On the way down to the lower levels, I introduced Pigi-maru to Mist.
"Even when no monsters were in sight, I sensed a presence nearby, so I was curious. So that's what it was."
I recalled the conversation right after we passed through the hidden staircase.
"So far, there don't seem to be any monsters around."
"Actually, Hati-dono――"
At that moment, Mist had started to ask something.
She had wanted to say there was a monster's presence.
But I had been operating on the premise of "other than Pigi-maru"...
"Here, Pigi-maru."
"――Pi."
Pigi-maru timidly extended a protrusion toward Mist.
Mist also reached out her hand.
She glanced at me.
"It's all right, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Piii〜... Pi, pi... pi...?"
Pigi-maru was still wary.
The protrusion poked tentatively at Mist's fingertip.
*Boing, boing*
Hesitant and cautious.
Mist's lips curved into a smile, and the tension around her eyes softened.
"I am Mist Barucas. Pleased to meet you, Pigi-maru-dono."
"Pi? Piii... pi... pyuuu〜...♪"
Pigi-maru began rubbing the protrusion against Mist's finger.
Its color shifted to a light pink.
It seemed to have taken a liking to her.
"Fufu, what an adorable slime. Somehow it puts my mind at ease."
"Piii〜♪"
"You've been liked by Pigi-maru, huh... This is the first time it's shown this much favor to anyone besides me."
"Pi!? Pyuuu〜!"
The protrusion suddenly stretched toward me.
*Boing, boing*
A soft, squishy sensation against my cheek.
The pink hue had grown stronger.
Mist covered her mouth.
*Giggle*
"It seems Hati-dono is still number one after all."
"Pi♪"
▽
Monsters attacked periodically.
But each time, Mist cut them all down.
Her battles were flawless.
She was clearly highly skilled.
There was something about her that felt battle-hardened.
We descended through the layers.
We arrived at another area that resembled a residential district.
"Hm?"
A familiar door entered my field of vision.
More precisely, a familiar gem.
The kind that opened when magical essence was channeled into it.
I touched the gem and poured in magical essence.
With a sound, the door opened.
I checked inside cautiously.
It was completely empty.
I stepped in and searched the room.
Nothing particularly caught my eye.
Just some old furniture.
No signs of traps either...
I called to Mist, who was keeping watch outside.
"You can come in now."
"Understood. Excuse me."
Mist entered the room.
"..."
"Something wrong?"
"No."
Was that "excuse me" really necessary just now?
I closed the door and set down my luggage.
I checked my pocket watch.
"We'll take a break here for now."
"Understood."
"You can sleep lightly if you want. I'll wake you when we're ready to move."
Mist's reply came a little late.
"No, I'm fine."
"You look sleep-deprived to me... If you swore not to become a burden, then I'd prefer you at least take a short nap."
Mist lowered her lashes.
"I probably won't be able to sleep anyway."
"I've heard that just lying down can relieve some fatigue. Why not at least spread out your sleeping bag and lie down? If you collapse midway, I'll be the one in trouble."
Mist pondered.
She let out a breath mixed with a faint smile.
"Understood... Then I'll at least lie down."
Mist removed her equipment, starting with the faintly glowing circlet on her forehead.
She spread out her sleeping bag and lay down.
She turned her back toward me.
"Pigi-maru."
"Pi."
I had quietly given Pigi-maru instructions earlier.
To distract Mist.
*Boing!*
Pigi-maru dropped to the floor and returned to its round shape.
It crawled over and stopped in front of Mist's face.
"Pi."
"Pigi-maru-dono...? Is something the matter?"
"Pi!"
"[Sleep]"
"――, ...suu"
[Sleep] took effect on Mist.
She would remain asleep until the gauge ran out.
Deep sleep provided recovery even in a short time.
I had read that somewhere online before.
"If the duration were longer, it might even be usable for treating insomnia..."
Well, whether [Sleep] provided truly restful sleep was still unknown for now.
"Pi, pi, pi, pi, pi."
Pigi-maru swayed from side to side.
Its movements somehow resembled a metronome.
It was... probably watching over Mist.
"Pi?"
At that moment,
"Pipii!?"
Mist's circlet disappeared.
The equipment placed beside the sleeping bag vanished along with it.
Immediately after, a change became apparent in Mist.
"――――――――"
Her ears had transformed.
Long, pointed ears.
Elf...
I moved to the front of the lying Mist.
"Pi?"
"What's this about?"
Pigi-maru seemed to be asking me that.
"To be honest, I had a hunch. But——"
I looked at Mist again.
"This is a surprise."
The change wasn't limited to her ears.
Her face had changed too.
Something had been undone by the current [Sleep].
Even the texture of her hair felt slightly different.
Her features were clearly different.
I couldn't help but catch my breath.
The previous Mist could be called a beautiful woman without issue.
But now——
She was beyond that.
I thought I was used to beautiful women.
For example, my aunt.
In Class 2-C, Sogou Ayaka.
The Takao sisters would also rank among the top beauties.
So I had placed Mist in the same category of "beautiful woman."
However, the current Mist Barucas was different.
How to put it...
It was almost unreal.
More like a sculpted work born from the pursuit of beauty than a living being——
"I see."
"I hear the men and women there are all so beautiful your eyes pop out of your head."
I recalled the conversation at the tavern.
"So this is what a high elf looks like."
The next person who came to mind was Monk Drogetti.
The man who had harassed Mist in the plaza and humiliated himself by mistaking her identity.
He later lost his life in these Mills Ruins.
After Monk harassed Mist in the plaza, I had felt something off.
Monk had far too much certainty.
Why had he been so utterly confident?
That had lingered in my mind.
Mist's head had been covered by her hood at the time.
Normally, no one could have that level of certainty at that point.
He hadn't even seen her face yet.
The natural reaction would be to consider the possibility of a different person.
Yet Monk had held absolute conviction from that moment.
Why?
There had been something——material for that conviction.
For example, the moment I heard her voice, I had realized.
That this was "the woman I met in the dark forest."
Monk must have realized the same.
From hearing Mist's voice.
She probably had some special power to alter her face and ears.
But it seemed to affect only her appearance.
In short, her "voice" could not be changed.
Monk had been obsessively fixated on "Serath Ashrain."
He would never forget that voice and had etched it into his memory.
And the voices matched.
In Monk's mind, they matched perfectly.
"..."
One more thing.
I shifted my gaze to Mist's chest.
There seemed to be no change in her body build——I thought.
From what I could see, only her head had been altered.
I recalled Monk's words again.
"That abundantly ripened, shameless, outrageous chest of hers too! I remember it perfectly!"
He had burned that "chest" into his mind so deeply that he could be confident.
No, burning a chest into memory is questionable in itself...
Even though it was covered by clothing.
But for Monk, it must have been a key distinguishing feature.
Voice and chest.
The traits he had strongly imprinted in his memory.
Because they were so firmly imprinted, he had absolute certainty.
That was why, when the hood came off, Monk had been so greatly confused.
Her facial features and ear shape didn't match his memories.
It must have made no sense to him.
The voice and body build matched perfectly.
Yet the face and ears matched not at all...
"That's... a lie... lie, it's a lie..."
His extreme breakdown made sense now.
I shifted my gaze to the pointed ears.
That happened when Monk had reached out to touch Mist.
Mist had strongly shaken off his hand as if to rebuke him.
"So this is... just a change in appearance? Not so much a transformation as a change in the 'information' reflected in others' eyes...?"
Something like an illusion, perhaps.
I see.
If touched, a discrepancy would arise between visual information and tactile sensation.
That was why Mist had so strongly disliked being touched.
"By the way, are elves strong?"
"They say they borrow the power of spirits to fight."
That was what the men had said at the inn's tavern.
"Illusion is the power of spirits, huh...?"
The ability to see through lies might also come from spirit power.
The circlet.
The equipment.
The armor.
They were probably all equipment that borrowed the power of spirits.
Right now, Mist's spirit power seemed to have been released.
When I had paralyzed her with [Paralyze] before, the effect of the spirit power had persisted.
But,
"It seems that with [Sleep], the spirit power is temporarily lost as well..."
An unexpected advantage of [Sleep] had been discovered.
I looked down at the beautiful bodyguard sleeping with a serene expression.
The blue gauge was slowly decreasing.
"..."
It wasn't confirmed yet.
It could simply be that my hunch had been reinforced.
However, this was almost certainly the case.
The former Holy Knight Commander who had vanished from the Nea Holy Kingdom.
The high elf princess.
The true identity of Mist Barucas was——
"The princess knight, Serath Ashrain."