All righty, it’s time to go.
After shopping for a bunch of items, my stats now looked like this:
Name: Harumi
Race: Mimic
Gender: Female
Level: 15
Gift: The Beautiful Die Young
Divine Protection: None
Skills: Mimic (Treasure Chest, Treasure Chest remodeled), Languages (Inorganics +2, Human +2, Dead +2, Abhuman +2, Beast +2), Storage, Explosive Legs (*Only when equipped with Crimson Rose)
Equipped Items: Right hand: Ring of the Greedy (Soul Absorption rate: 500%), Left Hand: Ring of the Greedy (Soul Absorption rate: 500%), Feet: Crimson Rose
On top of my equipment, I’d also bought food, recovery items, and a whole bunch of other stuff that seemed like it would be useful!
Yep, it turned out I needed food! Apparently, I’d get energy from the dungeon itself any time I was in it. That meant I needed to eat when I went up to the surface.
As an inorganic being, my sustenance consisted of ores, minerals, and gems. After some testing, I’d found out that gems were the tastiest, so that’s what I’d bought.
Right now, I was on the surface, just outside of an alternate exit to the dungeon. This one was located in the wilderness, and it was far away from the main entrance. None of the humans knew about it.
“Is she seriously a no-show...?”
Pekora, the coppélia, had yet to show up. I’d climbed up onto a nearby rock to look around for her. There wasn’t a soul around.
Instead, I noticed a deep crater that looked rather new.
Oh, wait—that must be from the meteor that one mage cast. So this is where it hit. Oh man, that’s scary! I bet I would’ve bit the dust instantly if it’d hit me directly!
While I was distracted by thoughts of the crater, I felt someone coming up behind me. I turned around.
Pekora was finally here.
“What? Why’re you just spacing out here?” she asked.
“I wasn’t. Anyway, let’s get right to it. So here’s the plan: Lord Aldora said that we should pretend that you’re a monster tamer...but I figured we don’t actually have to stick to that. I prepared this instead.”
I pointed to a pull cart with women’s clothes in it.
“I’ll just pretend to be a treasure chest and sit on the cart. If you pull it, you’ll just be someone moving luggage, won’t you? There’s no need to arouse people’s suspicions with a walking treasure chest this way. Also, those clothes are long-sleeved, so they’ll be able to hide your joints. I also got you a shawl to wrap around your neck and a wide-brimmed hat. Once you wear those, I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to pass as human.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Why do I have to do your dirty work? How idiotic. You’re just a monster meant to be used like a rag by me. That’s all it is.”
“What? No! No way! You’re my subordinate here!”
“Me, an elite being created with a fourth of a golden dragon’s spirit, become your subordinate? You, some piece of trash made with leftover spirits? Don’t joke.”
With that, Pekora started walking.
*Sigh...*
I’d wondered if, even if it was unwillingly, she would obey me as her boss. Unfortunately, it looked like she had absolutely no intention of that.
Then there’s no need for me to treat her as a subordinate, is there?! As if I’d call you that cutesy “Pekora” nickname! You’re just Peko from now on!
Peko was moving on ahead, so I followed her, leaving a little bit of space between us.
Our first destination was the Forest of Darkness. It was another defensive monster base, which was apparently run by an acquaintance of Lord Aldora’s. Once we made it there, there would no longer be a need to sneak around.
We continued to walk through the wilderness. Of course, we did so in total silence.
Seriously, though, I have no idea what Peko’s thinking. This is an order from Lord Aldora. What’s she trying to accomplish by copping this attitude? Should I ask? No, I probably wouldn’t get an answer.
We made it out of the wilderness and into some farmland. I felt nervous, since it wouldn’t be strange if we started seeing some humans, but Peko simply proceeded straight ahead like she didn’t have a single thought going through her tiny head.
While I was worrying about whether or not we should keep going like this, I spotted a group of humans on the road ahead.
What are they? Bandits on the way back from a job?
They were all armed differently and stained with blood. They bragged to each other about their accomplishments in battle while dragging a line of humans bound together with chains. Well, at the very least, they definitely weren’t on the up and up.
“What do we do?” I asked Peko after walking up to her.
“Humans are the enemy, so of course we destroy them all.”
Huh, I wasn’t actually completely ignored.
“I see... Well, I agree. All righty then, Explosive Legs!”
*Thunk!*
I kicked Peko out of nowhere.
“Wha—?!”
Being kicked from behind must’ve been a first for her. She might’ve been level 128, but she still lost her balance.
“Well, I hope you’ll at least do your first—and last—job as my subordinate properly. Anyway... Mimic Missile!”
With that, I tackled her!
Peko went flying into the group of bandits.
*KaBOOOOM!*
Peko exploded. A little later, the group of bandits followed suit, blowing up violently in a chain.
Oh right, I shouldn’t just be watching nonchalantly like this. In order to absorb souls, I need to get as close as I can.
I hurried into the midst of the explosions.
Ohhh, I can feel it! It’s coming! Just what I’d expect from a total 1000 percent extra soul absorption! I can feel my level rising all at once! Whoops, I can’t just be distracted by souls.
I opened my lid and took an item out from inside with my tongue.
“Spirit Catcher!”
It looked like a regular old scientific flask, but it was actually an item that could capture spirits. Thanks to that, I proceeded to snag all I could. I just needed to toss a few of them out, and they’d capture the escaping spirits for me. All I had to do was use storage on them later.
Yep. Good haul!
One flask in particular shone brightly.
I wonder if this is Peko’s spirit?
I picked it up and looked at it. I could see something wriggling around inside.
“Imagine the two of us traveling together. Just me and you—the stuck-up doll, full of unwarranted pride in your ‘elite’ origins—on the road together. Sure, we’d clash at first, but eventually we’d manage to build a strong bond. And then maybe we’d even become friends... Yeah, right! As if that would ever happen!”
I mean, it’d be totally impossible. Like, it’d be way too much trouble. Why would I have to go out of my way to accomplish that?
Useless underlings should be thrown away! That was my—Harumi’s—style! After all, weren’t dungeons already being run like that? I was treated like a throwaway pawn at first too.
The world of monsters was one of survival of the fittest! The prissy little doll with me was probably drowning in that ideology, so she’d been far too naive.
“Well, it’s still up in the air whether it was okay to finish off the subordinate I was assigned...but we can just chalk it up to an unfortunate accident!”
Oopsies! But, hey, it’s not like Lord Aldora would know what happens on the surface!