At first glance, it looked to be a brimless black hat, but...
“This is a wig?”
“Perhaps...something will happen if you put it on?” Elze hesitantly put the hat on at her younger sister’s urging. A second later, her hairstyle was transformed.
I see now. S-So this is how it works. Heh.
“Ahahahahaha! No way! I’m sorry, Elze this is just too good!!!”
“W-What?!” I couldn’t stop laughing. The wig had turned Elze’s hairdo into a crew cut. I had no idea how it had managed to make her long hair disappear, but it had. Illusion magic, perhaps? Bahahaha, I’m laughing too hard to think straight! The others all turned away, doing their best to hide their laughter.
Confused, Elze turned to one of the mirrors to see what she looked like. “Are you serious?!” Elze screamed as she saw her reflection.
She tried to take the cap off her head, but it seemed glued on. I suspected that her hairstyle would remain this way until we rolled the dice again, or until some time passed.
“Jeez! You guys hurry up and pull your wigs out too! Touya, you’re next!”
“Wait, I’m next?!” Urged onward by Elze, I stuck my hand into the box and pulled out a golden cap. This... looks flashy.
“Hurry up and put it on!”
“Alright, alright...” I turned around and put the cap on. When I turned back, everyone burst into laughter. What kind of hairstyle did this wig give me? I looked over at the mirror and saw a blonde, twin tailed me staring back. Are you kidding me...
“Now we match, Darling. Heh.” Leen walked up behind me and patted me on the shoulder. This isn’t the kind of matching I wanted! “Oh whatever! Everyone, hurry up and get your wigs so we can get out of here! Who’s next?!” Trying to hide my embarrassment, I hurried the others onward. Everyone ended up with a ridiculous hairstyle. Linze had ringlet curls, Yumina had an afro, Lu had dreadlocks, Leen had a pompadour, Yae had a mohawk, Hilde had a lion’s mane, and Sue ended up looking half-bald.
Out of all of them, mine might actually have been the least ridiculous. Though I still would have preferred Elze’s crew cut wig. Actually, the hairstyles themselves weren’t ridiculous, it was just that none of them fit. There were some people who could really pull off a pompadour or mohawk.
And Linze’s ringlet curls actually looked kind of good on her. If she had a more domineering personality, they would have fit her perfectly. As it was, they kind of clashed with her quiet demeanor.
Once we all had our wigs on, the dicen fell to the ground again.
Linze picked it up and threw it with all her might. It landed on four. The star mark moved another four spaces forward.
“This one says...‘Everyone say aloud the color of your underwear.’ Wait whaaaaaat?!” Linze screamed hysterically. The girls all looked at each other in shock. I let out a wild cheer inside my heart, but kept my expression perfectly neutral.
“Hey Linze! Why’d you have to land there, of all places?!”
“You’re scaring me, sis! Don’t glare at me with that hairdo!” Linze raised her arms to shield herself from Elze’s menacing stare. The crew cut made her twice as scary.
“We simply have to announce the color of our underwear? Very well, mine is white.” Sue casually announced her underwear’s color. There’s a lot I wanted to say about her nonchalance when it came to underwear, but now wasn’t the time. I figured I might as well use this opportunity to mention mine too.
“I guess I’ll say mine too. My underwear’s black. Alright, next.” Since I was standing next to Sue, I more or less established that we’d go down in line.
Next was Yae, who was standing on my other side. She was looking awfully flustered, which would have been cute if she didn’t have a mohawk.
“Hm?” Mine and Sue’s wigs had vanished. Ah, I get it now. Once we clear the next event, the previous event’s effects vanished.
“So they’ll go away once we say our underwear’s color.”
“I wonder if that means they won’t vanish if we lie about it.” Yae muttered, looking depressed. Had Yae been hoping to get away with a lie? Knowing her, we would have been able to see through it right away.
Normally I’d have said no one would be that cruel, but knowing the doctor she might really do it.
I was wearing black boxers, so my answer certainly hadn’t been a lie. I’d gotten them from Zanac’s shop, and they were a copy of the underwear I’d been wearing when I’d first come to this world.
“M-My underwear also happens to be... wh-wh... ngh... r-red...” Yae’s face went as red as her underwear as she said that. She buried her face in her hands and crouched down.
The mohawk vanished, and was replaced by her usual hairstyle. It seemed answering really did get rid of our wigs.
So her underwear is red, huh? If I recall correctly, Yae’s a fan of loincloths. Which would mean right now she’s wearing a red loincloth.
My musings were interrupted by Leen, who held out something to me with a grin. I believe she was next in line to answer.
“What’re these?”
“Earplugs. I can’t sleep at night without them. Good thing I always keep them on me. I don’t suppose you could put those on for me, Darling?”
“Nice going, Leen!”
“Why did you not bring those out earlier, why did you not?!” Yae accosted Leen, tears in her eyes. Tch, I can’t believe she had countermeasures in place... I reluctantly put in the earplugs. Wow, these really block out sound well. I never would have expected a fantasy world’s earplugs to be so well designed.
I watched as everyone said the color of their underwear, and their hairstyles returned to normal. Tsk...
Hilde was the last to go, and after she’d finished, the die fell to the ground once more.
“It is my turn now, I believe. Hah!” Yae added a hefty spin to the die as she threw it. Almost as if she were venting her frustrations onto the die.
This time the dicen came up on five. Thank goodness, it looks like we’re getting through this pretty fast.
We went through a whole slew of events, including eating very spicy food without water, dancing for a minute straight, and so on. Each of them were the kinds of things you’d get in a punishment game. Finally, we were only a few spaces from the goal. With plenty of time to spare, too. We’ll be able to make it, right? Though I was wondering what was taking Paula so long. She should have been able to get Parshe by now.
“Hah!” Leen threw the dicen, and it landed on four.
The marker moved four spaces forward, and like always our surroundings began to morph.
“Whoa?!”
“It’s the beach?!” A picturesque view spread out before us. Bright white sand, a clear blue sky, and dazzling sapphire waves as far as the eye could see.
“Is this really all an illusion?”
“The sea breeze smells so real...” Sue ran up to the water’s edge and began splashing about in the shallows.
“This must be real. The water feels completely real.”
“Hmm...It even tastes salty. I wonder if space-time magic and barrier magic...and summoning magic would be enough to make a fake sea like this.” Leen squatted down, dipped her finger into the water, and licked it.
There were wave pools and the like back on Earth, so I guess it shouldn’t have been too surprising that magic could replicate an ocean here too. Even I could make waves with water magic.
“This is astounding... Ancient technology really is impressive.” Leen was right, this was still quite impressive. Except all this technology was being used to make a board game...
Oh yeah, what were the instructions for this tile again? I looked at the map and read the instructions aloud.
“Change into the designated clothes? Does that mean...”
“I believe it’s these... Touya.”
“Huh? Oh...” I turned around to see Lu standing next to a clothes rack that had been left lying on the beach. She took one of the outfits and showed it to me.
It was a swimsuit. That’s about as cliched as it gets. There was another clothes rack with men’s’ swimsuits. There was even a changing tent.
“Wait! This swimsuit’s just a few pieces of string!”
“Apparently it adjusts itself to fit whoever’s wearing it. Is this, too, a product of ancient technology?”
“These are all awfully revealing...” The girls gathered around the clothes rack and started looking for swimsuits they liked.
I figured I wouldn’t have to be as picky, since I don’t much care what I’m wearing. But when I started looking through the rack, I realized most of these were rather bizarre.
I’m not even sure how to wear this one... It goes in a V-shape down to my crotch...The doctor sure had some strange tastes. And this is just... a single leaf. Just because a comedy group wore it doesn’t mean I will! There was another one that was completely transparent, and another that resembled a very tight speedo. Finally, I managed to find a normal pair of swim trunks.
I headed toward the changing tent, then stopped. It might be a good idea to see what happens when I get these trunks wet first. After all, knowing the doctor, they might have ended up dissolving in water.
It turned out they were safe, so I went to go change. Inside the tent there was a tiny chest and a small placard next to it that said “Please put your clothes in here once you’ve changed.” Apparently, after a set amount of time, the clothes I was wearing and the clothes in this chest would be swapped. Which meant if I didn’t want to end up naked, I better do as the sign said. I put the clothes in the chest and shut the lid. There was an audible click as the chest locked itself. I am going to get my clothes back later, aren’t I? As I expected, the girls took longer to change. They do realize that if we take too long our time limit’ll be up and we’ll get thrown out naked right?
“Sorry we took so long, Touya.”
“Ah...” Yumina left the tent first. She was wearing a white one-piece suit with a floral design.
Sue came out afterward, clad in a yellow polka-dot one-piece with frills.
Next came Elze and Linze, both wearing standard bikinis. Elze’s was red and Linze’s was blue.
Next came Yae, wearing a purple ensemble with a pareo wrapped around her. As expected, Yae’s bust revealed its true powers when freed from the surly bonds of her sarashi.
Hilde finally came out, though she seemed more than shy. Come to think of it, this was the first time I’d seen Hilde in a swimsuit. She wore a frilly orange bikini. The bottom had a skirt-like design. Hilde wasn’t quite on Yae’s level, but she had some mighty fine assets.
I wondered why they had their swords, though... Then again, I wasn’t one to talk, I’d brought Brunhild with me just in case.
I also looked over to see Lu’s swimsuit for the first time. It was an emerald one-piece with a halterneck.
Finally Leen showed up, clad in a frilly black bikini halterneck. She had a more mature atmosphere about her, but it was offset a bit by her childish body. Much like Hilde, the bottom piece of her suit was skirt-like.
“Sorry it took us so long, there was a lot to choose from in there.”
“Th-There was one outfit that was just three seashells. What was that doctor thinking...?” She was thinking something messed up, Elze.
Hm? I smelled something. What’s this? “What’s that nice smell?”
“Oh, it seems like our swimsuits are lightly scented... Not too much, though.” It smelled vaguely like citrus, with a bit of mint mixed in. I wondered if this was a normal fragrance in the ancient kingdom. Or maybe it was just something that swimsuits were designed to have... Though I couldn’t help but notice mine didn’t have any such scent.
Still, it was a rare opportunity to bring everyone together at the beach. I was a little bit thankful to the pervy old doctor. Though I’d never say something like that out loud.
We all decided to start rolling the dicen again. Just because we’d gotten changed didn’t mean the game was over, after all.
“The goal isn’t that far off.”
“We’ve still got around thirty minutes. But I’m a little worried about that one space just before the goal...”
“Yeah, it says ‘Must Stop’... I wonder what that’s all about...” Yumina tilted her head, but clearly had no idea. In typical board games like this, there was often a space near the end that would make you go back to the start.
But this space said ‘Must Stop,’ not ‘Back to the Start’... So I didn’t think it was that. If it actually does restart the game I’m gonna flip the board. I can’t afford to miss the goal here.
Even so, the wicked doctor had made this game. There was no telling what she’d do to screw us over.
“By the way, Touya... It’s your turn to roll.”
“Hm? Ah, right then. Let’s do it.”
I took the dice from Lu and threw it on the sandy beach while giving it a vertical spin. It rolled a few times before landing on a six.
Hell yeah!
“Wow! We are so close to the goal now, we are!”
Yae jumped around in excitement, making her two assets move in a captivating manner. It took an iron will to keep me from staring at them. I noticed that Lu and Yumina were looking at me with reproachful eyes, which made me feel completely cornered.
Anyway, I brought the piece to the “Must Stop” square just before the goal, but the surroundings remained unchanged. What the hell?
“Ah! It’s saying something?!” Hilde pointed at a large square on the map.
“‘Defeat the incoming enemy with only elemental magic?’ What enemy?”
As I became puzzled, something appeared from the sea.
At first, it looked like a bluish slime, but a moment later, it actually stood up.
Indeed. It had legs to stand on. Though, I wasn’t sure if legs was appropriate, considering they were neither human nor draconic. In fact, they were tentacles, which made the creature look highly... jellyfish-like.
Despite that, I couldn’t help but feel that I was looking at a slime from a certain game. Specifically, the one that could use healing magic. I mean... it even had eye-like parts.
It was also pretty damn huge. About as large as Sango in Heavenly Beast mode, in fact. This large slime-jellyfish was twisting its tentacles as it crawled straight towards us.
“Th-That’s a King Poison Jelly... Oh no...”
“Leen? You know about this thing?!” Her voice was shaky, so everyone looked at her with worry.
“It’s a magic beast with great vitality and tentacles that have both a weak paralyzing poison and a lightning that it uses for offense. King Poison Slimes don’t actually attack people, but they’re amphibious, and they often go ashore to eat citrus fruits — a favorite of theirs.”
“Citrus...? Hold on a second! You don’t mean that...” Elze turned pallid and glared at Leen.
“That’s exactly what I mean. It’s coming towards us because of how we smell right now. Our swimsuits are drenched in the scent of citrus.” Leen forced a grin as the rest of us became dumbfounded.
She played us like a damn fiddle!
All of us present shared that exact same thought.
That damn pervert had accounted for everything.
“It’s coming!” Hilde’s cry made everyone split up. She readied her sword, Yae unsheathed her katana, Lu took her twin blades out of her ring’s [Storage], and Elze equipped her gauntlets from the ring on her neck’s chain.
Wait... Will the magic on them even work?
“What shall we do?”
“Well, we could distract it by throwing our swimsuits away...”
“There’s no way we’re doing that!”
“I-I know! I’m just thinking out loud!” Elze turned beet red and strongly rejected my suggestion. Well, it wasn’t like I expected her to agree. Still, our actual clothes were in a locked treasure chest.
“Guess we’ll have to do it.”
“A-Are you sure?” Linze looked at me with an
unpleasant expression.
Hey, I’m with you here. I don’t want to fight this crawly, slimy thing, either.
“You know we’re losing if we take too long, right?”
“Uwah... I-I don’t want that. Entwine thus, Ice! Frozen Curse: [Icebind]!”
“BLRLRLRLRLRLRLR!” The poison jelly raised a weird voice as it detached its freezing tentacles from the rest of its body and escaped Linze’s spell.
A moment later, the torn tentacles were exactly as they were before. Is this regeneration? Or healing magic? The damn thing seems more and more like the slime from the game.
“BLRRR!” The poison jelly then formed a cross with its tentacles and launched a lightning bolt.
Whoa! That was close! “Haah!”
“Yahh!” Hilde’s sword and Yae’s katana sliced off its tentacles... only for them to regrow again.
“Nhh?!” Yae went in for another cut, but this time, the tentacles remained attached.
It doesn’t work? But that’s a blade imbued with blaze? Upon further inspection, I noticed that Yae’s katana was covered in something slimy — likely one of the poison jelly’s secretions. Hilde’s sword was in a similar state, and it was clear that it had made their blades dull.
Not missing the opening in her defenses, the poison jelly wrapped its tentacle around Yae’s leg.
“Wha-?! EHHHHHH?!”
“Yae.” Suddenly, the jelly flipped her around and began swinging, which, of course, made her things swing along with her.
Crap! Get a hold of yourself, Touya!
Despite being held upside down, Yae didn’t let go of her katana, which was a testament to how much of a samurai she was.
Anyway, the poison jelly, likely aiming for her swimsuit, extended another one of its tentacles.
“GYAAAHHH! S-STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM MEEE!” Though her blade couldn’t cut, it could still repel, so she used her godlike sword arts to keep the slimy appendages away.
The fact she was doing it despite being upside down seriously impressed me.
“Yae!”
Hilde ran to the tentacles to save Yae.
Oh, right, I have to help, too! I fixed Brunhild’s sights on the eye-like thing and fired a few bullets at it. I thought that was a weak spot and expected it to suffer great damage, but the bullets merely sank a bit inside and were soon ejected into the sea.
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 8 Page 18
