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Ciel showed a loving, tender smile. Ciel is already 13 years old. In this world, she’s only two years away from adulthood. And maybe because of that, her expression had an air of maturity to it.
However, in my old world, she would be a middle schooler. She’s still very much a child.
Though I do vaguely recall there being mature kids back in my middle school too… I think.

While I was dwelling on Ciel’s expression, she began talking to Mia.

「Mia, have you gotten used to it yet?」
「Yes. Thanks to your and Lady Ainsel’s consideration, I believe I can now decently perform as a hunter.」
「I’m glad to hear that.」
「After all, I have been provided with various experiences to learn from on the way. I was able to battle monsters with such security solely thanks to Lady Ainsel’s efforts.」
「Right, that’s right! There were close calls that would’ve been bad if it wasn’t for Ain!」

Since the topic was now about me, Ciel immediately perked up… Honestly, I suspect Mia was praising me out of consideration. It feels wrong to say this, but if you want to cheer Ciel up, just praise me.
She’ll get angry if it’s obvious, half-hearted flattery, though.

So, about what they mentioned, because I had a barrier defending her, Mia certainly did have the opportunity to fight with monsters under complete safety.
Based on pure offensive capability, she is capable of defeating C-rank monsters. Mia will be single-mindedly attacking in this scenario, so she’ll be immediately defeated without anyone protecting her.
If she puts effort into defending, she will not be hit by attacks from C-rank monsters. However, she won’t have the leeway to attack in this scenario, so in a battle of attrition, she’ll run out of energy and be defeated.

For better or for worse, because of my barrier, Mia has become capable of casting sorcery unfazed even when there’s a monster right in front of her, so she’ll likely become a valuable asset if she ever joins a C-rank party.
Honestly, she can probably even stand her ground within a B-rank party.
Mia’s Job is Advanced Sorcerer. It’s a generalist-type rather than a specialist sorcerer Job, but it’s still great nonetheless. At the very least, it’s much more reputable than Dance Princess or Song Princess.

For Advanced Sorcerers, while chant invocation is still necessary, they can be shortened.
Moreover, in Mia’s case, as a result of her personal sorcery studies, she can use sorcery with only an “Oh xx” chant. With a simple “Oh fire”, she can cast a fire arrow. The exact shape and size of the spell are subject to her control.
In exchange, it apparently becomes much more difficult to control, but unlike with specialist sorcerers, she does have the advantage of shortened cast time for a wider variety of spells.
Naturally, she can produce drinking water and, if need be, she can even create a space that can repel falling rainwater. It’s by no means a comfortable space, but I suppose it’s highly preferable to being exposed to the elements.

I was starting to think that all the manor’s servants might be as capable as her, but it seems only Mia has the skill to achieve this much. I guess I was wrong to assume that there are many with the potential to reach A-rank with training and due diligence like her.
I feel like we’ve met quite a few with that potential, although it’s likely because people of nobility tend to have the aptitude for becoming high-ranked hunters. And, because we’re high-ranked hunters as well.
Or maybe I simply don’t remember much about low-ranked hunters.

The only low-rank hunter whose name I can still recall is Perla. I wonder how she’s doing these days.

While having this random thought in mind, I probed farther than my usual observation range with a different detection method and noticed some sort of trouble brewing.
This detection magic is something I can’t use while moving. It has terrible accuracy as well, so I can only perceive broad strokes. Whenever I do detect something, it’s generally too far away to be of any relevance. Because of that, I’m utilizing it mainly for magic and sorcery training, but… It seems like I can’t brush this one off as mere training this time.

『Ciel, we have a problem.』
『A problem? What is it?』
『Possibly a small-scale monster stampede. Though I call it small, they number roughly a hundred.』
『Well, doesn’t that sound familiar? It’s not as many as the one I know of, though.』

There was no urgency in Ciel’s voice; rather, she was even joking about it. It must be because Ciel understands that we’re not at any risk of danger.
Even if all hundred of them are A-ranked monsters, I’m confident that I’ll be able to protect both Mia and Ciel. And if they are S-rank, I will never let them lay a finger on Ciel either way.

She must have realized that this is likely to be an artificially induced stampede. Natural stampedes don’t occur on such small scales, nor do they typically happen near a royal capital.
There was that incident at a certain kingdom somewhere, though.

『So, why is this a problem?』
『We don’t have time to wait for it to subside, and even if it’s resolved swiftly, the roads might still be temporarily obstructed as a result. We’re close to the royal capital, and while the capital’s defenses could easily handle an outbreak of this scale, such an occurrence should have been improbable.』
『Then what should we do?』
『Right… We can either go on ahead and ignore the stampede or resolve the stampede before continuing on, I suppose?』

We can navigate through it without any issue, and if we address the stampede before things escalate, everything should resolve peacefully.
However, given that the stampede is likely artificially induced, there must be a mastermind behind it. If we simply bypass it and enter the royal capital, it might raise questions about how we avoided it or, in the worst case, may lead to suspicions of our involvement.
Hearing my response, Ciel consulted with Mia.

「I believe it would be best to quell it without the mastermind noticing, but…」
「I knew it. But that’s impossible, right?」
「Both you and Lady Ainsel are quite noticeable by the nature of your Jobs, after all.」
「If there’s a chance we might be spotted, then appearing as Ailniege with Mia in view isn’t good.」
『Will you go as ‘Ainsel’ and keep your face and hair concealed?』

Ideally, I would handle this situation myself—if it involved people, I could manage it. But since it’s a stampede, I have no choice but to leave Ciel to handle care of it.

『Right, let’s go with that.』
『Just to be safe, I should maintain control until the battle begins.』

If they see someone with black hair, it will make it easier for the white-haired Ailniege to move about freely.

『Are we not going to change?』
『That would be overkill. Besides, I’d rather not change into that here.』
『That’s a shame.』

True to her words, she wore a deeply disappointed expression, and behind her, Lisyl mirrored that disappointment. I understand the sentiment, but Ciel, of all people, you should know that I’d be reluctant about it in the first place.

『For now, can we switch places?』
『Sure. I’ll leave it to you.』
『Of course. I’ll handle it.』

After taking control, the color of my hair and eyes changed. I quickly briefed Mia before putting on the mask.

And that’s the end of this chapter! Seems like there’s a monster stampede on the way.

Ain and Ciel be like, “Déjà vu, I’ve just been in this place before” right now. They don’t just have two nickles; they have three at this point. Seriously though, considering the mechanism of how monster outbreaks occur (years of miasma accumulation and culling neglect), encountering 3 stampedes within the span of 3 years is peak protagonist bad luck. Wishing your enemies to be the protagonist of a story might just be the best way to curse them with consistent bad luck.

Returning to the slice-of-life character interactions of our cast, it’s nice that Ciel has learned to be attentive to non-Ain people. And that Ain has relearned normal socialization as well. Also, I appreciate the continuity of Mia being a talented sorcerer like Viviana and it’s also funny how Mia immediately became reliant on Ain’s barrier like Ciel is. Safety first, though. I’m honestly excited for new character interactions; let’s hope it goes well~

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!