Party Breaker (Or Not)
The brief moment of grinning like an idiot at the sight of Elly quickly faded. Thud! Suddenly, a purple-haired little brat hopped up onto the counter and looked down at me.
“Hey. Are you the baggage carrier brat Rydia mentioned?”
The instant I heard that, I took a good, long look at her appearance. A pointy witch’s hat that screamed “sorceress.” Wavy purple hair spilling out from beneath it. Slightly upturned, cat-like eyes and features. She wore a skintight black dress that clearly showed off her figure, but… with a chest as flat as her tiny stature, it wasn’t the least bit erotic. The very picture of wholesomeness. In other words, a real little kid who looked the same age as me—or maybe even younger.
The moment that realization hit, I heard the distinct click of some switch flipping inside me.
“…You’re a brat yourself, so why are you speaking so casually to me?”
Confucian Switch: ON!
At my words, the purple brat flinched for a second before she started stomping her feet. Stomp. Stomp.
“What? Who are you calling a brat?”
Unlike her full-bodied jump from earlier, this was just her feet moving, so the sound was ridiculously light. It wasn’t particularly threatening, but the problem was that she was stomping on the counter of all places. And the counter at The Elf and the Silver Coin was exactly like the ones in bar-style taverns. It wasn’t just for settling bills—it was also where people ate and drank. In short, it was a table.
“You ill-mannered little thing. Didn’t your parents teach you not to put your feet where food goes?”
“Nope. I don’t have parents.”
“What a coincidence. Neither do I.”
“……”
“……”
In the slightly awkward atmosphere, we glared at each other for a moment. Then the purple-haired kid hopped down from the counter again and introduced herself.
“I’m not a brat. I’m Benitas Beni-Beni. I used to be Rydia’s party member.”
“Wha…!”
What kind of name was Benitas Beni-Beni? I inwardly recoiled in shock and gave the girl who had just called herself Beni-Beni another once-over. Now that she was off the counter, I could tell her height was about the same as mine, or maybe a little shorter. Wondering if it was just her height, I scrutinized her face again, but sure enough, she only looked like a youthful face around my age.
…She’s kind of cute, though.
But there was one thing that bothered me more. Beni-Beni’s eyes. Her amethyst-like purple irises had heart-shaped pupils embedded in them. And the teeth peeking out between her lips were sharp and jagged like a shark’s.
In the end, I couldn’t hold back and asked.
“What’s your race? Are you a succubus by any chance?”
“Then are you an incubus? Why are you slathering yourself with so many charm powers?”
Beni-Beni frowned and took a step back. She seemed to have noticed the fragrant scent and moist skin abilities.
“…You can tell?”
“Of course. Any high-ranking mage could… Wait. You didn’t believe me until now?!”
“……”
Instead of answering, I glanced at Elly beside me. She must have lost interest, because instead of the usual wrist-flicking motion, she was wiping a cup. She gave me a quick sidelong glance and answered indifferently.
“It’s Beni. Long time no see. Did your work go well?”
“Of course! Who do you think I am? I’m the one and only Creepy Witch Beni-Beni! Swallowing the Magic Tower geezers’ research is as easy as eating cold porridge!”
“Then what about that research you said you’d try with the reward money?”
“…It failed again.”
Beni-Beni grumbled as she sat down at the counter seat. Watching her, I asked carefully.
“Are you really Rydia’s party member, Beni?”
“Why? Are you suddenly scared now? It’s fine. I’m generous. I can forgive you for calling me a brat when you didn’t know any bett—”
“Like this kind of brat?”
“…Hey!”
Finally pissed off, Beni glared at me. Then the long shadow trailing behind her suddenly rose up and turned into a black lump of clay. The shadow that should have been stuck to the floor suddenly gained the concept of height. That alone was surprising, but then something began sprouting from the shadowy mass in an instant. Bloodshot eyes, shark teeth, hands that looked like they were melting, wings with patchy missing feathers, tiny thorns, long protruding horns, a tongue covered in sticky mucus, a half-rotted beak… It was a nightmarish sight, every disgusting thing in the world mashed together. Just looking at it made me feel sick to my stomach.
I see. So that’s why her nickname is Creepy Witch.
Beni didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking; she simply kept the shadow monster at a distance. Elly seemed to know this too—she only narrowed her eyes slightly and didn’t try to stop her.
And I…
“Oh my! So you really are the esteemed Beni! Goodness, you look so young I didn’t recognize you! I’ve heard so much about you from Rydia!”
I rubbed my hands together like a sycophant and switched straight into ass-kissing mode.
Yep. If she really was a high-ranking mage and Rydia’s former party member, this was the correct approach. That youthful appearance was obviously the result of some kind of magic. If she could create a monster like that, rejuvenating herself should be a piece of cake.
Of course, Beni looked utterly horrified by my sudden change.
“That attitude shift is just…”
She made a bizarre face for a moment before slowly turning her head and continuing.
“Whatever. ‘Esteemed’ is too cringey, so just call me Beni.”
“But you called yourself Beni-Beni earlier?”
“It’s different when I say it versus when I hear it from someone else, okay?! Just drop the honorifics already! Everyone calls me that anyway!”
“Yes ma’am. Will do, Beni.”
Only then did Beni nod with a slightly more relaxed expression. In the meantime, I subtly moved closer to the shadow monster.
“Whoa. It looks really gross. Is this magic, by any chance?”
“…Well. Something like that.”
As she spoke, Beni gave a slight flick of her finger. A long tentacle extended from the materialized shadow. The sticky, mucus-covered tentacle swept across the counter where Beni had been standing earlier. Dirt and dust clung to the mucus and peeled away together. The remaining mucus turned back into shadow the moment it fell from the tentacle and returned to Beni’s feet. The dirt that had been there was gone without a trace.
“Wow.”
Come to think of it, Rydia had once told me that Beni used a special kind of magic to swallow entire monster corpses and then spit out only the byproducts and the core. This must be it.
I nodded with a satisfied smile.
“Beni had a plan all along, huh? Climbing on the counter with dirty feet was a bit much, but since you cleaned it up nicely, I’ll forgive you.”
“…Who’s forgiving who, exactly?”
Beni let out a hollow laugh and shook her head. Then she asked me back, sounding genuinely curious.
“You. Your name is…”
“It’s Yona.”
“Right, Yona. Aren’t you scared of this? I could swallow something like you in one big gulp, you know?”
Beni pointed at the grotesque creature rising from her shadow. I tilted my head at her.
“Why would I be scared?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, if you’re Rydia’s former party member, that means you have a good personality, right?”
“Uh, um. I… guess?”
“Plus, even though Elly gave you a bit of a glare, she didn’t move any further, so it doesn’t seem like you actually intend to hurt me.”
No matter how sharp the sword, how fast the arrow like lightning, or how powerful the great magic that could topple a castle—if it wasn’t aimed at me, there was nothing to fear.
After hearing me, Beni spoke with a slightly sour expression.
“…You thought that far in such a short time?”
“No? Actually, that part came later. I was just acting cocky because I figured Elly would save me if anything happened.”
“……You little snake.”
“How rude. Please call me her husband candidate.”
“H-husband?”
Beni turned to Elly with eyes wide as if she’d heard something unbelievable. The look in her eyes was one reserved for thieves—or worse, criminals. Elly immediately began babbling.
“N-no, it’s not like that! Yona is just saying that one-sidedly. It’s not what you’re thinking, Beni!”
“That’s too much, Elly! Just the other day… no, two days ago, you stayed up all night using me to—”
“……!”
Beni’s eyes grew cold, and a sigh of contempt leaked out between her sharp shark-like teeth.
“Eww. Trash.”
“Ugh!”
At Beni’s quiet condemnation, Elly couldn’t even refute it and just ground her teeth. Why was it? Seeing a cool and awesome woman like Elly twist her face in shame and guilt looked incredibly beautiful to me.
Still, if I tormented her any more, Elly would be too pitiful, so I decided to help her out a little.
“Please don’t scold Elly too much. She’s just a single woman with no experience with men, so she has zero immunity.”
“…Yona, you’re the worst one here.”
I shrugged, letting Elly’s sulky grumbling go in one ear and out the other.
“Last time I groped Rydia’s chest, so I was debating whether to make Elly next… but I guess I’ll pretend that never happened. Elly, you can just watch! Like those red books scattered all over your room! …Like the red books!”
Elly’s ears perked up for a second as if tempted. But then she shook her head vigorously as if remembering something and refused.
“No. I couldn’t say it last time, but Yona, you need to value your body more…”
The moment Elly tried to back out with another one of her typical lines, Beni cut her off and started stuttering.
“Y-you, you, youyouyou…”
“Beni? Calm down and take a deep breath first.”
“Hii… huu… hii… huu…”
Beni obediently followed my instructions and took deep breaths, then spoke in a clear, trembling voice.
“You infiltrated my party to tear it apart! You wicked incubus bastard!”
“?”
I keep telling you I’m not an incubus.