Making Contact Again

Timing it for when the black wolf, Rin, woke up, Niku operated the golem.

To monitor Rin's condition, Rei accompanied Niku and had the menu open.

And this time, I was on standby in the Master Room in case something happened—specifically, in charge of doing absolutely nothing.

… Rokuko was still in charge of pulling people in if something happened. There's a proper reason why I'm not handling it.

Rokuko can retrieve Niku and the other slaves, who aren't monsters, into the Master Room without any issues because I made her believe that "slaves are items, so she can." Since she can actually do it, it was probably possible within the system from the start… but frankly, it's exploiting a loophole. It might be a function that gets unlocked as the dungeon grows.

Now, as for whether I could properly treat Niku and Ichika as items… it's questionable. Actually, this is a secret from Rokuko, but I don't think I can.

In that state, if I messed up a retrieval at a critical moment, it would be dangerous. It would also be bad if Rokuko saw me fail and concluded "Ah, so you can't do it after all." That's the reason.

In other words, my job is to do nothing. Just watch.

If I had to say I did something, I prepared the black messenger golem and some food that might work as bait. I've worked enough, right?

"Hello."

Niku promptly called out using the messenger golem. Rin looked at the golem listlessly, then immediately widened its red eyes in surprise.

"Wha—, you're, Kehma?! How?! I ate, you!"

Ah, the shape really is exactly the same since it's the haniwa series. Just being a different color makes it look the same, huh.

"How?! Why, are you, alive, Kehma?!"

"… That was my Goshujin-sama."

"Hoh, is that, so? Looking closer, you're black. A different, one. But, that guy, is already, my food. So, you, are my, follower."

"… No? That's not right though?"

Strong equals superior—yep, the logic of the wild. It doesn't work on Niku though.

"… Not right? You pledge, loyalty, to the dead. Admirable."

"Yes, I am Goshujin-sama's even in death."

"Is that, so? Then, what do, you want?"

In response to Rin's question, Niku took a breath before answering… Hm? Wasn't the nuance a bit off just now?

"Become my follower."

"I refuse! I don't, need, a master!"

Instantly rejected. Well, obviously. So from here is the actual negotiation. Niku manipulated the black messenger golem to take out a hamburger.

"You'll get this delicious hamburger if you become one now, you know?"

"I don't, need bait! I'll eat, you too!"

"Aren't you hungry? Then how about some candy? It's sweet and delicious."

"I said, I don't need it! Garururu!"

She took out candy, but Rin was already in a rage.

I mean, wait. Doesn't this conversation feel a bit off? Hey, Niku. Rin-san is angry.

"If you don't need candy, then you'll just become my follower?"

"Ridiculous! If you want me, to become, your follower, defeat me! Then, I'll consider, it!"

"So you'll become my follower? Thank you very much. Here's some candy."

"I won't! I don't, need it! I'll eat, you!"

And so the black messenger golem got chomped. Simultaneously, Rokuko retrieved Niku and Rei into the Master Room. Welcome back.

"… It was playing with me, but then it ate me. Next time will be fine."

"Hey, Niku… You really do only vaguely understand wolf language, don't you?"

"? Yes, that's right."

She said it so matter-of-factly… Yeah, that's exactly what happened. I was hoping she was being modest.

"… The conversation wasn't connecting at all. In fact, it was angry. Really angry."

"?! W-was it no good?! I thought it was just being shy…"

"It wasn't good… Well, we made a little progress since it said it would consider becoming a follower if you defeat it."

"I-I'm so sorry…"

Well, it's fine. As originally planned, I'll… even though it's a pain… negotiate with it myself… even though it's really a pain. Haah.

I had prepared a non-black messenger golem just in case something like this happened.

"Leave the rest to me."

I patted Niku's head with a light tap and began preparing for the negotiation.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Hey, Rin. You're awake, right? I want to talk."

"… Another, new one?!"

When I called out to Rin, it looked at the messenger golem with its red eyes.

"Hahaha, I'm Kehma. So, how do you like it here?"

"Kehma?! Why, are you, alive?! I ate, you!"

"Don't misunderstand. I won't die from something like that. Go ahead and eat me again if you want."

"What a strange, golem… I definitely, ate you."

Yeah. The golem got eaten, but the person inside was fine.

"Maybe, that black one, is alive, too?"

"Oh, why do you say that?"

"Even though, I ate it, it wasn't, very tasty. Kehma, same as, you. Just, regular golem, taste."

… Do golems have different flavors? Like, strawberry-flavored golems?

"Kehma is, a unique monster, so I thought, you'd taste, delicious, or at least, unusual."

"The base is clay, so it shouldn't taste that different."

"Unique monsters, are delicious."

Maybe its sense of taste is fundamentally different? Normally you wouldn't eat clay. Thinking about it that way, winning it over with Japanese food might be difficult.

I took out the dog food I'd brought, wondering if it could be used for taming.

"I brought this, but do you want to eat it?"

"What, is that?"

"Dog food. If you don't want it, that's fine."

"Don't want, it."

I see, it doesn't want it… What am I going to do with this now? I can't exactly feed it to Niku.

"So, I heard a bit about this, but you'll become a follower if I defeat you, Rin?"

"You want, to try?"

"Yeah, not right now, but if you'll become my follower, I'll challenge you."

"Fine, I'll eat, you."

Saying that, Rin bared its fangs.

I said not right now!

"Time to, eat!"

"… Got it, I'll come again."

What's with this one? It really doesn't listen at all.

While being retrieved to the Master Room, I thought about what to do.