Adventurers.
As the people who challenged and cleared out dungeons and the many
mysteries that lay within, theirs was a profession filled with romanticized
adventure. However, at the same time, they were also jacks and jills of all
trades, taking quests issued by the guild (protecting merchants, slaying
dangerous beasts, and more) in exchange for rewards. Now, here is
something about these adventurers. Among the newest urban legends
spreading in Parnam, the capital of Elfrieden, there is one known as...
"The Adventurer Who Wears a Kigurumi."
It was said that this adventurer wore a kigurumi, a sort of full-body
costume, that was 1.7 meters tall. His weapon was a naginata, slung over
his back. He had a roly-poly body, but was able to move quickly and was
apparently very talented. He formed no party, taking on dangerous beast
subjugation quests solo, but occasionally, if there was a party seeking
temporary members, he would join them for a dungeon crawl.
Incidentally, his name was registered with the guild as "Little
Musashibo."
◇ ◇ ◇
"Uh... So, you're the adventurer who's temporarily joining our party?" a
male warrior asked doubtfully.
A roly-poly kigurumi was standing in front of the quest board in the
guild. It stood before a party of four adventurers (party composition: one
male warrior, one male priest, one female thief, and one female mage).
In the kigurumi's hands was a naginata, on his back a wicker basket, his
face was covered with white silk (in fact, it was sewn on), and the acorn
eyes and bushy eyebrows that peered out from it were adorable.
Who was that? Was he a snowman? Was he a round-bottomed doll? No,
he was Little Musashibo!
"..." (Little Musashibo waved his arms around wildly, meaning, "That's
right.") "Oh, could it be that you're the kigurumi adventurer people have
been talking about lately...?" Dece asked. He was a male swordsman with
an attractive face that wouldn't have been out of place in a boy band.
"..." (Little Musashibo nodded.)
"A-Are you now...?" Dece's expression became a little strained.
Considering Little Musashibo's silly appearance, that reaction was only
to be expected. The rest of his comrades were bewildered, too.
"Oh, come on, I know we're short a person on the front line, but does
that really mean we need to bring in a guy like this?" demanded a beautiful
young girl whose defiant eyes left a strong impression. Her voice was full
of venom. This girl with a slightly punk sense of fashion was the female
thief, Iuno. The adventurers called thieves were, of course, not actual
robbers. It was a support role in the party that detected enemies and
disabled traps in the dungeon and could handle melee combat, as well.
The kindly-looking male priest, Febral, rebuked her. "W-Well, his outfit
may be ridiculous, but everything I've heard indicates he's a reliable
adventurer. I don't think there should be an issue. We aren't delving into a
dungeon today, and the difficulty for this is supposed to be beginner level
anyway."
His role as priest was also just what people called a healer. It didn't
indicate any sort of religious belief.
"Oh, sure, what's the harmmm? He's kinda cute, anywayyy!" This light
and airy beauty, the female mage Julia, started to playfully lean against
Little Musashibo, enjoying his softness. Little Musashibo acted a little
annoyed by this.
With a dry laugh at the scene, Dece extended his hand to Little
Musashibo. "Anyway, it'll be a pleasure to work with you today."
"..." (Little Musashibo shook his hand.)
"...Are you not able to talk?"
"..." (Little Musashibo nodded.)
Dece said nothing for a moment. Then he burst out, "Oh, come on, is
this really going to be all right?"
There was no one who could answer Iuno's doubts.
With Little Musashibo joining them, the party headed for an
underground passage in the capital.
Apparently, these tunnels had been originally created to let the royal
family escape in the event that an enemy attack reached the capital. Because
of that, in order to confound intruders, the passages had been built as a
complex maze with three levels.
On this occasion, the adventurers had received a quest calling for
"Exploration of the underground passages and investigation of creatures
living therein (and if possible, their removal)."
Because this country had been free of war and chaos since the time of
the former king, King Albert, the importance of these tunnels had
diminished and they were no longer being properly maintained. As a result,
giant rats and other such massive creatures had soon made their home in
them. With the situation inside the tunnels at this point, it wouldn't have
been out of place to call them a dungeon.
Now, here was the thing about those underground tunnels. Apparently
the recently-enthroned king wanted to repurpose them, and had posted this
quest with the guild for that reason. Until the underground passages were
safe and secure, any number of people were welcome to challenge it. The
reward paid would be dependent on the creatures hunted. It was a low risk,
low reward quest suited to beginners.
The adventuring party, now with the addition of Little Musashibo, was
progressing through those underground tunnels. In the cold, wet air, an
irritated Iuno poked Little Musashibo's head.
"Hey, don't let this guy stand in front! He's blocking my line of sight."
"Having a front-liner stay in the back would be pointless," Dece
snapped. "Deal with it."
With Dece telling her off, Iuno clicked her tongue in displeasure. That
was when it happened.
A giant snake appeared suddenly before the adventurers. The snake was
ten meters long and thick enough to wrap one's arms around. It raised its
head, hissing menacingly at the adventurers. Immediately, Dece and
Musashibo moved up.
"We'll handle the front line! Everyone else, support us from the rear!"
"..." (Little Musashibo gave a thumbs up.)
In the next moment, the giant snake struck. It went for Dece. From there
on, the snake ignored Little Musashibo for some reason, only trying to
attack Dece.
"Wait, why's it only going for me?!" Dece cried.
"?!" (Little Musashibo was confused.)
Allow me to explain. Because snakes search for their prey by detecting
their body heat, it could not detect anything from Little Musashibo, which
was just a kigurumi.
Dece took a tail slap from the giant snake and, while he did manage to
block it with his shield, was thrown off balance. Taking advantage of the
opening, the snake slithered between the two of them, attacking the three
people in back. The first to be targeted was Iuno, who had been acting as
support in the middle guard.
"Whoa, why's it ignoring that kigurumi and coming at me?! I— I can't
stand snaaaaakes!"
It seemed that the sudden snake attack had made Iuno's legs give out.
With her falling on her rump and unable to move, the snake opened its
mouth wide and came at Iuno. At that moment, just when she was sure she
was going to die...
Slash!
Just as the snake was about to sink its fangs into Iuno, Little Musashibo
used his naginata to cut it clean in two from behind. With a cut in the
middle severing its head from its tail, both halves of the snake continued to
thrash about for a while before eventually falling silent.
Little Musashibo swung his naginata to clean the blood from it.
Having regained her senses, Iuno shyly said to Little Musashibo, "ThThanks..."
"..." (Little Musashibo gave her a thumbs up and then patted Iuno on the
head.) When she saw Little Musashibo not boasting, but showing concern
for her instead, Iuno brought a hand to her chest. She must have been
terribly frightened, she thought, because her heart was racing for some
strange reason.
H-He's a weirdo... but he's not a bad guy, it seems.
Having reevaluated her opinion of the man (?), Iuno chased after the rest
of the party.
The party continued their exploration. When they entered the second
level, the attacks by giant creatures only became more intense. Now they
weren't only facing single enemies; some attacked in packs.
"..." (Little Musashibo cut down a swarm of giant bats with a whirlwind
attack.) "Oh, you're pretty good."
"..." (Little Musashibo gave Dece a thumbs up.)
"...Hm? Hey, pal..."
"..." (Little Musashibo tilted his head to the side, as if to say, "What?")
"There're a number of little bats hanging off your back, you know..." Dece
said.
"?!" (Little Musashibo flailed around.)
"Yeesh... Here, I'll get them for you," said Dece.
Allow me to explain. Little Musashibo had no sense of pain, and
therefore hadn't noticed he was getting bitten.
—A few minutes later.
Splish, splash.
"..." (Little Musashibo had fallen into a hole full of water and was
thrashing around.) Splish, splash.
"..." ("Hurry, help me," he appealed to the party members.)
The sight made Julia and Febral feel warm and fuzzy inside.
"He looks like he's playing around..." said Julia.
"He does," Febral agreed.
"Hey, let's hurry and help him!" Iuno said. "Come on, you too. Grab a
hold already."
Iuno reached out, pulling Little Musashibo up. Having been rescued,
Little Musashibo bowed to Iuno again and again.
"..." ("Thank you so much! I will never forget your kindness!" he was
saying.) "Y-You don't need to thank me," Iuno stammered. "I owed you for
before. It's only natural for comrades to help one another."
"..." ("You're willing to recognize me as a comrade?!" He was
overcome with emotion.) "Wh-Who cares! Come on, let's go already."
"..." ("Ah, wait for me!" He chased after Iuno.)
Little Musashibo's slow, easy footsteps faded into the distance. The
remaining members of the party were dumbfounded.
"Iuno... Was she just talking with that kigurumi?" Dece asked.
"That was what it looked like to me," Febral nodded. "The kigurumi
didn't say anything, though."
Julia giggled. "If she was, it may have been the power of love..."
""Love?!"" The two men's simultaneous response echoed through the
dark tunnel.
—A few more hours later, the adventurers finally reached the third level.
Perhaps it had been built to be spacious, because the ceilings looked to
be twenty meters high, and the paths were wide. This third level was the
lowest in these underground passages. Though there had been some little
mishaps along the way, their progress down here had been nothing if not
smooth.
"This is no challenge," Iuno said. "I can see why they said it was
beginner level."
"..." (Little Musashibo cocked his head to the side as if to say,
"Really?") "We're used to the monsters in dungeons, see," Iuno explained.
"No matter how ferocious they are, we're not going to lose to some
animals."
"..." (He looked at her as if to say, "You say that, but you were awful
scared of that snake...") "Th-That one doesn't count! Everyone has things
they're afraid of!" Iuno burst out.
"..." (He shrugged his shoulders as if saying, "Sure, sure, I get it.")
"Hey, if you've got something to say, say it!" she fumed. "If I got
serious..."
The rest of the party looked on dumbfounded as the two argued back
and forth in the underground tunnel. (Though Iuno was the only one
talking.) "Seriously, how is that conversation working?" Dece asked.
"I am inclined to start believing Julia's suggestion of 'love,'" Febral
said.
Then, it happened.
"Huh?! Everyone, be on your guard!" Iuno shouted.
The relaxed atmosphere was blown away, and everyone got into position
for battle. The way they could do this like flipping a switch was part of
what made adventurers so impressive.
Dece asked, "Iuno, how many are there?"
"One," she answered. "But it's unbelievably huge."
Thieves had sharp senses and could use the slightest sound or vibration
to judge the precise number and size of opponents in another location.
"How big're we talking here?" Dece asked.
"That giant snake was nothing in comparison," she replied.
"This is just an underground passage, right?" Julia asked. "Why is there
something so big here?"
Febral was the one to answer. "I've heard that, in underground spaces
like this, creatures can grow to sizes that would be unthinkable under
normal circumstances. Once they reach a certain size, they have no natural
predators and, because temperatures stay about the same here year-round,
rather than die, they just keep growing bigger."
"So, you're saying there's one up ahead that got big like that?" Dece
asked.
The moment those words left Dece's mouth, the air shook. It didn't take
a thief's skills to know that the massive whatever-it-was was almost upon
them.
"It's coming!" Iuno shouted.
The creature appeared. Its massive body nearly reached the ceiling,
which was already high for an underground tunnel. It had slimy skin, and,
unlike its mouth which looked like it could open big and wide, its eyes were
so small they didn't realize they were eyes at first.
""""A salamander!"""" the four shouted in unison.
Only one person (?), Little Musashibo, said, "..." ("A ridiculously huge
salamander?!"), having a different reaction from the rest.
Dece couldn't believe his eyes. "Oh, come on... Normally salamanders
are maybe two meters long, at most, you know?"
"..." ("This world's salamanders are usually the size of Komodo
dragons?!") Little Musashibo was surprised, but nobody was able to notice.
"This one looks like it's clearly more than ten meters long," Dece said.
"So they can grow to become this large..." Febral sounded impressed.
"However, it is an issue that it's a salamander. Their mucus is highly acidic.
It would be dangerous to attack with melee weapons, and it's resistant to
heat. On the other hand, if we can freeze it, this could be an easy fight..."
"We don't have anyone who can use ice magic," Dece said. "If flames
worked, Julia could've handled it with her magic, but... How about you, Mr.
Kigurumi?"
"..." ("Nuh uh." He shook his head.)
"Well, there's nothing else for it, then. ...Let's run," said Dece, the party
leader, calling for a retreat. "Our quest was to explore and investigate.
There's no need to overextend ourselves. If we just report that we found
that thing, the castle ought to be able to send out a subjugation team later."
"...I get what you're saying, but can we get away so easily?" Febral
asked.
As Febral pointed out, the salamander had the adventurers firmly in its
sights.
Dece ground his back teeth, bringing up his shield and moving forward.
"We'll have to get away. Febral and Julia are fastest, so they go first. Iuno
doesn't have a lot of gear, so she can go next. Mr. Kigurumi, can I count on
you to bring up the rear with me?"
"..." ("Okie-dokie!" He gave a thumbs-up.)
"Okay... Split!"
They all moved when Dece gave the order.
Febral and Julia ran back along the path they had come from, while
Dece and Little Musashibo stayed behind, keeping the salamander in check.
Iuno put her legs to good use, running around nimbly and confusing the
salamander. The salamander tried to go after the two that fled but, with
Dece and Little Musashibo blocking it and Iuno's movements leaving it
bewildered, it couldn't make much progress forward.
Eventually, it must have gotten impatient, because the salamander let out
a cry and swung its long tail. When it did, the mucus that had been attached
to its tail flew everywhere.
"Oh, shoot! Everyone, look out!" Dece shouted.
"Eek!" Julia screamed.
The highly acidic mucus rained down and struck the adventurers. It
stuck to Dece's shield, Iuno's breastplate, the back of Febral's vestments,
and Julia's long skirt, hissing and releasing an unpleasant smell as it
dissolved the cloth and metal.
"Salamander mucus will melt flesh, too! Strip off any equipment it got
on!" Febral shouted as he pulled off his top.
When they heard that, Dece dropped his shield and Julia stripped off her
skirt, continuing to run with her underwear showing.
"Hold on, it got my breastplate!" Iuno shouted.
"Well, hurry up and take it off! If you don't, forget your breasts, you'll
be showing your bare ribs instead!" Dece shouted.
"Urgh..."
With Dece shouting at her, Iuno stripped off her breastplate and shirt,
going topless. She did her best to cover herself with her right arm while
holding her short sword ready in her left, but she was turning bright red
from embarrassment.
"Iuno, just go already! Mr. Kigurumi, are you all right?"
Once Dece confirmed that Iuno had started running, he looked over to
Little Musashibo to find its face was covered in mucus.
"H-Hey! What're you doing?! Take off that kigurumi already!"
"..."
Despite Dece's worries, Little Musashibo shook his head back and forth.
On a closer look, while he did have mucus on him, there was no sign of any
melting.
"...Hold on, is your kigurumi acid resistant?" Dece asked.
"..." (Little Musashibo gave him a thumbs-up.)
Allow me to explain. For Little Musashibo's "skin," his well-paid
creator had used his wages liberally, having nothing else to spend them on,
and so it was made of special, high-quality, bladeproof, bulletproof, coldresistant, heat-resistant, acid-resistant fibers.
For a moment, Dece was struck dumb. "Ha ha ha...! Okay, in another ten
seconds, we'll run, too. Get ready... Three, two, one."
On the count of one, both of them turned on their heels and ran off. The
salamander gave chase. However, perhaps due to the size of its massive
body, it wasn't very fast.
Just as they were thinking We may be able to escape! ...the salamander
swung its tail once more. Because it did it while running this time, the
mucus splattered all over in random directions.
"Ugh!" Iuno howled.
"Iuno!" Dece shouted.
The mucus didn't hit Dece or Musashi, but unfortunately it did graze
Iuno's leg. Iuno crouched down, holding her leg tight. It looked like she
couldn't move through the extreme pain. At this rate, it was going to catch
up to them. That was when...
"...!" (Little Musashibo ran forward.)
"Uwah!" Iuno yelped.
...Little Musashibo lifted her up in his arms, throwing her into the
wicker basket on his back. Then, with Iuno still in the basket, Little
Musashibo ran off with slow, easy steps. Iuno poked her head out of the
basket, looking at Little Musashibo's face in profile as he ran.
"Uh, um... Thanks."
"..." (Little Musashibo gave her a thumbs-up.)
Then, just in the nick of time, Dece and Little Musashibo ran through a
narrow hole.
Having made the difficult escape from the salamander and returned to
the surface, the adventurers made their report to the guild. While they
hadn't succeeded in slaying the salamander, their sighting report was
deemed valid, and they were paid a hefty sum for it. It sounded like a
subjugation force would be dispatched to deal with that salamander soon.
Regardless, the quest was now complete.
With their reward in hand, the party set out to divide the spoils among
themselves. However, for whatever reason, Little Musashibo made no
attempt to take any for himself. Dece was at a loss for what to do.
"That's not fair, we owe you for saving Iuno! Please, take your reward,"
Dece pleaded.
"..." (Little Musashibo silently shook his head.)
"Are you really, really sure you don't want any?"
"..." (Little Musashibo nodded. Then he waved, "Goodbye.")
Little Musashibo walked away from the party with slow, easy footsteps.
Julia and Iuno, who had already changed into fresh clothes, watched that
man (?) go with bewildered looks on their faces.
"I wonder, what was that person (?) really?" Julia asked.
"Don't ask me," Iuno said. "Was that thing even a person?"
"I'll bet there was a little fairy insiiiide..." Julia teased.
"I doubt it," Iuno said. "But, if there was... I'm sure..."
I'm sure it was a good fairy, thought Iuno.
Little Musashibo departed, leaving behind only a mystery. Was the mage
right, and was he a fairy?
And thus, another urban legend was born in the capital.
◇ ◇ ◇
Within the large communal bath inside Parnam Castle...
In here there was the torso of a large-sized Little Musashibo soaking in a
tub, Souma who was washing the acid and mud off of it, and Liscia who
was watching him with a cold look in her eyes.
"...Is it just my imagination, or is it even bigger than when I saw it last
time?" she demanded.
"That was a prototype," he explained. "I used it as a model when I sent
out the job request to craftsmen in the castle town."
"Ah! Don't tell me the 'Kigurumi Adventurer' they're talking about all
over town is..."
"Yeah, it's probably this guy... Wait, Liscia? Why the scary look?"
"First the mannequin, now this! Are you trying to convince people that
Parnam is the demon capital?!" she shouted.
"Ow, that hurts...! Wait, whoa!"
When Liscia threw a bucket at him, Souma ended up diving, clothes still
on, into a cold water bath. While in the water, Souma thought back on
everything Little Musashibo had experienced today.
I never would have imagined there was a giant creature like that under
the capital. I'm glad we were able to find it before damage reports started
to come in, but I put Iuno and her friends in danger...
He had optimistically assumed that even novice adventurers ought to be
able to handle the wild animals living in there, so he had messed up and set
the difficulty level too low. It had nearly meant adventurers dying
needlessly on a quest that he himself had set. The reason he hadn't taken the
reward at the end was that he felt it was the least he could do after the
trouble he'd caused Iuno and the others.
...Though the biggest reason was that it would be wrong to accept the
reward for a quest he set himself.
Regardless, I really do have to reflect on what happened today.
Though...
"Uh, um... Thanks," Iuno had said.
When he recalled Iuno's face when she shyly said that as Little
Musashibo carried her, the corners of Souma's mouth naturally rose a little.
...The adventure itself was fun. I hope I'll get the chance to do it again.
That was what Souma thought as he sat there soaking in the dirty water.