“Enough with your tricks! Is that all your magic can do?! Anti-domination!” Grood used a spell Mil had never heard of, and her magic lost its effect the moment Grood finished casting, allowing him to pull his leg free. It had to be some sort of spell for interfering with other spells.
“Dark mist!” Mil didn’t give Grood the chance to fight back, covering everything around her in a thick black mist. She prayed that her friends would find some way to escape under the cover of darkness. “Yulia! Kuro!”
“Whoa!”
“Guah!”
Mil’s fears were soon alleviated when she heard the pained groans of orcs in the darkness.
“Aqua shift!”
Next Mil heard Yulia casting a spell, followed by more anguished cries from the orcs.
“Take this! Whirlwind!”
When the strong wind swept away the mist, leaving Mil’s view clear, she saw Kuro and Yulia standing right in front of her.
“Yulia! Kuro!”
“M-Mil... Th-That was so scary!” Yulia was trembling and still close to tears.
“Mil... I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.” Tormented by guilt, Kuro couldn’t even lift her head.
Mil shook her head. “No, you did nothing wrong, Kuro. It was all that demonkin’s fault. I know he forced you into everything by capturing Irie.”
“But...I lied about—”
“It doesn’t count. I’m gonna punish him!” Mil turned to face Grood.
“You can use demonkin magic...?” Grood said. “You must have read the spell books in the library. But it’s nothing more than a human’s pale imitation! Your mana can’t compare to that of a demonkin!” Grood created a ball of air in his hands then threw it at Mil. “Wind bomb!”
Yulia held out both her hands. “Wall wind!”
The barrier stopped Grood’s wind bomb from reaching them before it exploded—however, it couldn’t stop the aftershocks, and Yulia cried as she was pushed back.
Even Yulia struggled to block an attack from one the Demon King’s most powerful soldiers. Another one of those and she might not stay on her feet.
I need a way to block magic... Oh, I know!
“What did I tell you? You mana can’t compare! Wind bomb!”
As Grood was casting the spell a second time, Mil quickly drew a dagger from her bag.
“Nh! What?!”
The dagger she grabbed was the Rune Edge she’d picked up in the treasure vault—the dagger with the power to absorb an opponent’s magic.
It was also able to fire whatever magic it absorbed. With a “Yah!”, Mil swung the dagger and fired the ball of air back at Grood’s feet.
“You must have found that dagger in the vault! Grr... Who would have thought that a princess would be a thief...?” Now enraged, Grood yelled at the orcs, “Don’t just stand there! Rush them! Capture the princess!”
The orcs all raised their swords and axes then charged at Mil.
“Ah wah wah—” Yulia panicked. “Mil, wh-what now?!”
“I’ve decided. I’ll never let you down again, Mil!” Kuro drew her katana and prepared to hold back the orcs by herself.
But there was no need for that.
“Leave it to me. Gravity gate!” This time Mil cast the spell over a wider area.
The orcs headed for Mil all cried out in surprise.
“Whoa!”
“Wh-What is this?!”
“I feel so heavy...”
In no time at all, they were all lying flat on the ground.
Mil then drew her sword and approached one of the orcs. Gravity gate had no effect on the caster. Once an opponent entered its range, they were trapped by a net of gravity, and it was game over.
“Ah! S-S-Sorry! Lord Grood ordered me to do it! I never meant to hurt you, Mil!”
It was hard to tell one orc from another, but Mil definitely knew this one from the training hall. Without a word, Mil swung her sword down at the orc.
“Eek!” the orc cried as the blade stopped an inch from his face.
“Where’s Irie? You kidnapped her, didn’t you?”
“Sh-She’s over there!”
Mil followed the orc’s gaze and saw another orc outside the range of the gravity gate, with the village chief gagged beside him.
“Let her go. And don’t get in my way again. Your bodies might be weighed down, but my sword isn’t.”
Once Mil had released the spell, the orcs all scattered into the forest yelling, “We’re sorry!”
As the orcs were running away from Mil, the chief came running toward her. Though her mouth was gagged, her legs weren’t bound.
“Chief! Are you all right?!” Kuro untied the gag.
“Kuro, Princess Mil... I’m terribly sorry. I let myself be captured and did nothing to help.”
“I was no better,” Kuro said. “We’re really sorry, Mil. I deceived you.”
“No, it’s fine. You were just making sure Irie was safe.” Mil was relieved that the chief wasn’t injured.
“H-Hey! Where do you think you’re all going?!” Grood turned to face Mil.
Mil pointed her sword at Grood. “Apologize to Kuro, Yulia, and Irie.”
“Grrrr. Who do you think you are, little human?”
Grood drew a massive sword from behind his back. Not even Mil felt she could stop a swing from a weapon like that.
But a target that big was easy to hit. Mil held her hand in front of her and cast the most powerful forbidden magic spell she’d used so far. “Extinction Gate!”
A black bead appeared at the tip of Grood’s sword, quickly growing into a lightless void.
“Wh-What did you—?!”
As the void engulfed Grood’s sword, he threw it down in fear. The black mass swallowed the blade completely before vanishing, taking a large chunk of the ground along with it. It was all gone in an instant.
Not a single trace was left of the black mass, nor of anything caught within. The sword was reduced to just its hilt and a small piece of the blade.
“Magic Sword Gram... Wh-Why...”
“This spell doesn’t just erase swords. I could cast it inside your body just as easily. Now apologize to Kuro and everyone else!”
Mil knew Grood’s stats. A one-on-one battle would be tough, but now it was three against one. Together, they had the advantage.
“Ngh... Pah. You’ll regret the day you defied me. Warp gate!”
“W-Wait!”
Grood’s spell tore a black distortion into the nearby space, which he stepped into without hesitation. Once it closed behind him, he was gone completely.
“Teleportation magic...?” Mil wondered to herself. “I didn’t know that existed.”
He’d probably gone back to the Demon King’s Castle. Kidnapping Mil should have been easy with the aid of teleportation magic, unless he could only use it on himself.
Angry as Mil was, there was no way for her to follow him.
“I can’t forgive that guy! Look how badly hurt everyone is!”
As Mil was stomping her foot in rage, Kuro placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I’m really sorry, Mil. I’ve done something so awful that no amount of apologizing is going to be enough.”
“No, you haven’t! It was all that demonkin’s fault! He can’t get away with hurting Kuro and Irie like this!”
“We brought it on ourselves by betraying you,” Kuro said.
“But that wasn’t—”
Kuro cut Mil off. “Please, let me apologize. I take responsibility for everything. But I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Forget all that! You did nothing wrong. Right, Yulia?”
Yulia nodded her head.
“Thank you, Mil.” Kuro bowed her head low.
Talking to Kuro was helping Mil to calm down a little. “Those demonkin only came here because of me. I’m sorry too.”
“No, you did nothing wrong. It was our fault. There were other ways we could have handled this, and yet I brought you right to him.”
“It was me who got you mixed up in all this.”
“No it wasn’t! You did nothing wrong!”
“No. If I’d never come here—”
“Okay, that’s enough,” the village chief said with a clap of her hands. “If you both keep apologizing, it’ll go on forever. How about you settle it by shaking hands?”
It was just as the chief said. Neither wanted to back down because both felt uneasy about what had happened. They’d already forgiven each other, but until they both forgave themselves, they couldn’t move on.
“She’s right... Mil.”
“Okay.”
Mil and Kuro shook hands. Not for the sake of forgiving each other, but themselves.
“Thanks, Kuro. But I’m leaving today, before I cause any more trouble for the village. Besides, I wanna adventure more, and I’ve gotta get back to the royal capital.”
“Okay...”
Kuro’s ears drooped flat on her head. It was obvious she wanted to go adventuring too. But she’d said that their code wouldn’t permit her to go outside. She was going to have to part with the new friends she’d only just met.
“Oh? Why don’t you go with them, Kuro?” the chief suggested.
“What...? But Chief, I thought leaving was against the village code?”
“That was a lie.”
“A lie?!”
Irie grinned. “There was a rule like that, but only until about a decade ago. The practice is meaningless in this day and age, so it was abolished.”
“But why...?”
The chief smiled at Mil. “Rules made long ago aren’t always relevant to us, are they?”
“Then I can go with Mil...?”
“I’ll be sad to see you leave, but I’d like you to spend some time among humans. What do you want to do?”
“I...” Kuro let out a big sigh. “I’d like to go. I want to visit the outside world and eat all kinds of tasty food and lots of it!”
“Then go. You might miss home at first, but all the new experiences will make it worth it.”
“Chief...” Kuro was still reluctant to leave her home. Although she said she wanted to go, her ears were still drooping a little.
“Princess Mil, please take good care of Kuro for a while,” the chief said while bowing her head.
“Of course! It’s great to have you with us, Kuro! Let’s eat lots of good food together!”
“Oh...! Thank you, both of you.” Kuro’s ears pricked up and a look of determination appeared on her face.
“I’m g-glad to have you with us...”
When Yulia nervously held out her hand, Kuro gripped it firmly.
“I’m so glad—huh?” Mil looked down and saw scales, like those of a lizardman, spreading across her left arm. When she rubbed her eyes and took another look, they were gone.
Am I...seeing things?
Her body looked fine, and nothing felt unusual. She had to conclude that she was imagining things after getting so heated a moment ago.
“Now,” the village chief said, “let’s all return to the village and have breakfast.”
“You’re right chief.” Grrr. “I’ll bet these two are hungry.” Grrr. Kuro’s stomach was growling loudly. She did her best to act calm, but her face was turning bright red. “D-Don’t look at me like that!”
“It sounds like Kuro’s hungry too,” Mil said. “Heh heh.”
Oh well. I was probably imagining things. All that matters is that I get to eat their amazing food again. And there’s something else to be even happier about...
“Wh-What is it, Mil?” Kuro asked.
“Teh heh heh. It’s a secret.”
I’ll have another friend with me on my adventure!