It's been a while.
A little over a month since we last met.
"It's been so long."
"Indeed. I waited quite a while."
"Sorry about that."
"Very well. With this, that makes forty broken knives."
"That many...?"
"Yes. Even this Knife Goddess is quite surprised."
"............"
"What is it? That look of utter disbelief on your face—what's that about?"
"No, I was just wondering if you're secretly happy about it."
"Don't be ridiculous. How rude."
The Knife Goddess huffed.
"Sorry."
"And that attitude of yours, where you think a simple apology makes everything fine—that's really grating on me too."
Whoa, what's up with her? Usually an apology would wrap things up. What's gotten into her?
Is she in a bad mood? Maybe she's hungry.
"Then what should I do?"
"Worship me."
"Huh?"
"Revere and worship me, the Goddess of Knives."
She's started saying something strange again.
Well, I guess it's only natural for a goddess to say that, but what's gotten into her?
Did she eat something bad?
"Did something happen? If you're hungry, um, I've got jerky in my pouch... want some?"
For some reason, in this mysterious space, I'm not in my sleeping form but in my usual standard equipment.
So I've got my knife in the knife belt and jerky in my pouch.
"I'm not hungry, but I'll take it."
The Goddess of Knives took the jerky, still in a foul mood.
She bit into it with a wild chomp. It's late to be noticing, but the contrast with her appearance is something else.
"So why are you so irritable?"
"Mmph mmmph—gulp. Can't you tell?"
"That's exactly why I'm asking."
The chunk... is gone already.
Could she be on Mineha's level?
"It's a divine image."
"Heart? Wait, what are you saying—"
"A statue of a god."
"...Ah, a figurine."
That's when it clicked.
A statue of Lord Yomid.
The one that everyone keeps mistaking for a statue of Pakira.
For the record, Pakira saw me putting up the statue.
And after some weird misunderstanding, Pakira stopped coming to my room.
I've been a little unsure about how to introduce her.
"Why is there a statue of Yomid but none of me?"
"That one I found."
"I know that."
"Then why did you ask?"
"That's exactly why you should make one of me too."
"Ugh..."
This is insane.
Also, honestly, I don't need one.
I'm not planning to turn this into a figurine shelf.
Besides, I really don't want a figurine of the knife goddess.
"That settles it, right?"
"Make it? I'm not exactly skilled with sculpting, you know."
That's part of it too.
Not to brag, but I'm not exactly the most dexterous person.
I had no artistic sense, and as for sculpting, I'd never so much as tried.
"Use the rabbit. The lab should be able to produce it."
"Then give me something like a self-portrait of the goddess or something."
"I don't have one."
"Then it's impossible. I have no artistic sense."
"Figure something out."
"I can't."
I said it flatly. No, I really couldn't.
"Oh well."
Oh, she gave up? No, this goddess wasn't the type to fold that easily.
"It'll be a hassle, but I'll have a self-portrait prepared before next time."
See? I knew it'd go like this.
"Well, if that's the case, then I guess…"
I could just leave it all to Heyarn.
But who would even paint a self-portrait?
It couldn't be the person herself, could it?
That would mean some god of the arts, or something?
This goddess. She had connections to all sorts of deities, huh.
"Well then, that concludes the main topic."
"Wait — that was the main topic?"
"That's right. Naturally. By the way, Wof — you visited the city of ships, didn't you?"
"Ah, yes. Does the goddess of knives know about it?"
Some goddess of knives, knowing all sorts of things.
The goddess of knives gave a small nod.
"Of course. I've never been there myself, but I'm aware of it."
"If so, do you happen to know where the immigrants went?"
"Naturally — I don't."
She doesn't know, huh.
"However, Wof — someone as clever as you has probably formed at least a rough guess by now."
"Th-that's, well…."
"Then that will suffice."
I mean, yeah, I can make a rough guess, sure enough.
"A-a-also — is it true that there's a wall in the sky?"
"Yes, naturally. Just as a house has a roof and a dungeon has walls — the world has walls too."
"Is that so…"
So it is.
"More importantly, Wof — the technology and relics in that city far exceed what the current world can handle. If people get greedy, the world will surely be destroyed."
"…Y-yes."
The reason it doesn't sound exaggerated or like a joke is that I think so too.
Excessive power destroys those who wield it.
"I'm not telling you not to carry it. But think carefully before you act. One wrong move and it's destruction."
"Y-yes. Understood."
"Also, that ship is
d
u
n
g
e
o
n
.
.
.
Be careful. The quietest places are the ones you need to be most wary of."
"Y-yes. What did you just say?"
A dungeon? That ship is a dungeon?
"Well then, to commemorate breaking your fortieth knife, I'll power up the [Blessing of the Knife] I gave you before."
"Huh... a blessing?"
"Yes."
Come to think of it, I think that was the very first thing I ever received.
I had completely forgotten about it. Oh, right, now I remember.
"Somewhere along the way, the voice that echoed in my mind stopped sounding like that, huh."
"It's easier to just talk normally. I've upgraded [Knife's Blessing] to [Greater Knife's Blessing]. The effect is 'the knives in your hand become even sharper.'"
"Um… that's it?"
"What?"
"Like, they become harder to break or something."
"They don't."
She said it flat-out.
W-well, I guess it's fine since there's no downside.
I'm probably going to forget all over again.
"Um, more importantly, what's this about the ship city being a dungeon?"
"Time. Well then, let's meet when you've folded fifty of them."
"W-wait, hold on!?"
"Good night."
My consciousness faded, and when I came to, I was back in my bed.
"…Ouch…"
"Dag…"
Daga's foot was in my face. She really does toss and turn in her sleep.
I sat up and drank some tea from the crescent-shaped vessel.
"Phew. A dungeon, though…"
I was surprised, but it wasn't unexpected.
Still, what caught my attention was whether the quietest place was the one to be most wary of.
"Please don't leave behind such ominous words…"
Honestly, that goddess of knives.