Chapter 20: One Centimeter Error

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Translator: Soafp

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[Belchika Side]

Along the highway connecting the Kingdom of Kishirika and the Belhart Empire, a dozen or so carriages were traveling.

In the lead carriage, a group of boys and girls were riding together.

They were students from the Belhart Empire's National Hero Academy, on their way to study abroad in the Kingdom of Kishirika — specifically, the top ten students with the best grades.

“Studying abroad sounds like such a pain. Also, where even is the Kingdom of Kishirika?”

“It's an allied nation of the Empire. That's basic knowledge.”

“Whatever, who cares where it is. Anywhere is countryside compared to Belhart.”

“I hope they have good food there!!”

“I think you can look forward to their food culture. Thanks to magical agriculture, the kingdom supposedly produces high-quality ingredients consistently. Well, compared to the Empire, even dishes from a top-class restaurant's first-rate chef would probably still fall short.”

“I just hope there are strong people there… though I shouldn't expect too much. What do you think, Belchika?”

Suddenly addressed, the beautiful girl with pink hair and blue eyes who had been watching the scenery outside the window turned around.

“I'm looking forward to it.”

“Huh?”

“Actually, I recently made a new friend in the kingdom. Though I don't know if they think of me that way… and it's not someone I can just decide to meet anytime.”

Belchika smiled gently, causing the Hero Academy students to blush in surprise.

She was always calm and gentle, but today she seemed to be in an especially good mood.

And then—

“R-report!! There's a dragon on the highway!! A dragon has appeared!! The escort corps can't handle it on their own and request assistance from the hero candidates!!”

One of the soldiers escorting the carriages shouted in panic.

The Hero Academy students shrugged.

“Haa… seriously, this countryside. Dragons showing up on highways? How do they even live like this?”

“I doubt it appears every day. This is probably just coincidence.”

“Also, isn't it weird for the escort to ask the escorted to fight?”

“Don't blame them. Unlike us hero candidates who received holy swords, they're just ordinary people. Fighting a dragon is too much for them. So, who's going?”

“I'll go.”

Belchika said that and jumped out of the carriage.

“W-wait, Belchika!! You don't need to go yourself!! You're ranked number one!!”

“It's fine, everyone. Please rest here.”

“T-there's no way we can just let you go alone!! Come on, let's follow Belchika!!”

Several students followed her out of the carriage and headed toward the dragon.

But what greeted them was a completely different scene — a slain dragon, and a group of people wearing crow-like masks and wrapped in jet-black coats.

“Hyahhaaa!! Strip the scales off the dragon we took down!! Use 'em for armor!! The meat—take it all!! Smoke it and make preserved rations!! Bones go to broth!! Soup time!!”

“Hey! You folks over there!! Any injured among you!? If there are, I'll heal every last one of you down to the tiniest scratch!!”

“Hyahaha!! Sick folks are fine too!! Anyone feeling rough from the trip!?”

“Oh, did your carriage break? I can fix it for you—no no, no need to pay. I do this because I like doing it.”

“Hey, you there!! You look injured!! What, you're not!? Too bad!! If I say you're injured, you're injured!! Now hold still and take my healing magic!!”

Some were butchering the dragon, others repairing a broken carriage, and others were rushing at wounded soldiers to force healing magic on them.

The Hero Academy students were stunned.

The dragon that had supposedly been attacking the carriages was dead — but more shocking was the deranged masked group making bizarre noises as they worked.

Then the person who seemed to be the leader of the group stepped forward.

“Hyahhaaa!! Welcome, students of the Hero Academy!! I’ll heal every single one of you to smithereens— Huh, Belchika? What are you doing here?”

All eyes turned to Belchika.

Belchika swiftly looked away. No—she turned her entire face away. Sweat streamed down her forehead.

“Mistaken identity. I'm just an ordinary, wholesome Hero Academy student.”

“No, you're definitely Belchika. The White Church girl who occupied the magic academy—”

“Waaah!! Waaah!! Waaaah!!”

Belchika panicked and tackled the leader to shut him up.

“You're No-Face, right? Don't you dare tell anyone who I am. If you do, I'll rip out your heart.”

“Oh, so Belchika is a mimicking chuunibyou who can blend into human society.”

“Mimicking…?”

“Okay okay, got it. If that's how it is, I'll pretend you're a stranger and let me welcome you.”

He stepped back and raised his voice again.

“Hyahhahaha!! Once again, welcome!! Stay still while I’ll blast you all into tiny pieces with healing!! Hyahaha!!”

“““Blast us… healing?”””

The Hero Academy students tilted their heads again.

---

[Ask PoV]

A little earlier.

“Hey, Gal”

“Mm? What's up?”

“Got any interesting stories?”

“Don't just suddenly throw that at me… Well, I guess I've got one.”

“Oh, you do?”

It was lunchtime, and I was chatting with Gal while slurping ramen in the cafeteria.

What's that? “You can eat ramen in another world?” you ask?

Sure, the civilization level here is below medieval Europe from my old world.

But thanks to magical technology, some fields are as advanced as my previous world.

Food culture is especially advanced.

Magic can stop cold waves or salt damage, so crop production is stable. Ice magic lets them rapidly freeze and transport perishables, too.

For someone like me, whose main food in my past life was IV drips, nothing could make me happier.

“So anyway, the story is: A second-year viscount's son got his fiancée stolen by a third-year earl's son, and he chopped the guy's thing off and got arrested.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn't hear any of that.”

“You're the one who asked for a story!”

Gal protested while eating a cutlet sandwich.

Despite eating fast, he was still neat — like a well-behaved Siberian Husky.

I kinda wanted to pet him all over.

“Sorry sorry. Here, to make up for it, have one noodle. Because ‘go-MEN' —get it?” (TL: gomen [ごめん] = sorry and めん [men]= noodles. Just a pun)

“That's cold. And just one? I have trouble eating noodles because of my muzzle, you know.”

“Then just change into a more human form.”

“Bro, only a handful of beastkin can do that fine-tuned magic control.”

“So does that mean Lucan-senpai is super amazing?”

“She's insanely amazing.”

According to Gal, beastkin usually aren't good at magic control. Their physical abilities are high, so many think magic is unnecessary.

“Hm? Are you talking about me?”

“Oh, hey Lucan-senpai. Huh? Nee-san, you are also here today?”

“Lucan insisted I join.”

Rare sight — my sister was beside Lucan-senpai.

Still as prickly as ever, no trace of dere, but you could tell.

She was clearly excited to be eating lunch with friends.

“You say that, but aren't you actually happy she invited you—”

“Do you want me to sew your mouth shut?”

“Nee-san, you're too clumsy to sew—”

“Any last words before I do it?”

“You look beautiful today!! You're glowing more than usual!!”

“Ara, thank you. But I'm always beautiful and always glowing.”

Ah, wrong thing to say.

I needed to say something that made her happy. Anything, anything…

There.

“Nee-san, did you… grow a bit?”

“…Which part are you referring to?”

“I'll leave that to your imagination.”

“I see. As expected of my little brother. I actually grew one centimeter recently!!”

Huh, Nee-san grew a whole centimeter.

Me? I was talking about height, not her chest.

Either way, it's within the margin of error.

“Haha, you two really do get along.”

“Oh hush, Lucan. This is normal sibling interaction. Right, Ask?”

“Is it?”

“It is, correct?”

“…Right.”

If I denied it, she'd get moody again, so I just nodded.

“Alright alright, Fran. Don't bully your brother. You're scaring the dog boy.”

“I'm telling you, I'm a wolf—actually never mind.”

Gal started to protest, but then glanced at Nee-san and froze.

His ears and tail went flat.

Now that I thought about it, when Nee-san barged into my room before, he was scared then too.

Nee-san was always the type dogs feared. Apparently beastkin counted too…

“Hey Gal, why are you scared of Nee-san?”

“Eh… saying that in front of her is kinda…”

“Right. Please enlighten me.”

“A-all right… She just has this… overwhelming aura? Like, my instincts tell me she's above me.”

“…I see.”

We continued chatting over lunch until Sis suddenly spoke up, as if remembering something.

“By the way, did you hear about it yet?”

“About the viscount kid chopping off the earl kid's—”

“Not that vulgar story. The one about the exchange students from the Hero Academy.”

“Hero Academy? What's that? Gal, you know it?”

“I'm shocked you don't. It's the merit-based school founded by the hero who defeated the Demon King ages ago. Rumor is, this year the hero's descendant is coming.”

“Ohhh.”

So there were heroes and demon kings in this world once, huh.

And this time, their descendant is coming. …I kinda wanted to meet them.

I did some checking and apparently the exchange students would pass through the Medicus Viscounty.

Maybe I'd go meet them while doing some roadside healing.

And it had been a while since I checked on how the “Indiscriminate Healing Magicians — Nightingales” were doing.