The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

I decided to do some shopping before returning to the inn.

The room has a spacious kitchen, which makes cooking much easier. However, I'm not a professional chef, so my actual skills aren't that high. I can manage to mask the taste of travel cooking with seasoning, but I'm practically an amateur when it comes to home cooking.

To satisfy the little girls' appetites, market research is essential.

"Oh, what's this spice?"

"Hey brother, why don't you try licking it?"

"Bleh! It's spicy!"

As expected of the largest city on the continent. There were many unfamiliar ingredients and spices. I learned about their uses and cooking methods by asking the shopkeepers. I plan to pass on all this knowledge to Punisuke.

Of course, there was a variety of alcohol too. I don't drink yet, so I'm an outsider, but Mererosu and Tessa enjoy alcohol, so I'll buy some as souvenirs.

Come to think of it, Kemuna was drinking alcohol in the middle of the day too. It's fitting for a free adventurer, but... he seemed in a bad mood at first. I didn't see any of his companions either, I wonder if something happened.

I'm a bit curious, but I probably shouldn't pry too much. Next time I see him, I'll casually ask if he has any worries. Though he might just tell me to shut up, brat.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back, Ruruk-chan. I heard you had a tough time in the dungeon."

Tessa greeted me at the reception.

She must have heard some of it from Saaya and the others. She was considerate.

"I gave the young ladies some sandwiches. Eat them for lunch."

"Thank you very much. Here, I stopped by the market and got some souvenirs."

"Oh, it's alcohol! Thank you, I'll have it with my evening drink."

She seemed pleased.

When I returned to the room, I didn't see the little girls.

However, I could hear noisy voices coming from the shower room in the back.

That's right, this inn has shower rooms attached to the rooms. As expected of an inn for parties.

"Welcome back, Master!"

"I'm back. There, there~"

Punisuke jumped at me, so I hugged him and patted him all over. It feels good.

"I heard you got sandwiches. Did you eat them?"

"Yes! There's some left for Master too!"

"Oh, thank you. You saved some for me?"

I thought they would have eaten everything.

To think they could restrain their appetites, everyone's grown up.

I opened the basket on the table with emotion.

"...Hah... Hah..."

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

Calm down, me.

Well, certainly? My portion is left.

Just one slice each of bread and lettuce.

"And then, the first card I collected turned out to be the rarest one."

"Mm. Amazing."

"Right? It's not just luck, it's practically a skill at this point."

At that (un)timely moment, the little girls came out of the shower.

They were relaxing in just pumpkin pants while drying their hair.

"...Oh, that's right, Ruruk is sharing the room too. Maybe we should put on some clothes."

"Mm. No problem."

The little girls, topless.

While it seems problematic that these young maidens have no sense of shame, that's beside the point right now.

"Hey, you lot, what is this?"

I said, looking down at the contents of the basket.

Even to my own ears, my voice sounded icy.

"Ah~ ...I tried to stop them."

"Mm. Me too."

"I tried to stop them too!"

Then who ate it?

"...Earlier, I received a report from Tessa-san that you got sandwiches. Of course, I thanked her happily. I was hungry, and it's natural to want to eat something before cooking a meal. But when I opened the lid, this is what I found. Where's the ham and cheese? Where's my protein? How am I supposed to get energy from just bread and lettuce!?"

"H-Hey, Ruruk."

"What is it, Culprit No. 1?"

"That's such a sharp way to address me!?"

Of course it is.

"Um, well, we actually thought about eating together with you later. We took a shower with Elenora first, thinking you'd be back at just the right time. But you know, when you stay at a hot spring inn, there are usually manjuu or tea snacks, right? I remembered that. If we don't raise our blood sugar before taking a bath, we might get dizzy and fall."

"Hmm... and then?"

"And so... um... I'm sorry."

Saaya prostrated herself, unable to withstand my pressure.

"Mm... Ruruk."

"What is it, Culprit No. 2?"

"It was delicious. Sorry."

Elenora transitioned to prostration without a hint of remorse.

"M-Master~"

"What is it, Culprit No. 3?"

"I was hungry~"

"Well, if that's the case, it can't be helped. I'll forgive you."

Punisuke can't be helped. Because it's Punisuke.

"Unfair! Why only Punisuke!?"

"Mm! Favoritism!"

"Are you two really reflecting on your actions?"

"We're sorry," they said in unison.

Honestly, these guys...

As I was exasperated, there was a knock on the door.

A visitor?

As I turned to look at the door, for some reason it was already open. I must have forgotten to close it.

Mererosu peeked her face in from the hallway.

"I heard Ruruk-kun and the others were back? If you haven't had lunch yet, I made too much stew, so I thought we could eat together... but... I see you're busy! Excuse me!"

*Slam!*

The door was closed with great force.

Let's objectively look at the situation here.

Me, standing imposingly in the room.

Two topless little girls prostrating at my feet.

...Yep, this looks bad.

"It's a misunderstanding! Wait! Please wait, Mererosu-san!"

I desperately chased after her, and it took over an hour to clear up Mererosu's misunderstanding as she tried to escape.

"Well, I don't intend to interfere with your relationships, Ruruk-kun and everyone. I think the freedom in love, respect, and camaraderie is what makes adventurers who they are. But you need to be a bit more considerate of each other. Ruruk-kun needs to treat Saaya-chan and Elenora-chan more like girls, and you two shouldn't rely too much on Ruruk-kun. A party that can't respect each other will eventually fall apart."

"...Yes. I'm sorry."

"I'll take it to heart."

"Mm. Understood."

It was a serious lecture.

The little girls, now dressed, and I were sitting formally on the living room carpet. We weren't forced to, but Mererosu was a bit scary, so it happened naturally.

"...Well, maybe I'm being nosy."

"Not at all. Your opinion is very much appreciated."

"That's right. I felt a high-quality motherly aura."

"Mm. Maternal."

"T-That's a bit much, please stop."

It seems she doesn't like being treated as a mother.

Mererosu is still unmarried and probably right in the middle of marriageable age.

My grudge over the sandwiches had completely disappeared due to the crisis of social annihilation. The lonely sight of bread and lettuce sitting there is a bit sad... I'll have Punisuke eat it later.

By the way, the stew Mererosu brought was in a full pot, so she probably intended to eat it with her dwarf housemate. It smells good.

"The blacksmith I work with seems to be busy and will be staying at the workplace for a few days. That's why I had extra. Would you like to join me?"

"That would be great. I didn't have the energy to cook anyway."

"Thank you!"

"Mm. Happy."

"I'm hungry!"

And so, we started our late lunch.

The stew had a demi-glace-like flavor. Bargia seems to have many Western-style ingredients, with stewed dishes being the main fare.

Even the food sold at stalls was mostly in the form of cheese bakes in cups rather than skewers, showing a different food culture from Mataisa and Stoania.

In any case, Mererosu's stew was delicious. I'd want to eat this every day after coming home from work. A beautiful wife in an apron greeting me at the entrance, taking my coat and saying:

"Dear, would you like dinner? A bath? Or perhaps... hehe."

"Ruruk-kun, why are you making such a strange face?"

"It's just your imagination (poker face). But Mererosu-san, you're really good at cooking."

"Really? I think it's just average skill."

"It's certainly delicious. Though not as good as Ruruk's."

"Hey, Saaya! I'm sorry. Saaya tends to be biased towards family."

"It's fine, it's fine. The food Ruruk-kun made during our journey was indeed exquisite."

"I'm honored."

"Then next time, maybe I'll have Ruruk-kun share some of his cooking with us."

Mererosu laughed softly, as beautiful as ever.

"By the way, I heard you were in the dungeon for a whole day?"

"Yes. A lot happened."

I explained the general flow of events.

However, I only referred to Seori as a noble lady, and of course, I didn't mention anything about the subjugation.

"That must have been tough. But a newly discovered trap on the 5th floor at this point? That seems a bit odd, doesn't it?"

"You think so too, right? Usually, the upper floors should have been thoroughly explored."

The deliberate arrow is also concerning.

Perhaps the person who set Seori up is on a much larger scale than I'm assuming.

Having reached the same conclusion, Saaya tugs at my sleeve with a worried look.

Ah, I know, I know.

Now, it's time to check on Seori's status.

Relaxing naked, gradual rise in body temperature... looks like she's in the bath. She must be staying at a noble's mansion. I'm jealous.

However, she seems to be feeling slightly anxious. Is it because of my warning, or because of the subjugation mark on her chest? I can't sense that much detail, so there's no need to worry about it.

I convey to Saaya with my eyes that everything is fine for now. Saaya breathes a sigh of relief.

Mererosu gazed out the window towards the dungeon and murmured.

"This dungeon might be in its gestation period."

"...Gestation period?"

"Dungeons are alive, you know. Due to changes in magic essence and spirit essence, it rarely happens, but there's a period when new layers and mazes expand, increasing the number of routes. The preparation period for this is called the gestation period. By the way, the period during the change is called the writhing period, and if you're in the dungeon during that time, you might be crushed to death by walls or floors if you're unlucky."

"I didn't know such things happened."

"I guess not. It's said to occur only once every few hundred years in a single dungeon, so it's rarer to encounter it within a human's lifespan. Besides, if it's determined to be in the gestation period, it's closed for a while until the writhing period begins."

Dungeons really should be called labyrinth life forms, huh.

But if it's currently in the gestation period, isn't it dangerous to enter the dungeon now?

"That's right. Well, if it's in the gestation period, there should be many other anomalies, so the guild will investigate. The transition to the writhing period probably won't happen for a few months, so there's no need to rush."

"I see. So we don't need to do anything about it."

"That's right. Though we should warn those S-rank adventurer party kids who are holed up in the lower field dungeon."

"Oh? An S-rank adventurer party?"

"They're called the [Platinum Tiger]. They're based in Bargia, quite famous and popular, and very capable. They have a balanced type with a swordsman, shield user, scout, familiar master, and pure mage. They're often used as an example of party combat in guild training."

I see.

Then Kemuna from earlier must have been a member of [Platinum Tiger]. The reason he was drinking alone in the guild instead of diving into the dungeon is something I can't figure out even if I think about it.

"Mererosu-san, you're very knowledgeable."

"I haven't lived this long for nothing. If you want to know something, feel free to ask. I'll tell you as much information as you want."

"I feel bad for always receiving... Ah, then if you don't mind, can I ask two things?"

"What is it?"

"First, if you know any method to remove a subjugation mark, could you tell me?"

"A subjugation mark? You mean for familiars, not slaves, right?"

Mererosu tilted her head in confusion and looked at Punisuke.

Of course, Punisuke doesn't have a subjugation mark. Punisuke's [Vassalization] is a low-level skill. It's a simple one that just recognizes him as my vassal, without any sensory connection or oath.

"Yes, of course."

"Hmm... sorry, I don't know."

"I see. Then for the second question, do you know any magical formula to detect the location of a specific person? It can be magic or mystic arts."

This is about the formula the demons used to find the factor of destruction -- Saaya's [Omnipotent Growth].

If we understand how this works, we might also find a way to prevent it. Now that we've reached Bargia, I thought it was time to get serious about it.

"Let's see, you're looking for a person, right? In that case, you can use astrology."

"Astrology? You mean theoretical mystic arts?"

"That's right. Astrology can extract vague information from the World Tree and star positions, but the accuracy increases with the uniqueness of the target. For example, if someone tries to divine the existence of 'Ruruk-kun', they might also divine other people with the same name, causing all the information to become muddled. But if the person is right in front of you, you can divine about that specific person. The more specific the information about the person you're looking for becomes, the more information you can extract. Well, even then, you can only get rough information. Like which city they're in, that sort of thing."

I see.

So the more unique Saaya's [Omnipotent Growth] skill is, the more precisely it can be detected.

...No, it must be one of a kind, such a cheat skill.

No wonder the demons can know Saaya's location and environment.

Which means we should assume that Saaya's current location is always known to some extent.

"By the way, do you know any way to hide from astrology?"

"If that's what you're after, there's something called [Star-Hiding Flower] in my hometown. It's a flower grown by elven herb farmers. It's brewed and drunk for its 'blindness' removal and relaxation effects, but it has the side effect of blocking astrology too."

"There's such a thing!?"

I was genuinely surprised.

Wait, then can't we just have Saaya drink that?

Saaya is looking at me and nodding vigorously too.

"How can we get this [Star-Hiding Flower]?"

"Well, you can buy it normally if you come to the Elven village, but..."

"Mererosu-san! Could you guide us to the Elven village? We'll make a designated request at the guild, please!"

I bowed politely.

Mererosu looked surprised, but soon her expression turned troubled.

"Hmm... While I don't think it would be dangerous to bring you guys back with me..."

"Is there some inconvenience?"

"You know, I told you I left after a big fight with my parents, right? If I go back, they'll probably lecture me about the same things until my ears fall off, so I'm not really eager to..."

That's right.

If Mererosu is reluctant, of course I don't intend to force her.

...But I want to push just a little bit. It's a rare chance.

"By the way, may I ask the reason for the big fight?"

"It's embarrassing, but it's because I still haven't... Ah!"

Mererosu clapped her hands as if she had just thought of something.

"Ruruk-kun, would you listen to my request too? If you do, I'll take you there. You don't need to make a designated request, we can do it as an exchange."

"If it's Mererosu-san's request, there's no way I could refuse. Even if you ask me to punch the Dragon King because he's annoying, leave it to me. Though you'll have to collect my bones since I can't win."

"Ahaha. It's not such an outrageous request."

The beautiful elf said shyly.

"Would you become my marriage partner?"

The bombshell statement exploded.