[Kushitani
Stupid and headstrong, Kunihiko seems to think the setback he once tasted is something to be overcome.
If you're being generous, you'd call it hot-blooded.
If you're not, you'd call it stupid.
But I've been saved by that kind of stupidity time and again.
I experienced what's called reincarnation.
I still don't really understand how it happened. According to Kunihiko, in light novels and such, isekai reincarnation was a pretty common trope — but when you actually go through it in real life, you want to believe it's some kind of nightmare.
But before I knew it, I'd been dumped into an unfamiliar world as a baby.
The confusion of that moment is beyond words.
And to make matters worse, Kunihiko — who happened to be right nearby — witnessed me bawling my eyes out. That's the kind of dark history that makes me want to die.
Still, having Kunihiko there in the same situation was an anchor for my heart.
The village Kunihiko and I were born in was a bandit group that only called itself mercenaries.
Like Mongolian nomads, they lived in tents and roamed the border with the Demon race, hunting for prey.
Then they'd ambush any demons they found, strip them of their belongings, and report the kills to the country for a reward.
A perfectly legal bandit gang.
I wanted out of that village as fast as possible.
I just wanted to live a normal life.
Kunihiko wanted to go on adventures, but for me, normal was best. I wanted to settle down somewhere safe in some peaceful country.
That all changed when the demons attacked.
Even then, Kunihiko saved me.
In terms of outcomes, I suppose I was simply spared by a demon named Melazophis — but I'll never forget how Kunihiko threw himself between me and that monster, charging at it without hesitation.
I think that's when I made up my mind.
I'd stay with this guy.
So even after we became homeless children wandering from place to place, even after we built lives as adventurers, even after we ended up in life-threatening battles against monsters — I stayed with Kunihiko.
And that's how we ended up on this battlefield.
"Spared again, huh."
"Yeah."
I was doing everything I could just to keep from collapsing.
That's how terrifying the fight moments ago had been — one gut-wrenching moment after another.
Melazophis, commander of the Demon race's forces.
The demon who destroyed our village.
He was far stronger than either of us had anticipated.
Kunihiko and I are both quite strong for humans.
Kunihiko says it's because he's a reincarnator — that he had some kind of cheat-tier growth modifier — and honestly, that might actually be true.
We really are that strong.
But Melazophis was on another level entirely.
Not even the two of us together could do anything against him.
No — to be precise, it was three of us.
I glanced toward the distant fortress.
When I activated my clairvoyance, I could make out a woman standing there in a state of exhaustion every bit as complete as my own.
I don't even know her name, but she'd been providing covering fire from that fortress the entire time.
I think her magic is incredible.
From that distance, she'd been landing pinpoint shots on Melazophis while he darted around at high speed.
There's no way I could do that.
In the end, Melazophis decided to retreat because her grand-scale magic dealt a devastating blow to the demon forces.
The shockwave from that spell knocked Kunihiko on his rear, which gave me a fright — but I think her strategy worked. Rather than trying to kill Melazophis outright, she shifted the battle's momentum in the humans' favor and forced him to pull back.
And in the split second Melazophis's attention wavered, she put an arrow through his heart.
To unleash a spell massive enough to change the course of a battle, and then immediately follow it up with a sniper shot powerful enough to pierce through Melazophis's magical defenses — There are still people in this world far more amazing than I realized, simply because I hadn't encountered them yet.
And Melazophis himself — taking an arrow through the heart and retreating without so much as a change in expression.
I don't think he's dead from that.
To stay calm with your heart pierced through — you have to wonder if he's even a proper living creature.
He was an absolute monster through and through.
If that woman whose name I don't even know hadn't been there to help, I don't know if Kunihiko and I would have survived.
When I thought about that, the fear crept up on me belatedly.
I let it out with a long sigh and left the battlefield behind.
[
What the heck even was that monster?
Nobody told me there was something like that among the demons.
And seriously, those two young ones who held it down — I'm crazy grateful to them.
If those two hadn't kept that thing in check, who knows what would've happened.
"Aurel, Vice-Captain. It's a problem when you ignore my orders and act on your own, you know."
Oh great, the nagging one's here.
"Sorry about that."
"What's with that tone? I've told you before, haven't I? Our illustrious vice-captain shouldn't be using such uncouth, countryside manners of speaking."
I let the captain's dressing-down go in one ear and out the other.
Ugh, I hate this.
Why do I have to be stuck on this battlefield getting lectured by a terrible boss?
And this person doesn't even realize how dangerous that monster was.
If I and those two adventurers hadn't held it down, we would've lost — and they can't even see that.
And yet they're standing there nagging me to prepare the grand magic already.
I fired off the big spell in the end, just like they wanted, so that should be enough, right?
I'm exhausted from that magic plus all the long-range sniping I was doing.
I've been working way harder than you, who've only been throwing orders around.
Ugh, I want to go back to my master.
At least my master would understand better than this — even if he does make crazier demands.
But really, why do I have to be standing on a battlefield in the first place?
I'm just the second daughter of some impoverished noble family. I was planning to grab a fiancé somewhere and live a quiet, peaceful life.
Getting noticed by my master was the end of my luck.
I had a bit of talent for magic, and before I knew it, he'd forcibly dragged me into being his apprentice — and then in the blink of an eye, I'd been appointed as a court mage.
You never know what life's going to throw at you.
"Are you even listening?!"
"Yep, yep."
Not listening at all.
Sigh.
I wonder how my master's doing right about now.
Probably blowing the heads off some demon executive.