Chapter 6: Our Journey: Preparations Arc ⑤ – Seven + α
The following night.
The second-floor VIP room of the Seedle Inn.
Seven men and women had gathered there.
—No, to be precise, it was two men, five women, and one creature.
It was the “Departure Gathering” held the day before setting out.
Its purpose was for everyone to meet and get acquainted, something commonly done with caravans and escort parties.
After ordering food and drinks, Mineha spoke up.
“Looks like everyone here already knows each other.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Na!”
“Well, it’s reassuring when it’s all familiar faces.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Witch—are you acquainted with everyone?”
“Mm-hmm, seems that way.”
I voiced the question that had been bothering me.
“You all know each other?”
There were seven of us gathered.
First, me—Wof. The witch. Mineha. Bid. Hoss.
And then Shaldina and Anna Kreuzchen.
It seemed Shaldina and the others were in charge of cleaning the hideout.
I understood that the five women who knew the witch were acquainted through using her bathhouse.
But Hoss, the witch, Mineha, and Bid knowing each other made sense.
However, Shaldina and Anna Kreuzchen shouldn’t have had any prior connection with them.
“Oh my, are Hoss and Shaldina acquainted too?”
The witch said, voicing my doubt for me.
Mineha and the others realized it as well and tilted their heads.
“Yes, we are acquainted. Originally, we knew them through Master Wof’s social circle.”
Anna said.
“My… social circle?”
“According to Munieka, it is only natural for a maid to be familiar with her master’s relationships.”
“Is that… natural?”
I didn’t really know what maids were like in this world, so I couldn’t say for sure.
From my past life memories—well, now that I think about it, dramas did have that sort of thing: “observe, learn, and make use of it.”
Bid shook her head.
“I don’t know about that.”
She answered while flicking her Holland Lop ears.
Bid was a beastkin of the rabbit race, with a small round white tail.
Black hair, blue eyes, and freckles on her nose she seemed self-conscious about.
She wore a leather bracer on her right arm, a blue jumper she’d received from Liv over a yellow shirt, and black leggings.
The witch spoke again.
“Hm hm. Well, that is Munieka we’re talking about.”
“So… it is natural?”
“Na?”
“……”
Anna Kreuzchen, standing beside Shaldina, smiled and bowed her head slightly when our eyes met.
Maybe it was. Maybe that was just how it worked.
Also, why was Shaldina holding Dagaa?
Lately, the Minos Dolls and Dagaa had been getting along well. Well, it was fine.
“Plus, through serving Tasan over at Rell’s place—you know, Rel’s little sister, Juicy—we’ve taken on jobs together while escorting her.”
Hoss added.
“I remember you saying Juicy sometimes works as a hired child for the Thunder Fang.”
I said.
“Yep. And whenever she does, one or two maids always tag along.”
“That’s how we became acquainted.”
“Ahh, I see. Juicy-chan is cute, right? I team up with her sometimes too,” Bid said.
“Na!”
The women really did have wide-ranging connections.
“Speaking of which—has Juicy become an explorer?” I asked.
“I haven’t heard anything. Bid?”
Mineha asked.
“I gave her a birthday present, but that’s it.”
“Haven’t heard anything from Rell either.”
“Hm hm. Then she might not have yet.”
“Na?”
I wondered why. I’d ask her directly when we got back.
“So anyway, we’re traveling by giant carriage?” Bid said.
“Mm-hmm. That’s right. Kon’s Skia Coffin Ele. It was just completed, so this trip doubles as a test run.”
“Skia…?”
“Yes, yes—first of all—”
The witch enthusiastically promoted it.
What she described left everyone except me in shock.
“Private rooms, a bath, toilets, an observation room, a kitchen, and a dining room—what kind of royal noble’s giant carriage is that?”
Mineha muttered, half in disbelief.
Mineha was currently in her Fairial form, sitting on Bid’s shoulder.
There simply weren’t enough seats for seven people.
Bid let out an impressed sigh.
“Even caravan giant carriages don’t have baths.”
True—but they did have toilets. I knew that from experience.
“I’m interested in the observation room!” Anna said.
“……”
Shaldina and Anna both nodded with smiles.
“There’s a kitchen, right?” Hoss asked.
Of course—Hoss latched onto that.
“Mm-hmm. There is. A state-of-the-art system kitchen.”
“State-of-the-art… is it?”
“And we’ve already stocked all kinds of seasonings and ingredients in the storage.”
Next to the kitchen was a long storage area stretching toward both the front and the lowest level.
It was quite spacious and even refrigerated.
“Ahh… that’s really having everything taken care of…”
Hoss looked deeply impressed, almost dreamy.
“So then, I’d like to leave the cooking entirely to Hoss. Is that alright?”
“Of course. Leave it to me!”
Hoss thumped his chest. It made a solid sound.
“Hoss, I’ll help too,”
Mineha said immediately.
“Mineha?”
“I’ve… had reasons… and ended up learning to cook.”
“I know. Then I’ll count on you.”
“Y-yeah. Please do.”
“……”
Anna Kreuzchen raised her hand.
“She likes cooking as well.”
“Then, I’ll count on you too.”
“Together.”
Anna nodded with a full smile.
I was curious what her cooking would be like.
Just then, the food we’d ordered arrived.
We ate, drank, chatted, ate, talked, ate more.
Amid that pleasant gathering, the topic that somehow became unexpectedly heated was the room assignments.
The room assignments for the Skia Coffin Ele.
At first, the witch tried to put my room next to her own bedroom.
That was the back room on the second floor.
Mineha stopped that and forced my room to be one of the middle ones out of the six.
It was decided unilaterally, but I didn’t mind.
Once that was settled, the argument shifted to who would be in the rooms on either side of mine.
At my request, Hoss took the room on my right.
Then who would be on my left? In times like this, you settle it with rock-paper-scissors.
The women launched into an unusually intense match.
The winner was decided quickly—Anna Kreuzchen. A clean solo victory.
After that, things cooled down and were decided calmly.
“……”
Anna bowed her head slightly toward me, smiling shyly.
My memory of her was the kiss on the cheek when I gave her the bracelet.
And with her braid, she resembled Munieka, since Munieka was her appearance model.
But she somehow always felt more like an older sister.
And though I couldn’t say this to anyone—including her—somehow, for reasons I couldn’t explain, she felt oddly… alluring.
I’d once asked Haiyaan about the Minos Dolls.
But even he seemed unsure.
They used the lab’s database data as-is.
Munieka was used as the base model for the dolls.
Her age was divided into eight, producing eight Minos Dolls.
Those were them.
I’d read that data too, but something felt off.
Haiyaan found it strange as well.
Still, there was one detail in the data that I couldn’t ignore.
“By guiding a soul from the Great Sea of Souls and causing it to possess [a vessel], the vessel of the soul and the physical body are formed.”
It had been bothering me, but I hadn’t really understood it.
However, after what the Knife Goddess said, a possibility occurred to me.
Perhaps they only looked like Munieka-san, and their souls had been brought from that sea.
In other words, if a soul is placed into a Minos Doll, a vessel for the soul is created and a physical body is formed…
But what does that mean?
There’s already a body called a Minos Doll—so a physical body is created?
Yeah. I don’t get it.
Well, this isn’t my field anyway. I just enjoy thinking about things on my own.
There are far too many things about this world that I don’t understand.
I don’t even understand myself.
What was my past life before my past life?
It’s convenient, but what exactly is it?
Still, lately I’ve been thinking about something.
I used to believe that relics were this world’s substitute for magic.
And that they were the only thing.
But there are things that can’t be explained that way.
The power of the soul that Axe-san’s father, Ens-san, showed.
And the plus and minus energies we encountered at the ruins recently.
And the fact that there are multiple worlds because of them.
There is power other than relics.
No—perhaps relics themselves are just one part of that power.
“Na?”
Suddenly, Dagaa hopped onto my shoulder. Come to think of it, what is this guy anyway?
A complete mystery creature that I don’t understand at all.
Well, whatever.
Some people had started drinking and began playing card games.
Dagaa joined in and completely dominated.
What even is this thing?
Well, whatever.
And so, the fun and lively “Departure Gathering” came to an end.
The next day—the day of departure.
We were almost completely down with hangovers.
Postponed until tomorrow.
Early the following morning.
This was an open area a short distance away from the witch’s house.
The Skia Coffin Ele was parked there.
It was far too large to keep in Hydrangea.
More than that, it stood out too much. We wanted to depart quietly.
With only the essentials packed, we were about to depart for the trade city of Heizen—
but before that—
“Witch… how does this thing move?”
Looking up at the Skia Coffin Ele, Mineha asked.
“There aren’t any monster horses for giant carriages here, right?”
“Even caravan ones would have trouble pulling something this big.”
“Yeah. What do we do, Witch?”
“What will you do, Witch?”
“……”
“Na?”
What were we going to do?
All our gazes turned to the witch.
The witch pulled out a canteen from her pouch.
An oval leather flask with a vivid yellow circle painted on it.
That was the Vessel of the Full Moon.
If I remembered correctly, it was part of the Moon Water series.
A legendary item alongside the Vessel of the Crescent Moon I owned and the Vessel of the Half Moon someone else had.
The witch approached a large recessed section at the front and tilted the Vessel of the Full Moon.
Then an enormous amount of pitch-black substance poured out and seeped into the ground.
“Witch… what are you doing?”
“Mm-hmm, you’ll understand if you just watch. Come out now—Skia Horse Ele.”
At her call, two jet-black giant horses emerged from the blackened ground.
They had dark blue manes, blue eyes, and above all, were so huge you had to crane your neck to look at them.
“Are those monsters?”
“Whoa… that’s incredible.”
“I’m stunned.”
“They look very strong.”
“Na!”
The witch embedded something into each of the two horses.
“Alright, alright—let’s set off then. Come on, get inside.”
Urged by the witch, we boarded.
While that was happening, the witch went up to the second floor. Curious, I followed her.
She was in the driver’s cabin.
She was doing something to the pedestal where the parent communication stone floated.
“Witch?”
“Oh my, perfect timing. The adjustments are done—I’m about to get us moving.”
With a smile, the witch spoke to the parent stone.
“Now then, Skia Horse Ele. Set off along the designated route.”
“Hiiiiiih—!”
“Brrrrrr—!”
The two Skia Horse Ele neighed.
And the Skia Coffin Ele began to move.
Departure.
A brief farewell.
Hydrangea.