The Rising of the Scythe Hero

The next morning, nothing really changed. Well, aside from Night's size and appearance. Overnight, the little bird went through another stage of evolution and now looked like an ostrich. Round body over two meters tall, short legs, tiny wings.

Our chimera meat reserves also dropped significantly. Rapid growth — what can you do...

Feeling like spoiling myself a bit, I even had breakfast that morning. I didn't need much food or sleep, so I rarely bothered with things like that.

"You look pleased." Naofumi noticed as we finished eating.

"Doesn't happen often, getting to eat like this. Especially in peace and quiet."

"Yeah, fair enough." Naofumi nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

But good things don't last forever, so after breakfast came more grinding for Night. I also decided to check in with the old man — supposedly the village chief.

A short chat revealed nothing interesting nearby. But not long ago, a friend of his dropped by with some curious news.

Something about a miracle the Spear Hero brought to a starving village. Apparently, they now had so much food they didn't know what to do with it. Another buddy from a different village mentioned creepy vines and other weird stuff.

Connecting the dots with what I already knew, I refreshed my memory about the miracle seed — the result of some ancient experiment. And, of course, our brave Spear Hero dug it out of a sealed chest. Because obviously, what could possibly go wrong with a sealed relic from some ancient scientists? Nothing, right?

So, the Legendary Spear Hero Motoyasu unsealed the seed and handed it over to the villagers. Sure, they weren't starving anymore… and soon enough, the vines would be eating them instead.

After thinking it over, I decided to deal with the issue personally. You never know when reputation might come in handy. Plus, getting my hands on that artifact seed sounded interesting. With proper use, it could actually be useful.

I figured I'd wait a day or two before setting off. Sorry, Naofumi, but I'm stealing your future heroic moment.

Meanwhile — good old grinding, during which Night reached level 35. I kept studying the illusion magic book and the local language too. Since I'd decided to travel separately from Naofumi for a while, I needed to hurry up with reading. I was planning to leave the book with Raphtalia.

...

"By the source of power, I command: decipher the laws of the world and cloak me in haze. Hide Mirage."

I felt some kind of energy ripple through my body, slowly wrapping around me. I suspected I could feel magic this keenly thanks to my non-human nature. People from my world — and Naofumi's — weren't exactly close to magic, which made it harder to learn. But demons… demons are naturally magical. At least, in my understanding.

"This is definitely interesting, but…" I muttered, and the invisibility immediately faded. "Totally inefficient…"

With my current Camouflage skill, I could do way better. The advantage of Mirage was that it used Mana instead of Spirit Points like skills did. That was handy if you wanted to save Spirit for something more effective. Like splitting abilities into Offensive and Support — Spirit for one, Mana for the other.

With enough practice, I could even cast spells mid-fight. The question was whether I could reach that level…

Still, there's definitely room to dig deeper into the whole magic thing down the line. My newfound magical sensitivity opened up some space for growth there. For now, I wanted to focus on Night.

"So, when are you finally gonna turn human?" I asked, staring at my bird.

"Coo?" She tilted her head with a questioning chirp.

"Eh… I hope you turn out to be a cute, black-haired girl. Otherwise, this'll be kinda disappointing…" I turned and headed deeper into the Amazon-like forest. As it turned out, this place had the biggest variety of monsters.

"…cu…" Iheard another sound behind me.

"You're unusually chatty today, Night." I commented without turning.

"…cute…?" A thoughtful voice said behind me.

Hold up… I'm no expert, but… that didn't sound much like a bird.

"Huh?"

"Cute…?" A girl's voice said, right behind me. Completely naked girl, I should point out.

"No way… Night?"

"Yes? Master?" She tilted her head, touching her lip with her finger innocently.

"Oh, holy hell! It happened! I've got my own legal loli now!"

Wait, hold on… is she even legal? Mentally, she probably counts as a kid. Physically, she shouldn't even have grown yet. The real question is, how long will it take her to mature mentally?

She looked way better than I expected, by the way. Literally too.

She barely reached my collarbone. Long, silky black hair down to her back, deep amethyst eyes staring at me with complete indifference, a doll-like face sculpted by the gods… that perfect little nose, thin lips, fluffy lashes, snow-white skin… And those small black wings behind her back?!

Someone hold me, I'm about to melt!

And she had boobs! Do you get it? Boobs on a loli! Okay, not huge, but definitely something to grab. Peak loli evolution right here!

"Master?" Night called me again while I was still in space somewhere.

By the way, her calling me "Master" didn't stir anything in me. Weird detail. But not worth dwelling on.

"Yeah… first thing, we need to find you some clothes." I snapped out of it and got moving.

"Do you… like how I look?" Clearly wanting an accurate answer, Night spun slowly, spreading her arms—still with that completely indifferent face.

"…Yeah. Obviously, yes. Couldn't have turned out better." I assured my new companion.

"Good." And there it was, clear satisfaction in her nod.

"You managed to influence your human appearance somehow?" I asked, surprised.

"I… wanted to fulfill all Master's wishes. After that… it just happened."

"I see… By the way, aren't you cold?" I was genuinely curious how much climate affected her.

"No. Not at all." Night shook her head.

"That's good. But still, you shouldn't be walking around naked, no matter how much I like it. We need to find you clothes…"

"If Master likes it, I can stay like this." She said flatly, looking me in the eyes.

"That's not the point. Other people don't need to see you like this. In society, you wear clothes. Nakedness… is a bit much."

Her mindset was still childlike. Or rather, completely undeveloped. I was going to have to carefully teach her everything she needed to know if I wanted a companion that matched my expectations.

"Got it…" Night nodded, frowning.

"Right. Here, take this for now."

After tossing my cloak over her, we headed back to the village. While Naofumi was off somewhere, I quickly borrowed some old clothes from a villager's daughter—the one the very shocked village chief pointed me to. I mean, yeah, I get it. It's not every day a shady guy walks into the forest with a bird and comes back with a naked little girl. Totally understandable reaction.

But that's life. Now that Night had her human form… she'd need training, right? Sure, she'd figure things out eventually, but nothing stopped me from speeding up the process.

"Where to start…" I muttered, tapping the scythe's blade.

"Hm?"

I eyed one of Raphtalia's old swords that Naofumi was planning to trade in at Elhart's shop. He won't mind if I just pay for it, right? Night needed a weapon, and Naofumi wasn't around…

We didn't wander far, because I wasn't sure how battle-ready Night actually was. Somehow, I'd never really let her fight…

"Alright, birdie… How about some solo grinding?"

"I… need to fight?"

"Yup. Think you can take down that monster?" I pointed at a huge frog, roughly the same height as Night in human form.

"I'll try." She nodded and walked toward the monster.

And… wait a sec, is she seriously going barehanded? No, hold up, what the hell?!

"Uh…" Night stopped, confused, right in front of the frog.

Naturally, the frog noticed her immediately. And, predictably…

chomp

…almost swallowed my companion whole.

I stared at the sight of Night's legs sticking out of the frog's mouth.

I was so stunned, I didn't even notice right away how Night's body was slowly shrinking on the outside. The frog was swallowing her…

"Ugh…" Night plopped onto the ground, blankly staring ahead after I sliced the amphibian apart.

"Why didn't you fight back? Or shift to your filolial form?"

"I… don't know." Her voice took on a thoughtful tone. "I panicked. Also, Master likes this form…"

"In battle, your appearance doesn't matter to me, Night. What matters is you being strong and staying safe."

"I see… I understand."

Night got up, now with a much more determined look in her eyes. She targeted another frog, thought for a moment, then started walking toward it again. But this time, halfway there, there was a soft poof—dark smoke curling around her as she returned to her actual bird form.

Then, seemingly gathering enough speed, she jumped, flipped mid-air, and simply smashed the frog's head with her claw.

"Did I do well this time?" Another soft poof as Night switched back to her human form.

Does she really like that form so much? Or is it because I like it? Well, obviously the second one.

"Yeah. Obviously." I nodded with satisfaction.

Night switched forms without any visible effort. If I recall, in the canon, Filo didn't manage that so easily.

Considering how much she wanted to stay human, I still gave her the sword.

But she handled it… awkwardly. Fighting as a filolial came naturally, relying on instinct. But with a sword… that wasn't happening.

Whether I should teach her to use a sword—or any weapon—was still unclear…

Anyway, we wrapped up her frog massacre and returned to the village. The day was still young, so we had plenty of time. Maybe I should explore the forest from the other side of the village?

"…for his valor during the Wave battle, Spear Hero Motoyasu Kitamura-sama is hereby appointed ruler of this land…"

As we approached the village, I heard voices. And as soon as I pieced together what was happening, my mood took a nosedive. Maybe I should just turn back before I kill them all…

But I couldn't show weakness. Motoyasu and Naofumi's race was about to start, and it was the perfect chance to mess with that red-haired bitch. No way I'm missing that.