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 8

After a month of relentless research on light magic—

“Fuhahahaha!! Finally, I’ve done it! I’ve mastered light magic! And behold—this is the beam rifle!!”

“Endo-san, it’s time for you to sleep. You’ve pulled six all-nighters in a row.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!! The magic potions keep me wide awake! Sure, they make my head a bit hyper, but it’s nothing I can’t handle! Now, time for an experiment!!”

I pressed the muzzle of the beam rifle against my hand and pulled the trigger.

In an instant, a beam of light burned straight through my hand.

“Oh… oh, ohhh!! It hurts!! A burning pain!! But look—no bl00d, because the vessels were cauterized! And the pain isn’t as bad as I thought!!”

“Endo-san.”

“What do you think, Ariel?! Isn’t it amazing?! Magic is so fun—ugh! Huh? Huh?”

I didn’t immediately realize what had happened. A moment later, I processed that Ariel had punched me square in the face and tilted my head in confusion.

“Huh? Huh? Why did you hit me?”

“Because you were clearly not in your right mind. Now, give me your hand.”

“Wait, no, I’m still in the middle of the experiment—ugh!”

“Just give it to me.”

Clutching my stomach from Ariel’s silent gut punch, I reluctantly extended my hand.

Ariel gently held it and healed the wound with what appeared to be an advanced light magic spell she had somehow mastered without me noticing.

When my hand was restored without a trace of injury, Ariel let out a relieved sigh, then glared at me.

“Experimenting is fine, but don’t test things on yourself like that again.”

“Well, testing on myself is the most reliable way to understand the effects, and it’s necessary—”

“Stop. Watching you do that makes me anxious.”

“…Got it.”

Under Ariel’s silent pressure, I meekly nodded.

Come to think of it, there was an event in the game where Ariel punched a love interest enchanted by a succubus to snap him out of it.

Apparently, Ariel has a surprisingly violent streak when necessary.

As I nervously reflected on Ariel’s unexpected boldness, she casually counted the bullets in her revolver and asked:

“By the way, do you remember our promise for today?”

“Huh? Promise? Did we plan something?”

“Did you forget? Today is the day we’re going to pick a fight with the academy.”

“Oh… oh, wait, what!?”

“You really forgot. You promised we’d go to the academy and cause some trouble once my level was high enough.”

Pouting as though scolding me for forgetting a picnic date, Ariel puffed her cheeks.

Hearing her words jogged my memory.

Ah, right. I vaguely remember making such a promise while under the influence of those potions…

“Completely forgot. Honestly, I don’t even remember saying that…”

“…You’re never drinking those potions again.”

“Got it.”

And so, we left our hideout and made our way to Andarencia’s royal capital for the first time in a month.

With light steps, we headed straight to the academy.

“Alright, Endo-san, let’s proceed with the plan.”

“Y-yeah… I agreed to help, but Ariel, you’ve really come up with something ruthless…”

“It’s not that bad; I’m being quite considerate. No one will die, and it’s just a light prank.”

As we chatted, we stopped in front of the academy and began our preparations.

Our “preparations” were simple: I transmuted a mortar, and Ariel helped craft special ammunition for it.

“Now, fire the chili pepper shell.”

“Roger that.”

I loaded the shell into the mortar, waited a moment, and then launched it with a resounding boom.

The next moment, a rain of fiery red powder descended upon the academy grounds.

It was the so-called chili pepper shell—a capsaicin bomb.

The idea came to Ariel after seeing the massive amount of chili peppers I had planted as a deterrent against monsters raiding the fields.

For a heroine, this was an impressively ruthless plan.

“Ugh! What… what is this!?”

“My eyes! My eyes!!”

“What kind of magic is this!? My nose—ugh!!”

“Somebody help me!!”

“Damn it, what the hell is going on!?”

Screams echoed from every corner of the academy grounds.

Ariel listened to the chaos with an expression of pure delight.

“The sound of people screaming is quite soothing, isn’t it?”

“You do realize you sound like a complete villain, right?”

“Well, since I’m going to be the wife of a magician, does it really matter?”

“…Fair enough.”

From that day on, we made a habit of firing the chili pepper mortar at irregular times every day.

It didn’t even matter if people tried to escape indoors.

Why? Because Ariel had learned a spell called Rain of Light, which unleashed a barrage of extremely tiny, low-powered lasers over a wide area.

These lasers pierced through ceilings, allowing the capsaicin bombs to show no mercy, invading indoor spaces and tormenting anyone seeking refuge.

Despite the academy deploying guards to patrol the area, the vast size of the grounds made it impossible to secure everything.

So, until I completely ran out of chili peppers from my field, we kept manufacturing and launching mortar shells relentlessly.

However, after over a month of this, it was inevitable that someone on patrol would eventually catch us in the act—

“Finally found you!! Stop attacking the academy at once!!”

Naturally, the ones who found us could very well be one of the love interests from the game. Statistically speaking, it wasn’t impossible.

Now then, what should we do?