"Even if that Lutum had a bad personality, he was still strong enough." (Ellelaura)
Well, I guess it's hard to imagine a girl dressed as a bear being able to defeat the Commander of the Knights.
"It's hard to believe, isn't it? To add to that, a while ago there was a monster dismantling event hosted by the Adventurer's Guild. The cockatrice and wyvern that appeared at that event were monsters she defeated." (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san told one secret after another.
"Wait a second. You say she fought a cockatrice and a wyvern? And you say she defeated them? That's just impossible." (Marne)
"Well, I couldn't believe it when I first heard about it either... but it's Yuna-chan after all." (Ellelaura)
What does "Because it's Yuna-chan" mean?
It's not a magic word that would convince them.
"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true." (Ellelaura)
For some reason, Ellelaura-san spoke proudly of it as if it were about herself.
"The cockatrice and wyvern materials were shared with my lab." (Marne)
Is that so?
"The materials from that time were managed by the Adventurer's Guild."
"Yes, but you're free to buy them. The castle has allowed us to buy valuable materials."
Certainly, buying and selling was free.
"Did you make something?" (Yuna)
"I made a quill pen out of a cockatrice feather." (Marne)
"Quill pen?" (Yuna)
When I asked, Marne-san stood up from his chair and walked over to a desk piled high with books in the back.
Then, just when you thought she was looking for something, I heard a voice said, "Found it," and she came back.
"Cockatrice feathers?" (Yuna)
It was the feather that was hurled at me when I fought the cockatrice.
"There is still a small amount of cockatrice mana remaining in this quill." (Marne)
Marne-san began to write something on the paper she brought along with the quill.
"...Can't you write?" (Yuna)
Marne-san was writing something on a piece of paper, but the ink wasn't coming out and nothing was written.
When Marne-san smiled, a red line suddenly appeared, which then turned green, then blue, and finally black.
"The color has changed" (Yuna)
"If you change the amount of mana you pour in, the color will change. It's interesting." (Marne)
She said proudly.
But I thought it's really amazing.
"This one also uses special ink." (Marne)
"What's the point of using a cockatrice feather?" (Yuna)
"It's the ease with which the mana flows through. With a normal pen, the mana doesn't flow easily into the ink, and it's hard to convey. It's also difficult to make subtle adjustments to the mana. On the other hand, the mana flows well through cockatrice feathers, and it's easy to adjust. Wanna try it?" (Marne)
Marne-san handed me a quill, so I took it.
Then, I wrote down on paper.
I couldn't write anything.
If you poured a little mana on it, a red line would appear.
Oh.
Moreover, by adjusting the mana, you could adjust the color to a lighter or darker red.
If you added more mana, it would turn green and then blue.
Eventually, it turned black.
"Amazing" (Yuna)
When I expressed my admiration, Marne-san seemed pleased.
"But when would you use it?" (Yuna)
"I made this thinking it could be used for a contract. If the color changes while you're writing it, it will be difficult to reproduce." (Marne)
If you were asked which was more difficult to reproduce, black and white or color, I would say color.
And there's a random element to it.
"It's difficult to replicate, though. It certainly can't be used for a contract."
"Yeah, so it was rejected." (Marne)
Certainly, even I could understand why colorful pens could not be used on contracts.
"Moreover, the materials used to make the ink are expensive, so it is not suitable for mass production, cannot be sold, and is a failure." (Marne)
"I don't think of it as a failure. You can learn something from failure. Even if it's a little expensive, don't you want to become a painter?" (Yuna)
I didn't think it could be used in a contract.
But maybe there were a variety of uses for it.
"That's true, Yuna-chan. In that case, why don't you try using it in a picture book?" (Ellelaura)
"A picture book?" (Marne)
A question mark "?" appeared on Marne-san's head.
"Well, it's a picture book like this." (Ellelaura)
Out of nowhere, Ellelaura-san produced a picture book I had illustrated.
"Why do you have it?" I thought, swallowing my words.
Marne-san took the picture book and flipped through it.
"You even illustrated picture books about bears like this one?" (Marne)
"Um, for Flora's sake." (Yuna)
"Yuna-chan is an adventurer, a chef, and a picture book author." (Ellelaura)
I was not a chef, nor was I a picture book author. What's more, I was not sure if I could call myself an adventurer, since I tended to slack off. Lately, I'd been traveling a lot, so maybe adventurer was the word that best suited me.
"Okay then. I'll give this pen to you." (Marne)
Marne-san held out a cockatrice quill.
"Is it okay?" (Yuna)
"Yes, there is no use for it at the moment. If there is a use for it in the future, I can just make it. I have written down the blueprints, the ingredients of the ink, and the steps for making it, and have kept them as documents, so I can make it whenever I want." (Marne)
"If that's the case, I'll be grateful." (Yuna)
I took the quill.
Maybe I'd be a little happy.
"I'll even give you the ink I made." (Marne)
Marne-san returned to the desk piled high with books and brought out a vial of ink.
"It's transparent." (Yuna)
"If you put mana into it, the color will change." (Marne)
I put the quill and the vial of ink away in the bear box.
And now, back to the story.
"So, was it really a girl like you that defeated a cockatrice and a wyvern?" (Marne)
"If you don't believe me, just ask Sanya." (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san and Adventurer's Guild Master Sanya knew this.
It's not surprising that she knew about it, since it's an elf connection.
"Really……" (Marne)
Marne-san looked at me, then at Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
"I believe Ellelaura. She would never put me in danger." (Marne)
It seemed like she believed in Ellelaura-san.
Marne-san now looked at Ellelaura-san, then at me.
"Yuna, can you be my guard? Of course, I'll pay for it." (Marne)
"But first, guard, it that really a dangerous place?" (Yuna)
If it's dangerous, it's not something you could take on lightly.
If it was just me, I could handle it.
But, it's a different story if you're defending it at the same time.
"I'm looking for a certain material. I recently found it in a forest west of the royal capital. However, that forest is deep and dangerous. I requested an escort from the Adventurer's Guild, but they refused, saying they didn't want to protect a child like me. I'm not a child, so I think that's rude." (Marne)
I guessed that couldn't be helped, she looked like a child after all.
"But that's not the only reason. Just taking her into a dangerous forest is risky, so I think they must have judged it difficult to guard me." (Marne)
The difficulty level changed depending on whether you had an escort or not.
Even in the game, there was an event where I had to protect a civilian, but I couldn't count how many times the person I was guarding died while I was fighting.
"In that case, why don't you just ask someone else to collect them instead of going with me?" (Yuna)
"The collection method is special, so I couldn't leave it to other people. I have to go and collect them myself." (Marne)
"There are similar things out there, so they could be wrong."
Indeed, there were similar flowers.
For example, there was an extra petal, or the shape of the leaves was slightly different.
Even if I were asked to do so, I, as an amateur, wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
"So, since I couldn't find any guards, I told Ellelaura to ask the knights and wizards in the castle for help. But..." (Marne)
Marne-san looked at Ellelaura.
"I wasn't given permission." (Marne)
"Why? Marne-san works here at the Ministry. If she needs materials for her research, surely she can get permission?" (Yuna)
"Gathering those materials is a personal matter. You can't use the castle's knights and wizards on personal matters." (Ellelaura)
"But Ellelaura-san, when you're fighting bandits." (Yuna)
When I first arrived in the royal capital, she mobilized the knights to defeat bandits.
"That was for the safety of those heading to the royal capital. However, this time it's a personal matter for Marne-sama." (Ellelaura)
But maybe they should at least provide an escort. If an individual were to go to a dangerous mountain and a police officer was used as an escort, maybe they would be criticized.
"What is this something personal? Is it worth the risk to go and get it?" (Ellelaura)
"That is……" (Marne)
Marne-san hesitated for a moment.
"Well, if you ask Yuna-chan to escort you, I think we can talk." (Ellelaura)
Marne-san looked at me and seemed to be thinking.
"When you first saw me, you thought I was weird, right?" (Marne)
I looked at Marne-san again.
"Well, I think you're a bit childish." (Yuna)
Although she was an elf, she was still young.
Luimin was growing too.
It would be strange if we assume that she was about the same age as the elf Sanya.
"Half-elves don't grow up, so..." (Yuna)
"No." (Marne)
Right.
"There's a reason why I haven't grown up. My mother was an herbalist. During that time, she met my father, an elf who knew a lot about plants, the two of them became close, and I was born. My mother studied herbalism and my father would come home with rare plants that my mother would study. Ever since I was old enough to understand, I've been playing in my mother's lab. But at one point, they noticed that I wasn't growing up. The other children were getting bigger, but I was still tiny. My mother and father didn't mind, but as the years passed and I still didn't grow up, they began to think that even though I was half-elf, it was strange. So they looked into it. When I was little, I had a habit of putting everything in my mouth. So my mother thought that maybe it was because I was consuming herbs that were in the lab." (Marne)
"Is that possible?" (Yuna)
"There was something strange going on with the mana in my body. But at the time I didn't know what was causing it. Which herbs I ingested, how much I ingested, how long after ingesting them, and whether I ingested anything else at the same time... I honestly don't remember any of that." (Marne)
Indeed, if you asked me what I ate a year ago, I wouldn't remember.
Moreover, when asked about the quantities or order, I had no choice but to say I don't know.
Author's Note
There was a reason why Marne-san was small.
[Books]
Book volume 20.5 was released on May 2, 2024. (The next volume, volume 21, is planned and in the works.)
Volume 11 of the comic was released on December 1, 2023.
Volume 2 of the comic spin-off was released on March 5, 2024.
The paperback version of volume 10 was released on May 2, 2024. (The deadline for the campaign to win a big acrylic stand featuring Yuna and Sanya on the cover is August 20, 2024. 20 lucky winners will receive a prize.) (The next volume, volume 11, is currently in the works.)
Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Some of the kanji have been corrected to match the book, so please understand that there are some parts that have not been corrected.