So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 7

by Okina Baba

  Whaaaat?!

  “So what do we do?”

  “Well, skills and stats are essentially a simplified method to expend energy and create magical effects using the support of the system. If she can learn to use magic without that support, she will be able to manifest power just as strong—no, judging by the amount of energy, even stronger than before.”

  Excuse me, Professor! I’m almost certain I can’t do that!

  “A god is essentially a being who has full control over magic. Since White has used the power of the system to become a god through irregular means, it will likely take considerable time for her to learn to use magic effectively on her own.”

  Yeah, I figured.

  It doesn’t exactly sound like the kinda thing I can pick up overnight.

  Basically, I’ve been zipping around on a bike with training wheels this whole time.

  But now, it’s like I’ve suddenly been plopped onto an oversize motorcycle.

  That’s a really basic analogy, but you get the idea. No way I can start riding that easily.

  I didn’t even get to take the training wheels off the bike first. I just jumped up several degrees of difficulty.

  The specs of my vehicle have greatly improved, but if the rider doesn’t know how to ride it properly, she’s not gonna be able to get around.

  In the same way, my specs are now higher than ever, but I have no way of putting them to use.

  “I see…”

  Crap. Am I basically just a burden now or what?

  In fact, if I’m the same as an ordinary person without stats, that means I’ve got no Immortality and no egg revival, so I’m basically just an NPC who can get killed with a single blow!

  If the Demon Lord feels like it, she could kill me whenever she wants!

  “Well, it’s not like she can change back now. We’ll just have to look out for White until she gets her strength back.”

  The Demon Lord doesn’t even consider killing or abandoning me. Not even for a second.

  Seriously, are you a demon lord or a saint?

  Ughhh, fine.

  If you’re gonna be this nice to me, I have no choice but to give in already!

  No matter how hard I try, I just can’t think of this person as an enemy anymore.

  But I guess I already knew that.

  It hit me the moment she protected me in the UFO.

  I tried making excuses to myself about why I protected her in return, like how I was paying her back or whatever, but really there was only one thought in my head at the time.

  I don’t want the Demon Lord to die. That’s it.

  I guess somewhere along the line, the Demon Lord won me over with her kindness.

  And it looks like she isn’t even thinking about trying to kill me anymore, either.

  In that case, there’s no point being stubborn about it at this point.

  So, on that note, please look after me until I learn to do magic on my own!

  Thus, having received a power-up that instead made me super-weak, I resolve to leech off the Demon Lord for a while.

  THE ETERNAL CHILD’S SOLILOQUY

  My monitor displays the girl in white.

  For some reason, the head that belonged to the body destroyed in that incident is still intact, being carried around by Ariel. My consciousness has already left it, but it can still record video perfectly well.

  I’ve been using it to monitor their movements, and now it appears the white one has awoken.

  Not only that, but she’s become a god.

  How very vexing.

  I have strived to become a god myself for so long and have yet to attain that status, yet this girl comes from nowhere and achieves it just like that?

  I should have made sure I killed her back there, no matter the cost.

  “L-Lord Potimas?”

  One of the expendables calls my name in a quavering voice.

  “What is it?”

  “I—I thought you might wish to place the blame for this operation’s failure on Auries.”

  Failure?

  Ah, this expendable is assuming I’m in a bad mood because the operation failed.

  And he is contriving to place the blame on another expendable to protect himself.

  How pathetic.

  His premise is wrong from the very beginning.

  “This operation was not a failure.”

  “Pardon?”

  Honestly. Do I really need to explain every little thing for these people to understand?

  “The goal of this operation was to silence the G-Fleet and deactivate the GMA bomb. We succeeded on both these points. Therefore, the operation was a success, not a failure.”

  The bare-minimum goals that absolutely needed to be accomplished were met.

  I simply wasn’t able to accomplish my secondary goals, but the operation itself was still a success.

  It’s not the ideal situation, but it’s still a positive outcome.

  Yes, the Gloria type-Bs I sent were all destroyed and my body was severely damaged.

  Almost all my forces were destroyed, and I have nothing to show for it.

  I can understand why an expendable would deem this a failure.

  However, I have no shortage of Gloria Bs.

  Since my body was equipped with an anti-magic barrier, I’ve incurred a considerable cost, but I can simply make another.

  A trivial expenditure, all in all.

  Indeed, that was only a small fraction of the military strength I have in reserve.

  If I wished to do so, I could easily bring down a G-Fleet with my forces alone.

  A relic of a bygone era poses no threat to me.

  Even if the GMA bomb did explode, we elves would not be injured in the slightest.

  If anything, it might be more convenient for us if that was to occur.

  Which is why I sent only a small force.

  I thought I had calculated just enough to pull off a narrow victory, but considering that none of Ariel’s kin was harmed, perhaps I should have sent a trifle less.

  Still, at least I was able to put a severe dent in Dustin’s forces.

  However, I simply must kill that white creature.

  In the most gruesome way I can imagine, just as I promised.

  “There is no need for anyone to take the blame. Instead, please prepare the troops.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Chase Ariel down. And kill her.”

  “Of course, sir!”

  Then an excellent idea strikes me.

  I call out to the expendable who is scurrying off to carry out my orders.

  “Ah, one more thing. Bring Oka with you.”

  “What? Lady Oka?”

  “Yes.”

  Oka.

  The reincarnation who was born as my daughter.

  The foolish girl who was the reincarnations’ teacher in their previous world.

  “I shall speak to her about it later. Make arrangements for enough forces to protect her.”

  “Y-yes, sir!”

  I watch as the expendable scurries away.

  Now, how will I talk Oka into this?

  Having the reincarnations kill one another…

  Now that would be delightful.

  I do not know how close White was with Oka, but it would surely cause them both distress.

  “Hmm. It would be a shame not to witness this in person.”

  Perhaps I should go along in case of any extenuating circumstances.

  A smile rises unbidden to my lips.

  I feel my mood improving for the first time in quite a long while.

  Just imagining White suffering in anguish is enough to relieve my frustration.

  “Just you wait. I shall stage the greatest death imaginable for you.”

  AFTERWORD

  Hello, I’m Okina Baba.

  In the blink of an eye, this series has already reached Volume 7.

  Lucky number seven!

  And seven brings to mind everyone’s belov
ed catfish.

  You might not remember, since it was way back in Volume 2, but the catfish monsters’ official name was the Elroe guneseven.

  They might not ever make a reappearance in the novels, but they’re a major player in the manga Volume 3, so make sure you check it out!

  Anyway, now that I’ve managed to work in a manga plug, let’s talk about Volume 7.

  Since Volume 6 had way less action than any of the volumes before it, this volume makes up for it by being almost entirely action.

  Really, I don’t think I’ve ever written a volume that was full of so many battles from start to finish.

  Not to mention, the opponent was unlike anything we’ve seen before.

  And on top of that, even though they spent the whole volume fighting, less time passed than almost any other volume.

  It’s like, a certain amount of time passes between Volume 1 and Volume 6, but this one focuses on a single incident, so it’s basically all within the span of one day.

  Just like an episode of 24.

  As for other changes, the notes about the reincarnations in the table of contents have changed from Shun’s list to Ms. Oka’s.

  It contains different information from Shun’s list, too.

  So did you notice anything?

  The location of Mirei Shinohara’s name is different in this list from the old one!

  Both lists are in Japanese alphabetical (A-I-U-E-O) order, yet Shinohara’s in two different places.

  To tell you the truth, that may or may not have been a mistake on my part.

  See, originally, her name was going to be read “Mirei Urushibara.”

  But when I was adding the name meanings, I changed it to Mirei Shinohara and then didn’t notice.

  It slipped through proofreading, so it wound up that her name just changes somewhere along the way.

  Thus, because of a fairly minor mistake, her name changed from Urushibara to Shinohara.

  Still, I think Mirei Shinohara sounds better than Mirei Urushibara anyway, so I decided to just keep it that way instead of correcting it.

  Which is why Shun’s list still contains that mistake.

  In the web version, she’s like a barely mentioned nameless background character anyway, but in the novel version, she’s become a regular part of the S story, so I’m sure you can forgive me.

  What? You can’t?

  Come on—give me a break here.

  Anyway, it’s the masterful Kiryu’s amazing illustrations that let me get away with stupid mistakes like that.

  I cruelly requested covers without any human characters for the first three volumes, and even now none of them is actually a human, but Kiryu’s art makes it all work!

  So I’ve been recklessly putting faith in that, and even in this volume, I keep making impossible requests like the devil I am.

  Just look at how many machines are in this volume’s illustrations!

  Look upon this cruel author who asked Kiryu, an expert on drawing monsters, to draw a bunch of mecha instead!

  Really, Kiryu, thank you so much.

  Speaking of which, let me say my thanks here.

  Starting with Kiryu, of course, for drawing those mecha I so heartlessly requested. Thank you again.

  Thank you to Kakashi, who draws the sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious, always amazing manga adaptation.

  Volume 3 of the manga even includes a bonus manga about the aforementioned Mirei Shinohara, so be sure to take a look.

  Thank you to my editor Mr. K and everyone else who helped bring this book into the world.

  And to everyone out there who picked up this volume.

  Thank you very much.

  Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Yen On.

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