When the development team of the company that made this game asked such a question, they received the same answer from every user of the game.
It was Astemil Klue La Kirlisia.
The 『Klue La』 located in the middle of her name is the name of an elf clan. In other words, she is an elf who has the same ancestors as Lapis Klue La Lumet, the princess of the elf kingdom 『Alfheim』.
Besides being the teacher and guard of Lapis, she is known as the strongest warrior in the elf world, and the holder of the highest rank of magician, 『Progenitor』, in the world. Her strength covered all ranges in battle, making her able to deal with any kind of fight.
In essence, 『Stamina』 and 『Strength』 are required for short range battles, while 『Magic power』, 『Agility』, and 『Inteilligence』 are required for medium to long distance battles. And elves in the Esco World is a race that is easy to increase their 『Magic Power』 and 『Agility』, but hard to increase their 『Stamina』 and 『Strength』. Because of that, short-range battle was supposed to be the weak point of the elves.
That’s how it is supposed to be, but for Astemil, everything goes up easily, and more so than you can imagine.
As the date and time elapses, the parameters of the party members who acted with the protagonist also increased according to the training the player selected, but…for some reason, even though the players selected the training to increase 『Magic power』, the 『Stamina』 and 『Strength』 of Astemil was also increased (Players called this phenomenon 『Secret Training』).
When I first saw it, I thought it was a bug. Since Esco is a pretty easy game, the parameters of the protagonist will increase steadily even if we didn’t particularly focus on raising them. And that’s normal. However, with a growth rate that exceeds the protagonist, the parameters of Astemil keep increasing more and more as the game progresses. It was truly a growth rate that scares even the players.
Moreover, she already has the 『Treasured Bow – Ilova Siremma』 when she first joined the party. Like combining a cheat with another cheat, tiring the player of cheats. The sight of small fry enemies being slaughtered and the sight of how the protagonist was left behind made the players even fear that the game balance would collapse.
This girl!! Her role is just like that of FF tactic’s sword saint!!
Thus, I hurriedly removed her from the party, but… turns out, I didn’t have to.
Why could she be that strong?
Because she is treated as a so-called help character. She will only fight with the protagonist in the early stages, and after a certain event, she will permanently leave the party, and hand the 『Treasured Bow – Ilova Siremma』 to Lapis.
Knowing that, I was relieved, thinking ‘Of course she would be that strong’, but paradoxically, it can be said that there is no one who holds more menace to me than her in the early stages.
As is often the case, she sees Hiiro as her enemy. Although Astemil only plays an active part in the early stages of the event with Lapis before the route branches off…. even for such a short time, she already shows her enmity against Hiiro by destroying Hiiro’s face with the scabbard of her Naginata, hack Hiiro into pieces, or even attack the Sanjou Family’s villa and blow it up…. For that reason, she was very popular among players, and titled ‘Slayer’.
By the way, as to why I called the Slayer with ‘that’. To be more precise, the reason why she is in the position akin to ‘he-who-must-not-be-named’ is because if I carelessly said her name, I might set an appearance flag for her.
Although it is natural for her, who is the escort of Lapis, to be near her… I thought maybe if I didn’t set an appearance flag, I might be able to survive the early stages.
And yet, now, the person who is dubbed as the strongest is standing in front of me.
The Naginata that exceed her height that she held…. is actually not her magic device, but just a Japanese sword that she called 『Unnamed Gravestone』. Her real magic device is 『Treasured Bow – Ilova Siremma』.
The fact that she is still using the Unnamed Gravestone means she is not serious yet, and is in the wait-and-see stage.
“….”
Her swordsmanship is also at the level of a monster, though!! Even if she is still in the wait-and-see stage, there is no chance for someone like Hiiro to win!!
“… Get ready.”
Won’t I just die if I readied myself?! Who would!!
Then, I raised both of my hands and smiled.
“Ano… I don’t really understand, but how about we talk first–”
Suddenly, it came– and I instantly drew my sword and pulled the trigger.
Pale lines run through the scabbard, signalling the activation of magic.
Magic activated: Tenebrae.
My eyeball that is covered with pale magic power instantly catches the sword flash. Without hesitation, I bent backwards to avoid it, however it still managed to cut a few strands of my hairs in a straight line horizontally, making them scattered in the sky.
“You could avoid that, huh.”
As if happy with the fact I avoided her attack, Astemil smiled.
Before waiting for her next move, I rotated my magic power to my lower limbs and ran behind, while cold sweats flowed down and slowly fell into my chest.
The fact that I was able to pull the trigger in that spur of a moment was really just luck.
She was completely aiming at my throat. Or rather, does she really want to kill me? No, by any chance is she going to stop right before it reaches my throat? Well, I don’t know, or should I say, the difference in our ability was just too much that I couldn’t even know the answer.
Astemil then swung her Naginata, as if cleaning the blood off the blade, and walked to me with a smile.
“Well then, next.”
Ah, this, I’ll seriously die if I don’t do something asap.
With that in mind, I once again ran from the place and– Astemil, who had put her Naginata back to the scabbard, used Warp to follow me.
Wait a minute, you, when did you pick up that scabbard!? Or rather, you already got the ‘Warp’ console at this stage!? Iai characters1 like you shouldn’t easily warp like that!! And die, Hiiro!! (Dragging that guy in)
Fortunately, right before she warped behind me, my hands started moving in a hurry. And in the span of a few moments– 『Attribute: Light』, 『Generation: ball』, 『Control: Explosion』. With those three consoles, I activated Light2.
And then, the ball of light created between me and Astemil exploded. Intense rays of light spread in all directions, and are sucked into both eyes of Astemil from the front.
Flash bang success!!
Immediately after that, I turned my back against her and tried to run, until suddenly– I sensed bloodlust– and rolled my body to the side in a hurry.
“Un.”
With her eyes closed, Astemil put her Naginata back into the scabbard.
“You got a perfect score until this point. Wonderful.”
*Sling*
… And the slope behind me was cut into two.
The slope that was cut off diagonally then slips down, transmitting tremendous impact through the ground. And probably because I was a few seconds late, blood also began to flow from my cheeks.
Ah~, I am so going to die~ ^_^
Thus, before she slashed me for the second time, I ran, desperately, while using all the magic power I have to my lower limbs.
I stepped with all my might, spewing out pale magic power, and ran away as if sliding. Tremendous slashes are chasing after me, chopping my running course.
Teacher!! Hiiro-kun is being bullied!! (Teacher’s answer: There is no bullying in this class)3
“H-help me~!!”
While shouting with a pathetic voice, I turn the corner. Behind me, Astemil kicks the wall and chases after me while maintaining her speed.
“…”
But at that moment, I, who had been preparing for an ambush, turned all my remaining magic power to Kuki Masamune and swung it with the intention to kill her.
She shouldn’t be able to pull her Naginata in time, I di–!!
*Clank*
My blade deeply pierced the butt cap of the unnamed gravestone.
“…!?”
T-this woman!? Because she couldn’t pull her Naginata in time, she received that with the handle!? What kind of reflexes do you have!?
“…Splendid.”
Still with a smile, Astemil kicked forward.
“Ugh!?”
Receiving such a powerful kick from a short distance, I went down. Looking at that, she took a distance, and lifted her fingertips high in the sky.
“O the secret of numerous trees of abyss—”
Hearing that, I was shocked, and my body became sluggish. Because I know. That a special magic device also has a unique magic, and that magic is activated with a unique trigger.
“O my ancestor, o myriad archers, o the unfathomable legend—”
Yes, that is, undoubtedly…
“Allow me to guide you in my arms—”
What we called chanting.
“Come, Treasured Bow.”
A torrent of magic power wraps around Astemil, making her silver hair stand on end.
The space behind her then snapped apart, and the “Treasured Bow” was about to crawl out of it.
Then, she ruthlessly pointed at me.
“Ilova–”
“Are, Aste, why are you trying to pull out the Treasured Bow in this kind of place?”
Hearing her voice, Astemil’s magic power subsides.
“Lapis…”
Lapis, who just arrived, looks at me and Astemil in suspicion.
“Why are you here?”
“Why… because this road is Hiiro’s running course. Because he suddenly went out for a run again, I thought why don’t I pick him up myself.”
I moved behind Lapis and grinned.
Looking at that, Astemil was stunned and… laughed while covering her face with one hand.
“I see, looks like I lost. I’m surprised. You have surpassed my expectations. I never thought you would even force me to use the treasure bow.”
It seems Astemil also understands it. It was clear that I wouldn’t be able to win if I fought her head-on. That’s why, I aimed not to win, but to not lose.
All this time I’ve been desperately trying to protect myself while aiming to be here, which is the relay point between the Sanjou family’s villa and the park. Because if Lapis or any of her shadows were to find me who suddenly went out to run, I figured that they will definitely follow my running course.
As a result, I won the bet.
Being alive is really….wonderful…!!
“Hiiro.”
While I was deeply moved by that fact, Astemil approached me.
“You have extraordinary talent. I’m sure you will eventually surpass me. That’s why, if you like–”