I spent the entire day lazing around and having fun with Yggdrasil-san.
After playing J◯nga, we somehow ended up talking about trying out some of my older woodworking series toys. So we spent the day spinning tops, playing kendama, and flying bamboocopters.
We even made our own bamboo dragonflies and had a contest to see which one could fly higher.
It was a calm and peaceful holiday.
――And the next day, to receive the clothes Yggdrasil-san had promised for Mikoto-san, I was walking through the forest together with him.
「By the way, the giant rat Momo was wearing clothes too. What was that about?」
「Yeah, that was Mother. I asked her to make them」
I asked Mother, who apparently has the 『Sewing』 skill, and she quickly made them for me.
…Thinking about it now, asking Yggdrasil-san to handle Mikoto-san’s clothes really was the right choice.
If I had asked Mother to make clothes for both the giant rat Friedrich-kun and Mikoto-san around the same time, she might have started to get suspicious.
「By the way, when you send him back once, everything gets clean, right?」
「Hm? Momo’s clothes?」
「Yes. The clothes, and his body too. When I resummon him, he comes back clean」
That seems to be how it works. There is no need to wash the clothes or bathe Friedrich-kun himself. It is very convenient.
「I tried to take advantage of that to do laundry, but that did not work」
「Laundry?」
「I had Friedrich-kun carry a lot of laundry and then resummoned him, but the clothes were not clean. It seems they have to be worn」
「You were running experiments like that…」
It would have been nice if I could wash everything at once like that. Too bad.
「Then perhaps Mikoto was cleaned that way as well noja?」
「Huh? Oh, you mean the first fight with the walking mushroom. That might be true」
During the first battle, Mikoto-san ended up grappling with the walking mushroom and got completely covered in mud, but when I resummoned her, she was clean.
Since she is a goddess, I assumed it was nothing for her and did not think much of it… but now that I think about it, that was probably not divine power, but the effect of the 『Summoning』 skill.
「Alright, this should be fine. I will head back for a moment to fetch the clothes, then」
「Yes, please」
「Hmm」
With those words, Yggdrasil-san vanished in an instant.
「Now then, I guess I will………… what should I do?」
How long will it take for Yggdrasil-san to return?
I do not think it will take that long, but it feels awkward to just stand here and wait.
「Hmm……」
◇
「Sorry to keep you waiting. ――Hmm? What are you doing there?」
「Ah, welcome back. I was just fiddling with the 『Dungeon Menu』 for a bit」
After thinking about what to do to kill time, I casually started messing around with the Dungeon Menu.
With the same feeling modern people have when they absentmindedly play with their phones during short breaks, I was tapping away at the Dungeon Menu.
「The Dungeon Menu, huh. Are you changing something?」
「Actually――I was thinking about placing a treasure chest at the top of Mount Takao」
Just on a whim, I came up with that improvement idea.
A treasure chest as a small reward for people who make it all the way to the top. That sounds nice, right?
「A treasure chest, you say. Have you already placed it?」
「Hmm, not yet. I plan to decide after talking it over with Nana-san」
We promised to work on dungeon creation together, so I need her approval first.
――That said, Nana-san will probably not oppose it. Thinking that, I quickly sent her a message while waiting for Yggdrasil-san.
It was the so-called 『Dungeon Menu-style Message Communication』. I changed the dungeon name in the menu to 『Is It Okay If I Put a Treasure Chest at the Top of Mount Takao Dungeon』 and used that to ask Nana-san.
I waited for a bit after that, but… well, of course there was no reply.
This message system has a fatal weakness. It only reaches the other person when they casually open the menu and check the dungeon name.
Getting a reply in such a short time was apparently impossible.
「By the way, Yggdrasil-san, what is that you are holding?」
「Hmm. I brought it」
Yggdrasil-san lightly raised the cloth bag in his right hand so I could see it. Mikoto-san’s spare clothes must be inside that bag.
…Thinking back, it really took a long time to get here.
It ended up taking two whole weeks, and in the end, I had to rely on the power of a god.
「Thank you very much, Yggdrasil-san. Was it difficult?」
「Hm? Well, this much is nothing to me――or rather, it truly is nothing. Just what do you think I am?」
…Well, that figures. She is a god, after all. Preparing a single set of ordinary clothes really would be nothing to her.
「Well, um, if it wasn’t any trouble, then I’m glad. Thank you very much」
「Hmm」
「Then… what should we do now? Shall we summon Mikoto-san?」
「Yes, call her」
「Alright――『Summon: Mikoto』」
When I finished chanting the spell, Mikoto-san emerged from beneath the ground.
「――My name is Mikoto. After eternity has passed, I have manifested once more in this world」
「After eternity…?」
No, it’s been two weeks.
Maybe, just like Yggdrasil-san said, she had been waiting impatiently the whole time. Maybe that was why those words slipped out.
…Wait a second. Does that mean she just took a subtle jab at me?
「Um… long time no see, Mikoto-san」
「Yeah. Long time no see, Alec-kun. Yggdrasil-san too」
「I’m very sorry to have kept you waiting so long」
For now, I should apologize for the delay.
「No, it’s fine. …That said, I feel like the giant rat, Trawistia, has pulled far ahead of me. I want to make a comeback from here」
「…I see」
A goddess competing with a giant rat.
Are they rivals? As fellow summoned beings, maybe they have a sort of rivalry going on?
「Now then, Mikoto. These are the spare clothes we prepared for you」
「Hmm. Thank you」
「Well, they aren’t anything special. Just ordinary clothes」
「No, thank you, Yggdrasil-san. With these, I can finally be active in earnest」
Saying that, Mikoto-san accepted the cloth bag from Yggdrasil-san with a smile.
「Very well. Then I suppose I’ll be heading back」
「…Ah」
「Hm?」
「Ah, no…」
Neither Mikoto-san nor I have checked what’s inside the bag yet. Is that really okay?
What if the clothes don’t fit Mikoto-san? For example, what if they have very little fabric and are overly provocative?
…No, that’s probably not it.
Yggdrasil-san was thoroughly put off by the bikini Jered Papa made before. There’s no way she would bring something like that.
「What is it?」
「No, it’s fine. It’s probably not a problem. …Though in a way, that might be a little disappointing. But anyway, it should be fine」
「As always, I have no idea what you’re talking about…」
「As always…」
That’s quite a way to put it…
「Very well. If anything comes up, let me know again」
「Yes. Thank you very much for this time as well」
「Hmm. Then, good work today」
「Good work today」
And with that, Yggdrasil-san went home.
Thank you, Yggdrasil-san. Goodbye, Yggdrasil-san. Let’s meet again in about two weeks.
「Well then, Mikoto-san, could you please change over there? After that, let’s head to the village」
「Okay. …Huh?」
「Yes?」
「Where am I supposed to change?」
「Where? Ah…」
Right, I completely overlooked that…
What should I do? I can’t exactly have her change clothes in the middle of the forest, can I?
This is a problem. What should I do now? A place to change around here…
Ha!
「A changing room! There’s a changing room!」
「A changing room? …Ah, right, the dungeon. There’s a changing room in the dungeon」
「Yes, yes. I made one just in case something like this happened!」
Yeah, that’s right. There really was a changing room.
I said something like just in case without really thinking, because it sounded cool, but I never imagined it would actually come in handy like this.
Alright then, let’s head to the dungeon. She can change in the dungeon’s changing room.
Honestly, it feels pretty good to cleanly pay off some old setup from way back.
next chapter: Yuri
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