Chapter 2 – Akatsuki Part1

Today, after I parted from Luna and the others, and the golden week has ended, I was still thinking about the meaning of Luna's actions.

"What the heck was that… and that declaration of war… I don't know… I have no idea…"

I had no idea what a girl was thinking, and all I could do was hold my head in my hands. And no matter how long it went on, that scene kept popping up in my head, and to be honest, I was in constant agony, so I woke up early in the morning and took a little walk in the other world to clear my mind.

Then──.

"Whoa…"

"Woof."

Both Night and I marveled at the scene in front of us. A part of the forest was opened up as if a hole had been made in it, and a lake that glistened in the morning sun was spread out.

"Wow… I didn't know there was a place like this…"

"Woof."

Night and I unexpectedly forgot to be cautious and approached the lake. I looked into the water of the lake and saw that it was surprisingly clear and visible all the way to the bottom.

As I recall, I'd heard that clear water is devoid of nutrients, but the water plants were vibrant, and we could see fish swimming gracefully in the lake. Since it's a relatively large lake, I wondered if there were aquatic monsters or something like that, but I couldn't see anything like that in both the range of visibility and my [Presence Detection] skill.

"…Ah, yes! Night, do you want to take a bath here today? It's not every day that we get to experience a bath with a view like this."

"Woof!"

Once I got Night's approval, I brought out my bath set. I just wanted to take a bath to get rid of my sweat from the walk. The atmosphere seemed more Western than Japanese, so I decided to go with the jacuzzi this time. As soon as I got into the bath and enjoyed the scene in front of me, I couldn't help but think how luxurious it was.

"Hahhh… what nice warm water…"

"Woof~."

"Fugo~."

…Hmm? I heard an unfamiliar voice, so I involuntarily looked up at what was next to me… and there was a little piggy that I had never seen before enjoying the bath as much as we did.

"You… where did you come from?"

"Buhi?"

I lifted the strange little piggy that had been in the bath for some time, and we made eye contact, but the little piggy is adorable, and all he was doing was tilting his head. No, I'm the one who wants to tilt my head here…

Hmm… if I can think of it, was he already near the bath set when I took out the bath set and hid his appearance? When I looked at the little piggy again, he was covered in short red fur, and his eyes were black and just stared at me without any hostility. The fur felt different and silky to the touch than Night's.

"I do not really understand, but do you want to take a bath with us just like this?"

"Buhi!"

When I said that, the little piggy settled down at my feet. …What's with this guy, he's so cute. While petting the little pig together with the approaching Night, I activated the [Appraisal] skill on the little pig.

[Mouju]

Level: 490

Magic: 60,000

Attack: 5000

Defense: 5000

Agility: 3000

Intelligence: 10000

Luck: 10000

"Mouju?" [T/n: I'm not so sure if it's right, but I found it as a name of a myth pig monster in China, the name is meng huai in Chinese. Please let me know if someone got a better idea of this, and this is the kanji: 孟槐.]

"Buhi?"

I tilted my head at the name of a race I'd never heard of. No, we're in a different world, and it's only natural that there are monsters of a race I don't know. But I get the feeling that it has a Chinese background in terms of atmosphere…

But still, the stats are pretty unbalanced as well. His attack power and defense are too low for his level, and instead, his magic power is outstandingly high.

"You're an odd one, aren't you?"

"Buhihi~."

"No, that's not a compliment, you know?"

The little piglet dexterously made a head-scratching gesture with its paws. Well, it's okay because it was cute. As I was pondering that, a message unexpectedly appeared in front of me.

The skill [Appraisal] has met a certain level of proficiency; it has changed to [Identification]. [Mouju] has been successfully tamed.

"What?"

How could I have possibly tamed this guy? Uh, we're just taking a bath together! Does that mean it's because we've had a naked relationship? Not that it bothers me at all, this guy is cute, and I'm more than happy to welcome him, but…

"Hey, you're supposed to be tamed by me, but is that okay?"

"Fugo? …Buhi!?"

You didn't even notice it! The little pig looked very surprised, but eventually, he nodded and turned to me.

"Buhi. Buhibuhi."

"I don't know what you're talking about…"

I don't understand the details of what this guy is talking about, but somehow this guy seems to have agreed to stay with us. Is that okay with him? He's so wild.

Or rather, it's the same with Night, the [Language Comprehension] skill isn't working. Somehow, it's not something that has been properly verbalized, and in the first place, Night and the others aren't communicating with their own kind with their cries as a language, they are communicating and signaling with their instincts, so I guess that's why the [Language Comprehension] skill isn't working. Instead, although I don't understand the language clearly, I can understand that they are saying something like that to me.

As we were exchanging these words, Night looked up at me.

"Woof?"

"Hmm? Yeah, this guy just became one of us. Get along with him, okay?"

"Woof!"

…Hmm? Night and I have a certain amount of communication with each other rather than with the little piggy… well, whatever. It's not like Night can completely understand what I'm saying either. And since I've known Night longer than him, it's only natural that I would understand. The little piggy will eventually get used to it and learn to understand.

"For now, since we are now friends… no, we're family, I'll have to give you a name."

"Woof!"

"Buhii!"

Hmm… what would be good… In the first place, I've never heard of [Mouju] before…

I look at the little piggy again while thinking of a name. And just like with Night, I decided on a name based on the appearance.

"…Yup. Your name is [Akatsuki]."

From his red fur and black eyes, I vaguely imagined the sky before the dawn, so I decided to give him the name Akatsuki. I won't accept any complaints since it's already completely a matter of my senses.

After being named, Akatsuki let out a cheerful voice.

"Buhi! Buhibuhi!"

"Oh, you're happy, huh? That's good."

I was trying not to give him a weird name, but I'm glad he's happy with it. Night and Akatsuki immediately discussed something with each other and began to enjoy the bath from a little distance from me.

Now…

"…What exactly is [Identification]…"

I neglected it once, but now that I've decided on Akatsuki's name, it's time to think about it in regards to this skill. Looking at the description of the message, my constant use of [Appraisal] has led to some proficiency? I've heard that the change is because it has reached a certain level… but what's the difference?

And if there's this change, it means that maybe other skills might change as well, right?

"…Since it's already come to this point, let's just look into this [Identification] with the [Identification] itself."

I immediately activated the skill, and it displayed like this:

[Identification] :: This is a higher-level skill of [Appraisal]. You can examine the target in more detail than [Appraisal], and you can also look at the target's skill structure.

"I don't really understand it, but it's become very convenient, right?"

I would have more impressions and surprises, but for me, this was the best I could think of. For now, being able to see the skill structure of the target means that I'll be able to see the enemy's skill structure, which I hadn't been able to see before. That's very gratifying. It's because it allows us to avoid even more danger.

But what about seeing the status and skills of a human or the like? I guess it's like one's personal information, and it's not a good idea to use it implicitly…

I still don't know exactly how to use the skill, so I'll keep it to monsters for now. So, I decided to take a look at the skill structure of Night and Akatsuki.

"Hey, Night, Akatsuki. Can I check out your skills?"

It's weird to ask for confirmation just here, even though I can look at their status on my own, but I asked anyway.

"Woof!"

"Buhi!"

Once I got permission from these two, I decided to look at it from Night's skill structure.

[Night]

[Bite Attack Technique: 10] [Claw Technique: 10] [Magic Control] [Chantless] [Presence Detection] [Dodge] [Weakness Detection] [Super Senses] [Divine Authority of the Night God Wolf <Currently Unavailable>]

"You're so ridiculous!"

"Woof?"

Night only tilted his head adorably at my tsukkomi. No, no, no, what's with all these blown-up skills!

He has learned [Chantless] before I knew it, and his claws and biting attacks are at the maximum level of proficiency, and most importantly, what's that [Divine Authority of the Night God Wolf]? Though, it doesn't look like it can be used right now.

"Night you're going to be a big-shot one day. I'm sure of it."

"Woof? Kyun."

I pet his head and Night rubs his body against mine. He's going to be a big-shot in the future, but right now he's so spoiled and cute. Since he's so cute, I don't care for anything else!

"Okay, how about Akatsuki?"

"Buhi."

Looking at Akatsuki's skill structure…

[Akatsuki]

[Magic Control] [Exorcism] [Curse Removal] [Sanctuary]

"Looks like you're just the same as Night, huh?"

"Buhi?"

I don't know if these skills are all usable in battle or not, but [Sanctuary] is a strange one to think about.

"Hey, Akatsuki. Can you try out this [Sanctuary] skill?"

"Fugo."

To be honest, I had no idea what kind of skill it was, but when I asked Akatsuki that, he activated the skill without any hesitation.

And then…

"Ooh!"

"Woof!"

With Akatsuki in the center, some kind of warm light flooded out and spread throughout the forest. And the lake that received that light emitted a pale gleam, and the trees, plants and flowers changed to a more vibrant state.

"Is this… could this be… a restorative skill?"

"Buhi."

Akatsuki nodded adorably as if to say that my thoughts were correct. But to be honest, this [Sanctuary] skill seems to have more effect. While it was beautiful, so was the fact that the otherwise normal lake was glowing faintly, but the entire area around it felt purified… I felt somewhat refreshed. I couldn't look into it any further now, but for now, I thought that Akatsuki would be able to play a significant role in recovery and support, rather than a battle type like Night.

"Anyways, it turns out that you're so great as well."

"Buhi~."

There were a lot of things going on, like new skills and Akatsuki becoming a family member, but none of them was bad, so that's fine. I'm enjoying a full bath while petting Akatsuki and Night when Night suddenly jumps out of the bath and runs towards the house.

"Eh, Night?"

I go to chase after Night, but remembering that I'm not dressed, I hurry to put on my clothes, and Night comes back with something in his mouth.

"Woof."

"What on earth are you doing? You just ran out of the blue… you startled me, you know?"

"Woof. Woof!"

"Eh? This is?"

Night brought me a watch, and he placed it skillfully in front of me and tapped it with his foot in a cute manner. I looked closely at it and saw that it was the time which is when I usually start getting dressed for school.

"Eeh! Is it time already?"

The fact that the golden week is over means that classes will start normally, and I hurry to get ready.

"I'm sorry. Night! Thanks! I'm sorry, Akatsuki, but I'm leaving right now!"

"Woof~."

"Buhii!"

I hurriedly used the teleport magic to get home, and after quickly finishing dressing, I had a light breakfast and ran out of the house without further ado. And by that time, I had a clear head, and as a result, I succeeded in changing my mood.