Volume 1 Chapter 12 (1/2)

We have been back and forth to the [Crimson Cavern] for about three weeks now ever since our first visit there.

Today was no exception.

Tenko was sprinting inside the cave. She found an enemy.

The target this time was a red falcon gliding in the sky.

Of course, it was no ordinary falcon. It was a C rank monster, the Fire-eater bird.

It was going to swoop in from high above, using its sharp beak and talons to attack.

Although it’s what one might call a narrow cave, the falcon flew while it skillfully maneuvered itself.

Catching the Fire-eater bird would have probably been a difficult task. But not for Tenko.

“Give up!”

She fired her shotgun, a Remilton M870P.

She was properly making use of the two kinds of bullets. The one she fired this time was a shotshell.

It was a kind of bullet that bursts out after it was fired from the boorish gun.

And so, the shotshell scattered in a wide arc and the red falcon flying at a high speed in the air was easily hit. The red falcon was hit in the wing and came crashing down.

Following it up, Tenko charged. She slid the pump along the gun’s barrel, agilely loading the next bullet. Her shotgun was loaded with alternating rounds of shotshells and slugs and the next to be fired was, of course, the ultra-high powered slug shell.

She hit the enemy in the torso and made the red falcon’s body scatter.

“How was it, Oto-san? Did you see!?”

She turned around in glee.

“Yeah, I saw it clearly. You were amazing, Tenko.”

“Yay! ♪”

Her fox tail was swinging.

She liked hunting and goes into a good mood whenever she moved her body.

As of late, I had deployed just a few Skeletons whose duty was only to guard our backs. I then left all the enemies ahead to Tenko. I have done so because it was a waste to share experience points to the Skeletons who have already reached their maximum level. Their maximum level if made to be able to grow, by the way, was 20.

Besides all that, I just wanted to let Tenko do whatever pleased her.

“Let’s head back little by little.”

“Alright, Oto-san.”

Fatigue would hinder our judgment so it was better to not to exhaust ourselves and save some strength for the way back.

Hunting each day made Tenko’s level rise to 30 while I was a bit behind at 29.

From around the time she reached level 30, her level up progression was almost unmoving. According to Succubus, high ranking monsters had a harder time to go up in levels. Our levels would probably not move much after this if we only fought C rank monsters as our enemies.

“Oto-san, may we eat something delicious after we got back?”

“Leave it to me.”

My level has increased and so did my MP. It rose to 3450 so I had some leeway on my MP usage. That leeway mostly consisted of fulfilling Tenko’s wishes though.

Today, I’ll fully restore her spirits.

“It’s finally tomorrow, huh.”

“What is it, Oto-san? Why are you grinning?”

“Tenko will soon have a little brother or sister.”

Medals could only be made once a month and the privilege to make one would finally return to me tomorrow.

“Tenko’s… little brother or sister?”

“Yes. I’ll create it using my [Creation] medal, the [Earth] medal I got from Marcho, and then an imitation medal. The new monster will be another S rank monster like Tenko.”

“……S rank.”

I recalled what Marcho told me. If both the medals used were A rank medals, there was a 1/3 chance to have a B rank monster and a 2/3 chance to have an A rank monster.

And if A rank and B rank medals were used, there was a 2/3 chance to create a B rank monster and a 1/3 chance to have an A rank monster.

Now, if my A rank Creation medal was then added, it’s alright to think that the results would go up by an entire rank.

In other words, if I used my medal with the A rank [Earth] original medal and a B rank imitation of either [Beast], [Person], or [Flame], there was a possibility that an S rank monster would be born.

And a possibility was all I needed.

My [Creation] medal states that: 『It allows the maker to choose the desired outcome out of the myriads of possible outcomes』.

In short, an S rank was pretty much guaranteed.

Although, if the imitation medal wasn’t an imitation of an A rank medal, the possibility of creating an S rank monster wouldn’t exist in the first place.

……But this was something I only knew by intuition.

S rank was the highest rank. All the monsters that can no longer be sorted as an A rank were all together at S rank. By that definition, each S rank monster would not be the same as the others in terms of their capabilities.

S rank monsters as high-end as Tenko probably couldn’t be made if even a single imitation medal was mixed in during fusion.

“Aren’t you happy about having a little brother or sister?”

Tenko looked depressed.

“Oto-san.”

She tightly gripped my sleeve.

“What’s wrong, Tenko?”

“If the new monster is stronger than Tenko, will Oto-san not need Tenko anymore?”

Tenko had anxiety all over face and looked at my own with her upturned eyes.

Some tears were threatening to fall.

How silly, there was no need for such worries.

“I promise. I absolutely won’t do that. I love Tenko, after all. Even if the new monster is stronger than you, I will always need you.”

I embraced her and patted her head. And as I did so, she leaned over me.

Tenko might be a cunning, clever, and calculating child but she was also a lonely one.

And an extraordinarily spoilt child too.

“Yay ♪! It’s a promise, Oto-san!”