The black spherical puppet standing in the clean, sterile white corridor really stood out.
Its face was completely blank, but I got the sense it was watching us.
Juicy struck first.
He drew his bow, took aim, and loosed an arrow. It hit the spherical puppet straight in the head.
But the arrow bounced off with a light ping.
"Hard!"
Still, Juicy's follow-up arrow was already flying.
His target was—the joints. The moment it hit, the spherical puppet fell apart like it was nothing.
"Fragile?"
Seven black spheres rolled across the floor, and then something incredible happened.
Every single sphere turned into a black jointed puppet.
Seven black jointed puppets now stood before us.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Looks like our only option is to destroy them."
"Seems so."
"Um, um, I'm sorry about this."
"It's not your fault, Juicy."
"Indeed."
"If anything, that was a good attack."
"Everyone, I'll draw them in. Please attack while I do."
Lupinus stepped forward and drew a breath.
"[Battle Cry]!!!!"
Lupinus's war cry rang out. The black articulated puppets all turned toward her.
It worked.
"[Annihilation]!"
A flash. Agaro destroyed the first black sphere puppet.
The destroyed black sphere puppet didn't split — it simply vanished.
"Fire Lance."
What. What even is that.
The black-purple flame spear Pakira unleashed continued to burn the second black sphere puppet.
"That's incredible."
Duration... Could this be the dark attribute?
The black sphere puppet burned and burned until it disappeared.
"Grrgh, is that all?!"
Two black sphere puppets grew spikes on their round hands and lunged, and Lupinus blocked with her shield.
"Hn...
Void...
Style...
Pleiades"
"...Maia Blade."
Seizing that opening, a red slash cut through the third black spherical puppet.
"—Flash Step Blade!"
Bid took down the fourth one.
That left—
"B-Beep... beep... —BWONK."
A pink beam fired from the pink sphere, piercing through and destroying the fifth black spherical puppet.
Ah, and Yuniton and Hiyān were watching together from behind.
Well, that made two remaining.
"Fatal: Bone-Ripping, Bone-Crushing, Gutting Five-Claw Strike!"
Juishii's terrifying finishing move tore apart the sixth black spherical puppet.
It was a [Banish] claw.
The essence of her [Banish] was curves. She'd shaped it into claws.
Even so, manipulating curves that cleanly had to have taken serious training.
I liked that about Juishii.
One left.
Naturally, the one to take it down was me.
"[Banish Chakram]!"
I dodged the seventh black spherical puppet's attack with a clean flourish and erased it with a ring of [Banish].
That was everything wiped out. Agaro stowed Flametongue and grumbled.
"Well, that was a strange monster."
"I've never seen anything like it."
'Neither have I.'
Me either.
It looked mechanical but also somehow biological.
And when we defeated it, everything just vanished.
"That was a weird monster, huh?"
"Being split up like that is a bit troublesome."
"It seems better to attack them all at once rather than one by one."
"That's right. Next time, let's try that combination."
"Sure."
Combination? Looks like they have some secret technique.
Still, that dark attribute. Does it last until the enemy dies? That's strong.
Though it seems difficult to use.
But there wasn't anything like that when I came before.
How many are there, I wonder? Splitting up like that is a real pain.
"This really is a dungeon, isn't it..."
Hihyan, the non-combatant who'd appeared by my side at some point, murmured.
"Seems like it."
And those monsters aren't the only ones.
I need to pull myself together.
"Hmm... shop... let's go."
"Right."
Anyway, now that I'd gotten my bearings, it was time to check out the shop.
The exterior looked like a small convenience store inside a train station.
The entrance had an automatic door that swung open the moment you stepped on the mat.
"Oh, so it's this type."
"A glass door that opens on its own—how peculiar."
For a first-timer, it'd definitely be confusing.
We stepped inside, and Bid let out a breath of wonder.
"Whoaaa, it's super clean!"
"That, that, that, it's sparkling, it's actually sparkling!"
"What kind of mechanism makes it this bright?"
Hihyan looked up at the ceiling, puzzled.
"Hmm... clean... safe..."
The interior, yeah. It was like a convenience store from my past life memories.
Or wait—was it a convenience store?
There weren't any onigiri or bento boxes, obviously, but there were snack foods and retort packs.
And plastic-bottled drinks.
"What is this place?"
"So these are called snack foods."
I picked up a bag of potato chips and explained.
"Oh my, is this a transparent bottle? It's a glass shelf, isn't it?"
'Milady. It is dangerous to touch carelessly.'
"Hmm… plastic bottle…"
"It's cold. Could this be legendary?"
Lupinus was amazed by the refrigerator.
"Th-this looks kinda yummy, ssu!"
Bid picked up a retort pouch box.
"Oh. A splendid picture of meat, isn't it. So this is what's inside."
"Hey hey, can we eat it? I want to eat it!"
"These are meant to be eaten after heating them up."
I'd warm them up in a water bath.
Then, on a whim, I checked the package to see if the expiration date was still fine.
Hmm? The expiration date wasn't stamped on it. In fact, this wasn't even a cardboard box.
The texture was completely different. It looked similar, but it was an entirely different thing altogether.
Expiration date… There wasn't one.
"Where's the booze?"
Agaro wandered around the store.
Behind him, a pink sphere and Yuniton floated along gently.
He suddenly stopped in front of a glass shelf at the back.
"Beep beep… beep… beep beep… alcohol detected… alcohol detected…"
"——Alcohol… found."
"Oh, so the booze is behind this glass shelf? Man, this is really cold. Huh, it kinda looks like those metal containers from that vending machine thing earlier."
"That's a can."
Incidentally, what Agaro had picked up was a can of beer.
He cracked it open without a moment's hesitation and started drinking.
"Phaaahh, that's good. This isn't ale, though?"
"Hmm… that's… beer…"
Honestly, I have no idea what the difference is between ale and beer.
Even in my memories from my past life, I've never had ale.
Wait, isn't it a problem that he's drinking before paying?
Lupinus had also popped the lid off a plastic bottle and was drinking.
Haiyan was munching on chips, and Bidd had opened a bag and was popping chocolates into her mouth.
Pakira and Juicy weren't eating anything—they were fascinated by the retort pouches.
All of them were carnivore girls who'd only grabbed meat products, every single one.
Still, helping themselves to food right inside the store like this… were they barbarians or something?
I turned to Riv, who was lounging around casually.
"You haven't paid yet, is that really okay?"
"Mm… post-payment is… fine."
Oh, is that so.
Then maybe I'll pick something to eat too.
What should I get, though? Hm? Oh, this is...!?
My hand shot out to the shelf before I could stop myself.
"Cup noodles..."
You're kidding—they have these too.
Of course they do.
Of course they do.