Mounieka handed me a small bottle.
"What's this?"
"A sensory enhancement drug."
"…?"
"The witch instructed me to give this to you to drink."
"Got it."
I drank it right away.
It tasted like one of those nutritional drinks from my past-life memories.
I used to drink those all the time back then.
As for any physical changes… nothing so far.
"Now then, I'd like you to fight Shaldina."
"Got it. Shaldina?"
"That's her name."
"I see."
"However, you may only use [Silent Move]. Please defeat Shaldina with [Silent Move]."
"Got it."
I entered the action command using [Silent Move].
Defeat Shaldina. Alright. I can do this. It worked.
"Please begin."
"Yes."
I used it and immediately lost consciousness.
When I came to, I was lying on the ground, and Munieka's face peering down at me was right there, close up.
"Master. Your usage frequency is far too low."
I woke up and was immediately told that.
My body wouldn't move. My limbs felt wrong.
It seemed like I'd taken down Shaldina... but there was no corpse.
Only a single blue horn lay there, dripping red blood.
Whoa, that's graphic.
"W-well, even if you say that..."
Come to think of it, Munieka had her head resting on my chest.
Which meant she was lying down right next to me.
"............"
At a distance close enough to hear her breathing, there hovered a terrifyingly exquisite and beautiful woman's face.
The witch had been the same, but why were these women so impossibly beautiful no matter how you looked at them?
So beautiful, so utterly flawless, without a single blemish or imperfection to be found.
Munieka produced something. It was a small vial of elixir.
She said this, too, had been given to the witch. She pressed it to my lips and made me drink.
Honestly, if she wanted to get her hands on a large supply, she could have just handed over an egg.
My body recovered in an instant. Munieka pulled away.
But the way she stood up was strange. She got to her feet using only her legs, no hands.
How did she do that?
"Next, I'd like you to fight Anna Kreuzen."
"Um, why was your head resting on my chest just now?"
"Because I wanted to rest it there. There's no particular reason."
She said it flatly. I didn't know what to say to that, so for now—
"Could you stop giving the Minosdols names?"
"Why not?"
"Because it makes fighting harder."
They all had female bodies, and they all had names. Honestly, it was uncomfortable.
Munieka blinked in confusion. Then her eyes went glossy. Why?
"Are you growing attached to them?"
"Huh? Ah, well… now that you mention it…"
Some of them were cute and pretty, too.
"As I mentioned before, every Minosdol is based on me. That's because there was no convenient template available. The Minosdols range from my childhood all the way to slightly older than my current age. You can bring out whichever Minosdol you prefer and use it at any time, Master."
"Your phrasing! And more importantly, why do you even have something like that prepared?"
"Well, you see, I was thinking of forming a maid ninja unit specialized in espionage and assassination."
"That's nothing but unsettling words!"
"And besides, if it can do anything, you'd want to make use of it, wouldn't you?"
"That's… well, true, but…"
That lab. It really can do anything, huh.
If you used it wrong, couldn't it end the world?
Well, Hayarn wouldn't go and do something like that, I guess.
I get it. I kind of understand that sort of thing.
"So, Master. How long are you planning to sleep?"
"Sorry."
I scrambled to my feet.
Mounieka brought out a new Minosdoll.
With a braid, she looked younger than the current Mounieka.
"This brings back memories. This form is the age I was when I became Tier II."
"Huh? How old?"
"Around fifteen. Tier I was at twenty."
"That's amazing. B-but, c-could you, um… stop doing that sort of thing?"
"Are you getting attached?"
"Y-yeah. Well, a little."
Despite having no expression, Mounieka wore a look of pure amusement.
"— Master, you're such a pervert."
"Wh— why!?"
Why!? Seeing my shocked face only made her grin wider.
Ah, this person. She's definitely just toying with me. My expression suddenly shifted.
"Master doesn't get angry, does he?"
"Huh?"
"You must realize I'm toying with you, surely?"
Oh, so she's just going to say it outright. I managed a wry smile.
"Well, if Munieka-san is having fun… I mean, you seem way more cheerful than when we first met."
"I seem cheerful?"
"Yes. That's how it looks to me."
"Wouldn't that be because Master is a masochist?"
"I'm not a masochist!"
What kind of thing is that to say to a kid?
"Heh heh. Well then, now that you've perked up, let's have you fight Victoria."
Wasn't that Anna Kreutz?
Ugh, guess I'm fighting.
"…Silent Move…"
After that I took down two more, and today's lecture was over.
"Master. You use an interesting Relic, don't you?"
"Oh, was it active?"
"Yes, rest assured. That one counts as part of Silent Move as well, so it's no violation."
"Thanks, I appreciate that…"
Exhausted.
It's strange how physical exhaustion can fade while mental fatigue lingers.
I grabbed my backpack and headed for the nap room.
Out of the living room, there's a staircase on the left, and a door tucked between it and the wall.
It used to be a storage closet, but I cleaned it out, found a spare bed lying around, and moved it in. That's how it became my nap room.
The reason I made it in the first place was that I'd once seen the witch passed out cold in the hallway, completely naked.
Having an unused bed just lying around was the other reason.
This nap room is my room for the time being. There are guest rooms, but they're all physically occupied.
Come to think of it, I wondered what Munieka would do.
"So, Munieka, do you commute here?"
"No. I'm renting one of the guest rooms."
"Huh? Guest rooms… weren't they all full?"
"They were. But I tidied one up."
"You… you can tidy those up? That nightmare of a room?"
"Yes. The unidentified life forms I found, I sold off to Chaib."
"Life forms…"
What even is that. First I'm hearing of it.
"Well then, I look forward to working with you from here on out, Master."
"Uh, right. Thanks. By the way, what about the witch?"
"She said something came up that she absolutely couldn't get out of."
"I see."
Where did she go, I wonder?
Well, she's a witch. Worrying about her is just a waste of time.
I grab my backpack and open the door to the break room.
It's a small space surrounded by stark white walls.
Maybe about half the size of my room.
There's a plain white tea table, and someone's sleeping on a cot.
"Hm?"
What's with this tea table.
But more importantly, the blanket on the cot was bunched up into a small mound.
I cautiously approach.
"...biel-iie... abuyadou... keo... puti..."
"Huh?"
"...keo... abuyatou... biel-ie... biel-iie... puti..."
Sh-She's asleep. Sleep-talking? E-Either way, Shiro was asleep.
Out cold? Is she really asleep?
"...bianko... reukon... putihi... keo... biel-iie..."
"..........."
What even is this sleep-talking.