"Four-Piece Treasure Chest Set with Random Knives Inside."
What an oddly familiar name—it reminded me of the year-end and holiday gift sets from my past life.
I have this memory of canned mackerel sets being surprisingly delicious, back in my past life.
But I digress.
The key thing was that the four treasure chest sets were very clearly distinguished.
A wooden treasure chest.
A copper treasure chest.
A silver treasure chest.
A golden treasure chest.
The contents were obvious without even opening them. Knives.
Given this, several questions arose. Or rather, I had nothing *but* questions.
"What is this?"
"It's a four-piece treasure chest set with random knives inside."
"I heard that. Um, sorry—poor phrasing on my part. Why does something like this even exist?"
"For promotional purposes."
"...Promotion?"
Are they finally trying to start a holy war with Seiho too?
"Promotion. Listen. Throughout history and across cultures, compared to the glorious sword, the knife has always had a lower status."
"Well, sure. Compared to a sword, it has less reach and is more dangerous."
That's exactly it. Precisely that.
I struggle with that short reach too,
making do
with tricks and gimmicks.
"Of course. The shortness that defines a knife's identity cannot be removed."
Take that away and it's no longer a knife.
It's almost sad that its sole reason for existing is also its greatest weakness.
"But, Goddess, knives are more affordable than swords. And because they're short, they're light."
"Yes, being cheaper than a sword is something to be proud of. Being affordable and light are advantages too."
Knives are lighter than swords precisely because they're short.
Which means you can carry several of them.
"But precisely because of that affordability and lightness, I have serious complaints about the general user base that handles knives."
"The general user base...?"
I furrow my brow at the oddly un-goddess-like, research-oriented phrasing.
The Goddess of Knives pays me no mind and continues with an unchanged expression.
"Wof, what came to mind when you heard 'general user base'?"
"That would be..."
"Didn't you picture a hooligan with flashy black leather gear, spiked shoulder armor, a mohawk, an evil face, and a knife blade perpetively licking his tongue?"
"...I pictured one with an eye patch."
Yes. An end-of-the-century hooligan popped into my head immediately.
She was licking her knife like nobody's business.
Thieves, thugs, river pirates, bad guys in general — those types really do love their knives, don't they?
Compact, light, and short, they're perfect for a hidden weapon.
In fact, assassins who use knives come in second only to thread-users after all.
Huh... so that's the general customer base.
I could understand why the Goddess of Knives would be pretty dissatisfied with all that.
"I know, I know. Knives can't beat swords. If someone told me to pick between a knife and a sword, I'd grab the sword without hesitation."
"Hey."
You're the Goddess of Knives, you know.
"In reality, it's just a fact. If you hadn't been cursed, you would have carried a sword too, right?"
"That's true."
I nodded immediately.
For some reason, that seemed to satisfy her, because the goddess opened her eyes wide and said with a straight face:
"Sword popularity is honestly something no one can beat!"
Way too honest.
But yeah, well, pretty much.
"............"
In my past life, the death game I'd spent hundreds of hours playing had tons of weapons.
But overwhelmingly the most common were bladed weapons. I think nearly sixty percent were swords.
No wait, maybe seventy percent.
So swords are the king of weapons. In this world, they've got a goddess.
A goddess... that gives me pause.
From my past life, I know that since ancient times the sword has symbolized... that male thing... on account of the way it sticks straight up.
And the scabbard represents the female, because of its shape.
It's the kind of metaphor you can sort of get.
So the idea of a goddess of swords feels hazy to me... or rather, I feel a certain unease.
"At least I want to bring about a change to improve the reputation that knives are just
props
for villains among the general customer base! Are you even listening, Wof?"
"Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought."
"Hey, listen properly when the goddess is talking!"
"Sorry."
The goddess puffs up in anger. She mutters, wondering what I was even thinking about.
There is absolutely no way I'm telling her I was thinking about swords and scabbards as symbols of men and women.
"Anyway, I want to improve the recognition of knives. This is for that purpose — for wider distribution."
"...I see. So I just need to place these treasure chests, right?"
Honestly, I don't think this will raise the status of knives at all.
But well, if it's only about four chests.
"Yes. I'd like you to place 100 of them on each floor."
"100 on each floor — 100!? There are only four!"
"Put them there and they'll increase."
Seriously.
"...O-okay."
A hundred of them... Wasn't the dungeon going to end up flooded with knives?
Originally, the treasure was meant to be recycled junk from the Junkyard.
"I'm counting on you."
Sigh. Well, he had been helping me out. I guess this much was fine.
"Well then, here."
"Wait. Wof. Open them one by one."
"Open them?"
"The knives inside are yours."
"Oh, thank you."
Honestly, my spoils were already packed with knives, but whatever.
Knives, the more you have, the better.
I opened the wooden chest. Hm. Just a completely ordinary... wooden knife. What good was that?
I opened the copper chest. A copper knife.
I opened the silver chest. Oh. A wooden knife...?
I opened the gold chest. Huh? A wooden... knife...!? What the—!?
"Oi. Dude, uh, this."
"It's random."
— No, at least match the ranks, would you? Opening a gold chest and getting a wooden knife is enough to piss anyone off.
And honestly, I was about ready to be pissed.
— That's a fair point. I'll adjust it.
Please do. Seriously.
It occurred to me — since I had the chance, and she was technically a goddess — to ask a question.
— Hey, um, Goddess. Is a dungeon something that a person can actually create?
My plain little question made the knife goddess pause, as if mulling it over.
— It should be fine. This particular creation involves the dungeon's will. In other words, the will of Yomid.
— Yomid...?
— The god of dungeons.
Yomid... I'd heard that name somewhere before.
Where was it again...? I couldn't remember. Yomid, the god of dungeons.
Well, either way, I'd gotten the goddess's stamp of approval.
Time to start building with confidence.
— Got it. I'll build a proper dungeon.
— Wof. That's not it. I'm not looking for a proper dungeon.
— Huh?
— What matters is what kind of dungeon *you* want to create.
— What kind of dungeon...?
— Yes. I'm very much looking forward to it. The dungeon that only you, in your own way, would create.
"...Like me, you mean?"
"Yes. I'm sure knives would just break one after another, over and over."
"That won't happen."
I answered immediately.
What kind of dungeon is that even supposed to be. I'm never going back in there.
"Then it'd turn into a knife paradise where the only thing you can get are knives."
"That won't happen either."
No way a dungeon like that should exist.