Chapter 62

Sleeping Beauty

On the way down to the lower floors, I introduced Pigimaru to Mist .

[I was worried because I’ve always felt a presence nearby, even though I couldn’t see any monster around the area . So, it’s actually him I’ve been sensing . ]

I remembered the conversation that we had right after we alighted the hidden stairs .

“There seems to be no monsters at the moment . ”

“Hati-dono, actually—”

At that time, it seems that Mist was about to ask something .

It’s as if she wanted to say that she have felt the presence of a monster .

I would have said “monsters other than Pigimaru” if she had known about his existence before . .

[Come on, Pigimaru . ]

[—Pii . ]

The frightened Pigimaru timidly extends his protrusion towards Mist .

Mist also reached out her hand towards Pigimaru .

She sneakily glanced at me .

[It... won’t bite, right?]

[Yeah . ]

[Pyiii~... Pii, pii... Pii...?]

It seems that Pigimaru is still on guard against her .

He’s poking Mist’s fingertip with his protrusion .

Punii, punyuu...

I feel that he’s still quite timid in regards to her .

Mist’s lips turned to a smile and her eyes softened .

[My name is Mist Barkas . Nice to meet you, Pigimaru-dono?]

[Pii? Pyiii... Piii... . . Pyuuuu~♪!]

Pigimaru began to rub Mist’s finger with his protrusion .

His color has turned into a light pink .

It seems like he liked her . (T/N: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I’m sorry . )

[Fufu, It’s a really cute slime . I strangely feel at ease with him . ]

[Pii~ ♪ ]

[It seems that you’re quite liked by Pigimaru... I think this is the first time that I’ve seen him being friendly with others . ]

[Pii!? Pyuuu~!]

His protrusion suddenly reached out towards me .

Punyuu, punyuu~

I could feel Pigimaru’s squishy protrusion on my cheek .

Pigimaru’s color turned into a really bold pink .

Mist covers her mouth with her hand .

Pfft...

[Nevertheless, It seems that he really likes Hati-dono the best . ]

[Pii ♪]

v

Monsters came attacking us at regular intervals .

However, Mist was always the one who slays them every time they appear .

Mist doesn’t to be that much in danger in these battles .

It seems that she stands up against them quite well .

I feel like she’s already used to battle .

We proceed further down into another floor .

I arrived at a place that kind of resembles another residential area .

[Hmm?]

A familiar door gets into my sight .

They look like the jewels that I had seen before .

This is exactly that door that opens when you inject magic energy into them .

I placed my hand on the jewel and inject my magic energy .

With a subtle vibration, the door began to open .

I promptly check inside the room while being alert for ambushes .

It seems that the room is completely empty .

I step inside and look around the room .

There was nothing particularly eye catching that I could see .

Old furniture were already arranged inside the room .

There doesn’t seem to be any traces of traps...

I call out towards Mist that was standing guard outside of the room .

[You can come in now . ]

[I understand . Excuse me . ]

Mist enters the room .

[......... . . ]

[What is it?]

[Nothing . ]

Was that “Excuse me . ” earlier really that necessary?

I closed the door and placed down my luggage on the floor .

I take out my pocket watch and checked for the time .

[We will take a break in here . ]

[Roger that . ]

[You can take some sleep, you know? I will just wake you up when we’re about to leave . ]

Mist paused for a while before replying back .

[No, I’m fine . ]

[I can see that you lack some some sleep though... I swear I would wake you up when we would start to go . That’s why I want for you to get some sleep, but...]

Mist covers her eyes .

[I think I would surely not get some sleep though . ]

[I heard that you would remove some of your fatigue even when you just lie down for a bit . How about you just lay down in a sleeping bag on the floor?I would also be troubled if you suddenly collapsed on the way . ]

Mist began to ponder about it .

She exhaled out a sigh and smiled .

[I understand... Well then, I’ll be lying down for a bit . ]

Mist began removing her bracers while leaving her forehead protector that’s emitting light .

Next, she laid down a sleeping bag and laid down .

In a posture that’s turning away from me .

[Pigimaru . ]

[Pii . ]

I secretly gave some instructions to him earlier .

I would have him distract her .

Punyonn~

Pigimaru jumps down to the floor and turned back into its round shape .

While he’s in that rounded form, he crept in front of Mist .

He finally stops when he’s in front of her face .

[Pii!]

[Pigimaru-dono...? What’s the matter?]

[Pii!]

[]

[—-...suu...]

I invoked towards Mist .

I will let her sleep until the gauge runs out .

This deep sleep that she would have may have been just for a short time, but it would still restore some of her fatigue .

I’ve read that somewhere in the net before .

[If the duration of her sleep is longer, it may even be used to treat insomnia...]

Well, it’s not really clear yet whether would make someone have some peaceful sleep .

[Pii, pii, pii, pii, pii . ]

Pigimaru is swaying left and right in front of her .

Somehow, he looks like he’s moving like a metronome .

Is he... watching over Mist?

[Pii?]

At that time,

[Pipiii~!?]

Mist’s forehead protector disappeared .

The bracer that was placed beside the sleeping bag also disappeared .

Immediately after that, I could see Mist’s figure suddenly changed .

[————-]

Her ears completely deformed...

–into pointed long ears .

Elf...

I stood in front of the sleeping Mist .

[Pii?]

“What happened to her?”

It seems that Pigimaru is asking something like that .

[I’ve already had some premonition about her true identity . It’s just that—]

I looked towards Mist again .

[This is really surprising . ]

The change wasn’t just her ears .

Even her face has changed .

“Something” must have been cancelled out when I used earlier .

I also feel that her hair is a bit different .

Her face was evidently different .

My breathing almost stopped when I saw her face .

Mist’s face before she changed was indeed that of a beautiful woman you could find back in my world .

However, now—

She’s way beyond that .

I’m already used to seeing beautiful women .

For example, I can say that my aunt was a beautiful woman .

Even back in Class 2-C, there’s Sogou Ayaka .

There’s also the Takao sisters that you could call the pinnacle of beauty .

Therefore, I had only regarded Mist as a “beautiful woman” on the same category as them .

However, the current Mist Barkas was very different from just that .

How do I say this...?

It’s as if she’s not real .

Rather than the face of a living being, it’s as if her face is something that was sculpted by an artist who’s in search for the pinnacle of beauty .

[I see...]

“I’ve heard that the men and women Elves were so beautiful that your eyeballs would pop out after you see them . ”

I remembered the conversation I heard in the tavern .

[So this is how High Elves looks like . ]

I also remember his words .

Monk Dorogetti .

He’s the man who tried to pick a fight with Mist in the middle of the crowd and was shamed because of his mistake .

Though, he later died here in Mills Ruins .

After he tried to pick a fight with Mist in the plaza, I kind of felt something out of place .

It’s because Monk was too confident .

Why is he so confident with his words?

I became a bit worried about this .

Mist’s head has been covered with a hood at that time .

Ordinarily, he shouldn’t have been certain with his words .

He haven’t even seen Mist’s face after all .

First of all, it is just natural to consider the possibility that he has mistaken someone for another person .

However, Monk was absolutely sure at that time .

What does that mean?

It means that— he had some kind of basis that has led to his belief for his accusation towards Mist .

An example of this is when I had heard her voice at that time . I was immediately certain about my thoughts .

That Mist is “the girl that I had met back in the dark forest” .

Monk must have also been certain about something .

He must have heard Mist’s voice .

She could probably change her face and ears with some kind of special power .

However, it seems that only her appearance can be changed .

In short, her “voice” can’t be changed .

Monk had been extremely obsessed with “Seras Ashrain” .

I remember her voice because her voice is something you can’t easily forget .

And, he must have heard her voice before .

As far as Monk could see, the voice of “Seras Ashrain” and “Mist Barkas” must have been exactly the same .

[......... . ]

There’s another thing that I’ve noticed .

My sight... moved towards Mist’s chest .

There appears to be no change that has happened when in comes to her body— or so that’s what I think .

As far as I could see, only her head has changes .

I thought about what Monk has said before .

“Even that already ripe part of yours, that pathetic excuse of a pair of breasts! I remember it all!”

He was so confident that he had burned her “breast” into his memory .

No, I don’t think it’s just because he had burned her breast into his memory...

Moreover, her body had been concealed under her clothing .

However, her personality must have made Monk absolutely sure .

Her voice and her breast .

Her personality must have also been burned into his memory .

It was burned into his mind so much, that he became completely convinced that she is Seras Ashrain .

That’s why, when he had removed her hood, Monk became terribly confused .

That’s because the face she’s wearing and the shape of her ear doesn’t match with the one on her memory .

Monk wouldn’t have understood the reason why .

Her voice and the shape of her body were completely the same .

However, just her face and ears weren’t exactly the same...

“That’s... a lie... I’m not mistaken . Everything’s a lie...”

It had also been in her favor when he became confused .

I then looked towards her pointed ears .

Monk had tried to reach out his hand and touch Mist’s ear .

Mist strongly slapped his hand away and glared at him .

[In other words... This is how it originally looks, huh... Rather than changing her body, this ability of hers changes the “information” that was reflected in other people’s eyes . . ?]

For examples, through the use of Illusory Techniques . (T/N: Genjutsu)

I see .

When you touch her ear, you could feel inconsistencies between the “information that you had seen” and the “information that your hand could feel” .

That’s why, is this the reason why Mist strongly dislike being touched by others?

“By the way, are elves strong?”

“They fight by borrowing the power of the spirits . ”

The men has talked about this back at the tavern in the inn .

[Is this illusion technique the power of the spirit...?]

It may also be the power of the spirit that made her have the ability to see through lies .

Her forehead protector .

Her bracer .

Her armor .

All of these equipment must have been made with the power of the spirits .

Now, it seems that the power of Mist’s spirits has been released .

When she was incapacitated because of , the effect of the spirit’s power were sustained .

However,

[It seems that the power of the spirit would be temporarily disappear when I casted towards them...]

Unexpectedly, I’ve discovered the advantage of .

I look down towards the beautiful face of my guard who’s gently sleeping right now .

The blue gauge above her head is steadily decreasing .

[......... . ]

It is still not clear yet .

It could just be said that the premonition I held before was reinforced with this .

However, I am almost certain...

–that she’s the former knight leader who has disappeared from the Holy Kingdom of Neia .

The Princess of the High Elves .

The true identity of Mist Barkas is—

[The Princess Knight, Seras Ashrain . ]