Pseudo Resident’s Illegal Stay in Another World

༺ The Descendant of Pluto (2) ༻

“Well, then, Hassan, you can sleep here today. It’s already so late too—”

“Really? Can I do that?”

As I was lost in my thoughts, Luna’s sudden words made me feel like I was over the moon. She just said I could sleep here tonight, didn’t she?

Honestly, I was also looking for an excuse to stay here with Luna. And since the end result was in my favor like this, I even felt grateful to the man from earlier, though I didn’t remember his name. Wasn’t it Schizo or something like that?

Anyway, I just lay down to sleep on the deerskin side by side with Luna on the second floor of the cabin. The new floor was made from wood and had a refreshing grassy smell to it.

Sniff— Sniff—

I didn’t know if it was just me, but I still felt a strange smell coming up from the deer skin. It was probably because Luna peed here last night. Of course, that only happened because of me since I didn’t let her go to the toilet on time.

“By the way, have you washed this carpet cleanly?”

“O-Of course. I washed it three times already.”

“But why does it feel like there’s still some smell left?”

As I sniffed, Luna also sniffed at the carpet draped over the floor.

Sniff— Sniff—

“…It’s probably only in your head.”

“I don’t think it’s just in my head though.”

“…I’ll put a curse on you if you keep smelling it like that.”

“Curse?!”

“My voodoo skills have leveled up, and my curse will work well. I guarantee it.”

I couldn’t believe that Luna could now cast curses.

Indeed, voodoo skills were a collection of superstitions, so there might be a form of witchcraft that incorporates barbaric medical practices, curses, and exorcisms too.

And because of how incompatible with Luna all of that sounded, I couldn’t really believe it.

“How do you even do that curse thingy, in the first place?”

“I know of some simple curses like making cursed dolls and driving nails into them, or chanting spells to ward off evil spirits on moonless nights.”

“Wow, that’s interesting. Can you show me?”

“I-I don’t really recommend it… I also can’t guarantee the outcome if I don’t have my amulet mask…”

Luna spoke out in a quivering tone. Whether she was embarrassed or lacked confidence, I wasn’t really sure. And with that my slightly growing expectations died down a little.

“Huh, are you lying to me?”

“I-It’s true! Alright, I’ll show you, Hassan. Just don’t regret it.”

Luna suddenly stood up from her seat. Then, she brought a pointy needle and a piece of cloth that was usually used to patch up clothes from somewhere.

Would she poke the needle into her pinky finger to make it bleed, then write my name on the cloth with her blood or something?

“This is the curse skill!”

“What is it?”

“If I write someone’s name in red, the person with that name will get cursed!”

What? I couldn’t believe that something like that existed in this world.

But just in case, I stood up from my seat, nervous about what may happen to me. Yet, nothing happened.

“Huh, nothing happened though…”

“…I-It’s because I didn’t wear my amulet mask. Alright, good night, Hassan.”

Embarrassed after her sorcery had failed, Luna spoke curtly, turned her back to me, and lay down on the carpet.

I was looking forward to experiencing her soft and smooth body again.

But maybe because I was utterly exhausted after building the second story of the house today, I fell into a deep sleep as soon as I laid my head on my side of the carpet.

* * *

“Wake up. It’s morning.”

I hurriedly woke up because something thin and soft was tickling my face.

I dreamed that a rabbit as big as me climbed on my stomach and pressed down on it, so I didn’t feel like I had slept for the whole night. What the hell?! What kind of dream was that? Was it a result of the curse?

“Wake up, Hassan.”

When I opened my eyes, Luna looked while her hair was gently tickling my face…

“When did I fall asleep? It’s already morning.”

“You fell asleep as soon as you put your head on the pillow. I guess you were really tired. I almost thought you were dead, Hassan.”

“I’ve done a lot of physical labor these days. I probably accumulated some fatigue.”

My strength had leveled up, but on the other hand, I felt that my stamina was not keeping up.

At this time, I thought that if my father had been here, he would have given me a supplement – then I would be able to resolve this problem instantly. Damn it, I never knew the day when I’d miss those tasteless, suspicious juices would come like this.

Anyway, I felt like I needed to gain more stamina.

Should I invest a little in stamina other than strength when I get to raise my stats again? Maybe rather than putting everything in one basket, it would be better to raise each stat equally.

Luna then spoke.

“Your stamina is low? That reminds me that I have made something for you, Hassan!”

Luna quickly ran down to the first floor and eventually returned to give me something that looked like a small bottle.

“Here, take it!”

It was an earthenware about the size of a bottle of soy milk that could fit in one hand. The bottle’s mouth was covered with a thin leather like a handkerchief and sealed with a knot. It looked very suspicious.

“What’s this?”

I was still not fully awake when I accepted it in a groggy state. Then, some mysterious words appeared before my eyes right when I touched the bottle.

『You have received Little Night’s token of affection, a low-level stamina elixir.』

『You can increase your stamina for a limited period after ingesting it.』

In addition to totems, she could now create mysterious potions.

Ah actually, wasn’t Luna’s specialty making elixirs and not carving totems in the first place? I completely forgot about it. Moreover, I heard that she bought this cabin to use it as a workshop for elixir brewing and crafting.

“Hurry up, drink it! I worked very hard to brew this for you, Hassan! Tell me what it tastes like and what you think. If you like it, I plan to sell it as a product!”

Luna looked up at me with anticipation, so I hesitantly peeled off the leather cover.

Sour— Sour—

When I opened it, I could immediately smell a scent that you would only encounter when smelling a yogurt that had been fermented for one year. In an instant, all my sleepiness vanished away.

“D-Do you really want me to drink this? The smell is no joke. It’s making me feel terrible.”

“You’re only feeling bad because you don’t know what’s in this potion. You will feel much better if you listen carefully as I list the ingredients.”

“Really? What did you put in here?”

Luna mumbled briefly to my question, then rolled her eyes around and thought back to the ingredients.

“I added a bit of sequoia sap to add some taste to the mashed wasp larvae, goblin teeth, and troll blood. Also, my special secret additive… Anyway, what do you think?”

Did she seriously ask me how I was feeling about this?

“The potion looks a lot better after you got to know about it in detail, right?”

“No, of course not. Now, I feel even worse because now that I know.”

“The ingredients used to make a bottle cost about one silver. I worked really hard on this elixir too… I even borrowed a firepot from the bakery next door…”

Luna looked very dispirited after receiving my criticism. For a moment, I imagined Luna’s struggle to make this elixir.

“Whoo, I understand. I’ll try it.”

…I really didn’t want to drink anything like this again. I didn’t expect that, after my father, now even Luna would start handing me weird concoctions…

Breathe In—

I blocked my nose and poured the liquid into my mouth. Then, my whole body trembled because of the indescribable sour taste of the potion.

The terrible taste woke me up as if a glass window had been broken inside my head, and the drowsiness that had remained till now was completely gone. Damn, is this an energy drink or something?

『Your stamina has been temporarily increased by 3.』

『23: 59: 59』

The taste was so sour and bitter that I didn’t even want to describe it, but the effect was quite uncommon. A stamina increase of 3 points for 24 hours?

“What do you think? What do you think? Are you feeling like your body is regaining some of its strength?”

“I think I’m gaining some strength, yeah. Can’t you just make it taste good? If you do so, I think it will sell really well.”

If even I could feel disgusted when consuming this potion, other people probably wouldn’t be able to even put it in their mouths. Wouldn’t it be better to pay attention to the taste a little, if she planned to sell it as a product,?

“Who consumes elixirs for their taste? They consume it to take care of their health! Anyway, I’m glad you liked it! I’ll make you another one next time!”

“Uh, yes… Anyway, thank you for making it for me. Still, my body really feels energized.”

After becoming wide awake because of the taste of the potion, Luna and I roughly packed our clothes and swords and left the cabin.

When we were about to leave the cabin, Luna made a short ‘Uh—’ sound as if she had seen something strange.

When I turned my head to see what it was, there was an ‘X’ shaped mark on the wooden door of the cabin. It looked as if it had been carved with a knife.

“Hasan, was this originally here?”

“I don’t think so.”

As far as I remember, this was the first time I had seen something like this engraved on the door. If Luna didn’t know, and I also didn’t remember about it, then this probably was made last night?

Luna started trembling before I knew it…

“This mark is kind of creepy.”

“Then, we can just erase it.”

I remembered that there was sandpaper left in the cabin from yesterday’s use, so I rubbed off the strange mark with it.

“Hassan, look here. There are some more here, too.”

As I walked down the street, I looked in the direction Luna pointed her finger toward and saw X-shaped markings like the sign on the front of Luna’s house on each house’s front door.

What was this? Did they do a household survey or something? I couldn’t come up with a plausible answer for this no matter how much I thought about it.

Soon after that, we arrived at the Mars Guild’s guild building in the city’s center with an uncanny feeling creeping into our minds.

“Holy shit, what is this?”

“H-Hassan, what’s going on here…?”

Luna was greatly shocked when she saw that the guild building was almost half destroyed.

Of course, it was the same for me. I was also greatly astonished by this horrific scene.

This place was also used as a temple to Mars, the God of War. They even boasted it as the most magnificent and outstanding building in the world. However, right now it seemed like this place had gotten bombed last night as the marble columns and the roofs of the once magnificent building were now in shambles.

“Did a dragon appear yesterday…? How could such q sturdy building be so thoroughly destroyed?”

Luna was trembling. Hearing her mention the word ‘Dragon’, I immediately thought of a monster with ginormous wings and scalding hot fire coming out of its mouth. The idea that such a terrifying being existed in this world was honestly very scary.

“Oh, you’re here. The guild looks terrible right now.”

Then a woman appeared from behind the piles of remains of the guild building and approached us. It was Daphne, the guild receptionist with green hair and short ears.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“A bunch of Pluto cultists attacked us. Miss Hippolyte and along with the other silver-tier adventurers somehow managed to repulse their attack. Regardless of whatever cult they are, how dare they attack a temple inside the city? Looks like they really are not afraid of divine retribution.”

Even from the point of view of Daphne, the resident of this bizarre world, this incident had definitely crossed some lines.

But from where should I get requests, now that the guild is like this? Looks like I won’t be making money for a while.

Daphne then talked to me while I was worrying about my future income.

“Oh, there’s another thing, Mr. Hassan. Mr. Baltma was looking for you in the guild’s basement. You should head there soon.”

Baltma’s name evoked the face of a middle-aged man with a bald head and an eye patch on one eye. Wasn’t he quite the high-ranked person in the Mars Guild?

Despite the chaotic attack that destroyed half of this building, the prison under the guild seemed to be unaffected to some extent.

But I didn’t expect that I would need to go to this guild’s underground prison once again.

Honestly, I didn’t want to step into this prison anymore. All it reminded me of was Daphne’s sudden outburst and how I ended up getting slapped and jailed here.

“Hassan, let’s go!”

I started to move as Luna was rushing me from behind. Then, I found the entrance to the basement among the debris.

When I went down there, the moldy underground prison remained relatively intact compared to the top of the guild building.

“Oh, you’re here, Samaritan. You even came with the cute pinkhead. Your skills have also grown a lot all of a sudden. Did you chance upon some secret method?”

“Well, that’s… I’m also not sure about that.”

“Well, I’ll hear more about that later. There’s something more urgent we have to deal with at the moment.”

Baltma intently stared at something in front of the prison cage with his arms crossed. Next to him, Hippolyte, with wounds all over her body that were still bleeding here and there, also crossed her arms.

The state of her fine bronze armor, ripped and torn all over the place like a sheet of paper, seemed to tell us how serious last night’s battle was.

“What is it that you want to see me for?”

Instead of Baltma, Hippolyte opened her tightly-closed lips to answer me.

“We didn’t ask to see you. It’s this person who called you over.”

Slide—

I wondered who was behind the prison bar that Hippolyte pointed to.

Blindfolded, gagged, handcuffed, and shackled, the person inside had her whole body restrained, like a mummy.

Shackles held each of her arms in place and hung them wide apart on the stone wall.

Another pair of shackles held each of her legs and tied them to the ground. Her legs were spread wide and formed an M-shape. Somehow, it seemed a little erotic to me.

She was probably the Pluto cult member we caught at the lumber yard last time.

What was her name again? Paranoy or something? It was also my first time seeing a nymph join a cult, so I didn’t forget the name and remembered it quite well.

With her short scarlet hair and pointed ears, she also had a distinctive appearance that couldn’t be easily forgotten.

“Why is she looking for me? What happened here?”

“We also want to know why. Anyway, go and try to talk with her.”

Then, Hippolyte and Baltma quietly exited this basement prison and left me alone with this strange cultist nymph.

“H-Hassan—“

“Follow me too, airhead. That cultist only wants to be alone with the Samaritan. I also happen to have some business with you, Knox Dotty.”