Someone help! Hero, help!
"Hey, hey, wait, wait. It's me. Calm down, you two."
Help had arrived. The hero was here! Valent sighed deeply.
"You guys. Kid, don't go causing trouble."
"Mmm, mmm..."
"Waf..."
The two of them calmed down after Valent spoke to them.
"Look, suddenly shelling out a million is too heavy a burden for the kid."
"...Y-Yes. Being told all of a sudden, I... I'm sorry. I appreciate the sentiment, but..."
Heavy. A double dose of a million from two girls was heavy. Too heavy for a thirteen-year-old.
"Mmm. Well, I too am sorry. I owe you a debt of gratitude. I let my desire to repay it get the better of me and acted childishly."
"Waf, I too... um, I'm sorry. When I thought I could be of use to Master Wof, I got a bit too excited. I'm sorry."
The two of them bowed their heads. Ah, good. For a moment there I'd wondered what was going to happen.
Still, was Pakira still worried about it?
And why did Juicy want to be of use to me so badly?
The ring matter was already taken care of, so that wasn't it. Not that I had any use for one yet.
Then Valent stroked his chin-beard.
"...I can't budge on the million, but kid — are you a delver?"
"No. I'm only thirteen."
"Tassan's girl isn't one either."
"Um, that's right."
"Then Pakira, I have a commission for you."
"What did you say?"
A commission? Valent smiled knowingly.
"The condition is that you hire the kid and Tassan's girl as workers. The job is to bring back monoceros magic silver."
"Magic silver...?"
"Monoceros. Hmm. I see. Understood."
"Um um, what does that mean?"
Monoceros. A monster, right? Probably.
Magic silver. What was that again?
"The explanation will come later. What? You're one to talk, Valent."
"Shut up. Are you taking the job or not? Which is it?"
"Of course. I'll take it."
"Good. Then I'll send the commission form to the Guild later. Oh, I almost forgot — explain things to them while I go get it."
With that, Valent headed to the back.
"Um um, Pakira, what does this mean?"
"More importantly, Juicy — are you all right with this? Being the Tassan marquis's daughter and all, serving as a hireling and whatnot."
"Um um, that is... I'd need to talk to big sister Dova first... It'd be difficult."
Juicy drooped, ears and tail both hanging low.
"Juicy..."
I wondered if Sheshu was okay with it.
"Hmm. Then you should settle that with your side first. We can talk after that."
"Um um, um! Is that okay? I mean, well..."
Juicy still seemed bothered by how she'd acted toward Pakira earlier.
Pakira smiled.
"There's nothing to apologize for. You're my hireling."
"Wan! Yes! Um, please take care of me!"
Did that mean they were getting along now? Good, good.
Just then, Valent returned. He was carrying something long, wrapped in cloth.
"Sorry about the wait."
He set it on the counter and unwrapped the cloth. Inside was a short metallic torch.
The grip was white silver, and the rest was gold. The tip was shaped like a cup.
The cup had prongs — it looked like it could hold a gemstone or something.
That was when I realized it wasn't a torch, but a staff.
There was also a saber and a longsword. Oh wait — those were Sheshu's weapons.
Pakira took the short metal staff into her hands.
"Hmm. Perfectly restored."
Juicy held the saber and longsword.
"Um um, thank you so much! Sheshu will be happy too!"
"Jeez, I keep telling people I don't specialize in OOPArts. Pakira — I'm counting on you. The commission."
"I know. Well then, thanks for everything."
"Valent. Thank you."
I expressed my thanks. Valent smiled bashfully.
"See you around, kid."
"Yes!"
Next time I'd saved up a million, I'd definitely come back.
And so we headed to the villa in the central aristocratic district where the Tassan marquis's party was staying.
Dova, who came to greet us right away, was surprised to see me.
Pakira explained the situation.
After confirming Juicy's wishes, Dova agreed.
"Ah, sure. That's fine. Pakira — please take care of my little sister."
"Mm. I'll take responsibility for her with my life."
"Wof."
"Y-Yes."
"Please look after my little sister."
"Understood. I'll do my best too."
"Wan! Um um, Master Wof. Pakira — I'll be in your care!"
"Master Wof?"
"Well, that is..."
"Ah, sure. Well, that's fine. Juicy — you be careful too, all right?"
"Um um, big sister Dova — thank you, wan, for granting your permission! In the name of Tassan, I will absolutely complete this commission!"
"Ah, sure. As long as you come back safe and healthy, that's all I ask. I'll talk to Sheshu later. So, Pakira — when does the commission start?"
"Mm. As early as tomorrow, I'd say."
"Understood. Where should we meet?"
"Tomorrow morning. In front of the Delvers' Guild. Is that all right, you two?"
"Y-Yes."
"Um, wan. Um, understood. Tomorrow morning!"
Tomorrow morning. In front of the Delvers' Guild.
When the three of us headed for the door to leave, the two of them dragged me into a guest room.
What was going on? No sooner had we entered than Pakira crossed her arms and spoke.
"Well, Wof. You — you're hiding something, aren't you?"
"Um um, um, Master Wof smells like... wan... some other creature."
Ah — she could tell?
I pulled out the Dagaa knife and set it on the table. The two of them watched blankly.
"Na?"
"It's fine, Dagaa. Go back to normal."
"Na!"
The knife spun around and became Dagaa.
The two of them were stunned.
"Wh-What — this thing is alive!?"
"Um um, um, I'm surprised, wan! But it's so cute!"
"Na!"
"Its name is Dagaa."
"Oh — Dagaa, is it... So it's a monster?"
"Na!"
Dagaa took flight and dove straight into Juicy's chest.
"Huh!? Wan wan, it's all fluffy! It's so soft, right?"
Half in surprise, Juicy caught and petted it.
"..."
Dagaa. I couldn't help but feel like it had gone straight for Juicy's chest without hesitation.
Come to think of it, it had also latched onto Mineha when she got bigger.
This thing — could it possibly be into girls with big chests? I mean, I didn't even know its gender.
"It can turn into a knife. What a curious thing."
Pakira hadn't noticed. Or was it really about chest size?
I couldn't be sure. And since I couldn't be sure, this was good enough.
"It can become a knife because it's a Relic. It's called [Blade Conversion]."
"Oh. [Blade Conversion], you say. Hmm. I've heard of that before."
"Um um, um, Master Wof — what exactly happened to this little one?"
"I'm curious as well. Would you explain?"
"Yes. Actually..."
I told them about revisiting the Junkyard. Juicy was astonished.
"Um um, wan!? That clump from back then is this little one!?"
"That thing wasn't really from the Junkyard anymore, was it? What a piece of work. But what a curious story."
"Na?"
Dagaa looked at Pakira and tilted its head again.
Seriously, what even are you?
Pakira petted the Dagaa that Juicy was holding.
"Na!"
"Hmm. It's quite fluffy."
"Na?"
"Waf? Um um, Dagaa-chan?"
Dagaa left Juicy and leaped to Pakira's chest.
"What's this, what's this — this, this! This!"
Pakira hurriedly caught it.
Good. Maybe my worries about chest size were unfounded after all.
"Na?"
Then Dagaa suddenly looked down and climbed off of Pakira.
"What is it?"
"Na?"
"Mew — that's a tail, that is."
"Na!"
Apparently, the short white tail poking out from the slit of her robe had caught its attention.
It touched the swishing tail with one claw, then touched it again with another. Was this thing a cat?
"This — this — mew! That tickles! Stop it!"
"Na!"
"Wan! Um um, it keeps swaying — it's so distracting!"
"Juicy, don't encourage it."
"Waf."
"And Dagaa — you stop it too! Meeeeeow!?"
Pakira let out a sudden high-pitched cry. I wondered what had happened, and it turned out to be Dagaa.
It had jumped not onto her tail, but onto her backside.
What the...!?
"Na!"
Wh-What is this thing doing?! Juicy was panicking too.
"Um um, um! It's on her... her backside... What do we do! What do we do!?"
"Mew — get it off, quickly! Mew — Juicy, you get it off!"
"Um um, y-yes, wan! Dagaa-chan — no, no!"
"Na!?"
"Meeeow, meeow — d-don't grab my tail!"
As they tried to pull it away, Dagaa gripped tightly onto Pakira's shorter tail.
This was a complete mess.
But I calmly thought to myself.
Could it be that Dagaa had jumped onto Pakira's backside because it was so big?
Like Juicy's chest — no, even bigger than that?
That would mean Pakira had a rear end so big you could tell even through her robe.
But it had to be. There was no other explanation.
Pakira's backside was bigger than a peach. Yep. All right. Mystery solved!
Now then, what to do?
"Mew — can't you let go of this thing already! Meeeow!"
"Um um, um, I'm sorry, Dagaa-chan. Wan wan — the swaying tail is still so distracting!"
"Meeeooow!! Don't you grab it too! Meeeeeow!!"
"Na! Na? Na!"
"Meeow — Wof! Do something! Wof! Meeeeeow!"
There was only one thing I could say.
I was powerless.