But that arm didn’t seem like it would let go of me.
There was no helping it. I had to hit my own head against his.
I woke up in a strange mixture of heat and discomfort. Good morning—it’s still da-da-da-da-da-dawn!
Hot hot hot…!
“I’m really sorry.”
The cause, as expected, was this guy.
Suzumoto was supposed to be sleeping properly at the front of the classroom, and I was sleeping at the back.
But when I woke up in the morning, I found myself being used as a human pillow by this guy. And when I tried to escape, the restraints tightened, and my spine was finally broken.
I thought I had gotten used to broken bones, but a broken spine was on a whole different level. I could actually see a river. I thought I might actually die this time.
But thanks to my screams, Hagasaki-kun and Katori came and rescued me, so somehow, I managed not to die.
“…Yeah, it’s okay now. How are you feeling?”
“I think I’m okay.”
But seriously, this guy… How can he keep coming to break my bones over and over again? It’s unbelievable.
Could it be because he has a bad habit of waking up?
Let’s start with breakfast.
I cooked a large amount of rice and simmered plenty of fish with lots of ginger, soy sauce, and sugar, turning them into rice ball-like shapes.
The spectacle of 40 maid-like dolls forming a rice ball conveyor belt was quite something to behold.
And for something warm, I made a large amount of miso soup with plenty of vegetables.
The spectacle of 10 maid-like dolls forming a miso soup conveyor belt was also quite something to behold.
As for me, I continued making simple dishes, bowls, and chopsticks.
People who were drawn by the aroma had breakfast delivered by the maid-like dolls.
…But at times like this, it’s amazing how the students automatically start lining up in front of the rice ball conveyor belt and the miso soup conveyor belt without needing any instructions. The Japanese are truly wonderful in this regard.
Once I finished distributing breakfast, it was time for us to have our own breakfast.
At the same time, we began planning for the day ahead.
“I see. President and Kadomi are…”
Suzumoto lightly traced the surfaces of the two stones.
“Well, they’ll come back to life today.”
It seemed that Hagasaki had been working all night to make the potion. He looked tired.
“I’ll get ‘Abyss Stones’ from Shureira, so you can go ahead and rest, Maito-san.”
“No, I’ll start making equipment. We’re all in pretty rough shape, aren’t we?”
I think what Toriumi meant was probably the recovery of the contents in the glasses, but since it’s not blood or something, I don’t think sleeping will increase it.
And since we’ll probably need to make equipment for about a hundred people, it’s better to start making it now.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Got it.”
Well, with a sense of being a resource, I’ll do my best not to run out.
…So, it’s a somewhat awkward reunion.
“Ketorami! Hunter! Glida! Marbello!”
I called them using the ‘Amplification’ wand.
…Then, a familiar-colored wind blew through, and in the next moment, Ketorami was already there beside me.
[Weren’t you supposed to go back?]
“I messed up due to various reasons.”
[Maito!]
And thus, I reunited with Hunter, who was buried around Ketorami’s neck, and later with Glida and Marbello.
First, I enjoyed the fluffiness and the smoothness. Ah, happiness…
After thoroughly enjoying the reunion, I proceeded to ask Glida for some of its silk threads.
“So, we ended up needing a large quantity of equipment. Can you share some silk threads with us?”
I explained the situation, and after giving it some thought, Glida came up with a proposal.
[Well… you see, Maito. If I could get a bit more magical power, I could make stronger and more flexible threads for you.]
“Alright, I’m on board with that.”
I readily agreed to Glida’s proposal.
[Hold on a second, are you sure about this?]
I often think this, but Glida always seems quite open to requests, even when they’re made somewhat recklessly.
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
Resources are meant to be used! Letting them go to waste would be the worst thing!
Just like before, I sent some magical power to Glida, and its body took on a slightly deeper color.
[Ah, Maito, I’m a bit worried about you.]
Glida muttered while winding the thread onto a spool. She’s quite a caring tsundere.
Well, this should be enough silk thread for about ten people.
For now, let’s start with repairing everyone’s equipment.
[Hey, Maito,]
Just as I was thinking that, Ketorami called me over.
“What is it?”
[It seems I’m in a season where my fur is changing lately.]
…I see.
[It’s itchy. You’re my ‘master,’ right? Do something about it.]
…There’s even a tsundere here, it seems.
I quickly made a large wooden brush and returned to Ketorami.
“Alright, I’ll comb you now. By the way, Ketorami, can I have the shed fur?”
[Sure, do whatever you want.]
Hehe. Ketorami is so kind.
As I combed his fur and saw him squinting his eyes in pleasure, then giving me a serene look when he realized I was watching, I couldn’t help but find it very charming.
[Maito-sama! It might be presumptuous, but me too!]
[I’d like some too!]
[No, let me go first!]
“You guys share the same body, don’t you?”
After finishing Ketorami’s brushing, Marbello came next (I think he’s genuinely here for the brushing). I combed his fur, and in return, I collected the shed fur.
“Hmm…”
Then, Hunter, who seemed to be in a bad mood, approached me and wiggled restlessly.
“What’s wrong?”
[I want some too.]
Well, I mean, you don’t really have any fur to brush… do you? You’re as smooth as Glida.
Alright then.
“How about I share some magical power with Hunter too?”
[Is it okay? Won’t Maito run out of magical power for herself?]
“I won’t be using it anyway.”
Hunter stared at me with sparkling eyes, so just like with Glida, I sent some magical power to him.
And then…
A single, pure white line appeared on Hunter’s black body.
About three rows of scales turned white.
[Glida, isn’t it cool? Hey, it’s cool, right?]
[It looks nice, doesn’t it?]
After playing around and getting all excited for a while, Hunter seemed satisfied. He nuzzled me affectionately, so I petted him.
Ah, it looks like his smoothness got a nice polish.
[Thanks, Maito!]
In the end, Hunter seemed to be very happy too.
Surprisingly, it’s quite healing to take care of them like this.
…Maybe, life can be restored like this more often than we think.
Now, let’s get to work on making the equipment.
First, I’ll turn Glida’s threads into fabric.
For the equipment, I’ll weave it a bit thicker.
After all, we’ll need a lot of fabric. Might as well weave a bunch here.
While I was busy weaving fabric, Toriumi returned.
“Maito-san, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
So, let’s get right to resurrecting President and Kadomi-kun.
Hagasaki calmly poured the amber-colored potion onto President’s body, turning him into a lifeless corpse.
“Um… like this.”
Then, Hariu placed the “Abyssal Stone” on President’s chest and threw a projectile at it from a distance to add an impact.
“I hope this works…”
Hariu looked anxious, but the “Abyssal Stone” had indeed turned gray, signaling success.
“It’s working. Alright, I’ll be right back.”
I headbutted President’s corpse and went to the room with the glass.
President’s glass had a somewhat… ‘correct’ feeling to it.
No ornaments, made of uniform glass with no flaws, smooth, precise, and cylindrical.
That’s the impression it gave.
Even though it gave such an impression, the legs of the glass had a sharp, knife-like design.
Hmm, very President-like.
Now, there’s no point in dawdling, so I carefully transferred the content of the glass.
The arrow-straight white liquid changed into a slightly amber-colored bright amber hue when it entered the cylinder.
Oh, beautiful.
As I gazed at it for a moment, I could confirm that the contents were gradually increasing, so I detached safely.
Feeling fulfilled after completing one task, I shared with President again to wake him up.
“I’ll bet on not breaking any ribs this time.”
“Well, it’s President, so I doubt he’ll break any.”
I became the subject of their bet.
I was tired of having my ribs broken, so as soon as President opened his eyes, I made a quick escape.
“How are you feeling?”
With a curious look on his face, President examined his body before responding from afar.
“…It’s a strange sensation. I died, didn’t I?”
He said this while sitting up and moving his body a bit to check how he felt.
“It seems there’s no problem. Thank you for your trouble.”
“See, I didn’t break any ribs.”
“Wow, you didn’t break any.”
It wasn’t an overly emotional reunion, but I think it’s quite dry and good. Yeah. Getting emotional over every little thing would devalue true moments of excitement.
“Now, let’s move on to the next one.”
Next up was Kadomi-kun.
“Wait, Maito-san. Before you resurrect me, have you already resurrected someone else?”
President put a stop to things.
“It was me. I didn’t actually die.”
Suzumoto stepped forward.
“Right. You look visibly unwell. Let’s save Kadomi-kun for tomorrow.”
“I agree. Since Ketorami is back, why don’t you use him as a blanket?”
In the end, they persuaded me to wait.
Well, yeah. Running out of resources would be a problem. Yeah.
So, taking their words into consideration, I decided to go and hide under Ketorami’s blanket for a while.
When I woke up, the sun was directly overhead.
“Oh no! I overslept!”
I hurriedly moved away from Ketorami and ran to prepare lunch.
But there was a pleasant smell in the air.
I peeked into the laboratory, and the maid dolls were diligently working.
It turned out they had prepared lunch for me while I was asleep.
I’m fortunate to have such good subordinates…
Once again, we set up a lunch conveyor belt with the maid dolls (lunch was udon), and we resumed our discussion about the future.
With President resurrected, the conversation moved forward.
“As I suspected, the problem lies in the number of Origins remaining and the monsters we’ll face when eliminating them.”
Regarding the former, all we can do is search tirelessly. There’s no way to improve that situation.
However, the latter is different.
I’ll try to guess what everyone is thinking.
Probably something like this: “It would be better to eliminate the Origins we’ve already shared with, but I don’t want it to be a burden on Maito.”
