I was helping Riv clean up the corpses.
Well, not really helping. She'd gather them, and I'd just use Banish to wipe them out.
Since Riv had already seen me use Banish, I explained it to her again.
She groaned, saying, "Hm... cleaning... this is... way too... convenient."
Yeah, it really is super handy for this sort of thing.
"...Riv, what do you think about it?"
"Hm... about what?"
Riv was crouching down, collecting their delver tags.
For turning in to the Guild. The way she did it, she looked like a kid playing in the dirt.
"About killing people like this."
"Hm... there are... quests for bandit... suppression... so I guess... it can't be helped..."
"That's true, but..."
"Kid... this is... just like... hostile creatures... or goblins... if they attack... and have the will... to kill Riv and the others... then you have to... kill them. Hm. Kid... do you want... to die?"
"Of course not."
"Hm... then we have... no choice... but to kill them... if talking... doesn't work... persuading them... is pointless... it's wasted effort... you might... regret it... Riv doesn't want that... so we kill them."
When she turned around, Riv's expression was as blank as ever.
Her crimson eyes, reflecting me, looked just as vacant.
Well, yeah, I guess you're right, I muttered to myself.
We'd been brought to Torquetam's base. That mansion.
Second time Riv’s guided me to a room, I thought as I was shown into a second-floor chamber.
Oh, wait a sec.
"Pakira and Lupinus aren't here?"
"Hmm… at Tasan's place."
"Tasan?"
"It's a thing… a whole thing."
"Right."
I looked around the room I'd been led into.
This was Riv's private room.
A warm-toned carpet. A closet. A small shelf. A bed.
A tiny table. A simple desk. A large black box in the corner.
Just a plain, simple room. On the desk sat a metal box.
A light orb hovered near the ceiling. Looking closer, the bed was a pipe frame.
The closet looked a bit high-tech too, holding jackets and suits.
Simple…? But near the closet, a basket held… undergarments tossed in haphazardly.
Somehow, I got the impression she didn't do laundry. And then it hit me. A shiver went down my spine.
Riv's private room. Which meant…
A
wo
man
...
This
room...
I
hate
it.
Well, I guess it's fine. The more I think about it, the more fidgety I get.
"……Kid……what's wrong?"
"Oh, no, so about fixing the knife—"
"Mm……just……hold on……over there……just sit somewhere, anywhere…"
"O-okay."
Nearby… I sat down on the pipe bed.
Pipe bed. A pipe bed made of pipes.
Pipes exist in this world too. Without them, you can't transport water.
Copper pipes were the standard. No, that's not the point. The futon was fluffy.
It's a futon, so of course it's fluffy.
But for someone like me who still sleeps on a straw bed, this futon felt incredibly plush.
Riv was rummaging through a large black box. White lines of light crisscrossed its surface, and tiny red lights flickered rapidly.
I had no idea what the box was, but it didn't exactly scream "fantasy."
You could see things like that scattered all over this modest room.
But the thing I couldn't stop thinking about was that this was a girl's room.
Still, though. A pipe bed. Right. Pipe.
"Oh."
Come to think of it, I'd come into a large sum of money. Which meant I could renovate, couldn't I?
That was it. Now was the time to finally graduate from my straw bed.
Oh, right. I'd been so surprised by the unexpected windfall that I'd instinctively saved it, but... what was that thing from my past life again?
Ah, FIRE. Could I pull it off?
"Hmm... found it."
What Riv pulled out was a smooth, silvery box that gleamed under the light.
Close to a capsule. About the size you could hold in both hands. No, wait — this was a capsule.
"What's this?"
"...I think... nano... nano... hmm. I forgot."
"O-Oh, right."
Nanomachines... did those exist here? Well, sure, they're pretty standard fare, but so it was nano.
I was starting to get a rough idea of how to repair things.
"But... the instructions... Riv. Do you know..."
The capsule had four buttons on its side — ■, △, ○, ×. Incredibly simple.
Pressing the ○ button opened the lid. Inside was just a simple black compartment.
"Hmm... put the... knife... fragments in here..."
"Okay."
"Press... the button... again..."
The lid closed. Then I pressed the ■ button.
The lid turned into a monitor, and an image of the knife appeared on the screen.
Oh, it's Agaro's knife. But almost immediately, a chime sounded and red text flickered onto the monitor.
"Error... insufficient contents..."
"Riv?"
"Mm... not enough..."
Well, it had been ground practically to powder, so...
"Don't you have anything metal or something?"
"...Metal... I don't have any."
"Is there anything at all, then?"
"Boy... Riv... I've been wondering... about something... that pouch... it smells different... from the elixirs... ore... metal...?"
"Metal? Oh, maybe..."
I pulled a cloth bag from my pouch.
From inside the bag, I took out a square, dice-shaped piece of metal.
Its surface glimmered with a golden sheen, but it wasn't pure gold.
It looked like fool's gold, but it wasn't that either.
The metal was split into dozens — no, hundreds — of impossibly thin layers.
And across those layers, countless faint points of light flickered, thin and barely visible.
I had no idea what it was. My memories from my past life offered a few possibilities, but that was about it.
Any of those could be right, and any of them could be wrong.
So what it actually is remains unclear.
This is the blue-glowing super ultra rare I found in the Junkyard of the Tomb of Death.
Even now, when I check it with the Wheel of Fortune, it shines blue.
Well, this room has a few things that glow yellow or blue, so it's enough to make you want to close your eyes.
I'm curious about all of them, but… why is there a blue glow inside a basket full of underwear?
"…That… is Untobtainium."
"Huh? Say what?"
"Mm… put it in."
At some point the capsule had already opened.
Just as I was told, I placed the mysterious metal, Untobtainium, inside.
Untobtainium. I'd never heard of it.
I had questions, but Riv was the one who knew about this capsule.
If it could bring the knife back, then that was fine by me.
Riv closed the lid and pressed the △ button.
"What does that do?"
"Mm… it's mixing."
The △ button blinked green, and when it finished, Riv pressed the × button.
"And that one?"
"Mm… it's combining."
The × button blinked black, and when it finished, a knife appeared on the monitor.
Yep. That was Agaro's knife. A knife resembling the one a certain professor who named things after his pet dog would use.
Along with the word OK. Looks like it can be forged.
Riv pressed the ■ button.
"What's that one?"
"Mm… restoring."
The ■ button was blinking blue.
"…Mm. Kid."
"What?"
"Sorry about this time… Riv… went too far…"
"It's fine. That's how things get fixed."
"Mm… you were strong… it was fun… so I got carried away."
"Well, it'd be a lie if I said I wasn't having fun too."
I'd been desperate, but I was glad I got to have a mock battle with Riv.
For the record, against a witch, even if she fought unarmed and I had a knife, I wouldn't stand a chance.
Riv smiled faintly.
"Mm… I'm glad… Kid… got to have fun… playing in big sister's body…"
"…Yeah."
Way to phrase that.
Then the blue blinking of the ■ button stopped, and Riv pressed the ○ button.
When the capsule opened, smoke like dry ice billowed out.
Once it cleared, the knife revealed itself.
Agaro's knife, restored… Restored?
"…"
I picked up the knife. The fittings and wrappings hadn't changed.
It looked the same as before. Only the blade now had a burning blue color to it.
That was strange. It was supposed to be a burning red.
I looked at Riv. She gave me a flat stare.
"Mm… harder… than before…"
"…"
When I moved the knife, the blue flames dwelling on the blade flickered and danced — or so it seemed.
Hmm, hmm. Strange. Compared to before… hmm. What had happened to it?
"Boy… if you don't… like it… I can… undo it…?"
She must have noticed me glancing at it with curiosity.
Riv said, looking apologetic. Undo what?
"No, it's nothing like that. Um, this is fine."
I sheathed the knife.
Riv's red eyes glistened as she bowed her head.
"… Boy… I'm sorry…"
"Riv. I already understand. You're forgiven."
"Mm… Boy… thank you… if you ever… want to have fun in big sister's body again… mm… just say so anytime… for the Boy's sake… Riv… will do her best…"
"I-I understand…"
"Mm… yeah."
Riv smiles.
That wording, though…