CH 49

Name:Ex-Hero, Now Freeloader Author:
49 – Blond Hair, Blue Eyes, Beautiful Holy Sword Girl

Mika, who turned into a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl in her teens, burst into the room while I was being hugged by Marie.

「Rain! You really are my ten-year partner! I knew you’d notice!」

The girl speaking in Mika’s voice was close to tears like she was overcome by emotion.

「Lady Holy…Sword…?」

Said Marie, incredulously.

「Hmph, you bet. Got a problem with that?」

「Now that you mention it, her mana matches that of Lady Holy Sword… Her golden hair reminds me of her decorations and her blue eyes are reminiscent of the jewels set in the blade. Above all else…the way she still speaks like a little girl despite living for countless years… She is the Lady Holy Sword I know.」

「That last part was making fun of me, wasn’t it?! A person is free to choose how they wanna speak…! That’s right, I said person!!」

Mika puffed up her chest proudly.

This girl is without a doubt, Mika.

「Yeah, I get it that you’re Mika, but what the heck happened?」

Pretty sure she wasn’t equipped with such a function originally.

One person comes to mind, but I’ll ask anyway.

「Heh heh heh. Hear and be surprised! I attained a body…by using the Holy Sword Personification Device developed by Monana, the genius Magic Tool engineer!!!!」

「Holy Sword…」

「…Personification Device?」

「So, it really was Monana.」I muttered, confirming my suspicions, and Marie tilted her head in total confusion.

「Monana used the enormous amount of mana within me to fulfill my wish of becoming human!」

「I see…」

Mana already has the property of fulfilling a person’s wish. Magic is giving mana direction.

Creating a fireball, freezing foes, and flying through the sky. All of that is manifested through solid imagination and mana.

It is very difficult to keep that balance, which is why there are so few magic users…

It’s so difficult that “a procedure to bring to mind a spell” is called a magic formula.

If you want to shoot a fireball, you must have the details such as the heat of the fire, its ferocity, its color, and its size in your mind.

And then, mana is required just to turn that thought into reality.

In other words…

「One should not be able to succeed if one does not have the perfect image of a body to act as a human being, but… Magic Tool engineer… That woman with a small build yet large breasts…she developed a device, in other words, a Magic Tool, to make that possible?」

By the way, Marie knows about Monana already.

It seems that she recalls the five people on my bed as people of interest.

「Yeah!! Monana’s amazing! That other shorty, the Sage can’t do what she does!! Hah!」

Mika can’t stop looking self-satisfied.

「That girl can break you, you know?」

「So what? That’d be murder.」

「…Do you plan on staying in that form forever?」

「This is a peaceful country. Even if a problem comes up, Rain can handle it now! What he needs right now isn’t a sword, but a sister who’s always by his side, like me!」

「…Sister? Lady Holy Sword, what did you just say?」

Marie released her fighting spirit while hugging me.

Mika didn’t budge an inch.

「You still wanna act all high and mighty? I’ve got this form now, I don’t have the restraints I had as a holy sword. This nonstandard mana doesn’t just support my wielder, it can be freely used by my own will too!」

「…Do you plan to have us duel to see who is worthy to be Rainy’s sister?」

「I wonder? But first things first. Where’s your next mission taking place?」

Marie looked puzzled but soon answered.

「Are you worried this will interfere with the next task? Worry not. A battle with demons is planned at the town of Yao in the country of Gamill.」

Mika let out a bold chuckle.

「Is that so? Thanks for telling me. And to answer your question… You’re off the mark.」

「What?」

「There won’t be a fight, so you don’t have to worry about being exhausted.」

Mika disappeared.

No, she Teleported to the edge of the bed.

Then, she touched Marie’s shoulder with one finger.

「Wha-」

「See ya.」

Marie disappeared.

「Hey now…」

「Oh, don’t worry. I made sure to teleport her to the town of Yao.」

Marie prioritizes the mission of the Saviors, so she wouldn’t ignore her current objective to come back here.

Also, the Sage, who can use Teleportation, won’t teleport her here if she doesn’t have time to spare.

You could say that Mika just repelled Marie without fighting.

「So? Whaddya think, Rain?」

「O-oh, yeah. You look nice?」

「Is that it?」

Mika looked lonely.

I looked her over again.

「Uhh… I think you look cute?」

Mika smiled ear to ear and frolicked with joy.

「Right?! I am! I am so cute! I’m really thankful to Monana!」

「Hey, Mika.」

「Yeees?」

Mika sits on my knee and looks at me face to face.

This really is a flesh and blood human body.

She’s breathing, she’s warm, and she has a heartbeat.

She has a smile plastered on her face, probably because she’s happy to be able to touch me, so she’s touching me all over.

I always held her when she was a holy sword, and I would maintain her, so I won’t complain about all the touching.

「Hey, uh, I think you look fine now, but…」

「Yeah. From now on, I won’t be left in the room or left behind when you’re invited to the beach!」

That did happen in the past.

Looks like she’s been holding a grudge.

「You can turn back into a sword, right?」

Mika pouted.

「Am I a nuisance as a person?」

「No way. You’re my cherished partner. I’d be in trouble without you.」

「Mfufu.」

In a good mood, Mika began stroking my head.

「I can. But, the device broke after being used once. If I want to turn into a human again, well… It would take money, Monana’s time, and mana…」

「I see.」

Looks like she can’t freely go back and forth from human to sword form.

「Well, I guess you’ve been a sword the whole time, so there’re things you want to do as a person, right?」

「Yeah! From now on, I’m livin’ the freeloader life with you!」

Mika beamed a shining smile.

She looked happy as can be, but I also sensed a tinge of loneliness.