Chapter 81: Clown of the Wonder World 0

A voice.

I hear a voice.

“Wof!”

Someone is calling me. Who is it?

“Oh! He’s awake!”
“Hey, hey. You okay?”
“…? Where is this?”

A blue sky. A familiar white landscape.

Mineha, sitting on Pakira’s shoulder, speaks.

“We’re outside the Grand Temple. You collapsed the moment you stepped in. See, I told you. That overwhelming pressure was dangerous.”
“That’s right. Even Edda’s Megadia felt sick.”

Megadia, slumped against a pillar with a wine bottle in hand, grumbles.

“The Statue of Return. That thing itself is legendary. No surprise there.”

The Grand Temple. A massive, open door.

Beyond it, a hall glows with stained glass.

And in the depths of that hall, the faint silhouette of the Generous Return girl statue.

“Child, here. Drink some water.”
“Oh, thank you.”

Lupinus hands me a cup.

It’s really just water. I drink as told. It’s lukewarm.

“I feel awful too. The last time I felt this bad was… my 11th sister’s cooking. No, wait. I blacked out from that. Oh, I know! It was when I ate my 13th sister’s rotten meat pudding.”
“Well, of course, that would make you feel sick.”
“Honestly, Rell, you’re just as bad.”
“What do you mean?”

Everyone is here. Even Bid is here. Alive!

Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness.

“Uh, what about that Clown?”
“Clown?”
“What’s that?”
“The Fool… The undead dungeon monster. A jester.”
“Was there something like that?”

Lupinus thinks for a moment before saying:

“Now that you mention it, I saw something similar at a circus in the royal capital when I was a child.”
“Jesters, huh? I remember seeing one performing on the street. Balancing on a ball, holding a bottle in his mouth while juggling knives. He even breathed fire.”
“That’s just impressive, not just a jester thing.”
“I’d like to see something like that at least once.”
“The dungeon’s anomaly… is it about the giant salamander?”
“Huh?”
“That thing.”

Pakira points, and near the camp, a massive black shape looms.

That… That fell into the Grand Temple back then.

“A giant land catfish.”
“—Wof-dono. You’re mistaken. That’s a giant salamander. It’s completely different from a land catfish. Why? Because a giant salamander is a dungeon monster.”

Alexander approaches with Liv, explaining.

Wait, hold on a second. That enormous land catfish is actually a giant salamander?!

Seriously? This world has giant salamanders…?

That thing?

“Oh, looks like the setup is complete.”
“Yeah. Now we can go home.”
“Hmm… Inside the temple… no treasure… nothing at all…”

Liv, still looking sleepy, seems a bit disappointed.

Bid sighs.

“Liv, were you really just supposed to be on guard duty?”
“Oh dear, Liv. That’s sacrilegious. You’ll be cursed by Edda.”

Megadia comments, sipping her wine.

Not convincing at all.

“Hmm. It’s unscientific, but… seems plausible.”
“Liv, you really are… Honestly.”
“…Sorry.”

What’s going on?

Is this the result of the Clown’s disappearance—some kind of inductive resolution?

Inductive reasoning.

In my past life, it was a method of deriving general laws and conclusions from various phenomena, facts, and data. A form of inference.

So basically, after removing the Clown, the world is adjusting the story to make sense.

That means the dungeon’s anomaly became the giant land catfish—no, the giant salamander.

And apparently, we fought the salamander here instead.

That giant salamander must have had [Earthquake] and [Teleport] abilities.

It teleported us instead of killing us, and we battled it, eventually defeating it.

Something like that, I guess.

This story is getting crazier by the second.

“Wof, you alright?”
“Ah, yes. Sorry for causing trouble again.”
“It’s no trouble at all.”
“That’s right, child.”
“Wof, don’t be so humble.”
“Wof-kun, you were amazing out there.”
“Huh?”

“I was really worried when you got blasted away by the giant salamander, but after that, you climbed onto it and landed a direct hit on its core. That was incredible.”

Axe says proudly.

Wait, I did something that crazy?

“That was a huge achievement.”
“Hm?”
“Great assist. I’d love to tell my 14th sister about it.”
“W-Wait…”
“Thanks to you, my [Mausoleum’s Light Burial] worked.”
“Is that so…”
“But I won’t forget what you did to me, Wof-kun.”
“Huh?”
“Oh? I’d like to hear about this.”
“P-Pakila-san, your eyes are scary…”

Her cat-like pupils make her stare terrifying.

“Child. What exactly did you do to Bid?”
“Uh, well…”
“I’ll never forget… blush”
“Huh?”
“That sounds sketchy.”
“Hmm… Perverted boy…”
“Ehh?!”

I have no memory of this, but Bid is laughing.

“Mya-ha-ha! I’m not joking. Something did happen, but never mind that—Pakila’s trump card is way too strong. The giant salamander lost half its face.”
“Well, there’s not much I can do about that…”
“Anyway, Wof. We need to talk later.”
“…Y-Yes.”

What the hell did I do?

“Well, that attack could use a bit more restraint.”
“That’s easier said than done…”
“…But Liv likes… Pakila’s songs and dances.”
“Liv?”
“I like them too.”
“Wof!?”
“Oh, now that’s a different reaction.”
“N-No way! You idiot!”
“Hey, ow! Don’t hit me! It actually hurts!”

“Alright, enough of that. Everyone’s here.”

Megadia says, standing up, wine in hand, like she’s leading a school trip.

“No one’s forgotten anything? Time to head back.”

Everyone responds in their own way.

This feels like a school excursion.

It doesn’t feel grand at all.

But that’s okay. That’s the best outcome.

Axe asks:

“Alexander, where did you set it up?”
“In the Fate Chamber of the Eastern Chapel.”
“Huh.”

Fate, huh?

I’m probably the only one who remembers.

That Generous Return girl statue…

Could the model for that statue have once used [Vanishment Line]?

And if I get close to that statue, will I regain it?

Right now, I don’t have [Vanishment Line].

And honestly, I’m relieved.

But still, I wonder…

Without [Vanishment Line] this time…

Even if we had won, Bid and Axe would have died.

The others might not have survived either.

“……”

A foolish thought, but…

What if [Vanishment Line] wasn’t there by coincidence?

What if it appeared because I needed it?

What if I was destined to obtain it?

For what purpose?

For that Clown—Is that it?

Then who arranged this…?

Well, of course.

“…The Buddha’s palm.”

I chuckle bitterly.

Like a hero summoned to defeat the Demon King.

But since [Generous] still exists, maybe this was just a coincidence.

Or maybe it was all random, and my speculation is meaningless.

That Generous Return girl statue… It’s too far to see clearly.

“Wof, what are you doing?”

“We’re leaving without you!”

“What are you doing?”

“…Sorry. I’m coming now.”

I walked, following after everyone.

I didn’t look back.

This was fine.

Because humans should not become gods.

Feeling strangely refreshed, I lined up next to Pakila-san and suddenly realized—

“…Ah.”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Come to think of it, my knife…”

Huh? It’s not there. That’s strange.

If it wasn’t erased by the Clown, then it should be here.

And yet, it’s missing. Oh—there it is!

The Elixir Knife… is… here.

Huh? What about my other knives?

The knives that got erased by the Vanish Knife when I first encountered the Crown…?

The knives that were cut and erased during the battle in stopped time?

Hello? Inductive reasoning?

“What are you doing?”

“Uh, my knife?”

“What? Your knife? Oh, it broke when you stabbed it while being caught by the Giant Salamander.”

Inductive reasoning?!

Huh? My knife…

And just like that, we returned home.

Hydrangea. I’m back.

Four days after returning.

Things had settled down quite a bit, so I started thinking again.

This was a world where the Clown had been completely erased from the past and future, and reality had been adjusted to fit through inductive reasoning.

In other words, a world where the gaps left by the Clown were filled in to make sense.

But normally, in situations like this, wouldn’t unfamiliar memories suddenly surface in my head?

Yet, that didn’t happen at all.

I had no idea what had actually transpired.

So, I decided to ask around.

First, The Garbage Dump Incident.

Instead of a mimic, a few lizardmen had appeared.

There were some casualties, but not many.

Agaro-san took down the Lizardman General, resolving the issue.

Apparently, I had still been there, just like before.

After that, not much had changed.

• I still obtained the Relic Plate.
• Axe-san’s conflict and reconciliation with Mineha-san remained unchanged.
• The flow of events up to Edda’s Sanctuary, the dungeon’s deepest area, was identical.

But from there, things diverged.

The Great Temple’s massive double doors had remained shut the entire time.

Which meant that Mineha-san and I never entered the temple.

Hydrangea, Cidre Inn. Table seating.

Axe-san took a sip of cider and spoke.

“The doors stayed closed, so we searched the surrounding area, found nothing, and eventually returned with Alexander.”

“You were just sipping tea and staring into space like an old man.”

Mineha-san added, stuffing her mouth with a mountain of meatballs.

One meatball was about the same size as Mineha-san herself, and she was finishing them off one after another.

Still the same bottomless appetite.

No, at this point, it was beyond that.

“I can picture it already.”

“And then, while we were relaxing, an earthquake hit.”

“That was intense. It reminded me of my third sister’s snoring.”

“What kind of snore was that?”

Rell and Hoss were doing their usual back-and-forth.

I kind of wanted to know what that snore sounded like.

“That’s when the abnormality response team… and the Giant Salamander appeared, right?”

“Yeah. That was a surprise.”

“It appeared on the opposite side of us.”

“Southwest, I think.”

“Because of it, my stew pot spilled.”

“And then the lizardmen attacked.”

So the mimic was swapped out for lizardmen.

Even when we were teleported, there were lizardmen.

Maybe… that was how it was supposed to be all along?

“We managed to drive them back, but the campsite was in ruins.”

“We realized we needed a more defensible location.”

“Yeah, we hadn’t planned for that at all.”

“Well, at that point, we thought we were just heading home.”

“If only things had gone smoothly.”

“So we decided to move the camp to the temple district.”

“The temple district?”

That made sense.

It had walls, plenty of food, and no need for tents.

So instead of the mimic’s puppet box, they used the temple district as their base.

“While moving there, we ran into the abnormality response team, Torquetum, and Bid.”

“I see. What about Megadia-san?”

“She was fighting the Octopus Queen.”

“Wait. You mean the Lizardman Queen, right?”

“Nope. Octopus Queen.”

“A monster like that actually exists?”

Even here, nothing had changed—Agaro-san and the others had still been left behind.

“But why ask all this so suddenly?”

“Talking about that time… Well, I don’t mind, especially if it means getting a free meal.”

“Planning to write a memoir or something?”

“That’s more of my eighth sister’s specialty.”

“Your sisters seem like they can do just about anything.”

“Heh, well, except for getting married.”

“Not a funny joke.”

“You really just said that, huh?”

“Rell, don’t say that in front of them. You’ll get yourself killed for sure.”

“I know. I don’t want to end up like my seventh sister.”

“Whoa…”

“That sister of yours never learns, huh?”

“So, Wof, why are you suddenly asking about all this now?”

“Ah, well, the witch asked me to.”

“I see.”

“Makes sense.”

“I get it.”

“Understood.”

Everyone accepted it without question. The witch really was trusted.

After that, we arrived at the temple district, which had become Megadia-san’s new campsite.

Then came the dungeon’s anomaly—the Giant Salamander hunt.

The Night Before Leaving

After the hunt, we stayed for a night.

Before leaving, Megadia-san opened the Great Temple’s massive double doors—and the moment we stepped inside, I collapsed.

Megadia-san also fell.

And the sheer pressure was too overwhelming for the others to even enter.

It was as if something absolutely refused to let us in.

I had pieced together most of what happened.

But… there was still one thing that bothered me.

Yes. That.

I made up my mind and headed to see her.

The Watchtower Ruins Overlooking the Town

The remains of the watchtower were scattered around, but the view from here was incredible.

“So? What did you want to talk about in a place like this?”

Pakila-san looked at me, puzzled.

But her cat ears twitched, and her twin tails swayed restlessly.

She was in her off-duty outfit—a white cape over a yellow one-piece dress.

Ugh. How do I even start this?

“Just to confirm… The night before the anomaly hunt, did we stand watch together?”

“……Fool. What do you expect to gain by asking that?”

Pakila-san’s face turned red, and she pouted slightly.

Ah.

So we did. That’s a relief.

For some reason, the thought of not having experienced that night made me feel incredibly uneasy.

And now… the battle against the Clown had never happened.

No one had died.

Which meant I no longer needed to give it to Pakila-san.

That’s why the Holy Egg of Elixir was still deep inside my pouch.

Pakila-san suddenly shot me a sharp sidelong glance.

What? Was she mad?

I needed to say something.

“Ah, thank you. Pakila-san, you really helped me cheer up.”

I also felt braver.

Like something had lifted off my shoulders.

I felt… clear.

“…You really are a child.”

“Huh?”

Pakila-san sighed.

Well, she wasn’t wrong. I was a child.

“——Wof. Treat me to a meal. You have money, don’t you?”

“I do, but…”

The dungeon exploration reward hadn’t come in yet, though.

“Pay up.”

As she said that, Pakila-san’s ears twitched, and her twin tails swayed with a smooth, rhythmic motion.

She looked just like a cat.

Well, she was a cat beastkin, so of course.

But right now, she seemed especially cat-like.

“A-Alright, got it.”

Well, I didn’t mind treating her.

Besides, I still wanted to hear more about the dungeon anomaly hunt.

Now, I had a clear picture of what had changed.

Without the Clown, everything made way more sense.

That Clown was the worst.

And it was wrong—that’s how it felt.

Like some kind of error.

Which meant I had to set things right—

Pakila-san suddenly looked at me and spoke.

“By the way, Wof. There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“I still haven’t heard what happened between you and Bid.”

“Ah.”

I forgot.

That was the one thing I needed to check first.

Crap.

For some reason, I had a very bad feeling.

I forced a smile to cover it up.

“Oh, that? It was just his way of joking.”

“Was it, though?”

“Let’s go. Cidre Inn is fine, right?”

“Hmm. Well, I suppose I’ll let you off the hook for now.”

Pakila-san smirked.

Today, I felt pretty good.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter