Two days had passed since the Full Moon Bazaar ended.
At breakfast — the first time we'd all been together since arriving — the witch spoke up.
"So, so. We've secured the Poor Man's cooperation."
"For real!?"
Hoss shot to his feet.
Everyone's eyes drifted toward him unconsciously, and he shrank back, slowly sitting down.
"Mm-hm. They agreed to join the subjugation of the 'Damaged' in the Forest Wave, naturally. And they're more than happy to let us use the Relic afterward too."
"That's great..."
"That's wonderful."
"That's great, that is."
"Nah!"
The women all called out warm words to Hoss in turn.
That was great and all, but...
"...Join?"
"Oh yes — they were the ones who brought it up. Wof-kun's participation was a non-negotiable condition."
"Well, that part's fine."
This was an emergency. Fine by me. But a non-negotiable condition?
The Kuun Hunt and my history with it — they're certainly not oblivious to that.
Still, I didn't think they'd actually try to stir up trouble for me over this.
But the non-negotiable condition nagged at me.
That said, with Ruma's situation, I had no option to refuse.
That day. The day of the Full Moon Bazaar.
Hoss and the others had stormed the Jinryu family estate.
I heard there was a spectacular fight, and Hoss had put on quite the performance.
They found a basement and discovered Samarnia and Ruma.
But Ruma — she was still lying in bed in the guest room on the second floor of this hideaway.
Even after killing Barrow, her curse hadn't been lifted. If anything, it had worsened.
Ever since they'd found her, she'd been bedridden with no sign of waking.
Even the elixir hadn't worked.
According to the witch, this curse encroached on the elixir's domain of effect, so it was useless.
And it turned out the curse wasn't Barrow's — it was Laada's.
Even in death, he was still causing trouble, huh.
Currently, Samarnia was looking after her.
According to the witch, she wouldn't last long.
The chances of finding a way to break the curse before then were next to hopeless.
If there was any possibility at all, it lay in a Relic of a "flawed one."
A Relic that could erase other Relics — if such a thing existed, then it could erase a curse that was itself a Relic.
To increase the certainty, I decided to request the Gouro family to take on the hunt for their "flawed one."
The Gouro family was partnered with the very Kuun Hunt I had history with.
But now was no time to be worrying about that.
Going out of my way to compete with the Gouro family and race them to the kill — what good would that pointless inefficiency do?
Luma's life was on the line.
I asked Seiran to act as intermediary, and the witch negotiated with the head of the Poorman Club family.
Apparently they were far friendlier than anyone expected, and once she explained the situation, they agreed right away.
Something about being servants of the Queen — I had no idea what that meant.
"Huh?"
"I'm joining too. Luma, sure, but I got history with that 'flawed one' of mine."
"...History?"
"Of course. But first and foremost, it's to help Luma!"
Hoss. His eyes were on fire.
"I'm joining too, boss! I've been wanting to get some exercise, and I want to try out the stuff I got, and the Torquetam is over there too, boss!"
"Seems that way."
The Torquetam.
My former housemate Samaniya had confirmed they were in the Heizen Great Forest.
I had things I wanted to give them, and things I wanted Riv to repair.
"Just so you know, Kon won't be coming — got lots of things to take care of over here."
"Shaldina won't be joining either, desu. Gotta take care of the house, desu."
"...!"
"And Annakreuzen says she'll stay behind to watch the fort, desu."
"Na!"
"Dagaa says they'll be participating, desu."
"As for me, I won't be joining — I need to board today's ship and head back to the mainland."
"I see."
"Indeed. It's a shame, but let's meet again if fate allows."
"Na!"
That leaves Mineha, then.
Mineha was eating her food with her head slightly bowed, still in her fairial form.
"So, so — what's Mineha going to do?"
"...I..."
"Um, does that need to be decided right now?"
I couldn't help but throw her a lifeline. The witch caught on.
"No, no, there's still some leeway. This year's Forest Wave — apparently the first one is three days from now."
"That's no leeway at all!"
"No, no, young Wof. If you're going to aim for it, go for the second or the last one."
"Is that so?"
"Mm. The 'Wounded One' won't come out during the first. The first is more of a forerunner. If that thing is going to show, it'll be the second. No, the last, probably. After all, the 'Wounded One' is the king of the Heizen Great Forest."
"I see..."
"Well, well, either way. It takes four days to get there, so..."
The Torquetam couldn't make it to the Full Moon Bazaar.
That reason was most likely a miscalculation of the travel time. It was possible.
After breakfast, I spoke to the Witch and Mineha.
"Witch, Mineha — there's something I'd like you two to look at."
"Oh my, what might that be?"
"Do you need me? It's probably that thing, isn't it? That spear-like whatever."
"That's right."
"Oh ho, how interesting."
"I'll take it out here."
I pulled the familiar spear from my pouch.
The moment I produced it, the Witch's expression changed.
"Oh. Oh my. So this really is... it after all..."
"Witch?"
She looked different than usual. Her gaze was tinged with something — wistfulness, maybe.
"That's boring, you know."
Mineha spat it out dismissively.
"Hmm hmm. Young Wof. Put that away for now and come with me to Kon. Mineha, you too."
"Understood."
"Me as well?"
"Come along, now."
I wasn't sure what that was about. The Witch left the hideout, and we followed.
I walked along the narrow streets of Hyzen, taking in the townscape.
"There really are just narrow paths everywhere in this town, aren't there?"
Mineha grumbled. She was in her large form right now, wearing a hood.
She was in a bad mood. I offered a vague, wry smile in response.
"Yeah, yeah, it really is nothing but oddly narrow, cramped little paths."
"Well, it is true that you could get lost pretty easily."
"Exactly. What a thoroughly weird town."
"Mm-hm, mm-hm. Well, yeah, I suppose it is. Weird towns tend to be like that."
A weird town, huh. An island on land. The trading city of Hyzen.
A city that spread across the entirety of the Riev Lake landmass, from end to end.
Maybe that was why all the paths were so narrow and cramped.
The Hyzen Great Forest, stretching across the Hyzen Plains on the mainland, was a treasure trove of monsters.
Here, delvers weren't called delvers—they were called subjugators.
Every year, the Moon Bazaar was held on the Hyzen Plains.
Every year, a massive monster outbreak known as a Forest Wave swept through the Hyzen Great Forest.
The city was ruled by three great families—or, well, now two great families.
Hmm. Was that weird?
Well, having one of the two family heads be Crab Head was admittedly pretty weird, when you think about it.
Chattering away about this and that, we arrived at a warehouse in the port district.
This was supposedly where the "Skia Coffin Ele" was stored.
We entered the warehouse, where a pitch-black massive coffin sat in state.
Actually, the witch opened the door of the enormous horse-drawn carriage, the "Skia Coffin Ele."
We went up to the second floor. The witch's workshop was up there.
There was another room, but right now the Hiaarn Body was being kept there.
"Being kept" was generous — it was just laid out on a bed.
According to the witch, normally a body without a soul is doomed to rot away.
However, thanks to the effect of the talisman's Eternal Egg, the Hiaarn Body had become ageless.
It was not bound by that fate, nor would it ever decay.
As for what to do with it, I'd bring it home and
let the
owner decide.
Still, I had a feeling she didn't intend to come back.
Just a hunch, but I figured she'd probably keep on living as a rabbit.
"Well then, young Wof. Would you bring out that black spear from earlier and set it here?"
"Y-yes."
I did as I was told and placed it down.
Looking at it again, I had no idea what part of it was the spear.
It was a bizarre shape — multiple thin, plank-like pieces layered in a complex arrangement of four black rectangles.
The center was hollow, a round void gaping open.
That was definitely the grip, wasn't it.
You mean there's no grip on it... so it really is a spear after all?
There's some kind of pattern drawn in the center of it, but I can't make it out.
Even holding it up to the light doesn't help at all.
But since the Relic [Fortune's Ring] designated it, it's definitely a spear.
Even though it sure doesn't look like one, this is a spear.
"Can't believe you actually dropped 1000 oro on something this junky."
Mineha said coldly.
She's got a point, but I'll admit I was tempted to pick this up and buy it too.
The mix of blue and yellow light in it is rare, after all.
I also got swept up by the sketchy shop and the owner's vibe.
Who would've thought there'd be a guy in there looking like a fake Chinese person.
I paid 1000 oro thinking it was no big deal, but that's more than three visits to the Hydrangea Junkyard would cost.
That's a lot of money. And yet I thought it was cheap.
The gap between my sense of money now and a few months ago hits me with a slight shock.
"Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Oh my, oh my..."
The witch was examining this weird spear-like thing with great interest.
"Witch, what could possibly be interesting about this junk?"
"—Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Just as I thought."
The witch pulled away. Then she looked straight at Mineha.
"What is it?"
"Um, did you figure something out?"
"Oh yes, oh yes. This spear is unfinished, you see."
"Unfinished...?"
"This thing wasn't even completed, was it. What trash."
"And, and — there's no mistaking it. It's Sema's work."
"Sema?"
"...You... witch. What did you just say...?"
"Wof?"
Something was off. Her voice was trembling.
"Well, well, just as I figured. This one's a Sema piece."
"Sema. My father's...!?"
"Huh? Your dad?"
My eyes went wide.
Mineha gave a small, hesitant nod.
"Sema... was my late father's name."
Mineha's father.