Volume 6 Chapter 4 Gluttony Mimic
To deal with this monster, I had to equip myself.
'...Noroa, let's take it away quickly!'
"I know."
This monster is equipped. We can only steal it with Juju's ability.
However, the problem lies in the opponent's Agility. If I use Juju's ability, my senses will go haywire, and I'll be unable to move for a while. If I get attacked at that timing, it's all over.
First... somehow, we need to immobilize the monster's movements.
"And then, a trap..."
Luckily, I have some knowledge of traps.
As an adventurer, I've set up traps many times while doing miscellaneous tasks. That's why I have various trap mechanisms stored in my head.
Considering this monster's abilities... pitfalls won't work, and poison won't take effect either.
But if I use that trap, I can restrict its movements.
"Sui! Ram!"
Just by holding hands with the two, my thoughts seemed to get through to them.
"Got it! " "...U-understood"
They replied, and the twin siblings transformed into a weird shape.
And then, they took on the form that the equipper imagined.
"Sui, are you ready? " "...I-it's okay"
Sui, who had turned into a wall, was trembling with fear.
Despite being a defensive gear, she seemed quite timid. However, she stood tall and straight.
By making the monster bite into Sui's wall, we can shut its mouth.
That's the first stage of our plan.
This monster's only powerful attack is its bite. To break through Sui's wall, it needs to shut its mouth first. If we can shut its mouth, it won't be able to attack for a while.
And then, next...
"Ram! ""Un! "
Even without words, my intentions seemed to be conveyed just by holding hands.
Ram, who had turned into a giant trap with a mouth full of teeth, was moving its mouth and talking.
The trap, originally designed to be triggered by stepping on it, was now set up horizontally to be triggered by the monster's charge. It's a rough tactic only possible with Slime equipment.
And, just as we finished preparing, the monster came flying at us again.
The monster broke through the wall of Sui and charged straight at giant bear trap. It seems it can only move in a straight line. And it can't suddenly stop in mid-air either――
"Alright!"
――The trap activated.
The slime-made fangs bit down, capturing the monster's closed mouth.
The monster struggled violently, but it couldn't escape the trap's restraints. Its biting force was strong, but its force to open its mouth was weak.
This sealed its movements. Now all I had to do was equip it.
"Sorry for scaring you"
I patted the monster's head, then made eye contact with Juju.
'Let's do this quickly'
"Right"
I nodded once, and a light needle appeared in my palm.
'Here we go! Let's do this!'
Juju floated up, spreading her arms wide.
Her chest was left exposed and defenseless. I thrust the needle in with force.
'Yes! This is the feeling I've been waiting for all week!'
As Juju let out a high-pitched laughter, electricity coursed through my entire body. It felt like my body was about to burst from the inside out. My muscles and senses went wild, and my thoughts became muddled.
In the midst of that familiar sensation, the monster's information flowed into my brain.
- Gluttony Mimic (Curse)
...A mimic-type accessory that can store things it eats inside its body. It can store a large amount of things, but if it doesn't eat, it will digest what's stored. If it gets hungry, it will go berserk.
Rank: SSS
Type: Accessory
Effect: Gluttony (can store things it eats. Storage slot = 1 million)
Cost: Needs to be fed a large amount every day. If not fed, what's stored will be digested. If all stored items are digested, it will eat everything around it, including the user. If neglected, it will go wild.
――Equipment acquisition, complete.
"Phew...we did it"
After the afterglow of equipment acquisition faded, I relaxed my shoulders.
Looking over, I saw the monster caught by Trap Bear――the Gluttony Mimic had also stopped resisting.
For now, it didn't seem to have any intention of eating me anymore.
"Sui, Ram, thanks for your hard work. You can come back now"
When I called out, the wall and the treasure chest jumped back, and in an instant, they transformed back into their human forms.
"Master, that was so scary! " "...It was terrifying!"
"Good job, you two did well!"
Sui and Ram were clinging to me tightly, both of them with tears in their eyes. Although they were created as weapons and armor, they themselves were not good at fighting.
I patted their heads to comfort them, and they gave me a weak, tearful smile.
"Do you want anything? If you do, I'll give you a reward."
"Head pats!" "...Sui wants a year's worth of head pats!"
"Oh, I see."
I felt a lot of pressure from their expectations of the head pats. I thought that if I didn't do it right, it would be bad. Maybe I should look for a professional book on head pats at the library next time....
'And... how long are you going to keep fawning over that little girls?'
"Hey!"
Juju pulled my ear. It was unreasonable, since I wasn't even fawning over them.
'And what kind of cursed equipment was that monster?'
"It's called the Gluttony Mimic Bag, a bag that can store things."
The specific effect was that it could store things that were put inside its mouth.
'Hmm? So, it's a bag that can store things, like a magic bag?'
'Is it a magic bag?!'
Cirrul's voice was full of surprise.
'Magic bags are almost always national treasures, right? Even low-rank magic bags are considered status symbols for nobles and merchants just for possessing them...'
"That's right."
I knew that it was a rare piece of equipment, but I didn't know it was treated with such reverence.
'Well, magic bags are convenient, anyway.'
'How many storage slots does it have, Sir Noroa?'
"Uh, 1,000,000."
'...'
Cirrul stopped in her tracks.
'Did I mishear? I thought I heard 1,000,000, not 100...'
"No, you didn't mishear."
'Again...even national treasure-level magic bags don't have 100 slots, do they?'
"Hmm?"
It was a scale unique to cursed equipment, a hundred times larger than a national treasure-level magic bag.
"...Hmm?"
And then, I noticed something touching my leg. I thought it was Sui and Ram playing a prank, but the sensation felt different.
Looking down, I saw it was the Gluttony Bag. It was nudging my leg like a puppy begging for food. It playfully nibbled with its fangs and licked my leg with its thick tongue.
"What's this? It's too cute."
"And what about Ram?" "...Say something about Sui too."
"You both are adorable."
"Hehe." "...Absolutely delighted."
'Hmm... I wonder if Noroa has a predisposition to attract cursed equipment.'
"Do you think so?"
'After all, the Gluttony Bag and the twins warmed up to you so quickly... I, too, am fond of you... about as much as broccoli stems.'
"You always leave broccoli stems, you know."
She implied she didn't like it indirectly.
'I, I like Sir Noroa... more than broccoli stems!'
"That's not much of a compliment."
Once you're being compared to broccoli stems, I think it's all over.
"...Grrrr."
"Huh, what?"
The Gluttony Bag growled. It seemed to be expressing something, but...
"Bark!"
"Do you want me to carry you on my shoulder?"
"Gah, gurgle!"
"Yeah, I see. You're a bag, aren't you, Little Mimi?"
Upon closer inspection, the Gluttony Bag had straps like shoulder straps. I couldn't tell earlier, but now that I looked closely, it was definitely a bag. Perhaps it wanted to be treated as such.
'Are you... talking to it?'
'Sir Noroa... Can you understand what it's saying?'
"Yeah, with love, you can understand anything. Right, Little Mimi?"
"Grrrrr!"
"See, even Little Mimi agrees."
'...I'm starting to lose track of what Noroa is saying.'
Anyway, I decided to put the Gluttony Bag over my shoulder. It seemed like it could move on its own, but it's best to treat it like a bag.
"How does it look?"
"It's so-so." "...From Sui's perspective, it's highly impressive, maybe?"
'S-Sir Noroa looks good no matter what.'
'Your weirdness level has leveled up.'
It was a somewhat ambiguous evaluation.
"Well...indeed, as a guy, these cute-looking bags don't suit me."
'No, that's not what I meant.'
"By the way, I'm thinking of naming this child Little Mimi, what do you think?"
"Sounds good!" "...It lacks a sense of romance."
'It's a name filled with love. I think it's nice, Sir Noroa.'
'Wait, "Little Mimi" doesn't match its appearance. And where did that name come from?'
"Well, because it's Gluttony Mimic, I named it Little Mimi. Isn't it cute and suitable?"
'...Well, I guess you can do whatever you want.'
Juju seemed to hold her head as if tired.
"Hmm?"
And there, I noticed something while checking the information about the Greedy Bag.
"Oh, something's inside."
――Storage Slot 6370821/10000000
Just by looking at this display, I can tell that a considerable number of items are inside.
Come to think of it, there was a story that this Gluttony Bag indiscriminately 'deleted' things in Torch Marina. In that case, could what's inside this bag be 'Torch Marina' itself...?
"Maybe the citizens of Torch Marina are also stored inside..."
'If living organisms can be stored, there's a high possibility they're still alive. And the equipment's user might have been eaten too, right?'
"Probably, yeah."
I don't know the details of how it was equipped, but considering that it was being consumed, it must have been accidentally touched. And if the equipment's user was inside, no matter where the equipment went, the distance would remain 0. That's probably why Little Mimi was able to move freely.
"In any case, we have to release the humans quickly."
If I leave them inside this bag, they might be digested.
I need to get them out as soon as possible, or many lives will be sacrificed.
"Little Mimi, can you release the people you ate here?"
Whether the words got through or not, Little Mimi nodded and opened its mouth wide.
People were being vomited out, gushing from Little Mimi's mouth.
There were probably thousands of citizens swallowed by it. To release all the citizens, we would need to move to different locations and have them be vomited out several times.
"Where is this...?"
"I was supposed to be at home, but..."
"I think we were escaping from a monster..."
Citizens who tumbled out of Little Mimi's mouth seemed to be in a state of confusion, not understanding what was happening. Perhaps, while inside Little Mimi, time stood still for them, or it might have felt like "the scenery changed right in front of their eyes" when they realized it. Furthermore, in the place where their town used to be, there was a huge hole. It's impossible not to feel stunned.
"Our town..."
When someone murmured these words, it triggered a ripple of murmurs, like ripples on the water. With time, they gradually began to understand the fact that their hometown had disappeared.
'Is there any way...?'
Cirrul murmured, looking worried. At times like this, she is overly kind. Almost too sweet.
"If there's a way, I'd like to help somehow, but..."
The annihilation of Torch Marina. There's nothing to be done about it. Even if something from Torch Marina comes out of Little Mimi, it's impossible to restore Torch Marina itself.
'Is that so?'
Cirrul seemed to understand the situation from my silence. Her face was hidden behind her drooping bangs, but I could roughly imagine what expression she wore. I'm sure I'd have a similar expression.
But there's no helping it. In this world, there are far too many things that can't be helped.
Not being able to equip oneself leads to an inability to lead a normal life.
Just touching cursed equipment causes the loss of everything important.
It's a helpless situation, but there's no helping it. It's already done. At times like this, you have to numb your emotions and endure quietly, just like "Noroa the Zero" always did.
But... is that really okay? Should I just let things I can't help end as "things I can't help"?
Even if I obtain equipment, in the end, won't I still be "Noroa the Zero"?
Before I knew it, I had stepped forward.
"――Everyone, please listen."
Thousands of gazes turned towards me all at once.
It was then that I realized I had spoken those words.
"..."
I swallowed hard. This was the first time I stood in front of people.
Humans are scary... that hasn't changed. That feeling has seeped deep into my being throughout my life. It's not something that can be wiped away in just a few weeks.
But...
'Noroa, do a quick performance here!'
"What are you going to do, master?" "...Lord, that's bold."
'Sir Noroa, do your best!'
I'm no longer zero.
So, I can try a little harder.
For example, I can help the people here make a 'fresh start.'
"...I am Noroa, an adventurer. On Count Emdo's request, I've come to exterminate the monster that attacked Torch Marina. However, as you may have already guessed... when I arrived, Torch Marina had already been destroyed."
The murmurs of the people turned into sounds filled with sorrow. That was to be expected. Having a third party confirm the destruction took away even their faintest hope.
"But!"
I raised my voice, refusing to be drowned out by the murmurs.
"Not everything is lost. The monster has been successfully defeated. We were able to recover most of what the monster consumed. So――"
I took a deep breath and continued.
"――Please follow me. I will take you all to the capital."
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