I'd made up my mind to talk, and now I was starting to get a little nervous.
"So, um, what's the plan?"
"Indeed. Separating them from the herd is essential, so we'll need a decoy. Naturally, we can't kill any of the other Monoceros, but... Wof? What's the matter?"
"Wuf—um, Wof."
Both Pakira and Juicy noticed right away that something was off with me.
I swallowed, then spoke quietly.
"...There's actually something I need to tell you two."
"What's with the sudden formality?"
"Um, Wof. What is it?"
"Well—I actually have a Relic that's an upgraded version of the Eye of Fortune."
"What did you say?"
"Woof. Wait, a Relic!?"
"Yes. It's called the Wheel of Fortune."
"Oh my. The Wheel of Fortune, you say."
"Wuf. Um, a wheel?"
"Right. The Wheel of Fortune has nearly the same effect as the Eye, but where the Eye only sees one color of light, the Wheel of Fortune sees three."
"Three? That many?"
"Um, woof. What—what colors does it show?"
"First, the same green as the Eye. I call this one rare."
"Hmm. Rare indicates scarcity, then."
"Next is yellow. I call this one super rare."
"Woof. Super rare! The—the sound of it is wonderful!"
"Hmm. Super rare. So it is scarcer than green."
"Yes. And finally, there is a blue light. This is called super ultra rare."
"…So it's vastly above super rare, then."
"This one is truly almost never seen."
And then there is one more. A mysterious purple light.
Since even I don't understand this one yet, I'll keep it to myself.
"Pakira, sir! Wof! W-wow! Wof, sir, incredible! Did—did you maybe find Dagaa at the Junkyard with that Relic?"
"Yes. I found him using this Relic."
"I see."
"Pakira, sir! If that's so, then—then did you find lots of treasures at the Junkyard!"
"Well… I suppose there were some."
"Pakira, sir! Sir! Wof! Incredible! Wof! Incredible!"
Pakira was overjoyed, as if it were his own good fortune.
Wof remained silent, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Hmm. Wof. Did you, perchance, find *that* with the Wheel of Fortune?"
"…'That'?"
"The 'that' which saved us."
"Y-Yes, that's right."
"I see, I see."
"I'm sorry for keeping quiet about the Relic for so long."
"That's fine. Even between close friends, there's no obligation to talk about Relics. Keeping quiet isn't necessarily wrong. Especially when there's a lesser version right here. Emotionally, keeping quiet was the correct choice. But why confess at this particular moment?"
"Um, um, Master Wof. I'm curious too. Is something going on?"
I nodded at their questions. This is where the real topic begins.
"Yes. There's a green-glowing Monoceros near a yellow-glowing one."
"Yellow was above green in rarity, wasn't it. Super rare, if I recall."
"Yes. It's higher in rarity."
"Um, um, that's, woof. That's exciting. My heart's pounding!"
"More valuable than mithril, then — alright. Wof. Pakira. We'll go after both of them."
"Yes."
"Woof woof. Um, I understand! Um, um, I'll do my best!"
"Now we need to decide who'll act as bait for the herd."
"Um, um, um, I'll be the bait! I'm great at chasing things around!"
The word sheepdog suddenly popped into my head.
Setting that aside, Pakira really was the most suited for chasing things around.
Pakira seemed to think so too.
"Hmm. Indeed. You're the right one for this."
"Um, um, woof. Leave it to me! I'll chase them down, herd them, chase them down, and chase them around!"
I felt like that might be overdoing it.
Its eyes sparkled like stars, glittering and gleaming, and it swayed its body in rhythm.
On top of that, it was wagging its tail so hard it looked like it might come right off.
Juicy-san. It looked ready to bolt at any moment. Not yet. Not yet. Stay.
"Then I shall take the green one. The yellow one is yours, Wof. Take care of it."
"Okay."
The yellow one is something only I can see.
There's a size difference, but it has a body like a faded blue horse. A thick, long gray horn.
All the Monoceros look more or less like this kind of monster.
"Juicy. You must absolutely not kill it. Kill it, and you'll face a fine."
"Bark— um, um, understood! I'll chase it around as much as I can!"
"A fine? How much per head?"
"Five hundred thousand oro."
"That's expensive!?"
"And if you kill it, you'll find out why. So you can't try to weasel your way out of it."
"You really are thorough."
"Well, they are rare, after all."
"Um, um, um, is it time yet? Is it time? Is it time now?!"
Juicy-san looked like it couldn't hold back any longer.
Pakira-san let out a sigh.
"Well then, shall we begin?"
"Bark! Bark-bark! Bark-bark-bark-bark-baaark!"
"That guy..."
Juicy hound charged into the herd of monokerus at a frankly absurd speed.
For a split second, my heart leaped into my throat.
At that momentum, it wouldn't have been strange if he'd turned into a Fenrir.
Juicy might actually do it.
No, even for Juicy, that'd be going too far.
Juicy chased the monokerus around. Monokerus are monsters.
Bronze rank they may be, they're still monsters. And a herd of dozens was being chased around by a single dog.
Our targets got lumped in with theirs too... well, I'd expected as much.
"What should we do?"
"Can't be helped."
Pakira waved her staff while looking through the Eye of Fortune.
Wind swirled into existence around the gem at its tip.
"Ha!"
"It's hard to aim at them, isn't it? Wind Edge!"
The blade of wind shot toward the green-glowing monokerus being chased around.
It drew a predicted trajectory, and beautifully—just as it was about to strike the horn of the green-glowing monokerus—
A yellow-glowing monokerus darted in and sliced through the Wind Edge with its own horn.
"Hmph!?"
It planted itself in the way as if to shield them. A dungeon monster doing that?
The green-glowing monokerus then nestled close to the yellow-glowing one.
"..."
The yellow-glowing monokerus lightly licked the green-glowing monokerus's horn.
Then, placing the green-glowing monokerus behind its back, it glared at us.
Even Pakira found the scene strange enough to comment.
"What are those two?"
"What are they, really?"
The two monokerus had completely separated from the herd being chased around by Juicy.
The green-glowing monokerus pressed itself snugly against the yellow-glowing one.
That was... almost like a couple, wasn't it?
Even Pakira couldn't believe her eyes.
"...They're a couple?"
"Can dungeon monsters really do that?"
"No way. Dungeon monsters falling in love... What worries me more is that big one. That's the yellow-glowing one you were talking about, right?"
"Yes. That's the one."
"Can't you sense it? There's a faint chill drifting through the air."
"A chill? It's only a copper rank, though."
"...But there's always a chance. Want to find out, even if we have to pay a fine?"
Countless tiny fireballs appeared around Pakira's staff.
She spun the staff hard and let them fly.
"Fire Strike!"
The fireballs surged forward, slamming into the two Monoceros.
But every single one evaporated in an instant, snuffed out by the cold air just before reaching them.
"A Relic!?"
"Just as I thought. This is going to be a bit troublesome."
Pakira gave a wry smile.
The occasional subspecies — a special variant.
The fact that this Monoceros could use a Relic meant it was already silver rank, lower tier.
And that's when it hit me. So that's why it glowed yellow.
"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM"
The yellow-glowing Monoceros stepped forward, placing itself between us and the green one, and let out a roar.
Its thick horn turned pure white and a cold wind blew.
I reflexively readied my knife. Of course, not the Daga knife.
The second knife I'd bought for fifty thousand — a weird, single-edged blade that curved upward.
Since I couldn't kill it, I couldn't use Banish.
The yellow-glowing Monoceros charged.
Cold air spilled from its gleaming white horn, swirling into tiny ice crystals.
The Monoceros bore down straight toward me, head low, horn thrust forward.
It was practically a spear.
I more or less understood why it was charging at me instead of Pakira.
This Monoceros was male. I'm a guy too, so I got it.
"Wof!"
"Stick to the plan — Pakira, you handle the green one!"
"Understood."
But the problem was… my knife.
If I tried to block that frozen horn with a knife, it would freeze solid and shatter into pieces.
I had to avoid that at all costs. Absolutely.
'Fwoooooooooooooh'
I dodged the horn at the last second, and the yellow-glowing Monoceros hurtled past me.
Good. But now what? I couldn't use the knife. Was my only option Banish?
But if I messed up Banish just once… Huh. I couldn't feel my hand.
"Huh? Wha—!?"
Only the hand holding the knife had been flash-frozen.
Wh-why just that one!?
"Damn it, why only this side?!"
Frustrated, I used Banish. If I didn't hurry, I'd get frostbite.
The ice on my hand and the knife's handle vanished.
The blade dropped.
Huh?
Ha?
Huh?