To That Forest ⓪ – Silent Move.
On the way back after helping someone. Suddenly, I was hit with intense muscle pain.
It was so bad I couldn’t stand; my muscles were torn. I quickly used an Elixir.
“…What was that…?”
No, I do remember. It was probably [Silent Move].
The next day.
I began my investigation. Yes, it was [Silent Move].
The explanation that flowed into my head the first time I used it felt somewhat different.
“Still, you really are a strange one, aren’t you?”
“Am I?”
“Na!”
Mineha-san, sitting on my shoulder, shifted her slender, lightly clad bare legs.
Dagaa was in knife form, tucked into my belt. Truly whimsical.
“Living in a place like this despite not being a Seeker, Dagaa, Relics, and now an OOPArts that adapts to that Relic. A manufactured one, at that. If that’s not strange, then Rell’s sisters must be normal.”
“Na?”
Mineha-san sighed.
Hearing her say it, I had to admit she was right and gave a wry smile.
Mineha-san is still technically illegally occupying the Watchtower, but maybe it’s fine to just call her a freeloader now.
Partly because of the Dagaa incident, I’ve told her a fair bit about myself.
She already knew about [The Silent One]. So I told her about [Silent Move] too.
I also mentioned the Enchant on the Dagaa Knife.
As for my other Relics, I plan to tell her about 【Vanish】 at least, when the time is right.
Naturally, [Generous] and the [Elixir Sacred Egg] remain secrets.
What should I do about the [Wheel of Fortune]?
I can’t help but mock myself for being so full of troublesome secrets.
What is it? It reminds me of something from my past life.
If you become rich, money gathers around you. That’s because you have a lot of money.
Is it the same with secrets? If you hold secrets, do more secrets gather around you?
“So, what are you trying to do?”
“When it comes to precision, this is it.”
“Na!”
This is the room to the left of my dwelling. I use it as storage, and wooden boxes are stacked here.
It’s where I kept Dagaa for a while.
And on the table where Dagaa used to be, there’s a wooden bowl and a plate.
Inside the bowl are many beans of various sizes, washed and thoroughly drained.
And chopsticks. Chopsticks exist in this world too.
Among them, I prepared long cooking chopsticks. And an hourglass that measures about one minute.
Ten or five minutes is too long. I wanted a three-minute one, but there wasn’t any. So, one minute it is.
Mineha-san glared at me.
“I asked, what are you trying to do?”
“Huh? You don’t know?”
“Na?”
“I’m going to quickly move the beans from this bowl onto the plate using chopsticks.”
“Huh? With chopsticks?”
“And I’ll measure how many I can move in one minute.”
“Na!”
“Sounds kind of tedious. And frustrating.”
Mineha-san looks like she’d just flip the bowl over in a few seconds.
“I’ll do it using [Silent Move].”
“Hmm. Seems like I should get off your shoulder.”
“Yes. Please.”
Mineha-san, looking rather uninterested, flew off and landed on a wooden box.
“Dagaa. Come here.”
“Na!”
When Mineha-san called, Dagaa unsheathed itself, transformed, and went to her.
She sat down on the wooden box, and Dagaa settled in for her to lean against. A dedicated cushion, perhaps.
She’s gotten much better at handling him than I am. Who’s the owner here?
Mineha-san crossed her legs grandly, looking imposing. Like some kind of mafia woman.
“Alright, start.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I became [The Silent One], flipped the hourglass, and picked up the long chopsticks.
“[Silent Move].”
I activated [Silent Move] with the [Gauntlet of Still Saint].
There’s no need to chant it, but for some reason, I felt it was better to say this one out loud.
The action: Move the beans from the bowl to the plate with the long chopsticks.
As soon as I decided that, static filled my vision, and it wavered.
“Woff! Woff! Woff!!”
“Huh!?”
Mineha-san’s voice snapped me back to reality. All the beans in the bowl were gone.
A large pile of beans sat on the plate next to it.
They had all been moved.
The hourglass had run out.
“Don’t you dare ignore me!”
“No, I wasn’t ignoring— Ow…?”
The hand holding the chopsticks cramped painfully. My arm was twitching and numb.
“You were moving in a really creepy way. What is that [Silent Move]?”
“Creepy… I don’t remember anything.”
From the moment the static filled my vision until she called out to me, I remembered nothing.
The back of my neck was drenched in sweat. My arm and hand that held the chopsticks still hurt.
“That [Silent Move] is a Relic, isn’t it? An automatic-type Relic.”
“A Relic…?”
“I heard about it from my master before. OOPArts that adapt to Relics generally fall into two types. Type A enhances the power or effect of the Relic, like my spear. Type B allows you to use a limited but entirely new Relic, usable only when holding that specific OOPArts related to the adapted Relic. Yours is Type B.”
I see. Type B, huh.
“[Silent Move] is… an automatic-type Relic?”
“Yes, that’s right. Automatic types are Relics that perform a specific action when used. They call it [Auto-Move]. I’m not too familiar with them, but I believe they’re divided into those where you’re conscious during the action, and those where you’re unconscious. Yours is the latter.”
“Right… Was it really that creepy?”
Being called creepy is quite a shock. Mineha-san chuckled softly.
“How should I put it? Your jerky movements were just like a puppet’s. You ignored me no matter how many times I called, and I got so mad I almost hit you with a [Spiral].”
“Please don’t. I’d die.”
“How rude. I’d hold back just enough so you wouldn’t die.”
“That’s holding back?”
“What?”
“Na?”
Dagaa looked up at me, yawned, and turned away.
Completely uninterested, it seems.
“Woff. You. That [Silent Move]. It might be fine if you’re solo, but you should refrain from using it when you’re in a Party with someone.”
“You’re right. I think so too.”
No, I don’t even want to use it solo.
It’s difficult to find a use for it, even in everyday situations. My hand and arm are still twitching and hurting from holding the chopsticks.
That must be it. The muscle pain and tears from yesterday were probably because I moved in a really reckless way.
I’ll use an Elixir later.
Hm? Mineha-san has her hand on her chin, looking at me with a stern gaze. What is it?
“—Hey, you. I think you already know this, but how long do you plan on scavenging the Junkyard?”
“What do you mean?”
“Surely you’re not actually planning to wait until next year to become a Seeker, are you?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Why don’t you become a Seeker through special exemption?”
“…………”
“With your abilities, you could easily become a Seeker through special exemption.”
“Easily is a bit…”
“Doesn’t the Witch, your master, say anything about it?”
“She hasn’t said anything.”
“Hmm. And what about you?”
Me… what do I think?
About becoming a Seeker— The old me would probably have given a faint, wry smile and refused immediately.
But now… I take a small breath and open my mouth.
“I………… always thought it would be fine to become a Seeker when I turned fourteen. To me, being a Seeker is just an occupation, a job to survive. So I don’t have any particular dreams or goals like wanting to achieve something specific or become First Class.”
“Well, doing it to survive is common. I won’t deny that.”
“But having learned, experienced, and known various things, I now think that even if I’m not fourteen, I want to become a Seeker if I can.”
“Why did you start thinking that way?”
“The biggest motivation is ownership rights.”
“Ownership rights?”
“Only Seekers have ownership rights over things found in Dungeons. That.”
“Come to think of it, Dagaa was like that too. I put it under my name, but in your case, you seem likely to bring back one troublesome treasure after another.”
“Hahaha… I can’t deny that…”
“And the fact that you don’t talk about dreams or hopes. That’s very like you. So you haven’t told the Witch either, right?”
“No. This is the first time I’ve told anyone. Only you, Mineha-san.”
“Na!”
“Ah, and Dagaa too, right?”
He probably wasn’t listening anyway.
Mineha-san looked straight at me and said.
“In that case, you. Go to the Witch right now and tell her you want to become one.”
“I am going now, but…”
“Then go right away. And on your way back, make sure to buy meat. Lots of it.”
“Na!”
I wish she’d eat vegetables sometimes too. Well, I’ll buy it though.
I glanced at Dagaa.
“Dagaa. Aren’t you coming with me?”
“Na?”
He looked away. He’s not coming. I knew it.
I’ll have to test Dagaa’s Enchant eventually too.
I got ready and headed towards the Witch’s Forest.