Day 29 Month Water

  Yesterday had been a very crazy and hectic day. So crazy, in fact, that I couldn’t even sleep properly.

  Hajime and Alice-san’s fight left an impact inside me that I can’t fully expin.

  Speaking of Hajime, he was so upset that his anger looped into a state of depression. He refused to eat or rest, even when we asked him to, and we’re starting to get really worried.

  Thankfully though, Kaito-san came to the rescue with his cheesecake, and it’s not just any ordinary cheesecake, it’s Alice-san’s cheesecake that Kaito-san forcibly confiscated knowing she’s been messing with us.

  …The moment when Kaito-san brought Alice-san to forcibly gift her cheesecake to us is probably the only moment Hajime actually cried tears of joy.

  By the way, the cheesecake Kaito-san forced Alice-san to give us was a solid cheesecake, it was tart, sweet and cheesy.

  Hajime, on the other hand, felt as if that cheesecake was the best cheesecake he had ever eaten in his entire life.

  …It’s probably because Alice-san shed tears when she was forced by Kaito-san to give us her cheesecake.

  Through this revetion, Hajime realized Alice-san’s true weakness, that is Kaito-san. He then proceeds to ask Kaito-san about his contact info so he can add him on his contact list in his smartphone.

  Of course, the true reason why he did this is just so he can tattletale Alice-san’s bad behaviour…

  Well, he probably won’t tell Kaito-san everything but just the fact that Hajime had contact with Kaito-san at all times makes Alice-san shiver, which Hajime felt ecstasy of.

  But anyway, from what I can gather, apparently the Hero has finished his job as hero representative and is joining Kuro-san’s training starting today. He’s pretty pumped as he was told that Hajime got stronger by a significant margin after just a few days training with Kuro-san.

  Yes… a “few days” hahahaha…

  Also, apparently Endou will be changing his mentor from Alice-san to Kuro-san, not because Endou was getting sick of training under Alice-san though. It’s because, apparently, Endou needs to learn how to control his Authority-like skill better, and since Kuro-san has a connection with Shallow Vernal-sama and has more experience in Authority-like skills, Alice-san decided to hand over Endou to Kuro-san.

  …Endou immediately jumped from joy after he heard this, he also immediately bolted towards the castle to meet Kuro-san…

  …Shizuku also begged Alice-san to change her mentorship to Kuro-san, which unfortunately got declined by both Alice-san and Kuro-san…

  I get why Alice-san declined, but for Kuro-san to decline her request is also quite shocking. Does this mean they both are in the same mind that Shizuku can only efficiently grow stronger under Alice-san’s influence?

  Now that I remembered, back when Hajime had a fight with Alice-san, while she critiqued us for either being basic or uncreative, she completely shred Shizuku a new one. I know her being Shizuku’s mentor means she had high expectations of her but she was not holding back any of her thoughts, to the point that we were shocked by how much criticism Shizuku received.

  Of course, me and the Wifie~s felt terrible that Shizuku was practically getting insulted. However…

  That word Alice-san said that Shizuku wouldn’t make it far without Hajime’s artifact… it echoed in my mind.

  Of course many of us were reliant on Hajime's artifacts once, especially Shia and Kaori. Though Shia is already capable of bringing massive destruction without her hammer like a bugged rabbit she is and Kaori had her apostle form so Hajime’s artifact serves as recommended additions rather than requirements.

  But Shizuku… I really hate to say it but there is some truth behind Alice-san’s word, most of her ability and trademark of “being able to cut through anything” is only via Hajime’s artifact. Without it, she’s basically just a really good swordsman and nothing else.

  And I’m sure Shizuku was painfully forced to accept this reality when she heard that.

  When she saw what she’s capable of by Alice-san yesterday, she didn’t mutter a word and her face was deformed as if she had bitten a bitter grape.

  Of course Kaori tried to cheer her up, but she just went silent as she went back to our room after she ate the cheesecake and shut herself.

  “...I hope Shizuku-chan is okay…” (Kaori)

  “...Kaori, if you have time worrying other people, then you should worry about UUUUUUUUSSSSSSS!!??” (Yue)

  “Fufufu~... you shouldn’t have lost sight of me~…” (Isis)

  Right, we’re in the middle of our training with Isis-san right now with a goal of casting the next level of causality intervention which is “adding possibilities”.

  And let me tell you, this training? It was way more difficult than the previous one.

  Why you may ask?

  It’s because the fucking possibilities can’t be lower than a set amount, otherwise it just won’t work!

  Literally me and Kaori tried to find the “possibilities” of us beating Isis-san but nevermind casting it, we can’t even find the “possibilities” for it. We were prompted to search for the possibility of “Isis-san didn’t do anything” and there’s no such possibility.

  To start with, before we start our training, now that we can cast causality intervention, Isis-san said that she will go a tiny bit more serious in our training. Of course me and Kaori thought it’s the end of the world and we had hoped that Isis-san wouldn't throw much bigger projectiles towards us like before…

  To our relief, Isis-san won’t continue with that type of training anymore, and told us that we will just have a normal spar. We definitely sighed a breath of relief when Isis-san said we will be having a normal spar.

  We really never learned anything…

  Of course when Isis-san said spar, what she meant is that she will be more active by using her Magic Power of Death and keep on killing our spells, including causality intervention, to force us to use the advanced level of causality intervention of “adding possibility” of Isis-san not using her Magic Power of Death.

  And of course, she won’t just use her trademark Magic Power of Death, but also other magic that we were terribly familiar with just to throw us off.

  By the way, the magic I barely dodged is none other than my original magic, Draconic Thunder, which I have no idea when she copied it but apparently this much is nothing for the magical prodigy that can copy Ancient Magic just by looking. She also copied Kaori’s disintegration magic and somehow decided that it was a great idea to combine the two into Draconic Thunder that had disintegration aura covered on it so we can’t beat it normally.

  And that’s not all…

  What will happen when a super magical prodigy with more creativity copied Ancient Magics from uncreative people?

  Well… here are the results…

  “W-what is that!? Are those snowfkes!?” (Kaori)

  “You should… try to avoid those… if you can…” (Isis)

  “A-awawawa!? It’s disintegration magic?!” (Kaori)

  A shiny snowstorm that was actually disintegration magic, bringing chaos and confusion.

  “...Nuuuu! Bck Vortex!” (Yue)

  “Fufufu~... you should see… what’s in front of you~...” (Isis)

  “...Eh? N-not the slowdown zzzzzoooooooooonnnnnneeeeeeeeeee…” (Yue)

  A bubble shaped space where everything is being slowed down to snail pace inside it.

  “Get off me Bakaori!” (Yue)

  “I-I can’t!? I’m stuck!” (Kaori)

  A spell that can create a strong magnetic field that can attract and repel specific targets.

  “Awawawa!? Why am I going directly into the slowdown field!?” (Kaori)

  “Unn… this spell… is interesting to use…” (Isis)

  A spell that disorients your nervous system…

  “Yue! Don’t melt them! The ice will grow if you heat them up!” (Kaori)

  “Nnu!?” (Yue)

  Ice that, using Evolution Magic, crystalized from high temperature rather than cold temperature…

  There’s just so many spells that we didn’t even think of, and isis-san was having a fun time trying different styles of Ancient Magics in a creative and innovative way.

  …Maybe this is why Alice-san critiques us for being uncreative…

  And so, we had spars again and again, and Isis-san kept on showing why we’re uncreative, again and again for many, many years to come inside the Large Scale Spatial Barrier…

  .

  .

  .

  “...I’m beat…” (Yue)

  “Fufufu~... you both are doing great…” (Isis)

  Several years inside the barrier ter, we were finally done with our training and as per our request, Isis-san had a tea party with us every time we finished our training.

  Haaaaah~ her lovely gesture soothe my worn heart~

  “...Kaori…? Are you… okay?” (Isis)

  “U-unn? O-oh! I’m okay Isis-san!” (Kaori)

  “But your face… tells me otherwise… and you haven’t… touched your tea yet… Are you still worried… about Shizuku?” (Isis)

  “...Unn, when I saw her today she still looked disheartened. I tried to suggest that she take a break but she just smiled at me and brushed it off…” (Kaori)

  Kaori sheepishly expined that she was still worried about Shizuku who was still not in a good mood when we met while having breakfast today.

  Well, it makes sense, when we saw her, she looked paler than usual. Not only that, she also had visible baggy eyes, a sign that she didn’t sleep yesterday.

  Of course, not just Kaori but me, Aiko, Remia and even Hajime also suggested taking a break from training but she insisted on continuing her training.

  I’m guessing what Alice-san said yesterday really messed with her mind.

  After Isis-san heard Kaori’s expnation, she stood up from her chair and approached Kaori and patted her head with a gentle smile on her face still.

  “Unn… you don’t need to worry… I’m sure Shizuku… is stronger than you thought…” (Isis)

  “Isis-san…” (Kaori)

  “Besides… I also trust Shalltear… in her evaluation… Shizuku will definitely… prevail and get stronger…” (Isis)

  Nn, while it was an act of sheer folly to trust a person who’s basically Miledi’s incarnation but worse, she’s also crazy smart. So what Alice-san showed us yesterday is definitely something we could achieve if we train hard enough.

  In fact, I tried to change the property of Bck Vortex yesterday and not only I made it, it was that easy to change Bck Vortex’s ability to attract into an ability to repel using Evolution Magic.

  Not only that, I changed a fire’s attribute of heating to freezing, and it was so easy to do.

  I definitely hate to say it… but we’ve definitely been sleeping on Evolution Magic’s true capability for so long. Unlocking the true potential of Evolution Magic opens up so many potentials we can use magic that we never thought of before.

  Because of that, we could trust Shizuku for getting stronger and Alice-san for guiding Shizuku towards her path of getting stronger.

  Anyway…

  “Unn… Yue?” (Isis)

  “...Nn…” (Yue)

  While Kaori was still being patted by Isis-san with that annoyingly wide smile of hers, I slowly scooted over to Isis-san’s side while presenting my head for her to pat on.

  What? You thought I was jealous? Of course I was! How dare Kaori get a head pat while I, on the other hand, only watch Kaori getting pats!? This Vampire princess deserves to get pats after her hard work training too!

  Of course, the ever so loving Archangel Isis-san immediately knew my intention and patted my head alongside Kaori.

  Fufun~ my energy is getting charged with Isisnium~ Of course the fuel rate is not as good as Hajimenium but it’s still the greatest~

  .

  .

  .

  (change to 3rd person view)

  Inside a dark forest, where light won't reach, where every creature resides in it is designed to kill everything. There stands a beautiful girl with a ponytail hairstyle gripping her trusted dark sword tightly. She wears a cautious expression as her tired eyes scanned her surroundings.

  *srk

  “Tch!?” (Shizuku)

  Shizuku, who was already out of breath from moving too much, quickly attacks the source of the voice.

  “Naive.” (Alice)

  “Ah!?” (Shizuku)

  Alice, her mentor, kicked Shizuku from the back as Shizuku was paying her attention to a sound decoy Alice made.

  “Sheesh, what’s wrong with you today? You should’ve been able to spot that decoy and yet you’re fumbling like a klutz.” (Alice)

  Shizuku who fell to her front stood up without answering Alice’s question, she lifted her upper body and revealed her face that was smeared with mud.

  “Stand up, we’re far from over.” (Alice)

  Shizuku begrudgingly stands up, and turns her body towards Alice to attack her. Unfortunately, Alice just deflects all of Shizuku’s attacks with little to no effort.

  “At least try to use feint attacks, you idiot.” (Alice)

  “Ah!?” (Shizuku)

  Alice spped Shizuku’s bde out of her grips towards the bushes. Shizuku frantically tries to find her bde in the bushes.

  “Haaah, you really shouldn't look away from your enemy.” (Alice)

  “Agh!?” (Shizuku)

  Without any hesitation nor pause, Alice kicked Shizuku away from the bushes, prickly thorns pierced and sshed Shizuku’s pale skin, crimson droplets poured out from her scratches and wounds.

  “Uggghhh…” (Shizuku)

  However… Even though Shizuku was in pain and slightly bleeding, Alice didn’t heal her, or rather, she didn't want to.

  “Do I seriously need to spell it out why I’m this rough on you?” (Alice)

  With domineering and cold gaze, Alice gred at Shizuku who is still groaning from pain. The coldness of her words decreases the temperature of the dark forest.

  “Don’t you realize it? Well if you’re that much of a blockhead, then I’ll say it, that you are—” (Alice)

  “I KNOW!” (Shizuku)

  Before Alice finishes her word, Shizuku cuts Alice’s word and cries out her feeling that had been weighing on her mind ever since Hajime and Alice’s fight, so much so that it echoes through the dark forest.

  “I know I’m weak! I know I’m being left behind! I know even among my precious family, I’m being left to dust! Are you happy now!?” (Shizuku)

  Shizuku wails with tears formed in the slits of her eyes, deep inside her heart, she knows she’s being left behind. Starting from Hajime who already grasped infinite mana, Yue who is in the middle of mastering an extremely difficult magic, Shia whose strength had already surpassed Hajime, Tio who mastered her ways of becoming a Dragonmen, Kaori who had an indisputable position as a healer in Hajime’s party.

  Even Kousuke who cleared the Reisen Gorge Labyrinth by himself, and Kouki who finally found his own strength after stepping into another world.

  They all have found their strength, and slowly move towards the path they choose.

  …But what about Shizuku?

  Shizuku on the other hand, can’t do anything without Hajime’s artifact. Her trademark as a swordswoman who can cut through everything, is reliant on Hajime’s artifact. Although she did not think of it too much before, what Alice said yesterday has sprouted the uneasiness she had that was buried deep beneath her heart.

  Her heart was wailing, it was as if she was trapped inside the nightmare that is Schnee Snowfield Labyrinth all over again.

  Alice, who still coldly gred at Shizuku, spoke with a ft tone disregarding her tears.

  “Well, if you know that you’re weak, but still don’t want to change, that’s fine. We can end the training right now” (Alice)

  Shizuku is shocked by what Alice said, although she was skeptical, a sign of relief was etched on her face knowing she can end her nightmare right now.

  “However… Are you really sure about that?” (Alice)

  Suddenly, Alice asks Shizuku, which makes her jolt and completely changes her expressions to a grim one.

  “You’re maybe next to the strongest in your own world now, maybe there won’t be any new threat that can overpower Hajime-san, but what will happen if that’s not the case?” (Alice)

  Shivers ran through Shizuku’s spine, as she imagined Alice’s scenario, her expressions changed into horror. She can’t even imagine a world where Hajime and his families got brutally overpowered.

  “It’s not even that hard to envision it, the “Dragon” incident already showed you all that inside the infinite universes with infinite space, there will always be a stronger being, far stronger than you all could imagine. The fact that you guys got summoned here is proof that you all are just a reasonable sized fish in a small pond.” (Alice)

  Shizuku couldn’t listen to Alice’s words any longer, she almost puked just from imagining what would happen if the present reality where her family could ugh to their heart's desires suddenly went by without any trace. She couldn’t handle such a reality and almost broke down.

  “You can’t handle it, can you? When that happens, what will you do? Will you stop from fear? Will you run? Will you pray for a miracle? Or…” (Alice)

  Suddenly, Shizuku grabbed a nearby branch, and lunged towards Alice with seething rage in her gaze while gritting her teeth with tears in her eyes still.

  “Of course I will fight! Even if they trample over me! Even if I was ripped apart into many small pieces! I will fight until the end!!!” (Shizuku)

  Shizuku procims that no matter what happens, she will stand by Hajime’s side until the end. With an unwavering heart, she will fight and fight for her beloved, even if it results in her untimely end.

  “Hmph, good grief, looks like you finally find out what to do if that happens. Good enough, I suppose.” (Alice)

  When she heard this, Alice showed a small wry smile while thwarting Shizuku’s attack and murmured her praise with a mocking yet gentle tone.

  “Well then, since you finally have your mindset to grow stronger, I hope you can keep up because this is where the real training starts.” (Alice)

  “Bring it on! I won’t cower again!” (Shizuku)

  Shizuku braves herself on whatever Alice throws at her, although she was tattered, her eyes are unwavering and clear. Her expression was refreshing, as if she finally opened her eyes from a deep slumber.

  “Now then, here are the rules.” (Alice)

  All of the sudden, Alice constructed something from the nearby dirt, it formed into a humanoid shape like a mannequin.

  “These, right here, are puppets. These puppets are created with strength on par with the top adventurers around the world alongside some High ranking demons, and there’s even a few of them who had strength on par with Baron ranked Demons.” (Alice)

  Shizuku was confused, as she thought the puppets Alice constructed were not at all strong as she expected. She thought she would fight puppets that mirrored Alice’s technique at the very least.

  Alice, who already guessed what Shizuku was thinking, devilishly smiled at her.

  “You thought it was too easy, didn’t you? Well it is, for the “current you”, that is.” (Alice)

  ‘Wha—!?” (Shizuku)

  As soon as Alice uttered something, a pilr of light fell down toward Shizuku who closed her eyes from the sudden light. It went on for a moment, and after the light subsided, Shizuku opened her eyes and observed anything that’s out of order.

  “N-no way…” (Shizuku)

  It took Shizuku a few moments to realize what happened.

  “Yep~ I sealed all of your abilities, nerfed your status and took all of your gears and equipment. From now on, you will be fighting against these puppets by yourself and only by yourself. You want them back? Simple, just beat them all and they’re yours.” (Alice)

  Shizuku was fbbergasted beyond relief, not only she had to fight the puppets without any of her original gears, she had to fight them without her superior stats that she obtained from Tortus.

  Right now… she’s no different than a normal human being.

  “Your stats and magic power were all given by a false god, your gears and equipment were given by your beloved, even the Ancient Magics were spoon fed to you. Without them all… who exactly are you?” (Alice)

  “...” (Shizuku)

  Shizuku couldn’t answer Alice’s question. To her dismay, she realized that everything that defines her was given by other individuals, whether they had good or bad intentions.

  Shizuku closed her eyes for a second, there, she saw…

  Her family who accepted for who she was, her friends that went through thick and thin together, her best friends that understand her more than anyone…

  And most importantly… her beloved…

  Shizuku opened her eyes, her surroundings were still dark and gloomy, yet she could see them as clear as days. She gred towards Alice with her clear eyes.

  “I… I’m nobody… just like what you said… everything I had right now… were given… just like a child given a toy by its parents… Maybe I didn't even deserve the surname of Yaegashi…” (Shizuku)

  However… She took the branch that she used to attack Alice and tightly grip it and firmly held her ground. Even though she lost most of her power, she still has something she obtained from those around her.

  “The warmth, the kindness, the love I received from those around me… they define me for who I am. And I’m Shizuku Yaegashi! And I will not let my beloved everyday life vanish just because I was too weak to prevent them!” (Shizuku)

  Shizuku took her stance that she was most familiar with, although Alice sealed and took most that define Shizuku, she cannot take away one thing that has been with her the longest.

  With a wry smile, she scattered the puppets throughout the dark forest.

  “Good, here’s how it works. There are 108 puppets inside this 10 thousand acre dark forest, while most of them will only attack if you enter their territory, some of them will relentlessly pursue you until you faint. Beat one of them and you get some of your powers back. There won’t be any help, not even food and water from me, figure that one yourself. Also, there will be traps everywhere you step. There’s no progression so go ahead and beat the strongest one first if you’re stupid enough. Time won’t be slowed inside this barrier so you have a deadline of 4 days, go past that and I consider it a failure. Besides that, go wild.” (Alice)

  Before Alice disappeared, she gnced at Shizuku with an expectant gaze.

  “Prove it to me, that you’re deserving of that name. Good luck.” (Alice)

  Shizuku can only gred at Alice back before she disappeared. Soon, sunlight rises and shines Shizuku’s dirty, yet clear face. The dark forest soon wakes up, greeting another day with its vibrant, yet gloomy environment.

  “I will definitely prove it. Just you wait…” (Shizuku)

  With her new resolve and unwavering heart, the little girl silently ventures throughout the forest and begins her quest of getting stronger for her beloved…

  Afterword:

  Author: Serious-senpai… she went to sleep immediately after she came back… even though we still have serious moments…

  ???: Truly the tragedy of all time. Anyway, I thought she already had her own character development in her own series, author-san?

  Author: W-well, I kinda forgot about that, but after I consulted with some Arifureta and Yuushou readers like me, they concluded that it’s still not too deviated from her original personality so we’re still…fine?

  ???: Hopefully you won’t mess up with m—Alice-chan’s personality.

  Author: I’ll try my best…