Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!, Volume 3, page 16
You’re mine!
As I reared back for a powerful swing, a wire suddenly wrapped around my neck. A flash of panic came upon me, and my heart skipped a beat. I was unable to teleport in this position or cut through the wire in such an awkward position. Two, then three more wires joined in, as if to mock my struggle. Just then...
“You must condense time.”
My teacher’s voice reverberated in my head, and in that moment, the demon’s heart was sliced into four pieces. Raab and I both had a shocked expression on our faces. In a literal blink of an eye, a powerful vertical slash, followed by a horizontal one, had been delivered to my opponent. And strangely, the sensation in my hand felt as if I had merely cut through an apple. I was unable to move from my pose after completing the swings. The pace at which I was improving with Wridra’s sword during our training session was actually terrifying, but this felt different. My sword master had told me that I had learned to condense time without conscious thought. What if I had actually struck with extraordinary speed without realizing it? My heart beat loudly in my chest. The delayed shock hit me like a lightning bolt, as I realized I had stepped foot into a brand new world.
A world that existed in less than a split second... Just how far could I expand that world? Thinking back, my master’s teachings were all guiding me to reach this answer. I finally realized that, despite using the sword for so long, I’d only just reached the tip of the iceberg.
The very air around me wavered with a whooosh. The demon’s face contorted in pain and began dissolving into the air, and then there was silence...
“Well done.” A beautiful female voice spoke into my head. I could hear music with an upbeat tempo and a peaceful tone to it playing from somewhere. The level-up tune, which I hadn’t heard in some time, marked the end of the battle, and with my energy being completely depleted, I fell to the ground with my limbs splayed out. My breathing was pretty rough, but I couldn’t help it, given how hard I had just worked. I normally would’ve fled a long time ago, but maybe I had overworked myself trying to impress a certain elf girl. This seemed to be a common theme for me as of late, and I smiled at my own immaturity. Even so, it could be fun trying my best like this every once in a while, I thought to myself. Then, I noticed some faces peering down at me from above. Wridra had an amused look on her face, and Mariabelle was smiling with her staff held behind her back.
“You are a complete mess. I can hardly believe you won the battle.”
“You think so? In the stories I know, everyone usually ends up looking pretty beat up.”
The dragon grinned in response, then gestured at something with her chin. I craned my neck to look in that direction to find the demon on one knee, slowly disintegrating into dust.
“Well, I’m glad we managed to beat it.”
“Hah, hah, you say that as if you are about to fall asleep. You should know that demon is known as Elemaada Raab. It is one of the primeval beings that had been trapped within this ancient labyrinth. Look, the core is about to change.”
Cracks began to form in the glowing demon’s core. Seeing this unfamiliar scene unfold before me, I sat up without even thinking about it, and as Wridra had predicted, it began to change. The platinum radiance glowed ever brighter, and there was something about its purity that reached into my heart.
“The primeval core is completely pure. Therefore, a core without its own will will adopt the will of whoever defeated it. It appears there are some things that can only be gained within the world of condensed time.”
As Wridra spoke solemnly, she bent down and picked up the black sword from the ground. The sword floated into the air when she released it, then overlapped with the demon’s core. Then, the core poured over the weapon like mercury, forming geometrical patterns into the blade. I couldn’t turn my eyes away as the blade changed shape to add a slight curve to its tip and became reborn before my very eyes. Its color was amazingly pure, like that of a shooting star. I reached out my hand, seemingly drawn to it, and touched the transformed blade.
...Astroblade, the sword of stardust. There was an audible click, and I had obtained a new sword. And at the same time, I acquired a secondary skill for the first time in my life.
＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋
I had defeated a powerful demon and obtained an incredibly rare weapon. I leveled up, and I even unlocked a secondary skill. Not only that, but I felt like I’d learned new skills, too. Nobody could blame me for having the uncontrollable urge to check my newly gained abilities right away. The two we had rescued were right in front of me, looking completely exhausted, but I simply couldn’t help it. I actually couldn’t take it anymore. All I had to do was touch the accessory on my wrist to see everything I wanted to know.
Fidget, fidget, fidget...
But when I started to reach for it, my hand suddenly stopped. Marie the elf was squeezing my finger in the same way she sometimes pinched my cheek. My desire vanished into thin air. I could check my abilities any time, so it was best for me to save the fun for later. Yeah. I gave Marie an awkward smile, then turned back to our rescuees. They were covered in sweat and looked dirty, but their eyes were shining with excitement.
“I’m glad you two seem okay. Are you hurt at all?”
“Fantastic work. I am Doula. I want to thank you for avenging my subordinates.” Despite her exhausted appearance, Doula offered us a firm and rugged handshake. Her hair was red like fire, even with all the dirt, and her determined eyes were silver in color. She was obviously taller than Marie and me, and she had the air of a veteran fighter about her.
“I want to express my gratitude, too. I wiped out all the mobs twice, but I couldn’t bring down that demon. I really showed you a pathetic side of me back there, huh?” Zera also seemed pretty haggard, but his handshake was strong as ever.
“Not at all. It’s incredible that you two lasted an entire night against those numbers. I’m sorry we were so late to arrive.”
“Don’t be stupid. This might sound a bit cheesy, but I consider you guys my saviors.” He smiled, but there was sincerity in his eyes. I understood why. These two were connected by a powerful bond, and if someone had saved Marie’s life, I probably would’ve had the same look in my own eyes. Just then, we heard the sound of white noise buzzing nearby.
“Oh, that must be the boss. Here, it’s your job to make a report, right?” With that, Zera produced a Magic Tool from his waist and handed it to me. This allowed us to communicate with someone far away, and I could speak to headquarters by answering the call. I took the heavy object in my hand, then pressed the red button that would connect the call. I let out a deep breath and gazed at the four faces watching me before beginning my report.
“...This is Amethyst. We’ve successfully rescued the targets and defeated the demon.” I waited several seconds but there was no reply. I cocked my head, and then a stream of many voices suddenly spoke at once.
“Bzz... Is that true? Did you really...?!”
“No way! No goddamn way! Bzzz... Hahaha!”
“Capta... Voice... Really... Bzzz!”
The voices, mixed with static, were so loud that I almost covered my ears instinctively. Those who were listening in from headquarters probably actually did. The next voice I heard was an angry shout.
“Quiet! I told you not to crowd the line! Hm, Team Amethyst, well done on completing the mission. Those two are quite the capable fighters, and it would have been a shame to lose them.”
“Yes, I was surprised to find they had survived through the night in those circumstances. They seem absolutely exhausted, so I’ll get them to the...” Base, I was about to say, but the Magic Tool was taken from me. I looked up to find a burly man’s face, and he smiled before roughly patting my head.
“Doula and I are safe. Yes, I checked and found that the demon was level 82. A dangerous enemy, to be sure. In any case, we’re going to regroup with our squads as soon as we get some rest.”
“Hm, I would think you should prioritize your treatment, but... I will leave that up to you. I’d like to congratulate Team Amethyst again on a job well done. We will have an appropriate reward waiting for you once you return above ground.” Zera gestured to me with the speaker and smiled as if to give me his blessing.
“Oh, I forgot about our reward. There were a lot of things I wanted, so I’m looking forward to shopping once we get back.”
“This is a good opportunity for us to buy new clothes. You only have one set of presentable clothes, Kazuhiho. It can be a little embarrassing sometimes.”
Whaaat? You’re gonna say that while everyone’s listening? But Ms. Elf was deep in thought, mumbling to herself about whether or not she should have something tailor made.
“W-Well, be sure not to spend wastefully. If you’re having trouble, I can recommend some affordable... Hey, I said keep personal talk off of the line!”
Oh, he was just going along with the joke and then pointing out the punchline. I’d seen that sort of humor on TV before.
Now that the demon had been defeated, the other monsters all perished as well, the still-burning fire scattering their ashes into the air. There was a malignant air to the scenery, but we couldn’t help but laugh, for some reason. And so, Team Amethyst had successfully completed their first rescue mission. Zera and Doula had fought throughout the night, and we, too, had expended our vitality and magic to our limits. Now that we were done reporting, we just needed some food and rest.
We relocated to a spot where monster dust wouldn’t come raining down on us, then started to arrange pieces of rubble together. Once we poured some water into a pot and placed it on top, our makeshift camp was complete. We used a fire spirit to heat it since we didn’t have firewood, but it heated the pot nicely, nonetheless.
“This is a nice stove. We can even adjust the heat. I wouldn’t mind cooking on this side once in a while with this.” I poked at the fire spirit as I made my comment, and Marie looked up at me.
“But do we have enough for everyone? We only brought enough meals for three.”
“You’re right. I’m thinking we could add water and turn it into porridge. I originally made it with a lot of flavor, so I don’t think it’ll turn out too terrible. It would’ve been nice if we had some eggs, though.”
Bubbles began to rise from the bottom of the pot as the temperature of the water rose. The labyrinth here had waterways all over it, so we didn’t have much trouble finding water. This meant cooking in the labyrinth may have been a viable option. The two we rescued were at a spot some distance away, scrubbing their bodies with a piece of cloth and glancing over at us with puzzled expressions every once in a while. I supposed it wasn’t very common for people to start cooking right after vanquishing a demon.
“I did not think we would be splitting my share as well...” Wridra was glaring at me with a reproachful look, sitting on a nearby rock with her puffed up cheek resting on her hand. She was wearing gothic-style, dress-shaped heavy armor, but it allowed her to rest easily due to its wide range of motion.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to treat you to a very nice meal when we get back to Japan tomorrow.”
“Hmph.”
Uh oh, she was actually pretty upset. Despite this, she wasn’t protesting anymore, so Marie and I shared a smile before starting to cook. I dug into my bag to produce some rice balls wrapped in seaweed.
“Oh, those are the ones you were making yesterday. Did you put the kakuni you got from Kaoruko in there?”
“Yeah, they’re kakuni rice balls. It’s kind of sloppy, but I’m gonna take these and...” I dropped them into the pot and watched the rice and seaweed soak up the water. The rice, which had absorbed the juices of the kakuni, began emitting a fragrant aroma. There was a twinkle of fascination in Wridra’s eyes as she inched closer. I began mixing the pot after waiting for a bit, then tested the flavor.
“Hmm, it’s good, but it’s a bit lacking in seasonings. Oh, I know.”
Marie gave me a questioning look as I pulled a plastic container out of my bag. I removed the lid to reveal the miso and pickled vegetables inside.
“I brought these in case we got bored of the flavors, but let me try mixing them in.” I scooped some miso and dissolved it into the pot. After giving it a few good swirls, the color of the liquid turned into a light brown, and the smell of miso filled the air. I gave it another try and found that it accentuated the flavor nicely. The seasoning wasn’t overbearing, either, and I suspected that the seaweed had added flavor to the water as it stewed.
“Whoa, something smells really good... What, you guys cook your own meals instead of bringing portable rations?”
“Oh. Hi, Zera. You look refreshed.”
Zera was no longer wearing his armor and was changing into a spare shirt as he approached the fire. The portable rations he had just mentioned were the military rations soldiers always used. I’d tried one of them out of curiosity before, but I wanted to avoid those if at all possible. The dried meat was still palatable, but I really wasn’t a fan of the mysterious solid object that came with it. I figured you couldn’t do much about the bad taste, but it included some sort of drug. Not to mention, it was the kind that kept you up at night. How anyone could consider putting that stuff in their pot was beyond me. I nonverbally conveyed such sentiments to Marie as our eyes met, then smiled to cover it up.
Doula finally came back to join us, and I noticed she had a surprisingly cute, freckled face. Her eyebrows had a sense of strength to them, but there was something about her appearance that also gave off the impression of a young girl. She began tying her hair back as she gave me an exasperated look.
“Don’t tell me you’re really cooking inside a labyrinth? You should stick to portable rations unless you want to get a stomachache.”
“Military rations just don’t sit well with me. I think this should be good for digestion, though.”
She let out a tired huff and dropped the issue, turning her attention to where she was going to sit down. After contemplating for a moment, she moved a rock over to sit next to Zera. The porridge began to bubble, indicating it was ready to eat. We didn’t have enough bowls to go around, so we shared one per pair (aside from Wridra, who got one for herself) and began our late lunch. We let the ladies go first, and the sound of them sipping the porridge reverberated in the labyrinth. Doula, who seemed disinterested at first, got one taste of the kakuni melting in her mouth, and her eyes widened. She let out a sexy breath, then began swaying her body. It seemed she had just managed to contain a powerful impulse, and she met Zera’s eyes with a glistening, girly look.
“Oh? What is it? You want me to have some? I can wait till you’re done... Okay, okay.”
Zera opened wide and stuffed his mouth with kakuni, then froze. The fatty meat melted in his mouth even before he began chewing, spreading its savory flavor. As it dissolved, a wave of natural sweetness surged forth. There was a dynamic aspect to it characteristic of Chinese-style cooking, and it left a fragrant aftertaste that the body instinctively craved and recognized as nutritious. Quality pork, miso, and porridge mixed with seaweed. With each bite, they released a new depth of savory goodness, and he finally swallowed the medley of flavors after stimulating his appetite to its fullest. Zera slapped his own cheeks with both hands, eyes bulging in surprise.
“Oof...! This is delicious! I’ve never eaten anything like it before!”
“I can’t believe it. It’s so soft, I hardly even need to chew. Here, Zera. Open up already.” With that, Doula naturally scooped up some more porridge with the wooden spoon and brought it to Zera’s mouth. It seemed she was the type to tend to others, and I felt heat in my cheeks as I watched her wipe the porridge running down Zera’s chin with her thumb and lick the food off of her thumb.
I nodded, then asked, “Are you two married?”
Zera spit out his tea, and Doula froze with her spoon still in her mouth. Huh, maybe I was wrong. I thought for sure that they were married. Marie and I blinked at each other.
“Wh-What are you saying...? It’s way too early for that, ya fool!” Zera said, red-faced and in a fluster, but judging by how the corners of his mouth were curled up in a smile, he was far from against the idea. Seeing his reaction, Doula suddenly became quiet and continued eating, her cheeks also fading into a shade of pink. When her eyes turned up to meet Zera’s, there was a surprisingly sensual look to them. They held each other’s gaze for a while, and I was starting to feel embarrassed watching them. Not sure what to do, I turned to Marie to see if she shared the same uncomfortable feeling I was experiencing, and I found she had also turned pink with her spoon in her mouth. She looked troubled for a moment, then removed the spoon from her mouth and scooped up some kakuni with it.
“H-Here. Eat.” Marie inched the porridge toward me, and I was dumbstruck for a moment.
No, that’s not it... I wasn’t looking at you because I wanted you to do the same thing for me...
I felt my face grow hot as such conflicted thoughts ran through my mind. I mean, I was glad, but I felt embarrassed at the same time. And as if that feeling had spread into Marie, her face turned into a brighter shade of red by the second. Her shoulders finally began to tremble, then she said in a cute, pleading voice,
