Ash-dong Silverhair

“……Hey? Lady Conti…?”

As the light faded, Beatrice slowly opened her eyes.

They were not the eyes of someone who had been dying only moments before.

Clear, silver-violet irises that shone like polished blades.

I quietly withdrew the potion bottle I had been holding out.

I almost got juiced myself today.

Let's just pretend that whole solemn little gesture never happened. Yeah. Better that way.

I let out a long sigh and shoved the potion bottle straight back into my inventory.

“Honestly. The boss goes out of her way to help you, and you just wake up on your own before she even gets the chance. What a brat.”

She staggered to her feet.

Then she bowed toward me — deeper and more formally than she ever had before.

“……All of it… is thanks to you, Witch.”

No it isn't?

You woke yourself up by awakening all on your own, okay?

“The reason I could draw on my strength in that final moment is because you never gave up on me. Because you came to my side.”

No, I genuinely didn't do anything?

You picked the skill yourself. You wrote the contract yourself.

“For my dying self, you even took out your most precious medicine. ……I saw it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clearly.”

Ugh. So she did catch that.

But you never even put that thing near your mouth, you know?

“That profound grace… I will repay with this life of mine.”

There she goes again. Again!

…Ah, whatever.

My premium customer came back alive on her own, I snagged a sweet growth bonus, and I even cleaned out the betting pool, so the winnings are about to roll in huge.

I didn't even use the EX-rank potion. Still got it left over.

“……Wait. This is an absolute jackpot lucky streak, isn't it?”

I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from twitching wildly, so I just turned around and left it at that.

Gotta get home fast and down a nice cold iced tea!

The gallery boards were already exploding in real time.

“Let's go, Lady Wolf Hunter.”

I glanced back at Beatrice, who was adjusting her grip on the treasured sword, and spoke.

“Not bad for a first customer.”

Truth be told, she wasn't 'not bad' — she was a jackpot ultra-VIP — but there was no need to go that far.

Beatrice took a couple of steps, then suddenly crumpled and went down.

What is she doing all of a sudden?

Startled, I hurried over and checked her face.

Every last bit of tension had drained out of her; she looked utterly at peace, sound asleep.

“Purrr… purrr…”

She was even making soft little kitten noises as she snored.

Aigoo… how am I supposed to wake her up…

And how am I supposed to take her with me?

I looked at the broom I had ridden in on.

That's a single-seater.

But I can't just leave her on the floor of this fortress either.

That was when it happened.

“Cawww—!”

Kkamagi, who had been circling overhead as the live streamer, swooped down in front of me and settled near Beatrice's sleeping shoulder.

“Today's broadcast… wasn't half bad. Well done.”

I absently stroked Kkamagi's little head.

In that instant, a window popped up.

“……Huh? Kkamagi, you're upgrading too?”

Kkamagi's body began to be engulfed in a dazzling light.

Awakenings, evolutions — everyone's going nuts today.

Everyone's getting an upgrade except me…

I'm feeling left out over here…!

The light wrapping around Kkamagi gradually cleared away.

And standing before my eyes was—

Kkamagi, looking no different from usual, staring blankly up at me.

“Huh? So what exactly changed?”

I began examining Kkamagi with meticulous care.

I checked under the wings, counted the toes, even peered inside the beak. Everything was the same as before.

Wait… did this one learn to talk?

“Kkamagi. Is there anything different about you?”

“Cawww—!”

Ha… not that either.

I picked Kkamagi up and turned the bird every which way, but I still couldn't tell what had evolved.

Maybe the IQ went up by one point or something.

“Kkamagi. Let's just go home.”

I stroked Kkamagi's head the way I always did.

A status window appeared.

“Mount function……?”

The moment the words left my mouth, Kkamagi's body suddenly began to swell, and before long a gigantic crow stood square in front of me, staring me down.

“Is this a bull or a crow?”

My eyes went wide.

More precisely, it was a pitch-black, winged crow the size of a full-grown bull.

Even that silly feather that used to stick up from its head had fanned out as big as a hand fan.

This was the same Kkamagi who, until seconds ago, had been no bigger than a chicken!

One flap of those wings sent the dirt on the ground swirling up like a whirlwind.

“Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Kkamagi, are you force-feeding me dust right now?”

I put on a cool, grumbling front, but the truth was I was so shocked by the giant transformation I nearly passed out.

At this size, two people could ride no problem!

This is a total jackpot feature!

Grinning so wide my mouth nearly reached my ears, I looked up at Kkamagi.

“Alright, Kkamagi! Let's go home!”

Kkamagi took Beatrice and me onto its back, beat those massive wings once, and soared up and out of the fortress.

The rain had already stopped.

The night sky was filled with air that was chilly yet crisp and clean.

The night wind that brushed past carried the scent of earth, of trees, of grass.

As the heavy clouds peeled away one by one, the white moonlight that had been hiding behind them emerged.

With romance like this, another world is almost bearable.

Perched on the back of the now-enormous Kkamagi, I leisurely looked down on the night scenery stretching from Drebos Fortress all the way to the Ashvalley Slum, where my shop was located.

Behind me, Beatrice was leaning against my back, dead to the world.

“Whoa… not having to steer myself is so comfortable!”

Once I'd had a taste of the autopilot Kkamagi provided, I felt like I could never go back.

Should I just sell the broom secondhand now?

A silver-haired witch riding a jet-black giant crow through the night sky…

Definitely gives off more of a mysterious master vibe than a broom — plus a little mastermind energy.

Way cooler, right?!

That night.

Beatrice collapsed into a dead sleep in the guest room off to one side of the second-floor living space, while Kkamagi, small again, dozed in its nest.

The method for using Kkamagi's new ability was simple.

All I had to do was stroke Kkamagi's head and shout, “Mount Function!”

Once the flight was over, Kkamagi had shrunk right back to original size.

I lay on my bed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and stared up at the ceiling.

It had only been two days, and yet it felt like months' worth of absurd events had packed themselves in.

If I can just squeeze this much performance out of the other customers too…

Before long I could quit this whole job early and live a life of pure freeloading, doing absolutely nothing forever.

“……Behold! This is how you run a business! I really can do anything, huh!?”

I preened a little.

“Shall I take a look at the gallery freaks losing their minds?”

Oh yeah. Scrolling the gallery while lying in bed before sleep is pure honey.

I turned on my smartphone and started scanning the new posts.

Sure enough, the boards had already flipped upside down.

“……Hah!?”

I bolted upright in bed, still staring at my phone screen.

Someone had spotted us riding Kkamagi on our way here.

Damn it… I went through so much trouble picking this shop location, and it's already blown this fast?

I needed disinformation and muddying of the waters right now.

I hastily spun up a semi-fixed anonymous account.

I'd slapped it together in a rush, but I still packed in the wronged local cosplay plus a sly little touch of slum pride.

With this, people should at least glance toward Rustyterra once, right?

I hit the post button with a satisfied look on my face.

But my agitation campaign was crushed without mercy exactly thirty seconds after going up.

“……Tch. Damn sharp-eyed bastards.”