Chapter 123: Monster Friends

Hiyori is the strongest witch in the world.

Stronger than kaiju—ridiculously strong.

But her heart isn’t the strongest in the world.

She gets hurt like anyone else, feels anxious, and falls into depression.

There was even a time when she carried a crushing trauma involving an entire city and shut herself in like a hedgehog covered in spikes.

I was casually waiting for Hiyori, who had gone off to seal the second-generation Iruma.

Hiyori is the strongest. She’s already killed that absurdly fast-evolving monster, Iruma, twice. There’s no way she’d lose the third time.

If anything, I was more worried that the Hell Witch accompanying her might get caught up in it and die.

But Hiyori herself was full of anxiety.

The first Iruma slaughtered all the residents of Ome City.

The second forced her into a situation where she had to kill me with her own hands.

So who would die this time? Even if they sealed it… would someone important die again?

The night before departure, Hiyori went on and on about her worries to me, sniffling the whole time.

I listened seriously for about ten minutes, but once I realized she was looping, I just half-dozed and kept giving responses.

People die when they die. No use worrying. If you plan properly and give it your all and someone still dies, then… well, that’s just how it goes.

In the end, Hiyori was still anxious right up until she left, but eventually transformed into a dragon and flew south.

Right after she took off, I went straight back inside and slept soundly, making up for the whole night of listening to her worries.

Sure, it’s understandable to be nervous dealing with something in Iruma’s lineage, but I know Hiyori’s strength outweighs Iruma’s danger.

There’s no way the strongest witch equipped with my ultimate Curanos would lose. Think about it rationally.

After five days of peaceful, worry-free sleep every night while waiting for her return—

Hiyori suddenly came back using teleportation magic like it was nothing.

In the backyard at midday, golden light poured down from the sky, and shimmering particles formed Hiyori’s figure.

Mamono-kun, who had been receiving a statue of the “Eyeball Witch,” was startled and nearly got crushed by it.

As the light faded, Hiyori spotted me, relaxed in relief, and hugged me.

“I’m back, Dairi.”

“Oh. Come to think of it, with teleportation magic you can just skip immigration checks, right? How does that even work?”

“Shut up. At least say ‘welcome back.’”

“Welcome back.”

Hiyori ignored Mamono-kun completely, while Mamono-kun desperately tried to stay unnoticed as he supported the falling statue.

Sorry about that, Mamono-kun.

Hiyori pressed her face into my chest, then gradually relaxed and leaned her full weight on me. When I casually spun her around by the waist, she laughed happily. Cute.

“I wouldn’t mind dancing with you like this, but… I’m going to go ‘absorb’ Kei-chan too.”

“Wait, you were absorbing something just now?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

She waved lightly and dashed off at incredible speed like the wind.

Busy as always. Rather than animal therapy after a business trip, she probably just wanted to quickly confirm nothing had gone wrong.

After all, when she protected me, the professor got killed. When she protected the professor, I got killed. She’s been through a lot.

“…Ah! Sorry, Mamono-kun, I’ll help now.”

“Glad you remembered. Could you help me stand the statue up? I brought a Fukuro-suzume, so I’d appreciate help storing it.”

Mamono-kun smiled wryly, and I helped stuff the statue into the bird’s pouch.

Since he hadn’t eaten lunch yet, we decided to eat together.

I quickly prepared a simple meal: leftover rice as ochazuke, with pickles, umeboshi, and rolled omelet.

Mamono-kun gratefully started eating.

“Thank you. It’s been a while since I’ve had a warm meal… this really hits the spot.”

“You that busy?”

“That too, but I don’t cook much. I do keep cucumber pickles stocked, though.”

While eating, he explained that he had already begun raising a group of Class B ghost-type monsters—Specters—at a newly built magical beast ranch in the Chichibu mountains.

Group breeding is unprecedented.

Specters normally attack humans and drain their life force, but like Gazer-kun, they’re docile when full.

With advice from Professor Ohinata about monster vocalization, they’ve managed to control them through feeding and sound communication.

So far, the only death during trial-and-error has been Mamono-kun himself. Apparently, he died once and came back. That’s terrifying.

“If Specter breeding stabilizes, we’ll move on to higher-class ghost monsters… eventually mass-producing ghost gremlins.”

“Oh. So you actually have a roadmap.”

Even with a roadmap, there’s no guarantee you’ll reach the end.

Still, just having a clear path is impressive.

“You’re working hard, Mamono-kun. To the point of dying.”

“Not at all. I’ve had a lot of help—especially from Kei-san.”

“Oh? Oh…”

Kei-san.

So he calls her by her first name too?

I started calling Hiyori by her name when we became close friends.

If Mamono-kun does the same… are they close too?

Or just colleagues? Hard to tell.

As I dug the pit out of a pickled plum, lost in thought, Mamono-kun straightened up and asked:

“Dairi-san, you’re close with Kei-san, right?”

“We’re friends.”

“Do you know what she likes? Like gifts or things that make her happy?”

“Hmm. She likes it when you rub her butt.”

“!!!???”

Mamono-kun dropped his chopsticks in shock, then quickly recovered.

“Ah! The ermine form, right!?”

“Obviously.”

Touching her in human form would just be harassment.

But petting that soft, fluffy ermine butt? That’s the best.

As I explained the proper technique, Mamono-kun took notes—though with a complicated expression on his face.

“…I see. Thank you. I’ll use that as a reference.”

“Whoa. What’s this? You planning to thank the professor or something?”

“Something like that.”

“Friends? Close friends?”

“Me and Kei-san? Ah… we’re friends. For now.”

“Hoh. Just so you know, I’m in the ‘a friend of a friend isn’t your friend’ camp. So you’re not my friend, Mamono-kun. Don’t get it twisted.

If a friend of a friend were automatically a friend, then all of the professor’s friends would become my friends. That means people I’ve never even seen would count as my friends. And then their friends would also become my friends. That’s ridiculous, right? It’d end up with all of humanity being my friends. To avoid that kind of nonsense, I choose my friends myself.”

“Your reputation as a theory guy is well deserved. Especially when it comes to things like this.”

As I laid out my airtight “friend theory,” Mamono-kun chuckled and sipped his after-meal tea through his beak.

“Then, not as ‘Mamono-kun, friend of Kei-san,’ but just as Mamono-kun… am I your friend, Dairi-san?”

“Huh?”

“I already thought we were friends.”

“Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… yeah, we’re friends.”

Being around him isn’t stressful. We tinker with his kappa mask, play board games, give each other advice—it’s fun.

I feel like I’d go a bit out of my way to help him even if it cost me something, and I’d feel bad if I betrayed or abandoned him.

There are plenty of times I wonder if he’s okay, but I can’t imagine him intentionally hurting someone.

Conclusion: Mamono-kun is a good guy—and a friend. Yep.

“This is the first time I’ve ever had a male friend. Nice to meet you, Mamono-kun.”

“Oh? I’m your first? Hmm, if you’d like, I can introduce you to my other male friends—”

“I’ll snap that beak of yours, idiot. That’s exactly what someone who thinks ‘the more friends the better’ would say.”

“Whoa now. That’s pretty harsh language.”

Smiling awkwardly, Mamono-kun stood up and carried the empty dishes to the sink.

That’s the thing about him. His bizarre appearance and his serious, polite behavior don’t match at all.

Or… maybe they do? He illegally keeps high-class monsters and casually dies and comes back to life… so maybe the weird looks and weird actions do line up?

Honestly, I can’t tell anymore.

Apparently he really is busy. After lunch, he didn’t even take a break—he mounted his tiger-like magical beast and headed straight back to Chichibu.

Restless guy.

Resurrection magic that overturns death requires ghost gremlins, and a stable supply of those depends on Mamono-kun. He’s carrying humanity’s dream on his shoulders—no way he has free time.

Still, he drops by Okutama now and then to hang out, and even meets up with the professor to go out together. He might die in accidents, but at least he doesn’t seem like he’ll die from overwork. That’s reassuring.

…Oh, right.

Next time Mamono-kun comes over, I should ask him about the engagement ring I’m planning to give Hiyori.

He’s got experience with engagements (and breaking them), so he should have some useful advice.