Volume 5, Chapter 6 – Yukawa Hot Spring (2)

Having taken a liking to the food at the Takaiso-tei, we decided to stay there.

For the time being, we’ll stay for two nights; I figure we should take it easy and recover our energy for the long journey ahead.

Eh? You’re saying I’ve been lounging around enough already? Now now, we walked for ten days, so I think I’m allowed this much.

Despite its reputation, the Takaiso-tei’s prices were reasonable; it didn’t seem to be some ultra-luxury ryokan.

Even so, the room we were shown to was a large room consisting of two sections—one 8-tatami room and one 12-tatami room.

For one night with two meals included, the price for the four of us was one gold coin and one silver coin (roughly 60,000 yen in value), so I’d say the pricing is quite reasonable.

Furthermore, there are hot springs both atop the cliff and below it, and apparently, the men’s and women’s baths swap daily.

It goes without saying that the reason I decided on two nights was to fully enjoy both of them.

“Mmm, the scent of tatami~♪”

Once we settled into the room, Lu-chan flopped onto the tatami mats and started rolling around.

It seemed she had taken a liking to the scent of the brand-new mats.

“I’m sure these are new.”

“It possesses the distinct, pleasant aroma of new tatami, does it not?”

“I see. So this is what new tatami smells like.”

I didn’t dislike the scent either, but it was a bit too strong for me, so I opened the shoji screens to air out the room.

“Ah, the view outside is wonderful. The tatami is nice, but I love the scent of the sea breeze too.”

“Indeed. I also enjoy the scent of tatami, but I feel the aroma here is a bit too strong,” Shizuku-san added.

Huh? Shizuku-san thinks so too?

Since something came to mind, I decided to ask her.

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“Shizuku-san, since those ears and tail grew, has your sense of smell—and your hearing as well—become sharper?”

“Oh, you are perceptive. Not only my hearing, but my night vision has become quite keen as well. As expected of you.”

“I thought so.”

This must be an effect of Shizuku-san’s Existence Evolution. I also struggled with overly sensitive senses when I first became a Vampire.

Especially with zombies, and zombies, and… even more zombies.

Yeah, I can’t think of anything but zombies. They’re gross and I don’t want to see them, so I’ll just stop thinking about it.

As I was pondering this, Lu-chan spoke up.

“What do you mean, ‘I thought so’?”

“Eh? Ah, um, I was talking about Shizuku-san’s senses becoming sharper.”

“Why is that? I get that her hearing improved because her ears became bigger and cuter, but why the others?”

Hmm, is it okay to answer this? Lu-chan doesn’t seem to have any ill intent, but…

Troubled, I glanced over at Shizuku-san.

“Fiene-dono, it matters not. Chris-dono, Lumia-dono, I am no longer human.”

“What?!”

“Hmm. I see.”

Shizuku-san came out with it herself. Chris-san was speechless with shock, but Lu-chan seemed completely unfazed.

“Lumia-dono, are you not surprised?”

“Eh? I mean, Shizuku-san is still Shizuku-san, isn’t she? If anything, I’ve been thinking those ears and tail are so cute this whole time. Um, may I touch them?”

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“Eh?”

“Can I… not?”

Lu-chan looked up at Shizuku-san with pleading eyes.

Being an Elf, Lu-chan is staggeringly cute.

I think it’s cheating for a super cute girl to beg with a look like that.

“Ah, no…”

“Ehehe. Then, I’m touching them!”

Lu-chan tentatively reached out and began stroking the tail.

“Ah, there… ah…”

For some reason, Shizuku-san began to pant, her face flushing.

Must be nice, a fluffy tail.

I watched the scene while thinking that, but before I knew it, I was lined up next to Lu-chan, stroking Shizuku-san’s tail as well.

Wait? When did I start?

However, the tail was so incredibly fluffy and felt so good that I couldn’t stop petting it.

“Ah, Fiene-dono too! Ah, ah… nnh.”

Shizuku-san let out another sultry moan.

◇ ◇ ◇

By the time we had finished thoroughly enjoying Shizuku-san’s ears and tail, she had turned into a limp, melted mess.

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“Sorry, the texture was just too good, so I couldn’t help it.”

“Shizuku-san, I’m sorry!”

“…It is… fine… haah…”

Lu-chan and I offered our sincere apologies, and Shizuku-san generously forgave us. Incidentally, Chris-san was completely left out of the loop.

Between the declaration of no longer being human and our subsequent antics, she seemed to have lost her words.

“Chris-san? Shizuku-san is still the same Shizuku-san. Besides, it’s my fault I couldn’t cure her.”

“Fiene-sama, I… I was just a bit surprised… and I am frustrated by my own lack of power for not being able to stop Suikyou.”

“Fiene-dono, and Chris-dono as well, I am grateful just to have had my life saved. In the first place, everything that happened was caused by my own selfish actions.”

Shizuku-san took a breath and then declared with a smile:

“Besides, this isn’t actually so bad.”

With a bright expression, she continued.

“The fact that I can start over from Level 1 means that my potential for growth has increased. And, the Fox-dono is with me now.”

Shizuku-san said this while placing a hand on her chest.

Perhaps she had become able to feel the presence of that Fox-dono since then.

Just as I was about to ask about it, Chris-san spoke first.

“Shizuku-dono, what do you mean by your level becoming 1?”

“Haha, Fiene-dono did keep it a secret after all. It seems I have undergone an Existence Evolution by fusing with the Black Fox I released. Because of that, my level has become 1.”

“What! You become Level 1 when you undergo Existence Evolution? Fiene-sama, I recall Ingolvina-sama never mentioning such a thing…?”

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“Ade told me about it. She warned me that since you return to Level 1 during Existence Evolution, you should do it in a state where your safety is guaranteed. Though, Shizuku-san was in the middle of a battle, far from having her safety guaranteed.”

As I gave a wry smile, Shizuku-san mirrored it with one of her own.

“And so, this is my current status.”

With that, Shizuku-san showed her status to the two of them.

“Wow~ it’s true! Your race has become Half-Black Fox. I’m jealous. I want to become a High Elf soon too.”

Lu-chan was envious, but for that to happen, we have to make Mashiro-chan stronger. You can’t just keep feeding it, okay?

“What?! How is the status this high despite being Level 1!?”

Chris-san seemed shocked by the high stats.

“I was surprised by that as well. It seems about half of the status from before the evolution was carried over.”

“Which means, if one repeats this Existence Evolution…”

“Indeed, one would likely become a terrifying monster.”

Chris-san and Shizuku-san looked at each other.

Oh, I see. Definitely! Now that they mention it, you can just keep raising your level and stats indefinitely.

Wait… does that mean my Limit Break was a complete waste of a slot ()?

While those two were talking, I felt a small shock of disappointment in my heart.

Author Note

() Since the status is halved, it’s slightly different from simply removing the level cap, but in the sense that you can’t earn as much EXP, it might be similar.