"Well then, little lady, since you seem to understand the situation you're in, how about you simply surrender without putting up a fight?" the leader of these vermin asked me.
"You see, we'd much rather use you as a hostage to squeeze a nice cash out of your family, so hurting you a little wouldn't be too much of a problem. But if, by any chance, they refuse to pay the price we ask..." He shrugged casually.
"...then selling you at a black-market auction somewhere would become our second-best option. After all, we're quite certain that a future beauty like you would fetch a very handsome price. So, you know... I'd really rather not have to damage you too much..."
I clenched my teeth and glared at that blond-haired worm with the most disgusted expression I had ever worn up until that day.
Then, in a voice overflowing with hatred and revulsion—so intense that even my younger self had surprised herself—I shouted,
"NEVER!"
Immediately afterward, I reached over my shoulder to grab another arrow from the quiver on my back.
But the instant my hand reached the place where my arrows should have been...
It found nothing. My quiver was completely empty!
The look of disgust remained on my face, but it was quickly overshadowed by utter shock.
The leader of those vermin smiled.
"I hope you enjoyed that little trick. One of my men is completely hopeless in combat, but he happens to be a true master when it comes to stealing things without anyone noticing," he said with obvious amusement.
Then he continued,
"Without your beloved arrows, fighting has become a lot harder now, hasn't it?"
He tilted his head slightly before asking in an infuriatingly condescending tone,
"So... what do you say now? Will you surrender and, like a good little girl, allow yourself to be captured without making a fuss?"
"NEVER!!!!" I screamed even louder than before.
Without wasting another second, I cast, "Wind Arrow!"
An arrow formed entirely from compressed air instantly materialized on my bowstring. I fired it immediately, aiming straight for that blond worm's head.
But even that attack was intercepted.
Something invisible suddenly became visible the instant my arrow struck it.
It was yet another one of those scoundrels, this one wielding an enormous shield. My arrow pushed him backward by several centimeters, but it wasn't enough to knock him off his feet or even make him stumble.
The blond-haired worm let out a disappointed sigh.
"You really are one stubborn little girl... You leave me no choice."
After a brief pause, he raised his voice.
"Gentelmen, it seems our source of income this time has no intention of allowing herself to be captured peacefully. So it's time to use force. But be careful not to injure her too badly. Avoid attacks that could leave permanent scars, even after healing magic. She is, after all, one of our merchandise candidates...
Other than that, do whatever you want!"
The instant those words left his mouth, a dozen daggers came flying toward me. The man who had thrown them—now visible—was an extremely thin individual wearing a set of light armor.
'It's obvious now... whatever allows these pieces of trash to become invisible is deactivated the moment they launch an attack...' I realized the instant that man appeared.
Naturally, I did everything I could to dodge the barrage.
But because the daggers had come from a direction I hadn't expected and had been thrown without any warning, the best I managed was avoiding five of the ten. Since they had been thrown from my left side, two daggers pierced my left arm while the remaining three buried themselves in my left thigh.
"Ah..."
A quiet cry of pain escaped my lips.
Probably because of the boss's orders, the daggers hadn't been thrown with their full force. As a result, they hadn't penetrated very deeply. With a quick movement, I was able to pull every one of them back out with very little difficulty.
But just because the wounds were shallow didn't mean they weren't painful. Nor did it mean they weren't dangerous. The more injuries I accumulated, the more difficult moving would become. That was especially true considering these filthy vermin clearly intended to focus most of their attacks on my legs.
To make matters worse, not nearly enough time had passed since I had exhausted myself trying to chase after Aislyra and Fortore. Both my mana and my stamina were still far from fully recovered.
To say the situation was dire would have been an understatement.
The more my mobility deteriorated, the harder it would become to avoid the surprise attacks of that worm's subordinates who were still hiding somewhere around me.
'If only I had some way of determining both the number and the locations of those despicable worms who are still invisible...' I thought while narrowly dodging a powerful punch thrown by the scum named Gaz.
That man was undoubtedly one of the biggest idiots among this entire group of criminals. His fighting style lacked even the slightest trace of technique. However, judging by the crater his punch left in the ground, his raw physical strength was probably comparable to Aislyra's when she had been twelve years old. I had been incredibly fortunate to avoid that very first attack. Had he managed to grab me, escaping his grip would have been nearly impossible.
Fortunately, because his attacks were so crude and straightforward, now that he had lost the advantage of surprise, avoiding them was remarkably easy.
And that was exactly what I was doing.
I was effortlessly weaving through a relentless barrage of punches thrown by that enormous, muscle-brained fool.
This was the perfect opportunity to think of a way to counter these criminals' invisibility, even if only to a small extent. Especially since the others didn't seem willing to help that pathetic worm named Gaz, knowing full well that they would only get in his way.
Of course, I didn't have unlimited time. In my current condition, I wouldn't be able to keep dodging his punches for much longer. On top of that, I had no way of knowing when the leader of these worms would decide that this oversized idiot had played around long enough and order the others to overwhelm me with a coordinated attack.
Fortunately, even my younger self was already a remarkably intelligent elf. An idea came to me almost immediately.
Although I certainly couldn't say that either my present self or my younger self was particularly happy about having to use it.
'This could definitely work, but...' I thought as a faint blush of embarrassment spread across my cheeks.
Then, after narrowly avoiding yet another punch from that bald worm, I shook my head.
'This isn't the time to worry about my pride.'
"Fragrant Wind Mark!" I chanted.
The blond-haired man's expression immediately became thoughtful.
"That's a spell I've never heard of before. Stay on your guard, everyone!" he warned.
Every single one of them immediately assumed a defensive stance, preparing themselves for whatever my spell might do.
Everyone...
Except for the man named Gaz, who continued trying to punch me with absolutely no success whatsoever.
The blond-haired man placed a hand against his forehead in obvious disappointment.
"Oh well... worst-case scenario, Gaz can serve as a perfect demonstration of what that spell does if it hits someone."
A moment after I finished casting the spell, a breeze swept gently across the forest path, passing over everyone present.
It wasn't a powerful wind. In fact, most people would have described it as nothing more than a pleasant breeze.
The only immediately noticeable difference between it and an ordinary breeze was its incredibly pleasant fragrance. Carried upon that gentle wind was an astonishing variety of different scents.
Immediately suspecting poison, every one of those scoundrels instinctively covered both their mouths and noses.
Unfortunately, both back then and even now, none of the spells belonging to my Derived Magic possess enough offensive power to inflict even the slightest damage on anything larger than an ant. So I can assure you that it certainly wasn't poison.
Damn it... how much I hate my Derived Magic...
Still...
There are rare occasions when even my Derived Magic proves genuinely useful.
Like this one.
The blond-haired man observed Gaz for another few moments as the idiot continued wildly swinging at me without landing a single hit. Seeing that the big fool wasn't suffering any obvious ill effects from the fragrant breeze, he lowered the hand covering his mouth before speaking.
"Gaz, thanks for wearing down our prey, but you're taking far too long."
The giant, however, continued throwing punches as though he hadn't heard a word.
"So stop wasting time and let the others handle it," the blond-haired man added.
His voice was colder than any spell I had ever seen Aislyra cast. Even though those words hadn't been directed at me that day, I still hear that chilling tone in my nightmares from time to time. That was the very first time in my life I had heard the voice of someone who was truly, genuinely evil. Even now, merely remembering it is enough to send goosebumps crawling across my skin.
And judging by what happened next, it had evidently done the same to that man named Gaz.
The instant he heard his boss's command, he immediately stopped attacking, hurried away from me, and obediently took his place beside him.
"All right, gentlemen. Now that this oversized child is finally out of the way, it's your turn."
He slowly looked around at his hidden subordinates before continuing.
"Go capture our prey. The longer we waste here, the greater the chances that a group of Rangers will discover us. Don't play with your food. And stay careful. This little girl doesn't look frightened enough to me. I'm certain the spell she just cast wasn't merely meant to make all of you stop stinking."
And with those words, two boys—so alike they were clearly twins—suddenly appeared, one to my right and the other to my left.
Both wielded longswords, and they tried to trap me in a pincer attack by striking me with the flat sides of their blades, allowing them to hit my stomach and lower back at the exact same moment.
But I had already smelled the attacks coming from both directions.
So, with impeccable timing, I leaped into the air, avoiding both swords perfectly before landing with complete elegance.
At that very instant, however, a fist with brass knuckles hurtled toward my stomach at incredible speed. The punch had been thrown by a very thin yet surprisingly muscular man who wore nothing to cover his upper body.
Even so, that attack failed to catch me off guard. I already knew someone was waiting there.
Although it required considerably more effort than dodging the twins' attack, I managed to evade the punch by swiftly shifting several meters to my right, moving toward an area where I knew no invisible enemy was hiding.
"Now it seems she's able to see them... but why?" the boss with those lifeless eyes murmured to himself as he thoughtfully stroked his chin.
Then, all of a sudden, he sniffed his hand.
"Gaz, come here," the crime boss ordered.
"Y-yes, Boss," the large man replied as he immediately obeyed.
Once Gaz was standing close enough, the blond-haired man leaned in and began sniffing him.
"B-boss... what are you doing?!" the big man asked in complete confusion.
"Just as I expected... the scent is different," the leader of the kidnappers muttered to himself, completely ignoring Gaz's question.
Then he added, "And I don't believe there's any quick way to cover it up..."
He turned toward the rest of his men.
"Gentlemen, as I hope you've already realized, I'm afraid to inform you that this little girl appears to have discovered a way to determine your locations despite your invisibility. And, as you all know, the spell that allows you to remain invisible requires an enormous amount of concentration on my part to maintain. Since it has now lost most of its usefulness, I'll be deactivating it. But don't worry. I know perfectly well that none of you should have any difficulty capturing a single little girl, even without the assistance of my spell...
Right?"
The way he pronounced that final word carried exactly the same terrifyingly cold tone he had used earlier when ordering Gaz to stop. It was enough to make the surrounding air itself feel colder.
For once, one of my Derived Magic spells had finally proven useful for something other than making my room smell pleasant.
My Derived Magic is Scented Wind Magic, a Magic dedicated to creating breezes capable of carrying countless different fragrances.
Unfortunately, every scent I can produce is practically indistinguishable from an ordinary perfume.
The only differences are that my magical fragrances remain clinging to the air, objects, or living beings until I personally choose to dispel them, and that my sense of smell allows me to distinguish them with far greater precision than any naturally occurring scent nearby.
Other than that, they function exactly like ordinary perfumes. They simply mask existing odors and replace them with more pleasant ones. They possess no other special effects whatsoever.
As for the spell Fragrant Wind Mark, it creates a gentle breeze that marks every living creature touched by it with a fragrance of my own choosing. In this particular case, I assigned every single person struck by the spell a completely different scent. That allowed me to identify each person's general location even while they remained invisible. Better yet, it also allowed me to remember exactly who was who simply by recognizing their individual scent.
The blond-haired worm dispelled the invisibility spell he had been maintaining.
At last, the entire group of kidnappers became visible. Including their leader, there were fifteen of them. Every single one was armed.
Except for the giant named Gaz and a rather slender-looking man who was holding my arrows. He was almost certainly the thief who had stolen them from my quiver only a few minutes earlier.
The fact that I no longer had to worry about invisible surprise attacks was unquestionably good news.
Unfortunately, it was still fifteen against one. My quiver was empty. Very little mana remained within my body. And if the handful of worms I had already fought represented the average strength of the rest of the group, then I had an even bigger problem. Every single one of these criminals appeared to be considerably stronger than an average Ranger. They were by no means the sort of insignificant rabble that could simply be brushed aside.
I had to admit that, at that moment...
My chances of winning were painfully small.
Which also meant that my chances of avoiding being kidnapped were equally slim.