Chapter 5: The Girl with Accounting Skills ①

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Translator: Soafp

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I began to notice the “true nature” of the Guide on the eighth cycle.

At first, it was the Kingdom Army, then Ignis' party, and afterward, I joined various adventurer parties.

In every party, when I told them that my father had been a Sword Saint and that I myself was a Swordmaster, they welcomed me with open arms.

I had joined all the well-known parties at the Adventurer's Guild.

Yet, every single one of them was similar to “Fall of the Great Tree.”

No one was genuinely thinking about defeating the Demon King.

The more powerful the party, the more they treated it as just “work.”

They had been crushed by reality.

Because they fought on the frontlines, they knew the true strength of the Demon King's army.

Even I no longer went berserk like I did back then.

When I realized that a party member wasn't serious, I left on my own, prepared alone, and headed for the Demon King's Castle.

“I'm still not ready.”

Even feeling that way, the five-year time limit that Kuro had told me about kept driving me forward.

Facing a Majin alone was nothing short of suicide.

However, compared to the first time I confronted one, I managed to survive longer.

Probably because I had begun to understand their patterns.

But in the end, I still got killed and returned to “that day.”

“So this is what he meant by the Guide's ability…”

Most likely, it was the ability to repeat the life from ages fifteen to twenty as many times as necessary until I killed the Demon King.

This, then, was the power of the Guide skill.

It made sense with what I had sacrificed in the deal—there was no doubt.

And because of that, I began to understand the meaning behind the warnings of that man… “Shiro.”

“I see… so when he said he was trying to trick me, this is what he meant…”

The words Shiro had spoken, and Kuro's words.

Kuro had said: “Effectively five years.”

But to me, it didn't feel like five years.

By the time I had repeated it seven times, it felt to me like thirty-five years had passed.

Kuro might say, “I didn't lie, did I?”

From a third-person perspective, yes, it's “effectively five years.”

But from my perspective, it's “effectively thirty-five years” at this point.

Depending on whose standard you use, the meaning changes.

He had skillfully guided me with words.

I didn't understand why the pages increased, but I guessed it was probably to count how many times I had died.

From my experiences up to now…

“This isn't going to work.”

I resolved to take action: instead of joining someone else's party, I would form my own.

Normally, a fifteen-year-old starting and running a party would be extremely difficult.

In fact, the average age for someone to become an independent party leader is around twenty.

But I had thirty-five years of experience as an adventurer.

I thought I could manage.

If there was no party aiming to defeat the Demon King, I would create one from scratch.

That was my goal.

I went to the Adventurer's Guild and applied to form a party.

With the skills “Swordmaster” and “Son of a Sword Saint,” the publicity effect was outstanding, and on the same day, several prospective members appeared.

When I told the applicants, “We'll attack the Demon King's Castle in five years,” some looked at me as if I were crazy, but others agreed.

I chose a cleric, an axe-wielder, and a thief—those I felt were serious.

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That night, I activated the Guide skill.

Since “Applied to the Kingdom Army,” nothing had been added. I hadn't bothered with the blank pages much lately.

But this time, red letters appeared first.

“Form a party.”

Below that, in black letters, were the words:

“Axe-wielder, Cleric, Thief.”

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After repeating this several times, new pages and letters began appearing in the book.

There were three types of letters: red, blue, and black.

Through repetition, I began to understand roughly what the differences meant.

The red letters likely indicated “essential actions” for defeating the Demon King.

Without these, the goal of killing the Demon King could never be achieved—they were core actions.

Thus, “forming a party by oneself” was an indispensable step for Demon King's defeat.

I couldn't be certain, but the blue letters probably indicated “somewhat important actions.”

Visiting a certain town, or a specific magic tool shop—these were non-essential, but accumulating them would bring one closer to defeating the Demon King.

In other words, actions with some flexibility.

Black letters likely marked irretrievable mistakes.

I guessed this because when black letters appeared, no red or blue letters would ever be added to that page again.

Meaning, if I made a mistake in applying to the Kingdom Army or in selecting party members, my path to killing the Demon King would be closed.

From then on, I repeatedly formed parties and tried out different members.

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On the tenth cycle, new text appeared in blue letters:

“Lancer, Phalan joins.”

At that time, I hadn't noticed the differences in letter color yet, but I was excited that a sentence had been added.

“Oh! The lancer seems important!” I muttered to myself.

Phalan, the lancer, had the skill “Mighty Spear.”

A spear version of Swordmaster, so to speak. A true warrior. His inclusion added stability to battles.

“This Demon King's defeat… this is the kind of challenge a man should take on!”

He agreed with me.

I felt high expectations for the Demon King's defeat, but… it was no use.

That Majin guarding the path—whose name I didn't even know—could not be overcome.

Phalan alone wasn't enough.

Afterward, I continued searching for party members among those who applied.

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By the twenty-sixth cycle,

About forty people were applying to join my party.

I had already gone through the process of adding them and checking how the letters in the Guide would change.

A few were added, and I experimented repeatedly to see how the colors responded.

Strictly speaking, a few were still left, but most had non-combat skills, and it seemed unlikely they could contribute to defeating the Demon King.

For example—

“Erius! Please… let me join your party!”

This had become a familiar event. About a year after forming the party, a black-haired girl would always appear seeking to join.

This girl—Nonoa, for example—was typical.

Her skill was “Accounting.” Not suitable for combat.

In a normal adventurer party, that might be fine. A fledgling party could benefit from having someone handle accounts to stabilize operations.

But my goal was Demon King's defeat.

To kill the Demon King and end this cycle—that was the purpose.

Someone with a skill like “Accounting,” unable to fight, had no place in my party.

Moreover, I knew her fate.

Noanoa, rejected by me, would later slip into some weak party, only to die on her first quest.

Since leaving her to die knowingly was cruel, I would sometimes advise her:

“Don't be an adventurer.”

I even tried obstructing her from joining other parties, but she always ended up dying.

Every time, the same ending.

There were others with inescapable fates as well. Most of them, including myself, would die by twenty.

In other words, her destiny was to die on her first quest.

Even if she joined my party, she would soon die, and I'd have to recruit again—double the trouble.

“Sorry, but I can't let you join my party.”

“…I see.”

When I refused, she left, disappointed but resigned.

I had grown accustomed to watching her walk away, feeling sorry for not being able to save her.