CHAPTER 23: MY MAGIC ARROW HERO

“Ow!”

Misnia dramatically fell over.

A battle of shooting Magic Arrows while retreating—Choosing not to play along with such a farce, Misnia tried to be the first one to escape and brilliantly fell flat on her face.

“Ah, Miss Misnia!”

“Are you injured!?”

Followers A and B ran back to Misnia in a panic.

“I-I’m fine—Ow!”

Misnia tried to stand to her feet, but she felt a sharp pain in her foot and tumbled to the ground for the second time.

It appears like she sprained her foot.

Followers A and B tried to escape while carrying her under their arms, but they couldn’t go very fast.

The ever-encroaching mud dolls from the lake were only meters away.

“Tch, Magic Arrow!”

She turned around and fired a Magic Arrow, blasting one of the mud doll’s head off. It lost its entire head and crumbled, turning into a clump of mud and falling to the ground.

However, the swarm of mud dolls wouldn’t stop after losing one or two.

The mud dolls closed in on Misnia one by one.

“Magic Arrow! Magic Arrow!”

“Magic Arrow!”

Misnia’s followers frantically cast their spells, but—

Their march was unstoppable.

Frozen in fear, the followers who were carrying Misnia ended up dropping her. 

Misnia fell head-first to the ground, then yelled at her followers in a voice brimming with fury.

“What the hell are you doing, you scum!? Hurry it up!”

“It’s impossible! This is impossible!”

“I can’t carry someone and run at the same time!” 

After responding like so, the followers yelled, “I’m sorry, Miss Misnia!” then ran away and abandoned Misnia.

“W-… Y-You two!”

She didn’t have the time to throw a hateful gaze at their backs.

The unspeaking mud dolls had already closed in on Misnia. They sluggishly held their muddy hands out.

“Don’t touch me with your filthy hands! Magic Arrow!”

She brought down one doll.

However, there was no longer any meaning in doing so. The dolls reached out to Misnia one by one, staining her pearly-white skin. 

“N-NOOOOOOOOO! SOMEONE! SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEE!”

“Albert, please wake up! Albert!”

The feeling of being shaken and a sudden voice brought me back to reality from my sound sleep.

“…Hm, what is it…?”

I opened my eyes while thinking about how familiar that voice was.

There, I saw Laura. 

I’m supposed to be sleeping in the tent, but I guess it’s already time to swap shifts…

However, Laura was acting unexpectedly strangely.

“Laura… You seem flustered. Did something happen?”

“It’s an enemy! An enemy is attacking!”

“An enemy?”

“Yes. The Water Spirit from this afternoon is raiding us! She has mud dolls in tow! As of now, Ms. Flin is out battling them.”

“Flin is?”

It seems like things have gotten serious. I woke myself up.

“Is it dangerous?”

“Yes. The students are currently evacuating while fighting them off. Ms. Flin is alone in enemy territory, trying to assist with the evacuation!”

Laura took my hand and spoke.

“Albert! Let’s go and support Ms. Flin right now!”

Naturally, I wouldn’t choose to leave Flin behind.

I wanted to help her just as much as Laura did.

However—

I was unable to respond immediately.

“Flin is a much better magician than me. Even if a low-grade magician like myself went and backed her up—”

I wasn’t getting cold feet.

I simply considered the sheer difference in ability. Even if the likes of myself assisted Flin, I would only add to her burden. 

It’d be better to not go if all I’d do was drag her down.

Laura made a dumbfounded face in response to what I said.

Then suddenly, with an extremely angry look—

“What are you talking about!? You’re an amazing magician, Albert!”

Laura declared loudly.

I felt a weight in my chest.

Laura is mistaken. I’m a useless magician who failed ten years ago. In a world where the number of spells you can use means everything, a defective magician who can’t use more than a single spell—

I’m glad Laura had hope in me.

However, in order to shatter the false image she had of me, I needed to tell the truth. 

“Laura.”

“Yes.”

“Listen closely to what I’m about to say. There’s still something I haven’t told you. It’s uh, a little embarrassing to say…”

“…What is it?”

“You see, I—”

“Yes.”

“Can only use Magic Arrow.”

“What?”

“In this world, a magician’s status is decided by the number of spells they can use. And I… can only use a single spell.”

Then, I continued like so.

“A third-rate magician with only a thousandth of One Thousand’s worth—That’s me.”

Laura, who had a surprised look on her face—

Shouted in a voice even louder than before.

“I’m telling you, so what!?”

“Huh?”

“I’ve vaguely known that you can’t use many spells! Despite that, I’ve never once believed that you aren’t incredible! Who cares if you can only use a single spell! If you have just one thing that you’ve refined to perfection, then that’s all you need! Be proud of what you have! You have something that not a single person can imitate, after all!”

She must be feeling emotional—she continued to talk even more.

“You’ve saved me more times than I can count with that Magic Arrow of yours! When I thought I wasn’t going to make it to the test, and when I thought we were going to be annihilated after the Goblin Lord attacked—you saved me!”

Laura continued to speak as tears formed in her eyes.

“Your strength and your kindness are what makes Albert Albert! More than even the legendary magician of 1000! More than even the genius magician of 700! I believe Albert is more of a hero than anyone else!”

Laura gripped my hand and looked downwards.

“You are my friend. I believe in you—I respect you. More than anyone or anything else!”

Then, she said one last thing.

“So please, don’t call yourself a worthless human being…!”

I felt like I was standing in the middle of a storm.

I felt one of the weights in my heart fade away.

So that’s it.

So Laura believes in me, at the very least.

So that very Laura is asking me for help.

“Laura.”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I can save Flin?”

Still looking downwards, Laura answered.

“Of course. Albert can do it!”

“I got it.”

I still didn’t have any confidence in myself—I couldn’t have faith in myself. I still thought that someone like myself had no value.

Despite that, the girl in front of me believed in me.

That’s all the reason I needed.

“For the Laura who believes I’m a hero—”

Then, I declared.

“I’ll become a hero.”

The same time I spoke, Laura’s head sprung up.

“Albert—!”

It was at that moment.

Someone tore the tent open. With filthy, dark hands, they ripped the tent open and entered.

“What’s that?”

“That’s the enemy.”

“I see.”

Then I guess there was no need to hold back.

Holding out my hand, I pulled the trigger in the same indifferent way as always.

“Magic Arrow.”

 With a thunderous roar, the mud dolls were annihilated.