Dark Fantasy’s Extra

Hilde swung her axe relentlessly at Sephira.

However, Sephira easily blocked all attacks with her bare hands, and even caught the axe blade several times.

“It’s good that you can attack without hesitation. That was my biggest concern, so I’m relieved.” Sephira said while dodging Hilde’s attacks by the smallest margins.

“You seem to have grasped the basics of magical power too. However…” 

She lightly tripped Hilde’s foot.

“Ugh?!”

Hilde immediately lost her balance and fell.

“Did you perhaps injure your leg? Your body’s reaction seems a bit excessive.”

Sephira turned to me and asked.

“Ah, yes! It’s almost healed, but she got slightly injured during a mission.”

So it wasn’t completely healed after all.

“I see.”

“No, no, I can still continue!”

Hilde stood up using her axe handle as support.

“My leg is fine. It doesn’t hurt at all!”

“Yes. I thought as much. It’s not severe enough to halt the test.”

Sephira had seen through everything.

“Going back to what I was saying earlier. While you seem to have grasped the basics of magical power, your physical fundamentals are still lacking.”

Sephira crossed her arms in thought.

“Your stance is unstable. While it’s certainly impressive that you’ve grown this strong in such a short time, a weakness is still a weakness. Please pay more attention to this.”

“Yes!”

Both Hilde and I answered simultaneously.

“Those of us born with an aptitude for magical power manipulation tend to have the bad habit of trying to cover all our weaknesses with magical power. This is very important, so remember it well.”

“Hehe.”

Latina laughed at Sephira’s words.

“You’re giving the exact same advice you received. Hey mister, did you know? Back when Sephira was with old man Crowty…”

“Ms. Latina.”

Sephira cleared her throat to stop her.

“Ah, sorry sorry. Was that an embarrassing story?”

“…Let’s continue.”

The sparring between Sephira and Hilde continued.

“Hmm… this is somewhat unexpected.” 

Said Latina, who had been watching them.

“Hey, did you really teach this kid?”

“Yes.”

“How long have you been teaching her?”

“About 2-3 weeks since she joined.”

“Really?”

“Pardon?”

“Honestly, I’m really surprised.”

“About what?”

“She’s doing much better than I expected. Even with exceptional aptitude, it’s only been 2 weeks since joining? Yet in that short time, a noble young lady who knew nothing can fight like this?”

“Hilde’s talent was truly extraordinary.”

“Well, I’m sure it is. Until now, Sephira was the only one with exceptional aptitude. That’s why everyone initially thought Sephira would teach her.”

“She had other important missions…”

“I know. It’s the same for our side too. Ah, was I not supposed to say that?”

“That much is fine.”

Just then, another hunter walked up from behind and spoke.

It was the man who had been training with Latina earlier.

“It’ll be announced soon anyway. It’s not really that much of a secret.”

“That’s good then.”

Latina said to Runius.

Runius Millith.

Even in Blue Paper Moon, he was a high-tier hunter who was close to Latina.

As his surname suggests, he’s of noble birth like Crowty and Hilde.

“That aside, I was quite surprised too. To think Miss Hilde would become this strong already. It took me two months to be able to fight like that.”

“Right? She really has incredible talent, doesn’t she? Though she seems a bit slower than Sephira.”

What?

Slower growth than Sephira?

Even now, she was casually deflecting Hilde’s attacks without showing any signs of strain.

If she got serious, she could probably subdue someone at Hilde’s level using just a few fingers rather than her bare hands – that’s how relaxed she looked.

“But that’s not what’s important. More impressive than her skill is that look in her eyes.”

Latina said.

“Those are the eyes of someone who can fight. Just how did you train her?”

Though all of Hilde’s attacks were being blocked or countered, she wasn’t backing down at all.

Her strong determination could be felt even from here.

“Technically, talent might somehow make up for it, but that kind of thing only comes from actual combat experience.”

“If you mean actual combat, she started from her very first day after joining.”

I answered honestly.

“What?”

“What did you say?”

The two high-tier hunters looked at me with disbelief.

“Hold on, explain that in detail. What do you mean actual combat from day one? What exactly did you do?”

“On the first day, she immediately faced Beast-transformed creatures and hunted a mid-tier Beast together.”

“That’s absurd…”

“Hahaha!”

Latina burst out laughing, cutting off Runius’s words.

Her laughter was hearty, unlike her petite frame.

“Are you insane?! Miss Hilde is a precious talent with exceptional aptitude! This is truly unbelievable! How could someone like you be in charge of education…!”

“Hey now! This person is a true teacher, so watch what you say!”

She said while patting my shoulder.

Though she probably didn’t mean to, it really hurt…

“There’s no better training than actual combat. Better to hunt even low-tier Beasts than spend hundreds or thousands of days punching air in some corner.”

“Even so, not a mid-tier Beast! On her first day after joining, she would’ve been a civilian who didn’t even know magical power basics!”

“Well, seeing as they’re both unharmed, they must have managed fine. Right?”

“Ah, yes. We did manage to hunt it.”

“You didn’t just do everything for her, did you?”

“We took turns fighting or cooperated… something like that.”

“Excellent!”

“Urgh… Don’t you understand? Such a crude method isn’t appropriate for this kind of talent! For someone with exceptional aptitude…”

“Runius, you weren’t exceptional like me either.”

At Latina’s words, he was left speechless.

“If anything, the ones who know this Hilde best right now are Sephira and this mister… ah, what was your name again?”

“It’s Eugene.”

“Ah, right. Eugene…”

“…Are you really Eugene?”

Runius asked with skepticism.

“Pardon?”

“There was a lower-ranked hunter named Eugene whom Sir Crowty highly praised, but surely you’re not…”

“As far as I know, I’m the only lower-ranked hunter named Eugene…”

“…This is unbelievable. Sir Crowty…”

“See? That old man does have an eye for talent.”

“…”

Deep wrinkles formed on Runius’s forehead as if he still couldn’t understand.

“Just who are you…”

“Whoa?!”

Just then, Sephira lightly pushed Hilde away.

That alone sent Hilde flying back more than 2 meters.

“Wh-what was that just now…?”

Hilde was clearly bewildered.

“That’s a technique called Bash. As you can see, the effect simply pushed you away.”

“Is it a technique using magical power?”

“That’s right. Now that the test is over, let me give you homework.”

Sephira turned to me.

“Mr. Eugene, please teach Hilde Bash by next Saturday. You should know how to do it?”

“Ah, yes. But…”

That’s a bit earlier than I had planned in my training schedule.

“It was excellent that you’ve trained Hilde this far already. But she needs at least one technique that applies magical power to maintain appearances.”

“Appearances?”

“Yes. There will be an occasion to showcase Hilde’s abilities 16 days from now.”

“Ah… huh?”

Wait, 16 days from now?

But Hilde and I need to go to Cranion then?

“Is something happening?”

“Hm? Ah, well…”

What should I do?

It’s clearly an important gathering of high-ranking people, but I can’t just say we’ll skip it…

“If time is the issue, perhaps a simpler technique…”

Sephira’s mention of another technique suddenly gave me an idea.

“We already have one of those.”

“…?”

Sephira’s expression went blank for a moment.

Not just her, but the other high-tier hunters around us, and even Hilde herself seemed surprised.

“That’s impossible… Even with everything, to have already learned a technique applying magical power…”

“Hey, isn’t that claim a bit too much, even for you?”

“S-Senior?”

I went over to Hilde and whispered in her ear.

“You deflected that weapon back at the temple, remember?”

Hilde had already used Parry, a technique applying magical power, during the fight with Jack.

“That was just luck when it happened.”

“But you still remember how you did it, right?”

“Still, I’m not yet…”

“This isn’t actual combat. Just calmly recall how you did it then and show it again. You can do it.”

“But…”

“It’s okay if you fail. It won’t be your fault. Just try it first.”

“…Yes.”

I turned to Sephira.

“Lady Sephira, please attack Hilde slowly, just once.”

“Slowly? That’s not difficult…”

“Thank you… You can do this. Just stay calm.”

After getting her permission, I patted Hilde’s back and stepped away.

Then Sephira and Hilde faced each other again.

“Though I’m not sure what you’re planning, this will be the last one. I have another appointment to get to.”

“Haah… Yes! Please!”

Hilde took a deep breath and steeled herself again.

She really does well when it matters.

“Here I come then.”

Sephira extended her palm toward Hilde.

The attack was neither too slow nor too fast.

She’s probably going to use Bash like before.

Hilde stared at it intently, and when it came close, she deflected the hand sideways with her axe handle.

Though it was a simple motion, the moment the hand and axe handle met, there was a sound like an explosion and Sephira lost her balance and fell sideways.

“Ah…?”

“Whaaaat?!?!”

Runius and Latina were shocked.

“Yes!”

I clenched my fist.

“…?”

Sephira raised her upper body from where she had fallen.

Though she wasn’t hurt, her usually calm expression was dazed.

She couldn’t understand what had just happened.

No, she probably does understand.

She must know what technique it was.

“Parry…?”

Sephira muttered while opening and closing the hand that had hit the axe.

“I-I did it!”

Hilde shouted with her arms spread wide.

“Senior! I succeeded!”

“Yeah! Well done!”

I hope this means we won’t have to go to that technique demonstration 16 days from now.

If Sephira writes a report saying Hilde can use a technique applying magical power, that should be enough.

Of course, I’m genuinely happy that Hilde’s technique succeeded too.

But beneath that joy was also amazement.

To be honest, I had considered the possibility of failure, but I didn’t expect her to succeed right away.

Is this protagonist privilege or something?

“My goodness! Did she really just use Parry? A rookie who’s only been here 2 weeks actually used something like that?”

“Impossible… It took me 3 years to learn that technique…”

Leaving the two still-surprised high-tier hunters behind, I went back to Sephira.

She was still sitting on the ground.

“Lady Sephira, let’s get you up first.”

I extended my hand to Sephira.

“…”

She still looked dazed, but upon seeing my hand, she seemed to come to her senses and stood up on her own.

It’s a bit awkward having my hand ignored, but this is just how she is.

“Ahem, ahem. Lady Sephira. About that technique demonstration in 16 days…”

“…Was that technique something you taught?”

“Huh? No, Hilde by herself…”

“It was thanks to Senior!”

Hilde said.

“After all, Senior was the one who taught me everything about how to see and use magical power in the first place. I just tried what came to mind.”

“That’s… hmm…”

Sephira pondered.

“Originally, I planned to showcase Hilde before the headquarters officials in 16 days, but let’s cancel that.”

Really?!

“Instead, it would be better to present this as an agenda item at the grand conference where high-ranking officials from other branches will all be in attendance.”

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