“That’s enough. Go ahead and rest.”
“Okay…”
With a clap of her hands, Maha returned the golem to the earth. Ruri fell onto her back and sprawled her arms out, her chest rising with every breath.
The two were at the usual rocky training grounds. A week had passed since Ruri’s training began. Her skills were progressing well; she could put up a decent fight against the golems now.
“Well done, both of you,” said Ney, handing the two towels. “How is Ruri looking?”
“Not bad,” Maha answered. “She’s not as craven anymore, at least.”
“I work hard!”
“Good, good.”
Maha’s harsh training regimen had raised Ruri up to the point where she could even fight the stronger golems. As she was, she should be able to handle weak demons.
“It’s about time we put the girl to the test for real then, huh?” Ney said.
“I still think it’s too early for live combat. She may be better now, but she still shows signs of being afraid of fighting.”
“There isn’t a soul in the world that’s not a little afraid of fighting, dear. Besides, there’s no better practice than the real thing.”
“That’s…true, but still.” Maha understood where Ney was coming from, but she still thought it was premature.
Ruri stood up and wiped her sweat off with the towel as she said, “Miss Maha. I’ll be okay. I want to try fighting.”
“You realize that if you fail you’ll die, right?”
“…I know. I am scared. But even so.”
Maha hesitated over the decision.
“You’re being too overprotective, Maha.”
“You think so?”
“Remember how things went your first time?”
“…That was different.” Maha’s first deployment had been a walk in the park. Ney was around to protect her, so she basically threw herself at the demons and just did as she had trained. “I was practically cheating as I had you, Metako, but Ruri can’t even use alchemy yet. We should at least wait—”
“Oh, Miss Maha! Mother Diriyah is teaching me basics!” Ruri looked to the side and held her hand out. “That which takes the shape of man, speechless clod of earth. Come forth and serve my will!”
She chanted smoothly, the usual awkwardness in her words gone. Maha watched with wide eyes.
“Earth Golem!”
A golem the same height as Maha sprouted from the ground.
“That which pierces, spear of beautiful poison. Come forth and tear through my prey—Spear of Mercury!” Ruri continued with another chant, this time using the same attack Maha used to strike down single targets. Her spear shot forth, lacking nothing in accuracy and power, and bore through the golem, returning it to earth. She didn’t have my support, so her attack wasn’t as powerful as Maha’s, but it was more than enough for her to be ready for real combat. She looked for approval. “Good?”
“Wonderful,” Ney said. “She should be ready to fight, right, Maha?”
“…Yeah.” Maha nodded, but her expression was clouded.
“Feeling jealous?”
“…No.”
“I recall it took you three years to reach that level, and everyone praised you for it.”
“My own feelings on the matter are irrelevant. All that matters is that humanity has a better fighting chance.”
So she said, but I could tell she was conflicted on the inside. The faster Ruri was trained, the faster Maha would be retired from the battlefield. Ruri likely didn’t bear any ill will, but for Maha, who had spent her life being valued for just her strength, being told she didn’t need to fight anymore was the same as being told she wasn’t needed.
“Let’s take our training outside the town then. I’ll go prepare some things. Wait for me.” Ney left to return to the Base, likely to call for some more people to come with them.
An awkward silence formed between Maha and Ruri. The one to break it was Ruri. “Miss Maha… Do you not like me?”
“Huh?” Maha was stunned for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“You always have sad look on your face when you look at me. Am I hated?” Ruri hung her head sadly.
Flustered, Maha hurriedly said, “Not at all. I have nothing against you.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Then why won’t you use my name?”
“What? I…” She didn’t even realize it herself, but looking back, Maha couldn’t recall a single instance where she had used Ruri’s name. Ruri had noticed the wall Maha put between them. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional.”
“Oh. N-no. It’s okay. I’m overthinking, maybe. But I want to get along if I can.”
“Because we’re fighting on the same side?”
“Yes. But also because you are Mother Diriyah’s daughter. That makes you my big sister. Kind of?”
“…I see.” Maha felt a dull pain in her chest. She was indeed Diriyah’s daughter, but she had hardly ever been treated like such by her. It was at the point where Maha wondered if Ruri was more of a daughter to Diriyah than she was. Dark emotions swirled within her, raging like a storm and threatening to spill out, but Maha fought to keep them down. “You’re right. Let’s get along, Ruri.”
“Miss Maha!”
Maha offered out her right hand, causing Ruri to break into a smile and grab Maha’s hand. She shook it up and down, likely clueless to Maha’s inner turmoil.
“What a farce,” a voice suddenly said.
Maha reacted instantly. She stepped forward and pulled Ruri behind her, reaching for a vial as she did so.
She glared in the direction of the voice and saw a clump of darkness. Before her eyes, it shifted into the shape of a voluptuous woman bearing bat-like wings along her back and horns sprouting from her head. As she appeared, she said, “I’ve come for the homunculus girl.”