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The forest surrounding the house is called Valhen Woods, and houses monsters ranked F all the way to A. Today I’m finally going to have some real-world practice, out in the woods.

I put on leather gloves and boots, then wear a chestplate on top of my maid uniform. As to why I had to wear so many layers, because Ophelia told me it would be cuter. I would’ve thought the same in my past life, but actually having to wear such a bothersome outfit to a forest is really uncomfortable. I have no right to refuse though. Ophelia wore her usual outfit, but covered herself in a black cloak, and held the staff I had seen before. That didn’t look comfortable for a forest either, but I guess she’ll be fine.

“Well, let’s get going then.”

Ophelia lets go of the staff at her side, and it starts to float there, defying gravity. It seems I had no reason to worry. Though it was strange for me to worry for Ophelia, who was a seasoned adventurer, while I barely knew anything about this world.

“I won’t interfere, so just fight however you see fit.”
“Understood.”

Somehow going out the main gates didn’t feel really special, maybe because I had already left once. But walking through the forest did feel like I was embarking on an adventure.

When I left before to rescue Olivia, I had been lucky to not run into any monsters, but now my goal was to fight them. There’s plenty of dangerous creatures here, so it might even turn into a deadly situation.

This is really getting me excited. Maybe I shouldn’t take this so lightly though. But this is still an adventure in a fantasy world! I can’t not get excited. I even have a gun, and my capable Mistress is here too. No monster can measure up to us.

“Grrr…”

Huh, it’s just a really big wolf.

“Roar!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

I run with all my strength. The forest floor is covered with fallen leaves and roots, but my body did not seem to be bothered by them at all while running. I can really tell Ophelia did her best building me!

“Grr!”

I guess I’m still not fast enough to outrun a wolf though!

“Oh, you aren’t going to fight?”

Ophelia asks, flying on her staff following me. She’s crazy if she thinks I can fight that monster, that’s obviously not something a beginner should start with. But maybe that wolf is weaker than it looks, and that’s why Ophelia is saying that?

“Grrrr…”

The fangs poking out of its mouth are as big as my thumb. A bite could probably tear my arm off. Woah there! I almost learned their true power first-hand.

“Ghihik!”

A monkey with a crest growing on it appeared in front of me. I don’t have time to brace!

“Kiii!”

The monkey seemed ready to lunge on me, but then noticed the wolf behind me and turned away. Good choice, monkey. I wish the wolf was smarter and followed the monkey though. I’m a fleshless Magic Automaton, there’s nothing edible about me.

“Cawcaw!” A bird with four wings comes out. I can’t fight that!
“Squeee!” Now there’s a boar with horns on its back, never in a million years!
“Gyagya!” A little green man. Is that a goblin? Oh s̲h̲i̲t̲, it’s a naked goblin. That’s kind of amazing.

“Gahh!” No time to admire though! Why don’t they go after something easier to hunt than me? Just go away. Don’t chase after me!

“I have no choice then.”

I put as much strength as I can into my legs, jumping high into the air. My body moves exactly the way I want, and I easily land on top of a tree. The wolf stops mid-charge, and I aim at its head with my gun.
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM

I pull the trigger as fast as I can, showering it with lead.

The wolf did not understand where the attack was coming from while its brown fur was bathed crimson. It was still standing after I emptied an entire magazine though, monsters really are tough. But its movements are much more sluggish than before. I reload and point the gun at it again.

The wolf understood what that meant now, and ran back into the forest while crying. Tactically speaking, my first battle was won through the retreat of the enemy. Though it doesn’t feel satisfying.

“Phew.”

Finally able to relax, I wipe my forehead, but there’s no sweat there. That makes sense, automatons don’t sweat.

“The Meteor Wolf retreated, I see. I don’t really approve of running away, though considering the matchup I guess it’s optimal.”

Ophelia comes, floating on her staff, and evaluates my performance. Though her usually calm voice sounded somewhat reproachful. But there was something else that I noticed.

“Running was optimal? Was that a really strong monster?”
“The infants can reach rank C, and the adults go all the way up to rank A, in a way they’re the masters of this forest.”
“What would’ve happened if I fought it head-on?”
“Olivia would’ve hated me for the rest of my life.”

So running was my only option!

“Don’t look at me like that. If you get experience from fighting strong monsters first, everything else will be much easier, right?”

I had been able to repress my emotions from showing on my face so far, but this time some had slipped through. Still, she had a point. If I get used to strong monsters like that, weaker ones will seem easy to deal with in comparison. Maybe that was Ophelia’s goal all along.

“I wonder what monster will show up next. That Clamp Boar earlier was still small, and the Shaman Ape is of no danger alone, so it wouldn’t make sense to fight them. It would be more interesting if a Devil Tiger comes around.”

I hope it doesn’t. That name sounds like a really strong monster. But I’ll ignore that, and continue walking through the forest. I ran into goblins soon enough, four of them. As soon as they notice me, I shoot them in the head. I was glad I thought of doing that before they could react.

They are low level monsters, so Ophelia says we can ignore them, and we move on without touching the bodies.

After that we encountered many more monsters, but none were particularly strong. The gun offered more range than the monsters, and I could kill them almost instantly. Even against large groups, I would take them by surprise and quickly pick them apart.

A gun really changes my fighting possibilities. As long as I’m fighting low level monsters, I’ll probably be fine without Ophelia’s help. Ah, I was so entranced with fighting that I didn’t notice, it’s almost noon.

“Mistress, would you like to have lunch?”
“Huh? Ah, sure.”

Ophelia seemed like she had been deep in thought.

We sit down at some random tree, and Ophelia places a barrier around us. The house has a similar one around it, and it stops enemies outside from entering and hides our presence.

I take out two baskets from a magic storage space. One of them had a packed lunch, and the other had a tea set. I put tea leaves on the pot, as well as water I purified with simple magic, then heat it with fire magic.

“You told me you could use storage magic before. You’re already storing things like this in it?”
“Yes. Was I not supposed to?”

This magic storage is one of the few spells I can use to a decent extent, even though I struggle so much with other attack spells. The capacity depends on the caster’s mana, and putting things in and taking them out consumes mana too, but it’s really easy to learn, and even a beginner like me can use it chant-less.

Since I can’t use other spells well, I have a surplus of mana. I’m still learning, and I don’t want to run out of space at an important moment, so I’m keeping the space as small as I can, but I can carry two baskets without issue.

“I really can’t tell if you’re skillful or lack ability. I’ve seen you struggle so much with other spells, but then you learn this one in a blink and put so much stuff inside. Usually beginners can store a small pebble at most.”

Whut?

I guess it’s just a difference of practice. I only get to test out offensive spells when I don’t have anything else to do, but I store things inside the magic storage all the time to help me in the house. That definitely makes a difference. Also, I can only fit like four baskets in it at the moment.

“By the way, how do you feel using it?”

Ophelia bites into a sandwich and points at Black Hawk holstered on my hip.

“It’s incredible. It has excellent accuracy, power, rapid-fire speed, and capacity. Incendiary rounds are tricky to use, but in a good moment they’re like a trump card.”
“Hmm, and is there anything you find difficult about it?”
“Let me think. I guess controlling large crowds is nearly impossible, I’d need to be able to fire many more rounds at a time to keep them at bay. Accuracy wouldn’t matter much in such situations anyway. Though fighting groups from afar and taking their members down one by one is also fun.”

Black Hawk is an excellent arm, but only in the handgun category. It’s inferior to a machine gun or assault rifle when it comes to constant firepower, and not as accurate or powerful as a sniper rifle from long distances. But as far as handguns went, it’s the best in terms of power and weight.

“I see. I’m sure I can build anything you need, so I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ohh, Ophelia really is a genius. If things go well, I might even get a new gun. We did it, Tae-chan! I’ll get more weapons.

“Hahh, I don’t really feel like leaving yet.”

After eating and when I put the baskets away, Ophelia suddenly says that. If I go out there alone and Ophelia isn’t close to help, things could get ugly, so I have no choice but to wait for her to feel like getting up.

“Natalia, keep still.”

She suddenly lies down and places her head on my thighs. One of the most desired situations for any male with their girlfriend, a lap-pillow. This is my first time experiencing something like this! I had dreamed of this day so much, and I’m doing it with such a pretty woman too. I wish I could’ve done this in my past life, dammit.

“It actually feels rather pleasant. He always pestered me to do this.”

She slowly closes her eyes while smiling softly. That ‘he’ she mentioned is probably her late husband. Ophelia is a widow, and her only daughter Olivia is studying abroad to fulfill her own dream. I’m sure Ophelia must feel lonely.

I don’t know why she’s living in the middle of a forest though, or what kind of research she does in her room all the time. I only see her come out to eat. Maybe she’ll tell me one day. Maybe if I prove to be worth enough. Hopefully I can meet up to her expectations.

I keep thinking things like that as I gently stroke Ophelia’s hair, who breathed softly falling asleep.