House-Sitting

"Spirit-sama left Tria and the others behind to go do quests."

"They're raising the second characters' guild ranks so they can catch up to us. It can't be helped."

"Muu."

She understood. She understood, but Tria still pouted at being left behind by Spirit-sama.

"Spirit-sama told us to help Penpen-sama."

"Will we be doing that 'tawaa difensu' thing?"

"That should wait until everyone's together. At the very least, Nika would be useful in combat. Miitei should be reasonably capable too."

Nika could be counted as a physical attacker thanks to her trained strength, and since Miitei could use Fission, she seemed useful as a decoy among other things.

The gyudon they'd made from the remains of Cow-kun the First was delicious, though.

… If the defense failed, would they get to eat like that again?

"… How much do cows cost?"

"Expensive, you know? Though with our current earnings, we could probably buy one per day."

"Oh, really. I never saw any even in the village I used to live in, so I wouldn't know."

"Cows and horses are in high demand as livestock that even non-Tamers can manage."

It was a world where Tamers existed, but cows and horses were convenient animals that even ordinary people could put to work. With Tamer skills, they became even more obedient, making them all the better for raising in large numbers.

But naturally, they were also valuable assets. Several gold coins each.

"I wonder how Penpen-sama got hers?"

"Through that Merchant's connections, most likely? They were already talking about setting up the ranch, so she probably had him arrange it… Do you want one? Why a cow?"

"… Because it was delicious."

"Well, it was delicious. But our earnings belong to Spirit-sama, so we can't spend them without permission, you know?"

"I know. Tria is a girl who can endure. But I want to offer Spirit-sama delicious food. That's what makes Spirit-sama happiest."

"That's true. Spirit-sama does love eating delicious food."

And so, once again, they set about the task Spirit-sama had entrusted them with: helping at Penpen's ranch.

The other day, they'd dug up a fossil.

Today's task was patrolling the area and hunting monsters. They came across a squad of Orcs and slaughtered them. Having hunted plenty for guild quests, they knew the drill.

Alto shot through an Orc's head with her massive gun, and Tria kicked another's head clean off.

There was a knack to toppling them backward so the blood spray wouldn't hit you. They were well practiced at this point.

The squad was annihilated in an instant.

"Orcs are tasty too."

"Good for a souvenir. Let's have Penpen-sama cook them and offer it to Spirit-sama."

"Yeah! I hope Spirit-sama will be happy."

"Let's hope we get some leftovers."

"That's up to Spirit-sama's will."

Technically, if Spirit-sama ate while using Tria's body, she'd get to taste it too. That was what she was hoping for.

Naturally, it would be unbecoming for Tria to ask for that herself.

… Though she might unconsciously do so from time to time.

"Come to think of it, there's something I noticed."

"Hm? What?"

"We dug up that fossil yesterday, right? I don't think that's what the Merchant was talking about with 'what's buried in this land'. No, it's probably something else."

"… Why?"

Tria tilted her head, puzzled. But Alto seemed certain.

"I mean, there was that bedrock my Spirit-sama broke, remember?"

"… Meaning?"

"If a person buried something there, I think it would be above the bedrock."

"? Why?"

"That would mean someone deliberately placed bedrock over what they buried, then buried it all further."

"Isn't that what happened though? Is it not?"

"… Maybe it is?"

Alto's confidence suddenly wavered.

"True. You could also think of it as someone placing bedrock on top to seal it away…"

"A seal…!"

"Or perhaps someone used some kind of skill to determine that incredible treasure lies even further below the bedrock."

"Huh? But if you think about it that way… yeah. Those bones don't look like the kind of thing that would be sealed away, and they don't look like incredible treasure either."

Even if the bones had academic value, that didn't matter to Tria, and Alto wasn't particularly interested either. Every living creature had bones, after all.

"Right. The treasure being bones… doesn't that feel a bit off?"

"Treasure… bones being treasure, yeah, that doesn't sit right. They don't look like something you'd seal away either."

"Penpen-sama seemed a bit happy about them, but they really are just bones."

Granted, the bones had transformed and could apparently be made into a Golem, but that was about it. They might be a valuable item, but still.

"If you wanted bones, you could just go pick them up at a graveyard or something."

"Tria? Even Spirit-sama and the others wouldn't appreciate human bones, you know? … Though conversely, the possibility that something troublesome like that was sealed away is quite high."

"… What if a Demon Lord is buried there?"

"Hmm. I don't know… Oh! The bedrock. What if there was something written on the bedrock I broke? If someone placed it there deliberately, there might have been an inscription. Something like 'Do Not Dig Beyond This Point' carved into it."

"That's possible. What did we do with the bedrock again?"

Let's see… After Alto's gun blasted it to pieces, the debris got tossed into inventory along with the rest of the soil, and then Miitei cleaned it all up…

"… The truth lies in the stomach."

"Mmm. In that case, all we can do is suggest digging even more. Dig up everything we can get our hands on."

"If we dig too much, the ranch will be full of holes, so we need to discuss this properly with Penpen-sama."

They'd talk to Penpen when they got back. That's what Tria and Alto decided.

And upon hearing all this, Penpen went to the Merchant to ask, "Some bones came up, but is that what ya meant? Or is there somethin' else? If so, where d'ya think we should dig next?" This apparently gave the Merchant yet another fright.

Well, Tria and the others had no need to worry about the Merchant's innards. That was none of their concern.