Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? Volume Chapter 20

“And where have you been?”

As soon as I come back, a particularly nasty face confronts me.

“I can go wherever I please, I’m sure.”

“I suppose. Then I can do whatever I wish too, then, no?”

The little girl gives me a smile that’s barbed with meaning.

For the first time in many a year, a slight feeling of fear rises within me.

“I do consider you quite valuable, you know? So much so that it seems a waste that you are a mere human.”

Oh-ho, I don’t like the look in this girl’s eyes.

Even as she claims to value me, she’s looking at me like a predator who’s locked on to its prey.

“Ah-ha. What an honor.”

“Indeed. But since you are so valuable, that also means I have to keep an eye on you. It matters not what the rabble might attempt, but you are another story. Seriously, make a wrong move, and I’ll have to crush you.”

The girl takes a single step forward.

I take a step back and surreptitiously begin preparing a spell.

“Just kidding.”

The girl turns lightly on her heel and begins walking away from me.

“Just don’t try anything funny. Not that anything you do could stop Master’s plan anyway.”

“Then nothing I do should cause a problem, no?”

“Oh? Even if it doesn’t cause a problem, it could still be an annoyance, you know. Why, if you caught me by surprise, you might even be able to land a single hit on me.”

Having said her piece, the girl strolls away.

What a shocking thing to say to the strongest human mage.

That petulant little lass really raked me over the coals, again.

However, she’s not necessarily wrong.

As near as I can tell, there is a significant difference in combat power between us.

If I fought her, I’d almost certainly be the first to go down.

I may be the strongest human mage, but that’s only saying so much, in the end.

I cannot hope to compete with inhuman monsters, in the truest sense of the word.

I already learned that lesson long ago.

That there is always someone stronger, and there are walls I cannot surmount.

Therein lies the problem.

The fact is that I’ve started to want to teach my late disciple’s younger brother.

If that boy cannot surpass me, then there is no hope.

But unlike me, that boy—the real hero—is still young.

He will surely become stronger with time.

Now, will that hero be able to overcome the wall that I could not?

And if he does, will he be able to surpass that little girl, and the “master” who lurks behind her?

That girl, Sophia.

The moment Appraisal failed to work on her, I knew she was no ordinary person.

The problem is that even I cannot see through to what she really is.

And this terrifying girl has someone she calls “Master.”

The most powerful creature I know of is “that master,” but it could be that this girl’s so-called Master is on the same level.

And if so, will any human be able to put up a fight?

Prince Hugo, who rules an empire with an iron fist.

And the figure manipulating him in the shadows.

Now, how should I move amid all this?

Perhaps I should heed the girl’s warning and lie low for a while yet.