Chapter 175
As I lay on the bed, lost in thought, I heard voices approaching from outside the room.
By the time I realized they were Melt’s, and that they were sorrowful sobs, I had already stopped thinking, opened the door, and stepped out.
“Melt, what happened!? What’s with those injuries!?” (Shizuma)
When I opened the door to greet the owner of the crying voice, I saw that Melt had scratches on her face…on the tip of her nose and her forehead.
It looked as if she had fallen flat on her face.
But that didn’t seem to be the real problem.
“Aaaah…! The injuries don’t matter…! This, this!!!” (Melt)
I pulled her into the room as she continued crying unabashedly and asked again what had happened.
Then she said…
“My…My tail…!” (Melt) “W-What…this… The shape is different…” (Shizuma)
“I got grabbed, yanked with all their strength, and slammed full-body into the ground! The scratches on my face are from that! But they ripped out so much fur that even my tail changed shape! Aaaaah! So frustrating!” (Melt)
Just as Melt said, the fur at the tip of her beautiful silver tail had been cut extremely short, leaving the overall shape distorted.
Her tail was grabbed? She was slammed into the ground? Face-first? Someone injured her?
“Melt. Who was it? Who did this? Where are they now?” (Shizuma)
“I dunno! People from the Explorer Guild came, a lot of them, and took them away! It’s so frustrating! They were a bad person, so I tried to catch them! But I lost! They grabbed my tail and slammed me down…bam!” (Melt)
“What did they look like? Male or female? Race? About how old? Hair color?” (Shizuma)
I have to kill them.
I have to go kill them right now.
I have to wipe out their entire family.
“Y-You can’t expect me to answer all that at once… It’s fine, I’ll get my own revenge.” (Melt)
“No, tell me anyway. You think I can stay quiet after my family’s been made to cry? Tell me their features.” (Shizuma)
“Uu… Seimu, you’re kind of scary…” (Melt)
“Please, I need you to tell me. At this rate, I’ll have to kill everyone on this island.” (Shizuma)
If she won’t say it, then I’ll do it. I’ll kill every suspicious person. I’ll destroy this entire island.
“N-No! Even the shrimp stalls would get wiped out! Calm down, calm down, okay? …Um, I don’t know his age… About the same as you, Seimu? His hair was bright red, like roasted shrimp, though…” (Melt)
…!
Him! So it was him! Of course it was him! Right, he said he was heading to the dungeon today! Then this situation was completely predictable! Why… Why did I have to take today off, of all days!?
“…Melt, don’t worry. That guy will probably be purged tomorrow. By me. He’ll be purged by me.” (Shizuma)
“Huh? Tomorrow’s the banquet, right? You can’t skip it, you know? Won’t Bubbly-san be troubled?” (Melt)
“It’s fine. That bad guy should be coming to the banquet too. …Melt, I’m sorry your precious tail got hurt just because you followed me. I’ll look for a doctor you can consult, okay?” (Shizuma)
“I don’t think it’s actually injured… Once the fur grows back… huh?” (Melt)
At that, Melt seemed to notice something and sat down on the bed, beginning to examine her tail.
Cradling her tail carefully, she checked it thoroughly… An utterly heartrending sight.
…Angares, you’re dead. Should I stop waiting until tomorrow? Should I go kill you right now?
“Hmm… Oh! Seimu, this was my mistake!” (Melt)
“Hm? What is it, Melt?” (Shizuma)
Her once-sorrowful tone suddenly turned optimistic.
She seemed to be examining the spot where her tail fur had been pulled out.
“Look, see? This is just molting season. It hurt because it was yanked all at once, but this was winter fur that was going to fall out anyway. See? It comes out easily. Oh… I was always in the forest before, but now I came to a warm island, so the timing got thrown off!” (Melt)
“So…your tail will go back to normal?” (Shizuma)
“Yeah. Once I brush it and remove all the other winter fur, the shape will even out.” (Melt)
“I see. That’s really a relief. But…we still need to heal these injuries properly.” (Shizuma)
I handed Melt some of the potions I used in large quantities today.
Honestly, they were far stronger than necessary for such light injuries, but I needed the peace of mind.
She opened the small bottle and gulped it down, and the wounds rapidly healed before my eyes.
“Phew… All better! I’ve been wondering for a while now… Seimu, those amazing potions you have…who makes them? I’ve been researching medicines myself lately, so do you have knowledge like that?” (Melt)
Melt asked me that as she fiddled with the empty bottle she finished drinking.
Come to think of it, I haven’t used that character yet… Gaining knowledge about medicine might be useful going forward.
“There’s someone sleeping inside me who’s good at making medicine. If I take that form, I might gain their knowledge.” (Shizuma)
“I see… I’d like to meet them someday. Alright…then I’ll do some brushing.” (Melt)
“Yeah. Then I’ll go for a little walk—” (Shizuma)
The moment I said that, my head suddenly felt heavy, like a pang of dizziness, and I collapsed onto the bed.
My consciousness…fades…
—————–
“Shizuma, restrain yourself.”
My awareness abruptly snapped awake.
I was already in my mental world, with my companions gathered around the round table.
“Shizuma…you were going to pretend to go for a walk and attack the guest mansion, weren’t you? Restrain yourself. I understand how you feel, but hold back for now.” (Shilent)
Shilent calmly saw through my thoughts and advised me.
…He’s right. I was going to fake a walk and go finish off Angares, who was likely staying at the guest mansion.
“Shizuma, I feel the same way. But there’s a chance this could escalate into a conflict between nations. That could shatter your peace and Melt’s. So restrain yourself for now.” (Seimu)
“Indeed. I could assassinate him without anyone noticing, but even within this country, once a corpse, or even a disappearance, occurs, it’s obvious trouble will follow. Secure a proper justification-ja.” (Rue)
Seimu and Rue tried to persuade me.
So that’s it. I lost consciousness because everyone was trying to stop my rampage.
“…I admit I let my anger get the better of me. Sorry for the trouble.” (Shizuma)
“But in truth, everyone here feels the same.” (Shilent)
“Yes, indeed. Though personally speaking…wouldn’t killing him inside a dungeon avoid any issues? Even if he went missing, if it happened in a dungeon, there’d be no punishment.” (Still)
“I think Still-san’s idea is worth considering as well. Let the dungeon be his gravestone, and I shall play a requiem there.” (Hash)
“Enough, Still, Hash. I too believe we should quietly build a proper justification…some way to legitimize a duel. Shizuma, if you fight as Seimu, show no mercy.” (Rue)
“That’s right. This time, I’m truly angry too. There’s no need to hold back using only basic skills like usual. To make an impression on the Empire…if it comes to a fight, land the strongest blow.” (Seimu)
…This is bad. Everyone inside is even angrier than I am.
At present, most of these characters are still essentially me. Only Rue and Still possess true autonomy, and Hash overwrites part of me.
The rest are roles I’m playing, and Shire no longer comes forward at all.
Even so, even to those who can’t manifest their personalities outwardly, Melt treats us as separate people…and loves us as family.
Which means Melt is family to all of us, and this anger is entirely natural.
“Alright. No ambushes or anything like that. Tomorrow at the banquet, we’ll set the stage properly and settle this. Given the kind of person he’s brought along, I suspect he’s planning something against Shuris-san. Seimu, if someday you gain a personality and can act independently through summoning, there may be troublesome ties that follow…but tomorrow, I’m going to do what I want. Is that okay?” (Shizuma)
“That’s fine. You can provoke him as much as you want, or even initiate things to a degree. I don’t mind drawing the Empire’s attention. Melt is like a precious daughter to us, or a little sister. I’ll do anything.” (Seimu)
“Good. Then…I’ll sleep now. Everyone, sorry about this. I rushed ahead on my own.” (Shizuma)
I apologized one last time, closed my eyes at the darkened round table, and…
My consciousness returned to reality…
—————–
“Seimu? Weren’t you going for a walk?” (Melt)
“Hm? Ah, I suddenly got really sleepy. Tomorrow’s early, so I think I’ll sleep. What about you tomorrow, Melt?” (Shizuma)
“Hmm… Once I fix my tail fur…I’ve got something to do too, so I’ll spend tomorrow however I like, okay?” (Melt)
“Got it. Then let’s sleep for today.” (Shizuma)
“Okay! That’s it for today! Tomorrow I’ll carefully store the fur that fell out, and once we’re back in Lindblum, I need to treat it for preservation. I’ve got money to spare this year, so I won’t sell it!” (Melt)
Come to think of it, Melt used to sell the fur that shed from her tail to traveling merchants.
With fur that beautiful, it must’ve fetched a high price.
Watching Melt, no longer crying, contentedly tending to her tail, I felt a little relieved as I let my consciousness sink.
Good night… Tomorrow, I’ll make sure to avenge you…
—————–
The next morning, I woke up to a strange smell filling the room, my face twisting.
What is this? It smells medicinal, but also just…sharply irritating.
Melt was already gone from the neighboring bed, and it seemed the source of the smell was the balcony.
“Melt, are you out there?” (Shizuma)
‘Ah, morning!’ (Melt)
“There’s a terrible smell…what are you doing?” (Shizuma)
‘Ah! Did the stink get into the room!? Sorry!’ (Melt)
Melt, working outside, was transferring some extracted liquid into small bottles using some equipment.
It looked like she was making two kinds of medicine at once, with two glass apparatuses lined up on a table set on the balcony.
Finished with her work, she cracked the window open slightly and slipped back inside.
Is it really that bad outside…?
“Sorry, I should’ve sealed the window more tightly.” (Melt)
“Make sure we don’t bother the hotel, okay? After cleaning, we need to ventilate so the smell doesn’t linger.” (Shizuma)
“Uuh, I completely forgot. It’s fine…I have medicine to neutralize the odor, so I’ll take care of it.” (Melt)
Apparently, the medicine Melt had been compounding was particularly harsh for beastkins… It is unusual to see her with her tail wrapped around her waist, and her ears completely flattened against her head.
“So, what kind of medicine were you making? Something using the Heart-Silver we got earlier?” (Shizuma)
“Nope, that’s something else. This is…well, medicine related to tail fur and hair, and the other one is…kind of related to stomach condition, I guess?” (Melt)
She seemed to be deliberately vague, but it might be something related to her body, so I probably shouldn’t pry.
“I see. Then I’ll get changed and head to the guest mansion. There’s apparently not just a dinner banquet, but also a luncheon.” (Shizuma)
“I see… Got it! I’ll go out too once I finish what I need to do!” (Melt)
Good. She doesn’t seem to be dwelling on yesterday.
I was worried about what I’d do if she were still down today.
After saying a few words to Melt, who for some reason still had her ears folded, I headed for the guest mansion.
—————–
After Seimu left the hotel, Melt tidied up the balcony and sprinkled another chemical throughout the room.
“That should take care of the smell… Alright… Next, I’ll use this in the bath…” (Melt)
She took out one of the two small bottles she prepared and gently shook its contents.
A black…pitch-black liquid rippled inside. Honestly, it looked eerie, but Melt smiled happily.
“Hehehe… just you wait… I’ll definitely get payback for my tail.” (Melt)
Murmuring that, Melt removed all her clothes and headed for the shower room…
Holding the small bottle in her hand, wearing a smile that hinted at some scheme.
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