The Little Match Girl Wants to Fight

“C-cold…”

With each step through the vast snowfield.

No, with each breath, white vapor escaped.

I had worn a bit thicker clothing than usual just in case.

But it seemed that wearing a few more layers of thin clothes was insufficient to withstand the cold of the Northern Continent.

In the end, my footsteps began to quicken at some point.

Feeling my body temperature drop by the second, fortunately, I arrived at the city entrance before turning into an ice statue.

Strictly speaking, today’s final destination.

That is, I still had to walk a bit more to reach the most magnificent building among the various buildings in the city…

–Jingle.

“Welcome─”

“P-please give me anything warm to drink…!”

Feeling like I’d really turn into a snowman if I kept walking like this.

I decided to enter any roadside cafe to have some tea and warm up my body first.

As a blessing in disguise, perhaps because there weren’t many customers, my order came out quickly.

And so, slurp.

“Ahh…”

Only after sending a few sips of something warm and sweet down my throat did I start to feel a bit more alive.

My body naturally relaxed with the warmth that began to circulate from head to toe.

With both hands, already as cold as they could get, pressed against the warm glass, my whole body soon became languid.

However, perhaps because the sight of me sitting alone in the corner of a cafe without a guardian, warming myself up, caught attention.

Or perhaps because my relatively thin clothing compared to the people on the street—I thought I had worn thick clothes, but it seems I fell short of this city’s standards—was concerning.

“Excuse me…”

“?”

The cafe employee who had taken my order earlier slowly approached me and spoke to me.

With my palms still firmly attached to the white glass that still maintained the same warmth as before, I asked what was wrong.

What came back was a question that might be natural to ask, about where my parents were.

Just as I was about to honestly answer without thinking that both of them were gone.

‘Can’t I ask your mom or dad to come get you? Are they both busy?’

‘I don’t have a mom or dad.’

‘?!’

A few months ago, the memory of unintentionally making a bakery clerk feel bad in a similar situation flashed through my mind.

“Ah, th-they haven’t come back from work yet. Both of them.”

“Then why don’t you wait at home until they return? Why did you come out in the cold?”

“W-well, you see… I-I had an errand to run!”

Thinking it would be better to lie than to receive unnecessary pity, I literally made up something on the spot.

Right after that, I heard a puzzling question asking if I could wait for a moment.

Since I still had some tea left anyway, I nodded without much thought.

Not long after, the person who had briefly gone into the staff room and returned handed me a red blanket.

“You look so cold. If you wrap this around, wouldn’t you be a bit less cold?”

It was added that it was a lost item, so it wouldn’t matter if someone took it.

The only problem, if it could be called one, was that with the blanket wrapped around me, I resembled the little match girl from the fairy tale.

Especially since the blanket was red, from a distance I looked exactly like the little match girl.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t deny that I was noticeably warmer than before.

“Th-thank you…”

In a daze from the unexpected kindness, I briefly expressed my gratitude.

And so, unintentionally cosplaying as the little match girl, I left the cafe and once again walked toward the magnificent building visible in the distance.

Certainly, with the blanket wrapped around me, I could at least bear the cold.

I finally arrived at today’s ultimate destination about 30 minutes later.

“It’s big even up close…”

I unconsciously swallowed dry at the grandeur and enormity no less than the Lunatic Guild headquarters.

To be precise, it looked more like a mansion than a guild headquarters, but anyway.

Still, just in case, I approached as close to the building entrance as possible, then.

“Excuuuse meee! I have something to ask─!!”

I raised my voice toward the inside of the firmly locked door, as expected.

Not long after, a security guard approached me.

“Is this where the battle maniac… I mean, Rier lives?”

“The only person who could be the owner of such a large building is that person.”

Fortunately, it seems I had come to the right place.

However, the problem was that the person reigning at the top of the Northern Continent wasn’t someone you could meet just because you wanted to.

Even if by some chance a meeting with me was added to Rier’s schedule. In most cases, the bigger problem was that I could only meet them months later.

By that time, many things would have gone wrong and become irreversible, which was the biggest problem.

Therefore, I somehow had to meet Rier and help contribute to conquering The Tower.

Unlike others who headed toward The Tower on their own, this was a person who would only head there after being personally sought out and persuaded.

Honestly, at first, I was puzzled why a powerful fighter like Rier.

No, why a person called a battle maniac didn’t want to go to The Tower.

‘I’m tired of The Tower now. Why should I go to a dungeon I’ve cleared more than ten times already? They’ll clear it just fine without me.’

‘…What?’

After learning that they simply didn’t go because they were tired of fighting the same monsters, my common sense went on an interstellar vacation.

Apparently, for Rier, things like greater causes didn’t matter much.

Even if I told them a hundred or thousand times that this Tower was truly different from before, they wouldn’t believe it.

I remember that they finally headed toward The Tower only after I completed an incredibly difficult request from Rier.

But now, the situation was such that I couldn’t even meet Rier, let alone receive a request from them.

“…I never thought I’d end up stalking.”

To somehow meet this person who prioritized their own enjoyment over the fate of the world, I devised a strategy known as [Stalker].

Actually, it’s called a strategy, but it was just about secretly following Rier when they went out somewhere other than the magnificent building in front of me and trying to talk to them.

Anyway, according to my memory, the highest chance of successfully conversing with Rier was when they were heading to a dungeon.

True to their title as a battle maniac, they went to dungeons almost every day to fight monsters. It probably wouldn’t be much different now.

Coincidentally, the time of day when Rier was most likely to be heading to a dungeon was late evening.

Therefore, after moving toward the back door instead of the main entrance.

I paced in the lobby of a small building a little distance from the back door, waiting for Rier to appear.

And about an hour later. Step.

“Tiresome, so tiresome…”

Sure enough, I finally spotted them secretly slipping out through the building’s back door and walking somewhere.

I too began to follow Rier, maintaining a maximum distance.

And so, for a long time. For a really long time, walking and walking.

Only after Rier disappeared beyond a dungeon that externally resembled some kind of temple could I finally stop walking.

…That Rier really isn’t in their right mind either.

There’s probably only one person in this world who would walk all the way to this distant place just because they want to fight, and enter what’s obviously an ominous dungeon alone, and that’s Rier.

Well, anyway. Right now, all I could do was wait for Rier to come out of the dungeon again.

“Hmm… It feels colder when I’m standing still.”

I circled around the dungeon entrance until the person who would get itchy if they didn’t fight for even a day appeared again.

How much time passed after that?

–Plop.

“Ah…! Refreshing.”

Finally, the sight of someone performing the eccentricity of stretching while covered in what looked like monster fluids caught my eye.

Right after that, I slowly began to approach the person who had clearly been tormenting dungeon monsters like sandbags.

However, what came back was something that could only be called a huge misunderstanding from the person who had been looking somewhat annoyed for some time.

“…I’m not buying matches.”

“I-I’m not here to sell matches!!”

I unconsciously blushed and shouted that I didn’t even have anything like matches.

Right after that, I opened my mouth again for my real business with Rier.

“Are you that battle maniac, mister?”

“Calling people by nicknames is a bad habit, little one.”

“Then just mister. Could you spare some time for me? Just a very brief moment.”

I added that I had been trembling and waiting endlessly in this cold place to meet Rier.

The problem was that they showed little interest in me with what could be called an ‘I don’t care’ attitude.

“Go home, kid. Don’t catch a cold for nothing.”

I got slightly annoyed at the indifferent demeanor that now passed by me as if they were too bothered to even mix words.

To be fair, there wasn’t particularly a reason to talk to a child they were seeing for the first time… but couldn’t they at least listen to what I wanted to say?

“Why should I.”

“…………”

I was at a loss for words at the resolute manner that didn’t give even the slightest room.

As a result, finally…

–Ding.

[Using The Response Is Worse (A).]

[Total Damage: 3500]

[Remaining Damage: 317915]

I decided to let actions speak instead of words.

Simultaneously, to make someone who doesn’t find much interest in anything other than fighting become interested in me.

–BOOM!!

I attacked slightly off-target, as if to provoke.

At the same time, Rier’s gray gaze became increasingly clear.

Sure enough, crash.

“You, which side are you from? Iffia? Jenis? Lunatic?”

The person who hadn’t even made eye contact with me until just before suddenly dashed forward and asked which guild I belonged to.

The two hands that had been firmly gripping both my shoulders since some point.

The meaning of the voice, which had noticeably intensified compared to a moment ago, seemed clear without even asking.

–Thump.

–Thump.

“S-since when does a battle maniac care about such things before fighting… If you want to fight me, just say you want to fight.”

Even though my heart started to pound due to the tension and fear gradually constricting my entire body, I forced myself to mix words with Rier while putting on a brave front.

What came back was a scoffing laugh close to a sigh.

“You seem confident.”

“…Not entirely without confidence.”

Not long after, I finally proposed a duel myself.

Sure enough, the deep voice that accepted my proposal without a moment’s hesitation or wavering.

However, since I didn’t want to fight a battle maniac barehanded, no matter what.

“But lend me a shield, just one.”

“A shield? Not a sword or a gun?”

“I’m a tank.”

“…Little kids shouldn’t lie so early.”

“I-I really am a tank!!”

I asked for a small handicap.

Well, anyway. For someone who would be fine as long as they could fight me, it wasn’t such a difficult request.

Back to that magnificent building.

More precisely, I arrived with Rier at a place resembling a sparring arena that had been specially prepared in the basement of the building.

Right after that, I was pushed into a storage room filled with equipment that was obviously incredibly expensive and valuable.

“Choose anything you want and bring it out.”

Why did I feel momentarily envious of someone who called things worth at least the price of a house “anything”?

Even Asha wasn’t quite to this extent.

Anyway, right now, there was something more important than the value of the equipment that exceeded imagination.

I chose a wide and light shield from among the various shields in the storage room and returned to Rier.

After facing Rier in the middle of the sparring arena full of safety devices that didn’t seem to have much meaning.

“The loser has to grant a wish for the winner.”

“I like how simple it is.”

I stated the only reward for what would look like a crazy act to anyone who didn’t know better.

Less than a second later, boom.

Along with a thunderous sound that was hard to believe was simply from stomping on the ground, two eyes filled with madness flew toward me.