A Glimpse of Emi's Talent

It's been 3 days since I came to the mysterious old man's house.

These days my stamina, spirit and magic power are all fuller than ever, and I'm bursting with energy, thank you very much!

The old man has given me, a total stranger from who-knows-where, a place to sleep and 2 meals a day.

This man is seriously kind.

For the time being, he hasn't said “Get out” or anything, so I'm brazenly taking advantage of his kindness and imposing on him.

The old man was scattering 【Intimidation】 all over the place at first, but I'm sure that was just because he was nervous about interacting with people, or something like that.

It'd feel bad to just keep being looked after, so cleaning the house is my job now.

I've swept and wiped everything down properly, and this house, which was tidy to begin with but getting pretty run-down, probably looks ten years younger now!

Ehehe, I'm pretty satisfied with how sparkly I've made it.

However, there are some spots, like the cupboards in the back room, where the old man hits me with intense 【Intimidation】 the moment I get close, so I haven't touched those.

Yup, yup, there are things men don't want women to see, even when the woman's just a kid, right!

I totally get it.

So, those areas are strictly no-touch.

Since I'd be bored if I only cleaned the house, I've been exploring the outside every now and then, and it seems this is a standalone house built somewhere deep in the mountains I wandered into.

There's no sign of other people around at all.

The old man, living here as if hiding...... his true identity remains a mystery.

Even when I tried to introduce myself before......

“......I'm, Emi.”

“............(The old man nods faintly after a while)”

“............(I follow suit and nod)”

Yep, that's the end of the conversation.

......Well, that's how it goes.

For some reason, on top of being naturally taciturn, he absolutely refuses to talk about himself.

He won't even tell me his name.

I wonder why?

<Since he's living a secluded life deep in the mountains...... perhaps he's someone with a dark past.>

Whaaat!?

You think so?

The old man, as kind as he is, a wanted criminal...... or something? No way, no way!

Maybe he's just someone who grew to hate society and lives in the mountains because he was persecuted for having black hair and black eyes, something like that?

Well, whatever, the old man's past doesn't really matter.

This man is a kind person who saved me.

To me, there's no fact more important than that.

Every day, Grandpa wakes up before sunrise, goes outside and runs through a set of martial arts...... I think? Some kind of forms, anyway, then eats breakfast and heads out to hunt.

And then, before noon, he brings back a large deer or boar on his shoulders, processes it or does some kind of handiwork, eats dinner, and goes to bed early.

That's the kind of life he lives.

Surprisingly, when Grandpa goes hunting, he always goes out empty-handed.

Then again, this man did knock a wolf's head clean off with a hand chop when we first met.

With that kind of technique, weapons might indeed be unnecessary.

I wonder if he'll teach me that move......?

Since Grandpa is so kind, I've gotten carried away and am now thinking about such things.

I'm sorely lacking the strength I need to survive this life.

That's a clear fact that was hammered into me when the thieves stole my base, when I saw the village's destruction with my own eyes, and when I was being chased by the Grim Wolf.

I have to become strong.

I barely cared about my previous life, which ended before I even noticed, but I'm clinging to this one with everything I've got. I don't want to die.

I think that's partly because Omake-sama is with me, and partly because I've been shown what real death actually looks like.

Now then!

So, with all that said!

Today, I'm going to try tagging along on Grandpa's hunt!

I'll sear Grandpa's techniques into my eyes and make them my own!

“............”

Grandpa stopped me as I tried to follow him into the mountains and gestured for me to stay home.

“............”

I shook my head and stared straight at Grandpa.

“............”

Grandpa likewise shook his head and stared straight at me.

““............””

The silence went on for a while.

And then Grandpa let out a single sigh and started walking toward the mountains.

I did it! I got permission to go along!

<Eeeh!? He gave you permission!? Just from that!?>

Yep, no mistake.

It may have only been 3 days, but Grandpa's and my hearts are already connected!

That's why I know!

<Please talk using actual words!>

◇ ◇ ◇

Grandpa advanced along the mountain path with ease, unbothered by steep slopes or poor footing.

It was a pretty fast pace.

Occasionally, he'd look back at me to confirm I was following, and then gradually increase his speed.

I think we're moving at a considerable speed even now, but I suspect he's being considerate of me and is moving slower than he usually does.

“............”

Hm? What is it?

Grandpa stopped again and stared at me.

What's up? I don't think it's time for a break......?

“............”

I stared back at Grandpa.

......Then it hit me: Grandpa's usual killing intent and intimidation had vanished.

Ah, this is......!

【Magic Perception】 activate!

<He's using 【Presence Concealment】. He's suppressing his magic power leakage beautifully.>

Right, we're in the middle of a hunt!

I hurriedly performed 【Presence Concealment】 as well.

Grandpa saw that, nodded, and started walking again.

We're moving at quite a pace, and doing 【Presence Concealment】 while simultaneously using 【Body Strengthening】 is actually pretty difficult!

<Well, you haven't really tried combining 【Body Strengthening】 and 【Presence Concealment】 much until now.>

But since the magic power that used to leak out can go into 【Body Strengthening】 instead, this method is tiring but extremely efficient in terms of magic power use.

I've tried living with 【Body Strengthening】 active at all times as a way to practice, but from now on, it might be better to add 【Presence Concealment】 to that.

◇ ◇ ◇

After about another hour of climbing the mountain, Grandpa, still facing forward, raised a hand in front of my face, signaling me to stop.

Grandpa crouched, so I followed suit and peered in the direction he was looking.

About 50 meters ahead, atop a rugged rock face, a yellow deer with magnificent antlers stood tall.

<That's an Electrideer! It's a dangerous monster that fires lightning magic from the tips of its antlers!>

Eeeh!? That deer uses magic!?

Grandpa signaled me, tense as I was, to stay put, then slowly started walking toward the deer.

The deer and Grandpa were now about 30 meters apart.

Lightning crackled pachipachi from the deer's antlers; it looked ready to attack at any moment.

It was raring to go.

It seemed that deer had absolutely no intention of running away.

<It probably intends to hunt and kill that man, then eat him. After all, that is a ferocious carnivorous deer......!>

A ferocious carnivorous deer!?

Even though it's a deer, that creature is carnivorous!?

I'm realizing all over again that this other world is scary!!!

The deer aimed its antlers, crackling with ever fiercer lightning, at Grandpa and was about to unleash its magic, when, at that very moment,

......Grandpa vanished.

Without a doubt, that's how it looked to the deer.

Surprised by the sudden turn of events, the deer froze.

But I was watching from a distance, and my eyes caught exactly what happened.

Grandpa had leaped high, high into the sky in an instant, vanishing from the deer's sight!

And then he dove straight down from the air toward the deer!

One flash of the same hand chop that took off the wolf's head!

......Its head sent flying with no effort at all, the deer crashed to the ground, spraying blood.

The antlers, which had been flashing and sounding pachipachi for a while, gradually lost their glow and fell silent.

......A-AWESOOOOOOOOOOME!!

GRANDPA IS AWESOOOOOOOOOOME!!

<......That confirms it. This gentleman is without a doubt a master of some martial art. Easily a match, in fact, for the people called heroes in the Isekai Reincarnation Broadcasts I've watched. To think he was someone of this caliber......!>

With my eyes sparkling (at least, that's what I intended; but my expression probably didn't change), I ran over to Grandpa.

“............Amazing.”

“............”

Grandpa scratched his cheek with his index finger. He's blushing.

“What was that, just now?”

“............【Grasshopper】, and 【Mantis】.”

Ooh! He even told me the names of the techniques!

I'm guessing the big leap was the Grasshopper and the hand chop was the Mantis?

Wait, so grasshoppers and mantises exist in this world too?

<Yes. The Grasshopper is a gluttonous magic beast that devours everything. The Mantis is a ferocious phantom beast said to be able to slice through anything with its arms. Both are considered legendary beings.>

Legendary beings!?

Talk about a gap with my previous life!!

No, never mind that. I'm talking about the techniques, 【Grasshopper】 and 【Mantis】! That was amazing, wasn't it, Omake-sama!

<Yes, a trained body, body control, and magic power manipulation make those techniques possible. It was magnificent.>

That was so cool! I wonder if I can copy it!?

<You might manage a rough imitation, at least. Though you probably won't get it to a usable level right away.>

Actually, during that fight, I was watching so intently that I had unconsciously activated 【Magic Perception】 as well.

That's why I noticed an interesting phenomenon occurring.

First, that high leap Grandpa did.

There's no doubt he jumped with physical strength boosted by 【Body Strengthening】, but that alone probably isn't enough to reproduce Grandpa's 【Grasshopper】.

I didn't miss it: just before Grandpa leaped, magic power was flowing from his feet into the ground.

It moved just like magic power does when I use 【Water Collection】 to make drinking water out of the air.

<...... A-as expected of you, Emi. You're sharp. It looked that way to me too. 【Water Collection】 is magic that ‘gathers, binds, and solidifies’ the water floating in the air. The fact that there was a similar movement of magic power means......>

Just before leaping, did Grandpa use magic to “gather, bind, and solidify” the ground?

<He might not have ‘gathered’ it. But he undoubtedly ‘bound and solidified’ it. Shall we call it 【Solidification】......? He used a kind of earth magic to make a sturdy foothold. And in an instant, too.>

Run magic power into the ground, and solidify it......

I gave it a try, and wow, this is way harder than 【Water Collection】.

It's like...... I feel a kind of resistance from the ground.

Groaning mumumu......, I went through round after round of trial and error, slowly using 【Solidification】 on the ground, while Grandpa dressed the deer and watched me with interest.

After working hard for a while, when I tapped the ground I had been standing on with a pebble, a hard kan kan sound echoed from what should have been mere soil.

And here's the thing.

If you ask me, there's one more key to reproducing that 【Grasshopper】!

<Eh?>

Fufufu! Omake-sama, you didn't notice?

It was just for a tiny, tiny instant right as Grandpa leaped, but you know?

Not 【Solidification】...... if anything, a flow of magic power doing the opposite appeared at Grandpa's feet!

<T-the opposite movement?>

Yes, the opposite of “binding”!

Magic power that “pulls apart” was definitely there at that moment!

......Ah, I see.

“Attraction” and “repulsion.” I feel like I learned those words at school in my previous life.

<Emi...... you're saying you saw that......?>

Yep! But I wonder how to do it?

The opposite of what 【Water Collection】 and 【Solidification】 do......?

The ground, pushing my feet...... blasting them away......?

With that image......

The generation of repulsive force......

And combining that with the timing of a leap via 【Body Strengthening】......

At that moment, I didn't notice that Grandpa's expression, as he watched me, had turned even more severe than usual.

Without noticing, I went and activated my own homemade, copycat 【Grasshopper】.

BYUN!!

My body leaped to a height and at a speed that far exceeded my expectations.

Down below, Grandpa, startled and flustered, grew smaller and smaller.

When I looked around, there were distant mountains, a big lake, lush green forests and grasslands...... a beautiful landscape spread out below me, going on forever.

Amazing! This is amazing!

It took a while, but I think it's safe to say I've successfully reproduced 【Grasshopper】, right!?

<A...... but, Emi......>

? What's wrong, Omake-sama?

My body's ascent stopped, and I gradually began to fall.

<How...... are you going to land? If you fall from this height, even using 【Body Strengthening】, wouldn't you suffer considerable damage......?>

........................Ah.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Pathetically, I fainted and lost consciousness while falling, and when I woke up, I was in the futon at Grandpa's house.

Apparently, Grandpa had somehow caught me.

The eyes Grandpa glared at me with when I woke up were filled with considerable anger.

I-I-I'm sorryyyyy......!!