me.

……Strong. I can’t accurately analyze her because her figure is hidden  by the hood, but even just from the feeling of paralyzing pressure, she  should be stronger than level 3.

「I come to return this.」

With a minimum movement so as to not provoke her, I showed the hand  written her book in my hand by waving it around. Seeing the book, the  Pressure that was placed on me vanished. In exchange that woman’s magic  teacher emitted a faint anger while scoffing.

「Hah, are you that stupid disciple’s acquaintance? How is that stupid  disciple who stole money and potion from my place doing? Has she died  already?」

「I killed her.」

I answered her calmly with a dispassionate tone. The anger vanished for an instant from the woman and silence filled the room.

「……I see. It must be a very idiotic way to die. I’ll give that book  to you. It should fetch you some money if you sell it. Go home already.」

「…………」

It seemed that she held a bit of feeling as a teacher toward a  disciple even for that kind of woman. Originally I only planned to  return this book but, right now I have a more important business with  this woman.

「I want to learn sorcery from you.」

「……I told you to go home right? Nothing good even will happen if you  get involved with this kind of old hag living this far from human  settlement and can only raise a stupid disciple.」

Her voice still sounded like the voice of a young woman. And yet she  called herself an old hag. That woman knew really well the reason for  that.

「Is that because you are a demon?」

Silence fell once more in that instant. The next moment, a killing intent that froze my body is thrown at me.

「……Who told you that? Did that stupid disciple blab at you? I don’t  remember raising her to be that stupid though……what do you think I  should do to someone like you who know about that?」

If I didn’t have any experience of feeling the killing intent of high  ranked person from Feld, Viro, and Grave, I would surely faint or lose  my fighting spirit.

But, I’m not scared although I’m trembling. I’m feeling threatened but there is no fear.

「I want to learn sorcery from you.」

「…………You, who are you?」

When I stared straight at that woman’s teacher and said the same  words again with the same dispassionate tone like before, the killing  intent slackened and her atmosphere changed into a faint astonishment.

「It will be a long story. Various things happened after your disciple attacked me.」

When I hinted that I wasn’t the aggressor but the victim, that  woman’s teacher let out a deep sigh and stood up from her chair. She  seemed to accept my words.

「Come over here and tell me everything. I’ll at least brew you some tea.」

That woman’s teacher said that while taking off her hood. She looked  like she is still in her thirty. Now I can see her lustrous skin that is  black like obsidian, her silver hair, and long ears that stretched out  from her hair.

Dark elf……. It is said that their skin color came from selling their  soul to the evil god of darkness. The dark elves who are living at the  west coast of this continent are called as the evil race in this  continent.

「Call me Serjura. What’s your name?」

「You can call me Aria.」

The large scale war was already over, but even now the evil race is  still in a continuous state of dispute with the southwest countries that  are centered around human race. Why is this woman who is a dark elf  living in Claydale that is located at the southeast edge of the  continent? Even that woman’s “knowledge” contained no information about  that. But, such thing doesn’t matter for me. I only wanted even more  knowledge and the strength to overturn fate, nothing else.

.

I talked about how that woman attacked me in order to take over my  body. Then how her knowledge accidentally flowed into me from the magic  stone that had been grafted with that woman’s mind.

To be honest, the thing about this otome game whatever isn’t  something that I myself really understand so I can’t explain about it,  but when I revealed how I feel, that I want to avoid following the odd  fate of becoming a noble, Serjura seemed like that she also has some  ideas from the past about that woman’s action. She nodded deeply and  fell into thought before she leaned back on her chair while pointing her  thumb at the passage behind her.

「For now, you can use the room back there. It was that stupid  disciple’s room and right now it’s half turned into a storage but, you  understand if it’s you right?」

「……Hm?」

I tilted my head a bit to show that I don’t understand. Serjura grinned in respond.

「I’m saying that I’ll train you. I’ll make you strong just as you want so prepare yourself, surly disciple.」