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––Jessica’s Perspective

No sooner had the roar come from above, did the ceiling crumble and break. Martial General Basten made his appearance. He looked like a wolf which made him a beastman, but his strength was on another level. The mana that clad him was on a different magnitude to a beastman’s. Together with his dignity, he was clearly different from a normal vampire. It made sense that he called himself a general.

“Girl. Your name?”

Basten spoke to Ms. Tilea. But Ms. Tilea didn’t realize he was talking to her, and started looking around.

Nono, Ms. Tilea, however you look at it, he’s talking to you. Please think back to all the things you’ve done.

“I think he’s talking to you, Ms. Tilea.”
“Eh!? Eh!? M-, Me?”
“Indeed. Alcyune, Horus, Bebe… I want to know the name of the one who defeated three of four proud Malferand Knights.”
“H-, How did you know it was me?”
“Hmph. I followed the scent on their corpses. Every one of them has your scent on them.”
“B-, By scent…”
“Indeed. With my sense of smell, it was an easy task… Well? Your name?”
“…”
“What’s wrong? Your name! HURRY AND SPEAKK!”
“Y-, Yes, it’s Tilea.”
“I see. Then Tilea, I shall be avenging my comrades!”

Basten prepared for battle. The atmosphere began to quake as the mana transmitted through the air.

W-, What incredible mana!

Demons really are on a different scale to us. But even so, Ms. Tilea can do something about this.

“Now, Ms. Tilea. Please use your laminariales as usual to…”
“I-, It’s no good… H-, How could this happen.”
“Ms. Tilea?”
“W-, Why is it a werewolf! T-, THE WEAKPOINT HAS CHAAAAAANGEEEEDDDDDDD!”

Eh? What’s that mean? She won’t be throwing laminariales like usual?

“UWAHH! I’ll be killed! S-, Somebody… I-, I know! I-, It’s your turnnn! Slaughter Sword Ozuma! Blue Comet Shaben! Destroyer General Shana!”

Ms. Tilea began begging the F-rank adventurers to save her. Everyone seemed to be stunned by the sudden appearance of the demon, but Ms. Tilea’s loud voice woke them up.

“UWAHHHH! D-, DON’T DRAG ME INTO THISS!”
“S-, Somebody call the Public Safety Forcee!”
“H-, Hiii! W-Why is a demon here!?”

They discarded their prided weapons and ran left and right. Even if it’s a demon, aren’t you guys too panicked? Even a new student at the Academy wouldn’t act so shamefully.

Well, maybe it can’t be helped. Even an A-ranked adventurer wouldn’t stand a chance against this Basten demon.

To say nothing of F-rankers…

“Tsk. A noisy bunch of flies, aren’t you.”

In that instant, a flash of demonic light struck from his hands. It was so fast I didn’t even see him move. All the adventurers were killed in an instant. Some of them had their heads sliced in two, the brain tissue spilling out. Others were bisected from top to bottom, and all kinds of viscera splashed from inside.

“Now then, the nuisances are out of the way. Time to―”
“I-, It’s bad! A demon appeared! Enemy attack!”

Hearing the noise, the guards assembled. Every one of them had their weapons in hand as they faced Basten down.

“Impertinent! The first thing I’ll do is tidy up you riffraff!”

Basten roared and sent the guards flying.

Aahh, they really were no match. We were already lacking all the strongest members like Captain Remilia to begin with. I need to get Ms. Tilea to fight somehow.

“Ms. Tile—”
“Jessica, n-now’s our chance to run!”
“Eh!? W-, Wait a mo―”

Ms. Tilea grabbed my hand and forcefully dragged me outside.

Why is Ms. Tilea running?

“Ms. Tilea, why won’t you fight like usual?”
“Jessica, it’s impossible this time. The enemy is a werewolf. Laminariales won’t work.”
“But why? Even a werewolf should be fine for you. Please just try throwing the laminariales.”
“Jessica, it won’t work. Laminariales and crosses won’t work against a werewolf. Aaahh, if only I had a silver bullet…”

Silver boolet?

Ms. Tilea started fixating on something weird again. Even though laminariales would work just fine…

What should I do? How can I persuade her? Or would it be faster just to play along with her?

“Ms. Tilea, I don’t quite know what a boolet is, but would a lump of silver work?”
“Yeah, as long as it’s made of silver…”

I quietly picked up a stone from the roadside, and alchemized it into lead. I might not be able to create gold or silver, but I’m plenty skilled enough to create lead.

“Ms. Tilea, the truth is I have some silver with me.”

Saying that, I handed the lead stone to Ms. Tilea.

“EEH!? Really? What a coincidence! With this, we can beat him… Waii, is this really silver? It’s not really shining, and dull, almost like lead…”

Ms. Tilea made an obviously suspicious expression. Well of course. It really is a clump of lead.

“Ms. Tilea, that stone is actually an heirloom passed down in my Nichol family. Over the hundreds of years that we’ve had it, it’s gained a dignified tinge to it. But I can assure you that it’s silver.”

I wonder if my excuse was a bit lame. I don’t think even Ms. Tilea would be fooled by―

“I see! Now that you mention it, it really does look kind of elegant and silvery.”

SHE BELIEVED IT! I just blurted some nonsense. As Ms. Tilea took a good look at the lead, she praised, “The skill of a craftsman sure shines, huh~” and nodded.

“Then Ms. Tilea, please don’t be shy. Please throw that at Basten in place of the laminariales.”
“Yeah… Are you really okay with this? It’s an heirloom, isn’t it?”
“It’s fine, Ms. Tilea. In fact, I think that my ancestors would be happy as well, if they knew it was used to defeat a demon.”

Ms. Tilea, it’s just a clump of lead I created at random, so you don’t have to worry about that.

“I see. Then I won’t hold back― Oh no, that won’t work!”

Ms. Tilea lamented. Apparently there was yet another problem.

“Ms. Tilea, what’s the matter this time?”
“Jessica, you know, when it comes to silver bullets they can’t be thrown by hand. They’re only as small as a bullet after all. You need a pistol to shoot it.”

Aahh, so annoying. Can’t be helped. I’ll just deceive her somehow.

But what’s a ‘pistel’ anyway?

Hmm~ From what she said, I’m assuming it’s a weapon like a bowgun. After all, she said that you can’t just throw it.

Huhu, if Ms. Tilea would just throw it, it would reach speeds impossible for a bowgun though. But even if I said that, I doubt Ms. Tilea would believe me.

In that case…

I know! As I recall, Ms. Tilea said that she could use elementary magic, didn’t she. I’ll have her throw it with magic. Besides, her ‘elementary magic’ is definitely going to end up being a match for our ‘final tier magic’. If it’s Ms. Tilea, I think she’ll be able to beat him with magic as well.

“If you can’t just throw it, then you can release the silver with magic, Ms. Tilea. You said that you could use magic, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. Only elementary magic though.”
“There’s no problem. Even elementary magic can produce incredible speeds. It can reach an itchimilicon per second.”

I’m honestly astounded by myself. I bet even a child wouldn’t be fooled, but… it should be fine since it’s her, right?

“I see! I don’t really get it, but that sounds really fast! Definitely as fast as a pistol. No, maybe even more. As expected of a fantasy world.”

Yep, I knew it! She started muttering words I didn’t understand again, but it seems that I convinced her at least.

“So this is where you were. I’ve crushed all the garbage inside. Now then, shall the strongest begin their fight!”

After finishing with the Headquarters, Basten appeared and roared fearlessly at her.

“Jessica, stand back. Leave this to me…”
“Y-, Yes.”

I obediently left things to Ms. Tilea. Thank goodness. She’s motivated now.

“You defeated Bebe and the others. I’ll begin at full power! HAAAHH!”

Basten’s mana suddenly surged.

N-, No way. The already high mana rose even further. C-, Could this be the same amount as the huge mana I detected?

Then, Basten created a high density flame.

A-, Amazing. This isn’t anywhere near kilo, or mega anymore.

Giga… No, perhaps the legendary Terafire…

I was overwhelmed by Basten’s flame spell. On the other hand, Ms. Tilea seemed happy with the lead I alchemized. She was filled with confidence, or perhaps I could even say that she was acting careless.

This won’t do. Even if it’s Ms. Tilea, if she’s hit by that…

I was about to warn her but… my body suddenly swayed.

N-, No good. This again. A demon’s pressure. At this range, I can’t hold on.

Ahh, no good, my consciousness is fading. M-, Ms. Tilea, the rest is up to you.