CH 252

This small person is standing at the bottom of a cylindrical bottle I use for potions, looking around.

I’d say it’s about as big as my little finger.

I watch it for a bit, and then it sits down with its back against the glass, like it’s tired of standing and wants to relax.

Ah, it’s yawning.

I’m still holding a scroll in my hand as I watch this little person, and don’t even notice the time passing.

It finally notices me, does a big stretch, and looks my way.

Its eyes shift between my face and the active scroll I use to manifest Hipopo.

It then raises one finger and starts pointing up.

“Up? Hn? Are you telling me to open the bottle?”

I look at the small person closely to see what happened to the curse I created.

There’s a faint black haze around the small person. To me, who placed the curse, it’s very clear.

Is it still under my control due to the curse… Hm… There’s no doubt that it’s connected to whatever it was that took Taula away. This mysterious being definitely wants to do something here.

I don’t know what to do.

As I try to decide, the small person keeps pointing up. Watching this is making me less and less able to contain my bubbling curiosity.

I feel my anger at myself for being unable to stop Taula from being taken away being replaced by my desire to know more about this unknown being.

As I laugh at myself on the inside about this incorrigible trait of mine, I put my fingers on the lid, and slowly open the bottle.

The small person looks at me, and then stretches its arm to point at the active scroll. It waves its arms, making some sort of different gesture.

I think it’s telling me to point the bottle at Hipopo’s 《Manifest》 scroll.

I tilt the bottle, and the little person staggers.

“Ah, sorry.”

I apologize without even thinking.

The small person raises itself to its full height and crosses its arms, looking like it’s telling me to be careful. But it soon unfolds its arms and stretches them towards the mouth of the bottle.

Sparkling blue purifying light flies out of its arms, and the letters on the active scroll also shine with a blue color.

“Hum, am I supposed to… 《Manifest》 Hipopo.”

The scroll shines, and then Hipopo appears in front of me like always.

Apparently the small person in front of me abridged that whole process I had to do earlier to summon the Hipopo brothers.

I silently bring Rose’s 《Manifest》 scroll near the bottle too.

The small person sends purifying light again, almost like it’s saying ‘leave it to me’.

“《Manifest》 Rose.”

This time, Rose’s vines start creeping out of the scroll.

“This is incredible…”

I look at the bottle in my hand in amazement.

In the meantime, Rose starts looking around with the tips of its vines. It also seems cautious about this dungeon environment it doesn’t know.

“Rose, please take care of Lily’s body.”

I snap out of it and talk to Rose, as I hop on top of Hipopo.

Rose waves a vine up and down to indicate it understands, and uses its vines to lift Lily’s body.

I check the bottle in my hand again, and decide I should close it for now.

Watching the small person wave from inside the bottle is really impressive.