It broke.
I'm tired. No, seriously tired. I am so, so tired.
I did it. I did it. I pulled it off. I did it. I freaking did it.
I collected every Phantom Unit from the forbidden zone.
Well, I say collected them all, but they weren't in any of the surrounding buildings.
There was an offering room in the basement of the temple next to the treasury, and that's where a massive number of them were stored.
The Witch's Restriction Relic has a four-day cooldown, so I can't use it.
So I had to collect them one by one, and when you do that, something naturally happens.
Degradation over time.
Quite a few had cracked and I had to fight them.
Here's a rough list of what I can remember.
Wolf. Squirrel. Rabbit. Pig. Mantis. Sheep. Deer.
Tanuki. Fox. Wild boar. Pig. Monkey. Crane. Pheasant.
Cow. Crow. Bat. Owl. Pig. Mantis. Cat. Coati.
Giant Moa. Pig. Anomalocaris. Wait—Anomalocaris!?
Huh? Anomalocaris? It's that Anomalocaris, right?
Whoa... Anomalocaris. Seriously... Anomalocaris.
The Anomalocaris from my past life memories.
Nekia and the Witch keep calling them bugs or monsters or bugs, but this is an Anomalocaris.
So there were Anomalocaris in this world too. Anomalocaris.
Oh right, there were horses too.
Anyway, it was an Anomalocaris.
No, wait. That's not right at all.
What do I even mean, "it was an Anomalocaris"? That doesn't make any sense.
Besides, even if it is an Anomalocaris, it's not like I'm that interested in Anomalocaris.
This isn't working. My brain can't think straight with Anomalocaris on the mind.
Why did it have to be an Anomalocaris?
Am I just tired? I'm starting to feel sleepy... Anomalocaris.
No, I can't sleep here. I feel like I'm about to collapse, but I just have to hold on.
I don't know why I'm tired enough to feel this sleepy, but I'm sleepy.
But if I... fall asleep here... collapse here... that'd be bad... wouldn't it.
Ah, my vision is going dark.
Thud.
Huh... my body... won't move. What. What's going on.
Something is... incredibly soft. Fluffy.
The back of my head is strangely soft, and it smells nice too. Plush and furry.
It feels good. Really, really good. A sweet citrusy scent... and it's cushiony-soft.
Hmm? Fluffy. Furry. Cushiony.
These three heavenly sensations wrapping around my body. It feels kind of familiar...?
"What exactly am I doing..."
"Oh my, oh my, you're awake, are you, young Wof?"
The witch's gentle voice drifts down from above. Huh? What's going on...
I know I'm lying down, but I can't see what's in front of me well.
What are these two shadows... and why is my head so soft and comfortable... Ah.
It suddenly clicked. It's a lap pillow.
The witch was giving me a lap pillow, and her three tails were wrapped around my body.
And above my head was the witch's chest.
I was looking up at the witch's breasts from directly below.
"Magnificent," I murmured.
"Oh dear, what's the matter?"
"Oh, no, it's just..."
"Still half-asleep, aren't you, young Wof. Pushing yourself so hard until you were completely spent."
"...Completely spent? I drank an elixir."
There shouldn't be any fatigue left in my body.
The witch placed a hand on my forehead and gently stroked it.
"Now, listen closely, young Wof. You shouldn't put too much faith in elixirs. They can heal all physical wounds, but they can't heal soul exhaustion."
"...Is that so?"
"Mhmm. Elixirs aren't all-powerful, you know."
Right. Elixirs can't dispel curses.
Even when the body is in perfect condition, the mind can still be exhausted.
Had I been carrying mental fatigue without even realizing it?
Mental fatigue—could those guys be responsible?
The ones who'd moved into my heart uninvited and started playing card games.
"............"
Hmm. I can't really say.
"And another thing, young Wof. I'm sorry. The Phantom Units drain just by being present. Turns out they've been emitting miasma this whole time. Because their souls remained as-is and became undead, they were different from ordinary undead. The one who noticed— who figured it out—was Widow Suhard."
"Is that so?"
"If I'd realized sooner, something could have been done. I'm sorry."
The witch placed a finger on my forehead.
The three tails wrapped around my body swayed slightly.
"No, it's not the witch's fault."
So that fatigue was what made me collapse?
And what about the inside of my heart?
I hope nothing happened to it... but I can't be sure.
To check... I could call out Dagaa. Would that work?
But I'm still tired. My head isn't really functioning.
More than that, the heaviness in my body hasn't faded. Is this what mental fatigue feels like?
The witch speaks gently.
"Hmm, hmm. Still can't stand up, can you? Young Wof...?"
"Y-yes. I'm still feeling sluggish... I'm sorry."
"Heh heh, heh heh. It's fine, it's fine. Don't push yourself. Take all the rest you need, dear."
"Yes. I'm sorry. I'll do that."
The witch's voice, her words, her warmth — I let it all wash over me and closed my eyes.
When I woke up, I felt clear-headed.
My mind and body both felt refreshed, a pleasant lightness spreading through me.
I thanked the witch and got up.
We were inside the temple in the Forbidden Land. The offering chamber.
She said she'd left me where I was because moving me might have been dangerous.
Nekia had been standing by in Etrange.
She scolded me the moment I returned. Then she looked relieved.
I teleported into the dungeon and moved to the empty space I'd created before.
The space where Juicy had gone berserk after turning into Fenrir.
I was going to build a pool here to submerge the recovered phantom units in.
Drilling the hole for the pool was easy enough if I applied my dungeon-creation techniques.
But since I had the chance, I figured I'd show the two of them my new Banish.
The Banish that had gotten Training Ground No. 16 shut down.
First, I brought out the spherical Banish.
Then I used Rave Move to layer Vibration on top of Banish.
"Oh my. So this is the new Banish, is it?"
Blue and Purple. Beautiful.
A Banish that glowed blue-purple was complete.
If I had to give it a name — well, it was blue-purple, so Blue-Purple Banish… Too long.
Didn't roll off the tongue either. I stared at the blue-purple Banish.
Deep.
"Deep Banish."
When I released it, it let out a dome-shaped flash of light and vanished.
All that remained was a large, spherical trace of where the sphere had disappeared.
"Ho ho, well now, that's some tremendous power."
"It swallowed everything."
Both the Witch and Nekia were stunned.
I felt a little awkward, having gone overboard.
"Well then, shall we go ahead and put in the diluted elixir?"
Two wooden casks filled with diluted elixir had already been loaded onto Etrenze.
Then the Witch snapped her fingers. Her shadow spread, and something floated up.
The casks. Two wooden casks rose out of the shadow.
Widow Suhard stood behind the Witch, spinning a parasol.
"Well then, Widow Suhard, I'm counting on you."
Widow Suhard descended gracefully to the bottom of the hole.
Then she brought forth a massive amount of phantom units, floating them into the air.
"…There were that many…"
"That's a lot."
"My, my, what a spectacle."
[Widow Suhard]emerged from the hole.
I carefully tipped the barrel onto its side, rolled it close to the hole, and removed the lid.
Nekia did the same, opening her own barrel laid on its side.
The elixir liquid, spraying iridescent rainbow droplets, poured into the hole.
It doused the phantom units that had been sealed within, soaking them.
The barrels ran dry. Not enough. Nowhere near enough.
"As expected."
"Hmm, hmm. But with this much, we can fill it up."
The witch was holding a small bottle. Inside was a green liquid.
"What's that?"
"Well now, well now. It's a medicine called duplication potion."
"Duplication?"
"Well now, well now, you use it like this."
The witch opened the small bottle's lid and poured the contents into the hole.
And just like that, the elixir multiplied.
In the blink of an eye, the phantom units were submerged and the hole filled up.
"…She duplicated the elixir…"
"Amazing!"
"I just made a copy, and it's only a duplicate after all. Can't compare to the real thing."
"Oh, the inside of the hole is…"
The moment it blazed with a dazzling rainbow light, something burst upward all at once like countless bubbles popping.
They were tiny grains of light.
An uncountable number of light particles rose in unison, then vanished in unison.
"Wow, what a mystical, ethereal glow! Even as a queen, I've never seen such wondrous light!"
"Mhm, mhm. Nice, nice. It's the light of purification. Turned out even better than I expected."
The witch and Nekia were overjoyed.
Nekia, in particular, was bouncing up and down for some reason.
I just watched in silence.
It was finally over.
"Thank you. Witch. Nekia."
I gave the two of them my thanks.
I couldn't have done it alone.
So I conveyed my heartfelt gratitude to the two of them.
Without thinking, I closed my eyes. Slowly opened them again.
Yep — ah, it's still tucked away in the corner of my heart.
Why did it have to be an Anomalocaris?