Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells Vol. 1

by Kaoru Shinozaki

  Tortured us…

  You thought you were the strongest things down here. You never imagined a human could defeat you.

  “I guess the low stat modifiers aren’t all bad, though.”

  They make my enemies underestimate me.

  I looked down at the frozen lizardmen who’d laughed at me, so sure I was easy prey. They lowered their guards the moment they saw me, and now they were nothing more than EXP waiting for me to take it.

  “You did your best, shitty monsters.”

  I held up both hands.

  “Paralyze.”

  A wild smirk spread across my face.

  “Poison.”

  I’ll gladly kill every last one of you.

  Kashima Kobato

  D-CLASS HERO Kashima Kobato walked down the extravagantly decorated hallway. It looked like a castle straight out of the fantasy movies she loved so much—like the European middle ages with a magical twist.

  She was having trouble even expressing how she felt. She was in the kind of place she’d always dreamed of seeing in real life. In different circumstances, she’d probably feel excited and happy to be there.

  Kobato lifted her eyes from the carpet and stared at the head of the girl in front of her. The Goddess led them through the halls like they were still on a class trip.

  She’d told them that there was something they had to take care of before they all received their unique items.

  Kobato closed her eyes, clasping her hands together as if in prayer.

  I’m scared…

  Watching that three-eyed wolf be turned to ash was utterly terrifying.

  After her measurement, she’d hidden with the other cowering, despairing students at the edges of the room. And Kobato understood very well what had happened inside that magic circle. Her classmates shouting insults and laughing…and she’d learned that the Goddess might be the one to fear most.

  “Screw you, foul Goddess.”

  Mimori-kun…

  She couldn’t hold back her tears.

  I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I couldn’t do anything…

  ***

  On her way home from school one day, Kobato found a cat lying near the school gates. It was weak and injured, but everyone ignored it—the only exception was two boys who laughed and took pictures of it with their smartphones.

  “Dude! If this gets enough likes on Inste, let’s rescue the cat! That’s a super inspirational story—it’ll totally go viral! We could even get on the news!”

  The boys left and never came back, and Kobato was left alone with her thoughts.

  What should I do…?

  She took out her smartphone and searched for “cat” and “injured” with shaky hands. She was always like this, terrified of acting on her own, waiting for someone else to make decisions for her.

  “N-no!” She landed on a page filled with pictures of dead cats. Her hands froze. She closed her eyes tight.

  I can’t do it… I don’t want to see this…

  “Kashima?”

  A boy…?

  “Oh… Mimori-kun…”

  When she opened her eyes, her classmate Mimori Touka was standing next to her. They’d never spoken before. He didn’t stand out much—maybe that’s why Kobato felt a kind of kinship with him. He wasn’t scary like the boys in Kirihara Takuto’s group.

  “That cat…is it okay?”

  “Well…” Kobato explained what she’d seen.

  “Gotcha,” Mimori said simply.

  “Huh?”

  “Let’s take it to the vet. There’s one not far from here.”

  “Um…”

  A vet. Of course. Why didn’t I think of that…?

  “Are you hurt, little buddy?” Touka gently lifted the cat into his arms. “Stay still for me, okay?”

  I’ve never seen Mimori-kun with an expression like that…

  The vet told them that the cat had an injured paw and was malnourished—which explained why it’d been lying still like that. It would get better with the right treatment. Kobato breathed a sigh of relief as they walked together out of the waiting room.

  “Mimori-kun… Th-thank you.”

  “No worries. I like cats.”

  “A-about the money…” Kobato started opening her purse—Touka had paid before she even realized it.

  He shot her a wry smile.

  “Nah, it’s fine. I’m the one who suggested the vet, after all.”

  “B-but…”

  “Really, it’s fine. I never spend much, anyway. Might as well use my money for this.”

  As always, Kobato couldn’t find the right words to object, so she let her purse drop and accepted with a silent nod. She was always like that—going along with anything, avoiding conflict or kicking it down the road.

  I should make conversation… What can we talk about…?

  She forced an awkward smile—she was good at smiling her way out of situations.

  “So…do you like animals, Mimori-kun?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I do,” Mimori replied, staring off into the middle distance. “More than people, at least.”

  “Huh…?”

  Mimori-kun?

  Touka seemed to notice that he’d upset her, though the troubled look didn’t leave his eyes.

  “Oh…not like that! I just mean that when you’re with an animal, you don’t have to worry what they think of you, right? I really like my foster parents now, so—”

  It seemed like an odd reply to Kobato, like he was desperately trying to cover up his real feelings. She’d read about stuff like this, though—teenage boys trying to seem cool and different by claiming they hate the world. She read about a lot of different stuff online—no matter how bad you are at talking to people, you can find out pretty much anything by throwing questions into a search bar all day.

  Touka didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d play that game, though. That stuff he’d said seemed more like he’d let his real feelings slip by accident.

  “Um…so, anyway…you’re a really kind person, Kashima.”

  “Huh…? I…I don’t think I am. You’re much more… Uh, s-see you tomorrow at school…”

  “Sure. See you around, Kashima.”

  That was the last time she’d talked to Mimori Touka. She never worked up the courage to try again. For the introverted Kashima Kobato, going up to a guy at school and just talking to him was too much. Touka had come over and tried to start a conversation one time, but she ignored him—she wasn’t brave enough to respond. Ever since then, she felt a little guilty whenever she saw him at school. The cat they’d found together was now a member of the Kashima household.

  ***

  How could they…he’s one of our classmates.

  Kobato found class 2-C terrifying. When Oyamada kicked Yasu’s seat on the bus, Kobato was shaken, too. She couldn’t even look Oyamada Shougo in the eyes—he might give her a heart attack.

  I’m a coward. That three-eyed wolf…do heroes have to fight things like that? I can’t do it, I know I can’t. The Goddess scares me, too. I can’t describe it properly, I just have a bad feeling about her. Sogou Ayaka was amazing, going up against her like that. Her and the Takao sisters…they’re in a different dimension from me. Kirihara Takuto, Oyamada Shougo, Yasu Tomohiro, all of them. I’ll never be like them.

  Everybody here is better than me.

  She looked back down at her feet.

  I’m a D-Class hero and a coward… maybe they’re going to dispose of me next.

  “Kobato~? Why’re you staring into space? Still worried?”

  She raised her head.

  “Oh… Ikusaba-san.” Her classmate, Ikusaba Asagi, had turned to smile back at her.

  “Asagi,” she shot back.

  “Um?”

  “I’m always telling you—I hate when people call me by my last name, ’kay? If you’re doing it on purpose, me and most of the other girls in 2-C can always start excluding you, got it?”

  “Oh… S-sorry,” st
ammered Kobato.

  She’s a B-Class, I think…

  After Oyamada Shougo was ranked A-Class and Asagi got B-Class, everybody pretty much fell in behind the two of them. Top of the hierarchy was Kirihara Takuto’s group, of course, but Asagi had serious influence among the girls in class. Nobody wanted her to turn against them—all the girls were wary of her power. She accepted some girls into her circle, and others hung around the outskirts trying to flatter her and win her favor. Others maintained a harmless neutrality.

  Nobody spoke back to her.

  Kobato chose to be neutral—a background character, you could say. In her free time at school, she read light novels on her phone in a corner of the classroom.

  “I’ve got a question for you, Pidgey,” Asagi said. She always used that nickname for Kobato because of the kanji for pigeon in her name.

  “S-sure… What is it?”

  Asagi moved closer and snaked a hand around Kobato’s waist in a gesture that felt more threatening than friendly.

  “Look at the class…it’s gonna fall apart any time now.”

  What?

  “Fall apart…?”

  “Oh yeah! 2-C’s gonna split, there’s no doubt.”

  “I-it is?”

  Asagi looked to the front of the class, where Kirihara Takuto’s group followed close behind the Goddess. Yasu Tomohiro walked just behind them.

  The hierarchy was assembling itself neatly in real time, the powerful at the front of the line, the weaker at the back, though Sogou Ayaka and the Takao sisters were all conspicuously absent. But Asagi had deliberately come all the way to the back of the line to talk to the weaker students.

  “See how all the strong ones are gathered up front? Pain in the ass, most of them. But sooner or later we’re gonna form real groups with real consequences, Pidgey.”

  Asagi grinned unconvincingly—her eyes were fixed on Kobato.

  “When that time comes…you’re with us, right? On our side.”

  “Wh-what…?”

  “War’s a numbers game, Kobato-chan~! Heh, but I guess a bird-brain like you wouldn’t get that! Lucky for you, nobody cares what’s in your head when you’ve got breasts like these, right, Pidgey?”

  “S-stop…!”

  Asagi reached out and started touching them. Kobato flinched away—she’d been uncomfortable with her breasts ever since they started getting bigger in middle school.

  “Ah…”

  Asagi drew her in even closer.

  “Listen, I’m a B-Class hero inviting some D-Class loser along for the ride. A smart girl would jump at the chance, if you ask me. Or what, you think Kirihara’s gonna take you? No way! He doesn’t want some clumsy D-Class slowing him down.”

  “I-I don’t want to pick sides…” Kobato protested.

  Although…maybe if Sogou-san had a group…

  Kobato couldn’t help but respect and admire Sogou Ayaka. She was rich, intelligent, beautiful, athletic, sophisticated, strong, kind, and…

  “Ayaka’s totally gonna die.”

  “Huh…?”

  It was like Asagi had read her mind. Kobato’s heart raced.

  “S-Sogou-san’s going to die? Wh-what do mean?”

  “You still don’t get it? You saw that dummy go up against the Goddess, didn’t you? She won’t last a week! The rich girl is all bravery, high ideals and recklessness… That princess doesn’t even know the difference between being brave and being stupid. Get it, Kobato?”

  Kobato cleared her throat.

  I don’t care what you say, Sogou-san’s amazing…

  She swallowed, and those words went down with her.

  “You’ve gotta understand the position you’re in, too, Kobato-chan! After we beat this Demon King or whatever and go back to the real world…” She tapped Kobato’s shoulders to emphasize her point. “Maybe we just won’t, like, have a place for you anymore! Think about that, Pidgey~!”

  “…”

  “Answer me!”

  Asagi gripped under Kobato’s breasts and bounced them up and down twice.

  “Kyaa!”

  Kobato blushed bright red and quickly folded her arms over her chest. Asagi glanced knowingly at the boys around them.

  “You’re a D-Class hero, but you’ve got your own assets to use against the boys, huh? I know you’ll step up and use them when we need you to. Let’s do this, Pidgey-chan!”

  Kobato looked down at her feet again.

  I can’t believe she’d be so cruel…

  There was a sudden commotion at the front of the line.

  “Honorable heroes, run for your lives!” One of the hooded figures dashed through the line of students, red-faced and panting.

  “What is the meaning of this?” the Goddess demanded.

  “My apologies, Goddess! While we were preparing the monsters, a foolish soldier let a proto-dragon loose in the castle!”

  With a screech, a creature flew around the corner—it looked just like a small dragon.

  A monster…! Kobato recoiled in fear.

  “Goddess, this creature is too much for us to handle! P-please, have mercy—!” pleaded the hooded figure.

  “Move.”

  Kirihara Takuto stepped forward and raised his hand.

  “Dragonic Buster!”

  A gleaming gold light shot from Kirihara’s hand and turned the small dragon to ash.

  Explosive aftershocks followed the blast for several seconds, then part of the ceiling collapsed.

  “Hunh. I guess it gets faster and more powerful at level 2,” Kirihara said disinterestedly. The rest of the class stood frozen for a moment, then broke out into rapturous applause.

  “Takuto!! Dude, that was so cool!”

  “Of course it was cool! It’s Kirihara-kun!”

  “They don’t call you an S-Class for nothing, huh?!”

  “So awesome!”

  “Kirihara-kun, you’re so cool!”

  “I’m, like, totally falling in love…”

  Kirihara cracked his neck to one side.

  “It went down in one hit…? That monster was nothing. What’re you all getting so worked up for? All I did was use my skill thing—hm?”

  Kirihara opened his stat screen.

  “It says I leveled up. Level 10…?”

  “Wh-what?!” The hooded figure’s mouth hung open as he looked to the Goddess in disbelief. “Goddess, this is…!”

  “Yes, Kirihara-san truly has the makings of an incredible hero. I look forward to seeing him develop,” the Goddess said with surprise and admiration.

  “So, I don’t really care, but I guess that’s good or something?” Kirihara asked vaguely.

  “It’s phenomenal!” the hooded figure cried. “To think that you would grow so fast…! No hero has ever leveled into double digits in a single day before! I’ve heard that level 8 was the highest ever attained—and that was by…”

  “The Hero of Darkness,” the Goddess interjected. “That is correct.” She glanced over at Yasu, who had turned up his nose, looking satisfied. Stats, she’d explained, could only be seen by the hero himself, the Goddess, and those she granted special permission.

  The Goddess threw her hands wide in a sweeping gesture.

  “These summoning results are truly marvellous! I believe that the Demon King and his cohorts are the most formidable they’ve been in thousands of years, but they’re in for the battle of their lives, I’m certain of it!”

  The Goddess turned back.

  “Let us proceed!”

  “Where are you taking us, anyway?” Oyamada asked.

  “Ah ha~! Well, based on your reaction to that dragon, I believe our first order of business is getting you used to killing things~!” She laughed cheerfully.

  Get used to killing things…?

  “For heroes raised in a peaceful environment, that can be quite the hurdle. For some it’s difficult to bear—taking a living thing’s life can be a bit of a shock! For some of you, this will be your first true obstacle,” she
said, smiling benevolently. “However, you must overcome it! Unless you would like to end up like our poor friend Mimori-san? As much as it would grieve me to send any of you away…”

  Is she saying…anyone who fails will be disposed of? I can’t do it…I’m too scared.

  Kobato could already feel tears welling up.

  What’s going to happen to us…?

  Mimori Touka

  I SAT CROSS-LEGGED on a rock and gnawed a single piece of beef jerky for breakfast.

  Sickly, sleeping lizardmen lay bubbling all around me. Behind them, the lizard mount corpses piled up, and to either side, the two zombie dragons lay in heaps, oozing and moaning.

  Cries of suffering filled the air. And I was the one who had created all this suffering…who’d committed all these murders. All along, I’d had this inside me—the ability to kill. I narrowed my eyes at the groaning monsters and looked down at them all with contempt.

  For a moment, as my eyes passed over the two rotting dragons, their faces looked familiar.

  That day, as usual, they’d kicked me as I lay balled up on the floor. It was after dinner, I think. My mother tended to buy too much at the supermarket, which caused fights between my parents—but those leftovers were usually the only thing I had to eat.

  “The kid’s gotten tough! Ugh, it’s no fun if you aren’t crying!”

  “Don’t kill him, okay? People might make a fuss about it.”

  “Shut up! If he dies, he dies! We’ll say it was an accident–just play dumb until they give up! And hey, don’t we get a bunch of money if the brat croaks?!”

  “Darling, let me kick him, too! Take that! Does it hurt? Does it?! We go through hell every day at work, stress—every—single—day! And that makes us better than you, stupid kid! Take that! You got something to say, Too-ka?! Die! Die! Die!”

  “I’m getting another drink. Do it! Just kill him! It’ll be a relief to be rid of him!”

  “Take that—huh? Ugh, neighbors are complaining about the noise again. Idiots!”

  “Hey! I don’t want them calling them child services again!”

  “Y-yeah…okay, okay, we’ll keep it down! Sorry! Our son’s such a little troublemaker, I know~!”

  Someday, I will murder you.