The Case of the Washed-Up F-Rank Adventurer Who Maxed Out His Agility by Relying on His Worthless ‘Flee’ Skill and Accidentally Became the Strongest in the World. He Can’t, However, Escape from the Yandere Beauties. - Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Interlude: Past Chapter 6 – A Few Reasons Why Mira Broke
Some say that stats don’t necessarily represent one’s full abilities.
However, in the end, they’re almost synonymous with actual strength in most cases, and when those numbers are hopelessly low, you can safely assume the person is weak.
The fact that he’d remained stuck at F-rank for over half a year was proof enough. If he had hidden talent or experienced rapid growth, his rank would have risen long ago.
(…Just as I thought. Mikami-san is hopelessly ordinary… that much is clear.)
With this certainty, Mira’s composure returned.
However, Mikami showed no signs of moving. He just stood there vacantly, not even adopting a sword stance. It was Mira who lost patience first.
“…!”
Mira moved. A young girl’s characteristic slender, small frame. At first glance, it symbolized weakness, but from another perspective, it was a major advantage. Small and swift movements are difficult to track.
Mira closed in on Mikami’s guard in one breath with irregular, unpredictable steps that defied standard swordsmanship theory. Then, along the shortest distance, she drove a sharp, heavy strike into Mikami’s wide-open torso! The impact felt perfect. She’d definitely connected.
But—
In the next instant, Mikami’s figure, which should have been right before her eyes, vanished like a heat haze. The wooden sword only cut through empty air.
“Huh…!?”
And his voice came from directly behind her.
“Whoa…! Mira-chan, that was incredibly fast just now! Almost hit me there. Man, you really are Emma-san’s daughter!”
There stood Mikami with a carefree face, speaking admiringly.
Mira’s shock and confusion far exceeded Mikami’s. No words came out. She lost the ability to speak and simply froze in place. An intense chill, as if an icicle had been thrust down her spine, ran through her body. Every cell, her survival instinct itself, was ringing violent alarm bells.
(…No… This person is…!)
This wasn’t mere caution. It was something more fundamental… an instinctive fear toward a “superior being” one must never antagonize. It was far more intense than the pressure she’d felt when crossing swords in earnest with her mother Emma.
From the moment she first faced Mikami with their swords, she’d felt an incomprehensible unease. Something unfathomable, immeasurable—Mira had sensed it from him.
And now, in this moment, it was thrust before her eyes as an overwhelming reality.
‘…Very rarely, there are irregular opponents who can’t be measured by stats alone. Truly, very rarely though…’
Words her mother had once let slip now vividly resurfaced.
(That can’t… be…)
Mira shook her head violently.
(That’s impossible! I won’t accept it! This person is just an F-rank adventurer, a disgusting adult man who deceived me to get close to Mother! It has to be…!)
Otherwise, the emotions she’d held until now, this anger… would all be… wrong.
No… what I was feeling wasn’t anger at all… it was…
That dark feeling when I saw Mother and Mikami-san walking together so happily…
Jealousy—
No… that can’t be.
That was a truth Mira couldn’t accept.
Humiliation from shattered pride can sometimes drive people to more extreme actions.
Especially when a child experiences such humiliation for the first time.
“…!”
With trembling hands, Mira pulled out a small disk-shaped magical device from her pocket. The trump card of trump cards, given to her by her mother for self-defense. Once used, it consumed massive amounts of magic power, but its power was tremendous.
(…I have no choice but to use this…!)
Mira steeled herself and poured her own magic power into the device. The device emitted a dazzling light, and condensed magic power surged through Mira’s entire body like a raging torrent. She felt extraordinary power filling her small frame.
Seeing Mikami exclaim “Whoa!?” in surprise, Mira gave a twisted smile. Yes, be surprised. Regret it.
(No matter who you are… you can’t possibly withstand this!)
In the next instant, Mira’s form had nearly vanished. Her physical abilities, enhanced by magic power, now exceeded human limits, charging at Mikami at near-sonic speed. Her body, wrapped in a brilliant aura of magic power, even appeared to glow. The wooden sword, swung with all her might, was unleashed with momentum that seemed to tear through space itself.
But—however.
Once again, that strike failed to catch Mikami. No impact. The wooden sword cutting through air.
And that extraordinary power and speed could no longer be contained by Mira’s small body. The recoil from her full-strength attack threw off her balance completely, and she lost control.
“Kyah!”
A cute scream, befitting her age and nothing like her warrior appearance moments ago, escaped Mira’s lips. Her body swayed, about to collapse to the ground, when—
Something warm and gentle caught her small frame softly.
“Whoa there… wow, that had some serious power just now… Hey, Mira-chan, you okay?”
Before she knew it, Mikami had moved behind Mira, firmly supporting her collapsing body with his large arms. And while peering at Mira with a worried expression, he gently patted her head with his large hand in a caring gesture.
In that instant, Mira’s heart gave a loud thump.
Like when she’d spotted him at the market yesterday. Like when she’d reunited with him at the guild this morning. And now, in this moment, in his arms.
Anger, fear, humiliation—all of it seemed to fade into the distance as a bittersweet yet painful sensation coursed through her entire body.
Mira realized her face was burning bright red and became even more confused. She didn’t understand. She didn’t understand this man. And she understood even less why she was reacting this way in front of him.
Several hours after that incomprehensible sparring match, Mira had returned to the guild’s reception counter, but her mind was completely elsewhere. Her hand kept stopping as she flipped through documents, and the voices of visiting adventurers sounded distant. The events from earlier replayed repeatedly in her head.
(…Mikami-san was supposed to be just an F-rank adventurer…)
His movements had clearly far exceeded Mira’s—no, any normal person’s. Her first strike had been dodged as if he didn’t exist there at all, and even her second strike, her full strength enhanced by the magical device, he’d easily moved behind her again.
If anything, those movements might have even surpassed her mother Emma’s…
‘Flaunting your abilities unnecessarily is shameful.’
Words her mother always said pierced Mira’s chest like irony. What had she been doing? Looking down on her opponent as inferior, emotionally challenging him to a match, and the result… complete defeat.
No, it hadn’t even been a match. Mikami had literally treated Mira like a child’s tantrum, lightly “deflecting” her as such. She couldn’t forget that caring, somewhat troubled expression when he’d patted her head.
And in that moment, along with humiliation, Mira had also felt… comfort.
That can’t be. That can’t be.
Not from a man like that…
Mira shook her head vigorously.
What welled up was overwhelming humiliation. And pathetic disappointment in herself for causing such a result. She was so embarrassed she could die. She couldn’t leave things like this. She had to vent this seething frustration somehow. Mira began to feel this strongly. It was no longer an emotion she could endure.
