Chapter 24

Summary of the previous episode:

In the 23rd episode, the existence of humans in another world was confirmed.

6

The next day, I decided to leave the Arachne's nest early in the morning.

"Master, the thing you asked for is ready."

Just before departure, Gerbera handed me a set of clothes. They were the clothes made by Gerbera that I had requested earlier.

Gerbera, who weaves cloth at an astonishing speed, seemed to have had a hard time making them in such a short period. Half of the fabric was apparently from her existing stock.

The simple shirt was a thick long-sleeved one, designed to be sturdy for walking in the forest. The pants were also white, making the entire outfit white.

I felt a bit out of place with this unusual coordination, but it would be a luxury to complain.

"You look good, Master."

"…Really?"

When I returned after changing, Gerbera blushed and fidgeted as she looked at me.

Was she happy that I was wearing the clothes she made, or did she notice that we were subtly dressed alike? Or perhaps, since the clothes were made of spider silk, she felt something seeing me wrapped in the threads she produced.

Furthermore, when I put on the dark armor prepared by Rose over the top… the color balance might have been considered well-balanced.

Finally, I sheathed the pseudo-damascus steel sword in a belt made of vines, and the preparations were complete.

Currently, Rose makes the weapons and Gerbera weaves the clothes, but in the future, I hope they can cooperate in each other's domains.

Even if I order them to do so now, it might leave a bad root for the future. Since the results won't come immediately, there's no need to rush. It would be better to do this after resolving their tensions…

"Master."

I suddenly noticed that Gerbera, who had been fidgeting, was now looking at me with a concerned expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just… I thought Master's complexion looked a bit off."

"Me?"

I instinctively touched my cheeks. They felt somewhat cold.

"No, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Indeed, I've been thinking a lot lately and had trouble sleeping last night. However, I'm not feeling unwell, and I don't feel particularly sleepy. I'm a bit tired from walking every day, but I'm still fully capable of activity. I can't afford to rest at this level.

"Let's go."

I urged Gerbera, who looked slightly worried, and we left the nest. She seemed to realize that I was really fine once I started moving and didn't say anything more.

We took about an hour to reach the spring, our destination.

As a source of water for the creatures in this area, the spring was quite large.

We continued walking for another hour and encountered two monsters. One was a Rough Rabbit, a bear's body with a rabbit's head, and the other was a meter-long crayfish-like monster that emerged from the surface of the spring. Since I hadn't heard of it in the colony, I decided to call it Big Scissors.

I wanted to encounter it again.

Because both were new monsters, I needed to feed them to Lily to strengthen our forces.

…Wouldn't it be enough to feed them once? That's a valid point, but that's not what I meant.

To make Lily's mimicry ability work, I need to feed her most of the monster's remains. In other words, we can't eat the Rough Rabbit and Big Scissors.

Of course, we don't need to eat them as food. We have enough Fire Fang meat stored.

I just wanted to eat them.

…To be honest, I was tired of Fire Fang meat.

I'm not particularly picky about food, but a monotonous diet can get tiring.

I wanted to eat meat from a different animal.

Something other than lizards and rats.

Especially, Big Scissors looked delicious.

It might be a bit muddy and bland, but I was confident that it wouldn't be a problem. Our current food situation is too poor.

However, we can't increase our load.

If we continue exploring and can bring back Big Scissors as food, it will be a treat for next time.

While I was thinking about this, Gerbera finished her "packing" and came over.

The cocoon containing the large Rough Rabbit was enormous. The sight of her dragging it along was somewhat comical.

"Good work."

"Master, you too."

Gerbera, who offered words of encouragement, handed me a water bottle made by Rose.

Even though there was a spring nearby, drinking from it directly could cause stomach problems. We were using the water we brought with us. Water is heavy, so except for a small amount to drink while walking, I had left the rest with Gerbera during our journey.

"Thank you."

I thanked her and reached for the water bottle.

At that moment,

"…!"

The scenery before my eyes blurred, and countless small lights flickered in my vision.

It was just for a moment.

But the timing was bad.

My hand missed the water bottle Gerbera had offered.

"Ah."

The water bottle slipped from my fingertips and fell to the ground, spilling water with a bubbling sound.

I quickly picked up the water bottle, but it was already a third empty.

…Oops.

Of course, I wasn't regretting the lost water.

"What's wrong, Master?"

Gerbera looked at me suspiciously.

"I've been wondering, Master. You seem a bit off lately."

"…Off? How so?"

"Occasionally, you seem to make mistakes that are unlike you. Could you be hiding something from me?"

She stared at me with her red eyes.

Her gaze didn't waver.

She seemed to be certain.

I tried to bluff, but it seemed impossible.

Well, there's no helping it.

We've been together most of the day recently. She has been supporting me, so even if this incident hadn't happened, it was only a matter of time before she noticed.

"It's nothing serious."

I prefaced and then explained the situation to Gerbera.

"Recently, my eyes have been acting up sometimes."

"Your eyes?"

"Yes. They blur, and sometimes I see flickering white lights…"

"That's serious!"

Gerbera jumped over with her eight legs and grabbed my face with both hands.

I couldn't avoid it.

I ended up staring at her perfectly symmetrical face, which could only have been created by God.

"Ugh."

She peered into my face at a distance where her breath could reach me. I was startled, but Gerbera showed no signs of being flirtatious. She was looking at me with a frighteningly serious expression.

Of course, if such a thing could determine someone's health, doctors wouldn't be necessary. There are probably doctors in this world. …Or maybe not, given the existence of magic.

"It only happens occasionally. It's not serious. I'm not feeling unwell."

As I spoke quickly, a small wrinkle appeared between Gerbera's eyebrows.

"Really?"

"Yes. When people are tired, their vision can blur. It's quite common."

"Didn't you say the same thing yesterday to try to fool me?"

"…Anyway, let go."

Thinking of the saying "reap what you sow," I placed my hand over the lower half of her face and pushed her away.

I might have been a bit rough with a woman, but Gerbera, who is far more durable than an average person, didn't seem to mind. She crossed her arms and sniffed thoughtfully.

"But, white lights… …Hmm?"

Her perfectly white eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"What's wrong, Gerbera?"

"Nothing, just something caught my attention."

When I asked, Gerbera extended her slender hand in front of my eyes.

"Let me check. Look at this."

"Huh?"

"…I'm not particularly good at this, but…"

She narrowed her eyes for a few seconds.

"Huh?"

I was staring at Gerbera's fingertips as she had instructed, and I let out a surprised sound. Her fingertips were flickering with white light, the same light I had seen occasionally over the past few days.

"Why…"

"Indeed."

Gerbera pulled her hand back, looking a bit tired. The light had already disappeared from her fingertips.

"I had my doubts, but…"

Gerbera sighed and said,

"Master, you have the ability to sense magic."

"Magic? Me?"

"Yes."

Gerbera nodded seriously, and I couldn't sense any hint of joking. However, I couldn't accept her claim so easily.

"That's what you say, Gerbera. I don't have any aptitude for magic. I was clearly told by a cheater ability user in the colony."

"That's not my problem."

While making a valid point, Gerbera didn't stop thinking.

"…But if it's true, it is a strange story."

Gerbera folded her spider legs and sat down, tilting her head.

"Anyone can use magic if they have magic power. It's not difficult to see magic power if you have it. After all, sensing magic power is a necessary skill for using magic. …However, innate abilities don't change easily."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. In this case, innate ability refers to the total amount of magic power. It means that for some reason, the amount of magic power you possess has increased."

For some reason.

It was an unpleasant phrase.

It's not like it brings any disadvantage, and it should be beneficial for me, but not knowing the cause is a bit unsettling.

"Is it because I defeated monsters? I remember being told that defeating monsters can steal their magic power. The colony tried to strengthen the exploration team this way."

"That's not an efficient method. Even if you kill a hundred or a thousand, you might not even notice the difference. Of course, there would be a difference between me and you doing it."

"Because our initial magic power is different?"

"Yes. But you were just with me, and you didn't deliver the final blow."

"That's true."

"Or, there might be a more efficient method that you unknowingly used…"

"That's hard to believe. If such a method exists, I would like to know it."

Increasing magic power means I can become stronger.

In this harsh world, it would be a significant advantage for survival.

"Anyway, if I can use magic, it's not a bad thing."

"…"

Gerbera looked at me with a strange expression as I concluded—or perhaps put the problem on hold.

"What are you saying, Master?"

"Huh?"

"You've already used magic."

She said it with a sigh, but I had no idea what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?"

"We have a connection, a pass, between us. That's a form of magic, isn't it?"

"Is it?"

"Why don't you know?"

I scratched my head, feeling more and more exasperated.

Even ordinary students in the colony could use magic if they learned it. However, only a few of the general students who stayed behind had the opportunity to learn it.

Magic was a mysterious phenomenon that piqued the interest of us curious teenagers, and I had gathered