While Victoria was asleep, I quietly sat by the bed and looked outside through the small window.
Since the ship was moving along the coastline, I could see the distant shore, so I wasn’t bored.
But just because we were on a ship, it didn’t mean we were heading to an island or another continent.
Victoria’s school and home were on the same continent. But between them, there was an impenetrable jungle.
So, if Victoria wanted to travel from school to her home, she would have to either take a ship along the coast or take a long train ride.
Victoria simply chose the quicker and easier method. A train ride would take much longer.
In the distant forest visible from the small window, occasional flashes of light would appear.
No matter how I looked at it, it looked like fire, but there was no actual fire.
It was the native creatures’ light.
In the jungle, wild beasts that could be called monsters roamed.
That’s why the area is untraversed by humans.
The jungle itself is a region that rejects human presence.
Even with the advancement of civilization, jungles often remain for quite a long time. Unless there is a special resource, the cost of clearing a jungle is too high compared to the benefits of doing so, even with the technology to conquer it.
This is the case in a world that doesn’t use magic or energy.
In a world with creatures that use magic or energy, the risks multiply by several hundred times.
That’s why, in this world, the outline of the world is drawn, but the interior remains unexplored.
That’s the kind of world it is.
“Uh, uh. Huh? Who... are you?”
Victoria woke up with a disheveled expression. She clutched the blanket wrapped around her and stared at me with a bewildered look.
She was still half-asleep and couldn’t quite orient herself.
“I’m still in the nightmare.”
I answered half-jokingly. Half of my answer held truth, and she looked at me with a flustered expression while glancing around the room.
“Ah! Hello. Good morning.”
“Strictly speaking, it’s night.”
I pointed to the window. Since it was a ship, the small window couldn’t open, but it still showed the night sky filled with starlight outside.
Blinking her eyes, Victoria swung her legs down from the bed.
She looked down at her clothes and was startled.
“My... my clothes! What’s going on? I don’t think I changed before sleeping!”
“I put them in the travel bag and changed you. You should wash up first if you’re awake.”
Victoria, still in a dazed state, looked around as if trying to figure out what was going on before finally standing up.
She made a disgusted face, turned her clothes inside out to check her underwear, and said one thing.
“Changing even my underwear, isn’t that a bit too much?”
“You’ll get sick.”
“Are you my mom now?”
Hygiene is important, especially in a world with somewhat developed technology.
Of course, magic-based healing methods and physical treatments coexist in this world, and even antibiotics are administered through injections, but the more popular methods are often mystical. While magic has some effectiveness, it’s not perfect.
The situation feels like a transitional phase.
While regrowing lost limbs is possible, diseases caused by deadly plagues or contamination are more difficult to heal.
Anyway, as long as we stay careful within what we can handle, we should be fine.
While waiting, Victoria called me from the washroom.
“Hey! Can you come in here?”
“Yes.”
When I entered, Victoria, now completely naked, was floating inside a large water droplet, looking at herself in the mirror.
It was a rather bizarre sight.
A giant water droplet was floating in midair, with Victoria inside it. Her head was sticking out above the droplet.
Though the water was transparent and hard to see, it was spinning inside, washing her body like a washing machine.
Telekinesis. She handles it well.
Victoria, still washing herself in front of the mirror, spoke to me.
“I didn’t expect my hair color to turn completely purple. It’s nice that my skin became pale, but what’s going on with this?”
She asked with a rather blatant posture.
“That happens when you contract with me. If you’re not dying, your hair turns purple, your skin becomes white, and any wounds heal. Your body becomes stronger, your mind sharpens, and sometimes you gain abilities.”
Though, I suspect the abilities awaken only when faced with a reality you can’t escape, but I don’t mention that.
Victoria carefully examined her body before she reached out to me.
Then, the water droplet split and flew toward me, leaving my head exposed while I was submerged in the water.
At first glance, it seemed like an attack, but it wasn’t.
The water droplet, like a washing machine, scrubbed me thoroughly. I must have been quite dirty because the water turned black.
Soon, the droplet fell into the drain.
I didn’t have a speck of water on me but was completely clean.
“Nice ability. You’re using it well.”
“It feels creepy how naturally it moves, like moving your hands and feet. But seriously, are you not a god? If what you said is true, it sounds like it’s amazing. Especially this ability. If it wasn’t granted by a god, then what is it?”
It’s true that there’s a bigger cost, but I don’t mention that.
Instead, I said something else.
“Just so you know, the contract is a one-time thing. Don’t think you can heal with the contract if you get hurt again.”
“Honestly, if I could keep coming back, it would be scary. What else?”
There’s nothing else.
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As I thought about it, I stopped shaking my head.
Actually, there is one more thing.
“If a creature that’s critically wounded contracts with me, its skin turns blue.”
“Blue? I thought my skin looks a bit bluish too, is this it?”
That’s because her skin became pale. Pale skin is sometimes described as bluish, but not in that way.
I pointed to a bright blue painting on one side of the bathroom.
“This color.”
Victoria was startled.
“That color looks like a corpse. People might mistake it for something made by a necromancer. But if it’s only possible once, then it’s not my problem, right?”
For now, that’s true.
But when someone is seriously injured, there’s someone nearby who can heal any wound with supernatural powers.
Accidents can strike suddenly, and scars last a lifetime.
If that happens, I won’t take the blame, so I’m making sure to draw a line in advance.
“I’m not a god, just a simple monster, so remember that.”
Feeling something from my words, Victoria nodded seriously.
Then, she got down and emptied the water into the drain.
There wasn’t a drop of moisture or even humidity left in the washroom.
She’s got an incredibly powerful ability.
I thought to myself that with such power, she could probably dry a person out completely or manipulate their blood.
It’s a work of fiction, but there have been instances where waterbending becomes bloodbending.
But instead of saying that, I said this:
“Quick, get dressed. Before you catch a cold.”
Victoria gave a wry smile.
“Isn’t it strange for you to introduce yourself as a monster while saying that?”
“I have a principle of not lying.”
With that, I left the room and waited for her to get dressed.
When Victoria came out, I realized there wasn’t a trace of moisture left in her hair, so I lowered my hand.
Her telekinesis really is amazing.
Then, Victoria and I sat down across from each other. An awkward atmosphere descended in the moment.
Baaang!
A broadcast sounded over the intercom with a loud horn, announcing our arrival.
After the third announcement, Victoria, as if she had been waiting, spoke.
“We’re not getting off here. We’ll get off at the next stop, so remember that.”
I already knew that, but I nodded as if I didn’t. I’m not planning to tell anyone that I’ve gained the memory of the harvest period. I won’t be doing that anytime soon.
Victoria stared at me intently. From head to toe, she examined me with a scrutinizing gaze.
“By the way, your name. You asked me to choose it earlier.”
By asking that, it meant she had already decided on a name.
“Has the delay ended?”
“Yeah. I thought it would take too long to think of something complicated, so I decided to keep it simple.”
As Victoria waved her finger, the room’s humidity dropped, and a water droplet appeared in front of her.
She moved it and formed letters with it.
“Bell.”
It’s a simple name. Well, that’s fine. It’s just a nickname anyway.
“Bell. Then, from now on, I’ll use this as my name.”
“Isn’t it too simple?”
“I like it that way.”
Victoria sighed in relief.
Actually, knowing Victoria’s naming sense, I’m just glad she kept it simple.
She’s the type to come up with names like “Prototype Consumable Structure ver1.2” or something equally technical.
For reference, that’s Pokarak.
Now you get a sense of her naming style.
“Bell, huh? Pretty? Do you think this face looks pretty?”
“Ah.”
I heard something off. Looking at Victoria, she avoided my gaze with an apologetic expression. Even when I checked Victoria’s memory, no one by the name Bell existed.
“What’s going on?”
“No, it’s just... Please don’t get mad?”
“I’m not mad.”
I wasn’t angry. It’s a little immoral to name someone like that, but I understand the concept of calling an ugly creature “pretty” without fully grasping it.
“I’m hungry, so buy me something to eat. This body needs food soon.”
“You really say things in a weird way. But, yeah, you’re right. Let’s go to a restaurant.”
Victoria has the money.
We left our bags and headed to the restaurant together.