Episode 6. A Monster Of A Kid

"Uh…."

Yuri flicked her tail as she checked the data.

"This can't be right. It can't be…. I was sure you were a useless little brat with no potential."

"That is rather harsh. 'Useless little brat with no potential'—everything except 'little brat' is wrong."

Yuri pointed at me and snapped.

"What are you talking about! Your speech alone is already a disaster, you little brat!"

"My speech, you say?"

"Why are you talking back so calmly! Ugh, there's more than one or two things wrong with you!"

Yuri went back and forth between the tablet and the screen, then hurled the tablet aside.

"Argh! This thing is broken! It has to be!"

At Yuri's words, Monika tilted her head.

"Really? Nova Tech equipment producing a defect like that?"

At Monika's words, Yuri's shoulders slumped.

"No~ the data's fine~ But it can't be right~ Think about it—even that genius Lee Se-ra scored 19 points, 19 points~ And this kid scored 28? This little shrimp? This is a bug!"

At Yuri's words, Monika nodded.

"Well, Lee Se-ra does have the full backing of Sky Tower behind her."

"She apparently had Ether prenatal conditioning or something before she was even born."

"Wow…. That's impressive."

I pursed my lips.

"It sounds dreadful to me. I only feel sorry for that child."

At my words, Monika and Yuri both glanced over at me.

"Well, from the outside looking in, I suppose you could see it that way."

"True, that's how a regular person would see it."

"I am not…exactly a regular person."

At my words, Monika and Yuri both let out a small laugh.

"Right, since you were carrying a dagger and a pistol?"

"Ha, getting a little full of yourself, aren't you, little brat~"

I replied to the two of them without missing a beat.

"I lost my family to a mage."

The air froze in an instant.

"……."

"That much I remembered during the test. My parents were killed by a mage's hand."

Monika flicked my nose lightly, then spoke.

"I see. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but…. The country you were born into is one that is desperately in need of mages."

At Monika's words, Yuri laced her fingers behind her head.

"Well, Korea is the only country of any real size that's never produced an Olympia champion."

"That blasted Olympia—every single year there's an uproar about never having produced a winning mage."

"Hmph. As if it weren't enough to have no oil, now we're short on Ether too."

"Olympia?"

I furrowed my brow at Yuri's words.

Come to think of it, I recalled how every year around winter, talk would go around—'This year, we absolutely have to win.'

"Well, anyway, all I was trying to say is that everyone's desperate, little brat~ But more than that, let's get back to talking about Lee Se-ra~"

Yuri said that as she looked over the data.

"Lee Se-ra is a genius that the country has been pouring everything into raising, all to win that international tournament called Olympia~"

Yuri pushed her glasses up.

"And you scored nearly 50% higher than that Lee Se-ra. Are you actually insane?"

"Mm. In any case, what you are saying is that I am strong. That is only natural."

I have the seasoned experience of a life spent as The Exorcist, after all.

As I stood up with full confidence, Monika burst out laughing.

"Really~ What an absurd little brat. Hey, kid. Are you truly sure you have no memories from before the Abyss?"

"…Hm?"

Monika pointed to the numerical values stored in the data and spoke.

"Looking at this data, it seems like the moment you receive information about a spell, you can use it freely."

"You know, that is a bit strange~"

"It's true that an Ether Shot is a fairly simple spell, but it's still hard to use this effortlessly. And on top of that, a Double Shot? This isn't even one of the spells we gave you information on."

"Oh~? There really is a Double Shot listed under spells used."

Yuri lifted her glasses in bewilderment.

"You've learned magic before~!"

I looked back and forth between the two of them and shrugged.

"I, I saw it on t-television and c-copied it."

At my words, the two women stared at each other with blank expressions.

"S-seriously? You saw it and just copied it?"

"Wow~ Monika. What level is this kid even at~? We did bring back a person, right? Not a ghost or a fairy?"

"I have no idea. How would I know? I have more than one or two questions I want to ask too."

"……."

Monika jabbed Yuri in the side.

"For now—don't let any information about her leak out. Absolutely not."

"Huh?"

"Make sure no one knows. Information about her."

"……."

At Monika's words, Yuri nodded.