“Haaah, I’m exhausted… I never imagined taking care of a frail little girl like you would be such a hassle.”
Though she complained, Elucia still took out a chair, a blanket, firewood, and all sorts of other things for their rest from her storage ring.
“All the food in the Underground World has gone bad, so I don’t have any supplies either. Lonis, get me something to eat.”
“M-me? Get you something to eat?”
The silver-haired girl blinked, confused. She didn’t have a storage ring like Elucia, and she wasn’t carrying a bag. How was she supposed to have any food?
(Could it be… Elucia wants to eat me? Since I can regenerate, is she going to cut off some of my flesh!?)
The more Lonis thought about it, the more likely it seemed. The little black-haired girl was staring right at her, like she was looking at a delicious meal.
Lonis shuddered in fright and nearly collapsed to her knees.
“Elucia, th-that’s going way too far!”
“Huh?”
“Don’t eat me! I-I don’t want to be cut open!”
“What are you talking about? I’m not one of those demons who eat human flesh! I just want… hmm, a little milk.”
“Huh?”
“You look pretty well-endowed. You must have plenty of milk, right? Hurry up and give me some!”
“……”
Lonis was completely dumbfounded.
Sure, that was better than having her flesh cut off—but Lonis was a man! How could she possibly produce milk?
And even if she could, that would be unbearably embarrassing. This was…
“Haaah, you don’t want to do it yourself? Then I’ll do it.”
“N-no, that’s not it…”
“Hehe. Don’t think you can defy me just because I’ve turned into a little girl. I’m still way stronger than you!”
“Wah!”
……
After that, the little black-haired girl pinned the silver-haired girl to the ground and tried to get some milk from her through the soft fabric of her clothes.
But Lonis really didn’t have any milk.
No matter what Elucia tried, not a drop of anything white came out.
“Huh? You don’t have a breast-milk setting?”
“H-how could anyone add a setting like that?”
After all that handling, Lonis felt utterly weak. A strange sensation spread through her body, and her cheeks turned crimson. She couldn’t even find the strength to stand.
Seeing this, Elucia only grew angrier.
“Damn it, useless! You big-breasted, empty-headed slave maid. You can’t do anything right!”
“Ugh…”
“Wait here. I’m going to look for food… And remember, don’t wander off.”
With that, Elucia sniffed the air and ran off.
That left Lonis alone at the campsite.
……
……
……
Looking at the two pairs of pale, round slimes on her chest, Lonis felt like dying.
“Why did I design myself like this in the first place?!”
It was true that women’s breasts were meant for nursing, and generally, the larger they were, the more milk they could produce.
Lonis had made hers bigger just to look at. Just as Elucia had said, they were completely useless aside from looking good.
No, they were even a hindrance. Whenever Lonis sat still, her chest felt so heavy that she had to keep her back perfectly straight to stay balanced.
And the road ahead was still long. When Lonis imagined spending her whole life in this body, the future seemed bleak, as if every step would be filled with despair.
“What am I supposed to do from now on?! They talk about saving the world and all that, but isn’t it already hard enough just to stay alive?”
Lonis rubbed her forehead and began to think through what had happened. At first, she’d thought she’d been transported to a sci-fi world. There was an underground research facility, after all, so humanity’s technology had to be incredibly advanced—beyond anything seen before.
But the monsters that kept appearing, along with Elucia’s talk of “bone dragons” and “demons,” left Lonis feeling a little dizzy.
Were those just “nicknames” for monsters?
Or did bone dragons and demons really exist? And Elucia’s body was strange, too. She could switch between the form of a girl and that of a little girl.
Add to that the storage ring Elucia wore and Lonis’s own Warding Warm Jade, and they both seemed like things you’d only find in a magical world.
“No use. I can’t figure it out. I need to learn more, so I can’t leave Elucia for now.”
……
……
Though Lonis was feeling down, she was still a “real man.”
If something couldn’t be changed, she wouldn’t waste time dwelling on it. There was no point making herself miserable—she might as well think about something fun.
For example…
She could sneak into the girls’ bathhouse without anyone raising an eyebrow now, right?
And she could get close to girls without them finding it weird, right?
Though, come to think of it, that wasn’t really anything to celebrate…
Besides, if she wanted to look at a pretty girl, all she needed was a mirror.
……
As Lonis sat thinking, Elucia returned before long.
……
Of course, the little black-haired girl hadn’t come back empty-handed. She was dragging a cow behind her. The huge black cow left vivid crimson streaks across the snow. It was hard to imagine how strong Elucia had to be to drag it with one hand.
“What are you standing around for? Come help me.”
“Oh, coming!”
……
……
The enormous black cow weighed several hundred pounds. If they made it into jerky, there’d be enough to feed the two of them for months.
But butchering the cow wasn’t easy, either. Elucia tossed Lonis a dagger and said sternly:
“Cut open the hide first. And make sure you don’t get blood splashed on yourself… You can do that, right?”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
The moment she took the dagger, Lonis felt her strength return.
In her previous life, she’d wielded a sword plenty of times as a Hero. You could say she’d spent nearly half her life with a weapon at her side.
It might have seemed virtual to other people, but every habit of swordplay was firmly etched into Lonis’s memory. She moved the blade decisively and cut into the cowhide.
But…
“W-why won’t it cut?”
“You can’t even cut through cowhide?”
“N-no, that’s not it!”
Lonis was so frantic she was nearly in tears. She was using the right technique, but the hide was as tough as steel. No matter how the silver-haired girl cut at it, she could only make a few scratches.
Seeing this, Elucia didn’t even seem to have the energy to get angry anymore.
“I knew you were useless, but I didn’t realize you were this useless.”
“Ugh…”
“Forget it. I’ll cut the hide. You can cut the meat from the part I open up. Don’t make the pieces too big; they won’t fit in my storage ring.”
“Yeah, yeah!”
Though she’d turned into a silver-haired girl with no strength to speak of, Lonis could at least cut meat.
Determined to prove her strength to Elucia—and prove that she really was the Hero who would save the world—the silver-haired girl worked with utmost focus and care.
Until…
An intensely foul stench filled the air.
