Chapter 42 — Seeking Fortune, Avoiding Doom (Part II)
The demon flicked its scythe casually—the silver-haired girl's small body was thrown aside like a rag doll.
The wooden stick clattered beside her, echoing hollowly in the cave.
"Heh… with how serious you looked, I almost thought you were holding a real staff."
"Turns out it was just a piece of wood."
"For a mediocre human like you, I bet you can't even imagine what it feels like to cast real magic."
"And yet you still dared to strike at me. Should I call that foolish… or unbelievably foolish?"
While the demon mocked her—
The ground shifted.
The silver-haired girl forced herself upright.
Her eyes burned like wildfire, and under the demon's confused gaze, she took another trembling step forward.
Blood poured from her abdomen.
Every movement tore at the wound, but she grit her teeth, reached down, and picked up the fallen stick.
"I told you… as long as I still live… I won't let you take a single step inside!"
"Ah… the dying struggling to appear brave."
Amusement glimmered in the demon's dark eyes.
"Weak humans only look entertaining when they run away screaming."
As the demon raised its scythe again, the girl too lifted her wooden stick—
—SHHK!
A clean, slicing sound cut through the cave like wind.
The girl's widened pupils watched in disbelief as the demon's body split apart—
turning into drifting ash before her eyes.
When the ash cleared, she saw a brilliant gold radiance she had never witnessed before.
"I-Is that… the Goddess?"
Her legs buckled and she fell to her knees, her blurred vision filled with the approaching light.
A voice answered—
"Not quite the Goddess…"
Serie lowered her gaze at the injured girl.
"…but close enough."
"Goddess… Lady Goddess—"
The girl coughed blood as she pleaded:
"P-Please… save the younger children… our parents… they're all…"
But as her desperate eyes met Serie's—The golden-haired elf abruptly turned away.
"The demon attacking the village has been eliminated. The children inside are safe."
"As for you…"
Serie slightly looked back, her eyes cold as steel.
"You chose to face a demon head-on. You received exactly the result you should have expected. Such reckless, delusional bravery—does not impress me."
"I… I see…"
The girl smiled weakly.
"Then at least… please send them to the city… they're just children… under eight years old… they can't survive in a ruined village…"
Serie understood perfectly—
and scoffed softly.
Just moments ago, Elias claimed that compared to powerful demons, humans had an instinct for seeking fortune and avoiding danger.
Yet behind her was a girl who knew she was weak, yet still charged at a demon a hundred times stronger—armed with nothing but wood.
It only reinforced Serie's belief:
Those who cannot recognize their own mediocrity…
will die in the most miserable way.
So she would respect—
the fate this girl chose for herself.
---
Outside the Cave
When the other two arrived, they saw Serie walking out calmly.
Aivis stepped forward—only to catch sight of the dying silver-haired girl inside the cave.
"What happened?! Serie—why didn't you save her?!"
"—Because it was her choice."
Serie's eyes were devoid of emotion.
"That weak, ignorant girl chose to use her own death… to demonstrate the fate of a mediocre person who challenges the strong."
"What?!" Aivis shouted in fury.
"Serie, that absurd conclusion—
I absolutely refuse to accept it!"
Without another word, Aivis sprinted into the cave and knelt beside the girl, immediately casting healing spells over her wounded body.
Serie glanced back coldly and sighed.
"Aivis really loves pointless trouble. Even if he manages to save that mediocre girl, she won't live long."
"I guarantee the moment she wakes up, she'll start shouting about learning magic, getting stronger, becoming a great mage, avenging her village… all that nonsense."
"And in the end, she'll probably die painfully—killed by demons she never stood a chance against."
Elias looked at the golden-haired elf, a rare flicker of complexity in his expression.
Aivis was right.
Sometimes… Serie felt more like a demon than he did.
---
Thanks to Aivis's stubbornness, the three stayed in the ruined village.
The children were too young—no older than eight, barely able to survive on their own.
They had to wait until the silver-haired girl awoke.
Finally—
on the fifth night—
"NO! Don't kill them!"
The girl woke screaming from a nightmare, her crimson eyes trembling violently.
Her blurred vision slowly settled on three figures.
A short-haired man with glasses—gentle and calm.
A long-haired man with an unreadable, icy expression.
And a golden-haired elf with lifeless eyes who looked like…
"G-Goddess!!!"
The girl tried to rise, ignoring Aivis's worry, and collapsed to her knees before Serie.
"Thank you for saving us! I—Ailemira—will never forget your grace!"
Seated against the wall, Serie tilted her head indifferently.
"I already told you—I'm not a goddess. And I didn't save you. The one who did is that busybody in glasses."
"No matter what—"
Ailemira's face lit up.
"I must thank all three of you! Without your help, our village would be completely gone!"
Serie stood up abruptly.
"Good. If you're alive, we're leaving. Staying five days for something this trivial—I feel like I've aged five years."
"W-Wait!!!"
Ailemira called after them, panicked.
"With a single attack… you killed such a powerful demon… That means you are great mages, aren't you…?"
—THUD!
Ailemira dropped to her knees again.
"I want to learn magic too!
I want to become strong!
Strong enough to protect the children—strong enough to take revenge!"
Aivis: (ง••)ง
Elias: (´-ι-｀)
Serie: (≖_≖'')
"See? Told you. My predictions never fail."
"Weak, ignorant people never recognize reality."
Serie scoffed and turned to leave the house—
"Please wait!"
Ailemira's desperate voice stopped her again.
"Isn't magic meant to make people stronger? Why can someone as mediocre as me not learn it?"
"Yes."
Serie didn't even turn her head.
Her reply was sharp, final.
"I checked while eliminating the demons. You have no talent for magic. Only passion."
"Even if you spend the rest of your life, you won't even touch the edge of real power."
"—I still want to try!"
Ailemira's eyes burned with the same fire she had when she faced the demon with nothing but a wooden stick.
"Even if I have to stake my entire life—I want to chase magic!"
Serie fell silent for a few seconds.
When she finally turned back, her expression showed a rare trace of weariness.
"Elias. What was that saying you used to repeat?"
"'Won't give up until they reach the Heavens,' right?"
"Fine. Let's put it to the test."
With a flick of her wrist, a magic tome appeared in Serie's hand.
She placed it into Ailemira's.
"I'll give you seven days."