“Wait!” The red-haired girl calls out to me as I am about to leave. “You’re not going to just let us walk home all on our own, will you?”

“She’s not?” the purple-haired girl asks.

“No, I think I’ll take my chances on my own,” a green-haired girl says.

“Y-yeah, me too!” the yellow-haired girl says as she gets over the edge of the wagon.

“Nonsense!” The red-haired girl stands up. “You’re a proper hero, little girl, aren’t you?”

“W-well, yes, I am!” I say with a nod, slightly surprised by the proactivity of one of the damsels in distress.

“Then you will escort these fair maidens to their respective villages and protect them from whatever harm may befall them on the road!” She says—no—she instructs me on what to do. “Or would you rather have them be captured again before they can even spread the word of the mighty Lilith?”

Is she… Is she serious? That’s blatant manipulation!

“Of course, I will help you return safely!” I agree without hesitation. Her manipulation was super effective! How could I possibly say no?

And, “fair maidens”, eh? Well, all four girls are fair enough, I won’t lie. However, if I were to judge them by the standard of, at the very least, a side character in an anime, then the red-hair is the only one I would consider to stand out enough to rise above a background character, despite the freckles that pepper her nose and cheeks. Or is it because of that? Or maybe it was the fiery personality of the red-hair that caught my eye and made her stand out so much from the others? It’s not like any of the girls are ugly or anything like that.

Whatever the case, if it’s safe guidance home they want, then it’s safe guidance home they’ll get. Though I really don’t feel like walking all over the country-side. That would take God knows how many days! Or, God-forbid, weeks!

Speaking of which, I wonder if there is a God in this world? Could I become one? Depending on the type of God, they might not want that to happen. But if that’s the case he/she/it would just read my mind and strike me down with a bolt of lightning right where I stand for such blasphemous thoughts!

Nothing? Alright, for now, let’s assume there is no God!

“It’s decided then!” The red-hair hops off the wagon and extends her hand to me with a smile. Did my heart just skip a beat? I take her hand, blushing like a kid and jump off the wagon.

With all five of us together I should start by asking—

“So where are you all from?” the red-hair asks the others.

Hey! That’s my line, you, you… Ah, I don’t even know any of their names.

“We should figure out who lives the closest!” the red-hair continues, obviously not hearing my thoughts.

“My village is to the south from here, about three days walk… I think,” the yellow-haired girl says.

“Can I know your names first?” I ask sheepishly, trying to get a word in. “You know my name, but…”

Wait, why does it feel like I’m the side character now?

“Oh, but of course! How absent-minded of me!” The red-hair exclaims and bumps herself on the forehead. “My name’s Cyra!”

“Lily,” the yellow-hair girl utters even more sheepishly than I did.

“Violeta!” the purple-haired girl states her name with hands crossed.

“Ivy,” the green-haired girl says twirling a lock of her hair.

“You already know my, name, but I’ll say it again. I’m Lilith! Pleased to meet you!” I say with a bow toward the four girls.

“Oh, aren’t you just adorable little thing!” Cyra pats my head. I won’t lie—it feels nice. Her hand is surprisingly warm, too. Wait, something is off… Ah, that’s right!

“I’m sorry, but that young man over there,” I say and point at one of the many bodies that now adorn the green field. “Was he someone you know?”

“What? Oh, hell no!” Cyra dismisses the notion. “He was the first of those vile thugs that tried to grab me. So I cut an artery in his neck with my fingernail, but then the big guy grabbed my arms and that was that!”

“Oh, and here I thought… Never mind! I’m sorry!” I bow my head again. What the hell am I doing?

“Still, it sucks that we have to walk all the way,” Cyra says and scratches her head.

“Oh, we won’t be walking!” I say with excitement and kneel down, facing away from the girls. When I place my hand on the gentle grass strands and then push down until I can feel the earth beneath.

“Stand as close to me as you can!” I say to the girls. When they all huddle behind me and I command a spell, “Freeze!”

I freeze the earth beneath me, aiming the freezing power straight ahead and then once again command, “Freeze!”

I form the second layer of the ice beneath my feet and use it to move forward as it expands ahead. Since it is my spell, obviously neither my hand or feet feel even remotely cold! And since the spell lasts for a minute and costs only fifty of my Mana Points, while I regenerate two Mana Points per second, it effectively means I can travel like this indefinitely!

It isn’t long before we catch up to one of the ruffians, still running away from me.

“My name is Lilith!” I shout to the ruffian. When he sees me, his eyes turn so big, I’m afraid they’ll pop out their sockets. He screams and falls over. Cyra waves to the ruffian and smiles as we pass him by.