I Am Not the Heroine

The next destination is the Mine City located in the northwestern part of the Empire.

Since it’s quite a distance from the city where Nia came from, we spent most of our time on the road.

Ariya, Serelin, and Rapirie were working on their tasks or sometimes trying to appeal to the Hero.

The Hero was always flustered whenever they did that, but he handled their words well and maintained a good relationship with them.

Of course, even amidst all this, he didn’t skip training and hunting Magical Creatures, leaving a strong impression of being very diligent.

So what were Nia and I doing?

“Master! Please take good care of me today!”

It was time for mana and magic training.

First and foremost, Nia needed to learn how to control magic on her own to contribute, so that was my top priority.

Thanks to that, I had less time for research and development lately.

“What did I say to do first for mana control?”

“Close your eyes and take a deep breath!”

“That’s right. I’ve said this before, but you have enough lunar mana to handle. So forget about the thought of not being able to draw out mana.”

“Yes···!”

Nia plopped down on the ground, closed her eyes, and began to struggle.

“Don’t worry about sparks flying. Focus on gathering your strength as much as you can.”

“Ugh···!”

As time passed, small sparks began to flicker around Nia.

The lunar mana swirling around her body started to transform into the shape she desired.

It takes a bit of time for proper flames to emerge, so I casually glanced around.

Flutter.

Flap! Flutter!!

In the distance, I saw Knight Lux talking to Nia’s horse.

Judging by how tense Nia’s horse looked… it seemed like they were sorting out the ranks or something.

‘Lux, you’re just like me.’

While I was teaching her and not organizing ranks, in the end, it could be considered the same in that I was instructing someone.

“Sis! I did it!”

Nia, who had been working hard for the past few days, seemed extremely happy.

Apparently, just the fact that I was paying attention and teaching her made her this excited.

‘······That’s nice.’

If she had a fiercer personality or was quiet, it might have been frustrating.

But Nia, while a bit awkward, had a friendly character, so she built a good relationship with the other three heroines as well.

And this reflected in my magic lessons, making it genuinely enjoyable to teach.

‘······What about me?’

I recalled the days I spent learning magic from my master.

To be honest, I don’t think I had as vibrant a spirit as Nia.

‘Well, as long as my disciple has achieved some success, I guess it’s okay.’

The greatest joy of a master is the great achievements of their disciple.

‘······I hope the last heroine is like this too.’

But that’s impossible.

The last heroine in the Hero’s party makes her first appearance as an assassin aiming to kill the Hero.

*

The Hero, Aswel, is loved by women all over the world.

From the maidens of remote villages to princesses or noble ladies.

However, not all of them end up with the Hero.

In the original story, those who get involved with the Hero are all members of the Hero’s party.

And the last member is to be the assassin.

‘Whether she’s an assassin or a thief, the distinction was vague until the end.’

If you consider her to be part of a typical adventurer party, she could be called a ranger or thief, but due to her original job being an assassin, confusion in terms often arose.

Still, fans of the novel called her the assassin heroine because the point of her involvement with the Hero was “assassination”.

Honestly, I wouldn’t want to include her in the party.

Because her racial traits and personality caused her to avoid getting close to anyone except for the Hero until the end.

But I couldn’t entirely disregard her role.

‘How could we find the way to the demon realm without that heroine?’

In order to catch the Demon King, we have to go to the demon realm.

There’s a way to summon the Demon King and his army here.

But the side story that followed that route was really… not good, so ultimately the Hero’s party needs to venture into the demon realm.

However, only the assassin heroine can accomplish that.

“Ugh···.”

“Sis, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Have you completed the next step?”

“Yes. Right now, I’m focusing on keeping the flames moving constantly between my hands.”

“You need to do well here to handle even larger flames. So be careful. If you’re not careful, it might burst out and catch our party members too.”

“Yes.”

Nia, with a tense expression, concentrated on the fire again.

Anyway, she is said to meet us during the journey back to the capital after finishing everything in the northern region.

Since there aren’t any specific time or spatial characteristics, I can’t pinpoint when.

‘So I need to prepare before then.’

After the north, it’s easier to consider encountering probability events.

[Every night, there’s a 20% chance the assassin heroine will appear.]

‘This time, I need to make sure she enters smoothly…’

Just like the fire giant, where someone got burned, a similar incident occurs with the assassin heroine.

This time, I can hand the robe to the Hero before going up against the giant, but back then, there was an incident in the bedroom and I couldn’t manage to give the robe.

‘······I guess we’ll have to sleep together from then on.’

Thump.

‘······No, for now, yes, she’s still a woman.’

That could lead to a big misunderstanding with the other heroines.

So, I need to think of something the Hero could wear even while sleeping.

‘…Let’s think about that slowly.’

“Sis···!”

“Ah, be careful. Focus your fingertips there, not on that side…”

I focused more on Nia’s mana management and finished that day’s lesson.

*

A few more days passed.

We would arrive at the Mine City in about a week.

‘I need to get some good minerals there.’

So we can boost the overall defense of the Hero’s party.

Since the weakest member is Nia, I should focus on coming up with suitable equipment for her.

‘Next is the Hero…’

The other three have already been given a bit of support in various ways, so I can take my time with them.

‘This time, I need to engrave the patterns that suit each one of them again. Maybe I’ll try to design it differently from what I did on the gloves.’

Creating patterns is unexpectedly fun.

‘······Should I engrave my pattern into the Hero’s equipment this time?’

There’s no other meaning to it. Just… that sort of thing.

It’s like how blacksmiths or artists engrave their names on their works.

The Hero would be the best mannequin to promote my magical tools, so I’d engrave my pattern on the equipment he will wear.

Of course, I would also engrave it on the magical tools I use myself.

‘Then I should design a new pattern that reflects the features of both the Hero and me, the [White Smith].’

It would be great if the characteristics of both the White Smith and the Hero were mixed together evenly.

“Sis, by the way, I have a question.”

While I was pondering about the design of the patterns, I turned my gaze to Nia, who asked.

“What is it?”

“Since I happened to overhear it, I’ve been really curious…”

“Uh-huh.”

“Is Meteor magic Earth magic or Fire magic?”

That was such a sudden question that I was momentarily speechless.

I knew this debate well.

During my time as a [White Smith], it was one of those topics that mages often discussed.

Although I hadn’t directly participated in this debate, I had come to a conclusion.

‘More importantly, I can’t believe Nia is curious about this.’

For a moment, I wondered what connection this had, and then I found a common point.

“Why? Do you want to try it out if it’s Fire magic?”

“Uh, um, heehee.”

“Alright, Nia. Let me explain it to you in one go.”

I brought Nia over to a suitable rock and approached the Hero, who was tending to his holy sword.

“Rui? Nia?”

“Okay, Nia. Watch closely.”

I turned my body away from her and faced the Hero, then patted his head.

“Uh, uh? Why all of a sudden…?”

“Wait for a moment, Hero. Now, Nia. What is stroking the Hero’s head here?”

“My hand.”

“So what about this time?”

This time, I stroked the Hero’s head while wearing pristine white gloves.

“Is it the gloves that are stroking, or my hand?”

“Your hand in gloves, Sis…”

“Exactly. That’s why Meteor is considered Earth magic.”

“Huh…?”

“Rui…? What the heck is this…?”

“This time, let me give you another example.”

This time, I moved in front of Knight Lux.

I gently slapped Knight Lux, who was peacefully munching on flowers.

Flutter?

“Now, what was it that hit Lux?”

“Your hand…”

“Then what’s this time…?”

Whap.

Flutter!!

“Now, it’s the white-gloved hand.”

“Correct. Now let’s think. If the Meteor magic struck an enemy directly, what hit them? The meteor or the flames wrapped around the meteor?”

“Uh… The meteor, right?”

“Exactly. It’s that simple. The meteor is my hand, and the flames wrapping it are the gloves.”

“……Ah.”

“In the end, whether I have the gloves on or not, it’s my hand that stroked the Hero’s head and hit Lux.”

A meteor flies without fire, but fire disappears if there’s no meteor.

Thus, the meteor is the core thing.

Just like how people don’t say, “The glove hit the person!” when a boxer wears gloves.

And they wouldn’t say, “The wheelchair passed by!” when a person in a wheelchair goes by.

Therefore, the essence of Meteor magic is Earth magic.

“So… does that mean I can’t use it…?”

“No. You can use it. In a way that only you can do, which others can’t.”

“Really…?”

“Yep. You just have to throw a flaming object from the sky.”

“Eh.”

Essentially, if you lift a large rock wrapped in fire and throw it, that’s Meteor magic.

I felt like I saw her determination dim a bit, but it wasn’t something to worry about too much.

In any case, realizing one’s limitations is important, whether it’s in magic or anything else.

Besides, she would be humming and practicing magic again tomorrow anyway.

After that, Nia’s magic training continued, and finally, when she started to be able to manage reasonably well, we arrived at the Mine City.

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