Geuru, holding up the duck tongs, spoke proudly.
“This one has pretty stones in the dungeon, and I plucked them out to make it.”
“You made this from a core? That’s really incredible.”
“And this one shrinks when you stick it on. Big bands make things bigger, and small bands make things smaller…….”
For every item she showed him, Kazuki touched it, checked its information, and let out exclamations of admiration.
The things that looked like children’s toys were, upon examining their origins, items that simply could not exist unless they were L-rank.
Normally, the power of production-class Awakened hinged on ‘how freely one could handle unknown materials obtained from dungeons.’
Drawing out all the potential of a material and processing it into one’s own unique form.
In other words, it was a combination of things that already existed.
But…….
Kazuki fiddled with the teddy bear suit again.
‘Did she take inspiration from imaginary materials in movies……?’
The end product called voice modulation itself wasn’t all that special, so others might have thought it was merely a fun item, but.
In reality, this was practically the same as imagining and creating a material that did not exist.
Geuru could make any material, and there were no restrictions even on what abilities she could imbue.
Suddenly, he thought that perhaps someone might call Geuru’s ability by this name.
‘Creation.’
Kazuki let out a low murmur without realizing it.
Beyond standard.
Even he, the only S-rank apart from Geuru, could express Geuru’s power in no other way.
That this was truly an enormous ability might not be felt deeply by Jurim, who had Ijo as an older brother, but to Kazuki, who was of the same production class, it was an insurmountable wall of talent itself.
Soon, grinning from ear to ear, Kazuki ruffled Geuru’s hair roughly with his large hands.
“Geuru-chan is really, really amazing! Don’t you need a Master?”
A child with unique, unparalleled talent.
Still a cute fledgling now, but with a little help, she might blossom before long.
She could probably make that potato thing or whatever it was.
“You might be able to feel it better here because the mana is dense.”
When question marks popped up above Geuru’s head in puzzlement, Kazuki suddenly asked.
“Disciple, do you know what’s important for skill proficiency?”
“Mmm, level up!”
“Right. And enlightenment.”
Grinning, Kazuki tapped Geuru’s forehead with his thick index finger.
[The skill ‘Sensory Expansion’ activates.]
Swhaaaa—
A sudden wind blew.
Moreover, the thick scent of thickets flowed in, brushing against every corner of her body, felt with acute sensitivity.
These were not her usual senses. Her five senses stood on end, far surpassing before.
As if Kazuki’s senses had transferred to Geuru.
“Close your eyes and feel.”
When she closed her eyes, her hearing grew even sharper.
From somewhere came the pattering sound of a small rabbit running away, the sound of clouds drifting by, even the sound of sprouts budding above her head.
“You have to feel more, not just see with your eyes.”
It was then.
Ding!
[Proficiency increases by 10 degrees.]
“……!”
Flash! Geuru opened her eyes.
It was the first time her proficiency had risen so much at once.
‘Amazing!’
Kazuki grinned at her wide, surprised eyes.
Kazuki sat Geuru on his knee and placed a pine cone in her hand.
“Touch and feel this and that. For proficiency, knowing the essence through the five senses is also important.”
The five senses? Listening to his husky voice, Geuru listed them one by one.
Sight, hearing, touch, smell…… and.
Geuru hunched her shoulders and shivered slightly.
“……Licking too?”
“Well, that’d be fine, but Geuru-chan doesn’t have to lick it.”
When Geuru laughed in relief, Kazuki stroked her forehead.
“Alright, training’s over! Let’s play!”
“Huh? But I’ve just been playing until now.”
“No way. You learned a ton~”
She had learned, and her proficiency had risen, but!
“I wanna become an amazing Hunter really fast.”
“Why?”
“I’m gonna be filial too. And Gru has another goal.”
“What?”
What it was…… Geuru fidgeted.
The first goal was to tell Amakusa to move aside…….
Second!
“Pulling Mister Mouse’s beard!”
“Mister Mouse?”
“Yesh, the big boss of Master’s country.”
“Ah, the Prime Minister……! Right. He looks like a mouse!”
Nod, nod!
“Ahahahahaha! That’s a really big goal~”
Kazuki laughed his heart out, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and spoke.
“Geuru-chan, listen. You’re already greater than Master. You just don’t know how yet. Even now, you could become such an amazing Hunter that you could pull Mister Mouse’s beard.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, so what Master wants to say is…….”
Kazuki hesitated, then opened his mouth.
“Power must be used for good things. More than pulling beards. My papa is very strong too, but he’s a bad person.”
“Papa?”
“I mean Dad.”
“Gasp! Does Master hate Daddy?”
“Hmm…… Well, I haven’t decided yet.”
Kazuki grinned wide enough to reveal his sharp fangs.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know.”
“Huh? Why don’t you know?”
“Because…….”
Kazuki smiled warmly, recalling that time.
“When Master was young, I didn’t even know who my mom and dad were, and I lived with my cousin’s family.”
“Yesh.”
“But my aunt and uncle hated me so much. They hit me every day, didn’t feed me…….”
“Whaaat?!”
Geuru sat up before he knew it, and Kazuki chuckled.
“It was a long time ago. It doesn’t hurt at all now. Because not long after, Dad saved me.”
“Dad came looking for you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then did you live happily ever after with Dad?”
“No.”
Kazuki remembered that day.
In the blood-soaked living room, Reiji bent down and made a shhh sound as if soothing him, telling him to be quiet.
[“Good children shouldn’t see this. Kazuki-chan.”]
Later, what he heard from the police was that the corpses of his aunt and uncle had been torn apart as if bitten by a beast.
“After that, I went to an orphanage.”
The strange feeling of being watched over. And yet, resentment over why he left me behind.
His relationship with his father had always been ambiguous.
Reiji consistently sent money. Without a single phone call or letter, just money.
Whether it was love for his son, or merely a sense of responsibility.
It wasn’t until several years later that Kazuki stopped spending time worrying about such things.
He simply lived a little more abundantly than his peers, doing what he wanted to do.
“There are all sorts of feelings about Papa in Master’s heart. But I haven’t decided which ones to take out yet.”
His smiling face somehow looked sad, so for a while, Geuru couldn’t say anything.
*
The sun was slowly setting.
Kazuki, sitting in the vacant lot watching Geuru, suddenly flinched and rolled his shoulders.
“My disciple, let’s go back now.”
Perhaps finding the senses Kazuki had shared fun, Geuru had been running about touching this and that.
The child approached with quick steps at Kazuki’s call.
“Yesh!”
“Aren’t you hungry? Let’s hurry back and eat. You said temple food is delicious, right?”
“Temple food?”