Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival [WN] - Chapter 42
The Sorcerer in The Forest
“You don’t seem to be bitten anywhere, for now, my unsociable disciple, Aria. Have you taken care of the problem thoroughly?”
“I did as you taught me.”
When I showed her the spider’s head and the threads I packed in a bag, she scowled a little.
“One of the eyes is crushed, isn’t it? Couldn’t you have done it more neatly?”
“I’ll do better next time.”
When I answered honestly, she smiled and patted my head as if ruffling my hair.
“Well, you hunted a Rank 3 monster even though you’re only Rank 2, you did well. I’ll deal with the torso first, so wash your muddy feet and bring them to the disposal area in the backyard. Unsociable disciple.”
“Yes, Master.”
Master Celeshura took the two bags and went into the back of the house. I went back to the front door, washed my feet in Flowing Water, and took the body of the spider to the backyard.
It had been four months since I had stumbled into “Master’s” place, and at eight years old, I had grown a little taller again.
Who was this master? Why did she live so deep in the woods? To tell the story, I would have to go back to after that battle four months ago.
***
I jumped into the current of the swollen river to escape Grave’s pursuit, and just before I landed in the water, I applied [Harden], turning my muddy maid’s uniform into a simple flotation device.
But I couldn’t put my face above the water yet. I curled my body up against the torrent and dove deep, desperately trying to kill any sign of life until I could get some distance.
The chances of survival were slim. I used my clothes as a support so that I didn’t need to peek out of the water, but the dark night made me lose sight of any direction, and the torrent tossed me around, relentlessly draining my strength.
And perhaps there were monsters in the water. There were only a few high-ranked monsters that came close to the shore and attacked people, but there were probably many low-ranked monsters inside the waters.
I didn’t know if they could move even in this fierce current, but if I were to be attacked, I would have no way of responding.
I concentrated to sharpen my mind and used concealment, along with night vision and detection, to get my bearings.
Night vision using the reflection of magical elements was difficult to use in a torrent. Night vision using the colors of magic underwater was difficult to understand because of all the colors of the water element. So, using the two skills, I continued to stare into the dark water, and just before I was about to suffocate, my vision suddenly opened up, and I was able to see where I was facing.
I emerged from the water for a moment and took a gasp of breath. If I could recognize the [color] of the magical element even underwater, I should be able to see the creatures swimming around me.
When I became aware of this, my detection range and accuracy expanded, and I sensed a snake-like presence approaching me from a school of fish swimming at the bottom of the river, and I quickly slashed it away with Combat Art’s [Thrust].
I was able to fight in the water. After I knew which direction I was facing, I would hold my breath. Then the only thing left was to endure until the river slowed down.
Luckily, my body still had the effects of the magic recovery potion. I squeezed out light magic from the magic stone in my heart, and suppressed the exhaustion of my physical strength to maintain my body temperature as much as possible.
I would not give up. As long as there was a possibility that Grave would harm Elena in the future, I would gain a strength that surpassed his, and I would definitely defeat him.
While activating the light element inside my body, I covered the surface of my body with a water element using magic control and tried to conceal myself as much as possible.
After being swept away by the water for several minutes…hours… when my consciousness was starting to fade, and I was about to lose concentration, the river started to ease up with the morning sun, and I was able to climb out of the water for the first time in several hours with the carcass of another snake that attacked me, which I had slain.
My body was cold, and I had little magic or strength left.
I hid myself in the bushes, dragging my weak body with me, and waited for my strength to recover while using concealment.
If I had not been able to strengthen my internal organs with even a small amount of magical power during that time, I would have frozen to death. A few hours later, with the little magic power I had left, I used [Heal] to make a fire and roast a water snake carcass whole, devouring it to regain my strength.
It actually took a whole day before my body was able to move properly.
With my magical power returning before my physical strength, I healed all the wounds on my body with [Cure]… Sera asked me not to leave any wounds on my body.
Was it that organization’s order or Grave’s arbitrary decision that made him take my life?
Either way, if Grave was in that organization, it’s the same thing. I chose to break away from them.
I would become strong and kill Grave. I was ready to turn my blade against Sera and Viro if they interfered with this.
What should I do from now on…?
It was dangerous to stop by a large town under the watchful eye of that organization with ties to the nobility.
I could only stop in a village or a small town. Even so, I should avoid anywhere but the countryside. The Adventurer’s Guild was no longer available as well until things cooled down, so I had to find a new way to survive.
I was near the border now, and it might be possible to continue north and cross into another country, but I had one plan in mind.
Perhaps it was because I struggled to survive in the water that my skills in [Throwing], [Concealment], [Night Vision], and [Detection] had all been raised to Level 2.
I guessed it was because I had been using projectiles only recently, including in the battle with the water spirit, while my night vision skill, which should not have been improved to more than Level 1 for humans, was raised to Level 2.
I was almost killed, but it wasn’t all bad, at least.
To prepare myself for hiding, I first ran through the forest along the river, using my Level 2 Concealment and detection, and then went to the base I built in the forest.
When I arrived at the base, I took off my ragged maid’s uniform and wiped off the remaining mud. I then changed into the jacket and trousers I had used on my journey up to this point, and finally wrapped a shawl around my neck to cover my face.
Other than the black knife, I had lost all of my weapons, but in this simple base in Dandol territory, I had hidden the slim knife given to me by Sera and the steel knife gifted by Feld, which I had used to equip on my waistband and boots.
I didn’t have a throwing knife, but now that my throwing skill had reached Level 2, I thought I should be able to get by with an ordinary knife, so I threw the steel knife as a test, and it pierced the tree trunk about five centimeters with no problem.
The money I had hidden, salt, portable food, and dried medicinal herbs were placed in the bag in which I had packed my clothes, and I carried them on my shoulder.
From there, two days’ walk through the forest would lead me to my destination.
Finally, having boiled water in a clay vessel with [Harden], added salt and drank it down, and replenished my water and salt, I set off soundlessly through the forest as it began to get dark.
With [Concealment], [Night Vision], [Detect], and [Life Magic], I had little trouble in the forest. There were goblins and wolves along the way, but no high rank monster could find me in hiding.
Two days later, I found a certain house made of wood, stone, and mud walls in the place I had pinpointed from the knowledge of that woman.
The garden was a little larger than I could recall, and even though there were more weeds grown around the area, there was no mistaking this place
I knocked lightly on the door, but there was no answer. I unlocked the door lock that was left in my knowledge and went inside…
Tap! A strange knife pierced the door frame.
“…Who are you? You are an ill-disciplined child entering someone’s house without permission.”
From a table in the back of the room, a woman in a robe like a wizard from a picture book sent me an [Intimidate] while playing with a strangely shaped knife.
…Strong. I couldn’t appraise her accurately because I couldn’t see her figure behind the hood, but I guessed that this numbing sensation of Intimidate alone was around Level 3.
“I’ve come to return this.”
With the least provocative motion, I waved the [handwritten wildflower book] in my hand, and the Intimidate directed at me disappeared, and in its place, with a slight puff of killing intent, that woman’s master of magic snickered and exhaled.
“Ha, you know that idiot disciple? What happened to that idiot disciple who stole money and items from me and left? Is it time for her to die?”
“I killed her.”
I answered quietly and calmly, and for a moment, even the killing intent disappeared, and the place was filled with silence alone.
“…I see. It must have been an idiotic way to die. I’ll give you the book. You can get some money out of it if you sell it. Get the hell out of here.”
Even though that woman was like that, her master still seemed to hold some affection for her, it might be because of their mentor and a student relationship. Originally, I was just going to return the book, but now I had more business with this hooded woman.
“I want to learn magic from you.”
“I told you to go home, didn’t I? Learning from an old woman who lives in the middle of nowhere and can only raise stupid apprentices is not a good thing.”
The voice belonged to a young woman. And yet, I knew her to be an old woman.
“Is it because you are an evil race?”
At that moment, silence descended again, and the next moment, a deadly force blew through me that stiffened my body.
“…Who told you that? Did that idiot disciple blabber that to you? I don’t remember raising her to be that stupid… what do you think I should do with you now that you know?”
If I didn’t have the experience of being hit by the deadly intimidation from Feld, Viro, and Grave, I would have fainted or lost the will to fight.
I was trembling, but not because I was frightened. I felt threatened, but was not afraid.
“I want to learn magic from you.”
“…Who are you?”
I looked straight at that woman’s master and uttered the same words in a matter-of-fact manner, and the killing spirit relaxed, replaced by a slight hint of dismay.
“It’s a long story. A lot has happened since your apprentice attacked me.”
I tried to show that I was the victim, not the perpetrator, and perhaps that satisfied her as she let out a deep sigh and got up from her seat.
“Come here and tell me everything. I’ll at least make you some tea.”
With those words, the female master removed her hood to reveal her glossy, obsidian-black skin, and her face that still looked about 30 years old, with her long ears that extended out of her silver hair.
Dark Elf… Their skin color was said to be because they sold their souls to the evil gods of darkness, and they lived on the west coast of this continent, where they were known as the Evil Race.
“Call me Celeshura. What is your name?”
“Aria.”
The Evil Race was still in an ongoing war with the southwestern nations, so how she, a Dark Elf, ended up in Cleydale, on the southeastern edge of the continent, was not in that woman’s “knowledge”.
But that was not relevant to me. I only wanted more knowledge and the strength to beat fate.
I recounted how the woman attacked me and almost took away my body. I explained that I only obtained the knowledge accidentally from a magic stone that was a duplicate of her own mind.
To be honest, I didn’t really know what the [Otome Game] was, so I couldn’t explain it, but I told her I wanted to avoid a strange fate by being a nobleman, and Celeshura nodded deeply in thought, as if she had some idea of the woman’s behavior, then leaned back in her chair and pointed with her thumb down the aisle behind her.
“For now, use the back room. It’s that idiot apprentice’s room, and right now, it’s half storage, but you know what I mean, don’t you?”
“…Nn?”
Celeshura smirked at me as I tilted my head slightly, not understanding what she meant.
“I’m saying I’m going to train you. I will make you as strong as you want to be, so be prepared, you unsociable disciple.”
Can’t wait to read more? Want to show your support? Click here to be a sponsor and get additional chapters ahead of time!
Also check out my other novels: Reincarnated into a Game as the Hero’s Friend, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, and A Girl Who Was Told “You Have No Talent” Turned Out To Be A Talented Monster