The Abandoned Saint I Picked Up is a Side Character in an Otome Game and Turns Out to Be the World's Strongest Mage. I Plan to Rescue the Heroine Who Couldn't Achieve Her Happy Ending in a Dungeon. - Chapter 5

After eliminating the pursuers, I returned to the hideout, planning to discuss the future with Ariel.

As I approached the house, I felt an odd sense of unease.

“…Who’s there?”

There was another presence inside—someone other than Ariel.

Very few people would dare to intrude on my hideout uninvited.

Staying on guard, I cautiously opened the front door and made my way to the living room.

Inside, sprawled across the sofa with her kimono lazily undone to expose her stomach, was a familiar blonde girl with fox ears and a tail. She was sound asleep.

Standing beside her, Ariel looked at me with an awkward expression.

“Oh, welcome back, Endo-san. You… have a guest.”

“…Ariel, come here for a moment.”

I gestured for her to come over. She tilted her head in confusion but walked over to me anyway.

As soon as she was clear, I conjured a gatling gun and unleashed a storm of bullets on the sleeping girl.

“Die, you damn pest!!”

“Huh? Gyaaah!?”

“Endo-san!?”

The house partially collapsed under the barrage, but I didn’t care in the slightest.

If she were human, she’d have been turned to mincemeat by now—but this wasn’t enough to kill her.

Discarding the gatling gun, I conjured my next weapon.

At first glance, it looked like a simple iron tube—small enough to carry but with the power of a cannon.

Hoisting it onto my shoulder, I aimed and shouted, “Fire!!”

The recoil-less cannon fired its projectile straight at her. One shot wasn’t enough to satisfy me, so I conjured more shells and fired again and again, pushing my magic to its limits.

Surely, this much damage would leave a mark.

“W-what are you doing all of a sudden?!”

“Tch.”

“Hey! W-wait! Stop! Don’t click your tongue and fire another shot!”

The fox-eared girl emerged from the rubble and quickly hid behind Ariel.

“Hey, pest. Get away from Ariel, or I’ll kill you.”

“Hah! So you can’t harm this girl, can you? As expected of me! My brilliance at identifying your weak spot is unparalleled!”

She grinned smugly, full of self-praise.

As much as I wanted to obliterate her, I couldn’t very well shoot through Ariel. Begrudgingly, I lowered my weapon.

Ariel, meanwhile, looked at me with confusion, clearly puzzled by my hostility.

“Um, Endo-san, do you know this person?”

“She’s not a person. She’s an enemy.”

“Indeed! This man and I share a deep and unbreakable grudge!”

“What… happened between the two of you?”

Ariel tilted her head, clearly trying to understand the situation.

There was no point in hiding it, so I explained.

“Her name’s Kon. She’s the mid-boss of this dungeon.”

The fox-eared girl’s name was Kon.

In the world of Under the Starry Night, there’s a race called beastkin. But Kon is different.

She was originally just a monster, but the dungeon’s creator, a spirit, captured her and gave her the role of guardian. She lived on the dungeon’s middle floors for a long time.

Over time, she evolved into a more human-like form.

In the game, despite being a mid-boss, she was infamous for being nearly unbeatable without top-tier equipment or high levels. Players hated her for it.

However, when I invaded the dungeon, I killed the spirit that ruled it.

With the dungeon’s master gone, the contract binding Kon was partially broken.

Monsters in the dungeon typically revive after a while, but they’re bound by contracts that prevent them from disobeying the spirit. By killing the spirit, I freed Kon, leaving her immortal and with free will.

Since then, she’s been harassing me non-stop.

“She’s a serial thief. She keeps stealing the vegetables I grow behind the house and raiding my stash of dried meat. That’s why I’m exterminating her. Pests need to be eradicated.”

“…You were stealing food?”

“I-it’s not like I was stealing all the time! Sometimes I was just hungry, and it was there, so I… ate it…”

“So, you did steal.”

“Ugh… yes…”

When Ariel pressed her, Kon averted her gaze and nodded sheepishly.

“If you wanted attention, stealing wasn’t the way to go. That’s just going to make people dislike you.”

“W-what!? I told you not to tell him that!”

“…What are you two talking about?”

“Kon-san seems to be very grateful that you freed her by defeating the dungeon’s spirit,” Ariel explained calmly.

I blinked in disbelief.

Grateful?

Kon’s harassment had been so over-the-top that it was hard to believe she felt any kind of gratitude.

“If you’re grateful, stop stealing food. And stop leaving poisonous plants and monster carcasses by my front door.”

“Oh, about the second part, I think that’s a misunderstanding,” Ariel interjected.

“…A misunderstanding?”

“Yes,” Ariel said, glancing at Kon.

Kon shifted uncomfortably under my gaze.

“It seems she wasn’t trying to harass you but was instead leaving gifts—like beautiful flowers or freshly caught monsters—as a form of gratitude.”

“What? Gifts?”

I paused and thought back.

Now that she mentioned it, the so-called “poisonous plants” Kon had brought did have beautiful blossoms.
As for the monster corpses, they were all fresh, still warm from their deaths.

Could it really be that Kon wasn’t trying to harass me, but was instead offering me presents?

“Hey, Kon. Is that true?”

“Wh-what!? No, it’s not! That girl is just spouting nonsense!”

“Just a poor attempt at hiding her embarrassment. You can safely ignore it,” Ariel said calmly.

“Ugh! Shut up! I’m leaving now! I’ll settle our grudge another time!”

With that, Kon dropped to all fours, dashed out of the house, and disappeared through the front door.

I muttered under my breath, “…So this is the infamous Kon Kitsune.”

If all her so-called “harassment” had been motivated by goodwill, then I owed her an apology.

…The next time she shows up, maybe I’ll at least offer her some tea.

But if she steals any more vegetables, I’ll still exterminate her.

“Alright, let’s start fixing up the house.”

“I’ll help,” Ariel offered.

“Then open the windows and sweep out the dust with a broom.”

“Understood.”

I used Earth Magic to repair the parts of the house that had been wrecked by my gatling gun and recoil-less cannon.

It wasn’t perfect—there was still some lingering dust—but it would do for now.

“Alright. Ariel, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“What is it?”

I explained what had happened in the royal capital in simple terms.

I told her how I’d dealt with the pursuers but believed it was likely that I was now being targeted as well.

I also made it clear that if Ariel intended to take a stand against the Kingdom of Andarencia, I would support her to the best of my ability.

Then I asked her directly:

“Ariel, do you want revenge on those people from the Academy?”

“…”

She didn’t answer. Or perhaps, she couldn’t bring herself to answer.

“There’s no rush. Take your time to think it over. We have plenty of time. For now… I’m going to take a bath. I’m filthy after everything that happened.”

“…Alright.”

I left the living room and headed to the bathroom.

Shedding my clothes, I set the shower to a comfortably hot temperature and began washing away the dirt and sweat clinging to my body.

And then, suddenly—

“Excuse me.”

“…What?”

To my disbelief, Ariel entered the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her chest.