CH.118 Fusionist

CH.118 Fusionist[Brian POV]

After they took down the lava golem, it seemed that Christina’s group decided to return here. Perhaps fighting two golems in a row took a lot out of them.

I made sure to look at the rooms between them and the core room, but there were just a few imps that had spawned by now. Those are nothing to worry about.

I looked at Sana. She was looking relieved.

“Sana, is something wrong?” I asked her. I do have an idea, but better to confirm it anyway.

“It’s just... I was worried. Lava golems are extremely dangerous. I thought Mother and Madam might get seriously hurt or ... even ... “ She answered.

“Yeah. I understand. But they are fine.” I reassured her.

“But it’s scary. If they didn’t have those summons, they would have died.” Sana said.

“If they didn’t have the summons, they would have retreated.” I told her. At least I think they would have retreated. I would hope so. Not retreating when there is nothing you lose if you do is the best idea when in an unexpected situation.

... not that I do that. I just go in. But then again, me and Christina have the difference that I have access to over 500 cards while she has two. And even those two cards are mine.

Perhaps I really should give a few cards to everyone with Card Summoner. Something like Red Medicine for healing, a monster or two for attacking and protecting, perhaps a binding spell or trap for, well exactly that. A destruction spell like Hammer Shot might be nice as well, but as it didn’t kill the A-rank monster, it might not be as reliable as I want it to be. And if I go with, what I assume to be, more powerful destructive cards like Raigeki or Dark Hole, well they are either too rare or too self-destructive. Aka. Something I would not hand over to someone else. At least not until I have many, many copies of them. And even then I wouldn’t give Dark Hole to anyone. Unless I want them to kill themselves. But at that point I can just toss them into a Dimensional Fissure or something.

“Welcome back.” I said to Christina as her group walked back to the core room.

“We are ba...” Christina began to say, but she was interrupted.

“Master, did you see our gallant fight?” St. Joan interrupted her as she rushed over to my side.

“Yes, I did. You did great. Please keep up the great work.” I complimented her. But her actions seem suspicious to me, so I had to ask Laura something.

(Laura, you didn’t possess her or something, right?) I asked my main suspect in the ‘Why is St. Joan acting strangely’ case.

(No. This has nothing to do with me, Master.) Laura answered with no hesitation.

(Really? That answer makes you seem even more suspicious. Are you sure you didn’t do anything to St. Joan?) I pressured her more.

(Master, I have already told you. I can’t do that. I cannot even command Master’s monsters unless they were summoned by Master, so I literally could not do anything even if I wanted to.) Laura defended herself.

(... then why? Is something else going on?) I wondered.

(I don’t have enough information to answer that.) Laura said. (But this behavior isn’t bad for Master so we should let it go until we can understand it better.)

(Yeah, sure. Just make sure to keep it in mind.) I told Laura. (And if you come up with an idea, please tell me.)

“Brian, about the golem.” Christina began talking to me. I snapped out of my thought as she did.

“Yeah, what about it?” I asked.

“We definitely need some sort of insurance in case another golem like that appears later. Having a golem evolve after it was seemingly defeated could lead to the death of many adventurers.” Christina said.

“Perhaps. I almost came up there to help you when I saw the golem evolve.” I commented. “I could try installing another card or two, but they might not work out as well as we want.”

I know I have at least Fissure and we could potentially use that. But at the same time, if the dungeon can use it without our input, that could kill many more people than some lava golems.

Something like Cold Wave might work as well, but that could also backfire.

“Actually, on second thought, they would most certainly cause more problems than just warning adventurers about golems possibly evolving.” I told Christina.

Spoiler[collapse]

(I don’t think you should talk about your summons like that. Even if it is in your head.) Laura warned me.

(... yeah, probably. But I just can’t deal with the cat-talk. It sounds so stupid.)

I caught the cat flying at me and placed it down on my lap. I then petted it with my right hand.

“Meawster’s petting feels sooo good. Meow. Please, harder.” The cat begged me.

... Do you have to say it like that? It almost makes it seem like we are doing something naughty.

Just as I thought about that, Sana came to me. She had been slightly away from the core as she was cooking a meal for us.

“What are you doing? I heard a girl's voice saying something strange.” She asked. She couldn’t see Fusionist yet as she had approached me from behind.

“I’m just petting a cat.” I told her honestly.

“That doesn’t explain what I heard.” She commented.

“It’s a talking cat.” I said.

“Cats can’t talk.” Sana said.

Fusionist raised her head a bit and looked at Sana. “Do you doubt my Meawster?” The cat asked.

“... did the cat just ...?” Sana looked at Fusionist in surprise.

“As I said, nothing strange is going on here. Just a guy petting his cat.” I said to Sana as I went back to petting the cat from hell. Does that make Fusionist a demon? Probably not. I think I’m the only one that says this cat is from hell. And in Yugioh demons belong to the Archfiend archetype as the OCG name of that archetype is ‘Demon’ or ‘Daemon’.

Sana just stood there looking at me and my cat, before asking. “May I pet it as well?”

“I don’t mind, but what do you think?” I asked the cat.

“Meow will allow it if you swear loyalty to Meawster.” The cat said to Sana.

“... I ... I can’t do that. I’m loyal to Lord Watchman and Madam Christina.” Sana responded. “Can I really not pet her if I’m not loyal to Brian?” She asked. I think there might even be tears in her eyes. And she didn’t even call me Lord Brian.

“Come on, it’s fine isn’t it. It’s not like I’m going to hand you over to her or something.” I tried to get Fusionist to agree. I’m not going to force the cat, but I’ll at least try to talk her into it.

“Meow suppose if it is Meawster’s will.” She agreed with minimal pressure. “But Meawster better not let me go.”

With the permission gotten, Sana sat down next to me and slowly brought her hand over to pet Fusionist.

“It’s so soft and warm.” She said as she got the first feel of the cat.

“It really is.” I agreed. I hadn't really thought about it before she mentioned it.

She spent a little time petting Fusionist with me, until.

“Meawster, I think something is burning.” The cat on my lap said.

“Oh no. Our food. Mother is going to lecture me for so long if I burn it.” Sana immediately realized where the burning smell was coming from.

“Thank you for pointing it out. I can’t even smell it yet.” I thanked Fusionist.

“Anything for Meawster.” The cat responded as she snuggled on my lap.

Thankfully, the food got only slight surface burns so we were able to scrape off the burned bits and enjoy our meal.