Chapter 52: Great of Rounds ⑨

My forehead grows warm.

Someone’s feelings, prayers, and wishes spread through my heart.

Thank you.

Uyuni Salt Flats… I once went there with someone precious to me, a long, long time ago.
Or at least, that’s the memory I had.

“It’s like a dream… like a dream come true.”

Someone said that to me with a tearful smile.
A dream… like a dream.

“…Ah.”

Something flashed in my mind.

In that moment, I awakened for the second time.

“I see.”

I finally understood what this “inside my heart” really was.

A dream.

It must be the same kind of dream-space as the Knife Goddess’s mysterious realm.

So the Awakening Water lets me wake up inside a dream.

And if this is my dream, then I should be able to do anything I can imagine.

Just like how I changed the gloomy forest into the Uyuni Salt Flats.

Anything I think becomes real.

The thing readies its sword horizontally and charges at me.
The moment I’m within range, it unleashes its triangular sword in blindingly fast, multidirectional slashes.

The old me would have been minced instantly.

But I dodged every strike.

Perfect angles, perfect gaps— watching every tiny slowdown in its swing— dodging all of it without a scratch.

No matter how terrifyingly fast the slashes, as long as there’s a motion to swing, they can be avoided.

Though honestly, these evasions far exceeded the limits of my physical ability.

Since I dodged, I could counterattack.

I cut into its side.

But shallow.
It responds by producing countless rhombus-shaped 【Vanish】 constructs.

So it’s 【Phantasmagoria】 again.
But it’s pointless.

It launches them— and my body disappears in an instant.

I reappear right in front of it as it uses “Cosmic Arm”.
Quite the counter.

But my right arm is now wrapped in cosmic-sky energy as well.

This is my first time using it in this form.

Our Cosmic Arm clash head-on.

I get knocked back slightly and break into a run.

If it’s now— I can do it.
A shabby imitation of the attack I’ve always admired.

I dash forward, raise my knife, and bring it down.

It lifts its triangular sword to block.

Ordinarily, its weight and structure would make the defense perfect.

But this time it cannot block.

“One-Blade Devil-Cleaver—!”

The triangular sword is cut clean in two, and I slash the creature deeply— for real this time.

It stands still. It still seems like it has some energy left.

One more should finish it.

“If you still want more… the next one’s my special.”

There’s nothing I can’t do now.

So even this—

The thing begins to crumble.

Ah.
So I defeated it after all.

“I leave it to you.”

“…Huh?”

It felt like it said something.

The thing disappears.
What was it, in the end?

Only I remain.

The endless sky and clouds above and below.
Somewhere far away, I hear the sound of waves.
Is there an ocean beyond this?

The ocean… I haven’t been to the sea in this world yet.
We’re inland, so it’s far away.

Someday, I’d like to go.

【Rave Move: Allows up to three physically possible actions to be performed with no recoil. Cooldown: 6 minutes】

I close my eyes.

When I open them— it’s morning.

Sunlight streams in through the window, and birds are chirping.

The rain has stopped.

I’m lying in a bed.

Beside me, the witch is leaning against the bed, sleeping.

“Witch… huh?”

Something feels… off about my body.
I lift the blanket— and freeze.

I’m naked.
Wait, hold on— the witch is naked too!?

There’s a sheet over her, but she’s completely nude!

“C-clothes—!? Where—!?”

Down there. In front of the fireplace!

I panic and try to get up— just as the door opens.

Eh— who!?

“Good morning, Master.”

“M-Munieka-san…?”

W-why is she here?
And— this isn’t my room.
It’s an unfamiliar private room.
The witch’s atelier.

“Yes. I am Munieka. Good morning.”

“G-good morning…”

“Breakfast is ready. Once you get dressed, please come downstairs.”

“Th-thank you…”

“I will take her with me.”

Munieka lifts the witch in her arms.

“R-right.”

“Now then, if you’ll excuse me.”

She bows lightly and carries the witch out.
Bam— the door closes.

“………Wait— getting dressed!?”

If she told me to get dressed, then— clothes…

There they are.

“…”

A neatly folded set of clothes sits on the chair.

This level of tidiness— definitely Munieka.

I get out of bed, pick up the clothes— and realize something.

“These are brand new…”

The underwear is stiff with fresh starch, totally different from before.

I dress myself and head downstairs.

A delicious aroma drifts up.

“Gooood mornin’, Wof-chi!”

“So you’re awake.”

At a perfectly white round table, Chive-san and Shiro-san were sitting.
The table belonged to Shiro-san. Various kinds of food were lined up on top of it.

“Come on—over here—sit, sit.”

Chive-san pulled out a chair. I obediently sat down.

“Good morning.”

On the table there was a white bowl of thick, amber-colored soup.
White and black bread beans. A large deep plate boldly filled with a bean-and-meat stew.
Also spinach, mushroom, and bacon quiche. And lemonade.
Shiro-san spoke.

“You must be tired from yesterday. Eat.”

“Y-yes. Thank you for the meal.”

I scooped up the thick amber soup with a spoon and drank it.
Ah, it’s onion soup. The salt and pepper give it a nice kick—delicious.
I bit into the bread beans, sipped the lemonade, and served myself some of the bean-and-meat stew.

“So—did you get it? Your trump card?”

“Yes, I secured it properly… W-wait, how do you know about that?”

“Well—because we heard about it, obviously—”

“Shiro and I talked with the witch and Narcissus beforehand.”

“Narcissus-san?”

What on earth is going on? I tilted my head as I ate the bean-and-meat stew.
I think it was called something like canule or camaro or something like that.

The stew was packed with beans and big chunks of meat—comforting and warming.
The sausage was especially good. Probably tomato paste in there.

“Yesterday, Narcissus suddenly showed up at our place, saying—‘I want Wof to win, so cooperate,’ out of nowhere.”

“I thought it was some kind of trap at first.”

Munieka-san placed a small pie pastry on the table.

“But Narcissus was serious.”

“Wof-chi—you’ve got no shame, huh—I thought.”

Chive-san glared at me sharply.

W-what did I do?

“So the witch carried out the plan she’d been thinking about for a long time. And it happened to be her turn to sleep beside you as well.”

“That was the second awakening water… right?”

“That’s right.”

“But something unexpected happened.”

“Unexpected?”

“You and the witch didn’t return.”

“Sheltering from the rain—sure, yesterday’s storm was bad, but still—”

“The rain part is true.”

When I split open the pie with my spoon, the filling was white sauce.

“We understand that, of course. And we can guess why you were both naked, since your clothes and underwear were placed neatly in front of the fireplace.”

“Um, how did you even find this place?”

If this was a sudden move, it shouldn’t have been easy to track us down.
Munieka-san answered as she refilled my empty glass with lemonade.

“We already knew about this atelier. So we searched in order: the witch’s house, your house, and then this atelier.”

“I-I see…”

“The witch doesn’t like hotels or inns, which worked in our favor.”

“Is that so…”

“Wof-kun. To be honest, I have many things I want to say, but since you achieved your goal, we’ll overlook the matter this time.”

Shiro-san gave me mercy with an expressionless, serene face.

“Th-thank you very much.”

“Once you finish breakfast, let’s check the relic you obtained.”

“Ooh—sounds good—”

“Does that mean a mock battle?”

“Yes. There’s still time before the council begins.”

“Speaking of which—the exhibition match today is—Fairial vs Fairial, right—?”

“A mother–daughter match.”

Oh, right.
Today is the match between Mineha-san and her mother, Ruriha-san.

After breakfast.

The mock battle was held on the atelier rooftop, which was just the right size.
The floor was still a bit wet, which was slightly worrying.

My opponent was Munieka-san.
She told me to use everything without holding back, so I used [Rêve Move].

“Oooh—seriously…?”

“I can’t believe this.”

After using it, I had pinned Munieka-san to the ground.
I grabbed her arm, held her down, and pressed a knife to her neck.

I had completely restrained her.

“Magnificent, my master. Truly flawless.”

“…Th-thank you very much.”

Munieka-san gave praise with a somewhat pleased expression, and I bowed my head.
I had finally been able to defeat the Munieka—completely.

Now, I was ready for battle.