Slayers!

Vol. 1.

by Yuu-chan.

Chapter 1: Beware! Hara.s.sing bandits, and a night at an inn...

I was being chased by bandits.... don't say, "Well, so what?!" Being chased isn't so uncommon in everyday life, and in my life, it's an everyday occurrence, but stories have to be told in such a way as to build up to a climax. Well, leaving that aside, my pursuers were nearby. They're bandits. I hadn't been able to find any jobs and my purse was getting light, so I secretly took a small portion (about the same as the amount of dirt under the tip of a pixie's nail) of treasure from a group of bandits. That was my mistake. It was a really insignificant amount, not even so much as that. They've been chasing me stubbornly, the selfish jerks. Well, I've never heard of generous bandits. it isn't as if I can't see them behind me, but being a pet.i.te girl, there's no way I can outrun a bunch of sweaty men. It's only a matter of time before they catch up. What will be the fate of sweet Lina Inverse! ...yeah, that's me!

I stop walking at a spot where trees are growing on both sides of the path, like a canopy. Nothing looks different from before, but the birds are no longer chirping. There are people in the woods. I'm surrounded -- the enemy seems to have circled ahead of me. I thought of saying something to tip them off that I knew they were there, but I couldn't think of anything to say, so I stood there and waited. The path through the woods is wide enough for fighting, and sure enough, after I wait a while, a man steps out of the woods.

"Finally caught up, little lady." The bald man with an eye-patch said the overused and ancient phrase. With a bare upper torso and a scimitar, it was as if he'd just come out and said "I'm the bandit leader." His most attractive feature was his oily skin (ugggh).

"Thanks a lot for making fools of us." I felt sick and tired. Generally, the vocabulary of these people is limited to only about a hundred words, but I wish he'd have been more creative.

"'You're gonna pay for this...'" Hey... "... is what I'd like to say, but to tell you the truth, we don't want to fight. The way you attacked us without warning, burning everything down, killing our leader, and then stealing our bountiful treasure while we panicked -- it was the work of a professional. Even we wouldn't go that far!" Err... maybe something like that happened, I wouldn't know, but it's okay, because I live my life by the motto, "Evildoers have no rights!" so I guess they just got what was coming to them.

"What would be proper would be to say, 'For the death of our leader!' and chase you around until either you or we are all dead, but neither one of us is going to enjoy that, so why don't you join us?" Never! I don't like doing wrongs. ... it's true!

"If you return the treasure and join us, I'd be willing to forgive you for the death of our leader and comrades. It isn't such a bad deal; all you'd have to do is listen to what I say and it'll be fun. What do you say?" He smirks. Now I get it -- until recently, he was the second in command. However, because of what I'd done the other day, the leader's position just fell into his hands. Rather than avenging the death of his leader, though, he'd just come after me for the treasure, and now he wants other things: my strength, and me. I'm not dirty enough to join bandits. In any case, I don't want to get married to a bandit like him and end up saying "How was work today, honey?" every day!

"You'd better answer fast. There's no point in standing here doing nothing. We've also gotta go and find a new hideout." The bandit was getting talkative; he's feeling pressured. I'd remained silent the whole time. I've got a cute, girlish voice, and if I spoke, it might make the bandit feel better, but I have no reason to speak. The banditcontinues blabbing for a while, getting impatient.

"... Hey, what do you think?!"

I say bluntly, "I refuse."

"Wha..." his jaw hangs open and the color of his face changes, "You..You b.i.t.c.h! All right, that's the way you wanna play?! I'll have you cut to ribbons! Hey, guys!" About a dozen bandits walk out of the woods, surrounding me.

"This is it?" I state my honest opinion. Seeing that I'm not frightened, the bandit panics.

"Th...This isn't it! My men in the forest have arrows aimed at you. At my command they'll turn you into a pincushion. If you beg, I'll let you live. So?" An obvious lie. Any warrior or sorcerer with enough skill can sense whether or not there are any more men in the forest. I guess this means I'll have to fight my way out...

But at that very moment, a voice is heard. "That's enough!" Everyone turns; standing there is a single man -- a traveling mercenary. His long-sword glimmers in the sunlight; his breast-plate is made of the scales of an iron-serpent. Slim and tall... a typical light-fighter with speed and skill... long, blonde hair... rather good-looking.

"Villains! Withdraw and I shall spare your life," says the mercenary. The bandit-leader's face turns crimson.

"Shut up! What are you doing here?! Who are you anyway?!"

"I have no name to tell the likes of you." I grimace. When somebody's in trouble, guys like this appear out of thin air. Usually, for some reason, they're handsome and reasonably strong.

"All right, then we'll start with you! Attack!" The expected sword-fight begins. I thought of aiding the mercenary, but I have to make sure he doesn't lose face. Instead, I play the part of the damsel in distress, running around and screaming. I was so intent on screaming that I hadn't realized what had happened, but the battle had already ended. Obviously, the mercenary is victorious.

"Are you all right?" The mercenary faces me and loses his voice. It's nothing but boasting, but I'm fairly confident of my looks. Large eyes, a cute face, a pet.i.te body; the type of girl that guys just wanna protect. The mercenary sighs heavily, hopelessly in love.

"Oh... a kid," whispers the mercenary. GUSA!* ...I was a little hurt. The mercenary continues, "In a situation like this I expected an attractive woman... All that work and this is what I get... a short, big-eyed, flat-chested, kid." ZAKU! ...I'll admit I'm slightly shorter and my chest is flatter than girls my age. I do look younger than I really am... d.a.m.n him, saying all the things I'm worried about! He probably thinks he's whispering so that I can't hear, but I have exceptionally good hearing; some people've said that it's as good as an elf's. Anyway, even though I wasn't really in danger, he did save me, so I guess I should thank him.

[*Note: GUSA, ZAKU, and MUKA are j.a.panese sound-effect words, usually just meaning that the speaker, in this case Lina, is suddenly frustrated or upset. PIKU is the sound of an eye blinking.]

"Th...thank you very much," I force a smile.

"No need to thank me -- it was nothing," the mercenary smiles weakly. "Anyway are you all right, little girl?" Now it's "little girl."

"It's dangerous for a little girl to be alone. Or is your father or somebody else with you?" Muka...

"Oh no, I'm alone --" Piku piku piku...

"That isn't safe..., tell you what, I'll take you back home." Hey, hold on a...

"Where do you live?" Muka muka muka...

"Uh... I'm traveling alone -- it's not like I have a reason or anything... I'm just thinking of maybe going to Atlus City..."

"Oh I see... So... Things have been hard for you."

"Wha?..."

"No, I understand."

"Uh... I'm just..."

"There's no need to explain anything. I understand." Apparently, because I lowered my eyes in an effort to hold my temper, the guy thinks it's a reaction to being asked something I don't want to talk about. He probably thinks I'm some girl who, for some reason, is fleeing from her hometown.

"No, I just want to see the world," I reply, honestly.

"It's all right, you don't have to make a story up. I won't ask you anything," says the mercenary as if he were comforting a child. He's so hopeless...

"All right, then I'll accompany you to Atlus City." No way. It's ten days to Atlus. If I have to be around with this guy, all the stress will create enough acid to melt my stomach.

"N...no, that would be too much..."

"No. I know, you're in need of friends."

"No, that's not it -- but --" We continued talking. In the end, after a while the two of us were walking down the road together. He convinced me. My head hurt.

"-- Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm Gourry. As you can see, I'm a traveling mercenary. Your name is...?"

"I'm Lina, just a plain traveler." I tell him my real name, and it's obvious I'm not a plain traveler. But Gourry doesn't ask anything. He probably thinks I'm lying for some reason. This is how he managed to convince me; he's a good person. If he had had any dirty thoughts then I would have simply whooped him on the spot. But Gourry appears genuinely concerned for me so I couldn't refuse his offer. ...But...

Gourry mutters, "Baby-sitting all the way to Atlus. Oh well..."

... But he still gets on my nerves...

It wasn't until that night that I was finally able to relax. We stopped at a town and took rooms at an inn, and after eating dinner, we went to our own rooms. Gourry is in the next room. My room is small, with a single bed and table. On the table, there's an oil lamp. I enter the room, lock the door, and take off my cloak. My cloak jingles as it falls to the floor; that was heavy! On the inside of my cloak are hanging sacks, filled with the bandits' treasure. I hadn't had a chance to take a look at what I had taken because things were kind of hectic. I had tried to take expensive things that didn't take room, but for some reason the sacks became really heavy.

I sit down on my cloak, and start pulling things out of the sacks. I start chanting softly, clapping my hands together in front of my chest. A ball of light appears as I spread my hands, and I let it glide towards the ceiling, lighting up the room. I used Lighting to examine the goods, since the oil lamp's not bright enough.

Two to three hundred large gemstones, an orihalcon statue (pretty expensive!), and a large knife. The knife's a magic item, but it also appears to be cursed. "I guess I can just sell it at some magic-item shop for a reasonable price. Next is..." About a dozen antique gold pieces from the Kingdom of Letidius, which had dissolved about 500 years ago. I whistle. "Yay! I can sell these to collectors for a high price."

It isn't worth much, but... well, with a band of robbers of that level, I guess this is it. I said it isn't worth much, but that's just my opinion. Even if the goods were to be sold at their lowest price, it would turn into enough money for one person to never have to worry about food.

"Ok, now the gemstones..." I separate the gemstones based on type and condition. The damaged gemstones wouldn't bring in too much money, so I take out something like a crystal orb, about the size of a child's fist, and place it gently on the floor. The orb starts spinning; when it stops, the rune within it faces the window. "That's north, so..."

I spread a large sheet of paper with a magic circle drawn in the center. The sheet, about as long and wide as my outspread arms, feels and looks like the skin of a female elf. I've been saying "like" because the spells and tools are secrets of the trade. I spread a special kind of ink on a piece of wood, stamping a magic circle on a smaller sheet of paper. I place an unblemished ruby in the center of the circle. Then I place the smaller sheet on top of that. I cast a fire spell, turning the small sheet to ash; this spell's used to seal the magic circle into the ruby. I take one of the damaged rubies and place my hand above the ruby with the magic-circle and cast a wind spell. The ruby in my hand turns to dust. By the time I finish with the damaged rubies, there's a mound of powdered ruby dust.

After that, I sprinkle some liquid from a small vial onto the mound and place the palm of my hand above the mound. I chant a water spell and earth spell in a certain pattern. My palm heats up, and the mound emits a bright light. The ruby is now the size of an adult's fist.

I repeat the process with the other gems. Now I can sell these as magic items for much higher prices. The amulets can either serve as wards or can be used to increase damage dealt by weapons. I have the same kind of amulets on my shoulder-guards, bandanna, and shortsword. Functional and stylish, and they can now be found in any average home! Wouldn't you like a jeweled amulet? ......Aaack!! I just advertised! ...well, I do come from a family of merchants, so...

Go Lina, only nine more days to Atlus! Right now, it's afternoon, the next day, and the two of us are walking together down the road. The weather is nice; I can hear the sound of trickling water. The leaves dance, responding to the gentle touch of the wind, the sunlight leaks through the trees; it was such a beautiful afternoon. I murmur, "...I'm hungry..." Hey, you, no throwing stones, I can't help being hungry!

We'd left the town at dawn and walked for about a day. It was past noon before we realized that there were no rest stops or diners along the way.

"...Don't say that, little girl..." says Gourry tiredly, without even turning around. "There are times when a man's just gotta take it."

"I'm not a man," I rebuff.

Gourry is at a loss of what to say, for a moment, but soon turns around. "There are times when even women have to take it."

"Then, is traveling aimlessly and getting hungry one of those times?" He pauses. We look into each others eyes; there is only the sound of trickling water. We decided that fish would be our lunch.

The river, large enough to go swimming in, was running parallel to the path, a little off to the side. The water is clear, and the sandy riverbank provided perfect spots for sitting down. "Little fishies, little fishies, little fishies," I sing to myself as I look for a branch of the right size and bring out a fishing hook. I pull out some strands of my brown hair and tie them together, making a fishing line. I then tie the hook, branch, and line together. "Finished!" A fishing pole.

Gourry looks impressed. "You're pretty self-sufficient, aren't you?"

"Here, hold this, w.i.l.l.ya?" I hand the pole to Gourry. I walk over to the river, lift a rock, and catch several gross bugs. I hook one of the bugs, and lower the pole into the river.

After a while, I'd managed to catch several fish. We salt and cook the fish, and start eating. Mmm, very tasty! Since the fish are small, I eat them whole.

"I can't believe you can do that..." Gourry nibbles at the white meat of the fish.

"What a waste. I won't tell you to eat the head, but at least eat the stomach."

"Yuck, I don't want to eat the stomach..."

"It's the best part," I reach for a second fish and bite into the fish's stomach.

"Those are intestines... right...?" Gourry says, a sick look on his face.

"Of course."

"...those bugs you used are inside..."

Bbbthpht!? I spit out the fish. He...hey... "That's true...but..."

"Right."

"Right, but..." There was no need to say that while I was eating! While thinking such thoughts, we easily finish off the fish. I'll say this just in case, he ate more than I did.

"I'd like a little more..."

"Same here. I'll go fish some more." I get up and reach for the fishing pole, pausing just a bit...

"Goblins..." Gourry whispers, "I just saw about a dozen of them." Apparently this is goblin territory, which explains why there weren't any diners along the road. Goblins are humanoid beings, only as tall as the chest of a human adult. They roam around at night, have a bit of intelligence, and are on the savage side. They're also cowards. In small villages and towns far from cities, they steal livestock. Extra information -- teasing them is fun. I take the fishing hook in my hand and chant a fishing spell: my original! Just as I finish casting a spell, the goblins step out of the forest with a battle-cry. They are armed with rusty swords and makeshift spears -- goblin brigands.

"Shhhh! Quiet!" I say in goblin-tongue. They halt. Now! I throw the fishing line into the water. The looks the goblins give me are saying, "What is she?" But the goblins, being curious, wait before attacking.

I feel a tug. "He's big!" I lift the fish out of the water and whip the pole, making the fish land in front of the goblins. It's easier said than done. Make sure you're awed.

"Catch him!" I tell the goblins.

"Gii!"

"Gyagya, gugii!"

"Gyuge!"

By the time the goblins manage to catch the fish, I'd already caught another one. By the time I'd finished catching about ten fish, the goblins were crowding around me. It's about time!

"Here," I hand the pole to a nearby goblin. "Gi?"

"There's a lot of fish. Why don't you try?"

"Giii...?" The goblin tilts its head and lowers the pole into the water. Soon there's a tug on the line. "Gigii!" While the goblins are engrossed in fishing, Gourry and I leave.

"That was an interesting spell," says Gourry. That same night, we finally managed to reach the next town and are eating at the first floor of the inn. I blink. I take a bit out of the chicken in my left hand. Chew. Swallow. Tastes okay. Hmmm... I swallow a mouthful of juice.

I finally remember. "You mean the spell I used at the river?" Gourry falls onto the table. I wasn't playing dumb. It's just the fishing-spell wasn't a real spell for me. ...It's true... "It's a simple spell; doesn't require much skill."

"Sooo... you're a sorceress or something?" This time I fall onto the table.

"What'd you think I was?! Couldn't you tell from the way I look?!" I've been dressed the same since I first met Gourry; pants and long-boots, a loose robe tied with a leather belt, soft leather gloves, a bandanna around my forehead. My cloak, which nearly touches the ground, hangs from my shoulder-guards made from the sh.e.l.l of a giant-turtle. Everything is black. There are silver threads sewn in here and there in the form of runes. The clothing I wear serves as a ward. My short-sword is hanging from my hip. If somebody saw the way I'm dressed and thought I was a waitress or fishmonger, I'd probably kill myself!

"...Now that you mention it... I just a.s.sumed you were a waitress or fishmonger." My face lands in a bowl full of soup.

"...I was only kidding." Pause. "Boy, you overreact..."

"...It wasn't as if I wanted to..." I say, wiping soup from my face.