Hmm, um, what?
I was completely bewildered.
"Wof. Please. Make me a proper woman with this!"
Pakira clung to me, desperate.
I was confused. Oh, nice smell. Butter?
Also warm and soft.
Not the bouncy, fleshy kind of soft, mind you.
More like a squishy, pleasant, smooth softness.
The kind of body heat and skin feel unique to a small girl. Wait—no!
"A proper woman... Pakira. Are you serious...?"
"I am!"
"Mineha. This is—"
I looked over to Mineha, who was lounging on the sofa, silently begging for help.
"If she's this desperate, why not just do it for her?"
"Mineha!?"
Do what for her?!
Wait, no, seriously, what—what's happening?
Something's wrong. Oh, right—times like these!
I activated [Blue Saint].
My head was clearing up.
Hoo, calm down. Think this through.
First, Pakira.
Did she really mean it in that way?
No.
There was a low chance she meant it in that way.
Because her sense of modesty was extremely strong.
Which meant she didn't realize her own words could be taken that way.
So she was using it in a different sense. That had to be it.
Next, Mineha.
I'd been startled by her provocative-sounding remark, but I couldn't be fooled.
She looked like a devastatingly beautiful woman in the flesh, but she was still ten years old.
Would a ten-year-old girl know about that sort of thing?
Well, if she were precocious beyond her years, maybe. But Mineha wasn't like that.
Her sense of modesty was strong, too. So that meant she didn't know.
In other words, neither of them knew it could be taken that way.
Neither of them had used it in that sense.
*(I want to become stronger… I want to become stronger. I never want to feel that helpless and wretched again…!)*
That was Pakira's inner voice — so that was what this was.
"Um, what exactly do you mean by wanting me to do it to you?"
"...You remember, don't you. The fight with the spider."
"Yes, of course."
"You also know that back then, I... couldn't do anything, right."
"But that couldn't be helped."
Making a Relic unusable was practically cheating.
"Oh, stop it. Just make me stronger already."
"Please, Wof. I'll pay you!"
"Well, I'd help if I could, but how would I even go about making someone stronger..."
"You just need to find me an OOPArt. Or a Relic Plate."
So that's how it is after all.
In that case, you could say I'm the right person for the job.
"I'm counting on you, Wof. And I know my vessel still has plenty of room to grow."
"You're already prepared, aren't you."
"Because I don't know what we'll end up with."
"That's right. It's basic delver etiquette to do your homework first."
I should look into it properly too.
"So what kind of thing should I be looking for?"
"A 'Rank Up'."
"...A 'Rank Up'?"
"What's that?"
What kind of Relic is it?
Receiving our puzzled looks, Pakira slowly crossed her arms and began to explain.
"I have given this some thought. Why is it that some Relics can be used while others cannot? And then I remembered. Relics have classes — in other words, ranks. Lower. Middle. Upper. It is something one normally never has reason to consider."
"The ones I couldn't use were lower-rank Relics, then?"
"Because the effect belongs to a higher-rank Relic, the lower ones couldn't be used, right?"
Pakira nodded at our words.
"Is that why you want a Rank Up?"
"Precisely so. A Relic that raises the rank of Relics one already possesses. That is what I want."
"I see."
Pakira's owned Relics — they were attribute-type, if I remembered correctly.
And the Constraint Relic. Constraints were probably upper-rank.
That made sense. Attributes were lower-rank, then.
"But would something like that just happen to exist?"
"That is indeed the issue."
"I'll try searching for it, just in case."
"Mm. I leave it to you."
Nothing to lose by trying.
I searched using the Ring of Fortune.
First, straight to the point — "Rank Up" on the Relic Plate. How about that?
Huh?
What the… Suddenly, inside my head… a screen full of static…
The static was thick, but I could make out a landscape.
This place—I knew it. This place… is actually here.
"So? Did you find something?"
"Is it there?"
"It's there."
I nodded.
"W-Wait, really?!"
Pakira's eyes went wide, every hair on her body standing on end.
Mineha was practically bouncing with excitement.
"You're serious?! Where is it?! Don't tell me it's in that sketchy mountain of junk?"
"…The Forbidden Land."
The words slipped out of me in a murmur.
"Say what now?"
"What's that supposed to mean? Where?"
"…There's no doubt about it. It's the Forbidden Land."
I'd need to ask Nechia about this.
Well, that meant there was nothing I could do right now.
"Hmm. I should consult with Lupinus and the others…"
"By the way, are you two hungry?"
I asked.
The two of them looked up.
"If you're making something, I'll eat."
"I'll have a little too, if you please."
Mineha said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Pakira's cheeks flushed pink, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Then I'll get to it."
I headed to the kitchen and first looked around for ingredients.
"Green onions. Sesame oil. Flour, I guess."
Right. I pulled a lump of meat from my pouch.
Hmm. Oh, let's make that.
First I put the flour in a bowl, added water, and kneaded it.
Then I let it rest for about an hour. In the meantime, I ground the meat lump into mince and chopped the green onions.
I used every last green onion, mincing them all as finely as I could.
"What are you making?" Mineha asked.
"Robbin."
"Never heard of it," Pakira said.
Both of them looked thoroughly intrigued.
Well, it was a simple dish, so there was no real need for help.
I rolled out the rested dough.
Once I'd rolled it out, I slathered sesame oil generously all over.
I sprinkled on some salt, then scattered finely chopped green onions and ground meat evenly across the surface.
Then I shaped the dough into a log and rolled it up tightly in a spiral.
"What's that? What are you going to do with it?"
"Fry it."
I put it in a frying pan and cooked it.
I covered it with a lid and let it cook on low heat until it turned a nice golden brown.
Then I flipped it over and cooked the other side to the same color.
"Oh my, that smells lovely."
"Oh my, how fragrant."
The smell of sesame oil and green onions was irresistible.
"It's done!"
Scallion pancakes.
It was a dish I'd learned about from a memorable episode in a manga I remembered from my past life.
A home-cooked dish with all sorts of variations.
I cut it into easy-to-eat pieces.
I'd made them a bit on the big side, so Pakira got one.
I took three. The rest all went to Mineha.
"Oh ho! The outside is crispy and the inside is chewy—wonderful texture."
"That's nice. The green onion flavor with the sesame and ground meat, yeah. This is exactly my kind of taste."
Since they were both raving about it, I decided to give it a try too.
Yup. Delicious.
It tasted even better than I expected.
The sesame and green onion flavors were rich and deep, the wrapper was crispy, and the filling was cooked to perfection.
The ground meat had a great texture too. The dough was chewy, and it tasted like authentic Chinese cuisine.
"Even so, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"What's up?"
"Why did you call it a fine woman?"
"Well, you see. There's a saying — if you're not strong, you're not a fine man."
"Ah, right. That one exists."
"So that means, if you're not strong, you're not a fine woman either, right?"
Oh, so that's how it is.
Well, now that they mention it, I guess it is weird that there's no female version.
"...So you're saying you want me to make it a fine woman?"
"Isn't that right?"
"Isn't it?"
They both stared back at me, tilting their heads.
"...Ahaha..."
All I could do was laugh it off.
I wondered what they'd think if they knew the real meaning of the dish's name.
Yeah. If that day ever comes, it comes. Robin. It's delicious, though.
"I'm not thanking you, Wof. Make more!"
"Huh? You already finished eating!?"
No matter how you looked at it, that was way too fast. Her portion had the most, too.
As always, she ate in a physically impossible manner.
Then Pakira started fidgeting again, stealing glances up at me with a hesitant look.
She had to be doing that naturally. Maybe it was some kind of bewitching charm.
"This one would also... like to eat a bit more, if you please."
"Sure thing. I'll make some right away."
In that case, I'd make them a little thicker and increase the number of sheets.
I added more variety too, and then Mineha stood up carrying a plate.
"Wait. We're all making them together. Come on, Pakira, help out too."
"My contributions are small, but it wouldn't be right to do nothing."
"That would be helpful."
We all made Robin together.
We made a ton, ate them, and then got scolded by Shardina and Anna Kreutzen when they came back.
I treated the two of them to Robin as well and somehow managed to get off the hook.
So that's the Forbidden Land for you.