Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival-Chapter 15

Author’s Note

Redundant parts of the explanation in chapter 14 have been cleaned up.

How did I manage to acquire the combat skill I couldn’t learn until now?

And it wasn’t just the Dagger Arts skill, for which I had been practising, I also obtained the Martial Arts skill at the same time. And getting the Intimidation skill…could it be that moment?

The Intimidation skill must have come from when I released my killing intent towards Viro. If that was the case, it made sense to assume that I acquired the other skills at that time as well.

I’ve been practising Dagger Arts all this time, but I thought the reason I got the Martial Arts skill was because I kept practising the body movements and falling techniques that Feld taught me.

The reason it bore fruit all at once…was probably due to the strong impact on my soul that experiencing a real battle where I risked my life had.

“C’mon, stop pondering there in a daze and let’s go to the guild.”

“…Mhm.”

Viro tapped me lightly on the shoulder and I hurriedly followed him when he walked away, still thinking about it a little.

Skills weren’t something so easy to acquire. I understood that I had the knowledge of an average adult, and that I had better foundations for skills than a normal child, but even if I had acquired Dagger Arts just as planned, being able to obtain Martial Arts as well was simply too good of a result.

However, according to that woman’s knowledge, apparently it was said that “being able to kill one person with a sword meant you had first-dan ability”. I didn’t know if that first-dan in her previous life was the same as level one, but perhaps I got the skill because I fought such a close fight.

Well, I suppose it wasn’t serious from Viro’s point of view, but I was desperate because being caught by a thief was tantamount to death.

However, I had a feeling that Intimidation was a little different. It was true that the battle with Viro might have been the trigger, but for a normal child…no, even for a normal adult it would be impossible.

So the requirements for Intimidation should be a battle that places your life at risk, a clear intent to kill your enemy, and…the experience of killing someone.

A normal commoner would never release something like killing intent. A child who has acquired it would probably look like an odd existence to an ordinary person.

…It’d be better not to reveal my hand too much until I get a bit stronger.

Following Viro through the slums, we came out into the main street.

“…”

I believed that I had cleaned myself well enough, but looking closely at myself I could see that I got a bit dirty in that battle.

I kept myself clean to avoid people taking advantage of me when trading, but the main reason was because I didn’t want to stand out. It has been over three weeks since I killed the old hag so it was hard to imagine I still had any pursuers at this point, but there were probably a lot of people here who still remembered the incident that happened in the neighbouring town.

The clothes I was wearing were normal even though they were a little worn out, and the ashes covering my pink-blonde hair should have prevented me from standing out…and yet, as I walked down the street I could feel several people’s eyes on me.

Did they realise I was a street urchin? Nobody said anything to me because I was with an adult, but there was a possibility that I could get in trouble if I was alone.

While I was thinking this, I looked at the adult at my side, Viro, and met his gaze which looked back at me with a frown.

“…What?”

“A~h…what can I say. If you wanna hide your face, how about using something more proper to wrap around your neck? I’ll buy it for you.”

“…That’s fine, I guess.”

I see. Does the old rag I’m using to wrap around my neck stand out?

After all, it was just a piece of ragged clothing that I ripped with my knife and wore around my neck just to conceal my face. It has been washed, but it certainly didn’t look good.

“Ooh, good. Welp, let’s see…over there.”

Viro looked relieved for some reason. After looking around, he went to a stall he found, and I followed after him.

“Yes, welcome!”

The auntie who seemed to be the shopkeeper of the stall called out vigorously. This stall appeared to be a textile shop, but it was also selling some simple clothes and samples.

“You have anything like a muffler to wrap around the neck? To hide the face.”

“If you want a muffler or a shawl, I have a few here.”

“I see…I don’t really know about that stuff, so you can choose for yourself.”

“Mhm.”

Don’t really know about that either, but if you’re buying I won’t hesitate. For now, should I go with a black one, considering I’d use it with Stealth?

As this country was located in the south of the continent, warm clothing was limited to light fabrics. So I asked him to buy me a long, comfortable one, and when I took off the rag around my neck, I heard a slight commotion for some reason.

“Oh my…”

The shopkeeper leaked an astonished voice. I looked around to see what was going on and saw a girl who looked to be in her early teens staring at me with the same red face as Shuri.

I wasn’t used to that type of gaze, so for now I wrapped the new black cloth around my neck. When my face was covered, I heard faint sighs from around me.

“…?”

I couldn’t understand why, and when I looked at Viro, he was holding his head with one hand as if he had a headache and sighing loudly.

“…Let’s just go already.”

“Mhm.”

I didn’t really understand, but it seemed that Viro was prioritising heading to the guild.

When I followed Viro again after he started walking, I heard him mutter “Ain’t you just standing out more now…” in a very quiet voice.

“This is the Adventurers’ Guild!”

For some reason Viro spoke loudly in self-abandonment with a voice that reverberated through the street.

Viro entered the building with a slightly quicker pace, and I followed him with some hesitation. Even though I had knowledge of the place, I didn’t know what to expect for my first time there. When I entered while being a bit on guard, I felt the gazes of several adventurers inside focus on me, but they didn’t seem to be planning to do anything to me, probably because Viro was with me.

Looking around the guild, I saw a notice board with some papers pinned on it and a few counters with receptionists behind them.

The Adventurers’ Guild was a mercenary support group specialising in exploration, derived from the Mercenaries’ Guild. Its sponsor was the Merchants’ Guild, which relied on the adventurers selling monster materials and other items obtained from ruins.

In the early days of the organisation, they were contracted by the government to carry out surveys of undeveloped areas with plans to be developed. Even in the present situation where adventurers acted more like some sort of magic stone miners, the high-ranked adventurers who were strong enough to undertake requests to capture dungeons and deal with high-levelled monsters still received considerable benefits.

“New registration for one, please.”

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When Viro said this to one of the counters, a woman in her late twenties who was doing some paperwork behind the counter looked up and her eyes widened slightly when she saw Viro and me behind him.

“Is it for that beautiful gi…cough for that child? She looks so small, does she have any combat skills?”

“Yeah, she has. It’s Dagger Arts.”

When I nodded at Viro’s words, the woman narrowed her eyes in a soothed way, then returned her gaze to Viro with a scowl.

“Well then, we can do the examination now, is that alright with you?”

“That’s fine with me but…isn’t your attitude too different for me?”

“Examination?”

Both of them looked at me simultaneously when I muttered that.

“Yeah, you have to show a Battle Technique for the sake of confirming that you really have a combat skill that corresponds to rank 1. You can use it, right?”

He asked me casually, but I shook my head calmly.

“…I can’t use it, though?”

“What!?”

Apparently the fact that I only acquired the Dagger Arts skill just recently had slipped his mind.

“You can’t use the Battle Technique even though you can fight to that extent and even use Body Strengthening…? Damn…”

“If you’d like, how about taking the short course for the Battle Technique of the first level of Dagger Arts? It’ll cost five silver coins, though.”

“That’s fine and all…but then I can just rent a place and teach her myself.”

“In that case, we will charge you one silver coin per hour for the use of the underground training area, is that alright with you?”

“That’d be the fastest way. Well then, let’s get the formalities out of…wait, that’s right, you can use Heal, right?”

When Viro recalled that, he asked me in a hushed voice. The receptionist looked surprised, but also lowered her voice.

“She can use light sorcery at that age… In that case she can pass the examination by showing her Heal spell. There should be someone with at least a some injury among the adventurers around here. …No, please wait just a moment.”

The woman thought of something and went to another member of staff behind her, said something and came back immediately.

“My apologies. For a young sorcerer, especially one with the light element, there is a risk that some unscrupulous adventurers will work them like a slave before throwing them away. It will be a different story if you are joining this person’s party, but if you are also planning on working solo some times, it would be best to avoid showing that you can use Heal for a while.”

“My party is inactive at the moment after all…”

“In that case, we will have to wait for a trusted adventurer to arrive before the examination…”

“Viro. I want to learn the Battle Technique.”

The two of them turned towards me simultaneously like before when I opened my mouth once again.

“I’ll pay if it’s just the rental fee.”

“No, that amount can be written off as a necessary expense, so I’ll pay. Right, that way would be less trouble.”

“Well then, if that’s decided, could I see your tag first? And please write down her age and name in this registration form.”

“Age…ten years old.”

“Is she really ten years old? She seems a little small to be ten, though.”

“It’s just off by one or two years, so whatever. The name…hey, what’s your name?”

Apparently to Viro I looked to be eight or nine years old. And when he realised that he hasn’t heard my name after all this time, he raised his head from the paperwork and looked back at me.

“…Aria.”

“Ooh, I see, I see.”

The receptionist, who was watching our exchange, muttered while looking at Viro with a rather stern gaze.

“You didn’t even know her name… You didn’t kidnap that child, did you?”

“…That’s rude. Don’t judge without looking at a person’s face properly first.”

The woman stared fixedly at Viro after being told that.

“…You didn’t kidnap that child, did you?”

“Hell no!”

Since she was originally a heroine, Aria’s face stands out.

In addition, Aria (Alicia) doesn’t have any cheats as the protagonist of the story, but as a heroine, she seems to have an annoying trait that makes it more likely that people will chase after her. (LOL)

Next time: Battle technique acquisition, and a new weapon.