Chapter 80

The contract with the young beasts. This announcement served as a catalyst, and one after another, the young beasts faced the humans they trusted the most.

Those who stood opposite each other could not immediately speak. They had not been told the necessary procedures or words for the contract, but in the first place, such procedures were unnecessary, and the situation moved on automatically.

The young beasts began to emit a faint light one by one. It seemed the time for the contract had arrived.

"...Rui? Pomegranate"

The voice that managed to whisper was directed at the young beasts in the light. Rui was enveloped in white light, and Pomegranate in a dark red light. There was also Rikooru, wrapped in a light blue glow, and Kutsushita, enveloped in a writhing black and white marble. Neshias, with a mix of crimson and gold, and various other lights were visible everywhere.

After about thirty seconds, the light subsided, and within it, Rui and the others were present. Their appearances had changed slightly.

"...Horns have grown, and the tails have doubled in number."

On Rui's forehead, a short, spiral horn had grown, and Pomegranate had two fluffy black tails swaying.

These must be the famous unicorn and the many-tailed fox, respectively.

Looking around, Rikooru and Kutsushita, who had been small enough to be carried, showed no significant external changes. In contrast, Neshias had transformed from the familiar ball of fur into a beautiful crimson bird with a beautiful tail.

"The changes vary greatly from before to after, depending on the individual."

Somehow, it exuded a very rare quality.

"Ah... That cute Rikooru..."

"What's wrong, Magi!?"

"Canines and claws have grown! It's a perfect balance of cuteness and coolness!"

Rikooru, who was being held, stuck out its tongue and laughed, "Hehehe," but indeed, larger canines had grown in its mouth.

As everyone watched, Rikooru let out a short howl and then dissolved into particles of light. In Magi's hand, a light blue stone was nestled.

"Whoa? Is the contract complete?"

"Then, it's my turn. Your name is Kutsushita. Become my familiar and support me."

Kutsushita, scratching the back of its neck with its hind legs, made Claude's unusually embarrassing line fall flat. I squinted and looked at him quizzically, while Leerie smiled wryly, and Magi covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Phew. Come here, Kutsushita."

"Okay."

Kutsushita, who had been grooming itself, leaped at Claude with a jump that seemed impossible for its small body and transformed into a black and white stone.

"The contract is complete."

"But, Claude, what was that painful line? Did you want to kill me with laughter?"

Magi's comment made Claude grimace, but he remained silent, seemingly aware of the embarrassment of his own actions.

Meanwhile, Leerie said,

"Should we also make a contract? Shiachan."

This time, Neshias, who had transformed into a beautiful bird, disappeared without any action and turned into a warm orange stone.

"That means... it's our turn. Well, can we count on you from now on?"

I bent my knees and beckoned the two in front of me. Rui came and wrapped its neck around mine, licking my face. Pomegranate climbed up my arm and licked my other cheek with its small tongue.

"Whoa!? Wait, that's ticklish!"

"Yun-kun is being licked. Oh, I'm getting excited even though I have no intention. I might get a nosebleed."

"Mmm!? I'm getting inspiration for a new piece of armor!"

"That's nice. Shiachan just nibbles my fingers with her beak, so include me too."

No, help me! I thought, but the situation didn't last long. In a moment, the two transformed into particles of light, and in my hand, I held two white stones like fresh snow and a black stone with a deep red streak.

"It's complete, Yun-kun."

"Yes, it is."

"Then, let's check the status. I want to know what kind of monsters they are."

"Then, my Shiachan—"

Neshias' monster name is Phoenix. Current senses are—[Phoenix Lv1][Phantom Beast Lv1][Magic Talent Lv1][Magic Power Lv1][Fire Attribute Talent Lv1][Phoenix's Blessing Lv1][Flight Lv1][Healing Magic Lv1][Resurrection Magic Lv1][Young Beast Lv1]

"..."What? These abilities..."

Leerie laughed, "Ahahaha, what's this?" But when he mentioned the number of senses, it was equal to that of a player.

"Hey, how many senses do herbivorous beasts have initially?"

"Two."

"How about Neshias?"

"Ten. The same as a player."

"Before that, just looking at the name, it's legendary."

Hmm. Honestly, in terms of combat power, this means one person has the power of two. But since it's a production class, if not considered as combat power, it's effectively one person...

However, the number of senses might increase with future growth.

With a unique sense named after itself, it's not just a minor rarity but definitely at a level that everyone would envy.

"Ah, by the way, this young beast's sense effect is that the experience points for obtaining non-support senses and the reduction of stats until it reaches adulthood. Shiachan's support senses are only healing and resurrection."

Leerie, it's no use escaping reality like this. In the future, it will be a formidable existence.

"Even with the reduction in stats, support skills like resurrection don't really matter. Look, resurrection."

Certainly, if the MP or Mind stats are too low, it might not be possible to activate, but if you level it up to the point where it can activate, it could replace a resurrection item that hasn't been confirmed to exist yet.

Everyone would want it.

"What, what, what do we do! Shiachan will be overused."

My concern is that Leerie might follow bad people and be overused.

"Don't worry. We'll protect you with our lives if that happens."

"That's right. I'll help you if you're in trouble."

"Yeah, that's the idea. Enjoy it for now."

Claude, Magi, and I also reassured Leerie.

"Let's talk about the specs of each person's partner instead of worrying about what might happen in the future. Then, next is Claude, and after that, Yun-kun."

"Got it. It seems to be a lucky cat."

Senses: [Lucky Cat Lv1][Demon Beast Lv1][Magic Talent Lv1][Magic Power Lv1][Dark Magic Talent Lv1][Luck Lv1][Misfortune Lv1][Item Finding Lv1][Young Beast Lv1]

"A cat that brings luck and misfortune... It seems to be a support-type young beast."

"Hehe, interesting. Black cats are considered to bring luck to their owners in some places. In other words, they take luck from others and bring it to their owners. The sense [Luck] temporarily increases the target's LUK, and [Misfortune] does the opposite. It's a strong quirk but interesting."

A LUK fluctuation sense. This might be a unique sense of the lucky cat. Neshias' senses all seem achievable with effort, but there's no unique sense visible... It might be obtained with growth. I have high hopes.

"Next is Yun-kun. How about it?"

"What do you mean? Rui is a unicorn, as it looks. It's a phantom beast."

Senses: [Unicorn Lv1][Phantom Beast Lv1][Magic Power Lv1][Water Magic Talent Lv1][Purification Lv1][Illusion Lv1][Young Beast Lv1]

The number of senses is seven, fewer than the lucky cat. Considering this, there might not be a big difference between demon beasts and phantom beasts, and changes might come with growth.

The unique sense [Purification] recovers all status abnormalities and HP, and attacks undead monsters. It's an unparalleled support. The significance of my potions is fading.

And the other partner is—

"Sky Fox. It has six senses."

"Um, Yun-kun, what kind of monster is it?"

"It's a phantom beast, but..."

"Currently, it's effectively five."

The young beast is a sense with only disadvantages, so it's effectively four. Senses: [Sky Fox Lv1][Phantom Beast Lv1][Magic Power Lv1][Foxfire Lv1][Curse Lv1][Young Beast Lv1]

The unique sense Foxfire is various flame attacks, and Curse gives various negative effects. Fox curses are said to be terrifying, but this description alone is hard to understand.

"Hmm. Both seem to be late bloomers? Well, they're still young beasts, so it's in the future."

"What about you, Magi?"

"Eh, in my case—"

She snorted. What's so surprising? She put her hand on her forehead and looked up at the sky.

"Um. It's a pure combat type. A magic ice wolf, a phantom beast. Senses: [Magic Ice Wolf Lv1][Phantom Beast Lv1][Magic Power Lv1][Ice Wolf Formation Lv1][Ice Armor Transformation Lv1][Physical Ability Increase Lv1][Magic Power Conversion Lv1][Automatic Recovery Lv1][Magic Power Recovery Lv1][Jump Lv1][Young Beast Lv1], eleven in total."

The number of senses is the highest, and the two unique ones are probably [Ice Wolf Formation] and [Ice Armor Transformation]. It's pretty cool.

I thought it had ice magic because it had been producing ice, but it turns out it was a unique sense.

"Training it, it might become the strongest."

"The sense [Magic Power Conversion] increases stats by consuming MP, so it's actually stronger than it seems. It's definitely combat-focused."

"Maybe it's a strength worthy of a myth. Maybe it will grow to be a giant and participate in a monster battle."

"This is just the initial form. If it appeared as a boss, could we beat it?"

"..."We all let out a silly sound at Leerie's mutter.

Right. These are monsters, even if they are young beasts. They will likely be discovered in some field in the future. When they stand before players, how strong will Fenrir have grown by then?

In that sense, the monsters we contracted with in this event are of high quality and could be contracted relatively easily if the conditions were met.

On the other hand, they have the limited senses of young beasts, so the operators are always considering balance.

"Let's not think about such scary things. We're production classes, after all."

"Yeah. Let's pray for the poor people who will gather materials in the near future."

"No, they're not dead yet. Besides, it's not even clear if they will appear."

I naturally pointed out the cross Claude made in front of his chest.

Well, if they appear and we want to make something from rare drops, we might have to request their extermination. In that sense, they are future poor people.

Still, in this safety area, only half of the young beasts that were present managed to contract. The rest returned to the forest with a lingering look.

The sad calls directed at the disappearing young beasts were eerie. It was a sad farewell, but it seems that at least some of the young beasts were obtained as a minimum relief measure. Some people, dazed, looked at the horns and fur in their hands and put them in their inventories. Well, carrying them as mementos is also good.

"Not everyone who was involved could contract."

"Yeah, they were young beasts that just came to the safety area."

To Magi's mutter, I responded with a vague answer and looked at her melancholy back. I thought, I was one of the lucky ones.

[---All event processes have been completed. In ten minutes, you will be transferred to the regular server. The various functions used in this event will disappear and return to the normal specifications.---This is a repeat.]

The final announcement, I guess. When I hear about awards, it feels like everyone gathers at the end and makes a fuss, but the game probably won't be that flashy. It's a rather simple ending with individual results and item gifts.

Information might quietly circulate later.

"Hmm. It's over, but it feels like only a few hours have passed in reality. It's a bit strange to think about it now."

"When you wake up, it might be a month later."

Magi and Leerie's conversation. Well, if time can be shortened, it can also be extended. Thinking about it, the game might turn into a modern version of Urashima Taro.

"Still, I think if we can do a week in two hours, we should always apply that setting."

"That's a difference in perspective between players and operators."

Claude answered my mutter with a serious face.

"For example, let's say a game's lifespan is five years. If the game time is extended five times in reality, the game's lifespan would be one year. It's an extreme example, but from the operator's perspective, running the game for one more day doesn't necessarily mean more profit. Some games made a profit with one good customer out of a hundred. Popular titles became short-lived due to unreasonable pay-to-win systems. To make it easier for beginners, they offered experience boost items, and the required experience to level up skyrocketed, averaging out players. To stand out, they had to pay again... It's a despicable cycle."

Claude, with his arms crossed, sighed and looked into the distance. He must have had a bad experience with another game in the past.

His troubled gaze, combined with his mysterious aura and good looks, made him worthy of being called handsome, but the content was about the evils of pay-to-win. The atmosphere was a bit awkward.

Sensing our mood, he cleared his throat and muttered,

"Well, games are meant to be enjoyed."

Ah, he realized he had been talking too much.

After that, we had a random conversation.

"It's about time. See you on the other side."

"Magi. It's a bit late to say this, but I had fun."

"Yup. Summer is ending, and we might have fewer opportunities to meet, but let's get together often?"

"Yeah, we'll go our separate ways after this. See you."

We said our goodbyes, and at the same time, we felt the same sensation as when the event started.

Next time, it will be something like an epilogue.

Still, four phantom beasts and one demon beast might be a bit off balance, but I think momentum and enthusiasm are important. I chose major names... I feel a bit embarrassed by my straightforwardness.

*1: I mixed up prologue and epilogue.

*2: I forgot about the unicorn's illusion.orz