Ellen Mira Mathers had a dream.
In the dream was a world as beautiful as paradise.
A gentle spring breeze blew softly. Leaves rustled in the wind. Green covered the mountains like a cloak, and in the flower fields outside the village, countless blossoms competed in bloom, turning the land into a brilliant, colorful painting.
There, not yet seven years old, she was following her younger sister Karen, as well as Elliot and Ike from the sa village, skipping the village's magic lectures to go exploring outside.
Elliot was the leader of the village children. Clever, mischievous, and unruly, he clearly possessed magical talent that made others envious, yet he always liked deliberately doing things that made the adults angry.
Ike was a student in the sa class as Elliot. Compared to the childish Elliot, he was intellectual and humble. Every movent he made carried a calm far beyond his age. Although his actual skill in using magic was average, his knowledge of magic was unprecedented. The village magicians called him a prodigy seen only once in a hundred years.
And yet, despite already having the ability to study magic alongside the magicians, Ike did not skip grades and graduate. Instead, he befriended Elliot, whose personality was the complete opposite of his own. He never stopped Elliot's reckless behavior. Rather, he followed along with great interest and joined in the nonsense.
Her younger sister Karen was one of the top students at school. Whether in magic usage or academic research, she could always perfectly complete the assignnts given by their teachers. Long ago, she had already skipped ahead into Elliot's class. Whenever Ellen walked through the village, she could always hear the villagers praising her younger sister. Both her parents and Ellen herself were proud to have such an outstanding family mber.
However, there was one strange thing. Every ti Karen t Elliot, she would suddenly act like a different person. She often found various excuses to make physical contact with Elliot, and while he was not paying attention, she would even swap his personal belongings. (TL:Origami ahh)
But Ellen was different.
She did not have Elliot's amazing talent in magic and magical power control, nor Ike's vast knowledge and foresight, nor her sister's ability to handle everything skillfully.
She was clumsy. Whether studying or doing things, she never found the right thod. She could only work foolishly in ways that seed extrely inefficient to others. She had even once been rcilessly mocked by Elliot as "a wild boar that only knows how to charge into trees."
To be honest, Ellen at that ti felt sowhat inferior about herself. In this little four-person group, only she seed out of place. During their activities, she was always dragging the others down.
Of course, neither Karen, nor Ike, nor Elliot ever disliked Ellen because of that. They trusted her, encouraged her, and helped her. No matter how clumsy she was, they patiently waited for Ellen to catch up to them.
Perhaps precisely because she was treated so gently, Ellen grew increasingly afraid—afraid that she would fail to keep up with their pace and be abandoned. And so she worked even harder, sacrificing her sleep at night to train her magical power.
However, one sudden incident completely destroyed her small, happy world.
That day, Ellen went outside the village with the other three as usual.
This ti, their destination was the depths of the forest. It seed Ike had found an old book in the library that recorded information about the Earth's spirit leyline. After Elliot heard about it, he slapped his hand down and decided that they would head into the forest to search for one.
The exploration did not go smoothly. The four of them even lost their way while searching for the spirit leyline. By the ti they finally used magic to escape the forest, the sky had already gone completely dark.
(This is bad. Mother is definitely going to be angry.)
Just thinking about how badly she would be scolded by the adults once she returned ho made Ellen's palms sweat with fear.
However, on the way ho, Ellen suddenly noticed that the village in the distance was different from usual. It was flickering with a vivid red light, like strawberry candy.
(Hm? Is there so kind of festival today?)
Ellen could not help thinking that.
However, noticing the abnormality before them, Elliot and Ike exchanged a glance, and their expressions turned solemn.
"Ike. Sothing is wrong."
"Yeah… Looks like it would be better not to go straight back."
And so, Ellen did not return to the village. Instead, they went to a hill with a good view and peered down at the current state of the village.
"Ah—"
Looking down at her hotown in the distance, Ellen's mind went completely blank.
Raging flas burned throughout the village. Houses had beco ruins. The villagers who barely managed to escape had no ti to even catch their breath before being shot dead by soldiers lying in ambush outside.
For a seven year old child, that scene was undoubtedly a nightmare far too cruel. Ellen simply broke down crying, not knowing what to do.
"Elliot… Ike! The village, our village!"
"…Do not make a sound, Ellen. They will find us."
"But… everyone…"
Even after Elliot warned her in a low voice, Ellen could not stop her tears.
"Why… Why is everyone being killed…"
"People feel fear toward things they do not understand."
"Fear gives birth to riots and madness."
"Ignorance is, in truth, a virtue that surpasses all else."
"We are magus. We possess a cultural system completely different from common sense. In the eyes of ordinary people, we are anomalies."
"So if unknown anomalies are discovered, eliminating and exterminating them is a perfectly normal thing."
"Elliot, Karen, Ellen. Let us create a world. A world that banishes humanity and exists for magus. They started this. We have no reason not to strike back, do we?"
Listening to Ike's words, which carried a smile, young Ellen honestly did not understand their aning.
But even soone as clumsy as her understood one thing.
She was too weak.
Because she was too weak, she could be bullied. Because she was too weak, she could only watch helplessly as enemies destroyed everything she had, unable to resist.
Then she would beco strong.
Stronger than anyone.
Stronger than Karen, stronger than Elliot, stronger than anyone else in the world.
As long as she believed that, one day, surely…
————————
"Ellen-san? Ellen-san?"
"Mm…"
Hearing the voice beside her ear, Ellen first furrowed her brows slightly and let out a sowhat dazed murmur.
Slowly opening her eyes, she saw that her subordinate, Ai Mulian, was shaking her shoulder and trying to wake her up.
"—!"
Her consciousness instantly snapped awake. Ellen abruptly straightened her back and looked around warily.
(This is… the training ground's break room?)
After recognizing where she was, Ellen's mories gradually beca clear.
For so reason, Westcott had not given Ellen and the others a mission to assassinate Itsuka Shido today like he had over the past few days. With nothing to do, she had received a request from Ai Mulian for special training.
Although this subordinate possessed decent ability in the use of normal weapons and close combat, her use of the Territory remained at an extrely basic level. She could only manage body strengthening and ergency treatnt. Even when equipped with her sister unit 'Mordred', she could not draw out its full power.
Out of recognition for her work attitude, and appreciation for her passion to improve her own strength, Ellen decided to sacrifice her precious personal ti to instruct her.
Then, after the training reached a stopping point, Ellen had given Mulian ten minutes to rest.
As a result, she herself had relaxed by accident, dozed off, and fallen asleep…
"How long was I asleep…"
"Mm… about thirty minutes, I think."
Mulian glanced at the electronic clock on the wall and answered honestly.
"To think I slept for half an hour…"
Ellen's expression turned extrely ugly. Although she had been slightly negligent in managing her physical condition due to the continuous assassination missions over the past few days, she had actually lost consciousness for half an hour without any guard. And worse, she had been dazing off in front of her subordinate. What an unspeakable disgrace.
"Mm?… Is there so sll in the room?"
Ellen noticed that there was a faint floral scent in the break room that she had never slled there before.
"Ah, that is probably the scented candle I bought."
Mulian pointed at the small candle burning on the cabinet and answered.
"It slls nice, right? And this fragrance also helps treat insomnia and relieve fatigue. I often light one before sleeping."
(So that is the reason…)
Staring unkindly at the candle, Ellen activated a small Territory and crushed both the fla and the candle itself.
"Eh?!"
"Do not bring personal belongings into the workplace."
Ellen deliberately warned her in a strict tone.
"Okay~ Understood, Ellen-san~."
Although sowhat regretful, Mulian still nodded and agreed.
"…By the way, did I say anything strange while I was asleep?"
"No, nothing at all."
"I see…"
Hearing that, Ellen secretly sighed in relief.
"Eh, what is wrong with bringing one personal item? Stingy Ellen."
"Sleep is the enemy of beauty. What is wrong with a girl caring about self-maintenance?"
"It is because you do not pay attention to things like that that your temper is so bad."
"And you always fail your missions too."
"Your hair even has split ends."
"Already hit nopause, right?"
"Bean sprout chief."
At that mont, Nibelcole suddenly passed through the wall, drifting around the break room like a group of ghosts, chattering noisily in defense of Mulian.
In an instant, Ellen's proud and cold expression twisted with stress and displeasure.
"Oh—although you are Ike's creation, there are still so things that may and may not be said. I will let you see whether or not I am a bean sprout…"
A Territory enveloped the Nibelcole. Ellen clenched her hand into a fist, and the girls inside the field were crushed by imnse gravity, turning back into several pages.
"Whew~"
Watching from the side, Mulian could not help whistling at Ellen's move.
"Ah. She hit us. She hit us."
"Getting violent because she lost the argunt. No adult composure at all."
"Bean sprout outside, gorilla inside."
"Definitely gorilla."
Of course, for the life forms known as Nibelcole, this did not count as death. At most, it was like having one's forehead flicked lightly by a fingertip. The remaining Nibelcole did not care about their companions' deaths either, and continued mocking Ellen.
"Tch—"
Ellen clicked her tongue in displeasure.
However, just as Ellen was about to continue teaching Nibelcole a lesson, her and Mulian's communication devices suddenly reacted.
[Ellen, Mulian, Artemisia. Gather in the office.]
"Ellen-san."
"…Let us go."
After quickly adjusting her emotions, Ellen called to Mulian, then rose and left the break room.
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