Right after getting an unexpected letter from Uncle, I headed to the witch's house.
The usual dirty living room.
"Hmm, hmm. A second hideout — how interesting."
The witch set a black cup on the table.
A quick peek revealed a blood-red liquid, bubbling with foam.
Was this the Blood Pool Hell?
"Yes. It's in the trade city of Heizen."
"Oh my, that city. And so, so — young Wof, is it weighing on your mind?"
The witch sat down on the sofa and let her gaze fall on the letter I'd handed her.
With practiced ease, she deftly maneuvered her three tails into a cushion-like arrangement and settled down on them.
The way her chest bounced when she sat down was probably just her being charming.
"Yes. I think I'll go."
There was something in it that I just couldn't ignore.
Something surprising about the hideout... what could it be?
Even the hideout I lived in had held its share of surprises.
So he probably meant exactly what he said.
"Mm, mm. I could tell right away from the look in your eyes — you've made up your mind. So this is your report?"
"Yes. I'll be away for a while."
"Hmm, hmm. And how do you plan to get there?"
"I'm thinking of taking a stagecoach. Then I'll catch a ship from the port town of Reeds."
The trade city of Heizen was difficult to reach by land from this direction, geographically speaking.
So I'd take a ship from Reeds, a port town along the Reeve River. The journey would take about twelve days.
When I told her that, the witch rested her chin in her hand and lightly pressed a finger to her lips, deep in thought.
She mumbled to herself.
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Right, right. That's that, and this is this, so we do this and this, and then that and that. I see, I see. Yup, yup. It'll work, it'll work. Good, good. Let's do it, let's do it. He can handle it, he can handle it, y'know... He can handle it, y'know..."
"Witch?"
Something was off. Then she raised her head.
"Hey, hey, young Wof. Could you push your departure back to four days from now?"
"Sure, I don't mind..."
It was a small thing. Besides, I wasn't in any rush.
"Then that's settled, I'll be counting on you, y'know."
"O-okay."
"Oh, oh, right, right. Are there others going with you, y'know?"
"Mineha. I haven't told anyone else yet."
"Hmm, hmm. So you didn't go back together with Ruriha, then."
"That was the original plan, apparently, but they met up and she felt a lot better after that. Also, Mineha mentioned she'd already spoken to Bid."
"I see, I see. Bid is a rabbit girl, y'know. I run into her a lot at the bath. Nice girl, y'know."
She'd become an acquaintance. Well, of course she had.
"I haven't heard back yet, but... Bid will probably come."
"Oh, oh, I see. So Wof-kun is planning to invite someone, huh."
"Hmm. I haven't decided on that yet yet."
If only I could invite someone. Ideally the same gender.
"Oh, oh, right, right. Changing the subject — Wof-kun, the gauntlet's almost done, you know."
"Really?!"
I couldn't help but stand up. Oh, finally.
The witch gave a faint, wry smile.
"Yep, yep. Sorry about the wait. It took quite a while, but it's turned out really well. I still need to finish the fine-tuning, so I'll hand it over on the day we set out."
"Y-yes. I'm looking forward to it."
So she wasn't going to give it to me now? I sat back down, a little deflated.
I was a tiny bit scared to find out what it looked like now.
But it had to be sturdy. Creepy as it was, I liked that gauntlet.
The witch stood up, flicking her three tails carefully.
"Now then, before we get to work, I'm feeling like stretching my body a bit. Wof-kun, how about we have a good, vigorous sparring session with the doll, just like old times?"
"...Sure."
The phrasing was rough, but I agreed and stood back up again.
By exercise, she meant a mock battle. The witch, appearances notwithstanding, was a master of self-defense.
She was no ordinary opponent. I'd never beaten her once.
But I was the man who'd defeated Alverd von Lutbert. This was going to be different from before.
"Oh my, oh my. You're making quite the face there, Wof-kun."
"I'll win. Witch."
After all, I was the man who had defeated Alverd von Lutbert.
This time would be different.
I got utterly beaten to a pulp.
Completely and totally wrecked.
Still moping like a defeated dog, I'd worked up a sweat, so I decided to take a bath before heading home.
What was that? How could she move like that in those flimsy clothes?
And with those slender arms — fingers, legs — the sheer power behind every strike was insane.
"Not yet. I've still got a long way to go..."
I'd been getting a little ahead of myself. I soaked in the vat-bath and reflected.
Ahh. The vat-bath was nice.
"Oh... Whoa."
I looked up at the ceiling and was startled.
At some point, a starry sky had been projected across the entire ceiling. The witch must have done something.
I enjoyed it for a while.
When I got out of the bath, the witch wasn't in the living room. She was probably working.
I'd wanted to say goodbye, but I didn't want to bother her, so I headed home through the transfer gate.
Back in my room, I flopped onto my bed — no, sat down.
I remembered. I grabbed the pouch at my waist.
This was as good a time as any. Time to sort through the contents of my pouch.
I'd just left everything crammed in there.
"When was the last time I did this..."
I can't remember. I just give a wry smile.
When the witch first gave it to me, it was completely empty.
First, my delver tag. Also called an emblem.
It's proof that I'm a Class V delver. Doubles as identification.
Of course, this is essential.
Let's see... thirteen small bottles with elixirs in them.
Six empty bottles... Guess I'll need to restock.
Next, three bundles of herbs.
Red, blue, and white herbs—mix them in a crescent-moon vessel with water or hot water, and you get a citrus tea.
Along those lines, the herbal notes I got from the witch.
For reference, the herb encyclopedia I traded for with Ambrosius is on the shelf by my bed.
After that, a whole bunch of plain bracelets.
And a case with rings in it. No comment on these.
Next, fragments of a beast-tallow candle. And several shards of some kind of ore.
I don't remember any of this.
"And it's gone bad."
The tallow candle fragments were moldy. They hadn't been used in a long time.
Unnecessary items get removed with my Relic [Banish]. So, yeah. Banished.
The ore fragments were hard to make out. Banish.
"Oh, this one."
A slender bronze amulet came out. Something I'd meant to sell but forgot about.
A thin rod with four dots on it. Four-eyed faith. Some dungeon monsters have it too, now and then.
Come to think of it, wasn't Generous four-eyed? Or was that something else?
Eh, whatever. I'll keep it.
"Hm?"
What is this tree root...? My past life memories are chiming in. Burdock?
Surely I can't eat this anymore. Banish.
"...This bottle...?"
There's something inside, but the color is wild. Looks like some witch's herbal tea.
Don't want to open it. Banish.
Some kind of scrap of fabric. Banish. Oh, light orbs. Six of them in total.
Come to think of it, Hyairn set up a trading company and started selling light orbs, didn't he?
That they sold like hotcakes, just as expected, I found out from the queue outside the only retail shop I happened to pass by.
Naturally, you can't exactly use the lab as the main store.
So the main store is in a warehouse in the storage district. I've never actually been there, though.
"The Tasan family was backing them completely, right?"
A secretary got dispatched from the Tasan family's go-to trading company, and Menosdor ended up on the payroll.
Everything you could ask for. As long as nothing goes seriously wrong, they shouldn't fail.
"Well, since it's that Haiyarn."
I can't see a future where this succeeds.
Well, if they end up broke and selling ingredients at a street stall, I guess...
I'll be just a little bit nicer.
"Anyway, let's keep cleaning out the pouch."
A black card came out. Oh right, this was the Tasan emblem card.
I'll hold on to this.
A small cloth bag came out. It was dirty, and empty inside.
Right, this was the one that held reward coins and such.
I know these things are basically disposable, but it feels wasteful to just toss them, so I end up keeping them. Delete.
A day-night stone. A stone that tells you whether it's day or night in the dungeon.
An ancient pocket watch. A precious item I got from Munieka that shows the time accurately.
Whoa, careful — a fire stone and a water stone were just sitting in there as-is.
The water one I can overlook, but what if the fire stone cracked? The whole pouch would go up in flames.
In fact, fire stones cause fires pretty often from careless handling. After all, they burn when they break.
Trash and junk kept coming out, and I deleted and deleted — it was almost all stuff like that.
Charcoal scraps, bits of cloth...
"This is..."
A box. A large, magnificent tree was intricately drawn on it.
This was... the box that held the Elixir Sacred Egg.
"I had saved these, hadn't I?"
I’d forgotten about them. Well, throwing them away or deleting them felt like a waste.
I guess I’ll just leave them as is. Oh, two potions came out.
One was from the witch. The other was a store-bought one.
These were potions for comparing purity.
"Originally, I’d thought so naively—I’d make a bunch and sell them."
I mocked myself for being an idiot.
But these are a shame to discard... what to do, then.
I guess I’ll try drinking them. The store-bought one first. Ah, I hope the expiration date is still okay.
I opened the lid and sniffed. Seems fine? I drank it hesitantly.
"Yeah. It tastes bad."
But I did feel like I’d recovered a bit.
Next, I drank the witch’s potion.
"Huh, the taste is different."
It wasn’t delicious, but it wasn’t awful either.
It was strange. Could they really be this different?
"Ugh, I drank too much."
Two bottles’ worth and my stomach was sloshing around.
I’d rinse the bottles and keep them. They might be useful for something.
Finally, I took out the ‘Elixir Sacred Egg’.
For some reason I suddenly found myself wondering why the container was an "egg."
The Talisman and the Phoenix were also egg-shaped containers.
"...The maker just really likes eggs, or something?"
A stupid reason popped into my head, and I immediately regretted thinking it.
Oh well. No deep reasoning behind it. I'd just been mildly curious.
With that, the pouch was empty.
I laid out a towel, turned the pouch upside down, and shook it.
Dust and grit that had accumulated at the bottom started to fall out.
And then — a knife clattered out without any warning whatsoever.
"Huh? A knife?"
Why? Why a knife? Wait — no, I'd definitely checked the bottom.
There was nothing there. I have no idea.
On top of that, it was covered in barnacles, coral, shells — all kinds of marine growth.
Like something left behind in a shipwreck.
"What the heck is this knife..."
I had zero recollection of it. A knife I'd never seen before.
A black leather sheath, an oval guard — simple. Very simple.
I have absolutely no idea where it came from.
I'd already confirmed there was nothing at the bottom.
And yet, here it was.
It was starting to feel like one of those creepy stories, and a chill ran straight down my spine.
"...W-Well, anyway..."
For now, let's just set this knife aside.
I put the remaining items into my pouch.
I separated the fire stone and water stone into a different cloth bag and stowed them away.
Bit by bit, carefully, I organized everything inside.
"Phew. Done."
I'd packed it all. I was exhausted. And I'd just chugged a potion, too.
Still, it was good to have my pouch properly sorted before setting out.
Unexpected things had happened, but the pouch at my waist—maybe it was my imagination—felt lighter somehow.
"I'm hungry..."
It was almost lunchtime. Today, Mineha and Dagaa were both out on jobs.
"At this hour, it's probably crowded, but... well, might as well."
I headed for the Seedle Inn.