Father suddenly said something strange, so I ended up getting a little flustered.
Thinking about it carefully, the one coming over was Mikoto-san, so there had really been no need to panic.
…Still, Nana-san having a lover…
「Considering Nana-san’s age, that would be a bit…」
「…How old is Nana-san, anyway?」
「Eh? Ah, no, no. Asking about a woman’s age is probably not a good thing to do, you know?」
「Ah, yeah, that’s true. That’s true, but…」
Come to think of it, Father doesn’t know Nana-san’s age. In that case, it isn’t strange for him to think she might have a lover.
Well, even if Nana-san’s actual age is four, I am not entirely sure whether it is right to truly think of her as a four-year-old…
And while I was having that exchange with Father――
「Sorry to keep you waiting」
「Hm, that’s the person?」
Nana-san returned to the living room, bringing Mikoto-san with her.
「Yes. This is Mikoto-onee-sama」
「Mikoto-onee-sama?」
「Yes. She has been like an older sister to me for a long time. Incidentally, she has also been close with Yggdrasil-sama since long ago」
「Oh?」
So that ended up being the setting after all. Mikoto-onee-sama, huh…
「Nice to meet you, Mikoto-san. I’m Sergent. Pleased to meet you」
「Yes. I am called Mikoto. Nice to meet you, Father」
「…『Father』?」
「Ah……」
Ah… she did it now, Mikoto-san…
When it comes to how she addresses people, Mikoto-san tends to be influenced by the terms I usually use. Because of that, it seems she accidentally called Father 『Father』 as well.
Father looks completely bewildered, while Mikoto-san is panicking. …Somehow, it feels oddly heartwarming.
Still, what should I do here? I want to cover for her somehow, but…
「Um, is this person… Father’s child?」
「Eh…? Hah!? N-no, that’s not it!」
「Ehh? But you called him Father」
「I told you that’s not it…」
「Really? Are you sure? ――You don’t have any ideas?」
「Eh? No, I don’t…」
「I see」
Apparently, nothing comes to mind.
…Thank goodness.
I only tried to steer the conversation somewhere random to cover for Mikoto-san’s slip of the tongue, but… honestly, I feel like I ended up asking a pretty dangerous question.
I’m just glad Father didn’t suddenly say something like, 『Ah, could it be from that time…』 even by accident.
If that had happened, it might have neatly erased Mikoto-san’s slip of the tongue, but it could also have turned into an even bigger commotion.
「Now, now, it was simply a common mistake in addressing someone, Sergent-sama. Accidentally calling someone 『Father』 or 『Mother』 and feeling embarrassed happens all the time. It’s very common」
「Is that so…」
It’s like when someone accidentally calls their teacher 『Mother』, I guess. Well, that does happen a lot.
「Anyway, that’s how it is, so please take care of Mikoto-onee-sama. I believe she may appear in the village from time to time from now on」
「Yes. So, please treat me well. Um, Sergent-kun」
「Sergent-kun…」
It seems she stopped calling him 『Father』 and switched to adding 『-kun』 instead. Come to think of it, Deis-san usually called him 『Sergent-kun』 too, didn’t he?
「Well then, before Mikoto-onee-sama causes any further blunders, we shall take our leave. Excuse us」
With that, Nana-san and Mikoto-san hurriedly left the room.
It might not have been the wrong decision, but surely there was a better way to phrase that.
For now, I simply saw the two of them off. Personally, I wanted to go with them, but it would have seemed strange if I followed them here.
「Hmm, she was quite a mysterious person, wasn’t she?」
「Maybe so」
「I kind of understand why she’s close to Yggdrasil-sama」
「Really?」
「Somehow, I felt something like a divine presence from her」
「Oh?」
Her appearance was that of an ordinary village girl, and she had even shown a bit of her airheaded side, yet Father felt something divine from Mikoto-san.
Wow, is that how it works? Amazing, Father. Maybe he noticed something I didn’t.
「Did you notice anything else?」
「Anything else? Let’s see… She said she had been like an older sister for a long time, and they really did seem very close」
「You felt that too, Father?」
「Yes. They were holding hands the whole time」
Oh… The yuri strategy proposed by Mikoto-san actually worked this perfectly…
◇
After talking with Father for a while, I also headed to Nana-san’s room.
「I see, divine, huh. So it really does show no matter what」
「It seems so. Her aura must be leaking out naturally」
「Mm-hm」
Mikoto-san appears satisfied with Father’s evaluation.
…Well, that is partly because I relayed it with a bit of embellishment.
Father had also said things like, 『Even so, she strangely didn’t look very strong…』 but that was probably not something worth passing along.
「Now then, we plan to head outside again and walk around the village」
「Oh? Are you continuing the introductions to the villagers?」
「That is the plan. And Master, when night falls, I will send a message, so when that happens, could you please return Mikoto-sama?」
「Hm? So Mikoto-san will just head back after that? If anything, she could join us for dinner or even stay the night」
「That might come across as too forward. Let us refrain from that」
「I see」
Meanwhile, Nana-san suddenly appeared one day and has been living here ever since…
「Then, Master, please make sure not to miss my 『Dungeon Menu-Style Message Communication』」
「Yeah. I’ll immediately send a reply through the 『Dungeon Menu-Style Message Communication』 too. ――Actually, shouldn’t we change that name a bit?」
「Yes?」
「Isn’t 『Dungeon Menu-Style Message Communication』 a little too long? Let’s shorten it to something simpler」
If I remember correctly, Nana-san had come up with that name on the spot.
Since we end up using this communication method quite often, I would prefer something shorter and easier to understand.
「It may indeed be rather long. What shall we change it to?」
「Let’s see. What would be good…」
For example, taking the beginning and the end of the current name, 『Dungeon Menu-Style Message Communication』――
「How about 『Dungeon Communication』?」
「Dungeon Communication… It sounds like the name of a magazine」
「A magazine?」
「Would it be abbreviated as Dan-Mag?」
「Dan-Mag…」
A dungeon-specialized information magazine. ――Weekly Dan-Mag.
I do not know why, but I feel like someday I would want someone to publish something like that and feature information about our dungeon as well.
…Though if such a thing were actually created, it might also become a bit of pressure.
Well, for now, since I am oddly hoping such a magazine might exist someday, maybe we should avoid calling it 『Dungeon Communication』.
「Then what about you, Nana-san? Do you have any good ideas?」
「Hmm… Then shall we use the initials?」
「Initials?」
「Taking the initials of 『Dungeon』, 『Menu-Style』, and 『Message Communication』――」
「Taking them…?」
「『DMM』」
「…………」
That somehow feels like a bad idea. I will not say why, but it just feels wrong somehow.
「No, that one is…」
「How nostalgic. Master used to spend money on it quite often」
「On games, right? Spending money on games, right?」
TN: DMM is a Japan-based electronic commerce and Internet company with a diversified group of businesses that includes online shopping, eikaiwa(English communication), and video on demand service. NSFW things included.
It is not like I was watching videos or anything. I was just playing games.
Well, nostalgic really is the right word. I remember playing for a long time those games about collecting ships and defending bases.
「Yeah. But for now, let’s not go with that」
「I see. That is unfortunate」
「Sorry about that」
Well, Nana-san probably suggested it fully expecting it to be rejected anyway…
「Um, Mikoto-san, what do you think would be good?」
「Hm? Me? Let’s see… Wouldn’t simply 『Mail』 be fine?」
「Hmm, I see」
It is quite simple, but that might actually be the easiest to understand.
「That sounds good. I think it works well」
「I’m glad. …Though it might feel a little too plain, so maybe we should add something at the beginning?」
「What do you mean?」
「Like how there is 『E-mail』, we could shorten 『Dungeon Mail』 to――」
「Shorten it to…?」
「『D-Mail』」
「…………」
That sounds like the kind of mail that could rewrite the past…
「I believe that is a wonderful idea, Mikoto-onee-sama」
「Really? You think so? Thank you, Nana-san」
Nana-san gives Mikoto-san a thumbs-up, and Mikoto-san shyly returns the gesture with a thumbs-up of her own.
What should I do? At this rate, it feels like we are actually going to settle on D-Mail.
Will this be okay…? Is this really going to be okay in every sense…?
next chapter: Friedrich-kun and the Dungeon Menu
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