A mysterious white space filled with mysterious white fog.
This was my third time here. I really didn't want to come.
A woman stood in that space. Her hair sparkled and shone all the way down past her waist. Her eyes were a strange silver.
Draped in layer upon layer of sacred garments, a mystical beauty of otherworldly grace was smiling at me.
She had a shimmering, blade-like quality about her — no, she was literally a blade, wasn't she.
She was the Goddess of Knives.
"...Um, so, something like this again?"
'You've finally done it.'
"Huh—?"
I blinked at the unique, beautiful voice that resonated through my mind.
I had no idea what was going on.
'You've finally gone and done it.'
That voice, brimming with boundless compassion, said the most preposterous things.
"W-wait, hold on — what? The tenth one? Huh? What? W-wait? What?"
The Goddess of Knives nodded at me as I floundered.
Why did she look somewhat pleased about it?
'Thank you for waiting. This is the tenth one.'
She beamed at me, her whole face alight with a smile. No, no, no.
"No no no no no, I don't remember any of this at all!? Didn't you make a mistake again!?"
I mean, she's got a track record, this goddess!
(Well, how rude. I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.)
The knife goddess puffs out her cheeks in a huff.
But I have absolutely no... wait, what... where?
All my equipment knives are accounted for. I even sharpened them tonight!
"Um, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
(Today, you walked through a dim underground passage with a girl.)
"Y-yes."
"Pervert."
"Wha— no, it's not like that!"
It's not like that. What is this goddess even talking about?
"Don't you remember stepping on something?"
"Huh? Oh, now that you mention it, I did step on a piece of wood."
What does that have to do with anything?
"There was a knife underneath it."
".........---- Uh, well, a knife wouldn't break just from stepping on it."
"It was an old, rusty knife. It broke because you stepped on it."
"……………………………"
"----That was the tenth one.----"
"……………………………………………"
Are you kidding me!? How the heck would I know that!?
"Um, seriously... a knife?"
(Yes. The tenth one.)
"...C-come on, this is practically an ambush at this point."
(Wof. It's fate. Please accept it.)
"...N-no, but still—"
(Wof. I understand what you're saying. It may certainly seem like some kind of trap or ambush. But I haven't done anything. I haven't set you up. It was simply fate. When you were walking down a dim underground corridor with a girl, stepping on and breaking a beat-up rusty knife—that was fate.)
"......"
I didn't want that kind of fate.
(It's already over. It's over, Wof.)
Useless. No matter what I do, it's pointless.
I gave up.
"Fine. I accept it."
(Yes. That is the correct response.)
"So what kind of penalty is this?"
Sigh. Oh well, I guess.
(Penalty? There's nothing of the sort.)
"Huh?"
(This is not a punishment.)
"...Well then... couldn't you have told me that sooner?"
Well, even so, breaking it still wouldn't be okay, right?
(That doesn't mean you're allowed to break it either)
"Right. I'm sorry."
I apologized.
(As long as you understand. Now then, as a commemoration of you having broken ten of them, please accept this)
Don't call it a commemoration. What the Goddess of Knives handed me was a knife.
A beautiful knife, pure white like a pair of wings.
"Th-this is..."
(A charm knife from the Goddess of Knives. It's an ordinary knife with nothing special about it other than being pleasant to use. Please carry it for daily use)
"Ah, thank you very much."
I ended up receiving the knife.
(Next, I will now use the Relic [Goddess of Knives' Blessing (Minor)] on you)
"R-Relic?"
I instinctively tensed up.
The Goddess of Knives closed her eyes. Then she pressed two fingers against her own pale pink lips.
While I was wondering what she was doing, she winked and blew me a kiss with a soft smack.
"Wha—?"
Then she smoothly returned to her original posture as if nothing had happened.
(There. It's been used. The effect of this Relic is that every knife you use will become slightly sturdier, and its sharpness will increase just a little. That's all)
"...So, what was that just now?"
That concludes our session.
"Um, just now, that was—"
That concludes our session.
"Y-yes."
She had an overwhelming presence that brooked no argument, so I stopped pressing.
("Next time, let's meet again once you've broken five.")
"No, no, I'm not breaking five of them."
("Let's meet again soon.")
"I'm telling you, I'm not breaking them."
"Let's meet again soon," she says. How rude.
("Oh, right — I forgot. Goodbye. Here, take this.")
The goddess of knives handed me something. It was a marble ball swirled with white and purple.
"This is...?"
It was squishy to the touch.
("Please give that to Daga.")
"To Daga?"
("Well then, I hope we meet again.")
I really don't hope for that.
The goddess of knives vanished, and I woke up.
Clutched in my hand was the marble ball swirled with white and purple.
"Na?"
"Good morning......"
"Na?"
Dagaa was eyeing the marble ball in my hand.
She nudged it with her cat-like nose, then chomped it down. Hey, wait.
Then a voice spoke.
"Good morning, Wof."
"G-good morning......"
I was startled by the sight of a girl's back again.
She turned around. It was Mineha.
She wore casual clothes and an apron.
Her ash-blond hair was pulled into a single ponytail, and her honey-colored eyes looked at me.
"I'm making food. Want some?"
"Y-yes. Please."
"Today's tomato soup, with a tomato and bean salad. Fried bread-bean and sliced bacon."
Breakfast. A proper breakfast. An indescribable emotion welled up inside me.
Mineha tilted her head.
"What is it?"
"Um... wait, where's Haiyaan?"
"If you mean that perverted rabbit..."
A cold glance from her pointed at a lidded jar. The rabbit must be in there.
"What did you do? To that thing."
"It jumped on me all of a sudden."
"Ah."
"What is with that rabbit."
Mineha was irritated.
Can't blame her. Sexual harassment toward a ten-year-old girl — that's execution-worthy.
"…What even is it."
I sigh. Reluctantly, I pull the rabbit out of the jar and scold it.
It says it forgot she was ten, but that wouldn't make it okay even if she weren't.
The cooking was done, so I dished it onto plates and we ate.
I'm used to everyone eating together with my bed as a substitute chair.
But that was back when Mineha was in her small fairial form.
Now Mineha sat beside me in the form of a girl taller than me.
She smelled faintly of something sweet and citrusy.
"Wof, what are you doing today?"
"Well, I'm heading to the Guild."
I figured I'd ask when the dungeon opens this week.
Though there are only three days left this week. I'll definitely get in next week.
"I see."
"What are you going to do today, Mineha?"
"............"
"Mineha?"
"Hey, Wof... do you hate clingy women?"
"Wh-what's this all of a sudden?"
Her straight, serious gaze made my heart skip a beat.
"I can't forget... no matter what."
Mineha murmured, looking down. A small, tearful voice.
Then she headed to Blacksmith Street, wiped her eyes, and spoke with a smile on her face.
I couldn't say a thing.
After finishing the meal and getting ready, I headed to the Guild.
Hayarn and Daga followed along for some reason.
Even so, were they really okay after eating something so unearthly?
Well, they were pretty unearthly themselves.
Oh, and there was a beautiful knife on my belt that looked like pure white wings.
Hayarn let out a growl.
"Oh. That's a nice knife. When'd you get it?"
"...In a dream."
"Hm?"
"Ah, no — we're here, though. What's the matter?"
"Hm? It's awfully noisy out here."
A large, three-story building with an old-world charm stood just before the hero statue.
A crowd of delvers had gathered in front of the Delvers' Guild, Hydrangea branch.
Something had them in a uproar.
"Hey. Cut the crap!"
"Nobody told us about an indefinite postponement!"
"Did the survey team even do their job properly?!"
"Explain yourselves!"
"You guys are taking responsibility for the individual commissions, right?! Right?!"
"What the hell is going on over here?!"
All I could hear was shouting. Rough as a debt collection.
"What's going on?"
"Hmm."
That was odd. The guild's doors were shut — must've been closed for the day, so no one could get in.
That must be why they were making a scene outside.
Maybe I should ask what happened.
I'd try that older-looking fellow first.
"Excuse me, what happened here?"
"Huh? Oh — a kid, huh? Beat it."
I was brushed off casually. Maybe I should try asking someone else over there.
"What happened?"
"Ugh. What do you want. A brat."
"I'm a delver, despite how I look."
I showed him my tag. The man sighed and told me.
"The dungeon. The town dungeon. It was supposed to open this week, but they suddenly put it on indefinite hold."
"Huh... what caused it?"
"Who knows. That's why everyone's mad. They told us it'd be open this week, and they don't even have a convincing explanation. On top of that, there's a notice nailed to the door and the Guild is shut too. What the hell is going on?"
"...No way."
You've got to be kidding. What kind of timing is this?
Naturally, I exchanged glances with Hiyan. She wore an expression close to despair. I probably looked the same.
This is the worst.
Nothing to be done — wait. There is. There's a way.