Kays Translations

Chapter 131

“Fireball!”

A small, fist-sized flame shot from the palm of my hand, punching a hole straight through the Owlbear’s wing.

The stench of burning flesh and singed fur filled the air as the Owlbear, its wing scorched, still charged at me. Its maddened roar echoed—it seemed to have forgotten pain entirely, like a beast gone berserk.

“Mirage Step!”

In an instant, I felt my body lighten, and with one great sideways leap, I left behind a semi-transparent image of myself standing where I had been.

It was a spell that granted brief invincibility while leaving behind a clone that could take a hit.

Not particularly strong, but it seemed effective against monsters. Against people, though, they’d probably see right through it.

“Gweh!?”

“Ohh… so it does stun them for a moment.”

The Owlbear crashed into the afterimage and stiffened for just a second. That was my chance—I circled to the side and fired off another Fireball, this time aimed at its leg.

Unable to support its own weight, the beast collapsed to its knees. Toward its faltering body, I cast—

“Ice Blade!”

A thin sword of ice formed and spun like a boomerang as I released it. With a fierce whirling motion, it drove deep into the monster’s neck, drawing blood before the Owlbear completely collapsed. Its body soon dissolved into motes of light, absorbed by the dungeon itself.

“Phew… even basic spells can get the job done.”

Rent only had alternate outfits—no powerful accessories or weapons. If he had a staff, his magic would hit harder, but even so, this much power was enough to fight effectively.

“Wow! Rent, that was amazing! Such skillful spellcasting! So strong, so strong!”

“Haha, thanks. It’s just the basics, but with this many kinds of spells, it’s surprisingly versatile.”

Opening the menu displayed Rent’s status screen.

Even though this world didn’t have “levels” as a concept, a game character like Rent did. Thanks to all the battles so far, he seemed to be growing steadily.

Rent – Magician / Astrologian

• Level: 7
• HP: 122
• Strength: 13
• Magic: 388
• Spirit: 198
• Agility: 113

Skills:

• Basic Attack Magic
• Basic Night-Sky Magic
• Think of the Stars
• Wish Upon a Star

His stats weren’t exactly impressive, but certain attributes had already far surpassed what ordinary inhabitants of this world could achieve.

Rent had been designed as a pure backline attacker. Honestly, though, I was more the type who preferred physical combat, so I hadn’t played mages—whose attacks auto-targeted enemies—all that often.

Of course, managing aggro with DPS and switching spells made the mage class fun in its own right.

“Rent, you used a lot of spells just now. Are you okay? No headaches or anything?”

“Mm, I’m fine.”

His sub-class, Astrology, was generally considered weak. But when combined with another job, it unlocked unique and powerful skills—its true potential only emerged as a secondary class.

Think of the Stars

• Doubles natural MP regeneration during the day outside of combat.
• Restores MP equal to 1% of damage dealt by spells.

Wish Upon a Star

• Increases magic power by 30% at night.
• Raises MP consumption by 20%, but allows natural MP regeneration during combat.

These passives granted different benefits depending on the time of day. Not game-breaking, but useful—especially since they stacked multiplicatively with accessories, making the numbers add up fast.

Combined with additive boosts from accessories, the effect could become tremendous.

With the right setup, you could basically become an endless “spell machine gun” or a high-powered magic artillery piece.

There were still more skills to unlock, but for now, this was Rent’s limit. If only I had leveled him more before…

So, relying on Rent as the main fighter, I pressed on toward Melt’s home, pushing deeper through the forest.

“It feels so strange. I used to hunt animals around here all the time. My house isn’t far now.”

“Ohh, so we’re finally about to arrive…!”

About three hours passed as we fought our way through the forest with Melt leading the way. She spoke with a nostalgic yet complicated expression, clearly tied to both fond and painful memories of this place.

Both nostalgia… and the weight of a difficult past.

“Phew… I think I’ve had enough battle experience with Rent for now. Time to switch back to Same.”

“Ehh? You’re switching? But I still want to hug Rent more!”

“…Please be satisfied with the summoned Rent.”

“Okaaay~”

I fiddled with the menu and switched back to Same. Then, using the housing menu again, I selected Rent, now available for summoning.

Immediately, Rent appeared before me once more—silent and obedient.

…And then, right away, Melt took her away.

Ahh… the speechless little girl has fallen prey to Melt…!

“Rent-chan, you’re so cute. And right now, you can’t even run away! Hug~”

“……”

“Melt, I feel kind of sorry for her, so maybe stop there.”

“Okaaay. Alright, Rent-chan, let’s hold hands?”

In silence, Rent took Melt’s hand.

Unless I gave her instructions, she wouldn’t act on her own—like gathering materials or standing guard—but she would follow simple commands like this.

If that’s the case, then she must have at least some degree of intelligence, and maybe even be capable of acting independently…?

Sheele said that while there should be a personality dwelling inside her body, she has no memories of it.

So does that mean, due to some influence, the personality just can’t surface?

“Well, let’s go. My house should come into view any moment now.”

“Got it. Let’s go.”

Somehow, it feels like there are fewer trees around here.

If this was within Melt’s range of activity, maybe she had cleared parts of the forest herself.

Following her lead, we walked on a little further, and then a clearing at the edge of the forest came into sight.

“Ahh… I finally made it back… Look, my house!”

“Oh… it’s surprisingly big.”

“Yeah, my grandma needed lots of space for her research and storing documents.”

At last, we arrived at Melt’s home.

It was a large, log-house style home, surrounded by forest.

It was built in such a way that a large house was connected to two smaller ones.

Maybe thanks to the protective magic Melt had cast over it, there were no signs of weeds or vines taking over.

There was a well, and two thick poles in the yard, probably for drying laundry.

There was also a tree stump that seemed to serve as a chopping block, and a small shed.

This was the place where she had spent so long, living alone.

“…This feels strange… I’m happy, nostalgic, and it’s all so overwhelming.”

“Melt…”

At the entrance, Melt stopped with her hand on the key.

With her other hand, she rubbed at her eyes, and I gently patted her head.

“Welcome home, Melt.”

“…Yeah. I’m home.”

Click—the sound of the lock opening.

It felt almost as though she wasn’t just opening her door, but also the door to the emotions she had sealed inside herself.

As we entered the house, a faint scent of herbs and flowers drifted through the air.

There wasn’t much sense of someone living there… probably because Melt had packed away everything she needed for daily life into her storage magic tool, leaving the house mostly bare.

“Ahh… I’m home, I’m home… and there’s nothing here!”

“Yeah, just the chairs, table, fireplace, and kitchen.”

“I took all the kitchen utensils with me, after all. Oh, and even my clothes—wardrobe and all.”

“I see.”

“Oh! Since I’ve got plenty of room now at my new place, I’ll take grandma’s research materials and books with me! And fruit wine too!”

The quiet lasted only a moment before Melt lit up with energy and cheerfully hurried deeper into the house.

And for some reason, Rent toddled along behind her. Maybe she had learned that unless she stayed close, Melt would just hug and smother her again.

“Guess I’ll go too.”

The wooden house gave off a calming atmosphere.

If you didn’t know any better, you might even find it warm and cozy—such was this log-house style home.

She must have endured so many painful days here. That’s why, today, I wanted us to spend time here happily.

I wanted her latest memory of home to be a joyful one.

“Hmm… Same, do you think it’s alright if I take all of this with me? It won’t have spoiled or anything, will it?”

“Hm?”

At the back of the house, through a narrow passage, we reached what was probably one of the adjoining smaller houses.

It seemed to serve as her grandmother’s laboratory and archive, the entire building devoted to a single room.

Bookshelves lined the walls, and some experimental equipment remained.

And among them, lined up in rows, were glass bottles that looked to be filled with fruit wine.

“Hmm… I see. Maybe I should try this.”

I returned to my original form, Shizuma, so I could activate 【Observation Eye】.

This also let me check whether I had learned 【Basic Magic】.

“Ugh… crap, all that feedback at once gave me a bit of a headache…”

The moment I returned to my real body, a dull headache hit me, and my body swayed. I sat down on a sofa nearby to catch my breath.

“Oh, you turned back into Shizuma! Huh?”

“What is it?”

As I rested on the sofa, Rent suddenly toddled over to me.

What’s this about? I didn’t give her any orders.

“……”

“Whoa…”

“Looks like Rent’s grown attached to you, Shizuma.”

Rent quietly sat down beside me on the sofa.

She didn’t say anything—just sat there.

…Wait. In this state, maybe I can figure out exactly what condition Rent is in?

I activated 【Observation Eye】 to investigate her current state.

『Rent』

『An existence thought to be a girl magician. Due to an incomplete summoning, there is an abnormality in the union of body and spirit.』

『Although a comparatively powerful individual, she only responds to commands from specific people, so there are no signs of rampage.』

『While she harbored a considerable amount of negative emotions toward her master Shizuma despite her affection for him, these are showing signs of improvement.』

I see… so for Rent, who isn’t originally from this world, only recent information can be displayed.

And these phrases—“incomplete summoning” and “abnormality in the union of body and spirit”… this is definitely a hint.

“I see… body and spirit, huh.”

“What, what? Did you figure something out?”

“Hmm? I was just checking on Rent. When I take the form of Shizuma or Sheele, I can diagnose people and objects just by looking at them.”

“Whaaat!! Then what about me, what about me!?”

“Hm? Alright, let’s see…”

If I remember right, when Sheele looked before, the notes were just about her tail and ears.

『Melt』

『A female of the higher race, the Silver Fox clan, and an even more special individual among them.』

『Having been exposed to harsh environments since childhood, her clan’s “environmental adaptation ability” has been activated to an abnormal degree.』

『Since she has already carried out the “transfer of authority and traits,” the greatest hallmark of her race, her growth will proceed more slowly from here on.』

『However, since she has trained her ability to “absorb things” to the utmost limit, even having lost her trait, her growth remains rapid.』

『Warning, warning, warning.』

Again. This is clearly different from the information Sheele saw.

It’s as if… the wording is being spoken from the perspective of some “existence that oversees the world.”

…Melt, no—the Silver Fox clan, it seems they’re not just rare beastmen after all…

“Well!? So what does it say about me?”

“It says, something like, ‘Normally you shouldn’t be able to grow so fast anymore, but because Melt worked so hard, she’ll keep on growing from now on.’ That’s good news, isn’t it, Melt?”

“Yay! I don’t totally get it, but that means I’ll keep growing! My height, and my bo—… my chest too!”

“Hahaha…”

Maybe the fact that she corrected “boobs” to “chest” is proof of her growth.

And so, I finally turned to my original purpose—checking through the mountain of fruit wine.

…Grandma, you must have been quite the drinker, huh? These bottles fill three whole shelves…

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