The reason I hadn’t been able to train my dynamic visual acuity was because I hadn’t been able to prepare the necessary equipment for it: “a fast-moving object.”
But now that I had more or less mastered Magic Missile, couldn’t I train my dynamic visual acuity by following the movement of Magic Missile with my eyes?
“Magic Missile.”
—Wooong, thwack!
When I fired the Magic Missile I had created as a test, it carved a deep gouge into the ground, just as always.
“This should be more than enough.”
At this speed, it seemed certain it would be useful for dynamic visual acuity training.
However, since I didn’t particularly need a wooden sword for dynamic visual acuity training, I left the wooden sword I had gone to the trouble of carving back in my room.
Well, I’d have to take a stance and swing a wooden sword someday anyway. I’ll just consider it something I made in advance.
—Wooong, thwack! Kraack...!!!
After spending quite some time firing Magic Missiles at the ground and following their movements with my eyes, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over me.
—Piiing...!
“Ugh, is that it already?”
Still, perhaps continuously spamming Magic Missile had helped increase my total mana, because compared to a few days ago, the amount of time it took to reach mana depletion had increased greatly.
Of course, I had no intention of being satisfied with this. Since I had ended up living as a demon, I was bound to get swept up in all sorts of things, so I would have to keep trying to grow stronger in preparation for any possible situation.
‘...No, now that I think about it, isn’t living like this not exactly ideal either?’
If someone were to find me while my mana was depleted, they could kill me very easily.
All right, from now on, I’ll end my training with some strength left in reserve. Would about 20% of my total be enough?
It felt a little too low, but it was probably appropriate. As long as I wasn’t in a state of mana depletion, I should be able to run away somehow with this sturdy body.
“I’ll head in first. Good night, Flora.”
—Wriggle!
...Now that I thought about it, I wasn’t sure if “good night” was the right greeting to give to a plant, but judging from Flora’s reaction, it didn’t seem like she failed to understand it.
Well, they say all roads lead to Seoul, don’t they? It should be enough if she just understood it roughly as an evening greeting.
—Flop!
After saying goodbye to Flora and lying down on the bed, a certain curiosity suddenly surfaced in my mind.
‘...Ah, come to think of it, I wonder what my unique ability is?’
A unique ability—the setting that had been mentioned in passing in the latest chapter of [Kallios Academy] right before it went on hiatus. It was an incredibly special ability that each demon possessed.
Some demons could change the composition of substances they touched with their hands, while others had the ability to melt into shadows. Every single one of them was made up of extraordinary abilities.
Since I was now a demon as well, I was certain I had a unique ability, but I had no way of knowing its effects or how to activate it.
Unfortunately, [Kallios Academy] had gone on hiatus right after revealing, “Demons have unique abilities,” so the method for discovering one’s unique ability was still unknown.
‘...Well, I’ll find out someday.’
It didn’t seem like worrying about it would give me the answer anyway, so I let it pass.
***
“Magic Missile.”
—Wooong, thwack!
“Phew, now I can definitely see its trajectory a bit.”
It had already been a week since I started training my dynamic visual acuity, and before I knew it, I had become able to catch the movement of the Magic Missile as it flew without losing sight of it.
As expected of a demon’s body, I suppose. My dynamic visual acuity was improving faster than I had imagined.
I wasn’t sure, but the speed of Magic Missile looked similar to that of a bullet, and I had become able to follow the movement of that Magic Missile with my eyes.
Just as I was about to use Magic Missile again with a satisfied smile—
—Flutter!
“Mm?”
At the sudden sound of flapping wings, I raised my head and saw a crow perched at the top of a tree, looking down at me.
In the nearly month-long period I had spent here, this was the first time I had discovered any living creature near here other than myself and Flora, so I stared at the crow in a slight daze.
—Flutter!
As I stood there blankly watching the crow, the crow, which had likewise been staring intently at me, suddenly spread its wings and flew away. At that sight, I scratched my cheek.
Was it a crow that originally lived around here?
“Hmm, I hope I see it often from now on.”
After all, rather than there being only me and Flora, wouldn’t it be livelier and better if there were even a few more living creatures, even if they were just birds?
—Wriggle!
“Hmm? What is it, Flora? Are you jealous?”
—Wriggle, wriggle!
At the sight of Flora suddenly moving her flower, I chuckled and asked, but Flora shook her head as if that wasn’t it.
“You’re not? Then what is it?”
—Wriggle, wriggle...!
Seeing my puzzled reaction, Flora kept wriggling the flower part, trying to explain something, but it was impossible to understand what that something was.
Because on the outside, it just looked like a flower moving slightly here and there.
“...Sorry, Flora. I don’t understand at all.”
—Wriggle...!
After hearing my answer, Flora moved her flower sharply upward for a moment, then slowly lowered it.
Was it just my imagination that the gesture somehow looked like she was expressing frustration before eventually resigning herself?
But what was she really trying to explain? I have no idea.
***
“...Shit.”
The red-haired woman sitting in a rocking chair in a reasonably spacious room opened her eyes and cursed at the same time.
“Fuck, seriously. A demon was living nearby...?”
She had only been looking around the forest through her magic tool as usual to relieve her boredom, yet she had hooked a big catch she had never expected in the slightest.
“What should I do? Should I report it to the guards?”
If she reported it to the guards, they would swarm over in a mob and chop the demon she had just found into dozens of pieces.
Demons were said to be dangerous and powerful by nature, but the demon she had just seen didn’t seem all that strong.
After all, even after looking at her magic tool, he had failed to see through its true nature and had simply stared up at it like an idiot. She didn’t think a demon without even that much insight could be strong.
Of course, his body was rather impressive, but he didn’t seem to have any particular weapon. He wouldn’t be able to hold out for long against guards equipped with weapons and professionally trained.
And once her thoughts reached that point, a good idea suddenly popped into her head.
‘...Should I just go and kill him myself?’
Of course, even if she ran to the guards and reported it right away, she would receive a reward.
Demons were humanity’s greatest enemy, and reporting the location of such a demon was also treated as a significant achievement. Perhaps she would receive a reward of around 30 silver?
Thirty silver was enough money to get one decent piece of armor, and since there was a pauldron she happened to have her eye on, she could just buy that.
But what if she killed the demon herself and brought in his head? Even if they lowballed it, she would receive a reward of over 5 gold.
It was only natural, since the reward for simply reporting a demon’s location and the reward for killing a demon personally could not be the same.
And 5 gold—in other words, 500 silver—was more than ten times the reward she could get for reporting the location.
It was a large enough sum not only to buy a pauldron, but an entire suit of full plate armor.
If it was that much money... wouldn’t it be worth taking a bit of a gamble?
‘...Besides, that demon probably hasn’t even noticed my existence. If I assume I can launch a surprise attack while he’s off guard... it’s more than doable.’
—Shing!
Having thought that far, she took up her sword, put on her leather armor, and carefully began walking toward the cabin where the demon was.
She had completely forgotten the lesson of what kind of ending usually awaits those who dream of getting rich quick.
***
“Mm, I should end today’s training here.”
—Creak...!
Since it felt like I had about 20% of my mana left, I was just about to open the cabin door and head into the room when the crow I had seen during the day suddenly came to mind.
‘...Come to think of it, wasn’t that crow kind of strange?’
At the time, I had been slightly surprised by the fact that I had encountered another living creature besides me and Flora, so I hadn’t thought of it, but now that I considered it carefully, there were some things that didn’t sit right.
First of all, the time the crow and I met each other’s eyes must have exceeded three minutes, yet during those three minutes, the crow sat perfectly still without moving an inch.
Don’t birds like crows usually tilt their heads this way and that nonstop or preen their wing feathers even when they’re sitting still?
And I never heard the crow’s cry either. No matter how taciturn a crow might be, was it normal for it not to cry even once during all that time it perched on the tree and flew away?
Most decisively of all...
‘...As far as I know, crows are birds that live in flocks, so they don’t go around alone, do they?’
If only one of these questions had existed, I would have just thought it was a unique crow, but with all three questions overlapping, I felt chills run down my spine.
In other words, what I saw during the day wasn’t a crow. Then...?
—Flash!
The moment I hurriedly turned my head at the sensation of chills running down my spine, I saw the sight of a sharp blade coming down toward my head.