Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter

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“Are you listening to me?”

“I’m listening.”

“U-Um…”

After returning to Rio’s house, Pumpkin was made to sit upright on the ground while Kozo gave him a sermon.

Around them were the elf and lizardman who had gone to call people to Rio who looked like she didn’t know what to do. Then there was a new face… or rather, a churchman whom the lizardman would have called. From the color of the magic, Pumpkin guessed his race was birdman. Even his feathers can be seen. 

Pumpkin was, to put it mildly, perplexed by the three of them, including the birdman.

“It appears like you weren’t paying attention to me, from what I can tell.”

“Hahaha! My face is like this to begin with.”

Kozo grasped his head as he glared at Pumpkin, but compared to that dark magic, it wasn’t terrifying at all.

“I mean, why do you need to be furious with me over saving a single person?”

“You have my appreciation for dispelling the spell imposed on Rio’s mother. But! How many people do you think have fainted because of the magic power you unleashed when you returned the curse? Even though no one was hurt, one wrong move and it could have been a catastrophe!!”

“I wouldn’t know that…”

There was no way such a degree of danger would have arisen, notwithstanding Kozo’s violent shaking of his head.

And to the Kunukihappy residents: please do not pass out from that amount of magic power output. Since I controlled it properly, the amount of magic power that leaked out into the surroundings must have been very minimal.

Furthermore, it wasn’t that black magic power that leaked out, but my own magic power. There would be no immediate harm even if it was converted into magic; at best, it would be a slightly stronger gust of wind.

“Hah… this pumpkin has a face that tells me I don’t know what you’re talking about huh…”

“~~♪”

You’re spot on, Kozo ojii-san. Hahaha.

I have neither regrets nor remorse!

“Do we have an agreement?”

“Ah, I get it. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Thanks then.”

Pumpkin dismissed Kozo’s persistent glare and faced the man in the human priest’s uniform.

“So, Pumpkin-san… that’s your name, right?”

“Oh, yeah. I am Pumpkin. Who are you?”

“I am one of the priests of the Temple of Creation here in Kunukihappy, and my name is Plein.”

The birdman’s priest, Plein, gave a light bow, and Pumpkin responded in kind, after which he stood up.

But still, the Temple of Creation huh? According to Mizuki, they are the God of Creation (lol). Well, I don’t particularly mind if they are saving ordinary people. I don’t even worship them.

I have to concentrate on Plein-san’s story.

“First of all, Ryoko = Houki… Oh, I am referring to Rio’s mother. Thank you for saving her.”

“Don’t worry about it, I only saved her by chance. I’m sorry I ended up taking your job.”

“No, people’s lives come first, so an apology is unnecessary. However, I’m curious as to how in the world did you manage to repel such a curse? Even though Ryoko-san is currently sound asleep, her condition suggests that the curse must have been fairly powerful.”

“Ah… my personal skills and magic have quite a bit to do with it, so it’s probably impossible for you to attempt the same trick, you know?”

“I’m fine with that. Even if I can’t use it directly, it might be a hint for me to save people in the future.”

Pumpkin fixed his gaze into Plein’s eyes with some magic power in them.

Plein, nonetheless, didn’t even try to disengage his gaze; instead projected a sincere desire at the holes in his eyes with a sincere wish to be enlightened by him.

In a sense, Plein would be what one would label a fanatic. The ideal embodiment of a follower of God, however, might be seen in the way he would guide and help others without regard for himself for the sake of the community.

Well, not that I know anything about the doctrines of the Temple of Creation anyway.

I’ll still tell you, though. Even if I teach you, I doubt that you will be able to carry it out.

“Okay, I’ll just leave out some details.”

“Thank you!”

Therefore, he told Plein what had he done without mentioning [Resonance] or being able to see the color of the magic power.

“Well, I guess that’s about it.”

“I see, I see.”

“Pumpkin-san. You did something like that?”

[[[…]]]

And here was the response from them.

From the top, it was Pumpkin himself, Plein with an admiring look on his face, Rio with a convinced expression, and Kozo with a vacant stare.

I mean, don’t Kozo ojii-san’s cheeks looked strained? Well, forget it.

“But this is certainly something I can’t imitate.”

“I mean, I had Rio’s cooperation and Ryoko-san’s, right? If her magic power wasn’t an attribute somewhat similar to mine, I don’t think I could have pulled it off.”

These were indeed genuine words.

Hypothetically speaking, if Ryoko’s magic power was closer to red instead of green, Pumpkin certainly could not have saved her.

Pumpkin was unclear because he had never experimented with it, but he believed that even the human body would be subject to [Overburst] and that transfusion of magic would essentially require tremendous care, control of magic power, and specialized knowledge as opposed to blood transfusion.

If an ordinary person were to imitate his trick, at the very least there would have to be a way to change the attribute of magic at will and some method to know the exact color of the other person’s magic.

“But that was informative. Now that there are examples, perhaps someday I will be capable of doing it. I’ll continue to work hard on my training.”

“Yeah. Even I still have a lot to learn, so I’ll do my best.”

“I’ll strive to ensure that this won’t happen again too!”

[[Eh!?]]

“That’s a frightening inadequacy of training…”

Ultimately, it was decided that Rio would be escorted by Plein, an Elf and Lizardman combination, purely out of caution… By the way, the elf woman’s name was Iris and the lizardman man’s name was Crave. Leaving them behind, Pumpkin and Kozo returned to the inn.

Yeah. According to my schedule today, I was going to wrap up my shopping and leave today but… well, this is fine. I’m glad to know that I saved someone’s life.

————

T/N:

Ryoko = Houki meaning will be revealed in the next chapter. Those who read Outer World Story: The Black Mist that Devours will have an inkling of what it meant anyway