Chapter 14: Life Lessons from an Elder

“Now then, you three travelers, I trust you understand the situation.”

After the villagers had dispersed, Elf turned to us.

“Leave the village first thing tomorrow morning.

By the time—”

“No, I’m staying!”

Warren stepped forward earnestly.

“I want to help.”

“Don’t be foolish, Warren.

Do you think we don’t know how to protect ourselves?”

Uncle Hans shook his head, his hearty smile still in place.

“Just go to the academy.

Everything will be fine here.”

“How could I stand by and watch this village be in danger at a time like this?

Let me stay!”

Watching Warren’s impassioned expression, I couldn’t help but admire how close he was to these people.

“I’ll stay too.”

Frey suddenly chimed in, echoing Warren.

Huh?

Why was Frey saying that too?

Was he looking to test himself again?

Or just overflowing with a sense of justice?

You two are…

Forget it.

I didn’t want to leave either.

If I left now, how would I ever redeem the humiliation of today?

I clenched my fists.

“I’m not leaving either.”

“Huh?

You three, stop messing around and just go.”

Uncle Hans kept trying to persuade us.

The three of us stood our ground, staring back at him resolutely.

…Why did this feel a little childish?

“…Fine.

Since you’re all so insistent… you may stay and help us.”

Elf cut in, overriding Hans.

“Even you’re saying that now?

…Alright, fine.

Since the mayor’s said so, I suppose I have no choice.”

Hans sighed and relented.

“But I’ll have Hans keep an eye on you and ensure your safety,” Elf continued, cautioning us.

“Remember—you must listen to what Hans says.

For now, go get some rest.”

“Got it.”

Was it really okay for him to agree so easily?

What was Elf thinking?

I couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled.

Maybe he was confident we wouldn’t change our minds?

I didn’t get it.

Back at Hans’s house, after bidding everyone goodnight, I entered the room I’d been given.

I lay on the bed and began mulling over the day’s events.

First, there was the hooded figure.

Even though some time had passed, a lingering dread still crept over me.

Maybe this failure could be chalked up to the fact that assassins hard-counter squishy mages—that was how it worked in all the games I’d played back on Earth.

But more than that, it was my own inadequacy.

Whether it was my judgment, my reflexes, or the breadth and depth of my spell repertoire… the more I thought about it, the more shortcomings I found.

And yet, in my mind, liches were supposed to be overwhelmingly powerful—whether it was the mighty Lich King from Earth’s stories or the records of liches in this world.

I’d read about liches’ combat capabilities in books back in the demon realm.

To defeat a single lich, humanity would need to deploy multiple legions, coordinate with an intricately prepared battle plan, and still suffer heavy losses—and that was against a lich without any other high-tier undead backing them up.

Yes, liches were that powerful.

I’d assumed that even as a weakened, loli-fied lich, I should still be fairly strong.

Because of those records, I’d been absolutely thrilled at the start.

I started with immense power—how could I possibly lose with a lich in my face?

And yet, reality had me beaten and humiliated.

At the same time, I made a decision.

After this whole mess was over, I would learn as many ways as possible to grow stronger at Luberg Academy.

I would!

But what was up with that hooded figure?

He clearly had dark magic at his disposal, yet he chose to use throwing knives and assassin tactics instead.

Looking for a thrill, much?

…I couldn’t figure it out.

Forget it.

I’d ask Karin—maybe she’d know.

She was, after all, an elder who’d lived over two hundred years.

Also, I needed to apologize to her first.

I pulled out the transmission stone.

“Hey, Karin—”

“Rosa, are you okay?!”

The moment I channeled enough mana into the stone, Karin’s voice burst through.

It was so loud I thought my ears would ring.

Thankfully, only the person holding the stone could hear it, or it’d definitely wake people up.

Still, it was clear Karin had been genuinely worried.

“I’m sorry, Karin.”

I apologized with sincere regret.

If I’d just listened to her advice, none of this would’ve happened, and she wouldn’t have been so concerned.

“…Well, since you’re saying that, I can more or less guess what happened.”

Karin’s voice calmed down.

“Were you hurt?”

“Yeah.

A little—but the village priest healed me.”

“Good.

I hope this experience helps you grow.

Hehe…” Karin suddenly chuckled.

“It feels so strange—you’re acting like such a petulant little loli now…

The old you would never have been like this.”

…Enough of that.

“Alright—now, tell me exactly what happened this time.”

After a moment, Karin stopped laughing.

“Someone who could beat you—though you’re not that strong—would still be no pushover.”

She had to rub it in, didn’t she?

Even though I was in the wrong, that still stung a little.

Still, I gave her a thorough account of everything.

“…Hmph.

There are indeed a lot of strange things about this,” Karin said, her tone troubled.

“A dark mage who uses throwing knives?

That makes no sense.

And why go out of his way to kill ordinary civilians?

Is he tired of living?”

So even Karin, over two hundred years old, couldn’t make sense of it.

I guess she wasn’t exactly a fount of life wisdom to pass on to the younger generation after all…

“Rosa, are you thinking something rude about me?

Let me tell you—my intuition is incredibly sharp!

I’m a master of astrology, you know!”

“Haha, no, no, absolutely not.”

Deny, deny, deny at times like this.

And could astrology really sharpen intuition?

“Hmph.

I’ll pretend I believe you…

While I can’t make sense of these oddities, if Frey’s there, he might be able to figure things out.

So just trust Frey’s judgment completely!”

She really trusted Frey that much?

What exactly made Frey so special?

“Is Frey really as impressive as you say?”

“Of course—Frey was chosen by me, after all… well, anyway, I’ve got faith in him.

Remember—listen to Frey and don’t go off on your own again!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

And of course, “knowing” was just that—knowing.

No way was I just going to follow someone else’s orders.

Hmph!

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