Chapter 119
"Kyuu! Kyuu-kyuu!"
The fox-like creature stared at me with sparkling eyes.
Lesser Carbuncle.
Apparently, that was the name of this fox-like creature's Race.
"What is that... a fox?"
"Fujita-san, that's not a fox. It seems to be a monster. Look at the jewel on its forehead."
The moment Fujita-san saw the red jewel on the Lesser Carbuncle's forehead—or was it a magic stone?—his expression changed.
"...Indeed. Huh, so there are monsters like that, too..."
Even as he spoke, he held his hand axe at the ready, watching to see what it would do without letting his guard down.
I was impressed. Fujita-san had clearly been through his share of life-or-death situations.
"Kyuu-kyuu!"
In contrast to us, the Lesser Carbuncle approached with its tail wagging happily.
It didn't seem wary of us in the slightest.
(Could it have mistaken us for the ones who rescued it?)
It had been tangled up in the giant spider's web.
Maybe it had been on the verge of being eaten.
Then we'd happened to pass by and wiped out the giant spiders.
I suppose you could call that rescuing it, depending on how you looked at it...
(It was just a coincidence, though...)
I hadn't rescued it because I intended to help it.
It had simply turned out that way.
I cautiously raised the gun, and the Lesser Carbuncle gave a start.
"Kyuu!? Kyuu, kyuu! Kyuuu!"
Trembling all over, the Lesser Carbuncle stared at us.
It seemed to be saying, I'm not a bad monster!
"...It's cute."
Fujita-san, holding his hand axe right beside me, said that with an utterly serious expression.
He looked like a father being stared at by a Chihuahua.
"...Fujita-san?"
"...Huh? Oh, sorry! It's not like I've let my guard down. I'm fine. ...But, well, isn't that thing incredibly fluffy and cute?"
...Was this old man really all right?
The Lesser Carbuncle tilted its head as if to say, "Kyuu?"
Fujita-san's cheeks flushed at the sight.
Who on earth wanted to see an old man's blushing cheeks...?
(Wait. Could it have a Skill related to 'Charm,' like that student council president?)
When I glared at it, the Lesser Carbuncle flopped onto its back.
With its belly completely exposed, it stared up at me with trembling, teary eyes.
Ah, no. It was just being shamelessly cute in every little gesture.
But too bad. No matter how much it looked like a small, fluffy animal, my heart wouldn't waver as long as I had Momo as my partner.
I don't like fluffy things. I like Momo.
I like Momo specifically.
Cheating is absolutely forbidden.
(Come to think of it, Momo liked having her belly rubbed when she was in that position...)
Whenever I rubbed Momo's belly while she lay on her back in my lap, she would let out a satisfied little "Kuuun..."
It was so cute it was almost dangerous.
The sheer force of it made me want to pet her forever.
Even in my imagination, Momo was adorable and soothing... I miss her. I want to see the real thing soon.
≪The Lesser Carbuncle is looking at you as if it wants to join your party.
≪Will you make it your companion?≫
Once again, that heavenly voice echoed inside my head.
So noisy.
Besides, frankly, what benefit would I get from making this thing my companion?
"... (tremble, tremble)"
Then Aka, the gun in my hand, began to shake.
(...Hm? Is Aka in favor of making this thing our companion?)
(...Tremble, tremble!)
Aka shook emphatically.
I felt like it was saying, You absolutely have to make it your companion!
Wasn't this the first time Aka had ever pushed its opinion so strongly?
Hmm, what should I do...?
As I hesitated, Aka seemed to tremble unnaturally for an instant.
Then the Lesser Carbuncle, which had been lying on its back, suddenly got up.
"Kyuu!"
As I watched, wondering what it intended to do, the jewel on its forehead began to glow.
Then Fujita-san, I, and even Aka were enveloped in a pale light.
"What is this...?"
"What is this light? I feel... strength welling up inside me...?"
Could this be the same light that had appeared when we fought the giant spiders earlier?
Back then, too, our bodies had suddenly started glowing, and our strength had inexplicably increased...
"Could it be...?"
I checked my status.
Kudo Kazuto
Level 19
HP: 210/210
MP: 58/58
Strength: 157 (+16)
Endurance: 153
Agility: 338
Dexterity: 308
Magic: 35
Magic Resistance: 35
A number that hadn't been there before was displayed beside my stats.
There was a +16 next to the value for 'Strength.'
Presumably, that meant my 'Strength' had increased by that amount.
"Kyuu! Kyuu! Kyuu!"
The jewel on the Lesser Carbuncle's forehead flashed again.
In response, our bodies shone brightly, and our 'Endurance,' 'Agility,' and 'Dexterity' stats increased.
Every value had increased by roughly ten to twenty percent.
(A support Skill... something like a buff.)
That must have been the Skill it possessed.
When I looked at the Lesser Carbuncle, it stared back at me while wagging its tail as if to say, How was that? Pretty amazing, right? Praise me, praise me!
≪The Lesser Carbuncle is looking at you as if it wants to join your party.
≪Will you make it your companion?≫
Then, for the third time, the heavenly voice flowed through my head.
I see. Aka had been right; this thing might really be useful.
That Skill alone made it incredibly appealing.
(...Actually, Aka, did you realize this?)
When I asked, Aka seemed to tremble and say, "Mm, I guess?"
(Come to think of it, Momo acted like this when she made Aka her companion, too...)
Maybe animals and monsters possessed something like a wild instinct that only they could sense.
I really wanted to consult Ichinose-san and Momo, but that was impossible in this situation.
I'd contact them later.
(Sigh... All right, Aka.)
I mentally thought, Yes.
≪The Lesser Carbuncle has joined your party.≫
≪You have met a certain condition.≫
≪You can acquire the Job 'Monster Tamer.'≫
≪The Job 'Monster Tamer' is already available.≫
≪If you select the Job 'Monster Tamer,' you will start at Lv. 3.≫
...The level of 'Monster Tamer' kept rising even though I had no intention of taking it.
It was almost as if "she" were whispering from beyond the grave, "Take it, take it."
No, that was probably just my imagination.
Anyway, putting that aside.
"Kyukyuu!"
The moment I selected Yes, the Lesser Carbuncle rushed over and hugged me with incredible force.
It waved its forelegs frantically, desperately trying to cling to my stomach.
"H-hey, Ichinose-chan, is that all right...?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. It seems to have taken a strange liking to me..."
"Taken a liking to you...? That thing is a monster, isn't it?"
"Ah, actually—"
I explained to Fujita-san that it had become my companion.
Fujita-san was extremely surprised.
"It looked at you with eyes that seemed to say it wanted to become your companion... This really is just like a game, huh?"
"Right...?"
"Hmm, still, it's a monster..."
Fujita-san put a hand to his chin and made a troubled face.
"The mayor will probably understand, but convincing the other members might be a real pain... Oh, and hide that little one at the Self-Defense Forces base. It'd definitely cause trouble."
"Um... Fujita-san, aren't you opposed to this?"
When I asked timidly, Fujita-san looked at me in confusion and said,
"Huh? Of course I don't mind. Even if it's a monster, if we can avoid killing it, that's obviously for the best, right?"
He laughed as though it were nothing unusual.
I was a little impressed by his answer.
This man really was different from my former coworkers.
"Kyuu, kyuu!"
The Lesser Carbuncle perched on my shoulder.
Apparently, it liked it there.
With its tail brushing against me, it felt like I was wearing a fluffy scarf.
"Still, this one's really cute, isn't it?"
He gently reached out to pet the Lesser Carbuncle's head.
"Kyuu!"
Unfortunately, it dodged him.
"..." He slowly reached out.
"Kyuu!" It darted aside.
"..." He reached out again, twice.
"Kyuu! Kyuu!" It dodged twice.
"...Hey, does it hate me?"
"I-I wonder..."
Fujita-san looked somewhat... no, extremely crestfallen, and I couldn't bring myself to say anything.
"Oh, right. Since we're at it, should we give it a name?"
When I asked, the Lesser Carbuncle nodded vigorously.
It seemed to want me to name it.
"Oh, that's a good idea. Then I'll—"
"Shaah!"
"..." He wilted.
While Fujita-san sank into dejection again, I thought.
"Hmm, then how about 'Kiki'?"
I chose Kiki because of its yellow fur, which reminded me of a fox.
I thought my naming sense was pretty straightforward, just like with Aka, but Kiki happily beamed at me.
"Kyuu~!"
Apparently, it liked the name.
Right, I needed to check its status, too.
I immediately checked the party members section.
Kiki
Lesser Carbuncle Lv. 7
Level 7, huh.
I suppose that's about right.
...Kiki's name should be displayed on Ichinose-san's status screen, too.
I'd have to contact her sooner or later. I hoped she was managing things well, too...
"All right, Fujita-san, shall we get going?"
"...Ah, yeah, let's."
With Kiki on my shoulder and Fujita-san riding behind me, I set off on the motorcycle again.
"Hey, Kiki-chan, just let me pet you a little—"
"Shaah!"
I couldn't help chuckling a little at the exchange between Fujita-san and Kiki.
But at the time, I still didn't know.
Kiki had an even more incredible Skill hidden away, in addition to its support buff.
Nor did I know that it would become a crucial key in a later battle—.
Meanwhile.
Nishino's and Rikka's party was engaged in exterminating Giant Ants.
"Nwooooooah!"
The log came crashing down, crushing the Giant Ant's head.
With a wet crunch, a yellow magic stone rolled to their feet.
≪You acquired experience points.≫
≪Goshogawara Hachiro's Lv. rose from 8 to 9.≫
"Phew, phew... Did I get it?!"
Goshogawara tested the feel of his newly acquired log.
Apparently, City Hall had had some logs available.
"Oh, nice work, old man. Then we'll do this too!"
Rikka charged into the swarm of Giant Ants with a hatchet in each hand.
The ants, weakened by the insecticide, were no match for Rikka.
The ants were cut down in an instant and transformed into magic stones.
≪You acquired experience points.≫
≪Aisaka Rikka's Lv. rose from 13 to 14.≫
"Yes! Leveled up again—"
"Don't let your guard down, Rikka. It's dark around here, and they may still be hiding somewhere."
"I know, Nissy."
They were currently in the shopping district near City Hall—in its 'underground mall.'
They had been exterminating the ants by dropping fumigation-style insecticide into every nest they found, but they had discovered that one of the holes connected to the underground mall in this area.
When they cautiously peered inside, they found an astounding number of ants.
They were weakened by the insecticide, and this time Rikka, their main attacker, was with them.
They decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to reduce the enemy's numbers here, and stepped into the ants' nest.
As a result, they scored a major victory.
By defeating the huge number of ants, they had successfully raised everyone's levels, including Nishino's.
(This is probably where their full-scale nest begins...)
The flashlight faintly illuminated the depths of the underground mall.
An extremely 'ominous presence' could be felt coming from there.
(We mustn't go too deep. We'll whittle down their forces little by little and make our way toward the deepest point.)
For now, this was far enough.
After carefully judging when to withdraw, Nishino ordered everyone to retreat.
(Oh, right. I wonder if Ichinose-san is doing all right.)
He suddenly thought of the girl who had left here about an hour earlier.
Rikka's best friend and their new comrade.
(Even allowing for her shyness, she seemed to be keeping some kind of wall up...)
She seemed distant, or perhaps somehow as if she were acting.
She probably still didn't trust them.
Still, Nishino thought, that was understandable.
They could slowly deepen their friendship from here on.
(She'd probably want to know about our current situation, too, so I should email her.)
"Ho-Ren-So" was important.
Reporting, contacting, and consulting.
With their means of communication limited as they were, sharing information was more important than anything else.
It was better for them to know what was happening with each other.
Nishino casually checked his email address book and...
"...Hm?"
He tilted his head.
It wasn't there.
Her name—'Ichinose Natsu'—was nowhere to be found.
Strange.
He had met her in the nap room yesterday.
Then her name should have appeared near Fujita and Shimizu's in the list, but it was nowhere to be seen.
According to the order, it should have been around here.
Nishino traced his finger over the screen as he searched for her name.
There.
The place where Ichinose Natsu's name should have been.
What he found there was—
"...Kudo Kazuto?"
It was a name he didn't recognize.
The name that should have been there.
A name that should not have been there.
Confusion. A question.
"What does this mean...?"