Day 5.
"..."
The tidied dining room.
A luxurious dining table draped with an elegant gold-bordered tablecloth.
The Witch, me, Shiro, and Chaibe were seated there.
And Munieka, placing the finished dishes one after another.
"........"
It was day five — no, precisely because it was day five, it hit me all over again. What kind of group is this?
Every single one of them was a first-class delver. And they were all breathtaking beauties.
And not just ordinary beauties. Every one of them was the kind of woman who'd be described as kingdom-toppling, peerless.
"..."
"Oh-ho, this brown bread-bean is great! The sweet stuff inside — is that anko?"
"Indeed it is. I made it myself."
"Oh-ho? Really now. This could sell — it'd definitely sell!"
"I won't be selling it."
"Milk rice… This is nice. A lovely whiteness."
"Thank you very much."
"But it's not a gentle flavor."
"That's not a very gentle comment."
"Munch, munch, munch. Munch, munch. This frikadelle. Kon sure does like 'em, huh. Want more, huh."
"I understand. Would one hundred servings be enough?"
"Mm, mm. Even Kon can't eat that much, huh. Why the surprise, huh."
"..."
"Master. It seems like you're not eating much."
When Munieka calls me Master, the other three visibly flinch.
But they only flinch — they don't say anything or react beyond that.
Well, they don't react, and they don't, but every time it happens the air goes taut.
That obviously doesn't feel great. And the three of them look at me. I look away quickly.
"...The soup is delicious."
Yeah, it's a soup with a gentle saltiness, but for some reason my stomach hurts.
That's strange. Really strange. Why is this happening?
This is only day three of training and I'm already about to quit over something irrelevant.
Actually, why are these incredible people — in appearance, in substance, in everything — gathered around me?
I do have Relics and rare things and powerful stuff.
But I myself am a perfectly ordinary kid. A brat you'd find anywhere.
A messy, sloppy thirteen-year-old who can't do anything properly.
The countless mysterious past-life memories inside me are just memories, nothing more.
Sure, they might influence how I act or my personality a little, but I'm not an adult.
But they are adults. Women older than me.
In fact, every single one of them was nothing but overwhelming charm — body and soul.
Surrounding me were people so beautiful it was hard to believe.
Was this much happiness really allowed? Why were they all here, around me?
And why did my stomach hurt so badly?
No. Right now, I just needed to win.
I'd focus on beating Alveld and nothing else.
To do that, I'd push through my training and seize the strength.
After breakfast came the morning lecture on acquiring [Automove].
First: drink some suspicious liquid called sensory amplification fluid.
Second: take down a Minosdole with [Silent Move].
Then just keep repeating step two.
After a lunch break, I'd do the same thing in the afternoon.
The witch said she had things to do and left early again today.
That made five days in a row. It was rare for the witch to head out this much.
Shiro brewed the witch's herbal tea and dove into another romance novel.
Chaibe found something fascinating, because she stared intently at my training all day again.
Something about her felt different lately? Oh, and we'd ended up in the bath together again yesterday.
Of course. Nothing happened. Nothing at all.
"Hahh... hahh... hahh..."
As always, I was collapsed on the ground when I finished. Sometimes I'd end up with cuts on my hands or feet too.
I wish I could at least stay standing when I finish.
And this time, what I took down was—Shardina.
I've fought her several times over the past three days, so I've got her memorized by now.
*Next I... win... right?*
Huh?
"Huh?"
That was—? A voice from my head I hadn't heard in a while, and it was as cryptic as ever.
I also noticed it had used Stillness too.
Well, from the wording I had a suspicion... but a suspicion is just a suspicion.
"Is something the matter?"
"Oh, no... Hey, does Mesdor happen to have a personality of some kind?"
"No, it does not. It contains no pseudo-personality. Mesdor is based on me, but its original framework is a Minos unit. Minos units appear to contain nothing but a hostile-action command and an identification code. What I did was set that identification code to respond to my and my master's voice commands—thus creating Mesdor."
"...I see."
Good. My suspicion was gone. Completely gone! It was gone!
Munieka dramatically flicked her skirt aside and spoke.
"Well then. Twenty times a day. Master. That makes ninety-nine with that one."
"That's what it was, huh?"
But I still didn't feel like I was improving at all.
Would I really end up with Auto Move?
"The one hundredth opponent will be me."
"But it won't activate if you're facing an opponent you can't beat."
"Don't worry, I just need to calibrate it so it activates right at the threshold."
"...That would mean 'defeating' them implies killing them."
"Don't worry, I just need to calibrate it so the only thing you're capable of is roughly tackling them down."
"Calibrate..."
"Master, I am an 'Auto Doll.' Dolls are made to be calibrated."
So that's how it is. For some reason, that carried a strange sort of conviction, and I found myself nodding.
"Then why did you use a Minos Doll?"
"That was to calibrate both you and the Minos Doll simultaneously. If it can be done at the same time rather than one by one, choosing the simultaneous approach is the more logical option."
Calibrate... me too? Without making a sound, I widened my eyes.
Munieka paid me no mind and closed her eyes, rotating her wrists, rolling her shoulders lightly, and cracking her neck.
For now, I input the command for Silent Move into my body.
H-Huh? Really? The only action I can take is tackling. Everything else is completely impossible. I'm starting to get nervous.
Calibration... that's a thing for auto-type Relics, right?
No wait, is it about my body? I don't know. But either way, it means she can do that.
"Well then, Master. Dance with me. Auto Dance."
The light in Munieka's eyes flickered out.
And I activated Silent Move as well.
Just like always... except, wait, what? My body... I can see the scenery.
Is this different from usual?
I could see Mounieka spinning into a back kick.
The movement was utterly devoid of wasted motion, so when I barely dodged, her extended leg bent—
"—!?"
No way. She stepped forward and aimed a kick straight at my face. I somehow caught it with my arm.
But the impact nearly knocked me over. Could I even push her down somehow?
What kind of victory condition is "push her down" anyway?
I'm only noticing that now? Son of a—
But how was I supposed to push someone down with attacks that flowed so perfectly without a single wasted motion?
"..."
Still, this was a strange sensation.
All I could do was watch my body move on its own. I couldn't do a thing by myself.
But it was instructive. I could learn from my own movements. It was like watching someone else fight.
Whoa—she dodged that? Ouch, that one hurt. She's still attacking after all that!?
When Mounieka raised her leg, I locked it and pinned it down, then pushed her over.
Mounieka's doll-like face was right in front of me.
There was a height difference between us, but since I took her down while her leg was raised, her face was close.
More than that, I could feel her body — soft and warm.
"Well done, Sir."
"...Please, not 'Master.'"
Both my arms and my leg ached. When I somehow managed to get back on my feet, the Relic had changed.
Silent Auto-move (Half): Guarantees one quick, precise, high-difficulty action to succeed. Consciousness is maintained during the action.
"What happened?"
"Did it change?"
"What's the result?"
Chive and Shiro asked.
"...Half? Um, it became Silent Auto-move: Half."
"Silent Auto-move? Sounds kind of mixed up. By the way, sooo, Munieka. You were calling him 'Master,' weren't you — what's that about?"
"And it's 'Half,' too. Munieka. What's the deal? Also, what's this 'Master' thing?"
"Relics vary widely. It's possible for them to differ depending on the person."
"What does 'half' mean?"
"It's used to mean that it hasn't fully matured yet."
"So my Relic hasn't matured."
"That's right. Which means the effect should be something half-baked as well."
"Yeah. It is."
"Never mind that — what's this 'Master' thing?"
"Munieka. Explain yourself."
Why were these two hung up on that?
I mean, I did think the title was a bit much too, but...
Munieka declared, completely unabashed:
"I respectfully decline to comment on the matter of the 'Master' title."
"Ohh, the nerve on you. Hmm. Well, if that's the case, then I—"
"Yes, then Shiro too."
Oh, this is bad.
Seeing the two of them with flushed cheeks and feverish expressions, I sensed danger.
I was certain. This was heading in a really, truly bad direction.
"W-wait a second! If you do that, the witch is going to get the wrong idea!"
The two of them snapped to attention. They glared at Munieka.
"Fine. Let's go with 'Master' then."
"For starters, I think 'Master' is also problematic!"
"Shiro doesn't like Chaibe either, but she agrees on that point."
"Because I'm a maid."
Munieka deflected without missing a beat.
Everyone cared more about that than my Relic?
I could feel us growing closer, and I was happy and enjoying myself.
But was this really okay?
I felt like we were heading in a completely different direction from what I'd intended.
I didn't know, though.
Delvers' Guild Headquarters.
Grand Guild "Frizskaalv."
Egg King Section. Grand Guild Master's Office.
"Lord Alhazad. It is nearly time for your departure."
"Mm. So it is. Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm."
"What are you looking at?"
"It arrived this morning. This is the preference list for those becoming"
Retainers
"."
"As for
Retainers
...their 'preferences' are always the same. It's always subordinates, friends, disciples, or relatives. Anyone else just gets assigned Guild staff."
"This time is interesting."
"Interesting?"
"You'll understand when you see it."
"............Wh-what!? W-what is this!?"
"I was just as surprised at first. The last time I was this shocked was when the Dungeon City cluster collapsed. It's truly been several decades."
"Is this really happening? This is impossible. How did this... how did this happen!?"
"Ahahahahahaha! Even you're surprised, Victorilla? I don't know either. But what do you think? Interesting, isn't it?"
"This is already an abnormal situation."
"Unprecedented. And that's precisely what makes it interesting. Good grief, to think it would go this far. They really have outdone themselves. I truly look forward to meeting them."
Alhazad Abramilin truly looked like he was enjoying himself.