The girl who was told to be talentless was actually a talented monster
The girl who was told to be talentless was actually a talented monster
"You have no talent for this, I’m removing you from the party.”
The party leader Aldis told to the girl. Girl accepted his remarks with a resolute look on her face.
It has been half a year since she became an apprentice to her much-admired hero, Aldis. Whether if it’s either cooking, laundry or carrying luggage and even verbal abuse and violence, she silently endured and accepted all kinds of tasks, may it be reasonable or unreasonable or menial. If Aldis was displeased, even if she did nothing wrong, she’d get beaten and spat on.
Her beautiful pale pink hair eventually turned dull and dirty.
They would not even allow her to have a weapon for self-defense, thus her small figure was slowly carrying the heavy baggage with all her might.
She was always given left-overs to fill her stomach with, at times there wasn’t even leftovers to eat. Always filled with hunger and very little sleep. When camping out, most of the time she was allotted for lookout, thus she could barely get any sleep in.
Even so the girl withstood it all. This much is nothing, I’m an apprentice after all. Master Aldis is just testing me this time, or so she told herself.
Her face never held a frown, always smiling. Even while being kicked, she told herself that she must have been blocking their path and that she will be more careful from now on. She was so incredibly positive.
“Are you dissatisfied? Well, this is the hard truth”
“N, no…”
[Yggdrasil], the hero party led by Aldis, the ones who conquered the uncharted land called ‘Sole of the world’. And the leader of Yggdrasil, Aldis, could wipe out thousands of monsters if he were to stand in vanguard and none would be left with harmed in his rearguard.
He held the highest-class occupation in the world, [Ark Knight]. Multi-talented genius, the savior, hero, praises of masses went on and on.
“Finally, huh?”
Dorland, half human and half beastmen, the one who could shake dragon with a single fist. In a fight without magic, many believed that he could even win over Aldis.
There’s probably no job in the world that pushes physical limits of the body as much as [World Grappler] does. Spirit bullet (ki-dan気弾) a skill that doesn’t use magic power, yet it’s famed as a foul technique that would make any magicians face turn pale.
“Well now, even this girl worked hard, no?”
Zulu, a man who always takes a neutral stance. But if you get caught in the many layers of his traps, struggle becomes meaningless.
It might be a poisonous monster wrapped up in solid scales, even the deadly poison wouldn’t pose a threat if it’s caught in the trap. Sometimes a hoard of monsters is dealt with a one single trap.
Nimble hands and dexterity of a thief, terrain knowledge and traps of a ranger, assassination techniques of an assassin; perfect integration of all the skills above is his job, [Shadow Ranger].
“Wouldn’t that still be useful for relieving stress?”
Clarine, the healer of Yggdrasil with the shameful nickname, ‘ruthless celestial maiden’. As the name suggests, she has callous personality and a very foul mouth. However, her foresight to know the exact timing to deploy support and healing magic is simply miraculous.
Surpassing the ranks of [Bishop] class, [Holy Bishop] is the pinnacle of priesthood. In general, it is said that it’s difficult to cure diseases with healing magic but [Holy Bishop] is easily able to achieve that feat.
“So, if you combine fire and wind, that magic will be complete…”
As for the magician Bandera(バンデラ) who is widely known and feared, by the name of ‘Calamity of fire’. Currently she is so absorbed in his magic to even spare a glance at us. Her curiosity is only towards magic and for magic only.
[Sage] is a step higher than the ranks of a sorcerer, there are only few people to hold the title in the world including her. Along with the nickname, one magic bullet to kill all.
Dorland looks down at the girl alongside Aldis. Standing against his huge stature, the girl looked up quietly.
“Our next goal is the ‘Ceiling of the world’. You are here at 15 years old, with no combat experience, no skills, nor any titles, those who could make it here have been having all this since they were kids. As it seems it’s better for you to go back home and keep working on the fields.”
The reason why Yggdrasil picked up the girl on a village they stopped by was, solely on a random whim of Aldis.
Since he held too much talent, he had a twisted trait. Long story short, it’s simply a matter of strong preying on the weak.
The renowned hero party was a such an unimaginable sight to the parents who sent their daughter off, hoping for her success.
This small village was at a remote area, deep in the mountains. Their only income was the small number of crops that were grown. The travelers who passed by the village and the stories of their travels was their source of entertainment. The girl was also a huge fan of such stories.
A world, where there’s a corridor that leads to underground.
A world, where there’s a garden that leads to the sky.
A world covered in walls of darkness.
A story about a hero who rode a dragon and saved the world.
A story about girl who could freely manipulate any object.
They may not necessarily be true but the more she heard them, the more her longing for the outside world grew. But her parents were outright refused it. As a parent, they couldn’t allow their only daughter to become an adventurer.
Even when she played with wooden sticks pretending to be swordsman, she was scolded. This closed environment might have been oppressing but it did nothing to hold down her adventurous spirit.
I don’t want to be the protagonist of any story, not even the supporting role. I just want t see it, I want to hear it, I want to experience it. I cannot sleep without dreaming about it.
If Aldis hasn’t appeared when he did, this girl would have spent her whole life in the village or may have runaway at some point. If only Aldis hadn’t found the girl wielding with wooden sticks as usual, if only he hadn't said, there’s something I want to see, so I'll make you my apprentice that day.
“Please take a look at my swordsmanship, I’ll give up if it still doesn’t work.”
“Ah… right, that’s still dissatisfying. But I understand, this kind Aldis-sama will give you one last chance”
“Really?! Thank you so much”
“Don’t be in such a hurry to say thanks. After all, you’ll be spending a week inside the demon forest from now on. And only if you’re able to survive safely for an entire week, then you won’t be expelled from the party”
“Demon forest?”
The girl was the only one that was unable to grasp the true meaning of smirk on Aldis’s face that time. Even Dorland, who was criticizing the girl just now, frowned at Aldis.
Clarine muttered something under her breath as if she was convinced, Bandera put down her book. Everyone went silent.
“So, what will you do?”
“I’ll do it!”
“Alright then, let’s go. It’s pretty close from this place”
“Ah… you really have such horrible personality”
Clarine did not hesitate to speak out her assessment of Aldis. Whether if she had her those words or not, there was no disappointment on the girl’s face. On the contrary, her heart was beating with anticipation. The feelings of people in the party at that moment were all different to one another.
For the next few hours leading up to the Demon Forest, girl struggled to convince herself even a little. Even my cooking skills have grown a lot since before, and I’m sure I’ve gained more strength thanks to carrying heavy luggage all the time. I can handle setting up a camp and keep a good look out as well. When monsters approached, she would always loudly warm everyone. During those times, being yelled at for being too loud or getting beaten once or twice became a part of the daily routine.
The party was relaxing after having their meal at the camp near the foot of the Demon Forest. Meanwhile the girl was struggling to sate her hunger by scraping the bottom of the pot.
“Hey, isn’t it weird that someone with no talent whatsoever makes an effort? Efforts are usually made by people who are able to bear fruits of it, that’s why it’s called an effort. Incompetence is just waste of effort”
“Then Aldis, have you ever made that much an effort in to something?”
” I don’t even need to make such efforts to do anything, how about you, Dorland?”
“I’m maintaining my muscle strength so it never drops, but there hasn’t been any worthy challenge since the ‘sole of the world…’
Aldis was hailed as a genius. Although he was born as a commoner, he showed the talent for swordsmanship from an early age, overwhelming the adults while at the young age of seven. In the following year, he started defeating lowest class demons on his own.
By the time he was thirteen years old, his name started emerging amongst the populace and reached the ears of the King. Thus, under the King’s recommendation he was allowed to attend the royal academy where the prestigious aristocrats and nobility gathered. He was taunted for being a commoner, but he graduated the academy in just two years, silencing all their mockery.
In addition, even teachers had no say in the matter after half a year passed since admission.
Even if he had kept silent, he was admired and adored with many women flaunting all over him. It was inevitable for him to develop an arrogant personality never had the heart to care for the weak.
“Hey kid, do you really wanna be an adventurer?”
“Yes! Back in the village…”
“No, I didn’t ask anything else. Don’t make me repeat”
“Sorry…”
“Since that’s the case, you should be able to survive on your own in Demon Forest, right? hehehe!”
Aldis’s word were lies. There are many monsters within Demon Forest that can only be defeated by adventurers of 4th level at the very least. In other words, adventurers who have been recognized by the adventurer’s guild branch for their appropriate achievements.
Even if such an adventurer formed a party to go in to the Demon Forest, there’s still remains a possibility of death. It’s clearly not an environment where a girl with no combat experience could survive.
“Tomorrow we will finally arrive at the Demon Forest”
“Yes!”
After arriving at the Demon Forest, everything will be revealed a lie. Making a mere village girl have high expectations, just to have them crushed and despair at the face of death. Even so, she still justifies such actions as kindness in her mind.
Meeting Aldis was undeniably the girl’s misfortune.
“Well then, this is where we say farewells. I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance in a week”
“Uh, about the weapon?”
Aldis cracked a disgusting smile in reply and uttered words to strike further despair.
“Ha? Weapon? You don’t need a weapon in a place like this. What kind of an adventurer are you if you can’t survive here unarmed?”
“Is, is that so?”
“And when I told you to survive, I meant that you can’t fight. Can’t you even come up with something for it, you idiot(ボンクラ)?”
“I will do my best…”
As one would expect, despair slowly crept into the girl’s heart. By that point, she could head the queer noises and cries of many monsters mixed together from a distance. It wasn’t that she wasn’t scared or that she didn’t want to run away at that moment. But she believed that it’s not easy to makes one’s dreams come true.
“Th- Then, I’m going in! See you in next week!”
“Ah, Good luck!”
The girl went deeper in to the forest without even looking back. Immediately after she disappeared from the sight, Aldis erupts in laughter and Dorland also smiles wryly. While Clarine brushed her bangs aside, letting out a deep sigh.
Bandera was the only one who silently glanced over at Aldis.
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