I couldn't help but gasp.
"It's like a pulverizer."
"Hmm... Boy. It's dangerous... move back further..."
"Y-Yes. Sorry."
I moved back as instructed.
Wind blades howled from the hobgoblin's sabre-miniature tornado.
They were whipping around, extremely dangerous.
A stone deflected from it had already come flying my way.
I used [Banish] to dispel it.
I couldn't approach carelessly from that distance.
Half-hearted attacks wouldn't work either.
What did Riv plan to do?
"...Celestial Form... Pleiades... Kerai Blade!"
The blade glowed yellow, and Riv casually tossed it aside.
Wait—if she did that, the blade would... Sure enough, it was easily deflected by the miniature tornado.
The hobgoblin sneered.
Why would she do that—the blade soared high into the sky and stopped dead.
It stopped? Then it traced an arc in the air and dropped straight down.
The hobgoblin didn't realize that the space directly above the tornado was completely undefended, and it struck from overhead—but was deflected by the wind.
"...Hmm...?"
The sword swung wide and embedded itself in the wall.
"...Hmm."
With a flick of her finger, Riv made the blade pull itself free and dance through the air.
It settled back into her hand.
The hobgoblin sneered again.
It wrapped wind around its sabre and launched three small tornadoes at Riv.
"...Celestial Form... Pleiades... Maia Blade."
Riv's blade glowed red and slashed through all three small tornadoes—but they exploded just before impact.
"Ugh...!"
Riv was blown back hard but managed to hold her ground. However, the blade fell from her hand.
The hobgoblin didn't miss the opening.
Moving with the speed of wind itself, sabre wrapped in gale force, it aimed straight for Riv's torso.
"Gah...!"
The violent wind impact slammed Riv into the sharp cliff face, and she crumpled to the ground.
"Riv!!?"
I rushed to her side in a panic.
"...Thank goodness. She's just unconscious."
It was only because her equipment was on another level that she'd survived.
An overhead piercing strike—that had been Riv's aim.
But even that, the hobgoblin had read.
The hobgoblin wore a smug, evil grin.
It could fully wield the [Wind] Relic and its OOPArt.
I thought honestly: it's strong.
Even a monster could become this powerful with a Relic and a compatible OOPArt.
Riv wasn't weak. She was Class III.
If this thing only had a Relic, I could have won easily.
But just because an OOPArt was layered on top—was the difference really this vast?
"...What's so funny?" I asked, quietly furious.
The hobgoblin sneered and pointed its sabre at me.
Small tornadoes spawned all around the wind-wrapped blade.
I understood—it was showing off its strength.
With this much power still in reserve, it was carrying itself like a victor—no, like a king.
Power?
Was that the Relic? Or the OOPArt?
I see. Sure, finding a compatible OOPArt could be luck or skill.
It was born with its Relic too.
Using that as "power" was one way to look at it.
So it wanted to claim both the Relic and the OOPArt as the source of its strength.
And with both in hand, it considered itself king.
Very well. If it wanted to flaunt its power that much, I'd show it.
The thing called power—I used the Fourth Relic, [■■■■■].
Instantly, my hair and eyes turned purple.
"!?"
The hobgoblin was stunned.
Then it sent every small tornado it had generated hurtling toward me.
But it was all futile.
"It's over."
I held out my hand and activated the Fifth Relic— [Fantasmagoria].
Countless instances of [Banish] appeared and began erasing the small tornadoes and the hobgoblin alike.
Without a single scream, they were all erased matter-of-factly.
The sabre clattered to the ground, empty. Only silence remained.
I sighed.
"So this is what you call power. Ridiculous."
I deactivated the Fourth Relic. My hair and eyes returned to normal.
I went to Riv's side. The blade had already returned on its own.
Auto mode, perhaps.
I waited for Riv to wake up.
"...Boy..."
"Yes. Are you all right?"
"...I'm safe..."
"I'm fine."
"...Thank goodness..."
She gave a faint smile and stood up.
"Riv, are you okay to move?"
"Hmm... Riv was..."
"You were blown away by the tornadoes."
That was the truth. Riv slowly looked around.
"Hmm... the hob... goblin..."
"After your attack, the tornadoes tore it to shreds."
".........."
Riv silently picked up the sabre.
"What will you do with that?"
"It's an OOPArt, so... I'll take it back. The boy... has errands... to..."
"Oh, right. Um."
I had Riv thoroughly explore the cave for me.
This was the only place left.
I searched desperately and found it—Mōryu grass!
The Mōryu grass was growing in a corner behind the hobgoblin.
"...Boy..."
"Found it. This is it!"
I checked it against the illustration to confirm.
No mistake. But I'd thought so during the illustration too—that the real thing was this similar to that plant from my past life.
"That's what you were looking for..."
"Y-Yes. Morning glory. Wait—no. Mōryu grass."
I misspoke.
Mōryu grass looked just like a morning glory.
They were practically identical.
But their contents would be completely different.
Even so... it really was like a morning glory.
Not the vines, but the flower shape was a dead ringer.
Somehow, it made me nostalgic.
Memories of my past life. Elementary school.
Before summer vacation, we'd bring home morning glory seedlings.
But I forgot to bring mine home, and by the time I noticed, it had withered.
A bitter memory.
After that, I hardly ever looked at morning glories.
I never imagined I'd run into something that looked like a morning glory after reincarnating.
"...Boy. I'm glad... you found it..."
"Yes."
I harvested five stalks of Mōryu grass.
"...Boy. To the side..."
"Wha—whoa!!?"
Right next to the Mōryu grass sat the decaying remains of a corpse in tattered armor.
It had completely skeletonized.
"...This sheath..."
Riv boldly took the leather sheath from the corpse's body.
The sabre fit perfectly inside.
"Was this the sabre's owner?"
"Hmm... probably..."
Perhaps because I moved it, the corpse toppled sideways and immediately crumbled away to dust.
Only the tattered armor and clothes remained.
I offered a rough bow.
Nam-amida Butsu. May you rest in peace.
"...What are you... doing..."
"Just a quick prayer."
"Hmm... prayer... ah."
Riv extracted something from the bone dust.
The way she didn't hesitate to reach her fingers straight into the bones was something.
"What's that?"
"Hmm... tag... delver license... it was glowing... so I could see it..."
"This person was a delver."
"...Class IV..."
"The emblem. What will you do with it?"
"Hmm... bring it to the Guild... they have a system for that... it might be a keepsake... or..."
"Oh..."
I suddenly thought—what if I became a delver and died somewhere out there?
Would someone bring my tag to the Guild as a keepsake?
Of course, I might die before ever becoming a delver.
Who knew what might happen tomorrow. I could die any day.
This corpse might be my future self.
"...Boy. Let's go..."
"All right."
We left the cave.