That was close. Phew.
I figured out why she didn't come right away.
She must have been drying herself off and wrapping a towel around her body.
If there hadn't been that gap, she would've been caught.
Well, when you think about it, it's my house, so... but I did end up seeing her naked.
That beautiful woman's bare skin... a single droplet trailing from her chest down to her waist... No, no, no. Get it together.
A thief?
Is there anything in this house worth stealing? ...Well, yeah, actually there is.
And there are three things at that.
The legendary water flask — the Crescent Vessel. Multi-functional.
The knife that becomes the strongest weapon against undead when you apply elixir to it.
And the egg-shaped Relic of unknown name, also legendary. Infinite elixir fountain.
Two legendary items, or whatever.
No matter how you look at it, these don't belong in a place like this.
Especially the last one... that thing could start a war.
If she were here to steal, she would've been searching when she entered my room.
No — she would've killed me.
But instead, she checked on me and then left.
Stealing wasn't her reason.
Besides, nobody who broke into a house to steal would just casually wash their body in it.
So who is she, then?
"............"
The truth is, I already know the answer.
Actually, there's only one possibility.
It's Mineha.
Her height and build are completely different, but it's Mineha.
"...Could it be Mineha...?"
Even so, I have questions.
The biggest one is the size. She wasn't fairial-sized.
But she had traces of Mineha in her.
If her fairial form became normal human-sized, she'd probably look like that.
Would she, though...? She's ten years old, right?
That was unmistakably a woman. Not a girl.
Her chest was full and swaying, her waist tapered, and her hips were round like a peach.
That model-tier body and appearance, at ten years old...?
And she was taller than me.
"No, that's just because I'm still in my growth phase."
Right, it's coming. My growth spurt is coming.
Still, isn't Mineha's figure way too good?
More importantly, her fairial girlfriend had become normal-sized.
It was a Relic. No doubt about it.
I had no actual proof, but that was the thing about Relics — anything was possible.
So which was it? A Relic of humanization, or a Relic of gigantification?
It might even be a Relic that fairials always carry with them.
The problem was I couldn't just ask her.
Because if I did, she'd know I'd seen her naked.
"I really can't bring myself to mention it, though…"
And that was when I noticed the beginning of why she'd become such a Relic enthusiast.
Fairials — a race like little fairies.
I'd never really thought about it before.
With a body that small, daily life had to be incredibly inconvenient.
So there were Relics that let you become normal human size.
If that was the case, I could understand why she treasured Relics so much.
"…………"
I had to reflect on myself.
That incident in the forest from a while back — it had grown bigger inside me than I'd thought.
I had lost. Defeated.
Without a Relic, I never would have survived.
I hated Relics.
I am grateful. I do feel indebted.
But a Relic isn't my real strength.
It's a tool, a technique. There's nothing to be proud of when it comes to Relics.
"......"
From Mineha's perspective, her anger is only natural.
She uses Relics to survive. Being grateful for them is only natural.
I understood why she'd become a Relic egalitarian.
That still didn't give her the right or the standing to look down on Axe and the others.
Axe and the rest... they have struggles that only they can understand.
It's a kind of pain that neither I nor Mineha could comprehend.
"............haa"
I had the feeling things were going exactly as the Witch intended.
No matter how it turned out, once this was over, I'd confront the Witch about it.
And as long as the job got done, that was all that mattered.
I knew some would think that was cold, but there were things in this world that simply couldn't be helped.
More of them than there were stars in the sky.
I knew that from the memories of my past life.
That was why I didn't need glory, or honor, or rising to the top.
As long as I could get through each day, that was enough. That was plenty.
"......things never really go smoothly, do they?"
That's life.
Tomorrow, there will surely be even more collisions than today.
What happens, and where I end up — no one can possibly know.
No one.
Next morning.
At the top of the tower. I wake Mineha, who is dozing peacefully with a towel wrapped around her.
"Mmm... whaa is it?"
"It's time. I've prepared breakfast."
"Mmm... got it..."
"I made as much as I could, but I can't quite manage the same mountain as yesterday."
"Mmm... it's fine, really... I wasn't expecting that much... hah... what?"
She caught me staring.
Darn it, I slipped. Just like before... she really is a dead ringer for her. Identical, really.
Whether clothes actually make the difference... I'm not sure that applies here.
Right now she's not in armor, so I can tell. She's big. Her chest is big.
"Oh no, I was just thinking — you actually managed to sleep here, of all places."
"Is that so? ...Haa, it's not bad. Here."
Is it a size thing?
At any rate, there's no way I'd sleep here.
There's room for an adult to lie down, but it's still a cramped little space.
Mineha washed her face, ate all the breakfast I'd prepared, got ready, and we set out.
At the east gate, Axe and Rel were already there.
"Good morning."
"Morning."
"Morning."
"...Morning."
"Ah, morning."
"Morning."
"Where's Hoss?"
"He's running a bit late."
"Speak of the devil — here he comes."
Hoss came jogging up with a backpack on.
"Sorry I'm late."
"You're always like this."
"You've got a lot of gear."
"Good morning."
"Morning. Sorry, I overslept getting ready."
"That doesn't matter. We're leaving, right?"
Mineha cut him off, looking exasperated — or maybe just fed up.
"Ah, yeah."
"Yeah."
"How pathetic."
"..."
"Alright. Let's head out."
And so began the dungeon exploration that, for me, held nothing but anxiety.