Credits
INCLUDE THIS SECTION UNALTERED IF YOU TRANSLATE THIS TO OTHER LANGUAGES
Sureiyasu Supesharu 2 – Ritoru Purinsesu by Hajime Kanzaka.
Illustrations by Rui Araizumi.
Originally published by Kadokawa on March 16, 1992.
This translation is based on the updated eBook version released on August 2, 2012.
English translation by H. Berry
Cleaned color illustrations by Arturo Songor (@artson593)
The
order to eliminate Lina
Originally published in the October 1991 issue of Monthly Dragon
Magazine
“Are you confident in your skills?”
Naga and I were halfway through dessert when some old man suddenly
addressed us.
The place? A rundown restaurant in an equally rundown village along a
rundown road. The only other customer was a woman eating quietly at a nearby
table. The whole village was so lifeless you could practically hear the weeds
sighing. From the moment we arrived, I knew something was off.
“Are you confident in your skills?” the old man repeated.
Naga shot to her feet, puffed out her chest, and laughed,
“Ooooohohoho! Don’t make me laugh! When it comes to magic, only a handful of
people in the world can compare to Naga the Serpent!”
“W-wait, Naga!” I jumped up too, grabbed her hand, and dragged her to
the corner before she got carried away.
The old guy blinked in confusion. Lowering my voice so he couldn’t
hear, I hissed, “He’s obviously offering us a job…but you’re not seriously
going to take it, right?”
“What’s the problem? You don’t want it?” she whispered back.
“No.”
“Ooooohohohoho! I see,” she puffed her chest again. “You’re worried
because we don’t know who the opponent might be.”
“That’s not the issue.”
There’s not one person in the world that can compare to me, warrior
and mage Lina Inverse. I said not one because there’s at least a few, namely my
older sister.
“Just look around. This village is broke. If we take this job, it’ll
be fighting bandits or monsters in some cave for pocket change. Do you really
think it’s worth wasting our youth like that? On a hot day like this, we should
be in a nice restaurant, somewhere shady and breezy, sipping cold juice. That’s
what youth is about!”
“…you really have a twisted view of the world.”
“Wha—?”
Easy for her to say. With her evil sorceress-like revealing outfit,
Naga probably doesn’t even notice the heat. But for someone delicate and
refined like me, this weather is torture.
What? You think I’m selfish?
…leave me alone.
Sure, I could cast a freezing spell under my cloak, but it doesn’t
help my head. The sun fries your skin, wrecks your hair, and leaves you with a
weird tan. Absolutely unacceptable.
“…anyway, I’m not taking this job.”
“At last you’re being honest.”
“Whatever.”
“Well, I’ll do it. I’m getting a little rusty.”
“Suit yourself.”
She looked annoyed at my indifference but didn’t argue. Striding back
to the old man, she lowered her voice dramatically. “So, what seems to be the
problem?”
He locked eyes with her, then sighed and explained. Just as I
expected, some evil sorcerer teamed up with bandits, built a stronghold in the
mountains, and has been tormenting the village.
Evil sorcerers love rural areas. Around here, if someone from a
backwater magic guild can cast a Fireball, they think they’re a genius. Their
inflated egos lead them down the road of delinquency. They style themselves as
“Dark Lords,” hole up in ruins with zombies and goblins, and take creepy
pleasure in it all.
But most of them? Losers. Leave them alone long enough and they get
bored, abandon their hideout, and spend their lives as fortune tellers at best.
Troublesome losers, but losers nonetheless.
And more than manageable for Naga.
“Oooooohohoho! I understand, I, Naga the serpent, accept your
request!”
“Thank you!” The old man was so relieved he hugged her.
“Do your best, Naga,” I said casually.
The old man whipped his head toward me, “Wait—are you not going!?”
“She’s more than enough.”
“No! No matter how strong Miss Naga may be, there’s no way she can
defeat her alone. That infamous—” He faltered.
Naga smirked. “Ooooohohohoho! Don’t tell me you’re frightened by a
mere name?”
“N-no, it’s just…”
“I know of some pretty famous people you know, like the sorceress
Erisiel, the assassin Zuuma, the magic swordsman Zelgadis , and some more.”
The old man shook his head at each name.
I think I’ve heard of a couple of them, but most of those names were
new to me.
Still though, how does she know about them? She often has random
knowledge.
“You’ve surely heard of her,” the old man cut in gravely, “Her crimson
hair pierces the heavens. Her body is clad in black lightning. She loves blood
and despises life itself, leaving nothing but wasteland in her wake. A
descendant of destruction. An emissary of chaos. Lina Inverse,the sorceress
from hell!”
The what!?
I collapsed into my chair, dessert still piled high on the table.
Who is he talking about!?
Sure, I’ve been called the Robbers’ Killer more times than I can
count, but this? This is slander! Obviously some impostor is using my name to
terrify villagers.
And there’s no way I can let that slide.
“That’s a lie!”
It wasn’t me who spoke, but the woman at the other table.
A beautiful woman with silver hair and delicate features, she almost
looked like an elf.
“I’ve heard the rumors about Lina Inverse,” she said firmly, “but
she’s not the type to do such things!”
“Exactly!” I chimed in.
“That sorceress must be abusing Lina’s name to intimidate people!”
Fire practically blazed behind her as she stood, fists clenched. “Miss Naga!”
She seized Naga’s hands, eyes shimmering. “Please, allow me to fight alongside
you!”
“Uh… okay…?” Naga blinked, overwhelmed.
“Thank you! Together, we’ll wipe out evil from this world!” The woman
pointed dramatically toward the horizon, sunlight and crashing waves
practically sparkling around her.
…probably just an illusion.
“By the way—” Naga gave me a sly look. “You’re coming too.”
“…I guess I’ll have to.”
And so, the three of us, under the blazing summer sun, marched toward
the mountain where the fake Lina Inverse made her base.
“By the way, what’s your name?” I asked the silver-haired girl.
“I’m not worthy of introductions. Hurry up! Let’s go to the enemy
base!” for some reason, she wasn’t friendly with me, “Let’s go to the enemy
base!”
And yet, as she pointed toward the mountain, I swear I almost saw a
sunset behind her. …Weird girl.
“I have no idea…”
“But aren’t you curious what your impostor looks like?”
“Of course I am, but…” I tried to picture it for a second. Then
shuddered. Yeah, no thanks.
Anyway, onwards to the fake “me.”
What we found was a small tower. Once upon a time, it was probably
part of a fortress, a watchtower. Now it was half-hidden by trees, its lower
half collapsed into rubble, leaving a gaping hole.
Two bandit-looking guards stood at the entrance.
“So, how do we get in?” I asked, happy to let the other two take the
lead for once.
“Hmm, I guess we just force our way through,” Naga mused.
“There’s no reason to bother with lowlifes serving a fake!” the
silver-haired girl declared, “We should crush them head-on and make them see
their own weakness!”
…She basically said the same thing as Naga. Just with more words.
“For now, leave it to me.” The girl stepped forward and cast a spell.
Oh, I know that one.
“Sleep!”
The guards collapsed instantly.
“Wow, you’re pretty good!”
Sleep is a basic spell. So basic, it isn’t even taught, anyone can
figure it out. But here’s the thing: casting it means you’ve got a solid grasp
of magical theory and enough skill to compose it yourself. In other words,
she’s no amateur.
“Not really,” the girl shrugged. “But from here on, we’re in enemy
territory. We need to stay sharp.” Then, grabbing both Naga and me by the hand,
she declared, “You’re entrusting your lives to me, right?”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
“…”
Her face froze.
“W-well then… Let’s charge in! Let’s gooooo!”
With a burst of fiery enthusiasm, she sprinted ahead. Naga and I
exchanged a look and trudged after her.
Man, she’s exhausting.
The tower fight was a slog.
I don’t know if the place had always been this way or if someone
remodeled it, but each floor was chopped into four small rooms. To reach the
stairs, we had to clear every single one.
By the second floor, I was already tired of it.
I would’ve loved to just Dill Brand through the ceiling and skip
ahead, but the building was too fragile. A Dragon Slave would’ve solved
everything too… but I need to see this fake Lina with my own eyes.
“Let’s go! Only two more rooms to the third floor!”
“Ugh…” Naga and I groaned in unison.
We crouched by the next door, slid it open in one motion, and slipped
inside.
Empty. Just a table, four chairs, and a few scattered cards.
“Seems this room is empty,” the moment Naga pointed out the obvious—
Bang! The door slammed shut behind us.
“Eh!?” Naga jumped in panic.
“It won’t open!”
“This one either!” the silver-haired girl rattled the other door.
“It’s a trap!”
Of course it is.
“Fuahahahahaha!”
A rough woman’s voice boomed around us.
“Who’s there!?” the girl spun wildly, looking everywhere at once.
“Try looking up,” the voice said.
We did.
A square section of the ceiling opened, revealing a hole. It stretched
two floors up, almost like staring out of a well.
…You know, this reminded me of my childhood. Whenever I got in
trouble, my older sister used to toss me into a well. Probably why I grew into
such a respectable, well-adjusted person.
…Though I still have nightmares sometimes.
Anyway—
A woman appeared at the top of the hole.
Curly red hair. Dark, tanned skin. Her outfit was revealing, though
not quite on Naga’s level. Tall, sturdy, built like a warrior more than a
sorceress.
…Is that… her?
“Hahahahaha! I don’t know who you are, but you’re facing Lina
Inverse!”
Ahhhh! It’s her!
What does she mean by that?
I wanted to complain, but this was not the time.
“Of course we know you’re the fake Lina Inverse!”
The impostor froze. “Hmm, I don’t know what you mean. But it doesn’t
matter. You’ll all disappear now.”
She started chanting.
“Fireball!?” Naga gasped.
I was already chanting too. “Dam Brass!”
The moment the door shut earlier, I’d begun preparing. Good call.
The blast smashed the door to the next room wide open.
“This way!”
The fake blinked in confusion but continued chanting anyway.
We dashed through the shattered door, sprinted across the empty room,
and made for the stairs. I was already prepping my next spell.
Boom!
I didn’t know what it was, but a sudden loud crash shook the place.
Well, whatever.
“Diem Wind!” I shouted, firing off a shockwave of compressed air as we
bolted up the stairs.
It’s not a lethal spell, but it’s great for blasting away anyone
waiting for an ambush.
…Turns out the room above us was empty.
“Naga?”
As the girl called out, I turned too, and sure enough, Naga was
nowhere in sight.
“Naga!” the moment I shouted, flames filled my vision.
I reflexively stepped back, a flames shot up right in front of me and
disappeared.
“Naga…” I collapsed to the ground.
The heat of a fireball is enough to melt even iron if used by an
experienced user.
And she was caught in those flames…
“…She might’ve been a pain in the neck. A loud, obnoxious pain in the
neck. But she didn’t deserve to go out like—”
“Ooooohohohoho! That’s very sweet of you, Lina Inverse!”
A familiar shadow climbed up the stairs.
“Naga?! You’re alive!?”
“...Why do you look disappointed about that?”
“You’re imagining things. But seriously, how are you still alive?”
“Hmph! A puny flame like that could never burn away my courage!”
…Courage has nothing to do with this.
“That’s amazing, Miss Naga!” the girl sobbed with joy, hugging her.
“As long as we don’t lose our courage and our hope, justice will always
prevail! You’re living proof of that!”
With the sunlight framing her dramatically, she pointed toward the
future. Again.
“…Well, um…”
“Come on! Our goal is just ahead! We have nothing to fear, justice is
on our side!”
So we ran to the next room.
“…But really,” I muttered, “how did you survive?”
“I cast Fire Resistance, of course.”
Oh.
So all that screaming was her chanting.
“Still, managing to pull off that spell mid-inferno is impressive.”
“Wait, back when we first met, I remember you got caught in a fire and
suffered severe burns.”
“Don’t remind me… I learned my lesson.”
“Whoa, that’s amazing!” I was genuinely impressed, “You actually learn
from your mistakes!”
“…What exactly do you think of me?”
“Not much,” I deadpanned.
Finally, we reached the top floor.
It wasn’t large, but it took up the entire peak of the tower. A table,
a shelf of booze, a bed in the corner, and at the center of it all, my fake.
“So, you made it this far…” she sneered, though she looked impatient.
“Not really,” I shrugged. “The enemies were weak.”
“A fake’s a fake, after all,” the girl added.
That made the impostor turn crimson. “Do you dare call the great Lina
Inverse a fake?!”
…Ugh, stop saying my name while embarrassing yourself.
“No matter what you say, you’re a fake because—” she pointed, “Here’s
the real thing!”
Now, if she had said that then we’d be good.
However, she actually said: “I’m the real Lina Inverse!”
…huh!?
“W-what are you talking about!? I’m Lina Inverse!” the fake shrieked,
frantically beginning a chant.
Not to be outdone, the other fake started chanting too.
Of course, in a cramped room like this, neither could unleash anything
big. So what followed was the saddest, most pathetic magic duel I’ve ever seen.
Naga and I just stood there, dumbfounded.
“…Did she really just say that?” I asked.
“She said she’s the real Lina…”
Maybe it was some ploy to throw off the fake?
“A-anyway, we need to wrap this up.” I shook my head, pulled myself
together, and readied a spell.
The fake was busy batting away flare arrows from the other fake.
“Dam Brass!”
A burst of wind slammed into the fake, pinning her down before
flinging her straight through the floorboards.
“H-hey! Where are you aiming at!?”
Ignoring her, I fired again, hitting her again, this time, the fake
was swallowed by the collapsing floor below her.
“Ah, great wor—ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!—” not giving the other fake a break,
I hit her just the same, her screams echoing as she fell down the tower.
Another job well done!
“Well, I guess this is goodbye,” the surviving “Lina” said, turning
toward her village.
“Huh? What about the reward?” Naga asked.
“No… I only did this to clear my name. I’ll just tell the villagers
that the fake Lina Inverse has been dealt with. That’s enough for me.”
Yup, seems she seriously thinks she’s the real Lina Inverse.
“Yes, tell them that, but—” as always, I have to ask the hard
questions, “Are you really the real Lina Inverse, really?”
“My real name is Lyna Sanverse,” she said without missing a beat. Naga
and I collapsed into laughter, but she kept going, unfazed, “That Lina Inverse
corrupted my name. Because she’s a traveler, she became far more famous than
she deserved.”
…Uh-huh.
“The rumors are ridiculous, of course. I heard she wiped out a couple
of bandit gangs… now they say hundreds. They even claim she avenged some girl’s
brother, or helped a duke reclaim his castle from a sorcerer…”
…Wow. Hearing my résumé like that really makes me sound awful.
“Well, it’s over now. Take care, you two.” And with that, she turned
and strolled off into the sunset.
Hopefully she keeps believing those are just rumors.
“…You know,” Naga muttered, “her name is lame as hell.”
Staring at the horizon, I nodded silently.
Contents
Chapter 1: Dragon's Peak
Chapter 2: Little Princess
Chapter 3: Labyrinth
Chapter 4: The order to eliminate Lina
Chapter 5: The Child (Read right now on Patreon or Ko-Fi !)
Chapter 6: Slayers EX - Little Princess 2 (Coming Soon!)
Afterword, Color ilustrations and Download Links (Coming Soon!)
If you liked what you've read here and would like to help to make more feel free to support on Patreon or Kofi!
Comments
Post a Comment