Extra II: The Mysterious Girl

Months had passed since the mysterious girl began visiting Wolfgang’s base. She always appeared out of nowhere, and disappeared just as abruptly. That was no exaggeration—the girl literally vanished each time. But she was no ghost—she ate, used the bathroom, and got beet-red and angry when teased, making it clear she was very much alive.

At first, the captain had thought she was just a clueless noble girl from some tiny country. It wasn’t unheard of for ladies from dangerous places to want to learn how to use firearms, after all. That was usually the job of their bodyguards, but the bodyguards themselves could be attacked, and there were places where they couldn’t accompany the lady, such as ballrooms, changing rooms, or bathrooms. Ballroom defense was generally the responsibility of the ball’s organizer, and the captain’s take on that was that they couldn’t complain if it got them killed, by terrorists or otherwise.

For this reason, it made sense for the girl to learn how to use handguns. He wasn’t sure about the short sword, since it probably wouldn’t see any use, but if she wanted to learn how to use one, that was her prerogative. The captain didn’t care as long as he got his money. For all he knew, it could’ve been her way of exercising for a diet, which was all well and good.

However, the word “firearms” had given him the impression the girl would only want to learn how to use handguns, assault rifles, and maybe flashbangs and stun grenades to make send her enemies scattering, but she had actually insisted they teach her how to use the dangerous frag grenades, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, recoilless rifles, and rocket launchers.

Some of that stuff’s way outta the realm of “firearms” an’ deep in the field of artillery! the captain thought.

Even if she learned how to use those kinds of weaponry, transporting and loading them wasn’t something that could be done by one person, especially not a little girl. Still, it was business, and the captain didn’t mind teaching her as long as she paid.

I don’t give a damn if somethin’ happens. I warned her enough. Our work here is done.

They’d had to ban her from using grenades, however. She couldn’t throw past the danger zone, and the ones she swung above her head always went behind her.

It ain’t a joke, damn it! If those ’nades weren’t fake, five people would be dead! Her included!

He had found himself sighing far more than usual.

Though it had taken three times longer than usual, they had somehow finished the training.

We deserve a whole lotta praise for bearin’ all that crap!

He had believed it was all over, but now he knew how naïve that was. The previous captain had told him, “Always imagine the worst case scenario and prepare for something three times worse, ’cause that’s exactly what you’ll get”, and now he knew he hadn’t taken that advice to heart.

Finally, the day had come.

“Well, I want to hire all of you. We’d move out in the morning, day after tomorrow. There are about twenty thousand enemies, including monsters. I’ll pay you forty thousand gold coins, guaranteed... if not more. You up for it?”

WHAT INNA ACTUAL FUCK?!

That had been the start of their fight against the demon king’s army and its dragons—a battle for the fate of the world.

We’re heroes. We got sixty thousand gold coins, the title of “Dragonslayers”, an’ a whole goddamn dragon, which got us even more money! Li’l lady, can I call ya an angel? I’d go for “goddess”, but you don’t have the cans fer th—OW! Did ya just kick me?! Wait, I’m sorry, c’mon, put that ashtray down, will ya?! It’s heavy, expensive, and it hurts like hell.

Anyway, the mercenaries now had no trouble with funds. In fact, they were filthy rich, and they had a guaranteed source of income from the patents that would come from research into the dragon parts.

They could divide the money and split up, but they all knew it wouldn’t lead to anything good. They were self-aware buffoons who knew their place in the world and their own limits, so they had decided to just keep the team together and relax without taking any dangerous jobs. Those among them who were thrill-seekers could volunteer if they liked.

There was something the captain found more important, however.

Just what is that girl?

“So yeah, I want all your guesses,” he said. “We’ll start with... okay, Sparks.” He pointed at a mercenary who was holding up his hand.

“She’s a Magicannon Girl from the Dimensional World!”

“Next!”

“An elven princess! Look at that flat chest! She’s gotta be an elf!”

“You moron! What if she shows up while yer sayin’ that?! Yer gonna be eatin’ the sole of a kids’ size thirteen!”

“That’s her shoe size?! Holy crap, that’s tiny!”

“They don’t sell adult shoes in her size, so she either buys kids’ shoes or gets ’em custom-made... Boy, did she bitch about it.”

The mercs made a silent vow never to talk to her about shoe sizes.

“I think she’s a sorceress from the other world; a lady of noble birth who can travel between worlds and use translation magic! She came here a while back and spent lots of time studying, and that’s why she knows almost everything about this world!”

Well, that seems ‘bout right, the captain thought.

“Oh, I think she also knows healing magic. Whenever she got hurt during training, there’d be no sign of it in just a few days.”

I had a hunch, too, an’ it sure seems possible. That’d mean she ain’t from Earth at all. She’s native to the other world, an’ her Asiatic appearance has gotta be a coincidence. The country we went to was fulla white people, but she did say that she was from another country, which’s prob’ly a place inhabited by Oriental types.

Well, it doesn’t matter to me whether she’s Asian, black, or white. Best way to look at it is not her bein’ an alien, but that she’s from an Earth with a different history. The humans there’re too much like us for it not to be. Honestly, with horned rabbits an’ goddamn dragons an’ all, it wouldn’t be weird for the people there to have horns too... or like, six arms or somethin’.

“All right, to summarize, the li’l lady’s a magic girl from an Earth-like planet in a dimension kinda like ours. She started out as a princess in one country and is now a viscountess in another one. It’s confirmed she can use three kinds of magic: world-traversal, translation, an’ healing. There could be more. She came here a while ago, an’ though there’s some holes, she knows a whole lot about this world. Anyone seein’ a problem here?”

No one said anything.

“All right, then nothing changes. If anyone asks, say her name’s ‘Nanoha’, an’ don’t ya dare leak any other info. Don’t even upload her photos to the net!”

Some boys just looked away. Don’t think I don’t see ya.

They had all reached a conclusion they more or less expected. Mitsuha had brought stability to their lives, and they had no intention of betraying her. They also felt like they’d be doing even more business with her further down the line. Their lives were now safe, their pockets full, and their days calm. For the mercenaries, this kind of life had always been a dream they never thought possible. But now that they had it, their hearts were filled with a yearning for something else.

Was it alcohol? Women? Gambling? Traveling? No, it was none of those.

It’s that world, the captain thought. We got a safe, clean life lined up fer us now, but all I can think about is that crazy, hella dangerous world. All those monsters, man. Goblins, orcs, ogres, an’ tons of others... Shit, they had dragons. DRAGONS!

I wanna go back. I need to go back! But I’m not a damn battle junkie! At least, I don’t think so. But I really, really wanna go back to that world.

“Shit! Why do I wanna go there so bad?!”

“Patience you must have, my young padawan.”

The captain turned around to see the young lady smiling at him. She swelled with pride, like she had just said something she’d always wanted to say.

Uh, should I ask her? Nothing’ll change if she says no, but if it’s a yes, then it’s a goddamn godsend!

“C-Can ya take me there?”

“No.”

“DAMN IIIT!”

The captain ran out, ignoring whatever the girl said to stop him.

All I can do right now is run away!

“UUUGGGHHHH!”

He looked to his side and saw two others running and shouting alongside him. They were the ones who had been on break when Mitsuha called and thus were unable to become Dragonslayers.

I see. You guys asked too, huh.

“Ngh!” One of them wiped his nose, sobbing. “Wah... Waaah!”

Waaagh... Don’t cry, damn it...!