Na! ②
The Witch and I stared dumbfounded at the mauve knife lying on the table.
It was, how should I put it, an ungainly knife. You could even call it incomplete.
The handle and sword guard were rounded, seemingly enveloped in a marbled mauve color.
The grip was small, and the blade was straight with a rounded tip.
It felt like it hadn’t quite managed to become a proper knife.
“Well, well, this is a knife, isn’t it.”
“It’s a knife even though it’s [Swordsmanship]?”
“Hmm, hmm. Perhaps it’s because its body is small, you know. This might be the best it can do with its current body. By the way, Wof boy. What is this creature, hmm?”
“I don’t know.”
I gave a vague smile. I really didn’t know.
“Ho ho. Hoh. I’ve never seen anything like it, you know. Even Kon, who has seen quite a few Monsters, has no idea what this Monster is.”
“You’ve never seen it before?”
“Nope, nope. Never.”
“Na?”
The knife squirmed and returned to its original creature form.
S-So that’s how it changes back.
“Hoh hoh. Well, well, aren’t you cute again.”
The Witch boldly touched it without hesitation and picked it up.
“Na!”
It didn’t resist, pressing its face against the Witch’s chest, looking comfortable. What a creature.
It blinked its almond-shaped red eyes, nuzzled its arms and face against her, and playfully snuggled into the Witch’s bosom.
“There, there, calm down now, you know.”
“Na? Naa-na-naa?”
“Yes, yes. Good, good. There, there.”
“Na!”
The Witch gently soothed it.
“Witch, you’re quite used to this.”
“Yes, yes. I’ve held babies like this before, you know.”
“Na?”
“Now, now, don’t move, don’t move. That’s right. Be quiet, good child.”
The Witch smiled and spoke in a sweet, soft voice.
When she offered her index finger, it carefully touched and stroked the finger with its claws and laughed.
“Na!”
“Fufu, fufu, that tickles, doesn’t it.”
“Na?”
“Yes, yes. Good, good, good, good, there, there.”
The Witch skillfully and gently rocked it slightly, cradling it carefully in her arms and hands, supporting it against her chest.
Then, it yawned, grew drowsy, and fell asleep using the Witch’s chest as a pillow.
The Witch chuckled softly and sat down on the sofa, still holding it.
“…You’re good at that.”
“Fufu, fufu, this child is so quiet, you know. Just like a real baby.”
“Ah… well, probably. For the most part… I don’t think that’s wrong. Probably.”
“Ho ho. Would you tell me about it?”
I told the Witch about the aftermath of my return to the Junkyard and how I dealt with what I found there.
“My, my, how astounding. Even Kon would hesitate to treat an Elixir like that, you know.”
“Sorry. I just…”
“Well, well, Kon will keep this tucked away in her heart, you know.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Fufu, fufu, it’s our little secret, isn’t it.”
“We have quite a few of those.”
It’s more like we’re full of secrets.
“Oh my, oh my, so we do. Still, hmm, hmm. An unexpected purple light. To think there was something like that beneath the Junkyard. And a Monster remaining in its base form is also strange, you know.”
“I wonder if you can even call that place a Junkyard anymore.”
“And, and, the Whitish-Purple Mass you found there…”
“Does it ring any bells?”
“Mmm, mmm. Nope. Kon doesn’t know either, you know. However, let’s see. I do think it’s Legendary, though.”
“So it comes to that, huh.”
“Yes, yes. Most suspicious things tend to be Legendary, after all.”
“That’s certainly true…”
Well, I had vaguely suspected as much.
If it was Legendary, though, it didn’t register on the [Wheel of Fortune].
A biological Legendary… does such a thing even exist?
“Ah, ah, speaking of the Junkyard, Wof boy. Do you know this story? The Hydrangea Dungeon has existed since long before the town was built, said to be thousands of years old, you know.”
“It’s been around that long?”
“Na? Na…”
“Oh my, oh my, have you woken up?”
As I asked, it opened its eyes in the Witch’s arms and stretched slightly.
The Witch gently stroked its head, and it closed its eyes again. After she adjusted her hold slightly, it fell back into a peaceful sleep.
“…It fell asleep again.”
“Yes, yes. Good child. Right, right. It’s certain that it existed before Hydrangea was built, you know. What’s strange then, is that the Junkyard should have been completely filled up long ago. The history of Seekers is also quite old, you see.”
“Now that you mention it…”
“But, but, it isn’t filled up, you know. So, one could assume there’s a system preventing it from filling up with junk. Either some of the junk disappears when it reaches a certain amount, or perhaps it’s transported somewhere else. It is interesting, you know.”
Some junk disappears so the Junkyard doesn’t fill up.
If it’s being collected somewhere else…
That would mean there’s a secret Junkyard somewhere in the Dungeon.
“Yes! I’m interested!”
Maybe if I had gone deeper back then, I could have reached it.
No, I don’t know. But… I’m getting excited. A secret Junkyard, huh.
But it’s still the Dungeon. Right now, I can’t enter without a Seeker.
“Hmm, hmm. However, Juicy=Tasan. Rell’s younger sister, you know.”
“Right, right. Rell-san’s sister is a doggy— wait, what did you just say?”
“Hm? Hm? Rell’s younger sister, you know. As he would put it, his 14th younger sister.”
“Fourteenth?! Eh! I heard she had a quiet personality!”
If that was quiet, then all of humanity is a silent night carnival!
“Hey, hey, don’t raise your voice, you know. You’ll wake this little one.”
“S-Sorry. She was Rell-san’s sister?”
So Rell-san was from the Marquis Tasan Family? That somehow makes sense.
By the way, I didn’t mention Fenrir. That’s not my secret to tell.
Even for my master, the Witch, I can’t reveal someone else’s secret. Sorry.
“…………”
Still, the Witch… looking at her like this, she seems just like a mother.
Come to think of it, in my past life memories, I saw my mother holding my baby brother like this in the living room.
She was holding my younger brother. I was making small talk, and my mother was smiling.
My mother in this life died when I was little, so I don’t really have memories like that.
“Hmm, hmm. Still, a purple light, hmm.”
“Nothing like that has ever happened before. Do you know anything, Witch?”
“Let’s see, let’s see. Rarely, Relics can grow, you know.”
“Grow? Actually, my [Danger Detection] has been a little strange too. Normally it appears as a single color, but sometimes I see it as reddish-black or whitish-red.”
“Ho ho. Ho ho. How does it look now, hmm? Try looking at Kon, you know.”
“Okay.”
I used the Relic [Danger Detection] on the Witch.
White. Ah, there’s a little red and black.
“How, how is it, Wof boy? How does Kon look?”
“Mostly white. There’s just a little bit of red and black.”
“Hmm, hmm. I see, I see.”
The creature seemed to have shifted slightly. The Witch slowly readjusted her hold, stroked it, and nodded.
She really is used to this.
“Did you figure something out?”
“Perhaps, perhaps, you know. Wof boy’s Relic [Danger Detection] might not only be seeing the degree of danger, but also the opponent’s emotions.”
“Emotions?”
“Yes, yes. It’s just speculation, mind you. Instantly sensing the opponent’s strength as a danger level. Separate from that, it might be perceiving their emotions, you know.”
Seeing emotions. Doesn’t that basically mean affinity levels?
“Naa~…?”
“There, there. Good, good. Sorry about that. Seems we woke you up, you know.”
“Na…”
As the Witch gently soothed it, it grew drowsy and fell asleep again.
“S-Sorry.”
“Fufu, fufu, they really are cute like this, aren’t they.”
“…Is it really a Monster?”
“Well, well, at the very least, it’s not a bad child, you know.”
“That’s true.”
“Ah, ah, right, right. About the investigation of That Forest. I finally got a reply from that old geezer Abramelin, you know.”
“Has it been decided?”
“Yes, yes. Permission finally came down for Kon to proceed freely. However, I need to go to the Seeker Guild once, you know.”
“The Seeker Guild?”
“Oh my. Come to think of it, was this your first time at the Seeker Guild, Wof boy?”
“No, I visited once when returning from the Dungeon anomaly subjugation.”
“I see, I see. The Dungeon anomaly… come to think of it, I never asked, did I? That Forest. How did you liberate it, hmm? Since we have the chance, may I hear about it?”
“—That… is… Okay. I’ll tell you.”
I recounted everything that had happened from beginning to end.
“Hmm, hmm. That Black Knight might have been a Phantom Lord, you know.”
“Phantom Lord?”
The Witch carefully adjusted her hold on the creature. It occasionally stretched out its five claws and let out small breaths.
“Most likely, most likely. Though technically it would be a Phantom Knight. So, as expected, That Forest was indeed a Dungeon anomaly.”
“…I see.”
It felt like an ‘as expected’ moment, yet somehow… I couldn’t quite put my finger on the feeling.
“And, and, about that village you said was in That Forest. There’s actually some information about that village, you know.”
“There is?”
“Of course, of course. And that village, you see. Well, well, it was actually a village of heretics, you know.”
“H-Heretics…?!”
I gasped at the unexpected words.
I had sensed that some tragic event had occurred in that village. That’s why I assumed they were victims.
But a village of heretics—they were the perpetrators? The Witch continued.
“Well, well, that’s quite an old village, isn’t it. The evil god they worshipped doesn’t even have a name left, you see. By the way, by the way. There was something that caught my attention regarding the story of That Forest… is it true the village was quite small?”
“Yes. There were only a few houses and a church.”
Right. Too small to be called a village.
“Hmm, hmm. That’s strange, you see. It’s quite different from what’s in the records, indeed. The records stated it was large enough for over 100 people to live there, you know.”
“Records… they exist?”
“Mmm, mmm. Yes, they do. Subjugation records, however. That village of heretics, or rather, that heretical group, was destroyed by a joint force of Seekers and knights of the time, you see.”
“……It was that large-scale?”
“Yes, yes. It’s said that heretical cult manipulated the Undead and organized an army of the dead, you know.”
“…An army of the Undead.”
I remember that. A horde of Skeletons.
It truly was an army.
“It was a very, very large-scale operation with many casualties, but the subjugation of the heretics succeeded nonetheless, indeed.”
“But That Forest…”
“That’s right, that’s right. Until Wof boy liberated it, it remained an anomaly in the Dungeon known as That Forest, you see.”
What’s this about? Another investigation there?
Since I liberated it, there shouldn’t be anything left, right?
“…I’m worried.”
“Well, well, it’s still closed off now, but some unscrupulous people have gone in and come back out, you know. If there’s nothing there, then all the better, indeed.”
“You’re right. Um, Witch. Changing the subject, actually, yesterday…”
I told her about the trouble with Pies and the others, and how it ended.
“Honestly, honestly, Koon Hunt are just hopeless, aren’t they. Kon has heard about yesterday’s commotion too, you know. In fact, we could see the unnatural black clouds and lightning even from here, you see. Still, I never expected there to be a Faun using Amaltheia, hmm.”
“About that Amaltheia, I heard it’s a Legendary item that’s easy to obtain. Is that true?”
“Oh yes, that’s quite true, indeed. Are you familiar with Magic Horn Shards?”
“Yes. I also heard about what Amaltheia is.”
“I see, I see. If you ask Kon, both are poisons to Fauns, you see. Amaltheia, in particular, is a lethal poison, indeed.”
“A poison?”
“That’s right, that’s right. In the first place, you see. Both Magic Horn Shards and Amaltheia are prohibited from possession and use, you know. They’re designated as forbidden items, indeed.”
“Is that so? I had no idea…”
Forbidden items. Narcotics, stimulants, and opium exist in this world too.
There are many drugs even more dangerous than those.
The most dangerous are the Legacy and Legendary items that act like them.
Legacy items that send you to heaven with a single use. Legendary items from which you can never return.
Those are called forbidden items.
“Well, well, those two only affect Fauns, you see. Any Faun should know about them, though. Wof boy, you know how forbidden items are handled, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Upon discovery, forbidden items must be reported to the nearest guard station or the Seeker Guild.
Even if possession isn’t intentional, if it’s discovered, you’ll be arrested. In the worst case, executed on the spot.
It seems cruel, but there’s a reason: unintentional possession is considered impossible.
Because forbidden items are, without exception, Legacy or Legendary.
The moment you see or hold them, their effects are displayed as text in your mind.
Even if you didn’t know, you can know.
“Meaning, meaning… Oops, there, there now.”
The way she was holding the creature shifted again, and it looked like it might wake up, so the Witch carefully readjusted it and lulled it back to sleep.
The Witch is quite used to handling it.
“Meaning, meaning, that Faun boy knew Amaltheia was a forbidden item when he obtained it, kept it hidden, and then used it, you see.”
“…Why would he do something like that?”
“Oh my, that question is a very simple one, you see. Wof boy. He, you know… he wanted to obtain infinite power, indeed. Because if one obtains infinite power, one can defeat anyone, you see.”
The Witch said this with an affectionate gaze.
“But you can’t control infinity.”
“Mm-hmm. It’s a power too great for a mortal body, you see. That’s why using it inevitably leads to death, indeed.”
A deadly poison called infinity, huh.
Even if it was all his own fault—I somehow felt sorry for him.
“By the way, by the way, changing the subject… Wof boy.”
“Yes?”
“Say, say, does this dear little one have a name?”
“Eh… no, it doesn’t.”
I hadn’t even thought about it. The Witch gave a wry smile.
“Hey, hey, that won’t do, you know. Wof boy. If you’re the parent, you have to decide properly, indeed.”
“P-Parent?”
“Hey, hey, of course. No matter how you look at it, given the circumstances, Wof boy is the parent, you see.”
“W-Well, that’s true, but…”
I had a vague feeling, but am I really going to raise it?
Well, I don’t really mind that part. I have an illegal squatter (Mineha) living in my house, so I’m used to cohabitation.
Besides… well, never mind.
“Come now, come now, give it a wonderful name, won’t you?”
“A name…”
Hmm. It certainly is inconvenient without a name. Let’s see.
Based on its appearance… hmm. Purple? No, that doesn’t feel right.
White-Purple? Whitepurple? Dawnpurple? Ugh. Wrong. Something’s off.
Ah, right. It makes a “Na” sound, and it can become a Knife, so Knife.
Knife it is!
No, wait, that’s a bit confusing… but along these lines… Ah, this is it!
“Dagaa.”
Not Dagger, but Dagaa.
“Ho ho. Hmm hmm. Dagaa. Yes, yes. Dagaa. What a wonderful name that is!”
The Witch smiled. Then she softly repeated the name, “Dagaa,” savoring it with another smile.
She seems to like it.
“…Na?”
“Oh, oh, there, there. Your name is Dagaa, you see.”
“…Na~~ Na… Na?”
Getting drowsy again, Dagaa snuggled into the Witch’s chest and fell asleep. It must feel good there.
Still…
“Witch, you’re just like Dagaa’s mother.”
“Eh? Eh? Wh-Wh-What are you saying?!”
The Witch’s cheeks turned red, and her large Fox Ears spread wide to the sides.
Yet she didn’t raise her voice, likely out of consideration for Dagaa. She’s so kind.
“Ah, sorry. That just slipped out because I thought it.”
“Honestly, honestly, that was so sudden, it startled me, honestly!”
The Witch seems rather embarrassed.
“But I think you’d make a good mother. You’re good at soothing, aren’t you?”
“Well, well, this much is nothing, you know. Wof boy. Judging based on just that is hasty, you see. A good mother. No, no. Mothers who raise the world’s children are truly sages, you know. Kon right now doesn’t even come close to their level, indeed.”
She looked at Dagaa with a faint, wry smile.
But I really think the Witch would make a good mother.
When Dova-san became a Maid, I rudely thought things like marriage were impossible for the Witch, that she lacked the concept of romance, but I take it back.
The Witch is a fine woman too.
“Na~ Nanaa Nana Na— Na~ Na? Na!”
Even its yawn sounds like “Na”. Dagaa stretched wide and woke up.
It looked at the Witch and gave her cheek a little lick.
“Hee hee, hee hee, did you sleep well?”
“Na!”
“Dagaa.”
I called its name.
“Na?”
Dagaa tilted its little head, its four ears twitching slightly.
“Dagaa. That’s your name.”
“Mm-hmm. Dagaa. It’s a truly wonderful name, isn’t it!”
“Na!? Na!!”
It seems to like it. It flew off the Witch and spun around on the table.
Like a dance of joy. The Witch and I laughed.
Nice to meet you, Dagaa.