I Don’t Want to Be a Heroic Spirit

Yunyun fell back, landing hard on the ground with her face pale from fright.

A sharp horn hovered just inches from her eyes, its tip gleaming ominously.

"Chirp—!"

The cute squeak of the rabbit from earlier turned into a fierce, guttural screech, filled with aggression and malice.

It thrashed violently, but a slender, white hand held it firmly in place.

"Umu! So monsters like this do exist," Nero said calmly. "Using an adorable appearance to disarm its prey, then delivering a fatal strike—it's quite a cunning and vile creature."

With that, Nero tossed the rabbit high into the air. Before it could regain balance, her sword sliced through it in one fluid motion.

Horned rabbits were swift and agile, but once their disguise was seen through, they weren't particularly difficult to handle.

The group continued deeper into the forest, eventually stumbling upon a pack of horned rabbits feasting on the corpse of an unidentified monster.

The carcass bore numerous puncture wounds, likely inflicted by the rabbits' horns. It wasn't hard to imagine that, without Nero's intervention earlier, Yunyun might have met the same fate.

Despite their adorable appearance, these rabbits were carnivores.

This world really is dangerous, Nero mused.

The rabbits' agility, combined with their small size and sheer numbers, made them formidable opponents.

"I finally understand why I felt an instinctive sense of unease toward you," Nero murmured as she swung her flame-imbued greatsword, incinerating over a dozen rabbits in one slash. Her expression was laced with complexity.

"You remind me of a certain giant rabbit that once gave me severe psychological trauma… but at least you don't reproduce infinitely like that monster did."

Cute yet vicious creatures.

Nero couldn't help but draw a connection to the Great Rabbit from Re:Zero—the beast that devoured Subaru Natsuki piece by piece.

Among all the gruesome deaths Subaru had suffered, being eaten alive by the Great Rabbit stood out in Nero's memory.

First, they gnawed at his hands and legs, then tore open his stomach to feast on his organs, all while pulling out his tongue and gouging his eyes.

Even after reviving, the phantom pain of that horrific death left Subaru curled up on the ground for hours, paralyzed by fear.

It was one of the most unforgettable deaths Nero had seen during her anime-watching days.

So, when she first saw the horned rabbits in this forest, a sense of dread had instinctively crept over her.

"Ah! There it is! One of the most classic monsters in fantasy worlds!" Nero exclaimed, her voice tinged with odd excitement.

"Nero, what are you talking about?" Alice asked, confused by Nero's enthusiasm. "It's just a slime, isn't it?"

"Umu, umu. Alice, you mustn't underestimate slimes," Nero said with a knowing smile. "I've seen a slime become the Demon Lord of an entire world!"

"A… Demon Lord? You're joking, right? How could a slime possibly become a Demon Lord?"

"I'm not lying. That slime was one of the eight Demon Lords in its world—an Eight-Star Demon Lord, the rising star Rimuru Tempest."

"E-Eight Demon Lords?! What kind of world is that? We only have one Demon Lord here, and that's already caused endless wars. I can't imagine a world with eight Demon Lords… It must be a nightmare for its people."

"If you're curious, I can tell you about that world," Nero offered, though she admitted, "But my knowledge of it is limited."

Alice seemed to misunderstand Rimuru as some malevolent figure, likely because of the imposing title of Demon Lord. After all, in their world, the Demon Lord was synonymous with destruction and war.

But Rimuru was nothing like the Demon Lord Alice imagined. Nero knew Rimuru as a benevolent leader who sought peace between humans and monsters—often more virtuous than the humans who waged war against the monster alliance.

Determined to clear up the misconception, Nero resolved to tell Alice Rimuru's story later. After all, Nero had a soft spot for Rimuru. When she first got her smartphone, her wallpaper, screensaver, and even her QQ profile picture were all of Rimuru.

Still…

"For such an adorable slime, one that transcends gender with its charm, why are its kin here so disgusting?"

The slimes in this world were nothing like Rimuru. They were slimy, gooey, and downright revolting—more akin to oversized slugs than anything remotely cute.

Yunyun was already turning pale at the sight of the squirming creatures.

"Umu! If only all slimes were like Rimuru—soft, round, and pleasantly cool in the summer," Nero lamented. "Or even like the slimes from I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level. Not only are they adorable, but they can also transform into daughters you can raise!"

"Nero, please stop mumbling to yourself and HELP ME!"

Yunyun's desperate cry snapped Nero back to reality.

In most worlds, slimes were the weakest of monsters, easily defeated by even a child wielding a sturdy stick.

But in this world, slimes were the bane of adventurers.

Immune to physical attacks and vulnerable only to magic, these slimes also excreted a corrosive slime that rapidly degraded weapons, armor, and clothing.

It was said that one of the Demon Lord's Eight Generals was a slime, too.

At first, Nero had no idea about these slimes' peculiarities. She slashed one clean in half with her sword, only to watch in disbelief as the bisected slime split into two smaller slimes and continued their assault.

Thankfully, the flames of Nero's sword were effective against them.

Yunyun's magic also inflicted massive damage, taking out entire clusters of slimes at once. However, the sheer number of slimes, combined with Yunyun's mounting stress, eventually caused her to panic and require Nero's intervention.

As for Alice, Nero had initially worried that she would be at a loss against the slimes.

But to her surprise, Alice cast magic—golden lightning bolts that rained down like divine hammers of judgment. Each spell cleared swathes of slimes in a single strike.

"What… What kind of magic is that? I've never seen anything like it before!"

Yunyun, safely shielded by Nero, stared at Alice in shock and confusion.

Could it be… Nero thought, realizing the truth.

As a descendant of the Hero, Alice not only wielded the Hero's sacred sword but also inherited unique, powerful magic.

It seemed her little sister was far more capable than Nero had imagined.

---

"..."

- Gardevoir

(End of Chapter—Support the translator at [patreon.com/WiseTL]!)