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“Speaking of which, Mix, how did you get your nickname?” (Wolfe)

“Wolfe-chan…you are digging out my dark history while we are eating?” (Mix)

Mix showed up here in her regular reports of Taizu. 

Wolfe asked this question while we were eating with her. 

The nickname of Mix, Blade of Annihilation, is something really well known within adventurers. It is even more famous within adventurers than her being a former princess. 

I have heard this from Ekdoik and Marito, but Mix herself doesn’t like this nickname. 

There are two reasons for this. First, it is way too dangerous sounding. The other one is that it overlaps with the Annihilation of Blue. 

“Don’t want to say it?” (Wolfe)

“It is not like I am hiding it, and it is something that you will be able to learn immediately after investigating…but I don’t really like talking about it myself…” (Mix)

I get it. 

You normally talk about your great feats when there’s no one above you around, or you have a strong sense of achievement towards the thing that you achieved. 

For Mix, it was an extension of what she wanted to do, and she also has the young Wise King close to her. 

“It is true that it was a great feat though.” 

“It may be, but…right! Mister Friend, can you please tell Wolfe-chan in my stead…?!” (Mix)

“Why?” 

“It is partly because it is embarrassing to say this myself, but if you were to say it, I might be able to overwrite it with happiness by thinking ‘Aah, Mister Friend knows this much about me’.” (Mix)

“Won’t you feel even more embarrassed by the fact that I know everything about that embarrassing story of yours?” 

“—I think embarrassment brought by Mister Friend would be a reward in itself.” (Mix)

“Can you stop your advanced way of arousal?” 

Mix has been showing some happiness towards being treated coldly since the matter of Torin. 

It is not like I don’t understand the reason, but I don’t want her to show sights that would be bad for the education of Wolfe. 

“Wolfe, do you know the background of Mix leaving Taizu and becoming an adventurer?” 

“I heard it is so that His Majesty would be able to take the throne peacefully.” (Wolfe)

“Right. Mix is saying it objectively because she herself acknowledges him, but Marito inheriting the throne was an immutable fact. Even if Mix were to compete with her little support, it would simply be a waste of time.” 

“Yup!” (Mix)

“Mix was also acquainted with the arts of war and literature to a plentiful degree, but a former princess becoming a bureaucrat in a foreign country would be difficult in a lot of ways. That’s why she decided to make sole use of her skills in battle.” 

“I liked moving my body rather than using my head after all!” (Mix)

“The previous king took that righteousness of hers into consideration, and she became an adventurer in Morgana under his nomination. But she didn’t want to be treated preferentially, so she continued getting one achievement after the other.” 

Mix was already feeling embarrassed here, but I continued explaining to Wolfe.

The mana strengthening of the Taizu royalty and their combat techniques are those of the Taizu Knight Order that is the highest in the world. 

It goes without saying that she was a talented woman that seriously learned all of this since her infancy. 

Moreover, she was nominated by a king, so she had a perfect starting dash. 

But Mix abandoned her standing as royalty of Taizu and became an adventurer. She wanted to be promoted by her own skills, so she requested to start from the lowest rank. 

She obtained a lot of achievements in an efficient manner so that she would get recognized objectively, and rose in ranks at unprecedented speed. 

A newbie who surpasses others easily would normally be an eye-sore, but Mix has obtained the social skills of royalty, so her reputation with the adventurers of Morgana was good. 

They at most smiled bitterly and said ‘Obviously she would rise in ranks if she were to complete requests without rest like that…’.

— [A request to find the hideout of the Geshuva Bandits].

The Geshuva Bandits are the group hooligans led by Geshuva. There were failed adventurers and even soldiers from other countries. 

Geshuva himself was a skilled adventurer, and was someone who caused troubles like Girista and Pashuro, and couldn’t walk in the light of the public again. 

He made use of his knowledge of the lay of land, and continued doing skillful attacks that didn’t allow pursuit from the soldiers of Kuama. 

The scale was small compared to the bandit alliance of Dokora, but he had far more years. He didn’t leave any proper traces, and was a matter of worry for Kuama as a slithery bandit group. 

Kuama judged that it would be hard for them to deal with this and requested the combined efforts of the Adventurer Guilds in Kuama. 

Mix was promoted to Rank 3 in Morgana by that time, and ended up being part of this plan to wipe out the bandits. 

“It was a bit risky, but your skills must have been appropriate.” 

“It wasn’t a request only for me after all.” (Mix)

The other adventurers considered pursuing after the attack, but Mix was investigating the information of the villages in Kuama. 

She didn’t chase after the bandits. She tried to predict the movements of her prey and lay in wait for their next attack. 

Geshuva was a smart leader, however, that in turn means that he has a rhythm in his moves. 

He pokes at the openings in the surveillance of the Kuama soldiers and makes his attacks, preying on the villages that are enticing. 

Mix’s prediction hit the mark. The Geshuva Bandits attacked the village she was in. 

“As expected of Mix!” (Wolfe)

“Normally, you would tail the bandits just like that and pinpoint their hideout, and then report it to the guild to finish the mission, but…Mix decided to attack the bandits instead.” 

“Aiming to get all the rewards?” (Wolfe)

“Ahaha… Something like that—” (Mix)

“The village that the Geshuva Bandits attacked was notified beforehand about this attack after she was provided information from the villagers and persuaded them. They must have judged that they would be able to survive without any casualties if they gave up the valuables and concentrated on evacuating. But there were apparently a number of casualties according to the report of Kuama’s headquarters. Even if it was a plan for the sake of wiping them out, there were probably a number of villagers that must have resisted because they didn’t want the things they accumulated with their sweat and tears to be stolen.” 

“M-Mister Friend, you knew that much…?” (Mix)

For Mix, this was a way to obtain information of the bandits without casualties. 

But she failed in persuading all the villagers, and casualties happened. 

She fulfilled her own request, but people died from that. 

“The villagers brought that upon themselves for doing something reckless though. Even so, casualties still happened because of the naivety of your own plan. You couldn’t forgive that casualties happened due to you wanting to show your own skills.” 

“…Yeah.” (Mix)

The hideout of the bandits was a ghost town deep in the forest. They remodeled it and were hiding there after turning it into a small settlement. 

She set a large number of traps around the settlement over a single night while the bandits were merrily in the middle of a party after obtaining valuables without much resistance.

And then, Mix lit up all the houses the bandits were sleeping in in fire. The bandits hurriedly rushed out and found the lookouts dead, and realized they were under attack. 

The bandits judged that they would suffer further attacks if they were to stay in the ghost town, so they grabbed all the valuables they could and began to move from their hideout. 

But their escape route was already full of traps. 

Threats were coming from everywhere while they were advancing through the forest. 

“It was mainly ropes and pitfalls, and knives lathered in deadly poison were flying from all directions. The land had become hell. The forest at that time was a bit of a piece of art-desu zo.” (Mix)

“I wouldn’t want to walk in that…” 

“Of course, I retrieved all the traps after everything was over. Can’t scoff at the price of the knives after all!” (Mix)

I don’t know how much time she took, but she slaughtered all the bandits. 

The adventurers of Morgana that heard about this ended up having to confirm the corpses of the bandits inside the forest. 

The written report of Mix had the detailed locations of all the corpses, the explanation of the type of injury that led to their death, and even the appearance of the deceased in an indifferent and detailed manner. 

Because of that matter with the written report, they didn’t think this was an action done from wrath, but because ‘I judged that I could slaughter them all, so I did’. The ones who learned about this felt chills down their spine and ended up passing down this story. 

“She probably wrote the report in detail in order to cool down her heated up mind though. They may have been criminals and it was an impulsive action, but you did slaughter them all. So you wanted to at least provide them a proper burial.” 

“Hnn! This feeling of being seen through is as if you are seeing through my clothes and peeking at every corner of my body!” (Mix)

“Don’t wriggle. Well, that’s how she was known with the dangerous nickname of Blade of Annihilation.” 

“That was personally a job that didn’t go well after all. I can’t talk about it in a bragging tone…” (Mix)

“Saving everyone is impossible. You did your best, Mix. You did a good job.” (Wolfe)

“Wolfe-chan…” (Mix)

Mix should have been able to notice the presence of villagers trying to oppose the bandits when it was attacked. 

If she gave up on fulfilling the objective, she might have been able to save them. 

But if she were to come save them in such a convenient moment, the bandits would realize that she was lying in wait. 

That would create a change in their actions, making it even more difficult to predict their future moves. 

Mix placed those facts in a balance, and chose to not save the villagers. It is not the wrong choice, but the result still remains that she let them all die because of her own decision. 

She thought she had to wipe the bandits for certain for the sake of the people she couldn’t save. And so, this created the Blade of Annihilation through the exploit that no normal person could have achieved, brought about by that wrath of hers. 

◇◇

These people killed others while laughing and stealing their fortune. 

I mechanically continued this process of eliminating one after the other after confirming the kill because I didn’t want to be thought the same as those people. 

The lives of innocent people will be threatened again if I let even one of them live. This is me exterminating a pest. I must annihilate them thoroughly. 

The inside of my chest was hot, but the inside of my head was cold. 

I was a bit taken aback at how I could kill others without hesitation to this degree. 

The last one that remained was the leader of the Geshuva Bandits, Geshuva. His skills were certain compared to the other bandits. 

My intention was to finish him in one hit, but he blocked my attack, and the robe hiding my face was torn, showing my bare face. 

Geshuva saw my face and laughed in self-derision.

— “That’s a surprise. To think it would be such a young lass. I thought the one who would corner me would be the Holy Fist or the Eyes of Truth…” (Geshuva)

He was a seasoned former adventurer. 

He faced me prepared for death, but his movements clearly loosened up compared to the time when he blocked my first surprise attack after he saw my face. 

The deadly poisonous knife stabbed deep into the chest of Geshuva, and it didn’t take long for the fight to settle. 

This didn’t sit right with me, so I asked him why he held back. 

— “I am a loser who couldn’t create his own place to be. Even so, I worked as the leader for the sake of trash that tried to live even if it meant pulling the legs of others. You saved me the trouble of cleaning them up.” (Geshuva)

I shouted my anger at Geshuva. 

That the valuables and lives that they took were from innocent people who earnestly nurtured them. 

But Geshuva kept his refreshed face and mocked me until his very last breath. 

— “…Young lass who has been raised in a good environment, I am not asking for understanding. I am not thinking of getting that from you. It was simply that we couldn’t live without doing that. Well, I am grateful that you did what I couldn’t.” (Geshuva)

If he had begged pathetically for his life, I could have pushed him away and killed him. 

Even though I made the correct decision just like Ani-sama, my heart was shaken by the casualties that happened from my own mistake, was controlled by wrath, and ended up with this bad aftertaste on top of it all. 

For me, the matter of the Geshuva Bandits ended with a bad aftertaste. Being called with the nickname I got after that incident made me remember it, and I couldn’t feel good about being called that. 

I continued concentrating on my work as an adventurer while accepting this as my own lack of skill and, by the time I noticed, I got to Rank 2. 

“Thanks for the meal!” (Wolfe)

“Let’s go buy tea and snacks for Ilias and the others.” 

Aah, as expected of Mister Friend. To think he investigated my past to this degree… 

But him investigating it to that degree means that he also must know about the matter of Dokora’s bandit alliance. 

Bandits couldn’t do what they wanted to when Gold-dono became the king of Gahne.

All the actions of the bandits were being predicted by the Ruling that can manage the country in a simulated world, and you would be subjugated by the soldiers of Gahne who are superior in numbers. 

The bandits felt how hard it was to deal with this, so they flowed over to Taizu, and joined forces under the charismatic leader that is Dokora. 

Dokora’s skills were beyond that of Geshuva, and the scale and damage escalated in the blink of an eye. 

The leader was beyond an adventurer. He was an Anbu, moreover, he obtained the forbidden technique of necromancy, so you could say it was natural for him to be the leader…

The straightforward knights of Taizu were trifled by the movements of the bandit alliance, and suffered on how to deal with them. 

Ani-sama even sent a letter to request my assistance. 

— [I have given Lady Ratzel the mission to subjugate them, but the chances are low. I would like to borrow your ability for the next move as someone who wiped out the Geshuva Bandits. Please respond within a month.]

I wanted to get back at once since it was the request of Ani-sama, but I was honestly hesitating there. 

Ani-sama had high hopes for my abilities as the Blade of Annihilation, but I didn’t want to show that pathetic sight of me to Ani-sama. 

But I already received the request and he sent me a letter in this fashion despite it being difficult to catch wind of my location, so I could tell that he was having quite a lot of trouble…is basically how it went. 

In the end, Mister Friend and Lady Ratzel subjugated the bandit alliance while I was hesitating…and I was internally relieved. 

I was surprised when I got a letter from Ani-sama after that. That letter detailed how Lady Ratzel and Mister Friend subjugated the bandits, and also the matter of Ekdoik-dono and the others. 

— [I want you to protect my friend.]

I read over and over the matter about how he consciously cornered the bandit alliance, but also that Ani-sama called him his friend. 

I was extremely interested in Mister Friend before even meeting him. 

The rest goes without saying. As expected of Ani-sama. His discerning eye is the real deal. 

“…Anyways, you really are the little sister of Marito.” 

“What do you mean by that?” (Mix)

“About the matter of the Geshuva Bandits. I thought that you are just like Marito in that you can bring out better results than normal when enraged.” 

“Similar…huh.” (Mix)

“It is true that he normally does everything perfectly as the Wise King. The biggest talent of Marito is that he can put his emotions into action. He can make Lord Ragudo quiver in a spar and freeze Ilias and the others with just his words. He can pull that off  because he can transmit his strong emotions to others.” 

What replayed in my mind was Ani-sama standing in front of a bear to save me when we were young. 

He held a weapon despite both arms being broken, and he was intimidating the bear with a voice that made me tremble even through his back. 

I saw this and realized that there was a big gap in skills between me and Ani-sama.

“…Are we similar?” (Mix)

“Yeah. Geshuva didn’t plead for his life or complained, right? No, he even thanked you.” 

“…How do you know?” (Mix)

“I can tell. You were seriously angered and cornered them seriously. That should have transmitted enough even without saying anything. To a degree where he couldn’t say his own side.” 

“I-I see…” (Mix)

“The person himself probably felt like he was on an execution ground, speaking his last words. There’s no lies in there, so just accept it like that.” 

Geshuva really was grateful towards me? 

His comrades were killed and he himself was killed by me too… And yet, he said I did something that he couldn’t, and was grateful about it…

Judging from the atmosphere of Mister Friend, I doubt he said that only out of consideration. 

He surely investigated Geshuva too. 

“How to say it… I have no awareness of that, so it feels complicated.” (Mix)

“That’s how it goes. This may sound like what a scammer would say, but…I am saying this as someone who comprehends you. Please believe me.” 

“…Then, Mister Friend, do you know what I am thinking right now?” (Mix)

“You want me to choose the tea and snacks for Marito and Ruko together with you.” 

“Wao.” (Mix)

This wriggling feeling of embarrassment is probably coming from the sensation of having my own conflict be seen through. 

“And while at it, you want to choose clothes with just the two of us or something?” 

“Hah?! I didn’t think of that one, but that sounds like the best plan!” (Mix)

“Agh… I read too far ahead…” 

But there’s a faint warmth deep inside that. 

Mister Friend doesn’t only understand my heart but is also facing me with that in mind. 

Now that I think about it, that was the same for Me-dono**. He repeatedly did things that would push me away on purpose. 

He really is someone who would want himself and his surroundings to live safely to his very core. 

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