The first thing we need to do is gather information, and fortunately, it’s quite easy in this case.
All I have to do is ask these home economics club girls with their drained spirits to show me their memories.
Just by doing that, I feel like I can get all the information about the “ghosts.”
So, one by one, I ask them to “share” their memories with me and took a peek at the memories of all seven of them.
The result is that I’ve learned how these people have recently ended up in this state.
To be precise, it happened three days ago. This explains why Homura-kun didn’t explain why these seven people had lost their vitality. He probably didn’t know either.
However, the crucial part, the cause, remains unclear.
I know that they deviated into a side tunnel of this mine and were trying to mine some ore they found there, but after that, everything is a blank.
Their memories are completely severed, and they have no recollection of what happened next.
Their memories jumped to the point where the mine’s manager was troubled by these seven lifeless individuals.
Well, at least we know the location, which is a good start.
So, we’ve gathered their memories, created a map based on them, and now we’re going to explore the mine using that information.
I’ll be staying behind.
It’s only natural. Our movement speeds are vastly different, and so are our stamina and physical strength.
So, I’m quite a hindrance, as usual. Even if no monsters show up, there are plenty of other potential troubles in a place like this, like cave-ins and whatnot.
I’m left with nothing to do.
I waited near the entrance of the mine with the seven girls.
…These girls aren’t exactly great conversationalists, so it’s been quite boring.
“The weather’s nice, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Feeling hungry?”
“…”
It’s just like this. Maybe I need to use imperative sentences to get a response.
“Raise your hand if you’re hungry!”
Oh, someone raised their hand.
Hmm, maybe this is a way to communicate with them to some extent.
They said they’re hungry, so I set up the lecture hall and brought out the puddings I had prepared in advance.
“Here you go.”
I handed spoons and pudding to all seven of them, but they just held them without moving.
“If you want to eat, you can go ahead.”
I said that, and finally, all seven of them started eating their pudding with the spoons.
“If it’s delicious, look over here.”
I said that, and all seven of them stared at me.
…It seems it’s delicious.
Oh, they’re kind of cute, even though they have no vitality. They also have zero hostility.
Once they finished their pudding, it seems they were satisfied. Even though their expressions didn’t change, I asked them again.
After that, I spent a few hours observing them while waiting for the others to return.
Lunch preparations were completed, and I became idle once again.
…It’s taking a while.
I’m getting worried, so I’ll use a maid doll to check their whereabouts from my field of view.
…Um, they seem to be surrounding some kind of faintly glowing ore and doing something with it.
There doesn’t seem to be any particular abnormality, and it doesn’t seem like they’re in trouble, so it should be okay.
Now, should I go back to weaving or something and wait? Just as I was thinking that, I heard a growl.
…They haven’t moved an inch, but they’re probably hungry.
…
“Um, raise your hand if you want to eat.”
…
Yeah, I made enough for seven extra people. It should be fine.
Today’s lunch is teriyaki chicken rice bowl. The skin is crispy, the inside is juicy, and the sweet and savory teriyaki sauce goes well with the rice.
I also made miso soup and pickles as side dishes and served them along with the meal.
“If you want to eat, you can go ahead.”
I said that, and all seven of them started eating silently. …It seems they wanted to eat. That’s good.
After a while, the others finally returned. Other than looking a bit tired, there doesn’t seem to be anything abnormal about them.
…However, I’m curious about the fact that Kadomi-san and Toriumi-san took off their cloaks and brought something wrapped in them.
“Welcome back. Would you like some food?”
“Yes, please. It might take some time to prepare, right? In the meantime, should we try to restore these seven?”
“I don’t mind. Just wait until they finish eating, okay?”
Otherwise, they might choke.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll try ‘Appraisal’ on them again, but it might take some time because it might be a thorough process.”
…Oh?
It turns out that the cause of these Home Economics Club members becoming soulless beings is a stone that the others brought back wrapped in a cloak. This transparent stone, when subjected to a strong impact, captures whatever is around it at that moment and traps it inside the stone. In the case of these seven, their emotions and will were trapped inside the stone.
Fortunately, reversing this is quite easy. You just need to break the stone that’s containing it.
However, this stone slightly changes from transparent to somewhat gray when “something is inside it.” The problem is that they don’t know exactly what’s inside these stones. So, for now, the plan is to systematically break the stones that were found in the vicinity of where these seven Home Economics Club girls might have been.
Good luck with that.
Since the seven of them finished eating, they were taken outside and the process of restoring them began. The reason for taking them outside is simple: in case they become unruly indoors. I’m sorry, but we don’t trust them that much.
I heard some noises while I was cooking chicken, but I left it alone! If there’s nothing anyone can do about it, there’s nothing I can do either, and I trust that they won’t do anything unreasonable.
Then I heard some voices, or rather screams, and continued noises indicating some commotion, and finally, everyone came back inside.
“We’re back.”
… It seems like everyone has some scratches on their faces and arms.
“What happened there?”
“We were trying to restrain them, and they scratched us.”
… I see.
“How are the seven now?”
“We tied them up and left them because we got hungry! Is the food ready yet?”
“The food is ready. Go ahead and eat. I’ll be back soon.”
Just to be safe, I’ll be in my Rosemary-san form.
When I stepped outside, the seven of them, who had looked so dejected and were rolling on the ground, started to panic when they saw me.
“Untie us! Why are you doing this?”
Because you guys might cause trouble.
“At this rate, those creepy guys will do something to us! Help us!”
I won’t. It’s okay. Don’t worry, I don’t think those guys are interested in three-dimensional objects in the first place.
…Now, I have to remember something important here.
These people are slaves, and I am currently their owner.
And this town is a place where magical tools abound.
“As your owner, I command you to be silent.”
Following the instructions given to me by the people at the mine, I issued the command, and all seven of them fell silent.
…This is the effect of the collars they’re wearing.
I wonder if it’s because the “Enchanted Voice” can work more directly now.
In other words, I can exert considerable pressure and stress when giving commands.
Of course, it’s not absolute.
There’s a limit to its effectiveness, and it depends on the abilities of the caster.
So, giving a highly unreasonable command like “Die,” for example, would probably be difficult to accomplish.
By the way, the contract document seemed to be required due to the functionality of these collars. In other words, that contract document is also one of the magic items.
“As your owner, I command you to honestly express your thoughts on the meal earlier. One at a time, in order.”
“It was delicious.”
“It was okay, I guess?”
“It was quite tasty.”
“It was delicious.”
“It was nothing special.”
“Who do you think you are?”
“I want more! It’s not enough!”
…Alright, so I heard a somewhat desperate voice from one of the girls at the end, but I’ll ignore that for now. This helps me understand how the effectiveness of this spell varies.
It’s really inconsistent, isn’t it, this level of effectiveness?
“Alright. Understood. Then, as your owner, I command you to reflect deeply on your earlier behavior, stay silent, and wait until I return. No escaping! Well, you can breathe!”
With that, I silenced them again and went back inside.
Hmm, what should I do next?
After having lunch, we held a meeting.
“What should we do about them?”
“I think it’s best to take them to the gymnasium group.”
Well, it’s the best housing option for now, and there are a lot of people there, so they might find like-minded individuals.
“But what about the other Home Economics Club members? The Information Room group?”
In terms of numbers, I think the Information Room group is a good choice. They’ll probably finish their work soon anyway.
However, they are a search and rescue group. It might be a bit tough to take the Home Economics Club members, who likely have zero combat experience, with them.
So, it’ll come down to either the Wind Ensemble’s homes or George’s home.
The former might be difficult, and the latter might be the best option.
…Or maybe, if they’ve been self-sufficient until now, we could make sure they can stay in this town and just keep in touch. That could be an option too.
“Well, I’ll transport them once they finish eating.”
Toriumi is offering to help, so I’ll leave it to him.
“Oh, before that, is it okay if I exercise my owner privileges a bit more?”
It’s a rare opportunity, so why not?
“That’s fine, but… What are you doing? Are you still eating?”
“No, there was a girl who said she wanted seconds…”
“I see.”
Should I prepare another serving…
With a small bowl in hand, I went outside, and immediately, things got noisy.
Yep, it seems the commands were working perfectly.
“As your owner, I command you to remain silent until you finish eating. No escaping allowed. And yes, feel free to have seconds.”
I released the restraints on the muscular girl who asked for seconds and handed her the small bowl. She silently expressed her gratitude, but the command to “stay silent” remained in effect. I feel a bit guilty.
I watched the contents of the bowl disappear at an astonishing speed while waiting. Some of them were glaring at me, but others were more indifferent. The muscular girl probably doesn’t have any ill feelings toward me, I assume. Well, in terms of being fed…
After a while, it seemed like they had finished eating, so I cleaned up the tableware.
“Now then… Just so you know, you can consider yourselves saved by us.”
“We didn’t ask for your help.”
“That’s right. We could have left you. Honestly, we don’t really care about you.”
Of course, whether ‘Fragments of the World’ includes students is still unclear, so in that sense, it’s not that we don’t care. We had to rescue everyone, so it was natural to help, but we can keep that part secret.
“But, we helped you out of simple goodwill. Do you understand that?”
“Yeah, thank you!”
Oh, the muscular girl smiled broadly and thanked me.
“You, be quiet!”
She was then glared at by several others and lightly pushed by the girl next to her. That’s a bit pitiful.
“Hey, what’s the point of making us feel indebted to you?”
“That’s fine too. We have plenty of them. Would you like me to extract organs to help people?”
I tried saying that, and they visibly paled and tensed up.
“But I don’t intend to do that.”
Whether organs are included in the Fragments of the World and whether this world even has organ transplant technology are unknown.
“I’ll take you to a safe place from now on. There might be your friends there, and even if not, there will probably be people you get along with. I’ll also provide you with the necessary supplies for living there.”
“Huh?”
“If you want weapons or armor, I can provide those too. If you want to wear a dress and enter high society, I can buy you a noble title. If you want a new house for the Home Economics Club, I can build one for you.”
Even after saying all of this, it seemed like they still didn’t quite understand, but there’s nothing more I can do.
“We can do all of this without much effort. Honestly, even if you try to repay us out of gratitude, I don’t think you can provide us with anything beneficial. So, you don’t need to repay the favor. Just stay healthy and alive, and that’s enough for us.”
Now then, should I transport these people quickly? We have prepared household items in advance, so that should suffice. As I was contemplating this…
From the distant sky, there was a flapping sound of wings and a screeching cry, like “Kyiiiii!”
“W-What’s that!?”
“I, it’s a monster!”
Looking back, I see the spring day at Mount Mikasa… No, wait, it’s a mine with three huge birds coming out of it!
The first thing we need to do is gather information, and fortunately, it’s quite easy in this case.
All I have to do is ask these home economics club girls with their drained spirits to show me their memories.
Just by doing that, I feel like I can get all the information about the “ghosts.”
So, one by one, I ask them to “share” their memories with me and took a peek at the memories of all seven of them.
The result is that I’ve learned how these people have recently ended up in this state.
To be precise, it happened three days ago. This explains why Homura-kun didn’t explain why these seven people had lost their vitality. He probably didn’t know either.
However, the crucial part, the cause, remains unclear.
I know that they deviated into a side tunnel of this mine and were trying to mine some ore they found there, but after that, everything is a blank.
Their memories are completely severed, and they have no recollection of what happened next.
Their memories jumped to the point where the mine’s manager was troubled by these seven lifeless individuals.
Well, at least we know the location, which is a good start.
So, we’ve gathered their memories, created a map based on them, and now we’re going to explore the mine using that information.
I’ll be staying behind.
It’s only natural. Our movement speeds are vastly different, and so are our stamina and physical strength.
So, I’m quite a hindrance, as usual. Even if no monsters show up, there are plenty of other potential troubles in a place like this, like cave-ins and whatnot.
I’m left with nothing to do.
I waited near the entrance of the mine with the seven girls.
…These girls aren’t exactly great conversationalists, so it’s been quite boring.
“The weather’s nice, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Feeling hungry?”
“…”
It’s just like this. Maybe I need to use imperative sentences to get a response.
“Raise your hand if you’re hungry!”
Oh, someone raised their hand.
Hmm, maybe this is a way to communicate with them to some extent.
They said they’re hungry, so I set up the lecture hall and brought out the puddings I had prepared in advance.
“Here you go.”
I handed spoons and pudding to all seven of them, but they just held them without moving.
“If you want to eat, you can go ahead.”
I said that, and finally, all seven of them started eating their pudding with the spoons.
“If it’s delicious, look over here.”
I said that, and all seven of them stared at me.
…It seems it’s delicious.
Oh, they’re kind of cute, even though they have no vitality. They also have zero hostility.
Once they finished their pudding, it seems they were satisfied. Even though their expressions didn’t change, I asked them again.
After that, I spent a few hours observing them while waiting for the others to return.
Lunch preparations were completed, and I became idle once again.
…It’s taking a while.
I’m getting worried, so I’ll use a maid doll to check their whereabouts from my field of view.
…Um, they seem to be surrounding some kind of faintly glowing ore and doing something with it.
There doesn’t seem to be any particular abnormality, and it doesn’t seem like they’re in trouble, so it should be okay.
Now, should I go back to weaving or something and wait? Just as I was thinking that, I heard a growl.
…They haven’t moved an inch, but they’re probably hungry.
…
“Um, raise your hand if you want to eat.”
…
Yeah, I made enough for seven extra people. It should be fine.
Today’s lunch is teriyaki chicken rice bowl. The skin is crispy, the inside is juicy, and the sweet and savory teriyaki sauce goes well with the rice.
I also made miso soup and pickles as side dishes and served them along with the meal.
“If you want to eat, you can go ahead.”
I said that, and all seven of them started eating silently. …It seems they wanted to eat. That’s good.
After a while, the others finally returned. Other than looking a bit tired, there doesn’t seem to be anything abnormal about them.
…However, I’m curious about the fact that Kadomi-san and Toriumi-san took off their cloaks and brought something wrapped in them.
“Welcome back. Would you like some food?”
“Yes, please. It might take some time to prepare, right? In the meantime, should we try to restore these seven?”
“I don’t mind. Just wait until they finish eating, okay?”
Otherwise, they might choke.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll try ‘Appraisal’ on them again, but it might take some time because it might be a thorough process.”
…Oh?
It turns out that the cause of these Home Economics Club members becoming soulless beings is a stone that the others brought back wrapped in a cloak. This transparent stone, when subjected to a strong impact, captures whatever is around it at that moment and traps it inside the stone. In the case of these seven, their emotions and will were trapped inside the stone.
Fortunately, reversing this is quite easy. You just need to break the stone that’s containing it.
However, this stone slightly changes from transparent to somewhat gray when “something is inside it.” The problem is that they don’t know exactly what’s inside these stones. So, for now, the plan is to systematically break the stones that were found in the vicinity of where these seven Home Economics Club girls might have been.
Good luck with that.
Since the seven of them finished eating, they were taken outside and the process of restoring them began. The reason for taking them outside is simple: in case they become unruly indoors. I’m sorry, but we don’t trust them that much.
I heard some noises while I was cooking chicken, but I left it alone! If there’s nothing anyone can do about it, there’s nothing I can do either, and I trust that they won’t do anything unreasonable.
Then I heard some voices, or rather screams, and continued noises indicating some commotion, and finally, everyone came back inside.
“We’re back.”
… It seems like everyone has some scratches on their faces and arms.
“What happened there?”
“We were trying to restrain them, and they scratched us.”
… I see.
“How are the seven now?”
“We tied them up and left them because we got hungry! Is the food ready yet?”
“The food is ready. Go ahead and eat. I’ll be back soon.”
Just to be safe, I’ll be in my Rosemary-san form.
When I stepped outside, the seven of them, who had looked so dejected and were rolling on the ground, started to panic when they saw me.
“Untie us! Why are you doing this?”
Because you guys might cause trouble.
“At this rate, those creepy guys will do something to us! Help us!”
I won’t. It’s okay. Don’t worry, I don’t think those guys are interested in three-dimensional objects in the first place.
…Now, I have to remember something important here.
These people are slaves, and I am currently their owner.
And this town is a place where magical tools abound.
“As your owner, I command you to be silent.”
Following the instructions given to me by the people at the mine, I issued the command, and all seven of them fell silent.
…This is the effect of the collars they’re wearing.
I wonder if it’s because the “Enchanted Voice” can work more directly now.
In other words, I can exert considerable pressure and stress when giving commands.
Of course, it’s not absolute.
There’s a limit to its effectiveness, and it depends on the abilities of the caster.
So, giving a highly unreasonable command like “Die,” for example, would probably be difficult to accomplish.
By the way, the contract document seemed to be required due to the functionality of these collars. In other words, that contract document is also one of the magic items.
“As your owner, I command you to honestly express your thoughts on the meal earlier. One at a time, in order.”
“It was delicious.”
“It was okay, I guess?”
“It was quite tasty.”
“It was delicious.”
“It was nothing special.”
“Who do you think you are?”
“I want more! It’s not enough!”
…Alright, so I heard a somewhat desperate voice from one of the girls at the end, but I’ll ignore that for now. This helps me understand how the effectiveness of this spell varies.
It’s really inconsistent, isn’t it, this level of effectiveness?
“Alright. Understood. Then, as your owner, I command you to reflect deeply on your earlier behavior, stay silent, and wait until I return. No escaping! Well, you can breathe!”
With that, I silenced them again and went back inside.
Hmm, what should I do next?
After having lunch, we held a meeting.
“What should we do about them?”
“I think it’s best to take them to the gymnasium group.”
Well, it’s the best housing option for now, and there are a lot of people there, so they might find like-minded individuals.
“But what about the other Home Economics Club members? The Information Room group?”
In terms of numbers, I think the Information Room group is a good choice. They’ll probably finish their work soon anyway.
However, they are a search and rescue group. It might be a bit tough to take the Home Economics Club members, who likely have zero combat experience, with them.
So, it’ll come down to either the Wind Ensemble’s homes or George’s home.
The former might be difficult, and the latter might be the best option.
…Or maybe, if they’ve been self-sufficient until now, we could make sure they can stay in this town and just keep in touch. That could be an option too.
“Well, I’ll transport them once they finish eating.”
Toriumi is offering to help, so I’ll leave it to him.
“Oh, before that, is it okay if I exercise my owner privileges a bit more?”
It’s a rare opportunity, so why not?
“That’s fine, but… What are you doing? Are you still eating?”
“No, there was a girl who said she wanted seconds…”
“I see.”
Should I prepare another serving…
With a small bowl in hand, I went outside, and immediately, things got noisy.
Yep, it seems the commands were working perfectly.
“As your owner, I command you to remain silent until you finish eating. No escaping allowed. And yes, feel free to have seconds.”
I released the restraints on the muscular girl who asked for seconds and handed her the small bowl. She silently expressed her gratitude, but the command to “stay silent” remained in effect. I feel a bit guilty.
I watched the contents of the bowl disappear at an astonishing speed while waiting. Some of them were glaring at me, but others were more indifferent. The muscular girl probably doesn’t have any ill feelings toward me, I assume. Well, in terms of being fed…
After a while, it seemed like they had finished eating, so I cleaned up the tableware.
“Now then… Just so you know, you can consider yourselves saved by us.”
“We didn’t ask for your help.”
“That’s right. We could have left you. Honestly, we don’t really care about you.”
Of course, whether ‘Fragments of the World’ includes students is still unclear, so in that sense, it’s not that we don’t care. We had to rescue everyone, so it was natural to help, but we can keep that part secret.
“But, we helped you out of simple goodwill. Do you understand that?”
“Yeah, thank you!”
Oh, the muscular girl smiled broadly and thanked me.
“You, be quiet!”
She was then glared at by several others and lightly pushed by the girl next to her. That’s a bit pitiful.
“Hey, what’s the point of making us feel indebted to you?”
“That’s fine too. We have plenty of them. Would you like me to extract organs to help people?”
I tried saying that, and they visibly paled and tensed up.
“But I don’t intend to do that.”
Whether organs are included in the Fragments of the World and whether this world even has organ transplant technology are unknown.
“I’ll take you to a safe place from now on. There might be your friends there, and even if not, there will probably be people you get along with. I’ll also provide you with the necessary supplies for living there.”
“Huh?”
“If you want weapons or armor, I can provide those too. If you want to wear a dress and enter high society, I can buy you a noble title. If you want a new house for the Home Economics Club, I can build one for you.”
Even after saying all of this, it seemed like they still didn’t quite understand, but there’s nothing more I can do.
“We can do all of this without much effort. Honestly, even if you try to repay us out of gratitude, I don’t think you can provide us with anything beneficial. So, you don’t need to repay the favor. Just stay healthy and alive, and that’s enough for us.”
Now then, should I transport these people quickly? We have prepared household items in advance, so that should suffice. As I was contemplating this…
From the distant sky, there was a flapping sound of wings and a screeching cry, like “Kyiiiii!”
“W-What’s that!?”
“I, it’s a monster!”
Looking back, I see the spring day at Mount Mikasa… No, wait, it’s a mine with three huge birds coming out of it!
