The Abandoned Saint I Picked Up is a Side Character in an Otome Game and Turns Out to Be the World's Strongest Mage. I Plan to Rescue the Heroine Who Couldn't Achieve Her Happy Ending in a Dungeon. - Chapter 7

I’ve done it now. No—I’ve really done it.

As I woke up early in the morning, I turned to my side and saw Ariel sleeping peacefully, using my arm as a pillow. Despite having a man lying next to her, she seemed at ease, her breath soft and steady.

“…Should I take responsibility for this?”

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—I have the financial means to handle this situation, thanks to some shady dealings behind the scenes.

However, as long as I—a magician—remain by her side, Ariel will inevitably be exposed to considerable danger. In that case, she’ll need to become strong enough to fend off those threats on her own.

Now, how should I go about training Ariel?

“Mm…♡ Good morning, Endo-san.”

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“…If you keep squeezing my chest like that, anyone would wake up.”

“Huh? Oh—oops.”

It seems that, without realizing it, I’d been groping Ariel’s chest. Startled, I quickly pulled my hand away, only for Ariel’s lips to curl into a faint smile.

“Endo-san, you can touch me as much as you like.♡”

“Don’t say things like that—it’ll make me want to grope you all day long.”

“Hehe, is that so?”

Ariel truly is a dangerously seductive woman.

Well, to be fair, in Under the Shining Starry Sky, there was a reverse harem route. She’s a character with enough charm to captivate high-ranking officials of the kingdom if she so wished.

Her gestures and demeanor often playfully tug at a man’s heartstrings, making her utterly enchanting.

Back at the Royal Academy, most of the bullying she endured came from other girls, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the boys who harassed her did so out of infatuation, desperate to gain her attention.

It might sound petty, but thinking about this fills me with a twisted sense of superiority.

Afterward, the two of us finished a light breakfast and stepped out into the garden.

“Well then, Endo-san, I’ll be in your care.”

“Ah… are you seriously going through with this?”

“Yes. I want to become strong enough to deal with the people at the academy who’ve tormented me.”

During breakfast, Ariel had expressed her determination to grow stronger—no matter what it takes. It was all for one goal: to take revenge and cause trouble for those at the academy who had insulted her parents.

She was adamant about doing whatever it took to achieve that.

“Alright then. First, we’ll have you take down as many monsters as possible. Time to grind some levels.”

“Grind… levels?”

“Yeah, let me explain.”

I gave Ariel a brief rundown of this world’s system.

To preface, this world has game-like mechanics such as levels, stats, and skills.

The reason I—a mere mob character—can unleash powerful spells repeatedly is that I’ve spent countless hours in dungeons, tirelessly defeating monsters to train myself.

That said, the existence of levels, stats, and skills isn’t widely known.

Most people in this world simply accept these phenomena as a given, much like how gravity is taken for granted.

If civilization advanced far enough, there might eventually be scholars curious enough to study it. But as far as I know, no such individuals exist.

So, I developed my own hypothesis.

It’s just a theory, but I believe that when a monster dies, the magical energy it releases is unconsciously absorbed by nearby humans.

Every time I defeated a monster, my mana would replenish slightly, and my physical abilities would improve to some degree.

That magical energy released at the moment of a monster’s death—this is likely what people casually refer to as “experience points.”

“So basically, anyone can grow stronger by defeating monsters?”

“Exactly. Though as you get stronger, you’ll need to take on tougher monsters to gain meaningful experience.”

Ariel nodded as she listened to my explanation.

“But I don’t know any offensive magic…”

“Huh?”

“The only light magic I can use is Little Light and Light of Charity.”

Little Light is a spell that creates illumination—it has no offensive power whatsoever. Meanwhile, Light of Charity is a healing spell used to treat injuries.

Ah, right.

I had forgotten that Ariel wouldn’t learn offensive light magic until about the middle of the story.

At this point, while still studying the basics of magic at the academy, the only spells Ariel could use were ones with minimal lethality.

“…Well, there’s no helping it.”

I transmuted a revolver-style handgun and handed it to Ariel.

After giving her a quick lesson on how to use it, I also gave her a speed loader.

For now, she’d have to rely on this to fight monsters.

Of course, even I couldn’t hit a target properly when I first started using a gun. I didn’t expect her to master it right away, but it was still far better than having her fight unarmed.

Or so I thought…

“Surprisingly, it’s easier to hit targets than I expected, Endo-san. …Endo-san?”

“Is this… the protagonist’s blessing?”

Ariel was hitting her targets with ridiculous precision.

Every shot landed perfectly. The way she effortlessly wielded the large revolver with one hand was nothing short of cinematic, exuding an aura of cool, hard-boiled confidence.

Feeling equal parts impressed and envious, I silently watched as Ariel continued leveling up.

Several days passed. While handling the occasional wave of attacking monsters, Ariel’s level rose significantly, and she eventually learned an offensive spell called Arrow of Light.

That’s when the real trouble began.

“…”

“Huh? What are you doing, Ariel?”

“Oh, just trying something out.”

With that, Ariel raised the revolver and activated her light magic at the same time.

A beam of light shot out from the barrel of the revolver.

“What? Wait—what was that just now?”

“I infused Arrow of Light into your gun and fired it. But it seems the heat warped the barrel.”

“…”

“Endo-san? Um… I’m sorry for breaking your gun—”

“No, it’s fine. I can fix the gun; that’s not a problem. What really matters is… now I want to shoot a beam.”

“Huh?”

How long had it been since I felt like this?

It had been ages since I genuinely wanted to create something beyond household items or appliances.

Now I was completely fired up.