Elli averted her gaze when asked what she was trying to do by transforming her new arm into my arm. I chuckled at her expression and spoke up.
“I’ll really let you handle it with your real hands later. Let’s consider this a no-prep zone.”
“…What?”
“By the way, about your arm… How does it feel? Did you say the movement and sensation are fine? At least it doesn’t seem off visually like it used to be.”
“No, what did you just say…!”
“Well, it has a faint consciousness or something. That part worries me a bit.”
“That’s not the most important thing right now, is it?!”
“Huh? Is there anything more important than your arm right now?”
“You just said Jonah was going to use his real hands….”
“Me? With my real hands? Doing what?”
“….”
Elli shot me a look filled with disbelief before trailing off. I giggled and continued.
“Later. I said later, Elli. For now, let’s talk about your arm again.”
“…Okay.”
After confirming she nodded with a complicated expression, like someone who just got swindled, I tapped her arm lightly.
“You said the sensation of your arm moving is perfect… How’s the touch?”
“Same here. No problems. It’s just weird that it’s real sensation and not phantom pain.”
“Ah, phantom pain. Right.”
Typically, a prosthetic doesn’t make phantom pain disappear just because something’s attached. That’s a trick of the brain due to the lack of real sensation.
I vaguely remembered something about developing a prosthetic that sends electrical signals to make you feel like the missing part exists again or something?
I wasn’t sure of the details since I just saw it on the news. But if this is real… it could mean that the phantom pain bothering Elli might actually disappear.
“Elli. If the phantom pain goes away, doesn’t that mean you won’t have to smoke Mana Herb cigarettes anymore?”
“That’s true, but… I got so used to it that my mouth feels bored. The smell was nice too.”
“Ah, I think I get it.”
Mana Herb isn’t addictive or anything. But the oddly refreshing smell and temporary calmness must have become a habit for her.
Honestly, when I think of Elli now, the scent of Mana Herb comes to mind first, and if she stopped using it suddenly, I might feel a bit empty.
“Well, putting that aside… How do you think the durability and strength are?”
“I can’t give it my all indoors, but….”
As she trailed off, Elli threw a light punch with her new arm. It was a silent jab, so fast that it barely made a sound.
“I have a feeling it’s about the same level as my left arm? This needs to be confirmed in the labyrinth next time.”
“Oh. Then, would you like to go in together?”
“Sure. I don’t need an opponent to fight; I just need space to unleash my power. The third floor should be spacious enough.”
Elli nodded enthusiastically. Normally, she has this oddly laid-back vibe, like she’s deflated.
She often has that look of boredom when left alone, but now her face was vibrant, as if I was about to play a slightly naughty prank on her.
After all, Elli has been an adventurer since childhood, building everything with her own two hands from a blank slate.
She’s truly a prime example of self-made success. Yet, she hadn’t been able to do what she used to for years.
Of course, she was still strong even without one arm, and she quit being an adventurer because she got bored of the daily fights…
But the sense of loss from not being able to do what she could before. And feeling powerless not being able to climb the mountain she had always been ascending, that must also be true.
What worried me from the start was something else, though.
“Leaving the arm aside… your mind is okay, right? The Goddess guaranteed it, so there shouldn’t be any major issues, but if something starts whispering or if it moves against your will, that’d be a real problem.”
“I thought about that too, and I was focusing on that from the start, but surprisingly, the moment it connected with me, it became completely quiet… Well, not completely without influence.”
“What kind of influence?”
“I feel something.”
“Huh?”
“No, I don’t know what it is, but it feels like some kind of vapor? Thread? I feel something like that. What is this? At the very least, if it helps me, I don’t think it’ll be harmful. If I try, I think I might be able to control it.”
“Uh…”
At her vague explanation, something popped into my head.
“Isn’t that aura?”
“Oh, aura?”
“Of course, it might not be real aura. It could be mana or something else. However, that sensation you’re mentioning is what people typically feel when they first awaken abilities.”
“I can awaken abilities…?”
Elli stared at her arm with a puzzled expression.
Then she quietly closed her eyes and began to concentrate.
Her chest rose and fell rhythmically. Her ears and tail relaxed calmly. And she took long, repeated breaths.
After a while of looking deep into herself, Elli’s eyes suddenly shot open.
Her bright yellow eyes resembled those of a fierce beast. In that moment, a burst of energy, something I would call spirit, radiated from her…
Pop.
The color of her right arm changed.
“…Huh?”
“Oh.”
It turned to a bright pink similar to my hair color.
…What is going on here?
It wasn’t just me who was confused; Elli focused her mind once again. Then…
Pop.
This time, it changed to a grayish color similar to her own hair.
“What in the world is this?”
Elli looked bewildered, her expression showing the shock of having anticipated something grand only to be let down by reality. As she kept changing colors in disbelief…
Meanwhile, as soon as I saw the color changing, I started to suspect something.
“Elli. Can you choose the color that it changes to?”
“Wait a minute.”
Pop.
Elli’s arm turned bright red. She stared at it with a sigh, shaking her head.
“No. I can change the fact that it changes, but I can’t control what color it will be.”
“Just as I thought.”
I could feel a slight energy from Elli’s arm. That was probably the faint consciousness that had remained in the gray sphere.
The choice of what color to change to was its last free will.
As I explained this to Elli, she chuckled, retrieving a Mana Herb cigarette from her pocket and putting it in her mouth.
“Well, if that’s all there is to it, then there’s not much to worry about.”
“Yeah. It’s not like the Goddess forced me into this situation to take all her laid-back demeanour.”
“…But the last part sounds like you made the Goddess overwork herself.”
Elli chuckled. Breathing in the familiar scent of Mana Herb flowing from her, I cautiously asked.
“Elli. Do you remember what you said before?”
“What about?”
“You said that when you got your arm back, you’d return as an adventurer and go into the labyrinth with me.”
“Oh.”
Only then did a smile appear on Elli’s face as she recalled it.
“Right. I guess I will. But as I mentioned before…”
“After fully setting the employees free, of course.”
“Well, it shouldn’t take too long. I’ll use my connections to find a decent job for them.”
“I trust Elli to handle it well.”
By the time I clear the third floor, Elli would have probably wrapped up the employees’ situation nicely.
“…But I’m a bit sad.”
“What’s that about?”
“That the Fairy and Silver Coin will disappear.”
“That’s unavoidable. It’s tough to run a pub while working as an adventurer.”
“No. I like the lively atmosphere of the pub, but I’m more sad about losing a place where everyone can gather.”
Fairy and Silver Coin is indeed an establishment that operates, but it’s also where Lydia and Benny… sometimes even Eve and the Lemon Apple sisters come together.
“So, Elli. How about we create a clan to return as adventurers and just keep the Fairy and Silver Coin name for it?”
“A clan?”
“Yeah. No need to complicate things; we just keep the name Fairy and Silver Coin. We can use this place as the clan house too. For the clan leader… it’ll be you, the homeowner, Elli. Members could include Lydia and Benny… If it’s fine with you, we could also include Eve and Lemon Apple.”
“That’s about as small as a proper party. When you said clan, I thought you wanted to gather dozens of people.”
“Elli has a point, but considering the future, creating a clan would be better.”
“What future? What are you planning, Jonah?”
“Eh, it’s nothing serious… I just want to completely conquer the labyrinth and have a chat with the Goddess of Love.”
“……Not the seventh floor, but completely conquer it?”
Elli blinked in disbelief as if she were unsure of what she just heard.
Of course, that’s a natural reaction. After a thousand years, they barely reached the seventh floor. If someone claims they’ll clear it all the way to the twelfth floor in their generation, wouldn’t that be a bit unrealistic?
To put it lightly, it sounds romantic, but to be blunt, it comes off as lacking a sense of reality.
“Are you serious, Jonah? Are you saying we should see the end of the labyrinth while we’re still active?”
“Exactly that.”
Woosh—
I ignited the divine power that had been steadily increasing in my palm. The pastel pink energy was soothing.
Although I’ve heard that the Goddess of Love’s divine power is excellent for defense and support but not so much for offense…
With a concentration this thick, the story changes. The base strength itself rises.
As Elli was blankly staring at the thick divine energy, reminiscent of the power that once flowed from the Goddess statue, I raised my smirk.
“Who am I?”
“……”
“Saint Jonah, the Goddess’s chosen.”
“Ah.”
“I’m just a saint who’s momentarily off to meet the Goddess of Love. It will be tough and might take time… but it’s not impossible. Think of it as a type of pilgrimage?”
“A pilgrimage…?”
After mulling it over for a moment, a smile appeared on Elli’s lips.
Sometimes, when she reveals her power, she has this fierce smile, but this was even more intense, a chilling fierceness that showed her wild side as a beastwoman.
Elli, trying hard to suppress her excitement, continued.
“Alright. Let’s give it a shot. Conquering the labyrinth.”
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