by Fujino Omori
“I see. But don’t magic swords break if you use them too much?”
“Yes, they do. So Lilly only uses it at times like this. But Lilly will use its full power to save Mr. Bell!”
That’s the exact opposite of what she said before, but oh, well. No matter.
With that, we decide to eat lunch, as both of us are hungry.
After Lilly cleans up all the slain monsters, we take up a spot in the middle of the room. When resting inside the Dungeon, we usually find a place out in the open to avoid any surprises being born from the walls.
Plus, this room is so big that even if an enemy walked right through the entrance, we’d see it coming.
Come to think of it, I haven’t returned Syr’s basket yet…
As I stuff my face with some plain food, thoughts of the lunch Syr gave me yesterday flood my mind.
I was late leaving the Dungeon last night, and I’d overslept this morning, so I haven’t had any time to swing by The Benevolent Mistress. I’ll feel bad if I don’t return the basket today.
Lilly and I start up a conversation.
The Dungeon is quiet; I don’t feel the presence of any monsters at all.
Lilly looks like she’s in a good mood. She’s laughing and everything. I think this might be a good chance to ask her about something that’s been on my mind.
“By the way, Lilly, you said you had to go to your Familia last night. Did something happen?”
I mean to ask the question as casually as possible, but Lilly’s face freezes on the spot.
It only takes a second for her usual smile to return, but it looks clumsy somehow.
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked after all…
“Why do you ask, Mr. Bell?”
“I know that your relationship with members of your Familia isn’t very good, so I was kind of…worried. Sorry.”
The impact of when Lilly told me she was living separately from her Familia is still fresh in my memory. Enough to make me worried about her well-being when she told me she was going there last night.
I quickly apologize, out of reflex. She relaxes her shoulders and smiles.
“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Bell. But everything is okay; nothing like what you are worried about happened.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it’s true. Last night was Soma Familia’s monthly meeting.”
“A meeting…?”
“…The details will get long, but the main thing is to announce how much money to make in the next month. Everyone combined has to make a certain amount and work hard to make the quota.”
It must be the Familia’s operational expenses.
It seems only natural that members would have to contribute a fraction of their income—it’s a lot like the money I pay to support the goddess at home. So there is nothing strange going on at all.
And the reason that Lilly has to sell her services as a supporter is probably to make this quota on her own. She’s left out of parties by her own Familia, after all.
“But that’s gotta be rough, having a personal quota you have to meet every month, especially for those members who can’t save up much money.”
“Lilly thinks so, too. Especially for supporters, or adventurers without much bite…”
AH! My eyes pop open for a moment.
I wouldn’t call it a breakthrough, but I think I’ve finally figured something out.
Before, when Lilly made a slightly ironic comment about needing money…?
Perhaps the reason that her relationship with her Familia is so rocky is because of money.
A twinge of dread fills my mind; I have to ask now. “What happens to the members who don’t reach their quota?”
Almost as if she can see right through me, Lilly smiles and answers, “Nothing at all, really.”
So there’s no penalty…I relax a bit too much, like an idiot. But the fact that a small animal child like Lilly has to work alone to fill her quota makes me think that something is amiss within Soma Familia.
I’m thinking so hard about it that my forehead wrinkles up. Lilly looks at me and pulls her hood down with a pitiful look on her face. Why a pitiful look…?
“Um, one other thing I wanted to ask. Soma Familia is in the wine business, isn’t it?”
I want to clear the air a bit, so I change the subject.
I force my face into a smile. Not a very good one, either.
“Ahh…That’s the rejected stuff.”
“Re…jected?…Wait, what?”
“That’s right. It leaks out of the container while it’s being brewed. So it’s collected and sold to stores. It would be a waste to throw it away.”
Now just hold on a second.
If I remember right, Eina said that their wine was extremely good and was always in high demand…The wine’s cult following has been seeking…a reject?
How could something like that be a reject?
Lilly looks at my confused face with a clouded smile.
“It means the wine is so delicious that even the failures are that good.”
The word “failure” doesn’t apply here, or at least it shouldn’t. I sit there in disbelief, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand.
But wait, that would make the “successes”…
“Lilly’s god, Soma, completely neglects other gods and isn’t interested in anything…except one. And that’s making wine.”
“……”
“It’s not going too far to say that the only reason he made Soma Familia, our one and only purpose, is to assist him in his one and only hobby.”
So then the reason that he gives members of his Familia a quota to fill is to cover the expenses of making large amounts of wine.
I don’t think it’s that rare for a god or goddess to use their Familia to pursue their own interests. It’s understandable that gods, who came to this world for entertainment, would need more money than what was required to just live here, like rent and food. It has to take a good deal of curiosity on the god’s part to want to dive into an industry.
But…I still can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong with Soma Familia.
It could just be everything I know about Lilly’s situation is making me suspicious, but I can’t help but see Soma Familia as the bad guy.
—“Fighting amongst one another”—“Live fast, die young”—“Frantic”—
I still remember Eina’s face when she spoke those words not too long ago.
“A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…If the stuff’s that good, maybe I should have a taste…?”
I can feel my face changing to a frown, so I decide to lighten my mood by joking around a bit.
Lilly gazes at me with a blank stare and makes a little laugh that vanishes in a heartbeat.
“Lilly doesn’t think that’s such a good idea…”
“……”
Our conversation ends with her muttered words.
I’m about to strike up a new one when monsters appear in our room. We don’t have much choice but to engage them head-on. Lilly is soon back to her usual self, and I guess I respond to that.
There’s still a gap between us.
I don’t know if it can ever be filled in.
I get that kind of strong feeling from her.
It feels like any manliness I ever had is gone, and my weak, useless self is exposed once again.
Two days have passed.
It’s been a full day since I went into the Dungeon with Lilly.
Yesterday morning, Lilly told me that she had something to take care of and wouldn’t be able to go. I don’t know if it had something to do with her Familia, but I clearly remember the apologetic look on her face.
After seeing that, I just couldn’t bring myself to prowl the Dungeon solo.
I keep telling myself a long break is a good idea, since I’ve been spending so much time in the Dungeon…but what is this feeling?
Whenever I think about Miss Wallenstein, a little voice in my head says, “There’s no tim
e to just be sitting around!” Even still, I don’t feel like getting up. I’m a balloon without any air.
“…Ahhhh, this isn’t good.”
I pull my body up from the sofa, roughly fixing my hair.
Forcing out a deep breath, hoping to get this pent-up feeling out of my body at the same time.
I just need to move. What can I do? I’ll get rusty if I just lay here.
If I can’t clear my head, I can at least change my focus. I need to stop worrying about Lilly for now.
Been a while since I’ve done any cleaning…
Since the time I spend here has gone down dramatically, I feel like I haven’t done any chores recently.
I shouldn’t leave it all up to the goddess, seems unfair. I force my legs off the sofa and onto the floor…only to catch a glimpse of Syr’s basket, still sitting on the shelf.
“…Oh.”
I’m such an idiot.
“I’m so, so sorry!”
“Ah-ha-ha-ha…”
Clap! I bring my hands together and lower my head as far as it will go.
I raced over to The Benevolent Mistress under the daytime sun, and am now apologizing directly to Syr. There’s nothing I can do to rationalize forgetting to return the basket for days.
“Please raise your head, Bell. I don’t mind.”
“Yeah, but…”
“If that’s how you feel, be more careful from now on, okay? What’s done is done, and nothing can change that. So concentrate on what you can do from now on.”
She’s absolutely right. I timidly raise my eyes before slowly standing back up.
Syr looks at me kindly, a soft smile on her face.
It’s times like this that make me realize she’s older than me.
“But, yes. Without any news, I was starting to get worried about you. So worried that I was making mistakes at work.”
“I’m really sorry about that…”
“…Do you know how much they teased me?”
She suddenly has a twinge of resentment in her eyes. Huh? My eyes open wide in confusion. She blushes, turning her cheeks a pinkish red before she does one of her very obvious coughs. I hope that means she’ll cut me some slack.
Still having no idea what she meant, I return the basket and pick up a menu.
Saying good-bye right after returning the basket after all of this would just be wrong. It wasn’t exactly a way of apologizing for forgetting about the basket for so long, but ordering something simple still seems like the right thing to do.
Most of the other patrons at the bar right now are women. Seeing animal-person mothers and their children makes me smile. Their plates are overflowing with fruit—that is, until the kids dig in with fang-filled grins.
“Hey, was that decoration there before?”
I sit at a counter seat in the corner and am looking around the place, when a big white book catches my eye.
It’s leaned up against the wall behind me. It doesn’t match the interior very well.
“Hee-hee, well, that’s…”
I ask Syr about it when she comes to take my order. Her words cut off for a moment, but she continues before I can wonder why.
“I believe it was left behind by one of our customers. We wanted to make sure they could see it when they came back for it, so we put it there.”
“Oh,” I respond in a weak voice. So there really are people who can forget something like that when at a bar.
Syr comes back with my cake and tea a moment later. She stays at my seat and we have a small conversation. A cat-person waitress comes over by herself and seems to offer Syr a break. I wonder if everything’s all right.
The catgirl is grinning, too, for some reason.
“Well then, are you convalescing here for a while?”
“Nothing all that fancy…”
I decide to bring up Lilly, and the fact that I had no motivation to do anything.
It wasn’t by accident. I just want someone to listen to my problems, I guess.
Maybe I have some kind of shameless hope that she’ll give me a bit of helpful advice.
After lending an ear and staring at me as she listened, Syr smiles.
“Why don’t you try some literature?”
“Literature?”
“Yes. You don’t read books very often, right, Bell? Why don’t you take a chance and read?”
She tells me that books might provide the stimulation I need right now.
Literature…The thought has never crossed my mind. But she has a point. It could be just the medicine I’m looking for.
I need to get back to the feeling I had whenever I read about the heroes in tales of adventure; I never could sit still.
Who knows? Going into a book’s world might just get my heart racing and cure my couch potato syndrome.
“Yeah, I think I will. Thanks for the idea, Syr. I’ll read a book.”
“I’m happy to be of service.”
I’m glad I asked her and I’ll take her advice.
Seeing that I was open to her advice rather than just thinking things over by myself, Syr followed that up with a question of her own:
“Do you have a book in mind?”
“Not really. My goddess has plenty of books at home. I’ll probably borrow one of them…”
Going to the bookstore is also an option. As soon as those words leave my mouth, I hear Syr say, “In that case…” She reaches over and picks up the white book.
“Why don’t you try reading this?”
“Huh? But this book, it’s someone else’s, right? They forgot it here.”
“As long as you bring it back, there shouldn’t be a problem. Books don’t disappear after someone reads them. Plus, I think it belongs to an adventurer, so there might be something useful for you in here.”
Many adventurers come to this bar; more than likely the owner of this book is one, too.
Because it’s a personal possession of an adventurer, it might stimulate my mind. At least, I think that’s what she’s saying.
It’s a rare book that I’ve never seen before, that’s for sure. This might be my only chance to read something like it.
Then again, I’d be getting my fingerprints all over someone else’s book…
“Nothing to worry about. Honestly, Mama Mia doesn’t really like having it here, so if you take it, you’d be doing us a favor. And…”
Syr suddenly looks shy.
“…I want to help you any way I can, Bell.”
“……”
“But this is all I can do for you, so please, take it. For me.”
Didn’t she say something a lot like that not too long ago? I grimace when that thought hits me.
Well, if she’s going to go that far, I may as well let her spoil me.
It would be rather cruel of me to refuse her goodwill, and her embarrassed face. So I take the book from her.
But when I reach up to take it, my hands accidentally sweep across hers. The feeling of her soft skin makes my heart skip a beat.
“T-thanks. Umm…well then, I’ll see you later?”
“Yes, thank you for coming today.”
I’m flustered, but I do my best to hide it as I stand up to leave.
After a quick “The cake was delicious,” I leave the bar.
It was the same with Eina…I can’t help but get nervous when I touch a girl’s skin. I blush like there’s no tomorrow. Just how innocent am I?!
“Syr, you gave him that book…?”
“Yep, I did.”
“For someone as straightforward and honest as you to give out the bar’s property like that…Never thought it would happen.”
“Don’t you two know love is blind, meow? Syr, you should let your hair down more often, meow!”
Still flustered from the feeling of Syr’s warm hands, I hurry home.
I open the book the moment I get home.
Since the goddess isn’t home yet, I set the book down on the table with one hand.
Getting a little anxious, I pull out a chair, sit down, and look over the title page without a title.
Mirror, Mirror: The Fairest Witch in the Land Is ME: An Autobiography (With Appendix: Awaken Your Magic!)
Right off the bat, it sounds childish…
Chapter 1: Modern Magic Even Goblins Can Understand!
Teaching magic to goblins. No one should do that…
I want to close the book right now, but I decide to bear with it. I can’t let Syr’s good intentions go to waste. I force my eyes across the characters on the page with all the endurance I can muster.
The top parts are painful, but the content actually isn’t that bad.
Just like the words on the title page said, this book seems to be about magic.
“Ooohhh!” My eyes light up with sudden anticipation and I dive back into the pages.
There are two types of Magic: innate and acquired. As the term “innate” suggests, this type of magic can be used by various races based on genetics. From ancient times, these races have had the potential to become magic users within them and are trained in magic at a young age through rituals. While the types of magic they can use are rather limited, the strength and scale of these spells are often very high.
It’s written in Koine, the common language, so even I can understand it, with some effort.
But what are these characters between the lines…?
Not wording…maybe some kind of equation?
Next page.
Acquired magic refers to the possibility of Magic given to those people who receive “Falna,” and appears on its own. With almost no restrictions, this kind of magic takes many different forms. The effect of the Magic depends heavily on excelia.
This is different from hieroglyphs, and different from any language of the races of people.
Nothing in common with itself, just a strange grouping of marks.
The passage…the sea of characters is pulling me in.
Next page.
Magic is interest. This is a vital factor for all acquired magic. What holds your interest—what do you accept, hate, want, grieve for, worship, swear to, long for? The trigger is already within you. Your Falna will carve your soul into a blazing sun.
A picture has appeared.
It’s a head. It has eyes. It has a nose. It has a mouth. It has ears. It’s a person’s face.