An Unborn Hero

"Why does this forest have to be so big?" complained Rose, snuggling into her sleeping bag.

"It borders eight different countries," pointed out Grace, who was positioned suspiciously close to Rose, but at least had her own sleeping bag. "Did you expect to be able to walk across it in one day?"

"I suppose not. It's just annoying."

"Just get some sleep. You're on second watch tonight."

With some more incomprehensible grumbling, Rose curled up and closed her eyes.

Despite telling Rose off for not sleeping, Grace remained wide awake, albeit not completely by choice. Hayedalf's storage rings meant the party weren't travelling as lightly as would otherwise have been required, but it wasn't as if he could pull a fully stocked mansion with a matching set of serving staff out of them. They had a large tent and were sleeping on thick mats with warm, heavily cushioned sleeping bags, but that did little to change the fact they were in the middle of a demon-infested forest. She was uncomfortable, the mat insufficient compared to the soft beds she was used to. Her legs ached from so much walking and her feet were swollen and sore, but healing them with magic would mean she'd never get used to it. Odd, unidentifiable noises sounded from outside. The thought of sleep seemed laughable.

She'd suggested a sound-blocking ward to Hayedalf, and he hadn't needed the advice of Rose or Rrillandral to point out why that would be a terrible idea. They had at least allowed her to purge the miasma from the area—Mystery's presence meant that trying to hide from the demons was pointless—so at least the air didn't taste as foul as it could have.

She closed her eyes anyway, searching for some elusive sleep.

Meanwhile, Hayedalf was on first watch, making sure his network of wards were functioning correctly.

"Do you want something, Mystery?" he asked, his [Detect Scrying] firing. "You've been hovering around me all evening."

Mystery did indeed want something, but framing words around her question was proving tough. She'd ended up distracted by the noises, too, watching the brown creaking of swaying tree branches, the red crackling of their campfire and the green unidentifiable flashes of the soil.

"... Earlier you... talked about... getting used... to dresses..."

ding

Another impressive sentence. [Telepathy] advances to level 16.

Hayedalf immediately froze up. "H... how did you hear that?" he stuttered, forgetting she certainly hadn't heard a thing.

"... Sorry... Just wondering..."

"No, it's fine. That's what I get for complaining out loud. I got a new occupation. Don't know why; it's not like I had any reason or desire to lose [Master Enchanter], unlike the other three."

"... Oh... My fault..."

"Don't go trying to take the blame for everything, kiddo. Some things just happen."

Mystery did a brief double-take at the 'kiddo', but how was a father supposed to refer to his kid at this age? The question never usually arose.

"... No..." she said instead. "... Effect of... [Pioneering Guider]..."

"Really? How so?"

Mystery spent some amount of time reading out the description.

"Ah, I see. It's because I was carrying out a large and important task relying on [Magical Girl Transformation], then. Still not your fault."

"... What... is it...?"

Hayedalf, who lacked any sort of translation spell, in turn spent some amount of time scratching the English words [Magical Enchantress] into the soil.

Mystery remained silent.

"That bad, huh?" he asked.

"... Still an... enchanter..." she managed eventually, not really knowing what else to say.

"Yes, I imagine it is. Following the pattern, I suspect that if I asked Kellela for a translation, she'd reply 'young female enchanter who battles evil using the magical transformation powers of friendship'."

Mystery once again refrained from answering.

Dreobeth looked upon his assembled forces, nodding in satisfaction. The demons who had insisted on attacking the hero's party one or two at a time, (starting with the weakest, of course,) had all had a spot of common sense bashed into them. Yes, it was the master's favourite plan—the fool enjoyed seeing how far the [Hero] could get—but that didn't mean it was a good plan.

So much better to just attack all at once. That way, they might actually stand a chance of victory. But a 'chance' wasn't good enough, and so the preparations continued. Monsters that were freshly spawned, or that demons had managed to keep under control through the stampede, were carefully positioned. Traps were laid. And out near a dead, sulphurous lake, a group of demons put the finishing touches to the most important piece of the plot.

The disturbance in the miasma of the forest was tangible to them all now. They didn't need the demon lord to scream about a tainted food supply. The [Hero] was in the forest, and she was coming. Another couple of days, and the conflict would be settled.

"Hey," whispered Hayedalf, gently shaking Rose. "Your turn for watch duty."

Rose groaned, wordlessly pulling herself from her sleeping bag and staggering outside, where she tried to rub some sleep out of her eyes. "Feels like I've only been asleep for ten minutes," she complained to herself. "I hate watch duty. It's always so boring. Mystery, are you there?"

Mystery didn't answer. She'd already returned to Kellela, wanting to be completely fresh for the following day.

"Apparently not, but will I do instead?" asked another voice.

"Grace? Why are you up?"

"I couldn't sleep," shrugged the [Magical Princess].

"... You're going to suffer tomorrow."

"I know, but it's not like I have any say in the matter."

"You're too spoilt," giggled Rose, the conversation being enough to wake her up more fully. "I've stayed at inns with worse beds than here."

The pair fell into silence, Rose carefully eyeing their surroundings, and Grace lost in thought.

"Did you mean it about being happy adventuring with me?" she asked eventually.

"Huh? Of course!"

"Why?"

Rose blinked. "What do you mean, why? Why not?"

"You literally just called me spoilt. I can't sleep here, despite Hayedalf's equipment and wards making a fairly good camping environment, so what makes you think I'd cope as a full-time adventurer?"

"You'd get used to it," shrugged Rose. "Besides, I'd bet with all the levels we've gained recently, we could afford more expensive inns."

"You think? Given the glut of monster materials in Flinel right now, I'd expect adventurer pay to take a big hit for the next decade or so."

Rose frowned, not having previously considered the knock-on effects a million monsters charging to their doom would have on the adventuring profession.

"What about the other way around?" continued Grace.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, instead of me becoming an adventurer, what do you think about joining high society? Lots of dancing, more dresses than you can count, and you'd get to hang around with the other party members more. You might even get to shout at my father again."

"No thanks," giggled Rose. "I don't think I could ever get used to that."

"You're probably right," sighed Grace. "Someone as naïve as you would get eaten alive."

"Hey!"

Now it was Grace's turn to giggle.

"Hey!" repeated Rose.

"Sorry," apologised Grace. "You know I'm right, though."

"... Maybe."

The pair fell back into silence.

"You know, I'm not as naïve as you think," said Rose, after a while.

"Huh?"

"I may have no idea how to navigate the world of nobility, but I do have eyes, and you're not exactly subtle."

"Huh?!" repeated Grace, panicking.

"You, on the other hand, have no idea what you're doing."

"Hey!" exclaimed Grace, not quite sure when the tables had been turned.

"I never did give you that lesson on love, did I?" continued Rose. "This isn't it. This is just a crush, or maybe infatuation would be a better description. You've got this whole thing about 'freedom', and you're only focusing on me because I'm the first person who's ever made you feel like you have any. Add on a touch of desperation thanks to Gordon and what you perceive as a bunch of black marks against your marriageability, and you're just... I don't even know what a good word to describe it is. Fixating? I was just in the right place at the right time. Believe me, my mum would treat you in exactly the same way. So would a whole load of commoners. And don't forget I'm the reason you're wearing an appraisal blocker. You're a friend, and I really do like you, but please think carefully about why you want to become an adventurer before you throw your old life away."

Grace opened her mouth to argue, but that time on the farm's defensive wall came flooding back into her mind. All the fury she'd held for Rose and Mystery. When had it faded? Yes, it turned out that neither Rose nor Mystery had known, and they'd apologised for it, but it was still something that had huge consequences on her life.

... Consequences that weren't necessarily bad.

A rather confused and conflicted Grace returned to the tent, where she spent time imagining how she'd react if Melody was the one here in place of Rose, acting as Rose did. It was a weird mental image.

"Desperation?" she thought. "Is that really all it is? Is it just because Father jokingly put the idea in my head, and I'm terrified of him surrendering and giving me to Gordon? Yes, I admire the way Rose puts up with Mystery's insanity without cracking. I love how unthinkingly nice she is. But it's not like I have the chance to interact with other commoners in the way I do with her, so she could well be right about how they'd all behave the same way... Urk, why doesn't the royal academy have a class on this stuff?"

She pondered a while longer, attempting to apply logic to emotions, which rarely turned out successfully.

"If commoner relationships are based on feelings, then aren't they all right-place-right-time? Imagine the alternative; every individual has a single 'true love' somewhere in the world. What are the chances of the two ever meeting? We'd run out of commoners in a single generation... Maybe Rose is right that plenty of others would behave the same way, but I think she's wrong to believe that matters."

And with such thoughts playing on a loop in her head, she finally drifted off to sleep.

The last watch of the night was given to Rrillandral. She stood a short distance from the camp in her Leaf Green form—the bulky dress not being particularly comfortable to sit down in—practising her ability to summon plants.

The ability was—as with all the magical girls—completely nonsensical. Yes, elves were pretty good at directing the growth of plants, but that was all it was. Direction. It didn't mean they could grow a vine tens of metres in length from nothing in a matter of seconds. Yes, there were spells that accelerated the growth of plants, but there was a difference between accelerating growth and whatever the innate abilities of Leaf Green did.

Accelerating plant growth did nothing to elide the need for nutrients and sunlight. The soil would rapidly lose its fertility and the available light placed an upper limit on growth speed. That didn't happen here. Rrillandral had put a handful of soil in a small pot, and summoned from that pot a vine that exceeded the mass of the soil tens of times over. At night, with the only available light for photosynthesis that which was reflected from the moon. It shouldn't have been sufficient for any growth.

But that discovery was one she'd made back in the Flinellian capital. Given the way they were relying on [Magical Girl Transformation] to invade the forest, investigating all that she could about it was an obvious and necessary course of action. The foreknowledge was why she was carrying small pots of soil, in case she found herself needing to conduct a battle on rock, or indoors. The test here was different, and was why she'd walked a little away from the camp, outside of the range Grace had purified.

The bubble of clean mana was shrinking as the forest pushed back, but the fact it existed at all was impressive enough, never mind the way it had lasted all night. That observation was the reason for her latest test.

Rrillandral concentrated, and a field of healthy, green grass burst from the soil all around her. Within seconds, the blades reached her ankles. A lush emerald sea which contrasted rather heavily with the sparse, malformed trees in the area. They weren't quite far enough into the forest that traditional plant-life was impossible, but they obviously weren't healthy. Unlike her grass.

She could grow plants that completely ignored the miasma. That should not be possible.

Rrillandral smiled to herself. It was a slightly disturbing smile. A smile that really wanted to open Mystery up and inspect the alien way in which she ticked.

Mystery (Human)

Age: -9 months

Occupation: Hero (L)

Skills:

- Soul's Eye (U) (41/100)

>> 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) (24/60)

>> Sure Navigation (U)

>> Uncontainable (U)

>> Tether of Will (L)

- Robust (C) (28/50)

>> Hardened Soul (R)

>> Secured Mana (U)

>> Pain Tolerance (C)

>> Strengthened Will (U)

- Stealth (C) (3/20)

>> Camouflage Vitality (R)

- Magical Girl Transformation (R) (23/30)

>> Age Correction (R)

>> Gender Bending (R)

- Light (C) (12/20)

>> Heterochrome (U)

- Increased Attributes (C) (11/20)

>> Mana Storage (U)

- Investigation (C) (5/10)

- Cosplay (U) (11/20)

>> Skit (U)

- Mana Absorption (U) (11/30)

>> Drain Mana (U)

>> Conduit (U)

- Translate (U) (10/20)

>> Two Way (U)

- Telepathy (U) (16/40)

>> Reciprocity (U)

>> Empathy (U)

>> Guarded Mind (U)

- Lightning Bolt (U) (3/10)

- Fireball (U) (4/20)

>> Multishot (U)

- Wall of Light (U) (1/10)

- Energy Resistance (U) (7/10)

Achievements:

- Early Bloomer II (R)

- First Skill (C)

- Adept (U)

- Survivor of Zarklaxxos, the Arcane Infernal (R)

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

- Astral Explorer II (E)

- First Spell (C)

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

- Famous Spell Forger (E)

- Demon Slayer III (E)

- Monster Slayer V (E)

- Curiosity (U)

- War Veteran (U)

- Royal Audience (C)

- Diligent Hero (L)

- Studious (C)

- Pioneering Guider (E)

- Royal Pervert (R)

- I Couldn't Stop Breaking The System, And Now I've Been Smited (E)

- Royal Corrupter (E)

- Blessed of the Forest (C)

- Artefact Wielder (R)

- Raider of the Corruption (U)

Artefacts:

- The Vale's Finger