56
Chapter 56
The Unique grade monster, Star Fox.
Thanks to her help, the Mana Stone extraction work was finished quickly.
We managed to complete a task today that was supposed to take until tomorrow.
"Phew... It's finally done."
"Woong, woong."
"Graroo."
"Hehe! It's all thanks to my help! You better be grateful!"
It wasn't as if everything was completely finished.
We had only wrapped up the Mana Stone extraction process.
We still had to clean up the corpses and Magic Tools.
However, we decided to leave the rest of the work for tomorrow.
It was slowly getting dark, after all.
We gathered the sacks filled with the Mana Stones.
We planned to move these first, and then bring all the corpses and Magic Tools inside the Dungeon as well.
We were thinking of doing tomorrow's work inside the Dungeon anyway.
Before, the Dungeon was too narrow to move such a massive amount of corpses and Magic Tools inside, but now it had grown large enough to accommodate all of it.
"Little Fox, help us move this... No, why don't you stop by our Dungeon for a bit? You said you wanted to visit earlier."
Ailee corrected herself.
Did she feel it was shameless to casually ask for help again?
It seemed she was using the invitation to the Dungeon as an excuse to have the Fox carry the sacks of Mana Stones while visiting.
It wasn't a bad call.
That way, the Fox's feelings wouldn't be hurt.
"Whoa?!"
The Fox's eyes widened in surprise.
Soon after, she broke into a bright smile.
"Hehe! This is my first time being invited to a friend's house!"
"Are you sure it isn't your first time having a friend?"
"...B-Busted. How did you know?!"
"You just looked like it."
"Sniffle...."
And so, we grabbed the sacks of Mana Stones first and entered the Dungeon.
The Dungeon looked slightly different from when I had seen it earlier.
The layout hadn't changed.
It was just that most of the orbs embedded in the ceiling, which acted as lights or the sun, had turned off.
Not all the orbs had lost their light.
A few of them were still giving off a glow.
Not a harsh glare, but a faint glimmer.
How should I put it?
It felt just like Moonlight.
Did the Dungeon sense it was getting dark outside and adjust its lighting to match?
Well, whatever the reason, it was a good thing.
From now on, there wouldn't be any need to constantly step outside the Dungeon to check if morning had come.
"Wow... This Dungeon looks so amazing...!"
"Fufufu."
The Fox, who had followed us in late while carrying a sack of Mana Stones, looked around the Dungeon with her mouth hanging wide open.
Tosuni was standing next to the Fox, wearing a triumphant expression.
Why are you the one looking so proud?
Having entered the Dungeon, we moved while carrying the sacks of Mana Stones.
Our destination was where the Mana Orb was located.
We were planning to put everything down nearby.
...Wait a minute.
Where did the Mana Orb go?
I noticed it belatedly.
The fact that the Mana Orb had disappeared.
Standing frozen in place.
Just as I was looking around frantically in panic.
"Baby?"
Ailee's gaze fixed in one direction.
We all simultaneously shifted our eyes to where Ailee was looking.
A single Doll monster was standing tall there, staring at us.
[Puppeteer Doll lv.14]
└ Pw.42
└ Rnk.Superior (Limit Breakthrough possible upon reaching lv.30)
What the.
You already finished your Limit Breakthrough?
Isn't this way too fast?
And why are you a Superior grade?
You were originally a Normal grade!
Then you should have undergone Evolution into an Uncommon grade!
You overpowered cheat!
Right as I was unable to hide my astonishment.
The Doll came trotting toward Ailee.
"...!"
"Baby! You succeeded in your Limit Breakthrough! I'm so proud of you!"
The Doll threw itself into Ailee's embrace.
Ailee wore a joyful smile as she hugged it tightly.
It was no longer a baby.
It had grown rapidly from the size of a newborn, becoming significantly larger.
To put it in perspective, it looked like a five-year-old child.
Naturally, it probably didn't have a gender, but its appearance was that of a little girl with incredibly long hair.
No, but seriously, what happened?
Does this situation even make sense?
The more I thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed.
To achieve a Limit Breakthrough so quickly, and on top of that, to jump two grades at once.
...Ah, whatever.
Let's not question it.
A good thing is a good thing, after all.
I decided to just consider it a cheat-level monster with far more talent than us.
I'm jealous, you talented brat.
***
With us watching.
At Ailee's request, the Puppeteer Doll demonstrated its newly acquired skill in front of us.
Flash-
A massive book was summoned above the Doll's head.
It was a book that looked similar to the Soul Weapon that the Old Man, the Astral Slayer, had possessed. Though this one was much larger in size.
As expected, the Doll really did eat that.
And that's why it experienced such absurd growth.
For the record, that book is no longer a Soul Weapon.
The Helper wasn't displaying any information about it, you see.
Right now, it was merely a book summoned by a skill the Doll possessed.
"...!"
Flip, flip, flip.
With a gesture from the Doll, the book began to open on its own.
I figured that the book might be some kind of Encyclopedia where various monsters are registered. Seeing as it was opening right now, I could tell that there were drawings of monsters on every page.
The opening book stopped at a certain point.
A drawing of a monster was on the open page as well.
It was a monster that looked like a gorilla.
Not only the drawing, but the species name and grade were also written down.
─[Gorilla drawing]
◎ Brutal Gorilla
◎ Superior
As we were staring intently at the Encyclopedia,
A brilliant light suddenly emitted from the open page.
Soon after.
With a pop, the gorilla registered in the Encyclopedia leaped out into reality.
It wasn't the Brutal Gorilla.
A Doll resembling it had popped out.
"Woooong!!"
"Graroo!?"
"Whoa! The Dolls multiplied again!"
"Wow, our baby is so amazing! You can summon Doll-type monsters now!"
No.
It wasn't a Doll-type monster.
That Gorilla Doll was different from us.
We are strictly classified as living monsters, but the Helper skill wasn't showing any information for it, as if it wasn't treated as a living creature.
It seemed the gorilla lacked a soul and ego.
In other words, it meant it was a completely inanimate object.
Even so, there was no need to control it separately.
It was moving on its own without receiving orders from the Puppeteer Doll.
"...!"
Afterwards.
The Puppeteer Doll pulled several Dolls out of the Encyclopedia.
Then, as if its remaining Mana had almost run out, it flopped down on the floor.
The total number of Dolls it pulled from the Encyclopedia was ten.
***
The Dolls created by the Puppeteer Doll's skill.
We decided to call them Fake Dolls for now.
Because we needed to distinguish them from us, the real Doll monsters.
Ah. Fake Doll is just a short way to say fake doll.
Anyway.
The Fake Dolls were able to go outside the Dungeon.
Thanks to them, we were able to easily move the corpses and Magic Tools that were outside.
Because the Fake Dolls moved everything without us lifting a single finger.
In particular, the Gorilla Doll was incredibly strong, so it didn't take very long to move things.
When all the Spoils of War had been moved to the Dungeon without a single thing left behind.
The Fox hesitated while studying our expressions, then carefully tapped my head and spoke.
"I-I need to sleep now, so I'll be going home! I'm going to come visit again tomorrow, so don't try to stop me!"
I won't stop you.
You can come whenever you want.
I waved my hand and bid her farewell.
The Fox turned around with a regretful expression.
As she trudged toward the Portal, Tosuni approached the Fox's side and walked alongside her.
"Eh? You don't have to see me off. My house is right out front."
"Woong?"
Tosuni tilted her head.
Tosuni, who had been looking strangely at the Fox, then tried to step out of the Portal.
But the Fox grabbed Tosuni and desperately stopped her from going out.
"Don't come out! I'm really fine!"
"Woong?! Woooong, woong!!!"
"Eh... Were you going home too? I didn't know... I'm sorry!"
"Woong."
She must have thought Tosuni lived in this Dungeon as well.
Having cleared up the misunderstanding, the Fox left the Dungeon amicably with Tosuni.
After they had left.
Ailee and Jjokkomi slowly got ready for bed.
Using a giant, soft alligator doll as a bed, the two climbed on top, said their goodnights to the Puppeteer Doll and me, and closed their eyes.
It wasn't long before they fell fast asleep like that.
"......."
The Puppeteer Doll stared at the sleeping Ailee before shifting its gaze to me.
Hello.
What should we play now?
Let's burn the midnight oil together as comrades who can't sleep!
When I gestured for it to come over, the Puppeteer Doll quickly walked up to me.
Pressing our bodies against each other.
We sat down, leaning our backs against the Gorilla Doll.
"...!"
The Puppeteer Doll summoned the Encyclopedia again.
And opened to the first page.
Do you want to look through it together from the first page?
Yeah, let's take our time looking at the registered monsters together.
Because the night is still long.
And so, until the morning arrived, we meticulously examined the monsters registered in the Encyclopedia one by one.
Seeing how many unfamiliar monsters were registered, it seemed that all the monsters the Old Man had caught so far were recorded inside.
***
Near the Portal connected to the Puppeteer Doll's Dungeon.
"I thought I waaaas! A shining star! I didn't knooow, that I was a Fox!"
Curled up inside a small burrow in the ground.
Star Fox, who only had her face poking out, looked up at the sky and hummed a song of her own creation.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star!"
Star Fox was excited.
Having made several new friends today, she was in extremely high spirits.
"Hehe, shooting star launch!"
Suddenly.
The star mark engraved on Star Fox's forehead flashed.
Unable to contain her joy, Star Fox's power erupted explosively.
A beam of light soared high into the sky.
It instantly transformed into a meteor.
Trailing a long tail across the night sky, the meteor fell in an arc toward the distant sea.
On the sea, a single ship was cruising toward the continent.
It was the ship carrying the Ebony Slayer, who was scheduled to newly join the Expedition Team this time.
"I can't contain my excitement at the thought of ravishing new male monsters. I'm incredibly curious about what kind of monsters are eagerly waiting for me. Fufufu."
Posing with her arms crossed on the deck.
As the Ebony Slayer was taking in the sight of the continent.
A meteor that had not burned up and faced Annihilation in the atmosphere.
That small, pebble-sized meteorite coincidentally fell straight toward the ship the Ebony Slayer was aboard.
Craaaaaash-!
Along with a deafening, thunderous roar.
The ship was smashed to pieces and sank into the ocean.