Part 1
--Roxy's POV--
I heard a small noise and woke up.
The surrounding area is dark and narrow.
It's a confining space.
This room I had reached at the end of all of the teleporting was narrow, like a cradle.
The size of the area is barely enough to allow one or two people to lie down.
Even the ceiling hangs low.
It's low enough to nearly brush the top of my head.
At this height and narrowness.
As long as I am occupying this area, no demon will tastasize here.
As I sit at the very edge of this space, I recline against the wall behind and fix my gaze on what lies before .
There is a Magic Formation there.
And this Magic Formation shines with a ghostly pale light.
It is a tastasis Magic Formation.
When I place a single foot on it, I will be teleported sowhere.
The most probable place is to a monster den.
A room of death, filled to the brim with different kinds of demons.
One Month Ago.
I blundered into a trap.
The only excuse I can make is [It couldn't be helped.]
During a battle, I leaped away to avoid an oncoming attack, then I took a step backwards, and then I tripped on a stone.
This caused to stagger forward with my other foot,
And with that step I landed on a tastasis Magic Formation.
Before we entered the combat, we had confird there was a trap there.
And yet, I easily wound up stepping on the trap.
Ahead of where I tastasized, there were an absurd number of demons.
There were 20, no… 30… I guess?
I am a magician.
I myself happen to think that I am an excellent one.
Even though I cannot use the chantless magic, I can use chanting omission, so I am able to cast faster than most other magicians around.
But despite all the enemies I've beco accustod to battling…
There was never a panic I had felt like this one.
I expected to be wiped out imdiately.
No matter how many I destroyed, demon after demon kept surging forward.
As demons continually began to appear one by one and fill my field of vision.
The demons of this labyrinth, after all, knew the routes of all the tastasis magic formations.
And so, this place had beco a demon's nest.
This place was where demons lie in wait for their victims, the so called [Trap] room.
I was prepared for death.
But I still fought.
My magic was not infinite however.
And my intuition tells sooner or later it'll run out, and I'll probably end up succumbing.
I know my limits.
I probably have about 30% of my MP left, no it's probably closer to 20%, and the number of enemies it seems hasn't decreased at all.
Only the number of corpses has increased, and the demons still continue to surge forward one after another.
It was a complete and utter checkmate.
There will be no rescue for .
Was I forsaken by everyone after all?
If I were in soone else's shoes, wouldn't I leave behind such a clumsy woman?
No matter how much magic I can use, a fool who walks into traps is a burden.
No, I don't think they deserted .
Rather, Paul was also in the range of the trap's activation, did he tastasize to another location?
With the obvious lack of fighting potential, did he have to withdraw temporarily?
Either way, help hasn't co.
While I fought desperately, I couldn't help but begin to lose my composure and began to sob and wail.
I felt the magic power within decrease ever steadily.
anwhile, I noticed one bright light.
In this wide room were six magic formations.
Yet, not a single demon has appeared for a while from around any of them.
Perhaps, there might possibly not be any more demons around the place where the magic formations are.
It's All-or-Nothing.
I used every spell at my disposal to break through the swarm of demons, and I launched myself onto the magic formation.
And at last, I had arrived at this room.
I had managed sohow to survive.
It was pure luck.
I could produce as much water from magic as I wanted.
I had a bit of food stored in my backpack.
Sohow I will recover my magic and escape from here.
And so I spent the rest of that day in thought.
The next day, I stepped on the tastasis magic formation.
And the destination point was a passage I was still unfamiliar with.
Apparently, being teleported to these random locations was a typical characteristic of the tastasis magic formation.
However there were no signs that there were people nearby.
I was doing the mapping by myself, in order to escape the labyrinth, I continued moving forward.
Though I had thought about waiting for a rescue effort, but there was the possibility that the rest of Paul-san's party had been wiped out as well.
I can say with confidence that the tastasis trap is a terrible thing.
I walk around the passageway, and discover 3 tastasis magic formations.
I make a mark on a nearby rock, and jump into the first one.
I tastasize to an unfamiliar passage.
I repeated this action several tis.
If I don't do things this way, I won't be able to advance in this tastasis labyrinth.
While I try and be careful not to step on a trap, or any of the tastasis magic formations hidden in or by rocks, I advance ahead.
Have I managed to advance ahead, or have I ended up just going back? I just don't know.
I cannot seem to grasp where my current location is in this tastasis labyrinth.
My senses are unreliable.
Though I am uneasy, I must sohow keep on moving forward.
And I need to secure so new food supplies.
So I defeat a demon, eat its at, and continue onwards.
How many tis have I tastasized into a demon's den?
I fight desperately, and find similar magic formations where demons don't erge from.
Then, I return.
To this sa narrow room.
How many tis have I repeated this I wonder?
Five tis? Ten tis?
The magic formation before my eyes always sends to a different point.
However, I sohow always end up returning back here.
I beca drained, ntally and physically.
As could be expected, I was tired.
My biological clock tells about a month has now passed by.
And after a month of going around and around, there are no useful results.
The fights are not easy.
No, there is never an easy fight.
I receive many attacks, blood loss often causes my consciousness to dim.
How many tis now have the demons begun to run into the magic formations to block themselves from my magic?
I began to think that these demons actually have brains after all.
In the end though, I cannot help but just waste my magic power breaking through their blockade.
I feel like I'm being cornered.
My joints ache.
I ate all the food already.
The demons here are tough and taste horrible too.
If I don't use detoxification magic when I am eating, my body health becos poor.
I can feel my physical strength falling.
Only my magical power do I possess in excess.
I have no idea what will co next.
Will there be many more enemies?
Will there be more cleverly coordinated enemy attacks?
Will my magic be exhausted, and my limbs torn from my body and eaten by these demons?
Only good luck will allow to avoid having to break through a group of demons just to end up back here, the next ti.
Just thinking about that prevents from stepping onto the magic formation in front of .
Perhaps the demons here have realized my existence.
They know that I am in the narrow room.
And they know when I step on this magic formation in this narrow room, that I will once again be returning to that den.
Surely they are waiting for .
Hiding, and waiting for that mont when I finally make my fatal mistake.
I have a hunch.
That there won't be a next ti.
[…]
It was here. It wasn't when I ca here that I beca truly conscious of my own death for the first ti.
Surely no one will discover my corpse.
I doubt there will be any items left behind to be discovered after I die.
I will die, unable to leave a trace.
Scary.
I am so scared.
My back teeth began making a chattering sound before I had realized it.
Impulsively, I wanted to just unleash a loud shout, but instead I just gripped my staff tightly.
How many tis have I looked upon death up until now?
I had lived as an adventurer, so I have witnessed people dying in my presence before.
I've seen a demon cleave a powerful warrior in half like a withered branch right before my eyes.
And I've seen an intelligent magician squashed like a tomato by a demon right before my eyes.
An accomplished and clever thief, a nimble swordsman…
All of them I have seen die in my presence.
On the days I saw such things, I dimly beca aware that my turn would also co soday.
But at the sa ti, I also thought [At least I am safe!]
However, now that I actually have to face it, I am scared.
What have I managed to accomplish up until now?
There are things I still want to do.
I even have a dream!
That's right, my dream…
I want to beco a teacher.
I love teaching other people.
Even if I have no talent for it, I love to teach.
Then, when this business is over, when we safely rescue Zenith-san, I am going to go take the examination for magic teachers at the magic academy.
I will be a school teacher!
A teacher at the Magic Academy.
I parted with my Shisho there after an argunt.
Maybe I will argue with my Shisho again.
Though, I have a feeling it'll be better this ti around, perhaps.
…that person was greedy for recognition, I wonder if they've at least made it to being vice-principal already?
I want to feel what it's like to have ordinary happiness.
That's right. If I was a teacher, I could possibly even get married.
Marry a man I have co to love, we would live together, and spend passionate nights together as well.
Even though I am of the Magic Race, with a short and childlike figure.
I still think there is at least a chance.
[Haa~]
The scorn leaked out.
Even if I do say so myself, with the situation like this, to rember sothing like my dream…
I'm going to die.
My dreams will never co true.
I will only die a miserable death.
When it cos down to it, there is no way I'll be saved anymore.
I have never known of such a person to be rescued from a situation like this.
……I do not want to die.
However, I put my foot forward, and stepped onto the magic formation.
Because I do not want to die.
Part 2
My feelings proved correct.
I tastasized to an unknown passageway, so of the magic formations that I marked had moved, and it seed that I was naturally being driven towards another demon's den.
The mont I saw, I realized it was impossible.
Demons were piling on the corpses of the other dead demons onto the magic formation.
Is it because the demons don't tastasize into that narrow a room after all?
Since it's beco like this, then there is no option left other than to get ready to take the plunge.
[All while fighting this crowd?]
I did think their formation was beautiful.
A heap of corpses, defending the tastasis magic formation that leads to my refuge, the demons are deployed radially around it.
At the vanguard are the [Iron Crawler], who have moved in front and devoted themselves as the front line of defense. On top of them are the [Death Road Tarantula], evil red spiders, moving and stopping occasionally to spit out threads while on top of the backs of the [Iron Crawler].
At the rearguard is what looks like a huge clay doll standing there, the Mad Skull, shooting out clumps of rock.
I began to weave my magic while thinking, [This is clearly an army.]
"Oh, armor of the majestic land, gather around and beco my trappings, 『Earth Fortress』!"
The surrounding soil began to take the form of a fortress around .
Eventually, it covered the top of my head, I beca protected within the do.
However, I had to stop once it reached a certain height.
I don't need it to reach the ceiling.
If it's to the extent of my chest-height, it is enough to block the charge of the Iron Crawlers.
"Oh, falling rain, I call upon you to scatter, and flood the whole world! 『Water Splash』!"
Innurable drops of water suspend themselves aloft around , and then beco bullets which tear through the area.
However, as the offensive power of this magic is extrely low, the demons were barely kept at bay by this spell.
I understood that, though.
So, I began chanting the next spell imdiately.
"Blue Goddess, fly down from heaven and wave the scepter which would frost the world! 『Icicle Field』!"
All the demons' exteriors, which were covered in the sticky water droplets from before, made a hard sound as they quickly froze solid.
[Water Splash] and [Icicle Field], and then the lded magic [Frost Nova]. The entire forward guard of the demon army ca to a complete stop.
I still had to hamr more magic in there. Advanced level magic.
"King of Frost. Supre ruler of the great snowfields.
Clad in white, oh King of Naught, who reaps all passion.
Cold-hearted king, which rules the frozen death! 『Blizzard Storm』!"
The magic that I shortened was complete.
A spear of ice shot out towards the entire area.
It flies out in a wide arc before .
The spear of ice pierced into the demons behind the frozen vanguard, one after another.
I did not manage to defeat the enemy vanguard.
While statues of ice play the role of the wall, I chant advanced magic, and instead struck at the back row.
When I traversed the labyrinth near Shirone, this was the strategy I learned.
The strategy of victory.
However…
[…Just as I thought.]
At the sa ti the demons in the back row are dying, demon after demon springs up from the tastasis magic formation.
Stepping over the pile of demons I just defeated, the new wave of demons filled the room at a surprising pace.
[Is it no good after all?]
The room quickly beca full of demons in no ti.
My heart quickly beca full of despair, as well.
At the sa ti the room filled, I began to lose my composure.
This is bad.
I can't break through if I don't first do sothing about that mountain of dead bodies.
However, I don't have enough hands.
[Kuu~!]
From the distance, the Mad Skull sends a rock bullet flying.
Part of the Earth Fortress is destroyed, and the Iron Crawlers who had their movent dulled, began to restlessly squirm through the gap.
A cold sweat slowly rose to the surface of my spine.
"Flaming sword of my charge, tear my enemies to pieces! 『Fla Slice』!"
The blade of flas sprung forward, and the shell of the Iron Crawler is made red-hot.
The Iron Crawler writhed around as it died.
Iron Crawlers are weak to fire.
However, it is not a good idea to use fire in a cavern.
It's like sothing is tied around my neck.
I have no choice but to use it.
"Oh, armor of the majestic land, gather around and beco my trappings, 『Earth Fortress』!"
Once more, I create a wall of soil.
The residual amount of magic I possess steadily decreases.
I must hurry.
What's the best way to do it?
How can I survive?
Think.
I defeat demons absent-mindedly while I think about how to survive.
However, I cannot think of any way.
Have I finally been checkmated?
Is it already ti for it to end?
Is it here that I am to die, after all?
Even as I continue working to kill demons, I think so.
[…~Aah~]
My feet stagger.
My head swims.
I feel the magic power inside of beginning to dry up.
I know I will faint after I fire off a few more spells.
[I don't want to…]
I grab on to my staff.
I do not want to die.
I do not want to die.
Even though I think this, in my mind, one thing after another begins to re-surface.
Soon after I was born, I rembered my parent's disappointed faces.
In the quiet village I lived in, I was the only one unable to talk with the others.
My parents pitied and taught words.
I was impressed by the magician who ca to visit my village, and so I learned magic.
I rushed out of the village, knowing only beginner rank water magic.
After I headed out, I t three boys.
I traveled with them as an adventurer for many years.
One of the companions died, and so the party dissolved.
Then, I traveled to Central Continent.
I had t many people, and thereby ca to know of the Magic Academy.
I then entered the academy.
I took a class for the first ti, and I was impressed.
I got a good score on a test, and the results of my practical skills test made others jealous.
I talked about many things with my friend in the dormitory.
When I beca advanced-rank, I t my Shisho.
From Shisho, I learned saint class water magic, and it ca to the point where I could easily use it on the spur of the mont.
My Shisho said this and that, and got angry.
I graduated around then, and left to travel without saying anything to my Shisho.
I thought myself good enough to work in the Asura Capital City, so I traveled there.
However, with no work to be had, I gradually moved towards the border.
And at the border, with no work to be found either, I was at a loss.
But, it was then that I found the piece of paper asking for a tutor.
I t Paul and family, and I had also t Rudi.
I was surprised to see the love affair of Paul and his family.
I was excited and jealous of the talent Rudi had.
I watched Rudi who did not get carried away with magic like I did, and my feelings of respect towards him rose.
Once I had taught Rudeus water-saint class magic, I had left.
I began to dive into the labyrinth near the Shirone kingdom.
After traversing the labyrinth, I had beco employed by Shirone kindgom.
I taught magic to Prince Pax, and it was dreadfully different than when I taught Rudi. I realized the lack of talent I had as a teacher.
A letter ca one day from Rudi, and I worked very hard to make a book on the Demon God Language for him.
I found myself disgusted with Shirone Kingdom, and so I left.
It was then that I heard of the tastasis Event.
I t Elinalise and Talhand.
I was surprised at how free Elinalise and Talhand were.
I traveled around the Magic Continent.
I t my parents again after so long, and was able to confirm that they truly did love after all.
Then, I t Kishirika.
And then, and then…
Such scenes stread inside my head in an instant.
An Iron Crawler approaches in front of .
The room is ward by the heat of the previously cast fire magic, so the effect of Frost Nova has weakened.
It's already over.
I do not want to die, I hate this.
I HATE THIS!
[No…NOOOOooooo………!]
I swung my staff around awkwardly.
Sticky threads co flying at , and entwine my staff.
In an instant, my staff falls to the ground.
[I do not want to die. He-, help , sobody…!]
I edge backward, but there is a wall behind .
An Iron Crawler approaches.
How many of these are there?
I can't cast any more magic spells.
Am I going to be eaten alive like this?
I hate it, why does it have to be like this?!
[Sobody, please save …]
Ah~.
…~ah.
I guess I'll never be able to et my mother again.
At that mont, that was my final thought.
And, as the demon who approached before , I squeezed my eyes shut tightly.
Part 3
I waited for an eternity, but that mont never ca.
Did I die instantly?
As I thought that, I realized I wouldn't have been able to think that if I was already dead.
I am unable to reason what has happened.
However, I no longer hear any sounds.
Perhaps, I have already appeared here in the world after death.
I'm scared, but I open my eyes.
Filling my view was a sight beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
It was a world of ice.
Death Road Tarantula, Iron Crawler, and Mad Skull.
All had beco statues of pure white ice.
The Mad Skull, which was inside the inner part, collapsed with a crunching sound and fell apart.
The skull and the main body cracked and collapsed onto the ground with a loud sound, similar to a window breaking.
It was completely frozen to the very core.
Compared to my own Frost Nova, which only freezes the surface, this power is in another league entirely.
I doubt there is a demon left alive after this.
"…Eh?"
I don't understand what just happened.
I reached for my staff, while being confused.
"Hyaaah!"
The staff was so cold, that I dropped it instinctively.
In this world of silence, I heard a clanging sound.
Was that the reaction to the sound? One voice reached my ear.
"Ahh, what a relief…"
Walking confidently between the statues of ice, it was a solitary young man.
The mont I laid eyes on him, I began to feel my heart beating really fast.
It was the man of my dreams.
Features that seed kind, and hair that seed to be soft.
He was tall and wearing a robe, but despite appearing to be a magician, he also seed to be solidly built.
Dressed in grey robes and holding a large staff, he ca towards .
He looked down at with a face that seed to be openly relieved.
"EHH? Ehh?"
I was embraced tightly.
It was a warm, powerful, and reliable pair of arms wrapped around .
It was a lightly sweet scent mixed with a little bit of sweat. However, it seed to be a nostalgic sll to .
He squatted down, and buried his face into the nape of my neck, and as he inhaled deeply he was moved to profound emotions.
"Su~u…"
"…!"
And then I had noticed sothing.
I had not had any kind of a bath for about a month.
"Ah!"
The second I realized this, I pushed him away.
"What's this?"
His face had a surprised look.
Ah, I'm hopeless. I did sothing inexcusable like that.
Even though he just ca to rescue .
Ah, but still, I don't want to be thought of as stinking…
Ah, no… wait… do I really need to worry about such a thing right now?
What's this?
I can't follow this line of thought.
"S-Sorry, I think it may be a little slly…"
"S-Slly… is it? Ah, I'm sorry!"
I received a bit of a shock when he started to sll his sleeves.
"Ah, not that! I ant myself. Because I have been trapped in here for a month now."
"Oh, that's what you ant? Well, I don't happen to mind it, you know?"
"Well, I do happen to mind it."
I shouldn't have said that.
Well, it was fine as it is thought.
I should first give him my thanks.
Then, I should properly hear his na.
"Thank you very much for taking the ti to rescue ."
"No, it's only natural that I do."
Only natural?
No companion I know would feel any kind of obligation that would make them try and rescue from certain death from such an amazingly large crowd of demons.
Ah yes, his na. I must hear his na.
"*ahem*… Pleased to et your acquaintance just now, I happen to be called Roxy Migurdia. If it is at all possible, would you please allow the honor to receive your na?"
After I said that, he suddenly froze like a statue.
Did I say sothing strange?
"J-just now… pleased to et my acquaintance?"
"Eh? Ah, have we t sowhere else before now? If that's the case I am truly very sorry, but I cannot seem to rember it at all…"
Co to think about it now, I have a funny feeling that I have seen soone like him before.
Now, where could it have been?
He does seem to look just a little bit like Paul-san…
Could I really have forgotten such a person?
"I can't seem to rember you…"
He looked blue in the face.
Did I anger him?
Whether I like it or not, I have certainly t soone like him sowhere.
There's sothing about his face I can recall, sothing from a long ti ago certainly…
"Rember…Re…mber……"
His head bobbed from side to side, and he staggered backwards several steps.
Suddenly, it seed like he was holding sothing back in his mouth…
"UEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
He vomited.
---
That little boy Rudi - after such a small amount of ti, had grown up to beco an adult that I now knew as Rudeus Greyrat.
Paul-san and everyone else who caught up shortly after had brought back to safety, and it was then that I understood how narrowly I had escaped death.
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