Chapter 112 - Chapter 112: Capable of Changing Form at Will
I met a man who descended from the sky riding a large, black bird in the city.
He claimed to be an Apostle—a messenger of God—and used a power unlike anything derived from the dungeon, a power I had never seen before.
Whether it was magic or something else, I couldn't tell.
If it is magic, it might provide a hint for clearing Floor 7 of the dungeon.
I decided to make a deal with the man.
In exchange for providing the information he holds, I will guarantee his and his companions' food, clothing, and shelter.
I don't know if he's lying or telling the truth, but he says he came from another world.
I myself am half-skeptical about such a story, yet his strange power and the power Sana received fit together with various other things.
It seems that if one becomes a believer of the god whom the man serves as an Apostle, black patterns will appear on their body and they will receive various abilities.
Before I could even speak, Sana already knew that the Saintess possessed power.
I don't know where it came from, but I also heard a mysterious voice.
I am interested in the man's abilities, but if he truly came from another world, he must possess many valuable pieces of information that we do not have.
I invited the man to a hotel and decided to treat him to the accommodation costs.
"Hey, I have money."
Information is a weapon.
Even if I spend hundreds of millions of yen, it is cheap if I can obtain unknown information.
For now, I decided to ask him what the black tentacles he calls Shazam actually are.
"What about those black tentacles? Is it magic?"
"This? Well... I suppose it counts as a living creature."
He seems to be struggling with his answer as well.
"A living creature?"
"Yes, it has intelligence roughly equivalent to a child's, and it can transform into various things."
"Indeed, it was in the form of a bird. Can it fly when it becomes a bird?"
"The one flying in the sky was using the power of my black hole."
Sana also said there is a black hole in front of him.
It seems the black tentacles are emerging from there as well.
"I can't see the hole, but does it really exist?"
"You will be able to see it if you become a believer of Izal."
He—Tetsuo—showed the power of the hole.
He pulled a steel reinforcement bar out of my Item Box.
"Iron? That's just right."
Tetsuo swung the steel bar, and it was cleanly severed in the middle, falling onto the carpet.
"It cut?!"
"Isn't that a cutting magic?"
Kaorulko, who had arranged the tableware, looked at the cut surface of the steel bar with great interest.
I served rice on a plate and poured curry over it.
"No—it gets sucked into the hole if it's directly above it, and it cuts if it touches the edge."
Like the dimension slash seen in anime and manga, it says it can sever anything.
"That means it's invisible and almost invincible, isn't it?"
"Well, yes. If you throw a corpse into the hole, there won't be any evidence left."
Tetsuo threw the remaining steel bar into the hole, and it disappeared immediately.
If what he says is true, it must have been sucked somewhere.
He says it is unknown where it goes.
"That's too vicious..."
"I used this guy as the god's vanguard to kill, kill, and kill some more—hahaha!"
"For now, please eat the curry."
"Oh! This is delicious!"
Apparently hungry, Tetsuo scooped up the curry with a spoon and shoved it into his mouth.
The high school girl who came with him was eating silently as well.
She seemed like a proper young lady, so I was worried about the curry, but since she didn't make a face that looked like it tasted bad, she must be fine.
"Does it suit your palate?"
"It's been a while since I had decent curry, hahaha! It's delicious!"
"There are curries that aren't decent?"
"In the other world where I lived, there was a gate connected to another dimension, and you could pick up things from this world there."
He's saying something ridiculous again.
"So, this world and the other world are connected...?"
"Well, since I actually go back and forth, the god must be able to do it."
"In that case, maybe the dungeon is also connected to some other world... or something?"
"There is a possibility of that."
"Darling, I don't understand the story..."
The Princess had a spoon in her mouth.
"Yes, sorry—in plain terms, it seems Tetsuo came from another world."
"Darling... I want to believe you, but that is a bit too..."
It seems the Princess doesn't quite believe it.
"Greetings, I am Tetsuo. Watashi, Isekai kara, yattekita aru yo."
"Why are you suddenly speaking in broken Japanese?"
"Hahaha, I thought it would look more convincing."
"...In the other world, do you converse in a different language?"
Kaorulko seemed somewhat interested.
"Humans like us—commoners—speak the Common Language. Elves speak Elvish, and sometimes you see Beastmen and Lizardmen languages."
"There are that many languages?"
The Princess was still half-skeptical about Tetsuo's story...
"Well, yes."
"He seems to be able to speak all languages with the ability he got from the god."
"The god?"
Her face darkened again, clearly looking suspicious.
Well, that's natural.
I think so too.
"I was helped quite a bit by this blessing, so I am grateful to the god."
"Are you really able to speak all languages?"
"I know I'm right to be skeptical, but it's true."
"Il est difficile de le croire, mais......"
"Bien sûr."
Tetsuo and Kaorulko were chatting fluently in English and some other language.
I think it's probably French.
"Amazing! You really can speak them."
"Of course, hahaha!"
As a test, I let them listen to a conversation in Swahili from a video site.
"This region is a low depression, and many animals gather in the pond formed there—right?"
"Oh, that's correct!"
"Haha, atari kishariki no atabou yo!"
While eating curry, I listened to his stories about the other world.
It seems to be a fantasy world of swords and magic, just as I imagined.
"I have my admiration, but... I don't think I want to go. It's inconvenient, isn't it?"
"Yes, that's true. There's no internet or anything. It's a world where morals don't exist, and whatever you do goes."
"It would be fun like a sightseeing trip, but living there..."
"Still, where you live is your capital..."
"There are certainly fun things too..."
"That's right."
As I heard earlier—in the world where he was, there was a gate created by the god, and various things are excavated from there.
"What kind of things are excavated?"
"Popular items are glass and plastic."
"Plastic? Things like that come out?"
"Where there is a gate, many merchants gather and a town is formed."
"~, so it's used like a mine then?"
Thinking about it, the dungeon in the Special District also functions as a mine for Tokyo.
Is it something similar?
"Yes, yes, books come out too, and my research team of mages and I deciphered things that couldn't be deciphered until now."
He seems to be a person of considerable status even in the other world.
Well, he is a messenger of the god.
I asked about magic as well, and it seems not much different from magic usable within the dungeon.
"Do you have anything rare?"
"Something that doesn't exist in this world?"
"For example, magic items..."
"Here, here."
He held up the bag he produced first.
The bag was adorned with beautiful embroidery.
"What is that?"
"This..."
When he put his hand into the bag, something that looked like a lamp appeared on the table.
A metal umbrella, a glass cylinder—it didn't seem to be a fuel lamp... but more importantly!
"Eh?! Item Box?!"
"This is a Magic Bag."
Magic Bag, Magic Bag, It's Here!
The moment I saw that item appearing before my eyes, excitement welled up from deep within my chest and ran through my whole body.
My heart beat as if I had finally held a toy I had admired since I was a child.
"If it's a Magic Bag, can anyone use it?!"
"Yes."
"Sell it to me!"
Before me, the Princess stood up.
It seems she finally believed that Tetsuo came from another world.
"No, no, Princess. It would make more money to sell it to the group? The world will change!"
"U!?"
"I see, there are no Magic Bags in this world. Well, the world might change then."
"Is that bag something special?"
"No, this is a common general-purpose item. There are slightly more expensive ones that have restrictions so only the person who put things in can take them out."
Even without such a function, the fact that you can cram things into a limited space would turn the world upside down.
"I have a big company acquaintance. If we sell it there, a huge amount of money will come in. We can get the initial funds, and there, we might be able to handle the National Card as well."
"We don't really need money, but having a National Card would be nice~"
"Yes, it will probably be fine."
Kaorulko nodded while staring at the Magic Bag.
If it's the Yaegashi Group, they can probably manage a National Card.
"I think selling to the country is more reliable—but still, the Yaegashi Group can negotiate better. Kako is there too."
"Mmm..."
The Princess made a dissatisfied face.
She probably doesn't want to rely on her family of origin after running away.
For now, the Princess decided to try the Magic Bag.
"Please don't take out anything strange, hahaha."
"Strange things?"
She was on guard.
"Since it's a general-purpose bag, I think it doesn't contain anything important..."
"There seems to be something like a machine... Hah!"
What she took out was a flat, plate-like item.
Something was engraved on top.
"Oh, that's a Magic Stove."
"Eh?! A stove?! Could it be a magic stove?!"
"Yes, yes. If you insert a Magic Stone on the side, heating begins. Do you have a Magic Stone?"
I took a small Magic Stone out of my Item Box and handed it to him.
When Tetsuo held it tight, blue light gradually began to shine within the black Magic Stone.
"Are you putting mana into it?"
"Yes, yes."
"I only just found out recently that you can imbue Magic Stones with mana like that."
"Do you know that you can activate magic using the mana stored in Magic Stones?"
"How do you do that?!"
Now Kaorulko stood up.
"I have mana too, but I can't use magic itself, so I don't know how it's actually done."
"I-is that so... but there is that method."
"Yes, mages used it as support when casting big magic."
"I see... such a usage... if that's possible..."
While Kaorulko muttered to herself, Tetsuo inserted the Magic Stone next to the machine called the stove.
"Amazing! It's really getting warm!"
The Princess was impressed by the stove that moves with magic.
"There are various methods—but with this one, you can adjust the heat output by the position where you insert the stone."
"This is amazing! This increases the uses for Magic Stones, and the buyback price will go up too."
"Here, aren't Magic Stones used like semiconductors?"
"Yes, that's right. There was no use for small scrap stones. Do you think this can be used inside the dungeon?"
"Inside the dungeon, electronic devices are completely useless, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"In the world where I was, there was no electricity, so that was normal... but this uses only magical power, so I think it will work..."
"It seems we won't know unless we actually try it—is the lamp the same?"
I asked about the lamp he produced first as well.
"This one is also a lamp powered by a Magic Stone."
When he took the Magic Stone out of the stove, he opened the lid at the bottom of the lamp and threw it inside.
Then, the inside of the glass tube began to shine brightly.
"This is amazing! Light! We don't need the Light magic anymore!"
"It saves magic, so it's a help."
As Kaorulko said, being able to use light without using magic when mana is at its limit is good.
You just need to store mana in the Magic Stone when you have a surplus.
"This will sell too!"
"I see, even these things make money. But, even if I get Japanese money, it won't do me any good..."
"Indeed, in the other world, electronic money has no use."
"In that case, just pay me in bullion."
It was the Princess's proposal, and it was correct.
Gold and silver must be valuable things even in the other world.
"Indeed, that's true... they use gold coins and silver coins in the other world..."
"Gems would be good too."
"What about high-level cutting techniques like Earth's jewelry?"
"I haven't seen many gems, but gems held by nobles are often just ordinary stones, so that might be good."
"If we brought solar panels, could we use home appliances in the other world?"
"Oh! That's interesting! Thinking about it, selling the lamp and stove might be okay."
"Wait a minute, Darling!"
"Eh? What's wrong?"
"The story is progressing, but there is a possibility of a high-level scam orchestrated by this man!"
"Black Shazam or whatever, it doesn't look like a scam at all to me?"
"I, I suppose so..."
"Can Shazam do anything else?"
At my suggestion, Tetsuo seemed somewhat troubled.
Well, even if the Princess doesn't believe him, he shouldn't be troubled.
"Umm? You saw Shazam transform into a bird, right?"
"Yes, it was flying in the sky."
"Then, let's try transforming into a horse. She is good at that."
He says that since there are many horses in the other world, he transforms into a horse often.
"Is Shazam female?"
"No, it has no gender, but somehow it ended up being called 'she'. Hahaha."
From in front of him, a pitch-black tentacle squirmed and crawled out.
It slowly twisted, changing shape as if it had its own will, intertwining with itself.
Soon, the writhing of the tentacles converged and transformed into limbs with supple yet overwhelming muscles.
A body surface glossy like obsidian took shape, revealing thickly developed pectoral muscles and the strong contours of shoulders.
Thick, robust, and glossy hooves formed at the feet to trample the earth, and a long, flowing black tail swayed as if it were a living creature.
Finally, the head took shape, opening sharp, glowing black eyes and glaring around the surroundings.
Click, click, the sound of metal rubbing echoed, and tack appeared one after another.
A supple black leather saddle was attached as if sticking to its back, and beautiful silver-plated reins and a bridle danced in the air before settling at the horse's mouth, while sturdy stirrups with chains were fixed in place.
When an exquisite chest plate covering the body was attached, it exuded the dignity of a king of the battlefield.
The only difference from a normal horse is that its breathing isn't rough.
And it doesn't smell.
"Ooh~! Amazing, it looks like a real horse!"
"At first, the shape was quite suspicious, and the way it walked was suspicious too. As I repeated the transformations, I got better at it."
"You really can't tell unless you get close, right?"
"Right? It can also take human form—Shazam."
The pitch-black horse stood proudly for that moment—its massive body suddenly wavered, distorted like ripples.
The horse's muscular limbs melted and flowed down as a glossy black liquid.
The torso, which was muscular, gradually tightened, and the part that was the horse's head smoothly deformed, changing into a rounded human face.
Thin, supple fingers emerged from the black slime.
Soon, the whole body took the shape of a human woman, and as the black fluid was absorbed into the body and converged, the figure was revealed.
Plump breasts were fully ripe, and a smoothly tightened waist became slender.
The hips connected from there swelled powerfully yet femininely, with a solid fleshiness creating an erotic silhouette.
While we were surprised, something crawled out from in front of Tetsuo with a rustling sound.
Green cloth moved smoothly like a snake, dancing in the air and wrapping around her naked body.
The cloth wrapped her body, changed shape into a moist robe, tangled around the waist, and fitted tightly to the body without sagging.
Sleeves wrapping around her long, supple arms spread gently, a flowing hem took shape at her feet—and finally, a hood slipped down from above her head, covering her glossy black hair as if to hide it.
"This is amazing too!"
"How is it? If you hide your face, you can't distinguish it from a human, right?"
"Yes, it really looks like a human."
If I look closely, I can tell it's clearly different.
They say using glass balls for eyes and dentures would make it even closer to human, but there's probably no need to go that far.
While we were surprised, Shazam, who had changed into a woman's form, hugged Tetsuo.
"Since it's watching my family, when it takes human form, it mimics things like this too."
"It's not affectionate, is it?"
"No, it is affectionate, but..."
When he stroked Shazam's head, she made happy gestures as well.
Since it was said to have intelligence roughly equivalent to a child's, it might have emotions too.
"The size of the body is also free, right?"
"Yes, it can become a man or a child. Even the breast size is free, hahaha!"
When he made Shazam's breasts huge, the robe looked like it was about to burst.
"If you can do this, it's not a scam anymore, right? Princess?"
"Mmm..."
"Then, quickly, let's go to the dungeon and try the stove and lamp."
"Good! That's best!"
She seems to want to be clear about it too.
"Tetsuo, is that okay?"
"Of course. Since the god's purpose seems to be in that dungeon, we have to go there for now."
"Is that god real too?"
The Princess seemed to believe in the other world, but she is still suspicious of the god.
"Didn't Sana get a power not derived from the dungeon?"
"Yes, that thing where magic can be used even away from the dungeon."
"It seems to be given by Tetsuo's god."
"..."
She made a strange face.
Perhaps she can't believe that far.
"Well, even if you don't believe me, I'll just complete the work from the god and go home."
"Don't you want to return to Japan?"
"Yes, I have family in the other world."
"I see."
Even if the Princess doesn't believe, the Magic Stone lamp and stove can be used.
If we research and commercialize them, this world might change.
No, it will definitely change.
It's a paradigm shift.
We decided to go to the dungeon immediately to try if they work.
If they don't work, it's back to square one, but with the power he holds, we can clear Floor 7.
Just that alone, the merit of assisting Tetsuo is great.
"What about Aoi?"
Tetsuo spoke to the high school girl who had been listening silently.
"I will go to the dungeon too."
"Do you intend to become an adventurer?"
"Not following the track decided by my parents, I want to try doing something myself."
Hearing that, the Princess clapped her hands.
"That's a good thing! I was like that too!"
"Yes! Thank you very much."
"I think you need a steel spirit, and it will be tough..."
As an old man, I can't really recommend it.
"If I were you, I'd think, 'Why are you sucking on a parent with thick thighs?' hahaha!"
It seems my thoughts and Tetsuo's are similar.
Does it mean there are such worries even if you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth?
Let's end the conversation here and head for the dungeon.
We all went out to the hotel corridor.
"Are you going out?!"
"Are you going out?!"
Sana and the chinpira from Tetsuo's group came out at the same time.
"By the way, what is his name?"
It's no good calling him a chinpira forever.
"It doesn't matter—but it was written Ichiro on the National Card, I think."
"That's terrible!"
"We're going to the dungeon now, are you coming too?"
Tetsuo was talking to Ichiro as well.
"It seems I have no choice but to become an adventurer, so I'll go too."
"It seems even yakuza can't touch you if you're in the Special District."
"I don't understand much, but a dungeon?! I'm going too!"
Sana raised her hand.
"Hmph!"
Again, Sana and the Princess were glaring at each other.
For now, we have to check if the lamp and stove work.
After all, the world might really be turned upside down.