by Hiro Ainana
Why is plant grafting possible but not this?
I’d just have to accept that this was how it was.
The Item Box didn’t accept living organisms, either.
Still, this investigation did net me the “Experimenting” and “Verification” skills. Now that I had those, I’d have to do a more thorough series of experiments with Storage and the Item Box later.
With so many things to do on the journey, boredom wouldn’t be an issue.
As the night wore on, biting insects started flitting near the bonfire, so I threw in some bug repellent.
The monster repellent powder probably wasn’t necessary while I was awake. If anything came near us, I’d notice it on my radar and snipe it with my Magic Gun.
“Ooh, I’ve had enough of these damn bugs!”
The insect repellent wasn’t taking effect fast enough for Arisa, and she snapped and destroyed them with low-level Psychic Magic. Now we could sleep without buzzing insects disturbing us.
That said, it was still too early to go to bed.
Before I could start wondering what to do, Pochi made an adorable request.
“Master, please read us a picture book, sir.”
“Sure, let me see it.”
Pochi took a picture book from the Garage Bag for me to read, and Tama and Mia were quick to plop down next to her. Even Liza seemed interested, as she sat down primly nearby to listen in.
Nana, who’d been admiring her stuffed animal, and Arisa and Lulu, who’d been chatting, turned their attention my way as well.
The book Pochi had brought told of a legend from the mythology of this world.
“All right, I’m going to read it now. Everyone sit quietly, okay?”
“’kay!”
“Yes, sir.”
Once upon a time, seven Gods descended from the heavens, along with the World Trees. The Gods planted the World Trees in the earth and granted wisdom and language to many people.
The people lived peacefully from then on, prospering greatly beneath the eight Trees. However, somewhere along the way, nine Gods came to be in the world.
The eighth God was the Dragon God, living there since before the seven Gods and the World Trees arrived.
The slumberous Dragon God had been asleep for a very long time and awoke to find a very different world indeed.
The Dragon God, though terribly surprised upon waking, was peaceful by nature and not the sort to fuss over such small matters. And so, the Dragon God and the seven Gods accepted one another and carried on in peace.
But the ninth God was different.
“Master, why does the letter at the beginning of God look so different, sir?”
“It’s capitalized. God is an important word, like a name or a city, right? The first letter of the word changes to make sure you know that.”
Pochi piped up with a question, and I paused to answer. The Shigan language had a system of capitalization similar to that of English.
“You’re so smart, Master, sir. I don’t quite get it, but I still feel like I do, sir.”
Pochi seemed satisfied, so I continued.
The Ninth God was a Demon God who had journeyed from another world.
The selfish Demon God could not bear to be second to anyone else, so he often fought with the other Gods.
Now, the Demon God was terribly jealous that the other Gods each had their own race.
One day, the lonesome Demon God created hell demons to worship him. Together, the Demon God and his hell demons tormented the other races.
Troubled, the other Gods went to him to request that he stop his rampaging hell demons, but the Demon God wouldn’t listen.
The weakest race of all, constantly bullied by the hell demons, was the humanfolk. They beseeched the Young Goddess to give them power to fight back against the hell demons.
The Young Goddess was very troubled indeed.
After all, the Goddess herself had no such power to fight. Worried, she sought advice from the other Gods and kings, but all of them simply shook their heads and grunted, offering no help at all.
Thus, the Young Goddess consulted the Dragon God, the strongest of them all. Of course, he could not lend her the power of dragons, as this would cause even greater damage than the hell demons themselves.
The Dragon God hesitated at first, but he took a liking to the human playthings and liquor the Young Goddess had brought him, and so he taught her a single, special magic.
This was the spell to summon heroes.
The magic of hope.
After this, the book depicted the summoned hero defeating demon lords and hell demons, and they all lived happily ever after.
Each time the Young Goddess Parion asked other Gods and kings for help, Pochi and Tama cheered her on enthusiastically.
Since the pair would block everyone else’s view if they leaned forward too much, I kept pausing to gently push their heads back before continuing to read.
The picture book was the first in a series. In the second volume, Parion and the hero collaborated to defeat seven demon lords. In the end, the Dragon God transformed one of his fangs into a black blade and gave it to the hero, who used it to chase the Demon God to some far-off moon in the grand finale.
The old woman narrating the picture books concluded with a warning never to go out walking on the night of the new moon, as that was when the Demon God’s power was strongest.
This was probably a moral to make sure kids didn’t go out on the moonless nights and hurt themselves.
Because none of the books had a credits page or anything, I didn’t know who the author was. Considering that Parion, not the hero, was the clear protagonist of the story, I figured it was someone connected to her temple.
The third volume depicted the hero taking on challenges and adventures to become a demigod so he could wed Parion and join her family.
The angel-like “disciples” who had helped Parion and the hero in the second book were reduced to minor characters in the third, so I felt bad for them.
Even in stories from a parallel world, you couldn’t escape the dreaded power creep.
Once we’d finished all three books, it was just about time for bed.
I added the monster repellent powder onto the fire. At first, white smoke billowed up with a scent like a mosquito coil, but after a moment it became odorless.
On the radar, I saw the red dots of monsters downwind of us, drawn in by the light of the fire, immediately move far away. Even the ones upwind wouldn’t get too close. The powder was quite effective.
We would take care of the night watch in shifts of two, with one of the beastfolk girls on each shift, so even if a wild animal or monster did approach by some small chance, we would be fine. At the very least, everything nearby was a low enough level for the girls to handle solo.
Pochi and Mia took the first night watch shift.
Both of them seemed sleepy, but once Liza instructed them to wash their faces, they were more alert.
Clearly, being a child in this world was no reason to be spoiled. Liza took a strict attitude with Pochi and Mia to make sure they were wide-awake.
My turn didn’t begin until midnight, but I decided to stay up with them for today.
To keep themselves from falling asleep as they kept watch by the fireside, the two girls used a stick to quietly play tic-tac-toe in the dirt.
I had expected Pochi to mostly concentrate on playing, but when a large rat crept toward the campsite under cover of darkness, she was surprisingly quick to react and zero in on the bush where it was hiding.
Tama’s ears were twitching in her sleep, too. I was confident they’d be ready for any attacks.
Eventually, it was time for Lulu and me to take over the watch, but Lulu started nodding off almost as soon as our shift started.
Considering she’d spent the day driving the carriage, cooking, and even helping prepare the deer, she was probably worn out.
Careful not to wake her, I gently carried her
over to where Arisa lay and let her sleep.
Well, I guess I have some time to myself now.
Working on a new spell would probably distract me too much to stay properly on guard, so I figured it was best not to do so.
Instead, I decided to try the Storage experiments I’d been thinking about during the day.
In order to do a handful of heat-related tests, I put some kindling in the stove and placed the kettle on the fire. I figured I would try a few different ways of storing it once it boiled and check the ensuing differences in temperature.
While I waited for the water, I tried some other things. First, I took two pieces of paper out of Storage and lit them on fire. Then I put one away in Storage and waited for the other to burn out before removing the first one again.
When I did, the first piece of paper was still on fire, exactly the same as the moment I had put it in. Maybe time didn’t pass in Storage.
Well, I might as well compare it with the Item Box.
This time, I took three pieces of paper, marked them with ink in the middle, and set them aflame.
When they’d burned down to the mark in the middle, I put one into Storage and one into the Item Box.
Again, I waited for the control to burn up completely, then took out the one from Storage. The flame was still at the mark I’d made. Once I’d checked, I returned it to Storage.
Once again, items in Storage didn’t seem to change at all. Was time itself stopped inside, or were they simply being stored in a different state entirely? Perhaps, as the name “Storage” implied, they were saved as information like in a game or a computer’s external storage device.
Next, I checked the paper I’d put in the Item Box. The fire on this one had gone out just before the paper could burn away. So the state of objects can change in the Item Box. After another try, I determined that the fire had likely gone out when the oxygen deposited along with the paper had been consumed.
While I was sharpening my theory, steam began rising from the kettle I’d put on the fire.
Since I’d figured out how time worked, though, experimenting with heat insulation would no longer be necessary.
Still, I’d already boiled the water, and I went ahead and brewed some herbal tea. It was easy enough, since all it took was a handful of herbs and some hot water.
After a sip, a thought occurred to me, and I tried depositing only the liquid inside the cup in Storage. It disappeared without a problem.
Next, I set the cup on the ground and tried to store it, which worked fine. After adding distance between the object and myself, I determined that the maximum distance from which I could store something without touching it was about ten feet. This worked only if I had a visual lock on the item, but marking the target on the map’s 3-D display accomplished the same purpose.
I also discovered that if I took a steel spear out of Storage and stretched it away from myself, I could store items up to ten feet away from the tip of the spear.
Maybe a wire setup or a whip like a certain explorer has might come in handy for this…
With that silly thought in mind, I tried storing the flame from the bonfire, but it didn’t work.
However, when I reached out toward the vapor rising from my hot tea, I could put away steam without a problem.
Is it determined by the size of the particles? What is fire made from, anyway?
It was possible I couldn’t store things I didn’t fully understand.
Next, I experimented with mixtures.
When I stored the soil from the ground, it was simply labeled as Soil, but if I selected the option for more detailed information, the display gave me a tree breaking down the varieties of rocks and dirt inside. I could easily separate it, in that case.
However, if I dissolved salt into hot water, it wasn’t possible to separate the Salt Water item into Water and Salt. I won’t be able to make seawater drinkable, then.
I also checked whether I could dismantle an insect corpse that I’d gotten in the Cradle without taking it out of Storage, but this was impossible. Too bad. I’d been hoping I could take care of corpses without having to touch them.
In the midst of these experiments, I discovered I could access the Item Box from my menu.
There was now a folder labeled Item Box in the same root folder as Storage. Just as I could move things between folders in Storage, I could also freely transfer them between Storage and the Item Box.
However, since the capacity of the Item Box was dependent on the skill, it was difficult to verify this.
Since I still had more than enough skill points lying around, I decided to max out the “Item Box” skill.
Despite needing to use MP to take things out of the Item Box, none was needed to move things from the Item Box to Storage.
And while items could be stacked and sorted freely in Storage, this didn’t seem to be the case in the Item Box. I couldn’t see detailed information or 3-D views, either.
I tried other experiments with the Item Box, but…
It’s clearly just an inferior version of Storage. If I take things out, it exposes the contents to outside air, too, so it won’t be any good for heat insulation.
Well, this is useless.
Reviewing the unsatisfactory results, I couldn’t help but silently grumble to myself.
Still, it wasn’t a total loss. In other circumstances, it could be handy for something other than inventory. I was sure I’d find some use for it.
At the very least, it was helpful for disguising the existence of my Storage system.
> Title Acquired: Seeker
The Battlefield
Satou here. I once read in a book, “A journey is made up of meetings and partings.” The people you meet and the unexpected reunions are all part of the real thrill of a journey.
The tweeting birds heralded the arrival of morning.
For some reason, my body felt heavy. Opening my eyes and looking blearily at my chest, I saw a willowy little hand hanging on loosely to my shirt. Shifting my gaze to the side, I found Lulu fast asleep, latched onto my left arm.
We hadn’t been this close when I went to sleep; she must have snuggled up to me, mistaking me for Arisa.
Next, I checked my opposite side.
There I saw Mia, her frowning uncomfortably in her sleep as two large mounds pressed down on top of her head. Above, the owner of the pair in question slept peacefully, one arm around Mia and the other flung across my chest. Fast asleep, the two really did act like sisters.
I would’ve felt bad waking everyone up, so instead, I let the girls’ soft warmth and pleasant scent lull me back into a light doze.
The fact that my gaze locked onto the heaving of Nana’s chest for a moment before I did so could be attributed to my male nature.
I put a lot of effort into shutting down the physiological phenomenon that might normally have occurred in the morning—I’d appreciate a little forgiveness for enjoying my position here.
“Master, breakfast will be ready shortly, so please get up.”
Liza, who’d taken the dawn shift of the night watch, came over to wake me up. The slight chill in her voice was likely just my imagination.
I felt a bit guilty now, to the point where I almost wanted to apologize, but I bit it back and simply wished her good morning instead.
Our voices had woken up Lulu and Mia. Coldly pushing aside Nana’s embrace, the elf gave a short, simple, “Morning.”
“M-Master, I-I’m sorry! I was so tired, I just—”
Realizing that she was clutching my arm, Lulu hurriedly scuttled away from me. Her pale skin flushed red all the way to her ears.
“A-and to think you had to wake up to an ugly face like mine first thing in the morning—”
Lulu started to apologize with increasing self-loathing, but I cut her off.
“I don’t mind lending you an arm anytime you might need it. Besides, I think you have a lovely face, Lulu. I just wish I knew how to phrase it so you’d belie
ve me.”
“L-lovely……?”
As if she couldn’t believe her ears, Lulu gaped like a fish.
I didn’t want to sound like a pickup artist, but I hoped that maybe it would at least alleviate Lulu’s complex a little bit…
It’s pretty amusing to watch her pretty face warp between expressions, but I should probably get up now.
I smiled at Lulu gently as I started sitting up.
Meeting some strange resistance, I pulled off the blanket to find Pochi and Tama fast asleep, clinging to my shirt.
So these two were the culprits of that weight and warmth I’d felt earlier.
I pinched their noses lightly to wake them up before I told them to change out of their pajamas into clothes for the day.
After Mia pushed them off, Nana’s breasts remained upright in a way that valiantly defied gravity. The sight was so bewitching that my hand threatened to move on its own, but since there were children watching, I forced myself to control those urges.
Noticing my line of sight, Mia rather irritably squeezed Nana’s chest to wake her.
“—Start-up sequence initiated. Execution completed. Mia, utilization of chest buffer unit as means of awakening resulted in excessive pain levels, I report.”
“Mm, sorry.”
Nana sat up stiffly with a robotic stream of muttering. I believe the short version was something like, “Don’t wake me up by grabbing my boob. It hurts.”
Mia apologized briefly to Nana, patting her own slim chest rather glumly.
After that, Pochi and Tama, Lulu and Nana began changing clothes, so I moved to the other side of the horse-drawn carriage and did the same.
“Satou.”
“What is it, Mia?”
Thanks to my “Quick Change” skill, I was already decked out in new clothing.
“Dry.”
Mia handed me a towel, took off her pajamas on the spot, and turned her back toward me.
