Grand Temple. Southeast.
When we reached the vicinity of the campsite, there was the corpse of a mimic puppet box.
For some reason, Rel was keeping watch on top of the corpse.
She looked down at us and spoke.
"It looks just like the twelfth sister's Relic."
What kind of Relic is that?
"Rel. This—"
"It's the new campsite."
"Huh?"
I was about to ask whether Rel and the others had defeated this mimic puppet box.
That was not the answer I expected.
"Oh, Rel!"
"Bid. It's been a while. You're short on your end, aren't you? About four people."
"One of them went home, and the other three... got left behind over there."
"Over there, huh. Whether that's a good thing or not, I can't tell—just like the fifth sister."
"Unfortunate constitution. Given two choices, she always picks the wrong one."
"You've still got a lot of sisters, huh."
Bid gave a wry smile.
Rel let out a soft laugh and looked toward Pakira and the others.
"……Torquetam, huh."
"Rel. That's Thunder Fang, isn't it."
"That's right."
"Wof's been in your care, then."
Huh, me? Well, she's certainly been a great help, I'll admit that much.
"Right. But like the rumors said, it's all women... Even now, there's quite a few."
"Well, it's an all-female party, so naturally."
"Speaking of women, Wof. What about Mineha?"
"Oh!"
I hurriedly opened my pouch.
Then, carefully and gently, I took out Mineha wrapped in a handkerchief.
She was warm, and I could tell she was alive from the faint rise and fall of her upper body.
"Is that a fairial?"
"Is it sleeping?"
"Hmm... a small creature..."
"How adorable."
Rel climbed down from the puppet box.
She looked at Mineha and spoke.
"The Grand Temple?"
"Yes. She suddenly collapsed."
Axe warned me about it.
The strange pressure emanating from the center of the Grand Temple.
I didn't feel anything, but Mineha collapsed from it.
Rel examines her.
"She appears to be breathing."
"Yes."
I think she's just exhausted. So she'll be fine.
And in the worst case, we still have an elixir.
Just then, Axe climbed out of the puppet box — out of the pile of wreckage.
"Rel, we should go find those two as well, just like Alexander did — wh-what the—!?!"
Axe was startled.
Well, that's what happens when a whole bunch of people come pouring out all at once.
But from inside the puppet box... she came out?
And she was planning to go search for them, like Alexander?
"What d'we have here. This is... quite a lot of 'em."
Hoss climbed out of the puppet box too.
What is going on.
I explained everything.
Axe understood.
"Ah... right. The anomaly subjugation team, huh? Can't just stand here chatting. The new camp was just set up. Let's head inside and have a proper talk."
Rel welcomes me like that.
Could it be that— everyone fell silent.
Just who had come up with this idea?
A puppet box. I'm inside one.
This is the new camp.
"I can't believe this is inside a defeated monster."
"Those teeth at the entrance are scary, y'know?"
"Yeah, those work pretty well as a guard."
"That may be true, but..."
Bid doesn't seem to be a fan of the teeth at the entrance.
I get how he feels. Giant human teeth at an entrance — I wouldn't be too fond of that either.
Lupinus says, sounding exasperated.
"I expected something more... visceral."
"I... no way... it's just... empty."
"To think it'd be a decently spacious empty box on the inside."
That's right. I'm inside the puppet box.
The dungeon monster — a giant mimic that converts what it eats into puppets.
For me, it's the monster I hate most, the one that caused that tragedy at the Junkyard.
Its insides are an empty box.
The material is unclear, but it's slightly soft yet firm.
Inside the box, torches had been set up, along with three tents and a campfire.
The campfire's smoke was rising upward. But the smoke was invisible.
"Um, Axe. Where's Alexander?"
I couldn't see him, so I asked. Axe sighed.
"...When the earthquake hit and things got noisy around here, a swarm of puppets and mimics suddenly appeared. After we'd managed to drive off a good number of them, Alexander headed for the great temple since you lot were so insistent about being worried."
"Is that so."
"And then the puppet box attacked us, it did."
"We managed to take it down."
"Just the three of you!?"
"It was rough, but the price of it—or well, the campsite got completely trashed."
"So we figured we'd repurpose this thing, we did."
"R-right."
So that's how they ended up deciding to use the inside of the puppet box as a campsite?
"It's perfectly fine, you know. There may be plenty of space, but a campfire in an enclosed room is dangerous."
"Th-that—well, the smoke gets sucked up somehow, so it's fine, it is."
"That 'somehow' only makes me more nervous."
"Hmm... agreed..."
"N-no need to worry! I-I checked every corner of this box, I did!"
"Also, the heart I shot clean through was lying in the back."
"A heart..."
"Oh, and a defective puppet was stuck in there too."
"That just cranked my anxiety way up!"
"Relax. I'm burning it right now. Don't sound like the fifth sister."
"That sister is where all the anxiety comes from."
What did the fifth sister do, anyway?
"Wait—hold on, this campfire, no way!"
I was dumbfounded.
They were using the puppet as kindling.
I mean, sure, it looked like wood, but this thing used to be... you know.
Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore since it's already something different. Better not to think about it.
Bid sidled up to Hoss, who was stirring the pot.
"What're you cooking?"
"I-it's a mixed meat stew. I'd get sick of nothing but soup... y'know."
"...Looks yummy... *slurp*. Mm."
"I-if you want, y-you can have some. Here."
"Mm... thanks..."
Hoss handed a bowl over to Riv and served some up for himself.
Bid sampled the mixed meat stew too.
Something about Hoss seemed off. Was he nervous?
After that, they ate and drank and introduced themselves to each other.
And it was officially decided that Pakira and the others would camp here too.
The tents were quickly increased, bringing the total to six.
Everyone disarmed and relaxed.
Everyone, myself included, was tired.
After a while, we decided to have a discussion.
When I moved away from the campfire and came closer to the tents, Riv and Bid were talking.
"I'm so envious! Riv's Relic [Storage] and that Legacy [High-Performance Tent] are seriously my dream!"
"I'm... embarrassed..."
"Embarrassed," she said... Hmm.
Actually, that storage isn't a Relic. It's a product of technology.
The high-performance tent isn't a Legacy either. It's a product of technology.
Beyond the five regular tents, there was a uniquely shaped gray tent in the form of a trapezoid.
No, it was more like a house. From the material alone, it was definitely not cloth.
The appearance was completely out of place—less another world, more alien survival game.
Naturally, it was the girls' tent, so I hadn't gone inside.
But it had beds, a shower, and even a flush toilet.
It was absolutely ridiculous.
Just a little while ago, Bid had teased me with "Wof, let's bathe together!"
Give me a break.
I put Mineha inside the third tent.
This was the storage tent.
If she woke up in Torquetam's tent, she'd definitely panic.
But the other tents were sleeping quarters too, with people in them making noise.
So the storage tent it was. To make things clear, I set her down on top of a barrel.
After that, I hurriedly put her back in the pouch again. I felt kind of bad about it.
If her condition worsened, I'd use an elixir.
"…Still."
Now that I was alone, I let out a deep sigh.
I couldn't help but clench my fists tight, teeth gritted.
Frustrating. Unbearably so. I wanted to punch that wooden crate over there.
I didn't do it, but that's how frustrated and pathetic I felt — I couldn't forgive myself.
Even in my memories from my past life, there was nothing this frustrating and this pathetic.
"Cooldown…"
Every time I'd used [Generous] up until now, I'd always won.
So I'd never had to use it consecutively.
I hadn't noticed at all.
It never even occurred to me.
Because I'd been using it so carefully, so cautiously.
That's no excuse.
If you're dead, excuses don't matter.
…Haaah…
The fourth Relic, [Generous], has a cooldown.
Come to think of it, [Still One] had one too.
Why didn't it occur to me that [Generous] would have one as well?
I went ahead and used [Generous] right then.
But nothing changed. No change to my hair, my eyes, that rush of euphoria, or the overwhelming intimidation.
More than an hour had passed since then, but the cooldown was still ongoing.
Hm? A notification popped up: [Generous]: Duration 5 minutes. Cooldown 1 day.
Five minutes for a one-day cooldown, huh.
"............"
"Hey, hey, kid!"
"Wh— y-yes?!"
Lupinus had appeared behind me at some point.
"What is it?"
"I, uh, was just startled."
Since I'd dismissed my equipment, Lupinus was in light attire too.
She was wearing a soft vanilla-colored dress.
The gentle, casual look was so different from her armored appearance that it threw me off a little.
"I see. By the way, that fairial over there — keeping it in armor all the time must be uncomfortable."
"Huh? But I can't exactly be the one to undress it…"
Nope. Not happening, Mineha.
It may be small, but its figure is way too good for its age. Absolutely not.
"You're a child, so there's no need to worry about it."
"That's not true at all. We're male and female. I don't think age matters."
"Oh, that's a fair point. In that case, I'll take care of it."
"Y-yes. Thank you."
"Then go wait outside."
"Okay."
I hurried out in a bit of a panic.
I happened to run into Pakira, and our eyes met.
"What's the matter, Wof? Somethin' wrong?"
"Ah—no, well... there's something I can't do."
"Hmm? I see. Well then, let me return this."
Saying that, Pakira handed me a small bottle.
It was empty.
"You used it?"
"Mm. Not for me, mind you. It saved the day, that did. Much obliged."
"...Glad to hear it."
"Still, to think I'd run into you here."
"Same here."
I never expected to see her again.
Pakira smiled gently.
"Well, you know... I'm honestly glad I got to see you again."
"I feel the same wa——"
"What are you two doing?"
Lupinus suddenly stepped out of the tent.
Right. This was the tent's entrance.
"W-we were just talking a bit. And you?"
"...I was taking the armor off the fairial child. It would be cruel to leave it on."
"I see."
"Both of you, let's go. It's almost time for the meeting."
"Right."
"There's a lot we need to talk about going forward."
"Y-yes."
So it begins.
What's really going to happen from here?