Shivering from an ominous déjà vu, after leaving the Fairy and Silver Coin.
The place I headed to, as I told Ellie, was Benny’s workshop.
Eve’s disappearance and the risk of her turning dark are major incidents and personally worrisome, but...
Honestly, there isn’t anything I can do just by worrying.
I don’t have the ability to find Eve, who has hidden herself on purpose. Therefore, I must make her come to me on her own, and I have taken the best possible measures for this.
Now, all that remains is to do my work and wait for Eve to return.
“For that reason, I’ve come to see you, Benny!”
“...You talk about people like they’re homework and expect me to welcome you?!”
“Hey. Homework? It’s not something I’m forcing myself to do, I was planning to come meet you from the beginning.”
“Well. From what I’ve heard, it seems like you’re trying to assign the job to me because that Eve person disappeared.”
“Oh dear. I really dislike sharp kids like Benny.”
“Who’s a kid! Who!”
Even while screeching, Benny, who seemed determined to treat the guest properly, handed over a steaming cup of tea.
The fact that it was in a potion bottle rather than a teacup was a bit concerning, but since it smelled unmistakably like herbal tea, I decided to drink it without any fuss.
Of course, I did briefly wonder if Benny had spiked the herbal tea with something and was secretly recording...
But whatever drug it might be, thanks to my Gluttonous Stomach, I would perfectly digest it, so I quickly concluded it didn’t matter much.
“Wh-what? Is it that bad? Why are you drinking it with that expression?”
“It’s nothing. It’s just that a slightly boring thought crossed my mind.”
I gave a bright smile to reassure Benny and then changed the subject.
“By the way, Benny. How did things go with Shadow that we talked about last time?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sorry?”
“Let me just say, it’s not like before where I wanted to separate from Shadow unconditionally. I’ve realized there’s a lot I don’t know.”
“Like what?”
“Like what kind of relationship I have with Shadow. And what it wants from me.”
With a deep sigh, Benny gazed at Shadow wriggling inside a large glass tube.
No matter how immortal Shadow may be, it doesn’t mean it can’t be damaged.
It had been badly beaten by Hippolyte in the previous battle, so now it was quietly recovering.
Since the moment I entered, its tentacles had been wriggling actively, but Shadow itself seemed to know it wasn’t in good condition and didn’t try to come out of the glass container.
Feeling a bit touched, I tapped on the glass wall and greeted it before asking.
“Could you explain it a bit more specifically?”
“Specifically or not...I have always treated Shadow as a phenomenon. It’s not actually alive, you know.”
Benny said that she dealt with Shadow by finding patterns in its behavior, comparing points of contact with other friends who had become sacrifices, and exploring solid methods of control.
Until now, Shadow had reacted according to simple patterns, appearing more like a beast with remnants of emotions and instincts rather than any existing intellect.
“But Jonah, after listening to you and looking into things again, a lot has changed.”
“Changed? You mean it’s not just that things that were invisible are now visible?”
“Yes. It has changed. I don’t know if it’s because I met you, Jonah, or because we named it Shadow, or if it’s because the connection weakened once due to Morgana’s barrier...but Shadow is different from before. This is certain.”
Benny nodded firmly. She mumbled a few words while biting her small lips.
“And maybe I’ve changed a bit too.”
Benny twirled her toes on the floor, glancing this way.
It seemed more like she found it hard to look at me for a long time rather than trying to steal a glance.
How cute.
“...That’s a fresh perspective.”
With a chuckle, Benny hands the Crystal back to me and starts rummaging through the shelves.
Unusually, she squats down and begins her search from the bottom shelf, gradually moving upwards one shelf at a time.
But Benny keeps climbing up, unable to find the book she wants.
At some point, she starts tiptoeing, and now, even tiptoeing doesn’t reach it, so she hops up and down, scanning the book titles.
“Hey, don’t you have something like a chair at home, Benny?”
“Nope. Usually, I transform Shadow’s tentacles into a chair and sit on that.”
“......”
Come to think of it, when I first came to the workshop, I also sat on a chair made from Shadow’s transformed tentacles.
So it just does that often as a habit.
Sighing deeply, I tapped Benny on the shoulder.
“Move aside.”
“Huh? What is it all of a sudden? Just so you know, Jonah, you and I are about the same height, right?”
“It’s not that. I’m saying I’ll crouch down so you can climb on top of me and look.”
“...Oh.”
Benny suddenly froze. However, she quickly shook her head in refusal, as if she had thought of something.
“H-how can I step on a boy!”
“Oh, then do you want a piggyback ride? Like I said earlier, it’s hard to balance because we’re about the same height.”
“The problem is that I’m the one being carried, not the one carrying! I’d rather be the stepping stone, so you climb up! I’ll tell you the name of the book!”
“What? ...Oh.”
Only then did I understand why Benny was so flustered.
From Earth’s perspective, it would look like a young girl suggesting to step on her to climb up.
Goodness. No matter how small and light I am, that’s something I can’t agree to.
I nodded and opened my mouth.
“Got it. Then, Benny, please get down.”
“Right. This makes sense.”
Nodding proudly, Benny got down on all fours in front of me.
Could it be because of the dress that clings to the body? The line of the back and buttocks is clearly revealed.
It was only after seeing that figure that I realized. In this case, I have to step on and climb over the small girl, don’t I?
But I am the type who doesn’t refuse a request to be stepped on. I decided to start doing that from today.
Suppressing my heart that was pounding with a sense of immorality, I placed one foot on Benny’s waist.
“...W-wait.”
It was only then that Benny, realizing the absurdity of using someone as a stepping stone, tried to say something, but it was already too late.
“Yap!”
I put my full weight on and climbed on top of Benny.
Benny’s small body creaked and wobbled under my weight, but soon regained balance.
Well, despite being a mage, she is a high-level adventurer, so her strength must be considerable.
Just now, it seemed that Benny’s light weight made the center of gravity shift when my own weight was added.
The feeling of trampling on and mounting Benny was.
“Ooh.”
It wasn’t as bad as I thought.
...Will she ask me to do it again later?