Category: Umareta Chokugo ni Suterareta kedo, Zensei ga Taikensha datta node Yoyuu de Ikitemasu

Just before the spear of ice could pierce my body, it shattered into fragments.

What appeared in its place was my powerful beloved staff—the Holy Dragon Staff, Lindwurm—which had been torn away from me when I was cast into this subspace.

“Linliiiiiiiiiiiiiiin! You came to save me—thank youuuuuuuuu!!”

『Yes. I didn’t really have a choice.』

Didn’t have a choice, it says.

“Mm. I came to help.”

“I was surprised when you suddenly disappeared.”

“Master, I am relieved to see you unharmed.”

“But, what a strange space this is…”

And then I realized—Fana and the others were here too.

“How did you all get here?”

『I brought them.』

“…Huh?”

The voice that reached me through telepathy belonged to the very staff Maribel had wielded during the exhibition match.

『I am Jilnitra. As you can see, Maribel has been taken over by that staff called Ouroboros. I chased after her as best I could… and that’s when I encountered the staff over there.』

(…You can communicate as well?)

Unfortunately, I had no memory of ever creating a staff like this in my previous life.

『It appears to be a magical staff created by Maribel-shi, modeled after Ouroboros. It seems she knew how to access this subspace, so the two of us worked together to break through its security and gain entry.』

(Modeled after Ouroboros, huh… I never thought anyone besides me could make something like that. Still, you saved me. Without Linlin here, I would’ve been done for—my short life cut off just like that. And I’ve still got plenty of big-breasted beauties left to enjoy.)

『…I think it would have been better if you had died.』

Gripping Lindwurm as it delivered that cutting remark, I felt my depleted magic power surge back into my body, steadily restoring me.

(Phew… this should be enough for me to keep fighting, at least…)

『To be honest, this is an extraordinarily powerful opponent.』

As I raised my beloved staff and braced myself for Ouroboros’s next attack, its head began to swallow its own body once more.

Moments later, it transformed—into a violet dragon.

“Uu…! The final of the seven colors… purple! So the most troublesome one has finally come out…!”

『Gnawing fangs, devouring cries—shattered voices rend and cleave, tearing through the darkness, biting, chewing, consuming all into ruin…』

The telepathic message made no sense whatsoever—but at the same time, the ice that had filled most of the subspace suddenly vanished. Then, around Maribel, several black spheres materialized, hovering in the air.

“Everyone, be careful! Don’t touch those—no matter what!”

No sooner had the words left my mouth, the black spheres shot toward us. As everyone scrambled to dodge, one of the spheres slammed straight into the earthen wall Anje had conjured.

Gshaa!

“W-what!? The dirt got crushed—it’s shrunk down like a stone!?”

“What just happened!?”

“…Implosion!”

“Mm… implosion…?”

“It’s a phenomenon where an object is subjected to overwhelming pressure from all directions and gets crushed in an instant.”

The violet Ouroboros enhanced gravity magic.

If even a part of your body touched one of those black spheres, that spot alone would be compressed into a lump of flesh in an instant.

『Crushing jaws creak and howl, devouring ruin, falling into the void, where even silent screams begin to tremble…』

“““—!?”””

Without warning, my entire body grew heavy—like it had been turned into lead.

“Mm… it’s so heavy…”

“This too… is that thing’s doing!?”

“I can barely even stand!”

It seemed that this time, it had increased the gravity of the entire subspace itself.

Even in this small, infant-like body, the sheer weight felt enough to crush me. And on top of that, those deadly black spheres came hurtling toward us at high speed—leaving us barely able to do anything but desperately dodge.

“It… hardly affects me.”

Amid it all, only Lill remained relatively unfazed, kicking off the ground and sprinting forward. As a Fenrir, her physical strength was on an entirely different level. Even under the intensified gravity, she launched herself at Maribel and Ouroboros with astonishing speed.

But Maribel effortlessly surpassed even that—gracefully evading Lill’s attack as if it were nothing.

“I can’t move well under this gravity… but magic is a different story! Radiant Arrow Barrage!”

The countless arrows of light I unleashed surged toward Maribel all at once. Earth magic would be heavily affected by gravity—but light was barely hindered at all.

Maribel and Ouroboros tried to escape with high-speed flight, but with the arrows imbued with a degree of homing capability, there was no way she could evade every single one.

The arrows of light tore into the multilayered barrier she had redeployed, grinding it down bit by bit.

“Once more! Radiant Arrow Barrage!”

At that moment, a fierce blast of compressed wind came roaring in—Fana’s magic.

Largely unaffected by gravity, it struck Maribel head-on, disrupting her flight—and the storm of light arrows closed in.

Even as this unfolded, Maribel retaliated with her black spheres, but Anje countered them by hurling masses of earth, neutralizing each one. Though the spheres triggered implosions upon impact, they seemed to vanish after a single use.

“…!”

At last, the multilayered barriers were completely shattered—and some of the arrows struck Maribel’s body directly.

“Good! Let’s finish this in one push!”

And then—it happened.

All at once, the crushing weight vanished. My body suddenly felt light—

—and the world flipped upside down.

“““What—!?”””

In the next instant, we were all falling—hurtling toward what had been the ceiling just moments ago—before being violently slammed against it.

“What just happened!?”

“Hmm, did up and down… switch places?”

Most likely, the direction of gravity had been reversed.

And then, immediately after, an overwhelming force yanked us sideways—sending us crashing straight into a wall.

“So it can change the direction of gravity at will…!”

From there, the pull of gravity shifted again and again in rapid succession, throwing us completely off balance. At this point, I couldn’t even tell which way was up or down anymore—let alone where Maribel was.

“Kuu… I can’t even run straight…”

Even Lill, who had been chasing after Maribel, was now unable to move properly, her footing ruined by the constantly shifting gravity.

『This is bad, Master. At this rate, the situation will only continue to worsen.』

(No… it should be soon.)

『And what do you mean by that?』

(There’s a major weakness to the magic amplification granted by Ouroboros. Do you really think a human body can keep up—burning through this level of magic and stamina, casting such powerful spells over and over?)

『…I see.』

At that moment—

The massive form of Maribel, who had been riding atop Ouroboros, suddenly swayed. For a brief moment she staggered—before being thrown from the staff and sent crashing down to the ground.“…Looks like she’s finally reached her limit. For a normal mage, that limit would have come much sooner. But thanks to it having taken control of someone as powerful as Maribel, it had taken far longer than expected.”

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---

The Rainbow Dragon Staff, Ouroboros.

Originally called the Infinite Dragon Ouroboros, it was a dragon from the age of myths. It was said to govern destruction and rebirth, and throughout history, Ouroboros had repeatedly bared its fangs at humanity, bringing about countless cataclysms.

In my previous life, upon learning of Ouroboros’s appearance, I engaged in a desperate battle against it and emerged victorious. I had managed to prevent a great disaster before it could strike.

But Ouroboros could always return. If left unchecked, a new Ouroboros would eventually appear again, wreaking untold havoc upon humanity. So I devised a plan.

“Why not just turn it into a staff?”

If I kept it in a state where it was neither alive nor dead, there would be no risk of a new Ouroboros being born. And on top of that, I could wield it as a powerful staff—two birds with one stone.

That was how the Rainbow Dragon Staff, Ouroboros, came to be—but…

“Ugh, I can’t control this thing at all. Even as a staff, it’s way too dangerous. Every chance it gets, it tries to kill me… better seal it for now.”

Unlike Lindwurm or Bahamut, using it as a staff was out of the question. I put layers upon layers of seals on it, and it was then stored as a forbidden artifact in the Tower  of the Great Sage’s repository.

『Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill… die, die, die, die, die』

The Rainbow Dragon Staff, transformed into a yellow-scaled dragon, unleashed a furious storm of lightning.

I dodged using teleportation, narrowly avoiding the strikes, but the residual shocks kept hitting me, and this small body of mine is taking damage bit by bit.

“O-okay… finally, the lightning’s letting up…?”

Breathing heavily, I looked towards Ouroboros and saw its head trying to swallow my body again, transforming from yellow to green scales.

“Yes! Green means wind magic… better than lightning, at least. Maybe I can catch my breath for a bit.”

『…Did you just say you can rest? Fufu, you seem to be severely underestimating me, don’t you? Don’t you dare—die, you idiot, you worthless piece of traaaasshhhh!!』

In an instant, the polite tone vanished, replaced by a barrage of filthy curses.

One dragon, multiple personalities.

A ferocious wind tore through the pocket dimension. My small body was lifted into the air, caught in a rapidly spinning vortex.

“I’m getting dizzzzy!!”

Then another tornado, spinning the opposite way, barreled toward me. If these two collided, there was no question—I’d be shredded to pieces.

“Teleport!”

『Fufufu. I knew a fool like you would try to use that to escape—right to that spot.』

“Wha—!”

I had aimed for a section where the wind was weaker, hoping to teleport to safety, but the moment I arrived, a cannon-like blast of wind slammed down from above, throwing me to the ground.

Looks like I’d been guided right into a trap.

“Aaaaah—I’m going to be cru~ushed!”

『…Fufufu, you should thank me. I deliberately kept it weak for you. After all, unless you wail, cry, and suffer thoroughly, we can’t possibly feel satisfied.』

“—!!!”

My lungs were crushed, barely letting me breathe. I heard the snap of several bones breaking under the pressure.

『My, you’re far more fragile than I expected. To think it’s already over at this level… I had hoped to enjoy myself a little longer, but oh well. You may as well die, crushed and ugly like a frog. W-wait just a moment! It’s not time for a switch yet—hey, you—damn iiiit!』

Once again, Ouroboros shifted color.

This time, it was blue.

『Final blow. I. Will stab.』

Just as the wind finally died down enough for me to breathe, a massive wave of water came crashing down like a tsunami.

I was swallowed almost instantly.

“Aquatic Life Magic.”

I managed to activate a spell that let me breathe underwater, narrowly avoiding suffocation—but my body was utterly battered. The pressure of the water continued to crush me, while the current slammed and twisted me mercilessly.

“Internal-External Linked Complete Regeneration Magic.”

The healing spell patched up my damage, but I’d been on the defensive the entire time, powerless to make any meaningful move.

I tried to strike back, but Maribel and Ouroboros were constantly darting around at incredible speed, deploying multiple layers of barriers that seemed impossible to break.

Then, the water that filled most of the pocket dimension suddenly began to freeze.

Ouroboros’s color shifted from blue to indigo.

『…To you who defy the laws of the world… I shall grant… eternal… death…』

The deep blue, muttering under its breath, was the dragon form that massively amplified ice magic. The surrounding water solidified completely, trapping me inside an icy prison.

But, if luck was on my side, this was my first—and perhaps my greatest—opportunity. With most of the pocket dimension’s water now frozen, the space in which Maribel and Ouroboros could maneuver had become severely restricted. Chances like this probably wouldn’t come again.

I had no choice—I had to make it count.

“Teleport!”

I blinked behind Maribel, and summoning every last ounce of magic, I unleashed a full-power magic cannon.

Maribel couldn’t dodge in time—the blast slammed into her barrier, shattering it. But after breaking through several layers, Maribel and Ouroboros managed to slip out of the cannon’s trajectory.

I managed to crush the final barrier, but unfortunately, my desperate, all-out magic cannon only grazed Maribel’s shoulder, piercing the ice block behind her instead.

“Missed… huh.”

I collapsed onto the frozen ground.

My magical energy was nearly depleted. At this point, I couldn’t even cast teleportation—or flying magic, for that matter.

『…To the transgressor… I shall grant a silent death…』

The indigo Ouroboros aimed a spear-like shard of ice at me, ready to deliver the finishing blow. The massive ice spear barreled down—and I had no strength left to stop it.

A short life after rebirth huh. Come to think of it, the very magic that allowed my reincarnation was inspired by Ouroboros itself, which endlessly cycles through life and death. Perhaps I’d violated the rules of the gods. If so, then through Ouroboros, I was being guided—or judged—by the divine.

“Ah… but if I’m going out, I wish I could’ve… died cradled by big boobs…”

Bagiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!!

Suddenly, the ice spear shattered. Something had intervened—and then bit down and crushed it completely.

『That was a terrible line for a moment like this, Master. I’m truly glad it wasn’t your last words.』

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---

The Rainbow Dragon Staff, Ouroboros. The magical staff I had created in my previous life had somehow taken control of Maribel and is now attacking us.

“What is that red ring…? I can feel an incredible surge of magic!”

“Hn…quite dangerous.”

“And what about Maribel-dono? She’s completely different from how she was just a moment ago…”

I answered to the three girls, who were clearly confused.

“It’s because of that ring-shaped staff.”

“…A staff?”

“Wait, that is a staff?”

“Do you know something abou—”

Before Karen could finish her words, everything around us shifted, and the world transformed into a blinding, white void.

“No way… we’ve been transported into a subspace!?”

Fana and the others were nowhere to be seen. All that remained was the Rainbow Dragon Staff Ouroboros and Maribel, floating atop it.

“Tsk… Lindwurm…”

To make matters worse, my beloved staff, Lindwurm, wasn’t here either. It had been torn away during the forced teleportation.

『Kuahahahaha! Too bad for you, Aristoteleus! This is a special subspace created by this woman! It’s impossible to escape from here or call for help! And of course… no teleportation magic will work either!』

Ouroboros’ triumphant laughter echoed through the void.

“…No choice then. I have to use the other one. Bahamut! …Bahamut?”

I tried to summon my other cherished staff, Bahamut, but for some reason, I couldn’t access it from within this subspace.

『Kuahahahaha! You can’t connect to another subspace in here!』

“Seriously?”

With neither Lindwurm nor Bahamut available, I’d have to face Ouroboros and Maribel with nothing but my own body. Even with the accelerated growth I’d achieved in such a short time, this was a nightmare scenario.

…And on top of that, the security woven into this subspace was no joke. If I had enough time, I could analyze it and escape—but there was no way Maribel and Ouroboros would give me that kind of opening.

“Wait… am I completely screwed here…?”

And then it happened.

The dragon motif on the Rainbow Dragon Staff, Ouroboros, began devouring its own tail, swallowing it bit by bit, until finally it consumed its own head entirely.

In its place, a new staff appeared—an elegant ringed staff with scales that shimmered in bright orange, as if it had materialized from nowhere.

『Kyahahahaha! You’ve really turned into a baby! And your precious staffs and companions are gone! You’re completely finished! Kyahahahaha!』

The telepathic voice echoed in my mind, far more mocking and chaotic than before—as if speaking through a completely different persona.

“The color… it’s changed from red to orange…!”

At that moment, a small mound appeared behind me. Almost instantly, it surged forward like a landslide, aiming to crush me under a torrent of earth.

“Damn… so now the earth magic is being enhanced too…!”

I shouted as I darted aside, narrowly evading the incoming onslaught.

The Rainbow Dragon Staff, Ouroboros. Its defining feature—no, its terrifying advantage—was that it possessed seven distinct personalities. Or perhaps I should say, seven draconic natures. In human terms, it was like a multiple-personality disorder—but with Ouroboros, every time its draconic personality changed, the magic it specialized in shifted as well.

Up until now, Maribel had been relentlessly casting fire magic because the red-scaled Ouroboros had been in control. Now that its scales had turned orange, it would likely wield massively enhanced earth magic, using it aggressively.

『Kyahahahaha! You’re not getting away!』

Vast amounts of earth surged outward like a fisherman’s net, cutting off my retreat as it barreled toward me. Instinctively, I condensed my magical energy and unleashed it at part of the mass, hoping to carve out an opening.

“…It’s… deflected!?”

The earth, charged with immense magical power, was as hard as adamantite. No ordinary impact could break through it. 

Earth then surged from all directions, leaving me no path of escape.

『Kyahahahaha! It’s over! Get crushed into a pulp!』

“Teleport!”

I instantly used teleportation magic to escape beyond the oncoming wall of earth.

『Huh…?』

“…As expected. Teleportation is only forbidden when moving between the subspace and the outside. Using it within this subspace itself is fine.”

『…Tch! I could have killed you with that! Well, it doens’t matter. There’ll be plenty more chances!』

I managed to evade the attack, but truthfully, it was brutal. Teleportation consumes a massive amount of both magic and physical energy, and it isn’t something you can rely on repeatedly. Yet here I am, forced into a situation where I had to rely on it immediately.

“If I’m forced to keep using magic defensively, I’ll just wear myself down… I have to strike first and take it down before this baby body of mine runs out of energy.”

BZZZZZZZZT!!

A deafening thunderclap and blinding flash of lightning struck with unimaginable force. The protective barrier I had conjured was obliterated in an instant.

“…Now it’s lightning magic…”

Ouroboros’ scales shifted again—this time, to yellow.

『Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die』

A horrific stream of malice and rage poured directly into my mind through telepathy.

“This one… its draconic personality communicates far less than the previous forms…”

Massive bolts of lightning began appearing around Maribel, one after another. They completely ignored any limits of magical energy, and I couldn’t help but grimace as I realized just how extreme this new form was.

“Oh come on… there isn’t even a chance to strike back here…?”

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---

“…Ugh… what a terrible experience.”

I slumped in my seat, utterly drained. And it was all because that lump of fat had forcibly held me in place.

『Women’s chests are basically lumps of fat, so the feel would be the same, right?』

(That’s completely different! If that were true, then an old man’s belly would feel the same, aaaaahhh!)

After finishing Fana and Anje’s promotion exams, we left the Adventurers’ Guild Headquarters and boarded the Seno Grande Kai. We are now heading toward Vegaltia. We had to report their successful promotions directly to Arc.

Also… since the exam had been right before, we had left Colette and Zeta behind without attending to them properly.

Just then, the alarm blared through the airship.

Woong~ woong~ woong~ woong~

【Something is approaching from the rear at an incredible speed. Highly likely to be a hostile entity. 】

The ship’s onboard system reported.

At the same time, an emergency announcement echoed through the vessel.

I turned around to see what was coming.

“Is that… could it be… the lump of fat!?”

『It’s the Association President.』

Maribel was barreling toward us. Even though the airship was moving at a significant speed, she was overtaking it with ease.

“No way… is she trying to… pick me up again!?”

『Doesn’t look like it from the aura she gave off.』

Just as Lindwurm had said, something about the situation felt off.

Suddenly, towering pillars of fire erupted around Maribel.

“Wha…? She’s attacking!?”

【 Offensive magic detected. Deploying defense shield.】

Seven blazing columns shot forth, each one rushing toward them like the heads of a seven-headed dragon. The shield generated by the Seno Grande Kai bore the full force of the assault.

Booom!!

The shield held on but the impact sent the ship lurching violently.

“What… what is happening!?”

Rushing into the control room, flustered and wide-eyed, was Dana, who had been lost in her research back in the ship’s magical workshop.

“We don’t know either… but it seems someone we know is attacking us. Dana, you should stay in the shelter room. It’s too dangerous out here.”

Even as that exchange was happening, Maribel was preparing to unleash the same spell again.

“Here it comes again!”

“The shield… can it still hold on?”

【Defense shield was damaged by sixty percent in the previous attack. Barrier won’t withstand another hit. Initiating counterattack. Mana charged. Targeting confirmed. —Ready to fire.】

Immediately, a cannon of pure magical energy shot forward. It collided head-on with Maribel’s seven pillars of fire, and with a deafening roar, the forces canceled each other out.

The Seno Grande Kai fired a second magical cannon, but this time, Maribel dodged it, closing the distance with frightening speed.

Judging that a single, focused blast wouldn’t be enough, the next volley split into multiple streams of laser-like projectiles. They rained down from all directions, striking Maribel in several places.

“A barrier…”

Maribel, having blocked the previous volley with her barrier, now conjured twelve towering pillars of fire.

【Warning! Shield cannot withstand attack. All personnel, brace for impact.】

“Brace for impact?! How exactly are we supposed to do that—Aaaaaaaaaaah!?”

The fiery columns surged toward the Seno Grande Kai.

Boooooooom!!

【Critical damage to propulsion system. Flight impossible. Ship will crash.】

The vessel lost all thrust and plummeted toward the ground with terrifying speed.

We leapt from the ship just in time. Luckily, we were over a large lake, and a nearby island provided a safe landing spot.

The Seno Grande Kai slammed into the water with a tremendous splash, sending a towering wave spraying in every direction. The sudden deluge fell around us like a torrential rain, soaking everything in its path.

“Ah… I almost forgot about Dana. Well, she should be safe inside the shelter room. And since we’re over water, the fire should die out pretty quickly anyway.”

Then, Maribel descended toward us.

“Hm… no staff?”

“She’s riding some kind of ring instead.”

“That actually looks more stable.”

The moment I saw it, I was struck dumb.

“No way… the Rainbow Dragon Staff… Ouroboros…?”

I couldn’t help but speak the name aloud. The staff now blazed a furious red, like fire itself. Its dragon-shaped head bit its own tail, forming a perfect circular ring.

『…No mistake about it. Moreover, it seems the staff has been unsealed and is now controlling the woman’s mind.』

Lindwurm nodded gravely.

The Rainbow Dragon Staff, Ouroboros, was, like Lindwurm and Bahamut, a magical staff I had created in my previous life. But its power was far too dangerous, so it had been sealed under multiple layers of enchantments and stored as one of the most forbidden artifacts in existence.

But by Deophrastus’ hand, it had vanished from the Tower of the Great Sage along with the other forbidden artifacts. I had assumed it was still somewhere in the magical city, yet for some reason, it could not be found.

I had even asked Meltera to investigate, but… to think that the seal had been broken—and that it would come on its own.

『Kuhahahahaha! So you’ve been reincarnated after all, Aristoteleus! And what a delightfully cute form you’ve taken!!』

The grating voice echoed painfully inside my mind.『Just because you’ve become a fragile infant doesn’t mean I’ll show you mercy! You—who dared to put us in such a form—I’ll tear you to pieces!!”

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---

“Ufufu, they are children with promising future.”

Maribel, the plump and cheerful president of the Adventurer’s Guild Association, said with a satisfied laugh, her body jiggled as she spoke.

Then, a telepathic message suddenly shot out from the staff she was sitting on.

『I never expected you to take a hit. But that’s partly because your body has been getting heavier year by year. When you were lighter, you could fly much faster. Now you’re really heavy… I’m starting to worry I might break under you.』

“My my, you’re such a noisy staff, Jilnitra. You were made from an ancient dragon so you’re not going to break that easily!”

Maribel’s cherished dragon staff, Jilnitra, was no ordinary weapon. Its core was made from the body of an ancient dragon named Jilnitra. And because the dragon’s soul resided within it, it could communicate with its wielder through telepathy.

Maribel had even personally crafted this magical staff, taking inspiration from another legendary staff.

“Now then, with my duties as Guild President finished, it’s time to resume my magic research.”

『Research again? Why not take a little break?』

“No worries! I’ll eat lots of delicious sweets in return.”

『…That’s exactly why you are getting fat!』

Leaving the Guild headquarters behind, Maribel returned to her personal magic laboratory. She usually spent her days entirely secluded here, immersing herself completely in magical research.

“Even my revered Great Sage, Aristoteleus, spent all his time holed up doing magic research too, you know?”

『I don’t think he ate sweets, though.』

Maribel had long idolized and respected Great Sage Aristoteleus. Ever since she was a child, she had admired him, traveling across the world to collect ancient manuscripts that recorded his studies. Along the way, she even acquired several magical artifacts said to have been created by the Great Sage himself.

——That… magical energy… could it… really… be…?

“Huh?”

Maribel suddenly stopped in her tracks.

『What’s wrong?』

“I thought I just heard a voice… Could it be you, Jilnitra?”

『No, I didn’t say anything.』

“Perhaps it was just my imagination…”

——Lend… me… your… power…

“Jilnitra? Did you just—?”

『I didn’t say anything.』

——G… Great… Sage… save… me…

“…Huh? I really did hear something… Was it coming from over here?”

Drawn by some unseen pull, Maribel’s steps led her to the treasury—a room housing historical manuscripts about Great Sage Aristoteleus, magical tools he had crafted, and ancient spell books.

“This staff…”

Her gaze fell on a staff protected by a barrier she had meticulously prepared herself. Although calling it a staff seemed almost wrong. The artifact was circular in shape after all.

The staff’s design depicted a long-bodied dragon, its own tail coiled into its mouth in a continuous loop.

It was the Rainbow Dragon Staff, Ouroboros—said to be crafted by Great Sage Aristoteleus himself, and also the model for Maribel’s own dragon staff, Jilnitra.

However, this staff had likely been sealed tightly by the Great Sage himself.

——I must save the Great Sage…

“Are… you the one speaking to me?”

——Yes…

“What do you mean by you must save the Great Sage!?”

——The Great Sage… has… been reincarnated… in this era…

“W-whaaat!? Is that really true!?”

——But… I am still an infant… danger… is approaching…

“W-what am I supposed to do!?”

——Please… break… my seal…

“So… I just have to break the seal!?”

The staff was bound by an intricate sealing magic, likely crafted by the Great Sage himself—a spell so complex that even Maribel had never seen its full workings.

Still, Maribel had been secretly analyzing this very magic for some time. It was only natural that someone who revered the Great Sage so deeply would want to understand the mechanisms of the spells he had left behind.

“Don’t worry. I already know how to lift the seal. All that’s left is to actually do it.”

『Wait a moment… Honestly, I have a bad feeling about this. You probably shouldn’t trust this staff too much.』

Jilnitra immediately tried to stop Maribel from breaking the seal.

——H–hurry… it… won’t… be in time…

The circular staff pressed her, urgency radiating through every word.

——The Great Sage… entrusted me… so that the seal would break… timed with his reincarnation… but… it’s slightly off… at this rate…

“I… I understand! I’ll release it immediately!” Maribel shouted.

『Maribel!?』

Ignoring Jilnitra’s warning, she dove straight into lifting the complex seal.

“Like this… and this… yes! I can do it! I’m breaking the seal the Grand Sage put in place… and I’ll save him from danger… he’ll definitely praise me—ehehehe!”

Her excitement made her breath quicken as she expertly unraveled layer after layer of the intricate magical binding.

And then—

“It’s… done… it’s broken!”

A burst of rainbow-colored light erupted, and the circular staff floated in midair. Maribel reached to take it in hand, but suddenly—

“!? Aaaahhhhhhhhhh!?”

She screamed at the top of her lungs, her body went limp, and she collapsed to her knees while still clutching the staff.

『Maribel, are you okay? Maribel? Maribel!?』

Jilnitra called desperately, but there was no response from Maribel.

Instead, a sinister voice echoed directly into its mind:(Kuhahahahaha… At last, the accursed seal is broken… Aristoteleus… you shall be the only one I never forgive… I’ll kill you myself this instant, so prepare yourself!)

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---

Adventurers Guild Association Exhibition Match — Maribel’s Overwhelming Power

It was an exhibition match against the chairwoman of the Adventurers Guild Association—Maribel. Even though Fana and Anje were challenging her together, they couldn’t land a single clean hit.

Meanwhile, Maribel unleashed an overwhelming barrage of offensive magic, steadily dealing damage to the newly promoted S-rank adventurers.

“She’s way too strong… that aunt…”

“In the final exam earlier, those two looked insanely powerful. And she’s fighting them like this with room to spare!?”

“More than that, her casting speed is ridiculous! How is she activating so many spells at once? And the variety…. there’s just too much!”

The adventurers in the stands could only stare in stunned disbelief.

“So I heard some people say she might be the reincarnation of the Great Sage Aristoteleus.”

“No way.”

“Well… she does look like she’s on that level.”

(No, if we’re talking about the reincarnation of the Great Sage—he’s right here, you know?

On that level?’ My past self was far beyond this. Don’t underestimate the greatest mage in history, hailed as the Great Sage!)

『You’re as embarrassing as ever, Master. Saying that about yourself so proudly is really…』

Still, Fana and Anje showed no signs of giving up.

“Then how about this…!”

The ground at Anje’s feet exploded. A massive pillar of earth burst upward. Riding the momentum of the erupting ground, Anje launched herself forward in a blinding leap, hurtling straight at Maribel.

Woosh!

Maribel dodged with equal—no, superior—speed.

But Anje had already reached the ceiling. Twisting midair, she landed upside down against it, then kicked off another pillar of earth that burst from beneath her feet, using it like a springboard to pursue Maribel again.

Naturally, Fana gave chase as well, borne forward on the wind.

“Yeah, that’s it. If it’s too hard to stop that aunt directly with magic, then we’ll just use magic to move.”

On her own, Fana couldn’t quite catch up to Maribel. So this had to be a coordinated strategy—corner her together, limit her escape routes.

“My, my… this is exactly why fighting two at once is such a hassle.”

Even though she said that, Maribel continued darting through the training grounds in every direction, as though she had all the time in the world.

“Fana—let’s take a gamble and try that!”

“Mm.”

The two exchanged a quick glance of understanding.

In the next instant, Fana landed on the floor and a pillar of earth erupted upward beneath her. At the same time, wind wrapped tightly around Anje’s body.

“Don’t tell me—they’re casting magic on each other!?”

For the first time, Maribel showed a flicker of alarm. The two had just surpassed her own speed—and now they were attacking simultaneously.

“Hah!”

“Tch—!”

“Take thiiiiss!”

“—!”

Maribel barely dodged Fana’s slash and Anje was already there for the next attack. Even Maribel couldn’t evade in time. The punch slammed into her barrier with crushing force.

Bariiiiin!!

The magical shield shattered with a thunderous crack.

Anje’s fist, having shattered the barrier, continued straight toward Maribel’s body.

“Wha—!?”

Maribel’s large frame was sent flying at tremendous speed. She slammed into the floor, then the wall—bouncing several times like a rubber ball—before somehow returning to her feet as if nothing had happened.

“Ufufu, my apologies. As you can see, Auntie’s body is packed with soft, padded flesh. A little impact like that gets perfectly absorbed, you know?”

“The hell, that’s possible!?”

Even if the barrier had reduced some of the force, there was no way mere fat could completely nullify the impact of Anje’s punch. She must have layered some kind of enhancement magic over her own body beforehand.

“But still… even if it was two against one, for little old me to take a direct hit? My, my… I wonder how many years it’s been. No—how many decades? That was absolutely splendid! And with that, the exhibition match is over!”

“Over already?”

“Huh? We’re just getting started!”

“Now, now, don’t be unreasonable. Auntie may not look it, but I’m almost sixty, you know? Handling two wild ones at once—honestly, I’m exhausted.”

Maribel wiped the sweat from her brow with a thick arm, though her smile never faded.

(Sixty? In my previous life, I was still battling demon past a hundred. Truly, the genuine article is built different.)

『Please stop turning everything into a competition. You’re only making yourself look small, Master.』

Fana and Anje reluctantly lowered their weapons.

Then, for some reason, Maribel’s gaze shifted—straight toward me.

“Now then… could that utterly adorable little baby over there be the famous Reus-chan I’ve been hearing about?”

So she knew about me.

Well, even the regular guild staff had recognized my name. It wasn’t surprising that the Guild Association’s chairwoman would.

Her massive frame, straddling her staff, floated toward the spectator stands—toward me.

And then—

“Cuuuuuuuuutiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!”

“~~~~!?”

Before I could react, I was scooped up into her arms.

“Auntie just adores babies! Ahh~ you’ve got that wonderful, unmistakable baby scent!”

I was suddenly buried in an avalanche of softness. Overwhelmingly soft. Dangerously soft.

Wait—personal space! Air! I need air!

『Master, you are being compressed.』

(I am aware!)

Stooooooopppppppppp!!

I’d finally managed to avoid Goritia’s hellish bear hugs all this time, and now this!?

I screamed internally.

『Congratulations, Master. Estimated bust size: one hundred and thirty centimeters. An absolutely magnificent chest.』

(This is not what people mean by “magnificent,” you idiottttt! Her stomach sticks out more than her chest, no matter how you look at it!)

『Also, even counting your previous life, she’s more than seventy years younger than you. Practically in her prime.』

(You mean “practically flabby,” don’t youuuuu!?)

I, the once-great Sage—legendary slayer of demon lords, master of the highest arcane arts—was being smothered by a sixty-year-old guild chairwoman cooing about how cute and good I smelled.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---

“Now, we shall begin the S-Rank certification ceremony.”

After the promotion exam ended, what they called the certification ceremony was held.

“President of the Adventurers’ Guild Association, we are in your care.”

“Yessss~♡”

At Randia’s call, a booming voice echoed from seemingly nowhere. Then, a massive silhouette appeared near the ceiling of the training hall.

“I’m Maribel, the Guild President. Nice to meet you~”

Slowly descending while floating in midair was a woman of about 165 centimeters tall, though her weight must have been close to 150 kilograms. Her entire body was covered in soft, flabby flesh, a kind of corpulence very different from Goritia’s.

『So something like this one has been hiding huh. That’s some high-level stealth magic.』

(Indeed. Even my detection spells didn’t catch her.)

Though she was mostly buried under her enormous posterior, a closer look revealed that she was straddling a staff.

(Poor staff… having to bear such a heavy body…)

『Ha! I dare say I’m in similar straits, having to carry a certain lecherous old baby myself.』

The woman, Maribel, who claimed to be the president of the Adventurers’ Guild Association, beamed a delighted smile as she praised the two successful candidates.

“I’ve been watching both of your battles the whole time, of course—from the first stage itself. It’s rare to have two people promoted at once, but both of you have the strength to deserve S-Rank status, so I suppose it’s only fair.”

Then, two card-like objects fell gently in front of Fana and Anje.

“Huh? …Rainbow-colored?”

“I know right. The A-Rank ones were gold, and now it’s rainbow-colored.”

It seemed they were the guild certificates for S-Rank adventurers.

“They’re special cards made of orichalcum. If you lose one, reissuing it costs an absolute fortune, so make sure you never misplace it, okay?”

““Orichalcum…””

Maribel nodded, clearly satisfied, then she announced,

“All right, it’s time for our traditional exhibition match!”

““Exhibition match?””

Fana and Anje tilted their heads in confusion at the unfamiliar term. Suddenly, Maribel’s body began to swell with magical energy.

“‘!?’”

Fana and Anje instinctively stepped back, bracing themselves.

“…Whoa. What kind of magical power is that?”

“Incredible… I never thought a mage of this caliber could exist in our age.”

Even Lindwurm and I gasped at the sheer magnitude of her magic. Honestly, it far surpassed even Deophrastus, who once ruled over the Magic City.

“Hehe… such a good reaction. Adventurers who reach S-Rank get to face me, you see. Of course, the promotion exam is already over, so this has nothing to do with that—it’s just a little harmless fun of mine. That’s what we call an exhibition match.”

In the stands, Goritia and Bazara exchanged wry smiles. It seemed they had both been through the same experience before.

“If you get all cocky just because you’ve reached S-Rank, the Guild President will crush you with overwhelming power, fufu~”

“It really drives home the fact that no matter how high you climb, there’s always someone above you—and it forces you to tighten up your focus.”

It seemed they couldn’t even land a single hit.

“Wait… you’re telling me even S-Rank adventurers can’t win against her?”

“That’s because she’s practically a living legend, the Guild President.”

“I heard someone even called her SS-Rank.”

The other adventurers whispered among themselves, a mix of awe and apprehension in their voices.

“Usually it’s one-on-one, but since there are two of you, I don’t mind taking both at the same time~”

As she spoke, Maribel conjured countless fireballs in her right hand and an endless volley of ice arrows in her left.

“All right, the exhibition match begins~!”

A torrential storm of fireballs and ice arrows rained down on Fana and Anje. Fana swung her twin swords to knock them aside, while Anje summoned walls of earth to shield herself.

“Hehe… as expected, you can handle this little bit with ease. But how about this?”

The moment more fireballs and ice arrows appeared, the floor of the training hall itself began to writhe. Spears of earth erupted one after another, surging toward the two adventurers.

“‘!?’”

From above, fireballs and ice arrows rained down, a relentless magical assault that seemed designed to crush them from both directions.

Fana evaded it by moving at incredible speed, darting and weaving through the onslaught, while Anje endured it, clad in thick armor of earth that absorbed blow after blow.

“Hah!”

Fana kicked off the wall of the training hall, launching herself toward Maribel in a single, swift leap.

“Oh my, you’re already this close? How frightening~”

Despite her words, Maribel remained perfectly composed, effortlessly raising her altitude to put distance between herself and Fana.

Fana gave chase relentlessly, but no matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t quite close the gap.

“…Fast.”

Despite the sheer weight of her body, Maribel’s flying ability was astonishingly high.

Seeing that the distance between them refused to close, Fana swung her twin swords.

Her blades tore through the air, streaking toward Maribel—but before they could reach her, they struck something invisible and bounced back.

“A barrier?”

Maribel had erected a magical shield around herself—a barrier so strong that ordinary attacks would be unlikely to break it.

“To destroy that barrier, you’d have to strike it directly. But if you can’t catch up, that’s easier said than done.”

“How are we supposed to overcome this, then?”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

At that moment, walls of earth rose up, encircling Maribel. She came to an abrupt stop.

Even if she tried to escape upward, Fana was already waiting, ready to intercept.

“Hehe, quite the impressive teamwork.”

But instead of trying to break through Fana, Maribel turned straight toward Anje’s earthen wall. With a strike of her staff, charged with magical energy, the wall melted and collapsed, forming a gaping hole. Through it, she calmly stepped out, as if nothing had happened.

“What did she just do?”

“That earthen wall is solidified by her magic. By striking it with her own power, she broke it down. When it comes to magic, the gap between the two of them and that woman is just too wide—there’s no stopping her directly with spells.”

It was a tactic that had worked against the dungeon bosses of Vegaltia, but here, it was useless.

“Even so… facing both of you at once is quite the challenge you know~?”

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---

“Now then, we will begin the final examination for the last candidate, Orion-shi! The remaining examiner, Bazara-san, will be in charge!”

The final figure, a man masked and cloaked, descended into the training grounds. Right after he landed, he tore off both his mask and cloak without hesitation. His true identity was that of a middle-aged man in his mid-30s.

(What? Just some uncle? How boring.)

『What exactly were you expecting from an examiner…?』

As I let my disappointment show, the man called Bazara looked equally exasperated.

“Honestly, I don’t see the point of this mask and cloak.”

“It’s obviously part of the presentation. Not knowing what kind of examiner you’ll face until the test begins makes it more exciting, doesn’t it?”

Randia shot back at him.

“So if some completely unremarkable middle-aged man like me shows up, it just kills the mood…”

Hmm, he’s pretty reasonable.

I agreed, of course. Unless the person under the mask turned out to be a stunning beauty with a generous figure, there wasn’t much of a surprise to be had. 

(Still… that uncle felt strangely familiar, like I’d seen him somewhere before.

Hmm. I couldn’t remember though.

Well, whatever. No point remembering an uncle anyway.)

『That’s rather harsh, coming from an old fossil yourself. Is this what they call self-loathing?』

Linlin could be merciless too…

“Please carry yourself with a bit more confidence. You are an S-rank adventurer, after all.”

“…A newcomer who only just reached that rank. Were there no seasoned veterans available?”

So he was a freshly minted S-rank adventurer.

“Well, it couldn’t be helped. We had three candidates make it to the final test this time. But an S-rank is an S-rank—there’s no difference between you and the others. If anything, you should praise us for managing to gather three of them at all. Most S-rank adventurers are such eccentrics that no one even knows where half of them are.”

It sounded like preparing examiners was a challenge in itself.

“And with that, let us begin Orion-shi’s final examination at once!”

This uncle is strong.

He didn’t possess the flashy, easy-to-grasp power of Goritia or Fia, and in terms of raw stats, there honestly wasn’t much difference between him and Orion. But what truly set him apart was his defense.

Harnessing lightning as propulsion, Orion launched a relentless, high-speed assault—yet the uncle deflected every strike without so much as a flicker crossing his face. And every so often, a perfectly timed counter would slip through Orion’s guard, steadily wearing him down.

Before long, Orion—who had gone all out from the very start—ran out of steam. That was when the uncle shifted to the offensive, ending the match with a single decisive blow.

“That’s enough. At seven minutes and fifty-six seconds, Orion-shi is no longer able to fight. Therefore, unfortunately, Orion-shi has failed the final examination.”

“Oniichan, that was close. In terms of ability, you didn’t seem inferior to that uncle at all.”

I spoke to comfort Orion when she returned. I expected her to be frustrated but her expression was bright and clear instead.

“No… it was simply a lack of skill on my part. I’m nowhere near Fana-san or Anje-san, yet I let myself get worked up, thinking I couldn’t afford to lose to them. I ignored my pacing and went full throttle from the start—that was my downfall. He handled it perfectly, and before I knew it, I was dancing in the palm of his hand. As expected of an S-rank adventurer… the difference in experience between us is overwhelming.”

Still, judging by how she carried himself, she would surely seize the next opportunity when it came.

“I’ll try again next year. Could you hold onto the hero’s gear for me until then?”

“Okay, got it. I’ll come cheer you on again when the time comes. Oh, and next time, let’s take a bath together, all right?”

“I’d rather decline that.”

Despite being such an adorable baby, why would anyone refuse? …Honestly, it was beyond my understanding.

『Master’s sexual desires are far more difficult to understand. And obviously, you’ll be one year old in a year, so you should call yourself a toddler, not a baby.』

(What?! So I won’t be a baby in just a year…? …Okay, I’ll do whatever it takes to learn the rejuvenation magic that Meltera successfully used. That way, I’ll remain a baby forever and be able to continue enjoying her breasts.)

『I spoke with Meltera-sama a bit, and it seems she won’t teach it to Master.』

(What?! How stingy…!)

『It’s not that she’s stingy, it’s to stop Master from abusing that power.』

But I am a great sage!

If that’s the case, then I should discover and learn it on my own.

(For me, who has made everything possible, there is no such thing as impossible.)

『You say that in a cool way, but your motives are terrible.』

◇　◇　◇

My name is Bazara.

I’m thirty-six years old, and I’ve been an adventurer since I was twelve—giving me a solid twenty-four years of experience. For most of that time, I worked alone. Parties never quite suited me; I simply wasn’t good with them.

Three months ago, I finally took the promotion exam to become an S-rank adventurer. It was my first attempt, and though I struggled in many ways, luck was on my side—I passed. What I never expected was that, in the very next exam, I would be called upon to serve as an examiner.

Randia appeared suddenly and asked me to take on the role, insisting it was the right choice. When it had been my turn, I was alone, but now, to my astonishment, three candidates had made it to the final stage.

Watching the trials of the two candidate before only heightened my anxiety.

“They’re this strong… What if I, as the examiner, end up being completely humiliated…?”

Honestly, I was on edge the entire time, but fortunately—or perhaps luckily—the third candidate wasn’t nearly as skilled as the first two.

In the end, the exam was cut short, and the third candidate failed. I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him… but he was still a young boy. There would be other chances for him to prove himself.

“Now then… even so…”

I felt a wave of relief after completing my duties as the examiner, yet at the same time, I found myself bewildered by something entirely unexpected.

“That baby over there… No, it can’t be… I could’ve sworn I saw the same one on the sixtieth floor of the Vegaltia Dungeon… N-no, that’s impossible. I must have been hallucinating from exhaustion back then…”

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---

The fierce battle had torn away Fia’s mask and cloak, revealing her appearance fully to the spectators. She remarkably looks alike to Fana.

“How old is she…? She looks young, but maybe late twenties? Could be a little older…”

And while the shape of her chest closely resembled Fana’s, its size was slightly larger. Truly impressive.

“I’d heard the rumors, but Fia-san is really beautiful.”

“She hardly ever shows herself, so I guess not many have actually seen her in person.”

“Wow… she looks so young. I thought she’d been an S-Rank adventurer for quite a while.”

“About fifteen years, I think? She became S-Rank around twenty, so she’s probably in her mid-thirties.”

“She doesn’t look like it at all.”

“More importantly… don’t those two look insanely alike?”

“Now that you mention it…”

“The way they fight is almost identical, too. Could they be sisters…?”

“They’re too far apart in age to be sisters.”

Even the adventurers in the stands were bewildered. Given how strikingly similar the two were, it was only natural.

“Fana herself doesn’t seem to even notice, though.”

“…That sounds just like her.”

Even with someone almost identical to herself standing right before her, Fana’s expression didn’t change a bit. Without missing a beat, she kicked off the ground and launched another attack.

Fia responded in kind.

“What an exchange…!”

“The Goritia vs. Anje match was incredible, but this… So this is the final exam for S-Rank promotion huh.”

“No, I’ve watched a few exams before, but I’ve never seen a challenger this strong.”

“Hey… isn’t the wind getting stronger and stronger?”

“Y-yeah… if I don’t hold on tightly to the railing, I feel like I might get blown away…”

The fierce battle raging before them had begun to churn the very air of the training hall into a swirling vortex. Gradually, the rotation sped up, twisting into a full-blown tornado.

“W–we’re getting blown away!?”

“What the hell is happening!?”

“It feels like we’re inside a hurricane…!”

“Uwaaaaah!?”

Several spectators were lifted off their feet and slammed into the rear wall by the centrifugal force.

“This… this wind is insane!”

“It’s because both of them spin in the same direction when they slash. The winds aren’t canceling each other out—they’re accelerating and pulling in everything around them.”

As for their strength, the two were nearly equal. Fana was giving her all, but judging by her expression, Fia wasn’t holding anything back either.

“T–ten minutes have passed! That’s the end!”

Randia shouted at the top of his lungs. He, too, was clinging desperately to the railing, struggling to resist being blown away.

“Huh? Already ten minutes? I could’ve sworn there were still a couple left…”

“Don’t say unnecessary things! Ten minutes definitely passed! (My arms can’t hold on any longerrrrr!)”

Looks like they called it a bit early.

As Fana and Fia lowered their swords and stopped fighting, the whirlwind gradually subsided. Eventually, calm returned to the training hall.

“In any case, that was an incredible battle, rivaling even the previous exam. And recognizing that Fana-dono fought on equal footing—or better—with Examiner Fia for the full ten minutes, she too has passed the final exam!”

With that, following Anje, Fana would also be promoted to S-Rank.

“Ah… Fana-oneechan…”

“She’s approaching Fia, like she wants to say something.”

“She must’ve sensed something after all.”

I recalled something I’d heard about her background. Fana had been born into a poor family with eight siblings, but she was said to look completely unlike any of them.

It seemed that as an infant, she had been abandoned along a road and taken in by her foster parents. Though the family was poor, she was raised alongside her siblings without distinction. In gratitude, she became an adventurer at the age of ten, and even now, she continued sending money back home.

If anyone might know about her blood relatives, it would be Fia… or perhaps, just perhaps, Fia is her real mother.

Standing before the possible truth of her own origins, Fana finally spoke.

“Hmph… our fighting styles were similar. …Did you copy me?”

We all froze, dumbfounded.

“That’s what you ask!?”

“You’re supposed to ask about the resemblance of her face!”

“W-wait, maybe she’s planning to get to the real point later!”

Fia let out a wry smile.

“I didn’t copy you. I’m more than a decade older than you, and I’ve been fighting like this for a long time.”

“Hm… I see.”

Fana nodded, as if satisfied. Then, without another word, she pivoted on her heel and began walking back toward us.

“W–wait, Fana-oneechan!?”

“Don’t you have other questions to ask!?”

“You can’t be satisfied with just that, can you!?”

“…?”

We tried desperately to give her a clue, but Fana only tilted her head in response.

Meanwhile, Fia spoke as well.

“Randia, I’ll be heading back now. I only agreed to take part because they insisted during a dungeon run, and I did so begrudgingly.”

“Ah, yes… of course, you were a tremendous help. But… are you sure?”

“Sure about what? I don’t know what you mean.”

“…Never mind.”

Through Randia’s gate, Fia departed. It seemed she had no intention of revealing anything further.

(Well… maybe that’s for the best. For me, my parent has always been Wolf-kaachan. I don’t really care about whoever I’m actually related to by blood. Even if I had been abandoned before I could remember anything, I doubt I would’ve wanted to know who my real parent was anyway.)

Fana was probably the same—having the parent who raised her was more than enough.

『You’re saying something unusually sensible, Master.』

(I know, right? Though if there’s one regret… it’s that I didn’t get to touch Fia’s chest.)

『I didn’t ask, so there’s no need to bring that up.』

(But if Fia were Fana’s mother, then it means Fana’s chest could potentially grow to that size too, huh?)

『I’m still not asking!』

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---

“Ten minutes have passed! That’s the end!”

Randia’s shout made both fighters freeze, as if suddenly snapped out of a trance. The final exam, the one-on-one duel between Goritia, standing as the examiner, and Anje—was officially over.

“Tch… already over? Ten minutes feels way too short.”

Goritia grumbled.

“Exactly! This is so unsatisfying! There’s no way it should end until one of us falls!”

Anje shot back, frustration flickering across her face.

In the end, time had run out while the two remained perfectly evenly matched. Despite being battered and bruised, both of them clearly felt the fight had only just begun.

“Well… if you two insist on continuing, I have no intention of stopping you. But this space will be needed for the next examinee, so I kindly ask that you take your fight outside if you wish to carry on.”

“…”

Both fighters fell silent under Randia’s firm admonition. Perhaps realizing that a change of location was necessary to continue, the tension that had radiated off them slowly began to ebb.

“In any case, having fought Goritia on equal footing for a full ten minutes, Anje-dono has officially passed the final exam! Her promotion to S-Rank has been confirmed! Congratulations!”

As Randia announced Anje’s success, applause rang out throughout the training hall.

“…Come to think of it, that was the exam, wasn’t it? I completely forgot halfway through.”

Normally, this would be a moment of pure joy, but she couldn’t help the small chuckle. Then she turned toward Goritia.

“I’ll save the rest of our fight for another time. I still want to watch the remaining matches, after all.”

“Fufu~ I guess I can’t argue with that.”

Oh no, he had slipped back into his original, feminine manner of speech.

“But… honestly, I doubt I’ll ever get another chance to beat you. You’re only going to get stronger from here on out.”

“Do you think so?”

“Absolutely. I mean, even now, you weren’t going all out.”

“…I was going all out.”

“Huh? Do you think my eyes are that blind? I still remember the martial arts tournament—you used earth magic back then, didn’t you?”

That was true. In this final exam, Anje hadn’t used a single trace of earth magic.

Anje had held her own—or even surpassed Goritia—using only her martial skill. Had she also wielded her earth magic… she might have achieved a completely one-sided victory.

Understanding that, she had deliberately sealed away her magic and chosen to fight on equal, physical terms.

“Hehe… it’s been a while since I’ve felt this sting of frustration… Makes me want to train myself all over again,” she murmured, a gleam of excitement in her eyes.

“Now then, who’s next to step up?”

“I do. I want to fight.”

Perhaps inspired by watching Anje’s battle, Fana immediately volunteered, stepping forward without hesitation.

“Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind going last.”

Orion replied.

With her consent, Fana stepped into the center of the training hall.

“Now, as for Fana’s examiner—”

“I’ll do it.”

Before Randia could finish speaking, a masked figure in a cloak leapt down from the spectator stands. Judging by her height, the tone of her voice, and her chest, it was likely a woman.

(And… that’s fairly well-endowed. Comparable to Fana… no, maybe even more. Alright, I’ll have to get her to lift me later.)

『As usual, you’re obsessed with breasts Master. Isn’t there anywhere else worth paying attention to?』

“Oh! It’s Fia-shi, then. You shall be the one in charge of this exam.”

The examiner called Fia was likely an S-Rank adventurer as well.

“Could it be… Fia, the Silver-Winged Twin Swords?”

“Strange. I didn’t expect her to take on this exam.”

“They say she’s one of the most anti-social among S-Rank adventurers.”

“Not just anti-social—she spends most of the year delving into high-difficulty dungeons and rarely shows herself on the surface.”

The adventurers watching whispered among themselves, trading rumors about the mysterious examiner.

Fia drew the swords hanging at her waist. Judging by her stance, she intended to fight in her masked, cloaked guise.

“So… she’s a dual-wielder, huh?”

“Yeah, just like Fana.”

It was a rare sight, but Fana showed no surprise. Expressionless as ever, she readied her two swords in response.

“Then, we will now begin Fana’s final exam!”

A sudden gust of wind swept through the hall.

It was Fana who had summoned it.

Unlike Anje, who had fought without her earth magic, Fana had no intention of holding back. She surged forward, using the wind to close the distance between herself and the examiner in an instant.

But Fana wasn’t the only one making the wind her ally.

“T-that examiner… she’s using it too!”

“Really… yeah, just like her!”

Fia was also wrapped in a swirling aura of wind. It seemed she would fight using a seamless fusion of wind magic and swordsmanship.

The two clashed at an incredible speed.

“U–unbelievable… what a storm of blades!?”

The exchange between Anje and Goritia had been so fast that even blinking could make you miss it—but this was on another level entirely.

Neither of them remained in one spot. They darted from one end of the training hall to the other, their positions constantly shifting. On top of that, the four swords—two in Fana’s hands, two in Fia’s—collided again and again like a torrential downpour of steel, crisscrossing with relentless intensity.

“And… they’re evenly matched!?”

“Yeah. On top of that, their sword trajectories are almost identical. That’s probably because their physical abilities—height, arm length, joint flexibility, and even muscle composition—are so similar.”

“Is it really possible for two people to be that alike?”

It was then.

Perhaps unable to withstand the relentless clash any longer, Fia’s tattered cloak was torn away by the wind, fluttering violently through the air. Almost simultaneously, her mask slipped from her face, clattering to the floor.

“Wh-what the—!?”

Anje stared in disbelief, shouting in shock.

The reason was clear—the woman revealed as Fia looked almost identical to Fana. Blue eyes, perfectly proportioned features and a silver hair slightly shorter than Fana’s.

And most striking of all—

(Their breast shape is the same too.)

『That’s gross, Master.』

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---