episode_0058

“Well… so, this is Nix, the special-grade spirit who’ll be with us from today onward. Round of applause…”

“It’s… nice to meet you…!!”

Nix bowed deeply before the two of them.

Eve and Yuri were having breakfast at the restaurant in front of the guild.

Yuri, still half-asleep, rubbed her puffy eyelids, wondering what was going on.

Thunk-

Eve was the first to drop her spoon.

“…Didn’t you get scammed somewhere?”

“No. I got her properly, with the World Tree certification mark, from the Spirit’s Sanctuary.”

“Wh-What—”

Bang—!

She stood up, her body trembling with shock, her hands bracing the table as if to break it.

“You… you saw the World Tree…?”

“Uh… no—”

Only after seeing Eve’s wide eyes did she regain her composure.

I also stayed up all night going to the Spirit’s Sanctuary, so I guess I was out of it because of fatigue.

Therefore…

Should I tell her this, or not?

There are two reasons why I shouldn’t.

First, I don’t fully trust Eve yet.

It doesn’t mean she’s connected to some evil force, or that she has a bad personality.

Her origins, her abilities, her background.

I don’t know anything about her properly yet.

Then why do I keep hanging out with her? …I probably know everything else.

This girl’s cautious nature, her warm heart.

So, I need time to get to know her, at least.

This mission and adventure are also for that purpose.

Secondly, it’s the opposite.

There’s a chance Eve will suspect me.

I suddenly went to a place no one has ever reached before?

First of all, the truth itself will be highly questionable.

Even if it’s true, the suspicion will grow.

Because I have information about the Forest of Deception from my past life memories, I can’t reveal its source.

In the end, I can’t use the cards I have.

Because of my promise with Gaia, it’s absolutely forbidden to carelessly talk about information regarding the Forest of Deception.

“I didn’t see it…”

So I trailed off slowly.

Then Nix caught my eye.

‘I’ll have to tell her when I explain about Nix anyway, and even if I don’t, it’ll eventually come out…’

As if reading my complex thoughts, she simply tilted her head quietly.

I gently stroked Nix’s head and changed my mind.

Reasons not to tell her? Just flip them over.

“I met her in person and even received the spirit’s blessing.”

.

.

.

Simply put, that’s it.

Rather, it’s a strategy to be bold.

“Before I came to the academy, I spent 10 years studying magic and various knowledge on my own. Just gathering information about the Forest of Deception took me three years.”

“That information about the forest isn’t ordinary material. Where did you get that?”

I glanced at Yuri.

“The royal library.”

“…!”

“Thanks to Yuri working as a maid at the castle, I got permission to research there.”

Yuri nodded with a slight smile, and Eve looked at her with distrust.

Touching her forehead, I rubbed my temples for a moment.

I took a quick look at Nix and confirmed the spirit’s power within her.

I sighed reluctantly.

“Whew… honestly, I still don’t know what’s what. You know better than anyone that it’s hard to believe, right?”

“I’m not asking you to believe everything. You just have to believe what you’ve seen and felt, right?”

Even I’m not confident about how I obtained the information.

I have memories of a past life, and if I told them that this world was a game, who would believe me?

Even if they did, next they’d start to doubt my existence.

But there’s one thing that’s certain.

That I went to the Forest of Deception, met the World Tree, and brought back Nix, the special-grade darkness attribute spirit.

This is an unchanging fact.

“So, you should just accept it. We have a lot to do today, don’t we?”

We already wasted the entire morning.

Nix’s appearance spread rumors among Eve and the surrounding adventurers, causing quite a bit of chaos.

Because of that, I went back to the inn, ignoring settlements and everything, and took a nap.

It was already quite late in the morning.

It looks like I messed up the schedule, but it was Eve who kept holding me back from leaving.

She wouldn’t move an inch until she got a believable explanation.

I couldn’t move her heart with logic alone, either.

People’s hearts don’t work mechanically.

So, I left Nix with Yuri.

“Whoa… so Yuri and Nari went through such hard times since they were little…?”

“Ah, not that much. Everything works out well when I’m with my older sister.”

“Right. I think so too! Maybe even leaving the Spirit’s Sanctuary and seeing the world like this is all thanks to Nari.”

Surprisingly, they got along well.

Yuri’s stories were interesting to Nix, who had little experience in the world.

Conversely, Nix’s centuries of accumulated mana and magical knowledge were helpful to Yuri, who lacked learning.

They were chatting happily together, even though they’d only met a few hours ago.

“You know… I’m curious… whisper, whisper-”

“-Ah… um… that’s tough. The style is good, though? It’s probably exactly your sister’s type. But what she lacks is…”

The two were busy whispering to each other.

“See, you’re the only one who can’t accept Nix’s existence here.”

“…You’re going to force me into accepting this, aren’t you?”

“Huh? I don’t know what you mean.”

When I shrugged and played dumb, Eve sighed again and finally pretended to agree.

This is the second secret skill after “[Downplaying],” which is “[Gaslighting].”

The skill worked well because she got up from her seat.

“So, are we really going now?”

“…Yeah. We’re late, let’s finish this quickly.”

A night that felt longer than expected.

Eve and Yuri left for a nearby forest for their mission.

I also headed to the mountain where we dug up the mandrakes yesterday, with Nix.

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.

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It wasn’t hot enough to die from the heat, but the air was quite humid.

Thanks to the cool breeze from the mountain ridge, I felt the stuffy air wash away.

Ribbit-ribbit- Plop- plop—!

Besides, this is a riverside.

The sound of the murmuring water diligently tapped at my eardrums, passing by me along with the cool breeze.

“You know, Nari—”

“Wait… I’m concentrating right now.”

I didn’t hear Nix sigh.

I multiplied waiting by waiting, added waiting another time, then squared the waiting.

I was so focused that I didn’t even notice the drool on my cheek.

The fishing float bobbing on the water’s surface.

I didn’t take my eyes off it for a moment.

And after a while.

Glisten- glisten- Plop—!

‘Now’s the time—!!’

The moment the float sank as if sucked into the water, I pulled the fishing rod with all my might!

Whizz- whoosh— Splash-splash…!!!

“I got it…!!”

“Wow- Wow… this is—!!”

What was hooked was a very large—

[Silvanas River Rock]

—Trash.

“…….”

Today’s task, freshwater eel fishing.

Even this time, the first one had to be taken down head-on, so I was engaging in fishing, against my will.

I used to go fishing with my father when I was little in my past life, but didn’t I do this too back then?

Scattering bait in advance by the river to gather fish and throwing a fishing hook with a large bait among the gathered fish, it only took a moment.

Approximately three hours passed.

Without much success, what filled the mana net were a few small smelts.

When the special-grade darkness spirit, exhausted from watching the nature documentary’s original full video, blended into the shadow of a nearby tree,

“But… according to my memory of fishing, it was reservoir fishing that you went with your father, right?”

“Ah.”

I realized that the bait that quickly faded away into the quick current was rather odd.

“…I don’t know. Let’s just take the net and go back today.”

“Hey, get out of the way!”

Nix, who couldn’t stand it any longer, stepped forward.

She took out the request form that was tucked into my waist and began to investigate information about freshwater eels.

She seemed to be going to cram-study.

“Hey, hey. You can’t just learn fishing in a day or two. See? Wa-waiting, wa-waiting is the most important part of this. Even if it doesn’t bite right away, staying put persistently—”

“Hmm, hmm. That’s right.”

Ignoring my words, she crammed eel information into her head before heading towards the riverbank.

“Kheh heh, watch closely.”

“…Yeah.”

Even her sinister laughter had become somewhat familiar. Nix reached out to the water.

“Since their sight has degenerated, their hearing should be sharp. That’s why they don’t show themselves at all during the day!”

“…I think so. I’ve heard a similar story.”

She began to walk on the water, explaining her deductions about the unfamiliar fish like a professional.

“So, first, let’s cover the light with a dark curtain…”

Splash- With every step, ripples spread in concentric circles.

In time, Nix’s black fog began to swallow the river.

“Hey… what are you trying to—”

“Shh-! The worse their eyesight, the more sensitive their hearing will be. Quiet!”

“—Mmph.”

Soon, the wide river was completely dyed black.

-They probably hide in the crevices of rocks during daylight. Nari, throw the bait quickly now!

She seemed to be trying not to make any noise and transmitted her voice using mana waves.

I started to get a grasp on what she was attempting. I quietly picked up the bait bucket and scattered it widely on the river.

Flop- flopflop- plop- Isn’t this louder… well, it’s fine for now.

-Now… if we lift the rocks on the riverbed… there!

The surface of the water began to ripple.

At the same time, Nix signaled me.

-Now!

“Okay.”

I spread my arms wide, reaching towards both sides of the long-flowing river.

And spread out the [Mana Curtain].

In the form of a net where only water could pass through the fine meshes.

And slowly narrowed its range from the depths of the riverbed.

Splash- splash- Small movements touching the curtain. It felt light and energetic, like other short-bodied fish.

But, it was the first proper feeling.

I lifted the net straight up into the air.

Whoosh—! Snap- snap-

The net stretched taut as if it would break.

The river water flowing down between them.

And.

Flop- flop flop—!

“Got it!!”

The net was filled with countless fish.

Among them, I could see freshwater eels that were at least taller than me.

“…Tonight’s a fish party.”

With a slight exaggeration, I could feed five thousand people and still have twelve baskets left.

A monster catch, literally.

After gathering and tying the ends of the net full of fish, Nix ran up, shaking the water off her wet bare feet.

“Nari!”

“Wow-”

Snuggle- She hugged me excitedly.

“Keheh, kehiih. How is it? Did I do well?!”

“Yeah, yeah. Good job.”

“You know, you know…! Then I…”

She’s truly amazing. If it had only been me, it would have taken a long time to complete the river fishing, but we did so quickly.

She’s smart enough to perfectly support the slightly lacking aspects of my genius strategy.

‘I need to give her a proper reward soon.’

I turned around with the net on my back.

“Let’s go quickly. We still have a lot to do.”

“Uh, uh…? Yeah…”

“Why? Is there something you want to say?”

Nix looked at me intently, twisting her feet as if she was slightly disappointed.

“No, let’s go…!”

“…So simple.”

Today, I’ll submit the eels to the guild, and sell the remaining fish cheaply to the restaurant… Tomorrow, I have to decide whether or not I’ll show the Forest of Deception map to the guild.

Such busy days were expected to continue.

But, it got busier due to a small accident.

If I had been a little more attentive to Nix’s behavior…

If I had noticed sooner that she had obtained her first body and her sexual curiosity was overflowing…

If only I’d realized that she was in heat earlier.