The Existence Named Leona (1)

My hands stopped involuntarily.

Why is Leona here? Wasn't she supposed to be deep in the dungeon with the Succubi? I'm not using [Super Transformation], so if she kills me, it's game over. I'll set [Faint Resistance] to ON for now.

"Here's your C-Rank meal. It's crowded, so please hurry and enjoy."

"Oh! This is what I've been waiting for! I've been wanting to try this ever since I heard about it～"

Today's C-Rank meal is grilled ginger pork. Not with bread, but with rice.

Rei placed the C-Rank meal in front of Leona, oblivious to the waterfall of sweat pouring through my mind. "Please hurry and enjoy? What kind of half-baked phrasing is that? Also, help me," I muttered internally, but of course it didn't get through.

To begin with, Rei with her zero attack power couldn't do anything to Leona. If anything, she's the one who should run.

"Ufufu, how many years has it been since I've had rice? The last time I ate it was when I was seventeen, so… oh, that was just recently then, tehee～"

Is that seventeen-year-old bit one of her signature gags?

… W-well anyway, I haven't actually met Leona face-to-face before. There's still the possibility that she just happened to wander out and coincidentally came to my table. How she got out, I don't know. But given she's right in front of me, she must have gotten out somehow.

"So, Golem-san."

"Bugofu!?"

"Ah, would you prefer Keima-san?"

Yep, she's onto me. She completely knows.

Not having told her my name but her knowing it is one thing since I'm the Village Chief. I'll even let the perfectly Japanese intonation slide. But "Golem-san" is a dead giveaway.

"Hahahaha… please spare my life."

"Why are you suddenly begging for your life from such a lovely girl? Relax, I just wanted to talk today—[Isolation] and [Camouflage], there we go. Now anyone watching will just see us having a pleasant, casual conversation, so feel free to speak openly."

When Leona snapped her fingers, the sounds from the people around us went silent. It seems she used a skill to create a private conversation space… which also means I can't call for help.

"Umm…"

"I came here today to be friends. So no need for polite speech. Just talk the way you normally do, Golem-san… Use polite speech again and I'll flick you in the forehead, okay?"

"… Got it."

Leona was all smiles. Or maybe "smirking" would be more accurate?

At any rate, a forehead flick from her sounds like it might make my head disappear, so polite speech is hereby off limits.

"Oh, you're doubting my skill? We could move to a room if you want, but I'm not so cheap a woman that I'd let a man I just met take me to his room so easily—"

"It's my treat today! Everyone, eat and drink whatever you like!"

I shouted, but the diners in the dining room didn't bat an eye and just kept eating as if nothing happened.

"… I see, no reaction at all. Alright, fine. I believe you."

"Heh, how interesting. That's the first time I've seen someone test it that way. The 'help me!' approach is more common."

"So, what do you want? And how did you figure out my identity?"

"Oh? Impatient men are unpopular, you know? … Well, I'll tell you."

Leona pointed to her red eyes and spoke.

"I have [Super Appraisal]… I can see everything, you know?"

An appraisal-type skill. I'd assumed something like that existed, but since it has "Super" attached, it must be a Hero skill.

"Fufufu, it's a classic, right? I could see that the Golem's individual name is Uuma, that its creator is Keima-san, and everything else. Oh, and that you're older than seventeen-year-old me."

"… I don't know about classic or not, but I don't have any appraisal-type skills."

"Is that so? Well, if you transform into me with [Super Transformation], you might get a taste of it."

So she even saw through my Hero skill… [Super Appraisal], what a terrifying skill.

Does it show something like [Occupation: Village Chief (Dungeon Master and Hero)] for me?

Being on the receiving end, I have no idea what she can and can't see. Not being able to hide anything is the worst.

"Oh, but I don't recommend transforming into me. You'd probably go mad and die… Though at Lv 3, maybe you'd just respawn once?"

"… Go mad? That's intense. What on earth causes that?"

"There's my abilities, but I'm also just a teeny bit cursed. I'm fine because of [Curse Absorption]. Actually, curses make me healthier. But if you took my form, the curses would just flow into you."

Seriously? … Unlike with Setsuna and the others, I had some prior information about Leona, so I hadn't tried transforming into her with [Super Transformation]. Thank god I didn't.

"Any idea where the curses came from?"

"Do you keep a record of how many grams of meat you've eaten? I don't. That's about how it is. Ufufu, being cursed by the entire world… doesn't that just give you chills?"

So there's way too many to count. I see.

"So, how've you been, Golem-san?"

Leona casually asked as if making small talk.

"Don't call me Golem-san, call me Village Chief-san or something… Well, right now I feel like there's a lion roaming free right in front of me."

"My, calling me just an ordinary lion. How cute. Oh, why don't you call me 'Leonan' too? Like a lover, with affection and love."

"Leonan. I'm the type who calls lovers and juniors by their name without honorifics."

"Then just call me that, Keima-san."

Munch munch, Leona scarfed down the grilled ginger pork while shoveling rice into her mouth.

"Haaah! Rice really is the soul food of the Japanese! Why doesn't this world have any? I tried to synthesize it, but it just wouldn't work out, so I gave up. Turning pebbles into orichalcum is way easier. Rice isn't even in the Lv 10 recipe list for [Super Alchemy], you know? Meanwhile the Philosopher's Stone was listed at Lv 1. Well, [Super Alchemy] itself derives from the Philosopher's Stone, though."

"Ahh, so you're Japanese after all?"

"Oh? You too, Keima-san? My eyes being red is from a skill's influence."

"[Super Massage]? Or [Super Appraisal]?"

"So you heard from Setsuna. Nope, it's a common [Magic Sight]-type general skill. With it, you can even see things like the flow of magical power in a dungeon's domain… I'm pretty sure Haku-chan has it too, right? Though her red eyes seem to be natural."

This is bad. I'm getting info I'm better off not knowing. Is she going to silence me after this?

"No need to be so scared. I'm just being loose-lipped because it's fun talking with a fellow Japanese… So, when did you come to this world, Keima-san?"

"… About a year ago."

"About five hundred years ago for me. But I'm eternally young, so my age is younger than that, okay? Oh dear, don't make a lady talk about her age. How indelicate of you."

She's the one who brought it up.

"I'm not interested in your age, Leona, so don't worry about it."

"Really really? Weren't you a lolicon who's only interested in genuine lolis? Oh, was that info just a countermeasure against the Succubi? You totally fooled me! My evaluation of you went way up!"

I don't recall deceiving anyone, but apparently she fooled herself. Whether having her evaluation go up is a good or bad thing, I can't say.

"Let me ask you directly. What's your goal?"

"My goal? Hmm, alright. I'll tell you."

Leona smiled smugly and paused for effect.

At that moment, a chill ran through me as if the very air had turned an ominous black.

"I want to become the [Final Boss]."