AN: This story isn't in strict chronological order. To help readers keep track, here's the timeline until now:
Day 1: Druella visits + observes Lescatie, begins planning
Day 4: Elt goes about a normal day in Lescatie; Druella meets Lucella
Day 10: Druella shows Elt + Primera Court Alf, then returns them, they talk to Sasha; Mimil goes out on mission + encounters Lucella, loses + returns
Day 11: Wilmarina at party, then meets with the Order of the Holy Ice Flower to discuss monster activity, then meets Elt
Day 12: Wil gathers evidence from Noscrim Manor
Day 13: Wil prepares with other members of Holy Ice Flower; Sasha shows her secret orphanage to Elt + Primera
Day 14: Wil + others go to Senate meeting to reveal crimes, many family heads arrested, King Castor becomes more active; Primera called out on reconnaissance mission; Sasha monsterised, Elt returns to discover this + sends coded message to Wil
Day 15: Primera + Mersé on 2nd day of their mission, former runs into werewolves, they return to capital in afternoon, Primera discovers Sasha's change; Castor falls sometime in the second half of the day (too early for Primera + Mersé to hear about it yet).
Hopefully I didn't make any mistakes in putting together that timeline.
Most countries in the world had only one institution for the education and development of magical arts. Lescatie, as a testament to its power, had three of them. The largest and most prestigious of these was Magitec, based in a three-story building within walking distance of the royal palace.
Working in one laboratory was a girl of twelve. A stranger might have thought her out of place here, surrounded by rare spellbooks and crystals glowing with magical energies, yet she was working on a project that few adult mages would even dare attempt. In front of her was a sheet of paper with an exceedingly complex design on it.
By adding sparkstone to a magical focus using this design, it should increase the power considerably… And sparkstone is cheap enough that every mage in Lescatie could do it…
That sounds a bit too convenient… let me run the calculations again…
Mimil didn't need to write down a single number, instead performing a lengthy series of calculations using only her mind.
Based on how the sparkstone would change the flow of mana… dammit, this idea would decrease stability by twenty to thirty percent. Someone like me could handle that, but there's no way this could be used by the masses, there'd be lots of panicking mages blowing themselves up.
Grumbling in frustration, Mimil scrunched up the paper and threw it into a bin, landing on top of a dozen other failures.
But even if it worked… it wouldn't be enough…
It had been four days since Mimil had fought a baphomet. It had been four days since she had lost to a baphomet. In that time, the monster forces would have furthered their preparations to attack Lescatie… and yet most remained blissfully unaware.
Why… am I wasting my time on pointless projects like this?
-ooo-
Four days ago, after realising her loss to the baphomet, Mimil had abandoned any thoughts of duty to run back home. But when she arrived…
"Ah… That's the last bottle. Have to buy more now…"
"You need to buy that yourself. Those bottles are big and heavy, and I need to buy a new dress for myself."
"Hey, you think a few bottles would be too heavy? In the old days, you could've carried a whole box of 'em like it was nothing!"
"So could you, but I never see you hauling anything nowadays…"
The words leaking out of the dining room made Mimil hesitate for a moment. She hadn't had a proper conversation with her parents for… for at least three years. But she steeled herself and pushed open the door.
Mimil's parents were both dressed in fine clothing that they could never have afforded while they were still common labourers. Her father shared her pink hair, while her mother instead had brown hair styled into elegant braids. At this moment, they both looked at their daughter in surprise.
"Mimil…?"
"Weren't you supposed to be out of the capital for work…?"
If she was being honest with herself, Mimil was surprised her mother had even remembered what she was doing. However, she suppressed that feeling and spoke:
"Father, Mother, I… ran into trouble on my mission."
That caused her parents to fidget nervously.
"Oh, um… that mission was… to look for monsters, was it?"
"Did you not find any?"
After a few seconds, Mimil's parents approached their daughter and placed their hands on her shoulders. It was a visibly clumsy gesture, one that betrayed their lack of recent experience.
But even so… Mimil felt warmth from that.
"I… I did find monsters," Mimil said. "Just a few goblins at first, but then I ran into—"
"That's—um, sorry, Mimil, but we don't really know about things like that," Mimil's father said.
"Wouldn't it be better to talk to your colleagues?" Mimil's mother said. "I'm sure they could help you with… with whatever problem you have."
A harsh chill pierced through Mimil, banishing all of the warmth from earlier.
It was true that most people, Mimil's parents included, didn't know much about monsters.
It was true that other heroes and other mages would be able to relate to her situation better.
But even so…
All I wanted… When I came here, all I wanted was for you to care… to care at least as much as parents of some brat who scraped their knee…
"Mimil?" "Mimil?"
In response to her parents' words, Mimil simply put on a neutral expression. She already had plenty of experience with fake smiles, so something like this was trivial for her.
"Father, Mother, thank you," Mimil said. "I'll do just that."
Mimil left the dining room and then left the house entirely. But on a whim, she cast a basic spell to enhance her own hearing.
She could now hear countless noises, ranging from footsteps to the cries of small animals. Mimil focused her attention on the sounds from one direction only.
"...better get sorted out soon…"
"If this affects her salary, what would we…"
Mimil clenched her small fists and walked away without looking back.
-ooo-
Contrary to what she'd said earlier, Mimil didn't go to Magitec, to the royal palace or to any other place where her colleagues might be found. She instead went to a barracks for common soldiers… at least, that was the case normally.
When Mimil arrived, there was not a single soldier in sight. The only one present was a hero who was Mimil's antithesis in every way: tall and muscular instead of short and slender, a physical fighter instead of a mage, close with the people around her instead of…
Mimil forced down that last thought and marched up to Mersé Dascaros. The senior hero was currently practising alone, swinging her halberd powerfully enough to generate small explosions of air.
Before Mimil could say anything, Mersé looked in her direction and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here today?" she said.
"Isn't it obvious?" Mimil said. "There's only one reason I come to a place like this, and it isn't because I like your company."
"My men have a day off today," Mersé explained. "Unlike you or me, they need time to rest their bodies."
Mimil froze. "I… see."
"If you really have to see Elt, you might be able to find him at the church he lives in," Mersé continued. "But I'll be honest: you should stop doing that. You being around him makes a lot of other people unhappy."
"It's my business who I talk to!" Mimil snapped back. "I don't care what you think! As long as Elt is fine with it—"
"There's no way Elt would say no to you," Mersé said harshly. "But while I can protect him on duty, he's not always on duty, is he? And there's a lot of people in Lescatie who don't think a commoner like him should be near a hero like you… and who might do something about it…"
Mimil knew exactly what the senior hero was referring to. Even with her own young age, she knew of the cutthroat nature of Lescatie society.
"...Fine," Mimil said. "I'll stay away from him from now on."
She wanted to scream. She wanted to let this old hag know that she had no business getting involved. But she couldn't.
She'd already failed as a hero of Lescatie. She couldn't afford to fail Elt as well.
-ooo-
And so Mimil had gone back to Magitec after all. She'd submitted a report about finding and subduing goblins, and claimed that one of the goblins had mentioned a baphomet.
It was a lie, at best a lie with sprinklings of truth. It wouldn't make people prepare as fervently as if they'd known Mimil had fought the baphomet in question. After all, there was no guarantee that the goblins had been telling the truth instead of bluffing.
But telling the full truth would have required Mimil to go through a long and gruelling debriefing, one she simply didn't care for.
If they want information that badly, they can always go out and investigate themselves, instead of making a… a… a twelve-year-old kid do it for them!
On a related note, her superiors would have trouble believing she'd fought a baphomet, one of the rarest and most powerful monsters. Some might even think she was making the whole thing up to increase her prestige. Others might believe her… but they would then have her locked away and studied. Obviously, a monster would only ever let a human go in order to set a trap.
Even though… Even though she was…
Mimil recalled the baphomet's, Lucella's, words:
"Mimil Miltie… why have you closed your heart so completely?"
Those words had sounded sincere, but Mimil could only understand that now, after returning to Lescatie and finding no real comfort here. It was another factor in Mimil deciding to hide the truth.
Returning to the present, Mimil rubbed her eyes in exhaustion. She'd been working practically from sunup to sundown today. This was partly to distract herself from her worries and partly to discourage her superiors from sending her out again.
But… who knows how long this will last…
For now, Mimil decided to retire for the night. She left her personal laboratory and began walking down the corridor.
She passed a few other mages who were also part of Magitec. They differed in age, sex, physiques and even clothing—Magitec did not have any dress code. The one thing they all had in common was being older and taller than her. Despite that, they all bowed their heads to her.
We might work in the same place, but… this is what it means to be a genius…
Mimil had never opened up to any of them, and she was hardly about to start now. Either they'd have trouble relating to her situation, just like her parents… or they'd use this information to ruin her so they could rise in the rankings. Even in Lescatie's greatest repository of magical knowledge, there was no escaping the struggle for power.
However, not everyone kept their noses to themselves.
One teenage boy in blue robes looked at Mimil and stammered, "G-Greetings, Hero Mimil. This might be presumptuous of me, but… is there any way I could help with your research? Of course, I'm not saying I can match your intellect, but… I could link you with a supplier of rare magical reagents…"
Mimil looked the boy up and down. She took a few seconds to recall his identity.
Kristoff Mellias… from a baron household…
In theory, being even a low-ranking noble would make Kristoff higher in Lescatie's social hierarchy than common-born Mimil. In practice, Mimil's once-in-a-century magical talent meant she was his social superior.
That made Kristoff's current action a desperate attempt to curry favour with someone powerful. Not too surprising, given the current state of Lescatie…
"I may consider it," Mimil said. "But right now, I want to return to my room."
Kristoff nodded, looking like an overeager puppy, and stepped aside to let Mimil pass.
A minute later, Mimil ascended a staircase to reach the top floor of Magitec. This had rooms for personal use instead of research or teaching.
Among these was a cafeteria where a couple of mages were sitting down for a late night snack. They were so engrossed in conversation that they didn't even notice Mimil, something she actually appreciated.
"...still can't believe it, it means everything's been turned upside-down."
"What should we do? Should we try getting into a mission with Hero Wilmarina?"
"With how things look now, it might be better to try becoming royal mages…"
"Hah! In your dreams!"
Mimil had spent as much time alone as possible, but even she hadn't been able to miss hearing about the arrests of many high-ranking nobles and the king taking on emergency powers, both unprecedented in recent history.
Most of the people here have only an outsider's perspective… but I happen to know more about the one who started it all, that so-called "Strongest Hero of Lescatie".
It had happened a few months ago. Mimil had followed Elt around in his barracks, and at a time when they happened to be alone, he'd let slip some information about his past.
Childhood friends with Wilmarina Noscrim herself, even playing together with her? It made me laugh at the time, and call him a liar… but later, I thought about how he wasn't the sort of person to tell lies…
Anyway, I'm sure she's forgotten about him by now.
Mimil arrived at her dormitory room within the Magitec building. This was a spacious room filled with the finest of furniture. Many high-ranking members had such rooms so they could focus on their work instead of wasting time travelling to and from home.
Though at this moment, Mimil had no home she would ever want to go to.
-ooo-
The next morning, Mimil threw herself into another random research project.
Let's see… would it be possible to shorten the incantation of Mana Scattering Strike? That would be make it more useful for disrupting enemy spells. Currently, many novice mages aren't able to cast it before their enemy finishes their own incantation.
Mimil began writing down magical formulas on a sheet of paper. She soon ran out of space and moved on to a second sheet.
But it would be hard, maybe impossible, to do that without lowering its effectiveness. Then it would only work on low-level spells, which already have short incantations…
To give an overly simplistic picture, magic could be split into two types. One type required no incantations to use. It was the main type used by magic-wielding fighters like Mersé or Wilmarina. It was quick to cast and didn't announce your intentions to your opponent. The downside was that you could only learn a limited repertoire of spells of this magic type.
The other type did require incantations but in exchange offered much more versatility. It was the main type used by true mages like Mimil. The main downsides were the incantations not being optional, and the immense difficulty of changing incantations. The latter was why Mimil was filling up sheet after sheet with magical formulas.
Coming up with even a single new incantation takes years of study and experimentation, while editing one is as complicated as messing around with a living organism… Let's see if I can make any progress on that today…
Mimil became so absorbed in her work that the hours passed like minutes. Working with magic was one of the few things she truly enjoyed… even if it was a mostly solitary task, since very few people could keep up with her nowadays.
Maybe Second Princess Vivian could help, but she's off on some diplomatic mission right now. Along with her younger sister, if I remember right…
Around noon, a bird-shaped magical device began chirping. This was an alarm that Mimil set for herself so she'd remember when to eat.
He always criticised me for getting too into work that I forgot meals, saying it was bad for a growing kid…
That thought brought a smile to Mimil's face, but it soon fell away when she remembered her promise to never see Elt again.
It's… better this way…
Mimil forced herself to head to the cafeteria and eat lunch. It was a luxurious meal of roasted beef and assorted vegetables, but she couldn't enjoy it in the slightest.
I could go to Cafe Loumède after this, get a strawberry parfait… but right now, it might not even taste sweet to me.
Damn you, baphomet… this is all your fault!
Mimil slammed a fist on the table, the resulting thump causing several others to look at her nervously. She then put up an angry expression to make them turn away in a hurry.
When she was finished with lunch, Mimil thought of heading back to her laboratory. She changed her mind and instead went to Magitec's training room instead.
The training room was located on the ground floor of the building and near the south wall. Apart from its great size, it didn't appear all that special due to its walls, floor and ceiling all consisting of plain grey stone. However, that stone was reinforced with layer upon layer of enchantments for blocking, dispersing and absorbing magic.
There were already a few mages in here. They were practising spells on ice blocks, small boulders, wooden logs and other targets. But when they saw Mimil approaching, they all hurried out, some saying things like, "T-The room is all yours, Hero Mimil!"
Mimil stood on one side of the training room, alone once again. She stared at a block of ice that had been left behind by someone else. She clutched her staff.
"Lightning Bolt!"
A crackling bolt of blue-white lightning shot out from Mimil's staff, pulverising the ice block and reducing the fragments to steam.
"Pierce! Sonic Burst! Flame Tide!"
In the next ten seconds, the remaining targets in the room were annihilated. A few stray spells hit the opposite wall of the room, causing countless bluish runes to glow briefly.
Mimil conjured up a dozen new targets and then annihilated them as well. As dust and steam billowed through the room, she screamed incoherently.
Finally, Mimil sat down on the floor and lowered her head. Her staff fell from her limp hands.
Out of the mages in here… most wouldn't be able to repeat what I just did, either because they don't know all the spells or don't have enough energy to cast them all. Maybe three or four could repeat this, and they'd be exhausted afterwards.
Yet even I lost to a baphomet… so what does that say about them?
Mimil buried her face in her hands.
I'm a genius at magic, a hero chosen by the Chief God… and I'm nothing compared to a baphomet. She treated me as… as nothing more than a helpless brat. If there's any other monsters on her level… Lescatie is doomed.
Perhaps things would have gone differently if she'd fought alongside allies. In fact, the Order promoted cooperation as a key strength of humans, an advantage they had over the chaotic rabble of monsters.
But there was a reason why Mimil had gone out alone in the first place. From the moment she'd joined Magitec, she'd realised that Lescatie was a hive of competition and backstabbing.
Perhaps things would improve from now on… but Mimil wouldn't get her hopes up.
-ooo-
And indeed, Mimil discovered that evening that there was no point in hoping for a better future. At dinner, everyone was gossiping about the latest news.
"Did you hear! The king has died!"
"I heard he was just badly injured!"
"Well, I heard that's just a cover-up, and he has in fact died!"
"It sounds like it was an accident. I heard he just fell down some stairs."
"Wouldn't be a surprise, he was old and frail…"
"That can't be an accident, not with this timing!"
"You see treachery everywhere, Elise. Sometimes, it really is just an accident…"
"No, I'm sure of it! There's lots of spells which could do something like that!"
"But could those avoid the notice of the royal guards?"
"Hrmm…"
"More importantly, what'll happen to Lescatie now?"
"If he's dead… or even if he's just down for the time being… does that mean the first princess takes power?"
"Or would it be the queen instead?"
"More importantly, what does this mean for the likes of us?"
"Things are changing rapidly. We should wait until they settle down and there's a clear picture of the situation."
"But if we do that, we might get left behind…"
This certainly isn't an accident, Mimil thought. I guess there's too many people in Lescatie who want to keep things as they've always been. For all I know, even the royal guards are involved in this.
Though surrounded by intense discussion, Mimil calmly sipped her orange juice.
The king might be dead or alive. Even if he's alive, the royal faction will be focused on healing him as much as possible. They'll be very careful to keep away any further assassination attempts, so it might take a while… giving the other factions the opening they need to claw their way back into relevance. There'll be more struggling for power from now on, not less.
Even as she made this analysis, Mimil saw evidence of it happening before her eyes. Most obviously, a few people attempting to sit next to her and get into her good graces. She deflected their attempts while continuing to think.
Elt's childhood friend must be in trouble now… not that I care anymore.
Really, it's better this way, for him and me…
Mimil stared down at her dinner. Like everything in recent days, she couldn't feel any satisfaction from it…
...but it was said that food always tasted better in good company. And since she wouldn't find any good company here or at her home—the house where her parents lived, that left only one option.
Mimil stood up. She had the chef on duty pack her dinner into a box—a request that wasn't unusual, Magitec had plenty of eccentrics who preferred to eat in their rooms. Then she left the cafeteria and the building altogether.
That old hag said I should stay away from Elt, for his own good… But it should be fine if no one sees a hero visit him, right?
Mimil covered herself in a brown travelling cloak. As an extra precaution, she whispered "Alter Colour", and her pink hair changed to black while her pink dress changed to light grey.
Then she began jumping across rooftops and weaving through narrow alleys, heading for the slums. If anyone was following her, they'd have to reveal themselves in order to keep up.
It's been a while since Elt mentioned the directions to his home… I've never been here before, so I have to hope I got it right…
Fortunately, Mimil spotted the church after a few minutes. It was quite obviously in bad shape, nothing like the pristine churches that Mimil was used to seeing… but it also gave off a more humble and honest impression.
Mimil paused on the flimsy roof of a shack. Her well-honed battle sense told her that someone was watching her, and that someone had hostile intent. She looked up to see a woman in the church's steeple. The woman was dressed in green and holding a drawn bow.
Primera Concerto, huh… Mimil thought, noting the pointed ears. When I first heard about him living with two heroes, I thought it was another lie…
With slow and deliberate movements, Mimil set her staff down on the ground and raised her empty hands. There was no point in starting a fight here.
Primera continued glaring at Mimil, who returned this in equal measure. A few moments later, a familiar young man burst out from the church's doors.
"Mimil!" Elt called out. "It's great to see you—"
"Keep it down, you stupid Big Brother," Mimil said. "It's supposed to be a secret that I'm here."
Elt nodded, a serious expression on his face, and led Mimil inside the church.
"There's something I want to tell you as well, but I didn't have the chance before," Elt said. "It's… shocking, but I want you to promise that you won't get angry."
"Who do you think I am?" Mimil said. "I never lose my temper even when surrounded by monsters."
Some children came into sight. Even the oldest of them was… well, equal in age to Mimil herself. All of their clothing combined wouldn't match up to the value of one of her socks. And their bodies were so thin that twigs became useful comparisons.
In the past, Mimil had often scolded Elt for trying to be a soldier when he wasn't even strong enough to fight monsters. Now she knew why he was putting in so much effort… and she felt a crushing regret for her previous words.
Mimil held out the box with the remnants of her dinner. "Anyway, I, um, brought a snack for you, Big Brother. And… it's fine if you want to share it with anyone else…"
Elt looked at Mimil suspiciously, causing the latter to squirm under his gaze.
"...Alright. Thanks for this, Mimil."
Elt passed Mimil's dinner on to the other orphans who quickly devoured it. A few of them shouted out things like "Thank you, Miss Hero!", causing Mimil to look away in embarrassment.
I… don't have any little brothers or sisters, unlike most common families… Back when I was little, my parents were working too hard to take care of a second child… and when I showed I could use magic, everything changed…
But in those early days, they had still been a true family. Mimil could still faintly recall her parents singing songs to her to help her get to sleep. Those songs were clumsy and tuneless compared to what she might listen to now, and yet…
At that moment, a half-elf dropped down from a hole in the ceiling. She landed next to Elt and Mimil, still with a suspicious expression on her face. She'd put away her bow at least.
"Are you sure about this, Elt?" Primera asked.
"I'm right here, you know," Mimil said.
"I trust Mimil with this," Elt said. "If I'd met her before, I would have asked her to come here sooner."
Mimil was sorely tempted to tell Elt that his own superior was the reason they hadn't met recently. Anything to make that old hag pay…
...but she couldn't do that. Even that harsh demand to stay away had been out of concern for Elt. Mersé had been right, Mimil openly talking to Elt had always been reckless.
"Anyway, please come with us, Mimil."
Elt began walking towards a door along the side of the church's main area, so Mimil and Primera followed.
"Come to think of it, where is Sasha Fullmoon?" Mimil asked. "As the owner of this church, I thought she'd be here."
Elt and Primera exchanged glances.
"She's here, but… something big has happened."
Then Elt revealed his secret. And Mimil wanted to strangle her Big Brother for being incredibly stupid.
-ooo-
When midnight arrived, after a lengthy series of explanations… Mimil was in less of a strangling mood.
"I'm surrounded by traitors to Lescatie…" Mimil said, rubbing her temples. "And a traitor myself…"
"Don't get us wrong, we're still thinking about how to protect Lescatie," Primera said. The half-elf was still—unsurprisingly—suspicious of Mimil. "It's just that this doesn't necessarily fit what those in the church or the palace want."
"It still feels awkward to say this, now that I've become a monster myself," Sasha said, hugging her own tail. "But monsters aren't implacably evil. That doesn't mean we should bow down to Druella's army, but… there may be room for negotiation."
Mimil looked down at her own hands. They were neat and clean, unlike the hands of other common-born girls… but right now, they seemed stained with blood.
That amazoness chief and echidna I fought… before they retreated, they yelled at me for killing their subordinates earlier. The amazoness even swore revenge on me…
It had been easy to dismiss when they were just monsters, not fellow humans. Now, she wasn't able to criticise Sasha or Primera for what they'd done.
Hah… I guess that's another reason why they recruited someone so young… they thought I'd be easier to shape into the killer they wanted.
All of Mimil's accomplishments so far, up to and including her research in the past few days, seemed to be crumbling away.
"It's not your fault, Mimil," Elt said, grasping Mimil's shoulder. "All of us get taught that monsters are the enemy, just like the sun is yellow and the sky is blue."
"You never had the power to actually kill monsters, Big Brother!" Mimil retorted, trying to pull away. "And besides, the sun and sky aren't those colours all the ti—"
In the next moment, Mimil was surrounded by warmth. She realised that Elt and Sasha were now hugging her, the latter using her wings in addition to her arms.
"It's alright," Sasha said. "You've experienced things that no child should have to go through. I should have spoken up earlier…"
Mimil shouldn't have accepted any compassion from a monster. That was her duty as a hero.
As a person, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax.
AN: To add to the timeline, this chapter takes place during Days 14 and 15 with a flashback to Day 10.
