My uncle.
I think he was Dad's younger brother.
A pretty free-spirited guy who'd drift back to the village once every few years.
And after drifting around for about a month, he'd drift off again.
For me, he was the reason I learned to handle [Banish] properly.
On top of that, Hydrangea's den and Heizen's hideout. He'd helped me out in all sorts of ways.
Well, I can't say I'm purely grateful about the Heizen hideout thing.
How should I put it.
My uncle is a person I just can't quite figure out.
He's like a compass for my life and a spiritual pillar or whatever, but somehow I just don't get him.
I don't even know if he's a delver or not.
Apparently he did all sorts of things in Heizen, but somehow he never stood out.
"A-Ah, are you sure this is really okay…?"
"Of course it is. However you acquire it, a Relic is a Relic. What matters is how you use it. So, Anemos. If you're going to become a delver, if you're going to make a living at it, you need to be able to handle a Relic well."
"I understand that too. But… since it's my first time using one, there's a lot I'm confused about… especially [Wild Wind] is different from normal wind…"
That red wind is definitely different.
"For now, could you show me a bit of [Wild Wind]?"
"O-Okay."
Anemos wrapped her arm in red wind.
"Is this red wind the kind that wraps around your body?"
"Y-Yes, that's right."
I took a closer look at the red wind.
Why was it red, anyway?
"..."
No idea. I wonder what principle determines the color of a Relic.
I boldly reached out and touched the red wind.
"Ah, that's dangerous!"
I'd assumed I couldn't touch it since it was wind, but it felt oddly rough.
Gritty, like tiny grains... was this sand?
It was sand. Red sand.
"It was red because there are red particles floating in the wind?"
"A-Are you all right?"
"Yes, please look at this."
I showed her the red sand clinging to my hand.
Anemos looked puzzled.
"Sand? And it's red..."
"Right. The wind was red because it contained this red sand."
Technically, they were red particles.
You could even call it wind with mass.
"So sand was mixed in with it... I had no idea."
"That's what gave me the idea. There's a clever way to use this wind."
"There is?!"
"Let's try it right now."
"Please, do."
So I looked around for a suitable monster, and oh, this one's just right.
A Balometz.
A sheep with a tree planted on its back. Or maybe a tree planted on a sheep.
Either way, didn't matter.
"Let's go with that Balometz. Anemos, is that alright?"
I whispered the method in his ear.
"T-that's... well..."
"It's just a test. Give it a try."
"O-okay. Go! 'Red Wind'!"
Anemos wrapped the red wind around his arm.
Then he launched it straight at the Balometz's — the sheep's eyes.
"......Ba-alometz!?"
What kind of cry was that.
The Balometz shut its eyes, leaving a wide-open opening.
"Now! Anemos!"
"Gale Slash!!"
A blade of wind tore through the Balometz.
But as expected, its power was weak. Still, there was nothing else I could use.
I had Anemos fire one more Gale Slash, defeating the Balometz.
"What do you think? Of this method?"
"...It's... blinding, isn't it?"
What I'd proposed was indeed blinding them.
If the wind had mass accompanied by red particles, blinding would be optimal.
The act of blinding an opponent has been done with sand since ancient times.
However, it's a dishonorable act. It's called cowardly.
But this blinding tactic, to state my personal opinion, is a proper strategy.
The eyes are the weakness of every living creature.
If you can effectively target that weakness, it's a respectable tactic.
That said, it doesn't mean you can win every fight with just that.
After all, blinding is a beginner's winning method.
If I were to be picky, this red wind blinding has a clear weakness.
That weakness is that the red wind is visible.
The very feature that makes blinding possible—the red color—can be seen.
So it can be dealt with far too easily.
"Yes. How is it?"
"I... was surprised to learn there's a method like this."
"However, it does have a weakness."
"Huh? It does...?"
"That the wind appears red. Thanks to the red particles—or rather, the sand—you can pull off a blinding attack, but that same red color also makes it easy to counter."
If this were colorless, avoiding the blinding effect would be on a completely different level.
But since it has a color, countering it becomes drastically easier.
Ms. Anemos understood right away.
"...T-That's... somehow rather ironic, isn't it?"
Ms. Anemos let out a small chuckle.
I nodded slightly.
"It really is."
"Even so, I'll stick with the blinding tactic for now. It's much better than letting the wind cling to my opponent."
It seemed she'd taken a liking to the blinding approach.
"Well, for starters, keep using it and raise your proficiency. Once you do, you'll be able to do all sorts of things beyond just blinding. With Relics, the higher your proficiency, the greater the power and effects become. And that can unlock new possibilities too."
This [Gale] was probably that kind of Relic.
"Got it! Oh, Wof, thank you so much for explaining all of this to me."
Ms. Anemos bowed politely.
I felt a little embarrassed. I always get flustered by stuff like this.
"It's nothing, really. Don't mention it. Anyone would offer advice if they saw someone struggling."
"You think so? Either way, I'm truly grateful. As expected of the 'Witch's Apprentice!'"
"Well, I guess I am an apprentice."
I gave a wry smile.
"Wof?"
"Whatever. Well then, Anemos. Let's blind monsters left and right and knock them down one after another!"
"Huh, can we really do that...?"
"Aim for it! Tomorrow's Wind Death King, you know!"
"Yes! I-I'll give it my all!"
She seemed so fired up that I was a little surprised.
Anemos really does want to become the Wind Death King.
I don't know why she wants it so badly. Maybe because it would make her stronger.
Though I'm not even sure if becoming the Wind Death King would actually make you stronger.
I don't know what would happen if I handed over the "Wind King's Dark Jewel" sitting in my pouch either.
"You'd probably end up undead or something..."
"Wof? Undead?"
"Oh, no, I was just thinking there aren't any undead around here."
"True. There really aren't any, are there?"
"Maybe it's because this dungeon is going for a homey feel."
"Now that you mention it, Ruzgyal did say something like that..."
"It's true because she said so."
But what exactly is a dungeon that aims for a homey feel?
Anemos tilted her head in confusion.
"Huh, is that so?"
"Forget that — monsters, Anemos. Look, they're already here!"
It was a Black Cow, its black horn gleaming.
Anemos immediately blinded it with [Red Wind] and slammed a Gale Blade into it.
After she defeated it, that grin on his — her — face was, I had to admit... kinda cute.
Hmm. A call on [Comm]? It was Narcissus.
"Hello?"
"'Hello'... what does that mean?"
"Ah, well, um, what's up?"
"The time limit. I completely forgot to mention it. When the bell rings once, it's over."
"......Ah, right. Got it."
Oh, right. How this ends.
I'd completely forgotten about that part too.
"So when it rings, gather back at where you were earlier."
"Understood."
"Then good luck!"
The call cut off.
I was about to relay the message, but Anemos was struggling against a green, squirming mass of slime.
A green slime. So slimes were here too.
Ah, so blinding doesn't work against slimes.
That was an unexpected weakness. I'll wait until the fight is over.
Since I have the Relic of Wind, Gale Blade, I should be able to defeat it.
What I'm curious about is the other qualifiers.
Setting aside Ryuzgyaru, what really happened to that white cat?
And right after Anemos finally defeated the slime.
The sound of a bell echoed.