“…Huh!”
The next day, Raphne’s group was resting and preparing for the next big showdown after arriving at the 10th floor.
Among them, Raphne, who had been hugging her knees and sleeping next to a stone tablet, suddenly snapped her eyes open and looked up.
“What’s wrong? Raphne, are you okay?”
Emily quickly approached her, concerned by her sudden reaction.
But Raphne didn’t answer. She was staring intently at the stone tablet.
With a serious expression, she finally spoke up.
“…I can feel it.”
“W-what? You don’t mean Ken…?!”
“No…”
Raphne’s vacant gaze shifted from the stone tablet to Emily.
She slowly said, clearly looking very uneasy, “I have this feeling… that there’s another woman next to Ken.”
Cue dramatic music
Tirpione, the Ego Sword. She was just a sword that fell into hell with her original master.
While following her master, a female knight dispatched from the kingdom to the tower, and slaying countless monsters, she suddenly fell into this place.
At first, she had no consciousness.
She was just an ordinary sword granted to her master when she became a knight of the kingdom.
However, after her first master, weakened from the endless fights in hell, died, she remained in this shabby house.
At some point, she had begun absorbing the demonic energy of hell.
As she honed and tempered with the surrounding energy, her consciousness eventually awakened, and she had been living alone in this house where her master once was, without any goals, since there was no one to pick her up.
She simply closed her eyes and stayed here, doing nothing.
But then…
“Um… are you okay?”
The first human to appear before her.
“Uhh, uh, uhh…”
Tirpione froze as she struggled to speak at his sudden greeting.
It wasn’t because he was the first human she had met since her master.
Humans were just humans.
If she were an Ego Sword, she could easily kill such beings.
But the man before her felt different somehow.
‘…W-why am I like this?’
The first warmth she had ever felt.
Her body heated up like an iron ingot tossed into a furnace, her face felt flushed.
Her heart began to race, and her thoughts were muddled as blood rushed to her head.
‘F-First, I need to do something…!’
“A-aah! I-I apologize! My name is Tirpione! I’m the spirit of the sword over there.”
Her nervous body stumbled over the words, and she managed to say it, pointing a finger at her own body behind her.
‘I-I hope this is the right thing to do…!’
In the midst of her confusion, she introduced herself.
Why she felt compelled to reveal her name to this stranger was a mystery, but she felt an urge to share something about herself.
Watching her awkwardly, Ken followed and introduced himself too.
“I’m Ken Feinstein. I said I was lost, but actually, I’m looking for something.”
Though Ken was flustered by her unfamiliar appearance, what mattered most was finding the key.
He jumped up from his seat, his heart warmed by Tirpione’s earnest introduction and immediately jumped into his business.
But Tirpione was not really listening to what Ken wanted.
“Ken… sir.”
“Y-You mean ‘sir’?”
With an ecstatic expression, Tirpione blushed as she repeated Ken’s name in awe.
‘Ah, even his name…’
The man in front of her had introduced himself as Ken.
Despite being just a sword, his appearance made her heart flutter like a human’s.
His gentle, innocent smile.
His straight nose.
His clean and smooth skin, slightly dusted but still looking good.
His messy blonde hair tied back, a sign he hadn’t had time to groom himself since living here—but even that felt wild and exciting.
‘What is… this feeling?’
Having been just a sword, she was very dull in matters of emotion ever since her consciousness was awakened.
She didn’t know much about feelings.
After all, there was no one who could make her happy or sad in this place.
So when the first boy she met brought her these new feelings, she found herself yearning for him even more.
Ken, completely unaware of her feelings, continued.
“Uh, Tirpione, if you don’t mind me asking, can I ask you about one thing?”
“Ah, uh, yes! You mean the thing you’re looking for?”
“It’s a palm-sized stone tablet with some peculiar inscription on it. I really need it.”
Ken knew she had the key, but asking for it right off the bat felt odd, so he kept it formal.
“Yes! Of course! I’m sure it’s among my late master’s belongings!”
And to Ken’s surprise, her response was much more cheerful than he expected.
Tirpione, born as a tool, felt immense joy that someone asked for her help.
With the joy of being a tool, she smiled brightly and affirmed that she had what he was looking for.
‘She’s surprisingly friendly…’
Ken scratched his face awkwardly, bemused by this unexpected dynamic.
This was not the Tirpione he remembered.
He recalled some of her infamous lines from the game.
“I am the cursed sword Tirpione. How dare you disturb my slumber? Do you wish to die?”
“The key…? Why are you looking for that? Stop bothering me and get out of my house.”
“Hmph, hurry up and take it and leave… Well, it wasn’t a bad conversation in the long silence. You can drop by if you remember.”
Cold and unemotional.
But gradually her attitude would change as the favorability increased, making her character’s allure all the more compelling.
‘…Well, if it’s all good, then no need to worry.’
Though he was freaked out by how different she was from his memories, it was a good thing if he could get the key faster than planned.
Tirpione didn’t seem to mind either and began rummaging through the shelves to find the item Ken was looking for.
Then suddenly…
‘…If you get this inscription…’
A thought dawned on Tirpione as she remembered what would happen after she gave it to him.
She carefully turned to look at Ken.
Ken was just staring blankly at her as he waited.
“…Uh, Ken. If you acquire the inscription, what do you plan to do afterward?”
“Well… I figure it would be unreasonable to stay here, so I’m thinking of going back.”
Tirpione was shocked by his response, which he thought was polite.
‘…Why is he making that face?’
Her previously flushed face suddenly turned pale as she looked at him in disbelief.
Then Tirpione turned her head and hit it against the shelf.
‘If I give this to him… will he really leave?’
She didn’t want to part yet.
No, more than that, she wanted to stay with him.
As that thought crossed Tirpione’s mind, a light bulb went off.
“Ah! This inscription was a precious memento of my master!”
“Yes?”
Tirpione knew she was being weird for suddenly changing her tune.
But greed took hold, so she decided to press on.
“I can’t just give it away.”
Tirpione wore a stiff expression as she cautiously looked at Ken.
She had to hide her true intentions.
Ken, completely deceived by her act, looked bewildered and asked.
“So, what do I need to do to get it?”
“Huh? What do you mean by ‘what do I need to do’?”
“Well, if you can’t give it away just like that, there must be some condition, right?”
Ken’s increasingly baffled questions matched Tirpione’s own bewilderment.
Having only considered offering conditions, she hadn’t thought through the specifics.
“Um, uh, th-that, I mean…”
Desperately looking for something valid, Tirpione’s eyes fell on her own body hanging on the wall.
A rusty sword, covered in dust.
“That! …That’s it!”
“Uh?”
“If you can repair my body nicely, then I’ll give it to you!”
She was shocked at how good this idea was.
This was the hell of Tarlos’ traps.
Repairing herself in such a place would certainly require time and be difficult to execute.
While Ken worked hard on repairing her, she would inevitably keep him here with her.
With her perfectly devised plan, Tirpione confidently pointed to her body.
But to her surprise, Ken was completely unfazed.
“Well, that sounds fine, then.”
“…Huh?”
His confident smile caused Tirpione’s previously enthusiastic fingers to droop lifelessly.
‘Well, it wouldn’t be that easy.’
I thought the condition Tirpione laid down was suspiciously similar to the ones in the game.
Surely, they wouldn’t just hand over the key right away on their first meeting.
Yet, the condition she set was quite suitable for me.
Sword repairing.
That was my area of expertise.
“Alright, excuse me for a moment.”
I immediately reached for her body hanging on the wall.
“Whoa! W-wait a second!”
Somehow, she had been frozen before, but upon seeing me grab the sword, she rushed to grab my hand.
“W-why are you doing that?”
“Now that I think about it, my body is quite dangerous if you handle it carelessly!”
‘Ah, I didn’t consider that…’
Seeing her look flustered, I recalled what I knew about Tirpione’s attributes.
She warned me that there were two types of dangers about the sword.
Ego Sword Tirpione.
A sword that had existed for many years in the depths of Tarlos, filled with its magic.
The first danger was the sword’s ability called ‘Corrosion’.
Anything cut by the sword would be corroded; it would disintegrate, regardless of what it was.
And the second danger only appeared the moment I left the house with the sword.
Once you take the sword out of the house, all monsters in the area swarm to attack the owner.
Players who stole the sword after recognizing its abilities would end up dead every time.
Perhaps the danger Tirpione mentioned was the corrosion from being cut by her sword.
“Uh, so… can I excuse myself for a moment?”
Tirpione’s face turned red as she cautiously looked at me.
Excuse myself…? What was she planning to do?
Thinking it couldn’t be anything dangerous, I nodded in agreement.
But for some reason, she seemed tense as she brought my hand toward her.
And then…
“…Um.”
“Whoa?! What?!”
She bit my hand with her mouth.
“…Ugh.”
Her teeth pierced my skin, and after a familiar pain surged,
‘Is she… drinking my blood?’
Tirpione, still blushing and biting my hand, finally released it after a while, staring blankly at me.
“I-it’s okay now… Hehe.”
The hint of my blood on her lips made them look even redder.
‘Did she do something…?’
Thanks to Emily, I had gotten used to the experience of biting, so it didn’t hurt too much.
However, the feeling of having my blood drawn was new, so I was somewhat flustered.
She probably took precautions to ensure that I wouldn’t be harmed even if I got cut by her sword.
That said, I wouldn’t purposely get cut either.
“Thank you, I’ll fix it quickly.”
“Uh? Quickly?”
“Don’t worry, it’s my area of expertise.”
Tirpione’s expression, now filled with uncertainty, looked almost anxious as I pulled a working hammer from my pocket.
I meant to reassure her with the action.
But instead, her face turned even stiffer.
‘S-So, shall I start?’
It was strange that she, who had requested help, looked more desperate than I imagined at my assurance.
I checked her sword closely now that getting the key was at stake.
“Other than needing to clean off the rust and sharpen the blade, it seems to be in decent shape.”
It looked like it wouldn’t require as much work as I thought.
So I started to fix the sword to get the key.
“…Ahh, mmm, haah!”
With each stroke, strange sounds came from behind me.
Wait, is that her body?
Thinking I was adjusting Tirpione’s body, I felt oddly self-conscious.
“Ugh, n-not there…”
No, don’t think about that!
Though it felt harder than usual, I managed to finish the repair.
“Phew, phew… Yes, is it already… done?”
She looked somewhat disappointed as she inspected her newly repaired body.
“Wow, it’s perfect…”
Tirpione softly murmured, pleased with her clean sword.
Good, now that the condition was met, let’s get to the key…
But then.
“Uh, so, now that you’ve got the inscription… does that mean you’ll leave this place?”
Tirpione, with her head lowered, asked me.
What is this? Is it just me or does it feel oddly familiar…?
“Um, I guess it would only be appropriate to leave since it would be a bother to stay.”
I answered, carefully watching the strange atmosphere.
Why am I feeling so cautious…?
Why do I feel like I can predict what might happen next…?
As I delved into this odd feeling, Tirpione lifted her head.
“…No.”
She murmured, looking straight at me.
“Huh?”
With her quiet statement, I absentmindedly repeated her question, and upon replying, she lifted her head fully.
Her eyes, vacant and familiar, stared into mine.
“No… You can’t leave.”
With her following words, I recognized the eerie feeling that had lingered.
Raphne, who had imprisoned me in the tower, had shared the same look…
Ah.
“How about you just stay with me? If you live here a while, you might find it quite pleasant.”
“A-uh, Tirpione?”
Her gaze seemed lost, but she beamed as she approached me.
Then she pressed her body against mine and looked up at me, whispering seductively.
“I want to be your partner.”
…This is a disaster.
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