Episode 7: The Jobber Jailer, Escapes in Seconds?
A few days later.
While I was chatting with Katiana and my senior in the dungeon, the upper floors suddenly became noisy.
“What’s going on? It’s so loud.”
“…Well, it’s probably an enemy attack, I guess.”
“!? Aren’t you supposed to go help!?”
“Well, you know, me and my senior are jailers. The soldiers will handle it, I’m sure.”
However, there’s no guarantee the enemy won’t come to the dungeon.
So, while staying minimally alert, I immersed myself in my work.
What am I doing, you ask?
I’m crafting a weapon for combat using certain materials and wood.
But it’s difficult.
“Ah!? It broke again…”
“…What have you been doing this whole time?”
“I’m making a slingshot.”
It’s not because Lucifiel told me to, but it’s a precaution for when the heroines escape.
I probably won’t win in a fight, but it should be useful when I’m in a situation where I’d die without resistance.
However, processing the slingshot is difficult.
Or rather, it seems there’s a problem with durability when trying to make it out of wood, and it breaks.
“…What is that stretchy thing?”
“Dried slime. I thought it could be used as a substitute for rubber.”
“Rubber? What is that?”
Slime is a versatile material.
It’s good to eat, good as a potion ingredient, and good as a substitute for rubber.
…Well, I’m the only one who says the last part.
When I saw this, it hit me! I thought I could make a weapon like a slingshot!! And that’s how I got to where I am now.
While chatting with Katiana and making the slingshot, that’s when it happened.
“Hey, jailer!! Put the captured intruder in a cell!!”
A soldier guarding the castle yelled, shoving a girl wrapped in rope towards me.
I caught the girl and was taken aback.
At first glance, she’s a cute girl with shoulder-length, neatly cut sky-blue hair and sleepy, listless eyes of deep blue.
I recognize this girl.
She’s a girl who loves crafting like a dwarf, despite being an elf.
Her name is Eret.
She’s a particularly unique heroine among the heroines in “PuriHiiro.”
“Honestly, what rude soldiers. The Demonkin should learn how to treat a lady.”
“…Ah, should I escort you to your cell?”
“Hmm, you seem promising. I am Eret, a humble elven artisan. What is your name?”
“I’m Lugasussu.”
“Lugasussu-kun, is it?”
“Ah, no, my name is Lugas…”
“Lugas…? You have a strange name. Well, I think it’s unique.”
“…Well, whatever.”
I put Eret in the cell next to Katiana.
Then, Katiana blinked.
“Eh, Lady Eret!?”
“Oh, is that Katiana-something-chan? It’s been a while. I thought you were dead, but I see. You were captured too.”
“Y-yes, well… Also, I’m Katiana.”
“Katiana-desu? When did you change your name?”
“…No, it’s nothing…”
Katiana-desu couldn’t help but fall silent at Eret’s easygoing nature.
“But, why are you here?”
“Oh, I was just trying out a new Magic Item, but I ended up destroying one of the Allied Forces’ bases.”
“!?!”
“They told me to do my experiments in the Demon Lord’s Castle if I wanted to experiment so badly, so I came here. But when I destroyed part of the Demon Lord’s Castle, the Demon Lord came out. And I was easily captured.”
Ah, yeah.
I think that’s how Eret was as a heroine.
She was born without magical talent, but on the other hand, she had tremendous magical power.
Because of that, she was ridiculed by other elves as a waste of talent.
To get back at the elves, Eret became an apprentice to a dwarven craftsman and learned how to make Magic Items…
But eventually, she started enjoying the research itself and forgot about getting back at them, immersing herself in research.
She became known as a “Natural Disaster” in the Allied Forces.
The reason she attacked the Demon Lord’s Castle was that she thought it was a good place to experiment, which shows her rather mad side.
“Lugasussu-kun, what is that on the table? Are you making a crossbow? It’s quite compact.”
“Ah, no, this is called a slingshot. It’s a weapon that shoots small stones.”
“Oh, a weapon. Let me see it in detail.”
“Eh? Ah, but it’s not finished yet—”
“Just show it to me. No, never mind. I’ll look myself.”
Saying that, Eret took out a wire from somewhere and opened the cell door on her own.
!? Eh, she escaped in seconds!?
I froze, but Eret didn’t try to run away, as she seemed very interested in the unfinished slingshot on the table.
…I should probably replace the lock with something more sturdy.
“Hmm, I see. So, you’re using the stretchy properties of dried slime to launch objects. The mechanism is similar to a crossbow, but the power and speed of launching objects are increased by the stretching of the dried slime.”
Eret analyzed the slingshot in an instant.
This heroine, she escapes so easily, figures things out so easily, she’s amazing in person.
“You’re amazing.”
“Eh?”
“I never thought that dried slime could be used like this. This is interesting. It can be applied to various things. I’m good at creating 10 or 100 from 1, but I’m not good at creating 1 from 0. I sincerely respect you.”
“Ah, w-well, thanks. But, well, I didn’t come up with this myself.”
As soon as I said that, I realized.
I said it because I was embarrassed to be praised so openly, but I realized it was a slip of the tongue.
I have to raise the heroines’ favorability, or else I, the jobber, will be easily killed when they escape.
If I was told I was respected, I should have kept quiet and raised my favorability.
I frantically tried to come up with an excuse.
However, before I could say anything, Eret stared at me and said,
“Hmm. What’s wrong with that?”
“Eh?”
“Creators always steal from what others have made. That includes techniques and ideas. And it’s especially difficult to try to put someone else’s idea into shape. I still respect you for trying to do that.”
“H-huh…?”
“So, this is a gift from me. Please accept it.”
“Eh? Huh!?”
Saying that, Eret handed me a completed slingshot.
Did she make it while we were talking!?
“I sense potential in you. It’s a strange feeling, like you know a world I’ve never known. I’ll stay in this cell for a while.”
“Eh, ah, p-please do?”
“Ah, if there’s anything you want, tell me. If it’s something that interests me, I’ll make it for you if I have the materials.”
I don’t really understand, but it seems Eret’s favorability towards me is quite high.
Well, she did escape, but she went back to her cell on her own… No problem!!
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Afterword
A trivial side story
Author: “It’s exciting to think about a free-spirited girl like this getting into trouble.”
Lugas: “I understand.”
If you thought “Interesting,” “She escaped in seconds, lol,” or “Officer, this is the author,” please leave a comment, bookmark, star rating, or review.