Flight! That's My Fight!

......Well, I tried to give a cool speech and all, but looking at it objectively, can I actually beat these guys?

<Probably impossible, I'd say.>

Figured.

<Taking them down head-on, that is.>

Figured.

<However.>

Escaping from here and surviving, though. What about that?

<That is possible.>

......Figured!

I take a moment to calm down and reassess the situation.

Me, sent flying by a kick onto my butt, now sitting with my upper body propped up.

Two pieces of trash approaching me from the front.

And behind them, Trash Head, standing with his feet planted wide.

I strain my eyes. 【Magic Perception】, activate.

A reddish-black haze of magic power covers the bodies of the trash.

Trash Head in particular has a huge amount of magic power.

I can't win this.

No matter how much I've trained under Omake-sama's guidance, I'm not a reincarnator with a blessing.

At the end of the day, I'm just a well-trained 5-year-old; I don't have the strength to beat down thieves who've spent their lives immersed in violence.

Ah, 【Magic Perception】 is the usual: something Omake-sama <saw on the God of Magic's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast>, a technique for seeing and grasping magic power with your eyes.

Apparently it's pretty hard to master, so when I picked it up without much trouble, Omake-sama

praised me to the skies with <As expected of Emi!> and <No maybes about it, you're a genius!>, and really buttered me up.

Getting carried away, I asked, “Then do I have some kind of aptitude for being a mage!?” and she denied it in an instant with a <No, you don't>. What the hell was that for!

Well, I was a 3-year-old at the time.

It's important to flatter a kid to make them feel good, but it's also a problem if they get cocky and do something dangerous.

I guess that's just Omake-sama's way of handling children.

So the reason I panicked more than I needed to when the trash spotted me earlier was probably that I sensed how much magic power they had.

Every living thing in this world has magic power to some extent, but if they aren't conscious of it, some of that magic power leaks outside.

By looking at that amount, you can, technically speaking, gauge an opponent's strength.

Apparently, a pro in any field leaks less magic power once they've trained up to a point, so it's a trick that only works on wild monsters or brute-force small-fry thieves, though.

“So, who wants to go first?”

Trash A asks Trash B, smacking his fist into his palm, pan pan.

“You can go first. But, Tappa, don't overdo it and kill her right away, alright?”

Trash B says this and takes a step back.

Hearing that, Trash A twists his creepy smirk into something even more disgusting and closes in on me.

The fight will be over in an instant.

Settle it in a flash, and then bolt like a rabbit.

My hand, which I've secretly slipped into my right pants pocket without them noticing, grows damp.

“Hehehe...... do you have any idea what's about to happen to you? ......You don't? Is that why you're just staring blankly? Hehehe.”

Trash A takes another step closer.

I make a conscious effort to stay expressionless, even more than usual. I pretend to be dazed.

Trash A takes another step closer.

In their minds, I'm just a girl whose bones were shattered by that kick, unable to move properly, and completely lost in shock.

Trash A takes another step closer.

I keep up the disguise.

I keep them off guard.

“Hehehe...... hehehehehe!”

Smirking, Trash A reaches out to grab my hair.

......NOW!!

In an instant, I focus 【Body Strengthening】 into my right arm!

I grab one of the pebbles I always keep in my pocket and launch a 【Stone Throw】 straight at Trash A's face!

The pebble flies with a hyun sound.

And without a moment's delay, a disgusting gucha sound rings out.

“GYAAAAAAAAAH!!?”

Trash A reels back, clutching his right eye.

Blood pours out in thick streams.

A direct hit right in Trash A's right eye!

“T-Tappa!!?”

Trash B's eyes widen in shock.

The target just got bigger, making it so much easier!

I leap away to create distance and launch another 【Stone Throw】.

“GUGAAAAAAAH!!?”

This time, blood sprays from Trash B's right eye.

Now you're matching your buddy. How nice!

“You...... BRAAAAAAT!!”

Trash Head charges in, knocking aside the suffering underlings.

I leap backward to create distance while launching 【Stone Throw】, 【Stone Throw】, 【Stone Throw】!

But it's useless.

As expected of Trash Head.

He holds his arm in front of his face, guarding his precious eyes from the pebbles perfectly!

With 【Body Strengthening】 likely active on those thick arms, my 【Stone Throw】 won't leave so much as a scratch.

Pa, pa, PAAN! The pebbles bounce off with a satisfying sound.

Trash Head closes in on me with ferocious speed.

I'd probably lose if we played a game of tag.

【Stone Throw】 is useless, and he's got the edge in leg strength.

Out of options?

......Not a chance!

I thrust my hand into my left pants pocket.

I pull out a small pouch and...... dump the contents right in Trash Head's face!

“Guh...... what is this!? It...... IT HUUUUUURTS!!?”

The powder dancing in the air gets into Trash Head's eyes, causing intense pain.

This is it! My trump card for today!

It's the powder of the Shoma berries I just gathered!

The spicy high-end seasoning I went to all that trouble to find! That very thing!

Without even getting a chance to taste it! I used it as a weapon on Trash Head!

DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT, I WANTED TO TASTE IIIIIT!!

<You can just find more Shoma berries later! Emi, right now......>

Got it, Omake-sama!

The underlings are crouched in pain, and Trash Head has come to a halt, clutching both eyes.

Now, while I've got the chance!

I will!

RUN AWAAAAAY!!!!!!!

Naso Forest is my home turf! Once I put some distance between us, it's game over for them!!

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!

◇ ◇ ◇

By the time the pain receded from Megzam's eyes and he was finally able to move, that expressionless, black-haired vagrant had already vanished.

He'd been had.

Outmaneuvered.

By a mere child.

Finding her now would be nearly impossible in the dimming light of the forest, where the Naso bushes grew in thick, suffocating clusters.

The only sounds remaining were the chii, chii of insects and the groans of his two underlings.

The meat they'd left over the fire now smelled of charcoal.

Megzam simply stood there, rooted to the spot in sheer disbelief.

◇ ◇ ◇

And we're back! So, it's me, Emi-chan, the girl who made a clean getaway!

After that, I made a break for Trash Village, weaving in some 【Presence Concealment】 here and there as I ran.

<But Emi. Even if it's just a temporary refuge from the thieves, isn't fleeing back to that village dangerous for you?>

Yeah, well, you're not wrong.

If the villagers find me, this time I might end up with something way worse than a few bruises.

But now that those guys have swiped my base in Naso Forest, I've got nowhere left in the woods where I can actually relax.

In that case, I figure it'd be way safer to just sneak into the attic of my family home and crash there.

That drunk trash of a man spends most of his time drinking and sleeping, so there's no way he'd notice me in the attic.

It's super frustrating to have to rely on a village I thought I'd cut ties with, though!

And even if the thieves decide to raid the village, Torch-kun will probably just mop them up.

Though, getting caught up in whatever disaster usually follows that guy is also pretty terrifying. But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures......

I mean, seriously, Torch-kun! What is UP with that guy!?

Those trash thieves raided the village, right?

Why on earth did he let them go alive!?

Because you didn't just kill them all, I'm the one who ended up losing my base!

Ugh, I'm so pissed off.

Why do I always have to be the one suffering because of him!?

<Now, now. There's no use complaining, is there? More importantly, the village is getting closer. Please hide your presence.>

......Yeah, you're right.

Since they were just attacked by thieves, the village security is bound to be tight again.

For now, I'll use 【Presence Concealment】 to check things out from a distance, and I'll sneak in later once it's deeper into the night.

Dusk.

The sun continued to sink.

Purple began to spread across the once-blue sky.

I left the forest, crossed a small meadow, and hid in the shade of a tree atop a hill to see how the village was faring.

Right about now, they'd surely be preparing dinner.

Smoke would be curling up from every chimney, glowing orange in the setting sun...... or so it was supposed to be.

Yes, that's how it “was supposed to” be.

But it wasn't.

I was stunned.

Why?

To put it simply.

The village, had been destroyed.