Soto-chan Goes Omnomnom

I was lounging in my room at the village chief's residence not doing anything in particular as Soto popped out of her [Storage] dungeon.

"Papa, I'm getting tired of eating skill scrolls for snacks!"

"I won't tell you not to come, but please enter through the door when you come into the room. If you don't use your legs, your muscles will weaken, you know?"

"I'm a Dungeon Core, so it's fine! And I don't want to hear that from you!"

Ugh… well, I was pretty weak from lying around all the time too.

"Anyway, the problem is the snacks!"

"… Isn't it because you're eating them with your mouth? If you eat them in the dungeon, it'd be instantaneous, right? There's pudding and sweet bread, so why don't you eat those as snacks?"

"Well… I wanted to taste them too since I had the chance."

Soto started saying something like a manga artist.

Do skill scrolls even have a taste? Like ink or parchment?

"Fire attribute has a warm taste, water attribute has a moist taste, stuff like that. Intermediate ones have a stronger taste than beginner ones. [Lightning Bolt] even felt a little tingly."

"I didn't know the taste changed depending on the attribute."

"I heard the ink used to write them has magic stones in it, so maybe that's the taste?"

Well, they're not things people would normally eat, so okay then. Soto might have a special magical taste sense.

I tried licking a fire attribute magic stone, but it only tasted like stone. It felt like it had the warmth of human skin, though.

"So! I want to consult with you, Papa. I want to slightly modify the skill scrolls!"

"Hmm? Modify…? Like with [Create Golem]?"

"Yes. I'm wondering if you could make the scroll into a sock."

"I understand you want to eat socks… but is it okay to turn a scroll into a sock?"

"That's part of the experiment! Furthermore, let's test if it's okay for Kinue-san to wear it for a day! She's the hardest worker, so she's perfect for a durability test!"

"… The day it succeeds, the scent of Kinue-san's feet will emanate from the scrolls you duplicate, won't it?"

"Isn't that rather nice? Muhaha! The best even!!"

My daughter's eyes sparkled. Although her biology was different as a Dungeon Core, I couldn't help but think this was going a bit too far.

But well… since her snacks are skill scrolls, I'll cooperate as much as possible.

I did say that I'd give Soto one snack of her choice from my catalog every day (also as a form of parent-child bonding), but she'd request socks almost every time. She didn't eat them, but apparently had someone wear them and would then display them in her room.

"Can't we create a skill scroll that, like, lets you learn a skill after wearing the sock for three days, Papa?"

"Nope. Even if I could, species without feet or those with mismatched sizes wouldn't be able to learn the skill."

"Tch. Oh well. Then please try making it with this one."

So, Soto used [Minor Replication] to take out a random skill scroll. I tried to transform it with [Create Golem]…

… But no, it wouldn't work. As soon as I channeled magical power into it to transform it, it activated and became used up. It was one for [Ice Bolt], something I already knew, so I didn't learn anything new.

"It's not going to work."

"Grrr… Papa, don't you have any good ideas!?"

"Let's think about it from another perspective and go with a flavor-changing topping method. Instead of turning the scroll into a sock, we'll think of it as a scroll-plus-sock… Or maybe something more like a wrapping?"

Like stuffing a Christmas present into a sock, we stuffed the scroll into the sock. This way, Soto could eat both the sock and the scroll. It looked like a rolled crepe… Yeah, the fuck am I even thinking with this?

"I see! Now I can choose between Kinue-san's socks, Nerune's socks, and Rei-chan's socks depending on my mood! How luxurious… hehehe."

"I'm starting to worry about my daughter's future, you know? Should I teach you about self-restraint?"

"What are you talking about, Papa! I'm still practically a newborn baby! Now's the time for me to try things without having to think about the future! I'm at the age when I want to lick honey socks! By the way, [Honey Socks] is a term from Beddhism, symbolizing happiness."

Uh huh. Honey is poisonous to babies under one year old, nor was it even a sock in the first place… That aside, I don't remember creating a term like that. I'm the founder of the faith, you know?

"I added it to the original text of Beddhism's sacred scriptures! Rei-chan has already read it aloud during mass, so there's no taking it back!"

"When did you…!?"

"I did it while you were flirting with Mama in the Holy Kingdom, sharing a single bed with Niku-neechan at night, and summoning Nerune to do various shameless things."

"Hey, watch what you're saying."

Other than the thing with Niku, it's all work, you know!? Even Niku was just her body pillow duties, nothing indecent happened!

"Moreover, while creating this story, I actually spread honey on Rei-chan's feet and licked it! So what?"

"I'm jealous—I mean, what have you been doing!?"

"Eh, she was delighted though? The golden honey on her white feet was just the best. Why don't you let Mama do it for you too?"

And so, the term [Honey Socks] apparently came to signify a position where one could bestow benefits on others without working and just sleeping. Thus, a strange anecdote was born in Beddhism…

"By the way, Papa."

"What is it, oh dear daughter of mine?"

"I want to use Onee-san and the others as body pillows too. Can I?"

"… As long as you back off quietly if they show even a hint of discomfort."

"Yay! I'll start with Kinue-san as my body pillow today then!"

"Don't pretend not to notice! I'm serious!"

"Okay!"

With that, Soto jumped into her [Storage] dungeon.

… Hm.

I should probably have another talk with Rokuko about Soto's education… (distant gaze)