Chapter 6

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“Haru: why don’t we go to the Grand Library in the city right now?” Sonia said.

“Eh… but we’ve just left the city, are we already going back?” I asked.

I thought I was going to finally fight monsters… it seemed I was wrong again.

Sonia seemed to notice my disappointment. “Fair point,” she said. “How about this: instead of going back the way we came through the north gate, we head to the Grand Library from the west gate?”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me!” I said, brightening up.

We walk along the wall at a brisk pace. A little jittery from the prospect of my first real battle, I asked, “What kind of monsters are around the city?”

Sonia thought for a moment before she said, “Puni-Punis? Wait, no, Pyon-Pyons.”

“Puni-Puni” or “Pyon-Pyon”… when it came to classic RPG small fry, only one type of monster came to mind:

Slimes.

It’s a generic monster type in many RPGs. If it’s a stronger variant, they’d have debuffs like poison and paralysis. In the more adult-oriented games, they can secret mucous that melts women’s clothes off. Thanks to their simple design, they fit the role of generic cannon fodder very well.

But this isn’t a fantasy game, this is all real… even if slimes are the poster-monsters of almost harmless small-fry, how would we win a fight against an opponent that was logically resistant to physical attacks? The more I thought about it, the uneasier I got, so I decided to ask Sonia:

“Sonia, how do you beat slimes?”

Sonia looks a little surprised. “Slimes can be instantly killed by shattering the cores inside of them. But why are you suddenly asking that out of nowhere…?”

“… Uh? Because we’re going to fight slimes soon, right?” I replied.

“Wait, what?” Sonia asks. “Aren’t slimes dangerous monsters that live in swamps? There’s no way any of them would be this close to the city!” she says, laughing.

“Oh…” I mutter.

So my assumptions were completely wrong. But what kind of generic cannon fodder would be called a “puni-puni” or a “pyon-pyon”? My mind was drawing a blank.

“Oh, Haru, look!” Sonia said as she suddenly stopped and pointed ahead of us. “There’s your monster~!”

I did and saw a strange small, round yellow-green-monster(?) just ahead of us. “Is that a pyon-pyon?” I asked Sonia.

She nodded. “Yep. I may have almost forgotten the name earlier, but for sure that’s the weakest monster you’d find pretty much anywhere.”

“Can… can I try to kill it?” I asked.

“Be my guest,” Sonia said, giving me the “OK” sign. “It’s the perfect opponent for you, you’ll be able to defeat it by yourself I’m sure.”

“Right, here I go!” I cried before I started walking towards the monster, slowly and carefully. After about three minutes, I came within 10 meters of it. “You know, it’s not that different from a frog when I see it up close…” I muttered to myself.

I brought my focus back to killing it. Sonia said that if you have to cast a spell in a single chant otherwise it would fail, so I calmed my nerves and began: “Crimson Fire, light up the darkness / Consume all in flame! / Come forth–!”

I forgot what came next. I desperately tried to remember the name of the spell and shouted the first thing that came to mind:

“Fire Arrow!”

Five magic circles appear above my head; as one, five flaming arrows shoot straight into the pyon-pyon. Looks like it was “Fire Arrow” after all.

“Woohoo!” I cried as I threw my arms into the air and started jumping up and down. “My first monster kill!”

“Haru,” Sonia said.

And then I remembered that Sonia was nearby. In an instant my cheeks burn red and my expression twists in agony, I drop to the ground and bury my face in my hands. I don’t dare look up until Sonia asks me:

“How did you know how to cast Fire Arrow?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked her back. “You taught me, didn’t you~!”

“Uh…” Sonia mutters, “didn’t I teach you Fireball?”

A long silence ensues between us. Both our minds race out of control.

— What? Haru, are you hiding something from me? You’ve gotta be lying, right? —

— Huh? What is Sonia saying? She taught me that earlier! Ah, she’s gotta be joking! —

More silence. Our eyes meet.

— But I don’t think Haru would lie to me and I don’t want to start doubting her either. —

— But if Sonia isn’t joking, how did I just cast Fire Arrow? —

The silence continued still. By the look on Sonia’s face, I felt we were slowly coming to the same conclusion.

— If what Haruka’s saying is true, then she can use magic without knowing the chant. Then that means Haru can– —

— If what Sonia is saying is true, you’re not supposed to be able to use magic without knowing the chant. Then that means I can– —

“–use magic without chanting?!” we both shout.

I nod at Sonia, Sonia nods back. I decide to do a little experiment: “Fire Arrow!”

My voice echoes in the field. Five magic circles appear above my head, five flaming arrows fire off as one. As I watched them fly into the distance, my eyes lit up like never before.

“I DID IIIIIT…!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I was surprised; because I struggled with communication, I couldn’t have done something so bold.

When I came to this world and ran into those scary men, I thought that I didn’t have the genre staple of a cheat ability, but it seems I was wrong.

I couldn’t stop grinning for a long while after that.

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