After giving the shadow monster the name Shadow, I returned to the Fairy and Silver Coin.
Bursting through the door, arms wide open.
âIâm back! Ellieâs cute fiancĂ©, Jonah!â
A voice echoed loudly throughout the entire shop. There was a moment of silence in the noisy tavern, but as their gazes turned towards me, they quickly resumed their chatter as if nothing had happened.
Of course, some laughed heartily as if amused, or whispered to the person next to them as if wondering what was going onâŠbut that was it.
Itâs not that I have some hypnotic ability that makes people not find anything strange no matter what I do. Itâs just that everyone has gotten used to it.
Sometimes people would hit on meâŠbut most of them would straighten up after experiencing Ellieâs possessive punches.
Now, it seems like the rumor has spread, and they pretend not to see even if they do.
âŠSince theyâre said to pretend not to see even if they do, Iâm a bit curious about the extent of whatâs allowed.
Arriving at the counter, I resisted the temptation of the unguarded backsides of the female adventurers and the wallets hanging nearby.
Ellie let out a deep sigh and lightly tapped the top of my head.
Thunk.
âOuch!â
âI told you not to yell every time you come in.â
âWaaah. Iâm baby Jonah. My memory is bad.â
âOh, but you remember saying youâd be independent when you turn twenty, right?â
âWasnât the promise to do naughty things when I turn twenty?!â
Thunk.
âOw!â
âWe never made such a promise! I said if your feelings hadnât changed by then, Iâd consider it seriously!â
âAww. I trust Ellie. Youâre definitely planning to get me really drunk as soon as I turn twenty and then do this and that, like in those red books! Like in those red booksâŠ!â
ââŠHa! Do you think Iâll be flustered by this pattern again?â
âIndeed. Your tastes have changed recently, so you hid those kinds deep in the storage, right? What was the last thing you bought⊠âFor Sale. Fallen Noble. Never Usedâ. The comic version, wasnât it? Seems like you liked the novel I gave you!â
ââŠGrr!â
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Ellie bit her lip in frustration. Seeing her face turning red as if about to explode, it was clear she was embarrassed by the accurate jab.
As I chuckled and sat in front of her, Lydia, who was sipping beer with a sausage snack beside her, waved her hand.
âYouâre a bit late.â
âYouâre still here? I thought youâd leave first since it took so long.â
âSenior Ellie said sheâd give me free beer and snacks if I told her how Jonah, you fought on the second floor. So I kept telling her and kept drinking.â
âReally? So, what did you talk about?â
âIn the end, a compliment. Itâs true that the second floor is relatively easy. But itâs impossible to move like on the first floor.â
âWhy? The difficulty as a Labyrinth is similar.â
âYes. But the monstersâ specs have changed. And itâs hard to surprise them since they usually detect you first.â
Itâs true that the difficulty as a Labyrinth is similar, but the monsters have become overall stronger, and adventurers rely on their sight, whereas monsters distinguish enemies by hearing and smell, making it hard to perform at oneâs best until getting used to it.
âFor me, it was rather a good match.â
âRight. So, never let your guard down.â
Lydia nods faintly with a smile.
Thatâs correct. No matter how much I can minimize my presence with Sound-Eating Footsteps, itâs a fact that if I get hit even once by a kobold by mistake, it would result in serious injury.
âShould we get some armor?â
âNot yet. The Iron Wolfâs hide is similar to iron. As long as you watch out for the golems and the Floor Guardians on the second floor, the worst youâll get is a fracture.â
ââŠFractures are scary though.â
âJust donât get hit. You havenât so far.â
ââŠâŠâ
Lydiaâs treatment of me somehow feels a bit careless.
It might be trust, but why does it hurt my feelings?
As I pouted and grumbled, Ellie placed a plate with some warm pasta and a few pieces of meat in front of me.
âYouâre hungry, right? Benny doesnât eat well, so you probably havenât had a proper meal at her place. Eat and get some rest.â
âCome to think of it, she only had snacks, no proper meals. The cream pie was really good thoughâŠâ
As I said that while mixing the sauce, Ellieâs expression turned peculiar.
âCream pieâŠâ
âOh my. Ellie, what are you thinking about right now? You had a naughty thought, didnât you? Right? Look at this. Miss Lydia! Ellie just had a naughty thought!â
ââŠJonah. Donât act like a child. Ellie is a grown adult. She might just be frustrated.â
âIâm a child, though?â
âThen thereâs nothing we can do.â
Lydia nodded and tried to bring the sausage to her mouth with a fork. But perhaps she didnât stab it deep enough. The sausage slipped and got stuck between her cleavage.
ââŠItâs hot.â
Lydia furrowed her brow slightly. She lifted her chest with her hand instead of the sausage and bent her head down.
Then she pulled out the sausage from between her breasts and ate it.
Feeling my gaze, Lydia confidently made a V-sign with her fingers.
âV.â
ââŠâŠâ
Could it be that she just took it out and ate it directly, without touching it, after receiving it with her chest? Even though it was hot and covered in oil?
While I was dumbfounded. Lydia started wiping her chest casually with a tissue. Not just the top part, but even between her breasts to clean the inside.
Gulp.
I swallowed unconsciously. But unfortunately, this didnât last long.
âJonah.â
âYikes!â
Ellie was looking down at me with an expressionless face. âŠJudging by her oddly heavy breathing, she seemed half angry and half excited.
âWhat kind of experiment did you do at Bennyâs workshop? It wasnât dangerous, was it?â
âOh, itâs nothing like that. What we did today was about ShadowâŠI mean, figuring out why the shadow monster likes meâŠâ
Sweating profusely, I explained to Ellie what had happened today.
Tentacles, cream pie, favorability, Shadow, moist Benny Chip cookiesâŠ.
âI also brought back a magic book to read on my own. Itâs not difficult, just a book with basic spells similar to Weak Flames.â
I pulled out a rather thin book from my chest and waved it lightly.
Though it only contained basic magic and no great spells, it was knowledge that the Magic Tower half-monopolized, so it was priced at 1 gold.
So Benny, rather than giving it away, lent it to me instead.
What a pityâŠ
If it had been given outright, I could have quickly learned the magic and sold it to spin the gacha.
Ellieâs expression, listening to my story, gradually softened.
âWhat? I was a bit worried, but you did well.â
âWhat were you worried about⊠Ah! Did you think I might have an affair with Benny?â
âNo. If it were Lydia, maybe, but thereâs no need to worry about Benny, so thatâs fine. Youâll just hold hands.â
ââŠThis is making me angry in its own way.â
When I puffed my cheeks up and expressed my dissatisfaction without hiding it, Ellie gave a wry smile and spoke.
âI told you I heard Bennyâs situation, right?â
âThatâs right?â
âBenny is mindful of that too. Always careful, just in case another trait awakens.â
âAh.â
What Benny received was the eyes of a succubus.
Because of that, Benny was forever stuck in a girlâs body, and as if as compensation, gained magical abilities.
Even though Shadow was present, it wasnât easy for an experiment subject who had never learned proper resistance methods to blow away a branch of The One Who Devours the Twilight.
But Benny knows the fate of a human consumed by the power of the monsterâŠor more precisely, the power of the God of Madness within it.
The body cannot endure and twists to death, or they go completely mad and become another monster.
Itâs been fine so far, but thereâs no guarantee it will remain so. The assimilation with Shadow is getting worse.
âAlright. Iâll tease Benny just moderately.â
ââŠIsnât there an option not to tease?â
âItâs my way of showing affection, so I canât help it. And honestly, you kind of like it too, donât you, Ellie?â
ââŠâŠâ
Laughing at Ellie, who kept her mouth tightly shut, I stood up.
Handing over the empty pasta plate, I waved one hand towards Ellie and patted Lydiaâs back with the other, then spoke.
âWell, Iâm heading up! Iâm tired and want to read this!â
Ellie lifted the corners of her mouth into a slight smile as she tapped the basic magic book.
âKids should have been asleep a long time ago. Hurry and go. Lydia, you should get up too.â
âEh. No. Ellie, you have plenty of rooms. Let me sleep here today. Give me more beer too. The next snack should be chopped steak.â
âDo you know how many bottles you drank alone?! Get up quickly, you brat!â
Leaving the bickering Ellie and Lydia behind, I went up to my room.
No matter how basic the magic is, it would be too much to master it just by reading it briefly before bed. But understanding the content should be possible.
First, read it, and later, chew over it while practicing.
Honestly, gacha is a gamble. Itâs true that you can hit the jackpot if youâre luckyâŠbut isnât the fun of fantasy in learning magic through hard work?
With high expectations, I opened the book. And then.
ââŠWhat the heck is this?â
I can read the writing. I could only read the writing.
I canât understand what itâs saying at all. Why are there so many pedantic modifiers?
Even if I try to cut away the fluff and read only the content, it says something about the heartâs circle, but I donât have a circle to begin with.
I know that magic is gathered around the heart, and I can move it, but thatâs it.
After pondering for a long time while looking down at the book, I nodded.
âShould I spin the gacha?â
This is more suitable for meâŠ