by Yuu Tanaka
Jet, you can use Shadow Walk to enter Fran’s shadow, right?
Woof.
Jet responded by melting into Fran’s shadow. It took no time at all, and I could barely detect its presence with my Mage skill. An inexperienced adventurer wouldn’t be able to tell that he was there.
Do you mind staying in her shadow when we walk around town?
Jet whined.
You don’t like that?
Arf.
You really stand out in town, though. You might get attacked.
Jet let out another dejected whine and its ears flopped down sadly.
Urgh… You know I can’t force you to shadow lurk when you look at me like that.
Teacher, let him stay out.
Look, I would love to, but—
Please?
Aroo?
This wasn’t fair! Two sets of watery eyes were looking at me! It was an odd sight to everyone else in the room since Fran and the Direwolf were looking towards Fran’s back.
“Woof!”
What? Did you think of something?
Jet dug its paws to the ground and started focusing his mana.
“Awooo.”
What’s this? Jet was shrinking! In a few seconds it had shrunk down to the size of a normal large dog.
You’re using Shapeshift? I thought that skill was for transforming into other monsters.
“Bark, bark.”
“Oh my god, it’s so cute! It’s so small now! I want one, too!”
Jet was smaller compared to its original size, but it was still plenty big. It was barely within the reasonable limits, but you could pass it off as an ordinary dog if you insisted. Or so I hoped.
Oh, fine. You can walk around town in that form.
“Woof!”
Thanks, Teacher. Now I can fluff Jet all day.
So that was why Fran had insisted… I wanna fluff it too, dammit!
We had summoned the big black wolf, so now we were going to have to take care of it. I wondered if we would need to take it out on walks. What about a leash? Summoning Jet made me feel like keeping a dog.
“I’m in your care, Fluff—Jet.”
“Aroo?”
Fran seemed to be quite particular about Jet’s texture.
After our bout of spider extermination, we returned to our original mission of examining the Core Room.
“There’s the Magistone.”
“And of such purity… It’s brilliant.”
“It’s a mountain of treasure!”
Krad’s eyes lit up. He went ahead to the glowing rock, past Furion who was still in the middle of admiring the Magistone.
“Pfft.”
Fran couldn’t stifle her giggle at the sight.
“Don’t laugh! Whose fault do you think this is?”
“The one who saved your life.”
“Urgh.”
“Collateral damage.”
“F-fine, I get it already!”
The Fire Arrow used to burn off Krad’s bondage earlier had singed and left patches in his hair. He ended up having to shave his entire head. He had used a dagger for his emergency haircut, and the uneven shave resulting from it was absolutely comical. I could have restored his hair with Greater Heal, but I kept quiet.
“Heh.”
“Dammit.”
Amanda and Fran couldn’t help but laugh every time they caught sight of it. I had never seen Fran smile so much before. It was rude, but I’d allow it. Krad’s hairdo was quite funny, after all.
“Lady Amanda, please. We need to recover the Magistone now.”
“I know, I know.”
“Everyone, please use this item bag.”
“Hm.”
Everyone took turns in harvesting the Magistone and putting it into their item bags which had been imbued with the Item Box capability. We were getting a lot of it. The purity of the core room even produced Magistone Ingots. Considering how valuable they were, it was surprising we were getting so much of it.
“I don’t think I need to remind you, but this is a restricted area. Cross it without permission, and it won’t be just the Guild – the government might look into the matter, as well.”
“We’ll be alright since we have permits, but if anyone tries to walk in here without one, the barrier at the entrance would be able to tell immediately.”
“You need to be careful too, Fran. The Guildmaster won’t shut up about this one,” Amanda warned us sternly. There must be serious punishment for violating this rule.
“Why all the need for secrecy?”
“Don’t you think we’re getting too many Magistones?”
“Are we?”
“Yes. Each Dungeon Core has its own idiosyncrasies, and it takes a different amount of mana to produce different items. This dungeon can produce high purity Magistones without using much mana.”
That was why entry to this place was usually restricted. Filching a few Magistones would be enough to make a fortune. It would entice the heart of most adventurers.
“Let’s see… Core Settings…”
Cruise left us on Magistone collection while he examined the dungeon’s settings. He couldn’t find Trap Spider on the dungeon’s spawn list, however.
“So, are you going to eliminate the remaining Trick Spiders, Cruise?”
“We’re going to have to write a report first.”
Not many of the Trick Spiders were left, but we couldn’t let them have free reign over the dungeon, either. They might start reproducing again, or worse, one of them might grow strong enough to evolve into a Trickster Spider. That would increase the dungeon’s difficulty level, thereby making Magistone collection more dangerous.
On the bright side, Trick Spider materials were far better than the Trap Spider variety. It would make periodic farming more productive. Trick Spiders also had more mana, which the Dungeon Core would be able to absorb through the air. It would contribute to the core’s Magistone production for sure.
“How about we file a report and let the Guildmaster worry about it?”
“I suppose you’re right.”
Cruise nodded to Amanda. Messing with Core Settings was above a C-Rank’s pay grade. This was a matter of Guild management and government taxation. Amanda had made the suggestion in passing, but the matter might concern her considering she was the only A-Rank in Alessa.
In any case, this had nothing to do with us.
Our trip back to Alessa was uneventful. Fran and Amanda had another sparring match, and Jet jumped in during the middle of it.
“Grrr!”
“Haa!”
Jet’s shadow spears and Fran’s flame bolts launched towards Amanda. She dispersed the spells with a single crack of her whip before countering them.
She was more serious today since the Direwolf had joined the party. Her attacks were more vicious, her speed a whole tier faster. Fran and Jet winced from a single lash of Amanda’s whip. They powered through it while casting healing spells, however.
Fran and Jet were slowly but surely becoming a solid team.
“Awooo!”
“Very interesting!”
Jet had entered Fran’s shadow to dodge Amanda’s whip strikes and had popped out of Amanda’s shadow. It had faked a Shadow Walk from a Shadow Lurk. This reminded me of our fight with the Daemon; it really was an annoying move. But Amanda immediately responded by blowing Jet away with a wind spell. I didn’t expect anything less from her.
Shadow Walk allowed you to close the distance between you and your target in an instant. It consumed a lot of mana, but fortunately Jet was a Darkness Wolf who had mana to spare. It was able to use it over and over again in a short period of time.
It was also getting better at using the mana and was figuring out multiple ways to harass its target. At times, it would stay in Fran’s shadow and lay covering fire with shadow and poison spells. Other times it would fake Amanda out by seeming as if it was going to ambush her from her shadow when in fact it would just come out of Fran’
s shadow.
Just because Jet had strong magical capabilities didn’t mean it was a slouch in the physical department, either. It was strong there, too. It had Fang Arts and Toxic Fang, and its Strength was quite high. It was enough to mow down a Goblin horde with little trouble.
Fran was beginning to grasp Jet’s combat capabilities, and was slowly learning to issue commands to it throughout the fight. The two were becoming a force to be reckoned with as the fight went on. The bond between them was growing stronger, and they pulled off some tactics that were able to throw Amanda off, if only slightly. Still, their combined abilities weren’t enough to beat her.
We asked Amanda to teach us about Naming as a reward for our sparring match. No doubt, Naming was the reason behind Jet’s evolution. However, Fran and I had given each other names when we first met. Why didn’t anything happen to us then?
Amanda explained the mechanics and I understood why.
Naming was an action usually carried out by a superior towards a subordinate, or a summoner towards the summoned. The act not only served to give a name to the creature, but it also strengthened the bond between the two parties. It was like a contract in that way.
Being named unlocked one’s true potential and granted additional points in one’s stats. It might also produce unique effects depending on the one being named.
In Jet’s case, being named allowed it to channel the mana overload into a body that was able to handle it. What if I had delayed? It would’ve gone berserk, attacked Amanda, and been subsequently destroyed by the A-Rank. Sorry about that, Jet. It was an emergency.
Fran and I weren’t superior to each other, so we didn’t get stronger when we gave each other names. It was a simple naming ceremony in our case.
What I really wanted to know was why I had an entire menagerie of wolves on my Summon List. What was that about? I was sure we would be able to figure it out somehow but we needed more information. Should we go to the Reference Room again? Fran wouldn’t like it very much, though.
She would be all right so long as she had food. She’d be able to put up with most things if I told her she could eat all the curry she wanted afterwards. She was making a mad dash for the Big Eater spot… I knew I could cut back her portion sizes but when she stared at me with those puppy-dog eyes, I couldn’t resist. I had double to deal with now with Jet joining us. I was beginning to understand why some parents got overprotective with their kids.
As we sat around the campfire, Fran asked Amanda one last question.
“Evolved Black Cats?”
Evolution. Fran’s goal. No Black Cat in history had ever achieved it.
Our encounters with other Beastmen reinforced this fact. All of them mocked her on account of her race. Were Black Cats simply unable to evolve? Amanda was a well-traveled adventurer. Maybe she knew something we didn’t.
Amanda was silent, and sadly, shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know. Beastman Evolution isn’t my area of expertise so I can’t offer you any advice on it, either. What I do know is I’ve never met an evolved Black Cat.”
“Oh…”
Amanda had never seen one, either.
“The Black Cats I met all said the same thing, too…”
“What happened to them?”
“They’ve gone somewhere we cannot follow.”
Amanda let out a lonely sigh. As a veteran, she must have had to say countless goodbyes throughout her travels.
“You want to evolve too, Fran?”
“I’m a Black Cat. Of course I do,” Fran replied.
Amanda moved next to her, and held her close. “I wish you well, sweetie.”
“Mm.”
“You’re strong, and you work hard. You’ll be all right.”
“Thanks.”
Despite all her encouragement, Amanda looked sad and pained. “Just remember… You’re still young, okay? You have a right to rely on us adults. You’ll always have Teacher with you, so ask him to spoil you from time to time, all right? I’m here, too.”
“But…”
“No buts. I’ve seen how much of a hard worker you are and it worries me. Don’t overdo it, okay? You’ll end up breaking yourself if you do.”
Amanda’s words had the weight of experience. She either went through this herself or knew someone who did.
“Okay.”
“Sorry for preaching at you.”
“No, it’s all right. Thanks.”
Amanda’s advice hadn’t offended her at all. Rather, her genuine concern penetrated Fran’s heart.
Alessa was finally in sight the next day.
There was a crowd in front of the gates, most of them men in armor.
Did something happen while we were gone?
A multitude was headed our way. The one leading the crowd looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t place where I had seen him before.
“It’s the Knight Brigade,” Cruise said. Now I remembered. They were wearing the same armor August was. The one leading the platoon wore something similar to August, so he must be one of the higher-ups.
“Little League Knights.”
“Heh. That’s one way of putting it.”
“Fran! Lady Amanda! Please do not mention such things in front of them. They are very proud of their positions!” Cruise cried out in genuine panic when he heard the girls’ exchange. The Adventurers and the Knight Brigade didn’t really get along with each other. It would all be over for them if they had gotten in a fight with Fran and Amanda.
“Oh, fine.”
“Hm.”
I didn’t have any impressions on the Knight Brigade in general, but I wasn’t going to go out of my way to make enemies out of them. At least, so long as they didn’t start it first.
Just stay down, Jet.
“Woof.”
It had shapeshifted into its smaller, yet still impressive, size. It’d be annoying to have to deal with the Knight Brigade’s questions.
“Besides, that’s the Knight Captain, Urs. He’s okay.”
The Knight Captain was leading his squad today. The Guildmaster had also mentioned that he was a good man.
“What’s this? Is that Lady Amanda I see?”
“Hey there. Been a while.”
“Likewise, Madam. It does us good seeing Alessa’s finest back home!”
He was a cheerful old fellow. He was shorter than Don, but his features were just as hard. In a word, he was a Macho Dandy. I wondered if he was stronger than Don, too. Don was an offense-oriented Warrior, whereas Urs was a defense-oriented Paladin. A huge shield was latched onto his back.
“Is something up?”
“Indeed, we sensed a disturbance in the town borders. There is a C-Rank monster headed our way.”
The big cities had set up magical borders around its perimeter. The barrier couldn’t ward off monsters but it was able to send an early notification to the town’s citizens. The Knight Brigade had been mobilized to deal with this threat.
“You’re going out to kill it?”
“Yes. We’ve quarantined the town, and we are about to comb the area to look for the fiend. We’ve requested assistance from the Guild as well.”
Wow. He looked like he was about to graciously ask Amanda for help, too. Urs was an upright, respectable knight.
“You’ve got a lot of young knights with you.”
“Yes. We’ve been cleaning house at the Knight Brigade. We eliminated our corrupt members, so all we have left are our spry young men.”
He must be talking about August and his lot. The Knight Brigade was respectable again with its bad apples thrown out.
A C-Rank monster, though? Could it be—
The expedition crew’s eyes all turned to the Direwolf sitting comfortably next to the Beastgirl: Jet.
“It’s Jet.”
“Woof.”
“Goodness! Is that… a Direwolf? Small, but immensely strong!”
The Knight Captain took a step back after seeing Jet.
&n
bsp; “… One of yours, Madam?”
“Oh! No, it’s Fran’s pet.”
“I see. This little girl… Aaah, so you’re the ‘Little Spellsword’ I’ve been hearing about.”
The Little Spellsword. Someone else had called Fran by the same nickname. She was becoming famous, but I wish they’d given her a cooler nickname.
“Well, it’s all right that you’re keeping a familiar… But could you at least put a collar on it?”
“I know, I know,” Amanda interjected quickly. “I was going to suggest that Fran wrap a scarf around its neck before we reached town. Could you issue a Familiar Registration Document for it?”
“Of course,” Urs replied. “I’ve got to ask a few questions, but I’ll take care of the paperwork.”
“Thanks for being a sweetheart, Urs.”
Urs directed his attention to Fran. “First, its species. What is it? It looks too strong to be an ordinary Onyx Wolf…”
“It’s a Darkness Wolf.”
“Wh-what! My word… I’ve never seen one before.” Urs’ eyes bulged with surprise as he filled out Jet’s particulars on parchment paper. “And its name?”
“Jet.”
“‘Jet’ it is. You are its master, yes? What is your name?”
“Fran.”
“Now, what is Jet’s gender?”
“Hm? Hold on.”
Now that Urs mentioned it, I hadn’t given it much thought, either. As I was about to check, Fran had gone around to Jet’s back and flipped up its tail.
Jet winced.
Fran, manners! You can’t intrude on Jet’s privacy like that! Well, she was still young, after all…
“Male.”
“Aroo…”
Jet put his tail between his legs and hung his head in shame. The incident had been a shock to him.
“O-oh. Alright.” Even the Knight Captain was taken aback.
A red scarf was wrapped around Jet’s neck and he was now allowed to enter Alessa without a problem. He also received a badge that indicated he was a registered familiar. He was going to have to equip this at all times.
A similar uproar greeted us when we reached the guildhouse. The lower-level adventurers were used to being on guard against powerful monsters, so they stood in awe of the Direwolf. If Amanda hadn’t vouched for him, the uproar would’ve devolved into a panic.
“You come home bringing a C-Rank familiar… Really? You are an endless source of conversation, Fran.”