Chapter 4-33 : Rescue Request Ⅱ (part 2)

「Gau gau ga~u! Gau!」(Kurumi)

Kurumi moved her hands and head, making various gestures.

Sarasa was trying to tell Iris and the others something. Howeverー

「Umm… I’m sorry, Store Owner-dono. I don’t know what you’re trying to say…」(Iris)

Unfortunately, they couldn’t interpret Sarasa’s message by just looking at Kurumi’s gestures.

Kurumi then put her hand on her chin, thinking for a moment, and then jumped off Iris’ palm.

She then wrote something on the ground with her small hand.

『Do you have magic stones? At this rate, Kurumi will run out of magical power.』

Alchemical creatures, Homunculi, keep consuming magical power even when they are idle.

Kurumi didn’t consume much magical power when she was just clinging to Iris’ backpack, but when she switched into active mode after Sarasa synchronized her mind with hers, her magical consumption would skyrocket.

And, of course, if a Homunculus runs out of magical power, it will stop working. In other words… Death.

Knowing that Kurumi was in danger, Kate and Iris hurriedly searched for some magic stones in their luggage.

「I’m sure I still have some magic stones… but where are they…?」(Iris)

「I have a few but I’m not sure if it’s gonna be enough…」(Kate)

「You guys need some magic stones? I have a lot of them since I need them for experiments sometimes.」(Nord)

While saying that, Nord rummaged through his backpack and took out a leather bag filled with magic stones.

「Oh! That’s great!」(Iris)

Nord then handed the leather bag to Kurumi, and then Kurumi took one magic stone from the bag and put it in her mouth.

「Seeing her eating a magic stone makes me realize that she’s not a normal creature, but…」(Iris)

「It looks like she’s eating a berry, so cute~」(Kate)

「You’re right~」(Iris)

While Iris and Kate were watching her, Kurumi ate another magic stone and wrote on the ground again.

『Thanks for the magic stones. I made a wrong calculation.』

Sarasa thought that the amount of magical power she injected when she created Kurumi would be enough to keep her alive at least until Iris and Kate return home.

It was the first time Sarasa had created a Homunculus, so she didn’t think that the magical power consumption rate would be very high while she was synchronizing her mind with Kurumi’s from a long distance.

Nord had a lot of magic stones in his leather bag but now that Sarasa had learned that even her magical power she stored in Kurumi’s body could deplete so quickly, she didn’t think that those magic stones would be enough to keep her synchronized with Kurumi for a long time.

「Sarasa-kun, I don’t mind if you use my magic stones but please leave a few for me. It’s pitch-black here. I need magic stones to use this lighting artifact.」(Nord)

「Nord-san, that artifact doesn’t require much magical power, right? You can use my magical power to keep it running.」(Kate)

「Really? The amount of my magical power is not much. I appreciate your help!」(Nord)

Artifacts that produce light are relatively common. Many people use them.

There are various types of them, from those used for walking on the streets at night to those that can illuminate a wide area as if it was daytime.

Nord’s lighting artifact could illuminate the tunnel very well but it had the drawback of consuming quite a lot of magical power, so he needed to use magic stones from time to time.

「This kind of artifact is quite common but still, they are expensive for people like us. I wish I had one…」(Kate)

「We rarely explore the forest at night, so I don’t think we need one.」(Iris)

「Ah, you may be right…」(Kate)

「Gau! Gau!」(Kurumi)

While Iris and Kate were having small talk, Kurumi wrote on the ground and stomped her feet.

『We don’t have much time! Please tell me about your situation in more detail so that we can decide what to do.』

「Ah, you’re right. Alright, first of allーー」(Iris)

Iris started explaining. She told Sarasa everything that happened from the time they entered the cave until they were trapped inside.

Kurumi was folding her hands and nodding while listening to Iris.

『Alright, I understand. I will think of a way out. I don’t want to waste Kurumi’s magical power, so I will contact you again later. You can check your emergency pack in the meantime.』

After writing on the ground, Kurumi sat down for a moment and then started crawling around like usual.

「Are you… Kurumi?」(Kate)

「Gau~?」(Kurumi)

After Kurumi responded to Kate by tilting her head like usual, Kate smiled and then picked her up gently with both hands.

Meanwhile, Nord stared at Kurumi curiously.

「How fascinating… I’m impressed that Sarasa-kun managed to link with this little bear from her home. Not only can she share the same sight and hearing with this bear but she can also make it move like her own body. But… Is it because Sarasa-kun is a talented alchemist or… is it because this bear is special…? Hmm…」(Nord)

「Nord-san, don’t even think about it.」(Kate)

Kate brought Kurumi to her chest and hugged her tightly as if she was protecting her from Nord’s curious gaze.

She then stared coldly at Nord, but Nord didn’t seem to mind it. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

「Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to it. I’d be lying if I said that I’m not curious at all but Homunculus is not my research object. More importantly, what did Sarasa-kun mean by ‘emergency pack’?」(Nord)

「Ah, I think she was talking about the package she gave me before we left. She told me to open it in case of an emergency, but I don’t know what’s inside.」(Iris)

While saying that, Iris took out a wooden box from her backpack and put it on the ground.

The box had a size of about 30cm x 20cm with a high of 15cm.

After Iris opened the tightly sealed metal lid, the three of them looked inside the box with interest.

「Oh, we got various things here. Potions… Antidote… Medicines… and some stuff for injury treatment.」(Nord)

「They’re all common items but they seem to be expensive. Uhh… Iris, do we have to pay for them if we use them?」(Kate)

「Of course. The only thing we got for free was the Resonance Stone.」(Iris)

「I see…」(Kate)

「…Well, the stone wasn’t actually free though…」(Iris)

Iris looked sideways and muttered to herself while recalling when she made a cute voice for the stone’s alarm.

「You say something?」(Kate)

「No. Nothing… Anyway, I don’t think we need these items right now, and I hope we won’t need them in the future.」(Iris)

「You’re right…」(Kate)