Aidi in Golen

After the dungeon tour, Haku-san reluctantly returned home.

She seemed to enjoy Rokuko's hospitality so much so that she tipped her. Meanwhile, I bought her a number of cream sodas to take as souvenirs back in her [Storage].

… And so we're left with Aidi. Should I satisfy her enough for her to round up her trip or should I try and squeeze our accommodations fees out of her as much as possible…

I suppose I won't know how long I'll need to stay over there, so I guess I'm better off keeping her here as long as possible? For the sake of me staying at a comfortable inn when I'm there. For the inn!

Assuming I go with that plan, I figure I should entertain Aidi pretty well and have her enjoy herself… wait, where'd she go?

Looking for her on Map-san, I found her in the open space behind our inn.

"Fufufu. Good puppy. Let's have more fun!"

"Kuh…! I will, oblige…!"

When I went over to see what was going on, it looked like Niku and Aidi were having a sparring match.

Seeing as how Ichika was sitting down covered with sweat and looking thoroughly exhausted, I take it she had one with her just before. I sat down next to her.

"Good work, Ichika."

"Oh, Goshujin-sama… wait, I'ma bit sweaty, ya shouldn't sit so close, ah, [Purify]… There we go. So, what's up?"

"What if I said I was just curious what was going on? To take a look at what's going on with my important customer… But what's going on?"

… I tried to follow Niku and Aidi's sparring match… but like, isn't it moving too fast to follow with the human eye? At least it's reaching that level.

Actually, Niku, isn't it because you're stopping being human at this point? That absolutely isn't due to the clothes golem alone. Rather, how to put it…? You're clearly exceeding the performance of a clothes golem…

Either way, Aidi was even more crazy for being able to take her on without breaking much of a sweat. She's gotta be strong enough to fight toe to toe against a hero… even though she's only worth 0 DP since she's a Dungeon Core.

"Hey, Goshujin-sama."

"Hmm? What's up, Ichika?"

"I'm not a match for Niku-senpai anymore. Setsuna's outstripped too, so what are ya gonna do about her training partner in the future?"

"… I don't know what a normal beastkin's like, but she seems abnormal."

"It's weird to be able to move like her at her age for sure…"

So it'd be normal for her to do that if she were older? I guess Setsuna's a good example of that, but still.

"Oh, Setsuna's also pretty abnormal, so ya shouldn't use her as a standard."

"Even if you say that, I don't know any other beastkin."

"From what I know about beastkin… Niku wouldn't lose to adults, even with a handicap."

The heck? She's too strong.

Still, there being no suitable person in the village to act as Niku's sparring partner is a fact… How should I put this? I get the feeling she'll eventually say something like [I'm leaving the village to find someone stronger than me!] and run away.

What in the world's driving her to grow so strong…

"By the way, Goshujin-sama. Lemme tell ya something good."

"Hm? What is it?"

"She's not using a golem."

… What. How though? She's doing all that by herself? She's going so fast I think I can see actual afterimages. It's to the point she straight up disappears.

"She said she's stronger with the golem on, but she's way faster without it."

"… Niku's amazing, isn't she?"

"Yah, seriously."

I wonder how strong she'll grow? Couldn't she already win against a mediocre hero at this point?

While thinking about how Niku was definitely deserving of her bestial potential, I also wondered how someone as amazing as her ended up being my slave.

… Is that it? Was she drawn in by Rokuko's absolutely stupid good luck? Yeah. That's gotta be it.

"C'mon! Is that all you've got!?"

"G—eh—"

A wooden sword suddenly thrust toward Niku. She countered it in the blink of an eye while avoiding the sword by a paper-thin margin, but Aidi warded it off with her sword. When did she manage to bring it around her?

"Out of breath already, huh."

"I'm human, after, all…"

"Breathing is weakness. You shouldn't do it in the middle of a fight."

"… That's not normally possible."

"Then why don't you throw away something as boring as being normal?"

No, no, no. She's no Dungeon Core, it would be bad if she threw that away. Rather, she can't throw away being a person.

Or maybe it's that breaching the level of a hero's strength isn't possible without the determination to abandon the physiological phenomenon of breathing? In that case, I'm good with being human.

"I don't think breathing is something you can stop doing for long."

"In other words, it's a matter of those who can being stronger than those who can't."

"I see… that makes sense."

Niku's dagger swooped towards Aidi's legs so as to slice them, but Aidi stomped down hard on it.

"Attacking people's legs is a good idea, but it has its drawbacks."

"Kuh…"

"Watch—ah, you avoided it. Good, very good. I can't say I like letting go of my weapon, but it saved you."

Aidi attacked with her foot still on Niku's dagger, but she released it in order to dodge in time. A good call.

"However, how do you expect to win without a weapon?"

"… By stealing my opponent's?"

"Hoh, good. Splendid."

Saying that, she threw a flaming magic sword out from somewhere—one that was a copy of her own actual form—and tossed it to Niku.

Receiving it, Niku moved to slash at Aidi.

"!"

"Sorry, that can't damage me. The wooden sword, however, can."

The magic sword disappeared as soon as it touched Aidi… No, that's important, but even more so is that Niku mercilessly swung a magic sword down on Aidi. What would she have done if that actually worked?

"So that's how it was?"

"Yeah."

She was acting like she knew something. Huh? Was it that she figured Aidi had some sort of countermeasure for it since she handed it over? Scary.

Either way, it looked like the sparring match came to and end. Aidi looked over and smiled at me.

"Welcome, did Village Chief come to duelplay as well?"

"Nope, just came to check on our customer."

"Oh, I was looking forward to it though? I hear you hadn't lost to a hero."

Fake news. It's wisdom, not strength, that led to me not losing.

"Well, you might have a chance to see me in action if you stay for a while."

"Hoh? In that case, I'll let myself be exploited. At least I can play with Rokuko."

With that, Aidi declared herself to be staying for a long while. That should be good for the time being.

… Right. I'll have Wataru go through a match with her next time he comes. He'll definitely do it if Nerune asks him to.