After that, Aspeiran didn’t open his mouth once on the way to the magic tower.

His smooth side profile that I glanced up at seemed to be angry for some reason.

I had no idea why he was acting like that, so I also kept my mouth shut and obediently followed behind Aspeiran. It’s always the best policy to be quiet at times like this.

When we arrived at the Matapju’s laboratory, wrapped in a veil of silence, what greeted us was a huge magic circle drawn on the floor and Romie lying face down on top of it.

“Romie?”

“Oh, you’re here. Please wait a moment. I don’t want to break this flow.”

Romie answered my call. Her gaze was still glued to the magic circle.

It seemed like she was in the middle of some serious work. I slightly craned my neck to take a look at the magic circle.

At that moment, Romie shouted sharply.

“Miss Shuria! Don’t step there!”

“Gasp.”

Just as I was about to hurriedly pull my foot back, Aspeiran lifted me up like a lion showing off its cub. He whispered in my ear.

“If you touch a magic circle the wrong way, it will explode. You’ll get hurt.”

“Y-yes…”

Aspeiran put me down on the floor. His face looking down at me was apathetic as usual. Has his anger subsided?

While I was writing an observation log about Aspeiran in my mind, Romie finally finished what she was doing and got up from her spot.

She threw a transparent stone into the center of the magic circle. Then, the magic circle was sucked into the stone.

“The framework is roughly set. What a relief.”

Muttering like that, Romie picked up the stone that had absorbed the magic circle.

After putting it in a black box and throwing it into a spatial pocket, she finally made eye contact with me.

“So, Miss Shuria, are you feeling better? I heard you collapsed.”

“I’m fine! Completely recovered.”

“That’s good to hear. Take care of yourself. You know that health is the greatest wealth, right?”

Romie winked at me. Romie, who says health is the best, certainly looked incredibly healthy.

As I was nodding my head submissively, Aspeiran interjected, putting me behind him.

“Romie, you have properly prepared the item, right?”

“Oh, of course. I’ve already finished all the preparations.”

“Then let’s check it out.”

I looked back and forth between the two. It sounded like they were trading some kind of illegal drugs.

“Wh-what item? What preparations?”

My questioning voice automatically trembled. Seeing me like that, Romie suddenly burst into laughter.

“It’s nothing weird. It’s a gift for you, Miss Shuria.”

“…A gift?”

Romie took out a long box from her spatial pocket. I inadvertently accepted it.

“While you were unconscious, Miss Shuria, I thought about ways to efficiently control your abilities.”

At a single gesture from Romie, three yellow single-person sofas that had been pushed into the corner were pulled over. We sat down on the sofas for now.

Romie continued speaking.

“Currently, Miss Shuria, you haven’t properly learned how to use your abilities. Therefore, you sometimes use your abilities unconsciously and can’t bring them out when you want to. So I thought, what if I create a medium for your abilities?”

“A medium?”

“Simply put, it’s about tricking your brain. Telling it, ‘You can’t use your abilities without the medium. You can only use your abilities with the medium.'”

“Oh…”

“Deceiving the brain is surprisingly not difficult. Using this method, you’ll be able to draw out your abilities more easily.”

It certainly sounded like a plausible method. I asked with interest.

“Then what should we set as the medium? Voice obviously won’t work…”

“Open that box. I’ve prepared a very good method.”

A good method?

I fiddled with the luxurious black box in my hand. Aspeiran gently urged me.

“Open it.”

A nonchalant voice pretending to be indifferent. Thanks to that, I could tell. This is a gift from Aspeiran.

I smiled slightly at Aspeiran and carefully opened the box.

Inside, there was a white flute with a blue tassel decoration.

“…A flute?”

“Do you know how to play it?”

At Aspeiran’s question, I picked up the flute and examined it closely.

It was a side-blown type like a flute, but the number and position of the holes were exactly the same as the sogeum (small flute) I learned in elementary school music class.

I said while adjusting my hand position.

“I can play it.”

“From now on, when using your abilities, instead of giving verbal commands, blow this flute. Keep suggesting to yourself that you can use your abilities when you blow the flute.”

Romie added an explanation. Oh ho, so from now on, I will become a human pied piper.

…Well, the pied piper was originally human anyway.

I fake coughed and twirled the flute. With this thickness and length, I could just stick it in my belt and carry it around.

‘Now that I’ve found a new way to handle my abilities, I want to try it out.’

As if reading my mind, Romie stood up from her seat.

“I’ve prepared a practice room for Miss Shuria to hone her abilities. Of course, I’ve also procured monsters suitable for applying your abilities.”

“You’re the best, Romie!”

Truly everything was prepared!

Romie gestured to me. Following her to the corner of the laboratory, I whispered to Aspeiran.

“Thank you for the flute, Lord. It’s really pretty.”

“…Hmph.”

Aspeiran shrugged his shoulders. He seemed to be proud.

Romie, who had gone ahead, stopped in front of an arched door with a puppy drawn on it.

“For safety, I purposely built it next to my lab. Do you want to open it yourself?”

“Sure!”

I actively stepped forward and turned the handle. And when the door opened, what appeared in front of me was…

A butt.

“…?”

Inside the dark room, a man was lying face down with his back to the door, wiggling his butt.

I rubbed my eyes a few times, doubting the sight unfolding before me. In the meantime, Romie, who had come inside, witnessed the same thing and shouted sharply.

“You crazy, incompetent pervert! How dare you sit there wiggling your butt? This is visual assault! I’m going to sue you!”

“Wh-what?”

The man who was lying down abruptly lifted his body. Oh my god, that butt man was none other than our institute director.

Romie created a blob of water in the air and scrubbed her eyes vigorously.

“Disgusting! How dare you show me this, I’m going to kill you! Ah, I need to purify my eyes quickly. Miss Shuria, come over here. Show me that cute face of yours!”

“Calm down, Romie!”

“You barged in without warning and peeped as you pleased, yet you’re acting wronged? And I wasn’t wiggling my butt, I was in the middle of work, you wicked, crazy magician!”

Romie and Prom started yelling and fighting with me in between.

In the end, Aspeiran, who had been quietly watching the chaos, stepped forward.

“If you guys don’t stop, I’ll sew all your mouths shut.”

“…”

The commotion died down in an instant. As expected, there’s nothing like Aspeiran in a chaotic mess.

Then it’s my turn to restore the atmosphere. I clapped my hands.

“So, what have you prepared for me? I’m so curious! It must be something amazing, right? After all, it was planned by the top magician Romie and the genius of the century, director!”

“Ahem!”

Romie and Prom whipped their heads around. The corners of their mouths that I glimpsed were twitching.

Prom cleared his throat several times before opening his mouth with pride.

“Ahem, yes! I specially prepared this for the advancement of monster research. It was a bit of a hassle to obtain it in a hurry, but well, for a once-in-a-century genius like me, this much is…”

No, I didn’t praise you that much.

But I’m a woman who knows how to read the atmosphere. I just silently nodded.

“Look forward to it, Miss Shuria. I think it will be to your liking.”

Saying that, Romie snapped her fingers. The dimly lit room brightened up in an instant. Only then did I see the full view of the room.

The fairly spacious room was divided into two by a dense iron bars reaching the ceiling. That alone was quite unusual, but what was truly amazing was something else.

Beyond the iron bars, a small forest was landscaped as if for dwarves. Trees, bushes, and even a trickling stream were packed in a cozy and compact way.

And, and inside…

Countless rats were crawling around in groups.

“…Uh.”

There was one problem that arose here. A problem I had just realized.

It seemed that after the recent blind cave rat incident, I had developed a slight aversion to rats.

Just then, the rats that had been busily rummaging through the small forest simultaneously looked my way. Then they gathered in front of the iron bars in a huddle.

“…”

Twitching snouts, wriggling bodies.

Ah, now it was too much.

“Aaaahhh!!”

I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran out of the room.

“I didn’t think Miss Shuria would be afraid of rats. I thought she would like them because they look quite cute.”

“Well, I understand after what happened, but still.”

Romie and Prom whispered. I leaned against the wall and curled up like a snail with my face buried between my knees.

Aspeiran patted my shoulder rhythmically.

“If you don’t like rats, I’ll tell them to get something else, so you don’t have to force yourself.”

“B-but.”

From now on, I’ll encounter monsters of various appearances, so I can’t back away like this in front of just a few rats.

…Yes, overcome it. I have to overcome it.

I shook my head vigorously and stood up from my spot, trying hard to act brave.

“No, I’ll go take another look.”

“I said you don’t have to push yourself.”

“No! For me, who will become a monster master in the future, this is just a momentary trial!”

“…Monster master?”

“Aah! So I will overcome it!”

Leaving behind Aspeiran’s puzzled question, I dashed back into the room. I had to hurry before the courage I had mustered up ran away.

The rats were still stuck to the iron bars. Countless small eyes were looking only at me.

It-it’s a bit repulsive, but it’s okay if I look from a distance.

I cautiously approached the iron bars. Romie spoke in a worried voice.

“Miss Shuria, will you be okay?”

“I-I’m fine! But what species are they?”

“They’re called elephant rats. They got that name because of their long noses.”

Prom explained. Elephant rats. Now that I look closely, they do resemble elephant shrews.

‘…They’re cute. And tiny.’

Once I had that thought, the fear that had been looming at my feet seemed ridiculous in an instant. I squatted down in front of the iron bars.

“Are these guys not dangerous?”

“Those fellows have no aggression. In the first place, they are herbivorous monsters.”

“Hmm.”

“They have the ability to distinguish between venomous and non-venomous by scent alone. If you can tame them, they will be helpful in many ways. Currently there are only 50, but depending on how you handle them, the number may increase.”

In tune with Prom’s lecture, the elephant rats waved their long noses at me. Hmm…

Yeah, okay. I think I’m fine now. Even seeing them like this isn’t that scary.

Alright, then is it time to get to the main point?

I took out the flute that I had tucked into my waist.

“Then, I’ll play a tune.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

Aspeiran advised. Don’t overdo it, well, honestly I can’t be sure.