An Unborn Hero

"For... friendship and... and... justice..." stammered out a heavily blushing Grace, before giving in. "Dammit. Why did you have to tell me what it meant? Now I can't say it without cringing so badly I fail to get the words out."

"You were the one who insisted we tell you," pointed out Kellela.

"Yes, it is pretty embarrassing, but look on the bright side. No-one other than us knows what you're saying. Not to mention that some of us are in a far worse position than you," said a youthful girl dressed in black who, in a certain light, looked very much like Hayedalf.

"Would it help if you practised in private?" suggested Rose, who had also transformed, but was curled up on a sofa waiting for the nausea of mana deprivation to fade. Her new occupation came with a substantial boost in mana capacity, but she still hadn't mastered the ability to cast [Magical Girl Transformation] while remaining upright.

"Yes. But no. It's not as if I'll be in private when it comes to actual combat situations, so best to work my way through this now, while we're safe. For friendship and justice, demon slaying magical girl Jasper White, transform!"

Nothing happened, and Grace remained modestly dressed in the girl's uniform of the Royal Academy; a white pleated skirt that came halfway down her shins, a white collared shirt, a blue blazer adorned with the academy's crest, and a pair of black leggings.

"Try again, and this time, try to mean it," suggested Rose.

"... Can... do..." encouraged the quiet, telepathic voice of Mystery, whose efforts at saving Rose had left her able to squeeze out a couple of words at once. She'd already learnt a few encouraging phrases from Kellela and was looking forward to the day the language barrier fell completely.

Grace took a few deep breaths, before shouting out again, "For friendship and justice, demon slaying magical girl Jasper White, transform! Please!"

This time, her early-morning efforts were rewarded. She didn't twirl while transforming, or strike any sort of pose, much to Mystery's disappointment, but she did transform. And the outfit she was wearing was rather familiar.

Grace looked down and saw knees, but as a testament to her recent efforts at understanding the lower classes, successfully stifled the resulting scream. "Why am I dressed like this again?" she asked after a few deep, calming breaths. "I intended something less... risqué."

"From the information available, I imagine that the costume is fixed. If you successfully changed it, you would no longer be 'Jasper White'," answered Rrillandral, entering the room.

"Welcome back," called Rose, looking over at the elf. "Uh... Is it just because I'm lying down, or are you... taller?"

The other party members looked over.

"I suspect she'd appreciate it if no-one commented," sighed Grace. "Most elves don't like to draw attention to it. But at least that means you learnt the skill?"

"I did. And as it turns out, I am glad of it," beamed Rrillandral. "For friendship and justice, demon slaying magical girl Leaf Green, transform!"

Like Grace, she refrained from posing, but the transformation was nevertheless a success. It also caused her to lose the extra inch of height she'd somehow gained.

"Then that makes all of us," said child-mode Kellela.

"I feel like I should comment on Grace being the last, even though Hayedalf needed a pair of sub-skills before he could cast it on himself," giggled Rose.

"And I feel I should comment on the fact that despite being the first to learn it, and gaining an epic occupation based around it, you become completely useless whenever you cast it," countered Grace.

Mystery may well have had a comment to make too, had her mind been functioning properly, but the addition of Rrillandral meant that she was now surrounded by her full squad of magical girls for the first time, and hence she was fangirling. Hard.

"Can you hear... a sort of quiet squeal?" asked Grace, thanks to Mystery forgetting to turn [Telepathy] off.

"No?" replied Rose.

"Must be imagining it. Anyway, now that's over, I'm off to school."

"Really? You're seriously going to go?"

"I'm going to claim an exception from coursework due to special circumstances, cram like crazy until we're ready to leave to slay the demon lord, then sit the end-of-year exams early."

"Well, I admire your dedication," sighed Rose. "Have a safe trip."

Grace grabbed a backpack and put her hand on the door handle.

"You might want to wait for your transformation to wear off before you go outside, though," called Kellela.

"Aww. Why did you remind her? That was going to be hilarious," complained Rose.

Grace threw the backpack at her.

"And then you ran away," paraphrased a demon, one of the few in the meeting who was wearing clothes. A thick, hooded robe hid most of his features, but two pinpricks of red light glowed from within.

"And then I ran away," reluctantly confirmed Xry'kl, knowing full well that repeating his excuse of running out of options, and how seeking reinforcements was clearly the pertinent next move, wouldn't buy him anything.

"Useless..." muttered a lion-headed female demon with golden fur running across her head and shoulders, her voice warped by the thick fangs that protruded from her mouth. "Useless..." echoed her tail, the tip of which had split open to reveal its own set of fangs.

"Aww, don't be so hard on the boy," said another female, voice dripping with rancid honey as she traced a finger down Xry'kl's sternum. This one had human-looking skin, which extended over a pair of very inhuman wings. She also had a rather familiar whip-like tail. "After all, it sounds like he took such great care of one of my subordinates. I really should offer him my thanks. Why don't you stop by my lair tonight, and we can discuss your reward?"

Xry'kl did his best to remain motionless, resisting the urge to shudder. "I intend to head straight back out there, once I've finished my report," he lied, managing to keep his voice remarkably level for someone who suspected he was about to die. He knew full well that the arch-succubus had no more care for the life of Fylith than he did, but that wouldn't stop her from using Fylith's death as an excuse for a snack, and Xry'kl had no intention of becoming that snack.

"Good," said the hooded demon. "You can show me the way. We leave immediately."

"Oh? Why you?" asked the lion-headed demon, smacking her fists together. "This group sounds strong. I should..."

She paused mid-sentence as the queen succubus placed a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her head.

The hooded demon didn't react, instead waving a hand that conjured up a disk of fire, the view through which showed a completely different section of forest. He stepped through, unheeding of the other demons, and Xry'kl reluctantly followed behind, the portal snapping shut behind him.

"Why did you stop me?" demanded the lion-headed demon the moment they were alone.

"You really think that weakling was worth my while feeding on? No, I only put on that show as an excuse to mark him with my scent. Now I can track him from halfway across the continent."

The anger drained from the lion-headed demon as her mouth curled up into a smirk.

The front door creaked open, and a pale-faced Grace shakily stepped inside. She shut it behind her, silently marched into her room, and closed the door without so much as a greeting to anyone else in the house.

"Huh?" asked an uncertain Rose, having been completely blanked.

"She looked upset..." suggested Hayedalf, who was reassuringly male again.

"Should I... follow her?"

"It's probably a good idea," agreed Kellela. "The way she looked, better a friend looks in on her than all of us."

Rose hesitatingly followed her and knocked on her door. "Are you okay in there?"

"No."

Rose waited a few seconds, but no elaboration was forthcoming.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she tried.

"No."

Another few seconds passed as Rose pondered her next response.

"Do you want a hug?" she tried.

"... Maybe."

Rose let herself in, to find Grace curled up atop her bed, which wasn't exactly a prime hugging position. Grace made no attempt to move, though, so Rose did the best she could by settling in behind her and cuddling. Grace still didn't react.

"... I hate boys," she muttered.

"You're in the right party, then; even Hayedalf is a part-timer these days," replied Rose, before frowning. "Wait, are you getting bullied? You're the bloody [First Princess]! Can't you lop off some heads?"

That elicited a small smile from Grace. "Regardless of what you commoners might think, we royalty don't make a habit of chopping people's heads off."

"I'm not suggesting it become a habit. Just one or two, where it's well deserved."

Grace snorted. "Tempting, but in this case, the target is the [Crown Prince] of another kingdom; Gordon of Jylama. He's been trying to woo me since our first year, when he came to our royal academy as a transfer student. I could lop his head off, but then I'd need to explain to Father why I started a war."

"Wait, what? I thought you were worried about not finding anyone? But you've had someone since the first year?"

"I invite you to think carefully about the circumstances in which a [Crown Prince] might end up studying abroad," sighed Grace. "He is... not well thought of in his home country. Among many other issues, the boy is a complete narcissist, utterly unable to comprehend why any girl might not want to join him in bed. Alas, he still has the support of his mother—the [Queen]—who hasn't had any other male children. The child of a second wife of the [King] is next in line to the throne, so the [Queen] refuses to disinherit him despite the problems he's causing."

"... Politics," commiserated Rose.

"Indeed. His mere existence drives away other would-be suitors, but my father would never agree to marry me off to him."

"Huh? I thought you said liking each other has nothing to do with noble marriages?"

"Oh, no. It's not that. It's just the way he's almost certainly going to end up assassinated the moment he sets foot back into his own kingdom. If Father thought he'd actually survive to inherit the throne, things may well be different."

Unable to conjure up any response to that, Rose tried to move the subject along. "So... presumably he did something today?"

"He knew. Don't ask me how he found out, but right when we were gathering for class and the room was packed with other students, that idiot loudly commented that even if I was the sort of person who'd show my knees to an entire squadron of soldiers, he'd still take me."

"Oh..."

"Indeed. Of course, I couldn't deny it; some of the students there would certainly have had lie detection skills, and I'm still wearing an appraisal blocker. Nor was anyone interested in explanations; as I've mentioned before, optics are often more important than truth. The looks I've been getting all day have been... pitying."

"Oh..." repeated Rose, cuddling harder, causing Grace to finally stir, leaning into it a little. "Well, you know you have friends here."

"What an utter bastard," thought Mystery, who had followed Rose out of concern for Grace, and then hung around for the mild yuri. "Chopping his head off would be far too good for him. That boy needs to suffer. It's a shame I can't do anything about it."

She paused as she considered that.

"Wait... Thanks to [Tether of Will], I no longer have a range limit. I've never wanted to go far from Mum before, because being unable to find her again would be a death sentence, but now I know where she lives and can talk to her! I can warn her I'm going out and not to move until I'm back. All I need to do is find out where the academy is and what this Gordon looks like, and tomorrow, he's going to have a very bad time."

A safe distance from the capital, a pair of demons stepped out of a flaming portal. The elder immediately hissed, his eyes flashing with an angry red light.

"This isn't possible. It's far too early!"

"Pardon?" asked Xry'kl.

"You utter imbecile! What the heck do you think that is?"

"Uh... Our target? The one I was sent to kill."

The arch-demon pulled back his hood, revealing nothing but a skull beneath, a red glow flickering in the eye sockets. Eyes that faded as they looked back in history, rather than at the walls of the capital.

"I've felt this only once before, and it cost me my flesh," he sighed, voice echoing oddly without the hood muffling it. "Burn the disgust you feel into your memory, for it is caused by the presence of a [Hero]."

Mystery (Human)

Age: -9 months

Occupation: Hero (L)

Skills:

- Soul's Eye (U) (34/100)

>> Sense Vitality (U)

>> Sense Soul (R)

>> Sense Mana (U)

>> Sense Light (C)

>> Sense Sound (C)

>> Pierce Illusions (U)

>> Sense Miasma (R)

>> Multi-focal (R)

>> Sense Spirit (R)

- Astral Projection (U) (21/60)

>> Sure Navigation (U)

>> Uncontainable (U)

>> Tether of Will (L)

- Robust (C) (19/40)

>> Hardened Soul (R)

>> Secured Mana (U)

>> Pain Tolerance (C)

- Stealth (C) (3/20)

>> Camouflage Vitality (R)

- Magical Girl Transformation (R) (20/30)

>> Age Correction (R)

>> Gender Bending (R)

- Light (C) (12/20)

>> Heterochrome (U)

- Increased Attributes (C) (9/20)

>> Mana Storage (U)

- Investigation (C) (2/10)

- Cosplay (U) (1/10)

- Mana Absorption (U) (3/20)

>> Drain Mana (U)

- Translate (U) (4/10)

- Telepathy (U) (5/20)

>> Reciprocity (U)

Achievements:

- Early Bloomer II (R)

- First Skill (C)

- Journeyman (U)

- Survivor of Zarklaxxos, the Arcane Infernal (R)

- I Broke The System, And All I Got Was This Lousy Achievement (E)

- Astral Explorer I (R)

- First Spell (C)

- I Broke The System Again, And Now The Administrators Hate Me (E)

- Spell Forger (R)

- Demon Slayer II (E)

- Monster Slayer V (E)

- Curiosity (U)

- War Veteran (U)

- Royal Audience (C)

- Diligent Hero (L)

- Studious (C)

- Pioneering Guider (E)