CH 44

Chapter 44 – Hakama-Wearing Katana User

TL: Sponsored chapter (5/6).

TL: Hakama – a traditional Japanese clothing, similar to the kind that shrine maidens wear.

“Alright. First, eat this.” (Bouchi)

I fed a serving of [Telepathy Kibidango] to Shiki, which I had also given to Sol before. Now, I could communicate with him in my mind at any time.

“Then we’ll have you normally stay in my shadow.” (Bouchi)

“As you command!” (Shiki)

With that brief response, Shiki quickly submerged himself in my shadow.

“Puuu. Master, are you not going to give Shiki a [Level-up Pudding]?” (Sol)

Sol’s question was understandable. If I gave it to him, he could go up by a rank, so I would have given him one if I could.

However, there was a reason why I couldn’t. As a matter of fact, the [Level-up Pudding I] that I had given Sol was only effective up to C-Rank. For monsters that were B-Rank and above, it wouldn’t work unless they were given a [Level-up Pudding II]. It seemed to be a fairly well-designed system that prevented overly convenient rank-ups.

Incidentally, a [Level-up Pudding II] cost ¥100,000,000. I could buy it if I wanted to, but since I wasn’t in such a desperate situation at the moment, I decided to wait and see if it was necessary to give it to him.

If I absolutely had to raise his level to win, I was thinking of waiting until we actually encountered such a monster to give him a [Level-up Pudding II].

“Sol understands. The world isn’t so convenient, in other words!” (Sol)

“Yeah, that’s how it is. Well then…now that I’ve got a bodyguard, all that’s left is my appearance as a dungeon-clearing contractor.” (Bouchi)

I took a [Shapeshifting Medicine] and took on an appearance.

“Wow~, Master… You’re so beautiful.” (Sol)

Seeing my new appearance, Sol was immediately captivated. Well, as she should be.

With a black-haired short bob cut and almond-shaped eyes, white skin, and thin lips, the appearance I took on looked like a model with excellent body curves and proportions. She gave off a somewhat dangerous and cold impression, but her dignified, demure appearance was beautiful.

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Breasts were a distraction during battle, so I kept them moderately sized.

Indeed, I had taken on a female appearance for the first time.

“My name is Komon Shiina… How is it? What do you think, Sol?”

“Very cool! Beautiful! Beaaauutiful!” (Sol)

“Fufu, thanks. Shiki, what do you think?” (Komon)

“Yes. Milord’s appearance is splendid no matter the form, but this one thinks that this particular form is truly dignified.” (Shiki)

“But why the female form, milord?” (Shiki)

“Ara, Shiki. When I’m in this form, you have to call me… milady.” (Komon)

“Yes! Please forgive my blunder, milady!” (Shiki)

“Well, in terms of combat, it isn’t easy to get rid of the impression that men are stronger than women.” (Komon)

Normally, I would feel embarrassed to speak like a woman, but after transforming like this, I found it a bit fun, as if I was acting in a play.

(TL: Japanese has female-specific pronouns for self-address, sentence endings, and verbal expressions which are usually apparent just through speech alone.)

“But weak or strong doesn’t matter here. As a dungeon-clearing contractor, I only need to be marketable.” (Komon)

“Marketable… Is that so?” (Shiki)

“Yes. Despite being a woman and not looking strong at a glance, still taking on jobs and completing them perfectly without fail… That kind of marketability draws peoples’ attention.” (Komon)

If I could pull this off, jobs and clients would begin to stream in and make it even more profitable for me.

“Also, in human negotiations, if the other party is a woman, people are more likely to let their guards down.” (Komon)

Especially if it was a beautiful woman in question, some men might even have ulterior motives. It was an advantage to be able to exploit this weakness.

“But still, the main reason is that I felt like it was about time I tried a female form.” (Shiina)

In the end, it was really just a change in appearance.

“Well then… let’s get to work.” (Komon)

I reassumed the form of Torimoto, told the maid that I was going out, and left the Fukuzawa residence.

—

Now that I was outside, I had already changed into the form of Komon Shiina.

As a little trick to improve my marketability, I also dressed in a hakama. Naturally, this hakama was also bought in the <Shop>. It was an excellent item furnished with heat and cold resistance, and it also had excellent cushioning and defense. It functioned as armor, since it could block any shallow attacks.

Since I was also carrying a katana, my current appearance was one that would surely draw people’s attention at first glance. I was searching for dungeons using the [Dungeon Map], quickly moving through and clearing them.

Most of the time, Sol and Shiki would clean up the monsters, while I would go for the Core.

It was nice that we were clearing dungeons without any problems, but… there was no point in clearing dungeons without being noticed by anyone.

It was time to get out into the public eye and show people that I was actually fighting monsters.

As I was thinking that, I spotted a man right in front of me, being chased by several goblins. He seemed to be running towards me.

“H-Help meeee!”

….Good timing. This is part one of making my story.

I drew my katana, [Sakuranami-hime], and dashed forward. I passed the fleeing man and appeared before the goblins in the blink of an eye. With a sharp flash of my katana, one of the goblins was bisected right down the middle.

Seeing their comrade instantly perish just like that, the other two remaining goblins suddenly froze up. I quickly closed in on them and cut them down one after the other.

Seeing the situation turn around in the span of a few seconds, the man looked at me as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“…Are you okay?” (Komon)

“….! N-No, I’m fine! Umm… T-Thanks for saving me…” (Man)

“It was nothing. It’s fine as long as you’re safe.” (Komon)

Even I felt the coldness in my demeanor, but I smiled at the man and walked away without saying another word. With this, that man would surely tell someone about what he experienced today, but of course no one would believe him.

However, it was only natural for no one to believe him. A woman with such an appearance killing several monsters alone in a mere instant? That was beyond being a believable story.

But what if stories like that started happening all over the place? That impossible story would become a rumor before long, which would gradually become linked to the truth.

“Well, let’s keep on writing the story at this rate, shall we?”

And thus, I spent the entire day until late at night, working hard at defeating monsters and clearing dungeons.