Seeing Ellie’s appearance made me feel good for a moment.
Boom!
Suddenly, a purple-haired little brat jumped up onto the counter and looked down at me.
“Hey. Are you that little porter Lydia was talking about?”
As soon as I heard that, I carefully examined the brat’s appearance.
A cone-shaped hat reminiscent of a witch. Wavy purple hair spilling in between. A slightly raised cat-like face.
She wore a form-fitting black dress that showcased her figure, but with her small stature and flat chest, it wasn’t very sexy.
The embodiment of innocence.
In other words, a real kid who is about my age or even younger.
The instant I realized this, I heard some kind of switch being flipped inside me.
“…Why are you using informal speech when you’re a kid too?”
Confucian switch ON!
The purple brat flinched for a moment at my words and then started stomping her feet.
Thump thump.
“What? Who are you calling a kid right now?”
Unlike her earlier jump, which had her putting her entire weight into it, now she was just stomping her feet, creating a light sound.
She wasn’t exactly intimidating, but the problem was that the place she was stomping was the counter, of all places.
And the counter at Fairy and Silver Coin is the same as that of a barbarian-style tavern. It’s not just a place for payments, but also a place for eating and drinking.
In other words, a dining table.
“Such an ill-mannered girl. Didn’t your parents teach you not to put your feet where food is served?”
“Oh. I don’t have parents.”
“What a coincidence. Neither do I.”
“……”
“……”
In the slightly awkward atmosphere, we glared at each other for a moment.
The purple-haired brat then bounced off the counter and introduced herself.
“I’m not a kid. I’m Vanitas Benibeni. Lydia’s former companion.”
“What…!”
How can a person’s name be Vanitas Benibeni?
Internally taken aback, I glanced over Benibeni, who introduced herself as such.
Now that she was down from the counter, it was easy to see that she was about my height or even slightly shorter.
I wondered if it was just her height, so I looked at her face once more, but sure enough, she looked like she was about my age.
…She’s kind of cute.
However, there was something else that caught my attention.
Benibeni’s eyes.
Her purple eyes, resembling amethyst, had oddly shaped pupils resembling hearts.
Additionally, sharp, shark-like teeth peeked out between her lips.
Unable to hold back, I asked.
“What’s your race? Are you a succubus?”
“Then you must be an incubus? What sort of charming powers are you slathering on?”
With a frown, Benibeni took a step back. It seemed she had sensed my fragrant aura and moist skin powers.
“…You can recognize this?”
“Of course. Any high-ranking mage should be able to… wait. You seriously didn’t believe me this whole time?!”
“……”
Instead of answering, I looked over at Ellie, who was beside me.
Having lost her previous excitement, she was in the process of cleaning a cup and glanced over here casually, replying indifferently.
“That’s Benibeni. Long time no see. Did you finish your business?”
“Of course! Who do you think I am? Creepy Witch Benibeni! Researching with the old folks at the Mage Tower was a piece of cake!”
“Then what about the research you were going to do in return?”
“…I failed again.”
Grumbling, Benibeni sat in front of the counter. Observing her, I cautiously asked.
“Are you really Lydia’s ally?”
“Why? Are you suddenly scared now? It’s fine. I’m generous. I can forgive not knowing to call me a kid…”
“Such a brat, huh?”
“…Hey!”
In the end, an angry Benibeni glared at me. Suddenly, a long shadow behind her sprang up, transforming into a black mass of clay.
It felt like height had suddenly become a concept for something that should be lying on the floor.
That alone was surprising, but then something began to sprout from the shadowy mass.
Bloodshot eyes, shark teeth, seemingly melted hands, wings sparsely covered in feathers, barbs, long horns, a tongue covered in slimy mucus, and a partially decayed beak…
A nightmare-like sight with all sorts of grotesque things lumped together. Just looking at it made me feel queasy.
Indeed. Is this why she’s called the Creepy Witch?
It seemed Benibeni didn’t intend to launch an attack, merely displaying the shadow monster from afar. Ellie, knowing this well, only squinted her eyes and didn’t try to stop it.
And I….
“Wow! So it was really you, Benibeni! My goodness. You look so young that I didn’t recognize you! I’ve heard so much about you from Lydia!”
I rubbed my hands together like a minion, entering fan mode.
Yep. If she’s truly a high-ranking mage and Lydia’s ally, I need to act this way.
That youthful appearance surely must be the result of some magic. If she can create such abominations, surely she can rejuvenate herself.
Although Benibeni seemed startled by my reaction.
“Wha… what’s with this sudden change in attitude?”
After a brief moment of making a bizarre expression, she turned her head and continued speaking.
“What? Just call me Benibeni. Calling me “mister” feels too awkward.”
“You just referred to yourself as Benibeni, though!”
“There’s a difference between saying it myself and hearing it from someone else?! Just drop the titles! Everyone calls me that anyway!”
“Okay. I’ll do that, Benibeni.”
Finally, Benibeni nodded with a slightly more relaxed expression. Meanwhile, I cautiously moved closer to the shadow monster.
“Oh. It looks really gross. Could this possibly be magic?”
“…Well, it’s similar to that.”
Saying this, Benibeni casually wiggled her fingers. Following her gesture, long tentacles emerged from the manifested shadow.
The slimy tentacles swept over the counter, where Benibeni had just been.
As they brushed against, the dust stuck together and was swept away. The remaining mucus turned into shadows and returned to Benibeni’s feet as soon as it detached.
The dirt that was there vanished somewhere.
“Wow.”
Now that I think about it, I heard from Lydia before that Benibeni had a peculiar magic that completely swallowed monster corpses and then spat out only the byproducts and core.
I guess this must be it.
Nodding with a pleased smile.
“Benibeni, you had it all figured out? Climbing onto the counter with muddy feet was a bit much, but since you cleaned it up nicely, I’ll forgive you.”
“…Who’s forgiving whom, exactly?”
Benibeni shook her head with a chuckle. Then, intrigued, she asked me.
“You. What’s your name…?”
“Jonah.”
“Right, Jonah. Aren’t you scared of this? I could just go chomp! and swallow you whole!”
She pointed at the grotesque thing that erupted from her shadow. I tilted my head at her.
“Why should I be scared?”
“Huh?”
“No, I mean, wouldn’t you be a good person if you’re Lydia’s ally?”
“Well, um, I guess…?”
“Plus, even though Ellie glared at you a bit, it didn’t seem like she was going to do anything more than that.”
No matter how sharp a sword, how quickly an arrow flies, or how a colossal magic can topple a castle.
If it doesn’t come toward me, then I certainly have nothing to fear.
Benibeni opened her mouth with a skeptical expression.
“…Did you really think that far? In such a short time?”
“No? Actually, I just added that later. I was just relying on Ellie to save me if something happened.”
“…You little snake.”
“That’s rude. Please refer to me as a husband candidate.”
“H-Husband?”
Benibeni turned to Ellie with wide eyes, as if she had just heard an unbelievable story.
Her gaze resembled that of someone looking at a thief-turned-criminal, prompting Ellie to start babbling incoherently.
“Uh, no! It’s just Jonah saying that unilaterally, Benibeni, it’s not what you think!”
“That’s too much, Ellie! Just the other day… no, the night before, you were throwing yourself at me!”
“……!”
Benibeni’s eyes turned icy, and from between her sharp, shark-like teeth came a sigh of contempt.
“Ugh. Trash.”
“Gaaah!”
At Benibeni’s calm retort, Ellie was at a loss for words, gritting her teeth.
I wonder why. Seeing such a cool and magnificent girl like Ellie twisting her expression in shame and guilt is just too cute.
However, knowing that it would be too much to push her any further, I decided to help her out a bit.
“Please don’t be too hard on Ellie. She’s just never had a man before, so she’s not immune to them.”
“…You’re the worst, Jonah.”
Ignoring Ellie’s sulky reaction, I shrugged.
“I was thinking of taking turns after I groped Lydia’s chest last time. But I guess I’ll let that slide. Ellie, just sit back and enjoy! Like the red book lying around in your room! …Like the red book!”
In an instant, Ellie perked up, but then shook her head, seemingly recalling something.
“No way. I couldn’t say it last time, but Jonah, you should value your own body a bit more…”
Just as Ellie, true to her nature, tried to back away while saying something profound, Benibeni interrupted and started stammering.
“Th-that’s…”
“Benibeni? Just take a deep breath first.”
“Hi hi hu… hi hi hu…”
Benibeni obediently took a deep breath and then whimpered in clear pronunciation.
“You snuck in to ruin my party! You wicked incubus!”
“?”
I told you I wasn’t an incubus!
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