This is a story from back when Wof was building dungeons in Heizen.
Night.
Someone knocked on my door.
"Come in."
"Excuse me, sir."
"Shaldina?"
The one who walked in was Shaldina.
Black horns, blond hair, white skin. A Minosdor — one of those golem-like creatures — with golden eyes.
For some reason she was working as my maid, dressed in a maid outfit with a cutlass. A rather aggressive look.
"Actually, I have something to discuss with you, sir."
"Discuss?"
"It's about Annakreutzen, sir."
Annakreutzen.
Black horns, braided blond hair, blue skin. Eyes always closed.
A Minosdor like Shaldina, and also a maid.
Only, she was far more mature than Shaldina, with that big-sister sort of allure.
Her chest, her hips, her overall build — all bigger than Shaldina's.
"What happened to Annakreutzen?"
"I want to do something about her fear of blades, sir."
"...Yeah."
Annakreutzen hadn't been able to hold a blade ever since she'd been stabbed.
She could look at blades just fine, but when she held one, her hands would shake and she'd have trouble breathing.
Breathing? A golem breathing?
That was what I thought, but Minosdore was a bio-golem, so she was barely any different from us.
Someone like Hyarn would know the details on that front.
"Annakreutzen loves cooking. Seeing her unable to cook the way she wants is painful to watch. I can't stand it."
"I've been wondering about that too."
I'd noticed that she sometimes got a sad expression on her face while cooking.
But when it came to overcoming trauma, I had no idea how to go about it.
"Alright. Let's consult the witch."
When in doubt, ask the witch.
The "Skear Kofin Ere" in the warehouse.
The second-floor workshop.
"Hmm, hmm. Trauma. A phobia of blades, you say."
"Yes. I want to do something about it for her."
"I want to too."
"Hmmm. So she's fine with looking at blades."
"Yes."
"But holding them is no good."
"Ho ho. She can look at them, but holding them is out of the question… I believe Anna Kreuz developed her blade trauma from actually being stabbed, wasn't that right?"
"That's right, desu…"
I already knew about her getting stabbed.
Even so, the state she'd been in was gruesome. I was truly glad we'd had that elixir.
Even now, just remembering it made me furious with those guys. Absolutely unforgivable.
"Ho ho. Now then, whatever shall we do about this?"
"Why is she fine with looking at them?"
It was bugging me no matter what.
I wondered if there was some angle I could work from there.
"That, that… She probably feels the pain of being stabbed, but she never actually saw the thing that stabbed her, I expect."
"She's fine with looking because she never saw it? Even though what stabbed her was a blade?"
"Precisely. Even she herself probably doesn't know why she's fine looking at them."
It was a complicated issue.
Wait.
"Witch, I'm not sure if this will work, but there's something I'd like to try."
"Oh? Have you thought of something?"
"What is it, desu?"
"What if we had her hold a blade that can't cut?"
"Ho ho. A blade that can't cut, you say?"
"Yes. If she's fine looking at them, maybe we could have her hold a blade that can't cut and see if she starts to recognize blades as things that can't cut — planting that idea in her perception, so to speak. What do you think?"
"………So then, what should I do?"
Shaldina asked, looking anxious.
"I think it would help her get used to holding a blade."
"Hmm, hmm. So the point is just to get her to hold one, huh."
"Right. First I want her to be comfortable just holding a knife."
If she could go from there to holding a blade that actually cuts, that would count as one step forward.
Probably. It should be doable.
"I see. But what about the blade that doesn't cut?"
"I have an elixir."
"Oh, I see. An elixir knife, then."
"What do you mean?"
Shaldina tilted her head.
I pulled out the knife tucked into my belt.
It had a skull-shaped sword guard, and its blade was pure white.
"This knife is coated with elixir, so it doesn't cut."
With that, I pressed the knife's edge against my own rolled-up sleeve and drew it across.
"Aahh… it's not cutting…?"
"Right. It doesn't cut."
"……That's strange."
"It doesn't cut, but it's extremely effective against undead."
"...By the way, this knife... why is it so tacky?"
"Huh?"
Tacky? Even though it looks this cool?
The witch was also wearing a faint smile.
"Skulls and stuff are creepy."
"Huh? But that's what's great about it... Doesn't it look cool, like a pirate?"
A skull sword guard and the cosmic ocean like my ocean... That's a man's romance, you know.
It seemed like the two of them just wouldn't get it.
"But an elixir knife. That might actually work."
"Yeah, yeah. That's right."
"Come to think of it, I gave Anna Kreuz a fruit knife."
"That one! That one! It was really great!"
"Though I'm not sure if she still has it."
It was a bladed weapon that gave her trauma. She probably wouldn't want to carry it around.
It was a bit of a shock that she parted with it, but there was nothing to be done.
"No. She definitely still has it."
Scharldeena said with inexplicable confidence.
Well, if that was the case, then fine.
"Well, well. Either way, go talk to Anna Kreuz about it."
"Okay."
"Got it, desu."
And so I headed home.
Incidentally, I had wanted to greet Nekeia, but she was in the bath.
Apparently she's a bath lover.
After getting back, Shardina explained everything to Anna Kreuzen.
She had been wearing the fruit knife I gave her as a pendant, never taking it off.
She'd threaded a cord through the handle.
Having someone treasure it that much made me a little embarrassed.
Once the explanation was over, Anna Kreuzen took the fruit knife from around her neck and handed it to me.
It seemed it was fine to touch the cord that connected it.
"Are you really sure?"
"......!"
She slowly nodded.
If that was the case — I took a small bottle from my pouch.
I poured the contents of the small bottle onto the blade of the fruit knife I'd pulled free.
The steel blade turned pure white in the blink of an eye.
"Does this make it so it can't cut anymore, desu?"
"Yes."
Even pressing a finger against the fruit knife and drawing it across didn't cut.
"......!"
"It doesn't cut, des."
Shaldina mimicked her, pressing a finger against the fruit knife's blade and drawing it across.
It didn't cut.
"......!?"
Anna Kreutzen clapped both hands over her mouth, eyes wide.
"This fruit knife is now a blade that cannot cut things."
"............"
"You don't have to take it by force, but please don't forget that this knife can't cut."
"......"
Anna Kreutzen gave a firm nod.
As I hesitated over how to hand it over, she gently took the fruit knife's handle with trembling hands.
"......!......!"
The instant she did, her whole body started shaking and her face went pale.
This might be bad.
Anna Kreutzen's eyes welled up with tears. This was bad.
"Don't push yourself!"
"Wait, des."
Shaldina stopped her.
"But—!"
"Trust Anna Kreutzen, des."
Shaldina spoke with a serious look in her eyes.
I caught my breath.
"............!"
Anna Kreutzen was, by any measure, trembling with fear.
Still, she gripped the fruit knife's handle firmly. She might have had tears welling up, but she wasn't crying.
She took slow, deep breaths, composing herself.
Even so, her body was visibly rejecting something.
Trauma, they say, is something you relive.
Was her pained, sweat-dampened expression a memory of that time?
Her breathing was ragged. She looked like she was about to choke — it was almost unbearable to watch.
"Anna Kreutzen."
Before I knew it, I had reached out and touched the hand that was gripping the handle.
"......!?"
"I'm not much, but I'm here with you."
"Shaldina, too."
Shaldina placed her hand over mine from above.
It was warm. Anna Kreutzen's trembling stopped.
"......"
"......"
But her hand was still faintly shaking.
We watched over her.
"………………———"
Anna Kreutzen closed her eyes.
She took a few deep breaths, then opened them again.
Then, weakly but still, she gave us a gentle smile.
I could tell she had reached her limit, so I carefully and gently took the fruit knife from her.
Shaldina let go naturally as well.
I sheathed the fruit knife and hung it around Anna Kreutzen's neck.
Her gaze looked apologetic.
"……"
"Let's take it little by little."
There was no need to rush. Overcoming trauma wasn't easy.
She needed rehabilitation.
Even if it was little by little — I hoped that Anna Kreutzen would be able to hold a blade again someday.
Hmm? Anna Kreutzen was writing something on a handkerchief?
Then, shyly, as if hiding her face, she held up the handkerchief so we could see what she had written.
"Thank you"
Shaldina and I both smiled bashfully.