I'm standing on a ship.

There are some angry looking people staring at me.

And in the corner of my eye I can see a beat up man hiding other lightly injured people behind him.

But they are all weird.

They don't have ears on top of their heads like me.

Instead, they have some things on the side of their heads.

Are those supposed to be ears?

"A beast girl?!"

"Where the hell did she come from?!"

"Who cares! Just kill her!"

"But she has a sword!

And she suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

She could be dangerous!"

The men talk among each other.

"Are you scared of a stupid kid?!"

One of them charge at me with a sword in his hand.

...

But his movements are so slow...

I sidestep his clumsy slash and punch him in his belly with my free hand.

"Guh!"

He lets out a groan and flies over to the others.

"Wha-?!

She took out Jason with a single punch?!

Be careful!

She's must be trained!"

As he shouts that, three more people start to encircle me.

This time, I don't feel like waiting for them, so I just slash them down one by one.

Without giving them a second to react, all three of their heads flew in the air.

"Wha-

That girl is a monster!

Quick, shoot at her!"

On the man's command, several small fireballs are shot my way.

[Phantom force]

And are deflected right back with just a swing.

The people, who were hit by their own spells scream in agony and start jumping overboard.

The rest stares at me with fear.

Did I accidentally use phantom presence...?

No, I didn't...

"R..RUN!"

The survivors started frantically jumping over to the black ship.

Some of them tripped and fell overboard.

They seemed to have cut the ropes connecting the ships and the other ship started drifting away.

...

An enemy running away almost never happened back in the dungeon.

And when it did, they came back to ambush me later.

That's why...

I extend my left arm and gather mana.

[Inferno]

A huge blast of fire hits the deck of the black ship.

Hectic screams can be heard over from the ship.

...I never let any enemy run away from me.

[Inferno]

Putting a little more mana into it, the blast of fire envelops the entire ship.

After burning for a while, something inside the ship seems to explode and the entire thing is sunk.

Hmm, that should do it.

They were really weak.

Surviving something like this is probably not possible for them.

"U-um..."

I turn my head and the man who was cornered a moment ago comes into my view.

Both him and the people behind him seem to be scared of something.

Then, I notice all of these bloodied bodies lying around.

Almost all of them seem to be still breathing...

Should I try to heal them?

They might become useful.

Unconsciously, I already walked up to one of them.

[Heal]

After kneeling down and extending my arm, I try to heal him.

Hmm...

There seems to be a hole in his stomach.

But I should be able to fix it.

...

Hmm, it's done.

He's alive but unconscious.

"E-excuse me..."

I look up and there stands the man again.

Looking up close, he has brown hair and beard and looks a bit nervous.

He is wearing full body armor and his hands hold a sword and a shield.

Right next to him walks up a different man with a black mustache and a black hat.

He is shorter than the armored man and is only wearing some clothes, no armor.

I stand up and both of them suddenly simultaneously bow down to me.

"You have our sincere gratitude for saving us!"

...

They are...thanking me...?

I look over to the other bodies and the other people seem to be tending to them.

Then, I look back at the two men.

"My name is Albert Neotila, a merchant. I'm the owner of this ship."

The unarmored man says as he extends his shaking hand to me.

...

What's with the hand?

"O-oh, sorry. Your kind doesn't seem to have this kind of custom."

Custom?

"My name is Feldo, I was hired to protect this ship along with my companions but it got a little out of hand...

If it weren't for you, we would have all died. You are really strong despite your age!"

...

The armored man talks a little too fast.

It reminds me of that god a little.

And why do I still feel some fear in their eyes?

"M-may we know your name?"

My name?

Hmm...I'm sure it was...

"...Reiza"

"I see...

Once again, thanks for saving us miss Reiza."

Hmm...

I don't feel displeasure being thanked like this.

Quite the opposite.

"U-um...by the way...

Where did you come from...?"

Albert looks around a bit as if searching for the place I came from.

Where did I come from?

The dungeon?

Or they probably mean where did I come from when I landed on this boat?

"...water"

I point outside the boat into the water.

"...water?

Er...do you live under the ocean?"

What?

No!

"No"

I shake my head and look at them.

They take a step back.

"I ran"

I point at the water again.

"Ran...?

You ran on the water...?"

I nod.

They seem to be perplexed.

Before anymore is said, one of the other men, who were tending to the injured, came up to me.

He also thanked me and introduced himself, but from then on, everyone else started doing the same.

And as a result I didn't really remember any of their names...

After that, I found out that this ship is actually headed toward Henduria port.

When I said it's my destination as well, they happily said they would let me sail with them if I helped them defend against potential threats.

We then talked inside the cabin and I found out more information.

Feldo and his two teammates are apparently the so called 'adventurers'.

There was one more of these 'adventurers' with them, but it seems he died in the last battle.

Those three cried for him, but there was nothing I could do.

Since I didn't know the dead one, I felt awkward as I didn't know how to act.

In the end, they decided to take his most valuable possessions back to his family and toss his corpse to the water.

Something felt wrong about that, but I couldn't really say anything...

I also found out, that this ship carries mostly weapons among other things.

But all of them looked really crappy to me.

When I took a look at them and frowned, Feldo pointed out my weapon is just too good.

I asked why he thought so and he was surprised I didn't know what weapon I was holding.

He told me it's a mithril sword.

Apparently, it's lighter and much tougher than iron or steel and it's also much easier to enchant.

Albert was also kind enough and gave me something to eat and drink.

I was instinctively a little cautious about possible poison, but he assured me there is none.

When I finally decided to take a bite...

...I found out it was worlds apart from the monster meat I always ate in terms of taste.

I think my tears started flowing when I ate...

When they asked me where I came from again, I fell into thought for a bit.

And immediately after that, they diverted the topic and talked about something else.

Didn't you want to know where I came from?

Why did you change to topic the instant I started thinking about my answer?

They also gave me some clothes from their cargo to replace this ragged dirty robe I was always wearing.

It was a black shirt, blue shorts and some underwear.

They also presented me with some strange things they called 'skirts', but I found them unnecessary.

It's just some extra cloth, which just gets in the way and doesn't help protecting me at all.

"But still, defeating all of these pirates like nothing was incredible!

Although I'm only rank B in the adventurer's guild, I still think of myself as quite strong.

How did you get that skilled?"

How?

Fighting in the dungeon.

Through many battles and deaths.

"S-sorry...I must have asked something insensitive...

You must have gone through a lot..."

Hmm?

No I didn't really mind telling you...

Why did he think I didn't want to talk about it?

"More pirates are coming!"

Suddenly, a voice rang outside.

"What?! More?!"

Feldo and his two teammates promptly ran outside leaving only me and Albert.

"Um, can I ask for your aid once more miss Reiza?"

Against the pirates?

If they are as weak as the previous ones it's no problem.

"...sure"

I walk outside and see Feldo along with the two others gathering up and preparing their weapons.

When I look in the direction they are looking, I spot a ship in the distance.

They are still quite far.

"Miss Reiza! Are you going to help us again?"

"Help...?

Kill those...?"

I point at the ship.

"Huh? Er, yes those. You can see them already?"

I nod.

They can't see it?

It's far, but not THAT far.

"That's good! Use your magic when they get closer and back us up please."

...

"Why wait?"

"...what?

Are you saying you can attack them all the way from here?"

I nod again and start gathering mana in my left hand.

All the people here turn their gaze at me.

"T-this much mana...!"

"Please wait!"

I look at Feldo while still maintaining mana in my palm.

"Something like that will wipe out that ship in one shot right?!

We still haven't confirmed they are really pirates, so please wait!"

...

That's all fine but...

What do I do with all of this mana now?

I stare at him while still aiming my spell at the ship.

"U-um..."

He becomes nervous.

"...but what to do with this?"

I hold out my palm and show him the accumulated mana.

He steps back and points his palm at me.

"Don't point that at me!"

...

I point it back at the ship.

"Er..well..Can't you like...absorb it back?"

...

I guess I could?

I never really needed to do that.

If I gather mana for a spell, I just fire it.

Transforming pure mana into fire mana is easy...

So turning it back should also be simple...?

Hmm...

Like...this...?

No...like that...?

Ah there we go...

But I can't do it very fast.

This will take a while.

"...not good at it.

It will take time."

"I...I see..."

Feldo makes an awkward smile while the other two sigh in relief.

"Hey, didn't Feldo say she was a swordsman?

She is just casually holding more mana than I could ever muster!"

I hear some whispers behind me.

Swordsman?

Feldo said adventurers are typically swordsmen or magicians.

There are other types, but those two are the most common.

Feldo himself is a swordsman, while the other two are another swordsman and a magician.

But if you were to ask me which one I am...I guess it would be both?

My main offensive power is magic, but I can't imagine fighting without a proper weapon.

As we vigilantly wait for the other ship to approach us, something quick comes flying right at me.

I instinctively dodge it and it wedges itself in the wooden pole behind me.

It's an arrow.

I turn my head and look at Feldo.

He looks at me back and sighs.

"...yes, they seem to be enemies..."

I stop dispersing the mana in my left hand and instead gather more.

[Infernal lance]

Bonus:

Is Reiza left-handed or right-handed?

She's...kind of ambidextrous?

It's difficult to answer.

Both of her arms are used for different things.

With her left hand, she casts fire, air and blood magic.

While her right hand is for holding a weapon and dark magic.

If you asked her to use fire magic with right hand or hold her sword with left hand, she would be a little troubled.

Of course, it wouldn't be impossible, but she is just more proficient with sword in right hand and fire magic in left hand.

"Man, she's SO bad at communicating with others!"

Why are you surprised?

She has been confined for so long.

The only thing she could ever talk to was the skeleton or Ungur.

"Oh don't say it like that!

You make it sound like she didn't enjoy it!"