The wolf ate the apple.
Ding!
[You have appointed a squire.]
Seeing the notification window pop up before my eyes, as if announcing that the wolf had become my squire, I paused for a moment.
Come to think of it, I really did just blurt that out on impulse...
Can this one even stay at the academy?
Because I had never once thought about how I was supposed to keep the wolf with me from now on.
If she was my squire, then at the very least she had to stay by my side, but how was I supposed to bring her around?
The problem was that her wolf form was far too huge. It wasn’t as if I could just let her loose in some garden.
Then again, even if she was in human form, that was a problem too. She wasn’t a cadet.
And I couldn’t exactly send her off to the Logres family territory either.
Well, I’ll think about that later.
For now, getting the hidden piece and getting out of this dungeon quickly came first.
As I watched her eating the apple I’d given her and started to rise from my seat, something brushed past my mind.
Wait. What’s this one’s name?
Up till now I’d just been calling her wolf for convenience.
But I couldn’t exactly keep calling her wolf in front of other people.
I should at least know her name.
She said she’d been human before becoming a wolf, so wouldn’t she have had a name...?
"This may be a little late to ask, but what’s your name?"
"Number 333."
Not that one.
That was obviously the kind of number you’d slap on some experimental subject.
"Not that."
"It’s been a long time since I forgot the name I had when I was human."
The wolf looked at me with sorrowful eyes.
Of course, since they were slit eyes, I couldn’t actually see them, but judging by how sharply they drooped, it was obvious enough.
You really know how to leave a man speechless.
"Then... if you just call me wolf, or Number 333, like now..."
"Do you think I would?"
"Then..."
She stared blankly at the apple, then looked straight into my eyes.
"You give me one."
"Me?"
You want me to name you?
Just then—
Ding!
[Please decide your squire’s name.]
The status window popped up before my eyes.
"You said you’d teach me, didn’t you?"
She bit into the apple again and looked at me.
The eyes that hadn’t looked like the usual tightly shut slit-eyed comic character type opened halfway, revealing at least a little of her irises.
The blue light in those eyes made it feel as though she were telling me not to run away.
...Uh, well.
What I said I’d teach you was just a skill, though.
Hmm.
Well, I couldn’t keep calling her wolf forever.
If she was asking me to give her a name, then...
I guess I had to.
What should I call her?
I couldn’t just go with something simple like Doggy or Wolfie.
Even if she was a wolf now, she’d originally been human.
I should at least give her something that sounded like a person’s name.
Then did she have any traits I could use as inspiration?
I gave her a once-over and picked out a few characteristics.
Slit-eyed type, brown-skinned beastwoman.
An exhibitionist with absurdly huge wolf tits.
She could transform into a ridiculously huge wolf and even had some kind of shadow clone technique.
As those useless words drifted through my head, what caught my eye was—
the apple.
The bright red apple she was holding.
An apple... come to think of it, wasn’t there something?
I felt like there had been a novel connected to apples.
Looking at that apple brought to mind a work related to apples that I’d read in my previous life.
Her circumstances seemed kind of similar too, so maybe I could borrow from that...
Gregor was a man’s name, and calling her Samsa would be a bit much.
Then there was only one choice.
"Kafka."
"Hm?"
"Your name is Kafka."
The author of the novel I’d read in my previous life.
That was a man’s name too, but at least Kafka felt like the sort of name that wouldn’t be too strange on a woman.
Well, he was more famous for bugs than apples, but still.
Anyway, from now on, your name is Kafka.
"Kafka..."
The wolf rolled the name around together with the apple.
"Not bad."
She answered with a faint smile.
[You have bestowed a name upon your squire.]
[Extra 'She-Wolf' has been promoted to supporting character 'Kafka.']
I let out a hollow laugh at the notification window in front of me.
Just because I gave her a name, she’d gone from an extra to a supporting character.
Did she really not have a name before?
Still, an extra, huh.
Kafka in the game may have exited the story here, but still...
Seeing someone like this did make me curious.
The original owner of this body, Ian, who had never shown any real presence in the game.
Was he an extra, or a supporting character?
Well, if possible, I would’ve liked to live as an extra.
But between those voyeurs and the one right in front of me...
I’d already gotten tangled up with the protagonists far too much for that to be realistic.
I shook my head at the pointless thought.
I’d named her now, at least.
I could check the rest of the rewards back at the dormitory.
Now I just needed to find the hidden piece quickly and get out of this damned dungeon—just as I was about to stand up.
[You have successfully formed a contract with the spirit, 'Kafka.']
[You have awakened a new stat: Spirit Power.]
[Check stat: Spirit Power.]
[The interrupted narrative, 'Spirit Arts,' is being learned again.]
[You have learned 'Spirit Arts.']
A sudden flood of notifications poured down on me.
What the hell is this?
I made a contract with Kafka?
Half doubtful, I opened my status window.
【Ian de Logres】
◈ Level: 32
◈ Title: Rival of the Sword Demon
◈ Traits: [Dragon Strength], [Insight Eye], [Oath of Chivalry], [Flower of Chivalry]
◈ Stats
Physical: 261 | Mana: 125
Luck: 10 | Mental Strength: 30
Aura: 45 | Spirit Power: 0
(Current SP: 0)
▶ [Skills]
Right there beside my Aura stat was a newly created Spirit Power stat.
It really had appeared.
But why?
Once you awakened Aura first, unless it was some exclusive stat, it should’ve been impossible to gain another stat like Spirit Power.
Was this some kind of transmigrator perk too?
Still, did it really have to go as far as a spirit contract?
A spirit contract felt a little too much.
If anything, this could become shackles for her instead.
Unless they were from the spirit realm itself, a spirit’s power and sustainability depended on the contractor’s Spirit Power and Spirit Affinity stats.
And unless it was Dolnesia—
if she contracted with me, someone who had no Spirit Power, then she should weaken no matter what.
Feeling uneasy, I activated [Insight Eye].
【Kafka】
◈ Level: 45
◈ The target is currently contracted with you.
According to [Insight Eye], Kafka’s level hadn’t changed at all.
"Did your strength get weaker than usual or anything?"
"No. I don’t feel any different from normal."
Why?
"That’s strange."
"Why?"
"You contracted with me, not Dolnesia, and I didn’t have any Spirit Power. So logically, there’s no way you should be unchanged."
"Could it be because she was originally human?"
Dolnesia, who had been quietly watching, cut in.
"Originally human?"
Then did that mean she was a mix of human and spirit, so she could maintain her level regardless of Spirit Power stats?
Was that why concepts like reverse summoning back to the spirit realm didn’t apply to her the way they did to other spirits?
That was pretty good, actually.
That meant I didn’t need to raise my Spirit Power stat just for her.
Since she still counted as originally human, she wouldn’t weaken depending on my Spirit Power, and there was no risk of her being forcibly sent back to the spirit realm.
Of course, unlike other spirits, if she took too much damage, she wouldn’t be reverse-summoned—she’d just die outright.
And the fact that I’d gained a Spirit Power stat at all was an enormous harvest.
If I had a Spirit Power stat, that meant I could summon spirits and make use of them.
A knight who used Aura while summoning spirits.
That was a complete mishmash.
There was no jack-of-all-trades more hopelessly all-over-the-place than this.
At this rate, I was half afraid I’d awaken holy power too as some kind of joke.
I forcibly endured my body, which was screaming in protest, and barely managed to stand.
But then—
"Anyway, turn back into a wolf now."
How long exactly were you planning to stay naked?
She was still in the same naked state as before, and honestly, I didn’t know where to look.
Once I got back to the dormitory, I’d have to ask old Alfred Santaigo to send over a set of clothes.
Would Dolnesia have spare clothes...? Mm, probably not any in her size.
"Do you dislike this form, Ian?"
Kafka, having finished the apple, looked at me as she asked.
And seeing her say that, my gaze drifted to her wolf tits before I knew it.
Not that I was trying to appraise them or anything, but...
They really were huge.
Enormous, seriously.
Had they gotten that big because she transformed into a wolf?
Or had they already been that big back when she was human?
Iris Floria? Or maybe she was on par with Isabella von Eterna.
Of course, if you were asking whether I liked or disliked them, I didn’t dislike them.
The back of my head stung a little, but I didn’t dislike them.
But.
If she hit me right now, I really felt like I’d be done for.
"Turn back."
I said it with tears in my eyes.
#
"Let’s head back now. Ian needs to return and get treatment as soon as possible too."
Once Dante de Astoria confirmed our conversation was over, he dusted off his hands and spoke.
"No, I’m fine now."
I’d eaten the apple, and judging by how my stomach felt perfectly normal, wasn’t I basically healed already?
But apparently that wasn’t how Dolnesia saw it.
"Shut up, Ian. The second we get out, I’m throwing you straight into the infirmary, so you’d better understand that."
No, I’m seriously fine.
My whole body was currently performing a full screaming orchestra, but I was fine anyway.
And before leaving, I had to find the hidden piece, so...
Wait a second.
But then a thought suddenly struck me.
Wouldn’t it look weird if I claimed to know the hidden piece of a dungeon I’d just entered for the first time?
If I said, "I know there’s a hidden piece inside this dungeon," wouldn’t that make people suspect I was the culprit behind all this...?
There was no way that suspicion wouldn’t come up, right?
I really hadn’t thought of that.
Tch. Did I have to give up on the hidden piece?
It was just as I was thinking that.
'Are you in some kind of difficult situation?'
Kafka’s voice suddenly flowed into my head.
I wanted to be startled, but I didn’t even have the strength for that.
'Is this some kind of telepathy from the spirit contract?'
'I think so.'
Would it be okay to tell this one? I wasn’t sure.
I had a feeling that if I said the wrong thing, the misunderstanding would only get worse.
Sure, I could apparently issue about three forced commands.
Still, it would be a shame to leave without getting the hidden piece.
'Is it some secret you can’t talk about?'
Her telepathic voice sounded as though she were urging me on.
I sank into thought for a moment at that.
Maybe it would be better to tell her after all.
Well, I didn’t think I needed to mention that I’d transmigrated.
She wouldn’t believe that anyway.
Then what should I say?
Regression?
I didn’t think she’d believe that either.
Honestly, saying I was the culprit who set this dungeon loose would probably sound more plausible.
......
I let out a small sigh and sent my thoughts to her.
'I know there’s a hidden place in this dungeon... but I’ve never been here even once, so if I say I know about the hidden piece, it’ll look way too suspicious.'
'Really?'
Kafka answered more calmly than I expected.
'You’re awfully calm about this.'
'Because I figured someone like you would know.'
'Based on what?'
'Who knows. A woman’s intuition, maybe, plus an animal’s sixth sense.... And your soul keeps blatantly giving off the feeling that it knows things, so it’d be stranger if you didn’t.'
Soul?
'What do you mean, soul?'
'Spirits can see the souls of others.'
Spirits could see souls?
Was that the same sort of concept as [Insight Eye]?
Interesting. I didn’t remember there being any setting like that in the artbook.
'Anyway, what you mean is that you need a way to get to that place naturally, right?'
'Well, yeah.'
'Then tell me. If I do it, there won’t be a problem. I was originally here, after all.'
True enough.
After hearing the method I told her, Kafka walked over to the dungeon wall and began feeling around it with her nose.
"What are you doing, Kafka?"
"There’s a hidden room somewhere here—ah, found it."
When she pressed on something protruding from the wall, the hidden chamber began to reveal itself.
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