Chapter 21
Fluffiness is the greatest.
I had resigned myself to sleeping on hard rock, but right now I'm wrapped in Koa's belly.
The happiest I've been since coming to this world.
...
I'm eating yesterday's leftover meat. It's nothing but meat.
The meat tastes good, so I guess the butchering went well.
Honestly, I'm surprised.
It was cursed, after all.
So I'm a little relieved about food.
...I want salt, but I can't afford to be picky yet.
Shelter, water, and food are secured for now.
The toilet being outside is a bit of a problem.
I can use Clean to make the spot nice and clean, but... for my peace of mind, I want a room dedicated to the toilet.
Hmm... I'll deal with that later.
First, I should think about what I need to make my home more comfortable.
For now, I'll start with the problem right in front of me.
That's the cursed mass underground.
I can't feel safe until I find out what that is.
For now, I'll start by looking around the third floor of the rocky mountain.
Strangely, this rock emits a faint light on its own.
It isn't very bright, but it's bright enough to see by.
I didn't notice it at all yesterday, and I freaked out when I got up to use the toilet in the middle of the night.
The entire room was glowing.
I got way too freaked out... Forget it.
The barrier still seems to be in effect, and nothing has changed since yesterday.
I wonder if magic keeps working indefinitely.
I'll wait and see what happens until the barrier wears off.
The third, second, and first floors are fine.
The ceiling on the first floor was the highest.
I can't tell the height just by looking, but it's about twice as high as the others.
I'm on the first basement level now.
For some reason, the ceiling is higher than on the first floor.
I wonder if there's some reason for that.
Hmm... Maybe there's something huge underground.
The first basement level is just empty space. There was something slightly concerning, but I'll deal with it later.
The second basement level—the problematic area.
A large section of the lower wall is covered by a black mass.
It looks like a curse is seeping up from underground.
Creepy.
"Ugh! Purify!"
The black mass split in two, and one of them attacked me.
I expected to be attacked, but I didn't expect it to split in two...
I instinctively held out my hand and used Purify, but it must have failed.
I wasn't imagining anything.
I hurriedly looked at the mass, and white light from Purify was pouring out of it.
Huh?
My little sister told me magic was based on imagination, but is that not necessary?
Right now, that's not what I should be worrying about.
The mass disappeared... Is there nothing there?
...
Unexpected.
I never thought there would be nothing there.
...Huh, this?
This tiny spider the size of my pinky fingernail?
There are about twenty of them, but... seriously?
Is this really it?
...
The remaining mass produced one boss spider the size of a 500-yen coin.
And five spiders the size of my pinky fingernail.
The boss spider has wings I've never seen on Earth before.
The wings, slightly smaller than its body, flutter back and forth.
The baby spiders gather around the boss spider.
I wonder what this is. It feels like they're all observing me.
By the way, are these little guys enemies?
In Japan, spiders are considered beneficial insects as long as they aren't poisonous.
Are these little guys beneficial insects?
I thoroughly purify the curse spread across the wall.
Now then, I wonder if I can become friends with these spiders.