The next morning . I had to supply magical power to Neete before departing .
I massaged her topless back .
Neete had quite a tired look on her face .
It didn’t seem … to be because her magical power was low .
“What’s wrong? This doesn’t seem like you, given your only merit is to be energetic . ”
“No, of course, I am still energetic . I made this face because I wanted Master to ask me about it . ”
So she showed it to me intentionally . What a cunning homunculus .
Well, it seemed that there was actually some issue so I didn’t mind asking her .
“So what’s the issue?”
“It’s Sheena No . 3 . That girl plays anime songs loudly in the middle of the night . ”
“Anime songs … ? Ah, among the things Miri brought was the DVD for Nyapiece . And a DVD player as well . ”
Sheena No . 3 loves that manga . If there an anime as well, she would definitely watch it .
And that opening song is an unforgettable song . And it was not only during the opening scene, but that song would also play when the show reaches a climactic moment so just listening to that song would bring a sense of excitement .
Even I have hummed the tune to myself when I enter the bath .
“Well, forgive her for that . It’s not like you sleep in the same room, right?”
Pionia, Neete and Sheena No . 3 . The three of them slept in the same home .
Of course, all three of them didn’t need to sleep .
Sheena No . 3 is an automaton so that was natural but Neete and Pionia have the skill 【Abnormal Status Invalidation】 . That 【Abnormal Status Invalidation】was common in games which not only invalidates poison and paralysis but even sickness and sleepiness .
Pioneer in particular hardly seems to return to the room .
“Don’t tell me Sheena No . 3’s anime song is hugely tone deaf?”
“No, it’s the opposite . Sheena No . 3’s anime song is a perfect copy . Even the volume is normal . Well, there is no sound-proofing so I hear somewhat like background music in a stylish restaurant . ”
“Then isn’t that fine? You can think of it as actual background music . ”
” — Like a bad DJ . ”
“DJ?”
“If I put it into other words, it’s a broken CD . Sometimes, she would repeat the same phrase . I’m bothered because it’s like a bad replay . ”
Ah, so that’s the issue . It would certainly be annoying if the replay is bad and sometimes the lyrics are mistaken, skipped or interrupted . It would definitely wear down a person if they hear it for an entire night .
“That’s tough — Well, if it continues, get Pionia to talk to her . Her educator is Pionia . ”
I gave up on educating her .
Her actual parent is Miri and my relationship should be like her uncle . I wonder how she would think if her uncle educates her … but thinking of Sheena No . 3 as a niece was strange too so I put aside my current thoughts .
“Understood … ah, Master . That is enough for today . You might fight with the Ancient Dragon today, right? In that case, you should keep some extra MP . ”
“Hm? Well, it’s rumored that it is no longer there . But it’s true that MP is needed just in case . ”
I applied Clean on yesterday’s clothes and wore them .
Thinking back about it, I should have listened more intently to Neete’s story at that time .
※※※
As the slope got steeper as we neared the mountain, we turned to travel with the three of us seated on Nanawat . Carol sat in front of me while Haru sat behind me .
It was somewhat cramped riding with three people but thanks to Nanawat’s gluttony, he had enough power to run while carrying the three of us .
And while it was still morning, we arrived at the village famous for ginger — but .
” … Eh?”
The entire village seemed extremely tired .
Just like how Neete looked just now . It wasn’t absolute but it didn’t seem to be an atmosphere where I could purchase ginger seeds or seedlings .
Should we just not have anything to do with this village and not enter it at all?
The thought crossed my mind but a passer-by old lady spoke to us .
“Oya, are you travelers?”
“Ye … yeah . We wish to buy ginger seeds or seedlings but … did something happen?”
— did something happen?
The moment those words left my lips, I knew I had dragged myself into the matter .
“Eeh … travelers . I won’t talk about bad happenings . I’ll sell the ginger seeds so you should turn back now . ”
“Did nearby mountain bandits appear?”
“Mountain bandits … it was not something like that . ”
To Haru’s question,
“It was a dragon that appeared . ”
“Dragon!? Eh, by any chance is it the ancient dragon said to dwell in Mount Landau?”
“That’s right . The dragon attacked and the village fields are completely ruined . There is no way for us to live anymore . ”
No way, so it still lived .
Furthermore, it appeared at this timing and attacked the village .
“The Swordsman-sama and Monster-user-sama who went to subjugate the dragon are not returning either . ”
“The Swordsman-sama and Monster-user-sama who went to subjugate the dragon!? Were they a red-haired man and a blue-haired girl?”
“Yes — were they your acquaintances?”
That’s definitely Jofre and Elize .
So those two came to this village after all . And got involved in the incident .
“When was that?”
“It was yesterday afternoon . ”
Yesterday afternoon — that is way too late if they had come directly .
Sure enough, they were probably lost . Although it would have been better if they didn’t arrive .
“Old lady, could you please prepare the ginger seeds?”
“All right . ”
“During that time, we’ll quickly defeat the ancient dragon . ”
When I said that, the old lady’s eyes changed color .
“No way, travelers . Do you intend to challenge the dragon too?”
“Well, it’s actually not my first time fighting a dragon . I fought with a dragon once in the past and won after a tough battle but as expected, I can’t feel satisfied unless I win with an overwhelming victory . ”
Moreover, even if it is an ancient dragon, there shouldn’t be a dragon stronger than Leviathan or Salamander . Now my magical attack stat was far greater than before .
I don’t believe I would lose .
I came here anticipating the possibility of fighting the ancient dragon from the very beginning .
Furthermore, if worse comes to worst, we still have the trump card of escaping to My World . The smartest thing to do in a tight situation is to retreat .
“Ah, right . If you still have any gingers remaining, please prepare those as well . Let’s all enjoy dragon steak together . ”
I said with a smile and made eye contact with Haru and Carol before I urged Nanawat to run . Nanawat seemed to be motivated as well . Desert Runners are actually distantly related to the dragon species but it looked like it wanted to eat dragon steak too .