Toy Tindalos

"Eh, Niku? Why are you here?"

"Tindalos-sama summoned me to Goshujin-sama's side, Rokuko-sama."

The old man in the back of the room, dressed in a robe, chuckled as he twirled his mustache. The small dog-eared maid seemed tearful with happiness to see me.

"…"

"What's the matter, Goshujin-sama?"

Feeling uneasy about her adorable expression, I suddenly pulled Niku away—no.

"You're Toy Tindalos, aren't you?"

"Huuuh? You found out too quickly, didn't you?"

"Fueh? Eh, that's not Niku?"

Rokuko was confused. Toy spun around with a smile that resembled someone we knew, snapped her fingers, and the old man wearing a robe disappeared, leaving only the robe on the floor.

In any case, she didn't seem to want to hide it.

"You are very perceptive. My name is Toy Tindalos. May I ask how you knew? Leona told me my appearance was exactly the same."

"… Your laughter was different than Niku's."

"Yikes! I apologize for my lack of study. To notice a difference in laughter, it seems you must truly adore that failed creation. On behalf of the creator, Leona-sama, I would like to express my gratitude."

Toy bowed her head respectfully with an exaggerated gesture and a smile plastered on her face.

But when did Leona confirm Niku's appearance…? Well, it's Leona, she could have seen it anytime. It wouldn't be strange if she borrowed the eyes of a Succubus serving as a sister in the Beddhist Church.

"Well, it's not good to just stand and chat. Please, have a seat."

"Wow, the more I look, the more you look just like Niku…"

Prompted to do so, Rokuko and I sat on the sofa. The spring-type soft sofa was annoyingly comfortable. Toy snapped her fingers and cookies and tea appeared instantly on the table between us. A sweet floral scent wafted gently through the air.

As if to say that providing a taste test was a courtesy, Toy picked up a cookie and bit into it with a pleasant crunch. Not that we would trust her at all.

"… What are you up to?"

"Up to? What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. The reason you summoned Rokuko and me to Daido."

"Oh, that—it's simply a present. Did you like it?"

Toy laughed with a very shady merchant-like and suspicious grin.

"Don't you understand? I tried to reproduce Japanese food and such as much as possible. I implanted memories into the locals. You wouldn't eat anything prepared by us, even if we put our hearts into it, like these cookies, would you?"

Toy takes another cookie and seemed to enjoy it… Rokuko, don't eat it, okay? You understand, right?

"There's no poison in it at all. You can check with truth-detection magic or contract magic if you'd like."

"I can't use something like that."

"Then please try this. It's a contract magic scroll called [Treaty]. Kehma-sama, you should be able to read the text and determine its authenticity, right?"

She spread the scroll out on the table… [Divine-Level Ritual Magic], [Contract Oath]… was that actually real? I carefully read through it, but I couldn't find anything suspicious in the magic formation. Of course, I'd never seen a genuine [Treaty Scroll] before.

"Please go ahead and use it."

Prompted by Toy, I used the scroll… The magic formation expanded, burst, then entered me… I understood how to use [Treaty]. It seemed to be genuine. Its effect, as written in the scroll, was to swear an oath.

"Do you swear to answer my questions honestly, without lying?"

"I'm fine with that until we leave this room tonight. I'll answer anything I can."

With mutual agreement reached, I activated [Treaty]. I made Toy swear once again to answer honestly without lying, and she stated the duration and scope as [until tonight, when we leave this room].

"—The aforementioned contents is a legitimate contract that has been agreed upon. I swear to the Creation God Oti, and will fulfill the contract—[Treaty]."

A magical path formed between me and Toy with a pinging sound. It was a success.

With this, Toy wouldn't be able to lie until that night when we left the room. Honestly, there should be no benefit to Toy, but it's creepy that she agreed without asking for any compensation.

"Well, let's start asking questions right away… What's in these cookies?"

"Love potions. Ah, Kehma-sama, you've looked so incredibly attractive this whole time, I can't bear to stare at you! I just had to make Kehma-sama and Rokuko-sama physically and emotionally fall in love, so I prepared it."

"… I see."

It didn't seem to be a lie… Rokuko, don't eat it, okay? Absolutely not, okay? It's not a joke, alright?

"What is Leona planning?"

"I wonder? All I heard is that it's a present for Kehma-sama. Actually, this country is perfect for [Japanese] people to go on dates. Kehma-sama, you enjoyed your date today, didn't you? Right, Rokuko-sama? How was your date with Kehma-sama?"

"Eh? Well, um, it wasn't bad."

"You don't need to answer that, Rokuko."

I stopped Rokuko from trying to answer.

"Let me change the question… What do you think Leona is planning?"

"Leona, the creator, has the heart of a maiden, you see. Maybe she wants to create a dating spot and see a heart-throbbing romance unfold?"

Toy answered jokingly.

"As for anything else…"

He looks up and pondered.

"… Well, if I had to say, maybe it's to harrass the White Goddess? It's my opinion that you should enjoy your date to the fullest. We've also prepared several sightseeing spots, here's a pamphlet."

Toy snapped her fingers and a pamphlet booklet like the ones you could find at tourist sites appeared on the table… A theme park, huh.

"That's right. To delay your summoning from being detected, we sent a dummy human figure we prepared as a substitute."

"Huh? What's that now?"

"It's a soulless meat puppet that will only sleep until it dies, but it should last about half a year. In other words, we have some time."

"… Think about it carefully. During that time, in this land without any surveillance from the White Goddess, you can have as many dates as you like. Of course, you could even do more than that too—"

Toy whispered that bit.

"In exchange, Leona's definitely going to watch. That peeping tom, don't mess with me."

"Oyah oyah! To be called a peeping tom by a Dungeon Master, Leona must be quite something!"

That entirely not-Niku-like reaction just gave the weirdest sense of discomfort ever.

"So, any other questions?"

"Where is Leona?"

"Who knows? As a toy, I simply wait patiently to be played with. It's not within my scope of involvement… I can answer questions about me or the failed creations, too. If you'd like to compare our completely naked forms side by side, shall I summon them?"

"No, that's fine…"

So it'd be possible if I asked?

Suddenly, a sweet and sticky scent tickled my nose and my heartbeat quickened…

"… Do you or Leona intend to harm us?"

"Hm? Of course not, we don't have any intention to kill you. Rather, you could say that we love you very, very much, Kehma-sama. We want to help and support the love between the two of you. Oh, and burning love potion incense that also works on Dungeon Cores doesn't count as harm, right?"

Toy tilted her head with a smile, resting her index finger on her chin. Glancing at the quiet Rokuko beside me, I saw her eyes looking sleepy and her cheeks turning red.

[Also] implied that it probably worked on me, the Dungeon Master, too… This was dangerous. We couldn't stay in there any longer.

"If helping to increase lives instead of taking them isn't harm at all, then why not take a rest? Fortunately, there's a bed in this room, so please go ahead and lie down. Once you leave the room, the contract will end. It's a very comfortable bed, unlike the ones in the guest rooms."

"Don't mess with me, you little cupid."

"Ahaha, what high praise!"

Toy, with a face similar to Niku's, displayed an ecstatic expression unlike Niku. However, her tail and ears remained emotionless, only swaying slightly in accordance with her body's movements.

… I took Rokuko and left the room and its lingering scent.