Teti’s Feelings And Kou’s Answer

The sun had set over the Royal Capital.

Somewhere far away, the singing voices of drunkards echoed.

Liricia and I returned to the shop with Teti in tow.

Inside the shop, the walls were bright with cheerful wallpaper.

A glass-case counter divided the front from the back, and behind it were a kitchen hidden by a curtain and a wardrobe.

Spreading my arms, I spun around on the spot; the wooden floorboards creaked loudly.

“Teti is going to work here as a clerk. We do not have much to sell, but it is fine if you mostly just sit here.”

“…Why?”

Teti, hood pulled low and looking down, finally spoke. I could not see the expression on her face.

I tilted my head.

“Hm? Why what?”

“You did not have to save me.”

“Ah, the elf Cheryl asked me to help you.”

I had thought she would be happy when I mentioned Cheryl’s name, but instead Teti clenched her small fists and began to tremble.

“I hate elves… I hate them so much!”

“…You say that, and you are an elf yourself.”

“My father died protecting our village. The elves abandoned me! That is why I hate them!”

“I see. So there is a story there.”

The beautiful elf Cheryl had told me something.

She had said that even though Teti was doing bad things, the spirits had not turned their backs on her.

Liricia asked Teti a question.

“Do you not have a mother?”

“She died ages ago. She was human.”

She answered in a curt tone.

Liricia’s brows drooped sadly.

“So you are a half-elf… then you must not have been treated very well.”

“That is not all! They made me work, but I did not know how, so I could not do it. Then they would hit me and shout, ‘You cannot even do something this simple!’. —How am I supposed to do it if no one ever taught me!?”

Teti shouted, her slender body shaking.

I frowned as I spoke.

“So that is why you stole from the people around you… but still.”

“That is right. I stole from everyone. It was the only way I could survive. But I only took what I needed to live, nothing more. I did take books, but I put them back afterwards.”

—I see.

Taking only as much as you need to live was what many creatures did to forests and animals.

It was just that the targets happened to be humans and elves.

So from the perspective of humans and elves, she became a criminal, but to the spirits, who looked at things on a larger scale, she was not hated.

I shrugged.

“All right. I will properly teach you how to work. I will not hit you, either. So do not do anything bad anymore—any unconditional slave would have done for watching the shop, anyway.”

However, Teti shook her head weakly. She kept staring down at the floor.

“I cannot even watch the shop.”

“Why not?”

“I just saw myself in the mirror. I am not cute anymore… the customers will just run away.”

“We can do something about that… All right, Liricia. Let us heal Teti for now.”

“Eh!? My magic cannot heal her any more than this…”

“As a human, no. But she is already an unconditional slave, so it is fine, is it not?”

“Ah, you are right.”

Liricia pressed both hands to her chest and leaned forward—the posture she used when bringing out her wings.

I hurriedly called out to her.

“Before that, go to the forest and gather some medicinal herbs, antidote herbs, and so on. I will get that other thing ready while you are gone.”

“That is right! I left a request pending! I will be off.”

“Take Teti with you. It might be good to teach her how to tell the herbs apart.”

“Understood, Master—come along, Teti.”

“Okay… wait, what!?”

Liricia opened the wardrobe at the back of the shop and stepped inside.

Teti stared in shock, bewildered.

Liricia grabbed her hand and pulled her in from inside.

“It is all right. Come on, this way.”

“No way, this is a dungeon!? How—! Are you a Dungeon Master!? But you are human, that is impossible!”

Still stunned and confused, she let herself be led inside.

—Well, I was sure Liricia would explain the details to her.

I picked up several kinds of medicinal herbs we kept in the shop and went into the dungeon.

It was to heal Teti.

I headed to the great hall where the round sphere Kou was.

Then I told Kou what I wanted.

“Kou, I want to make enough Elixir and Heal Potions to fill a bath. Can you produce some Empty Water? These are the herbs.”

“Roger that.”

A blue light ran across Kou’s surface, and when I gave it the herbs, they vanished.

Then a large treasure chest full of water appeared, and I closed my eyes and poured Serâge into it.

With a brilliant flash of light, it turned into Elixir.

“Use this to heat up a bath for her. Use Heal Potions as well. I intend to heal all of Teti’s injuries completely.”

“Understood.”

“Also, could you make her a private room next to this hall? With a bed, a desk, a bookshelf… and maybe a dressing table?”

“I will install a single-lady assignment set.”

“I am not sure what that means, but I will leave it to you… Next—might as well ask, just in case.”

“What is wrong?”

The white surface of Kou’s spherical body flickered curiously.

I decided to ask even though I did not really expect anything.

“I am looking for the Philosopher’s Stone, the Gem of Light, and the Bust of the Evil God. Do you know anything about them, Kou?”

“I do.”

The easy answer made me cry out before I could stop myself.

“Seriously!? Where are they?”

“Rather than where, I can make all three.”

“Huh—you can make them as a dungeon! I have a really bad feeling about this… I bet the materials are ridiculous, right?”

The dungeon was incredibly capable, but since Kou had been half-broken, something about it was off.

As expected, the answer I got was not normal.

“To make one Philosopher’s Stone, you need one Philosopher’s Stone.”

“That is pointless! You cannot call that making one!”

“Like a remake of a classic? The beloved masterpiece reborn with new technology?”

“I have nothing but bad feelings about this. —What about the Gem of Light?”

“If I create nothingness and give it a fluctuation, I can trigger a Big Bang and collect the light. As long as you are willing to overlook the end of the world, there is no problem.”

“That is absolutely not okay! Then the Bust of the Evil God probably has some sort of issue too, right?”

“I can make it, but just looking at the statue will drive you insane. Do you want me to check its origin for you?”

“What kind of overpowered evil god is that supposed to be?”

“Ia, ia, Hastur! Ph’nglui mglw’naf Cthulhu! The crawling chaos of cosmic close-quarters combat is coming for you.”

“…I do not really get it, but it sounds different from the Bust of the Evil God I am looking for.”

“Meow-bark, that is right. They are alien gods that have existed since before this world was created.”

“What I want is a Bust of the Evil God from this world.”

I let out a long sigh.

Kou beeped and blinked with light.

“Are you tired?”

“I suddenly feel completely worn out—anyway, I am counting on you to get the bath ready.”

“Roger, leave it to me.”

Leaving Kou behind, happily letting blue light race across its surface, I headed back to the house.