CH 10

Chapter 10 – Sol’s Strength

Perhaps someone had run to the police station and asked for help. A kid like me definitely wouldn’t be allowed to enter.

“Master, would you like Sol to fly around and see what’s going on?” (Sol)

“That sounds good, Sol. Nice idea. But don’t get too close. They might think you’re a monster and shoot you.” (Bouchi)

Well, I didn’t think a C-Rank monster could be mortally wounded by a bullet, but since I didn’t want to lose the Familiar I’d just acquired, I decided to air on the side of caution. Sol soared up majestically and began to circle around above the apartment building.

“….It would be nice to be able to talk during these kinds of situations… Let’s see if they sell anything like that.”

I typed in the search terms, ‘familiar’, ‘long-range’, and ‘communication’, and as I had hoped, there was a search result.

“[Telepathy Kibidango]…? Cool.”

Once a Familiar that could speak human language ate this, it would apparently allow them to hold conversations in their minds. However, it only worked in a 10 kilometer radius around the master. It was only ¥10,000, which was surprisingly cheap, so I bought it.

(TL: Kibidango – a Japanese sweet made from mochi.)

After a while, Sol came back, and before she gave her report, I fed her the [Telepathy Kibidango]. Then, I spoke to Sol in my mind to try it out.

“Can you hear me, Sol?” (Bouchi)

“!! Yes! I can hear your wonderful voice!” (Sol)

It seemed to be working without any problems.

“Okay, from now on, when we’re moving separately, we should try to keep up communication as much as possible.” (Bouchi)

“Roger that!” (Sol)

“Anyway, what did you see from up there?” (Bouchi)

“There was a sword rabbitman on the roof of the building.” (Sol)

“Is it strong?” (Bouchi)

“It’s also D-Ran…Ah right, Sol is already C-Rank now.” (Sol)

“A D-Rank monster, huh? Do you think you can deal with it on your own?” (Bouchi)

“It’ll be no problem for Sol now that Sol has leveled up!” (Sol)

“…Alright.” (Bouchi)

“Should Sol go and defeat it?” (Sol)

“No, I don’t want to attract too much attention. Let’s give up on this place and look for someplace else.” (Bouchi)

I left the scene with Sol and looked for a smaller dungeon. We ended up picking up a signal of a dungeon in a small park, so we immediately headed there.

It was a small park in the middle of a residential area, and there wasn’t a whole lot of recreational equipment in it. It only had a sandbox, a slide, and monkey bars.

Fortunately, there was no one around. I hid behind some cover and checked out the scene. There were four goblins and an anthropomorphized pig, which was probably an orc, moving about the park. Since the orc was most likely the boss, the Core was probably near it.

“Alright. Go, Sol!” (Bouchi)

“Here I go!” (Sol)

As expected of an owl. Despite flying in at a high speed, she didn’t make a single sound. Also…

―Swish, swish, swish!

She pierced through the chests of three goblins at once, instantly annihilating them. The last goblin noticed with a start that its buddies had been killed, but Sol’s movements were too fast for it. Just like that, Sol pierced through the chest of the last goblin, causing it to disappear.

And finally, all that remained was the Orc, who still had yet to catch onto Sol’s presence. Sol breathed fire from above the Orc’s head, instantly lighting it ablaze.

Well, don’t be too surprised. It only took a grand total of… 3 seconds.

They were all instant kills, so if you blinked, you’d probably miss it.

“Hey, hey, hey… aren’t you amazing?”

With movements truly befitting the name ‘Sonic Owl’, she easily wiped out the monsters. In the end, Sol also found the Core, but just when I had thought Sol would instantly destroy it, the Core completely nullified her attack.

“…Hmm.”

Sol repeatedly launched attack after attack, but even fireballs were pointless. At that moment, I learned of another bothersome truth.

Most likely, Cores could only be destroyed by an attack from a human’s hand. I entered the park and approached Sol, keeping a wary eye on my surroundings.

“Puuuuu~! I’m sorry! I can’t destroy it~!”

I patted Sol’s head as she clung to me in tears, then used my [Acid Knife] to damage the Core. The Core was easily destroyed, and the dungeonization affecting this place was undone.

“You did a great job. Thanks.” (Bouchi)

“?! Puu~!” (Sol)

…She was truly incredible.

At the same time, I became aware that monsters weren’t something that humans would be able to handle. Say, for example, that there were a hundred Sol’s attacking.

I had a feeling that if that happened, the city would be destroyed in the span of a few minutes. And this was only a C-Rank monster. There were still three ranks above that, namely B, A, and S-Rank.

Judging by Sol’s power, an A-Rank monster was a national-level threat. Then an S-Rank monster… was probably an existence that might not be defeatable even if countries formed an alliance with one another to fight against it.

If each attack of an S-Rank monster was like a nuclear bomb, then even I probably wouldn’t be able to defend myself… No, there was always a way to survive, no matter how strong the opponent was.

With the <Shop> skill, it was possible. For example, one option would be to just send out an S-Rank monster as my own Familiar and have it protect me.

However, that would require an astronomical amount of funds. Fortunately, there were no signs of a monster that could destroy the country yet, but I would need to somehow prepare countermeasures before then.

“Anyway, I understand how strong you are now, Sol. I know that you’ll be able to protect me well.” (Bouchi)

“Puu! Sol will protect you with all my heart and soul, Master!” (Sol)

And just like this, I had acquired a follower who was more dependable than any human being.