I asked Spira to look after Halfa while she recovered. With the two of them together, they wouldn’t get lonely. Lowell, meanwhile, headed into the city to gather information. I mainly had him looking into the condition of the people who had reacted to the Song of Soothing.
Our reason for leaving the dungeon was, of course, to report to Ren-kun. We hadn't made any significant progress just by defeating the giant bird, but he had requested that I step outside the dungeon periodically.
That said, it wasn't as if I could call out to him whenever I wanted. Without an Oracle from Ren-kun, I had no way of initiating contact. I could only hope he’d notice the moment I stepped outside.
As it turned out, my concerns were entirely for naught. The instant I took a step out of the dungeon, I found myself standing before Ren-kun’s house instead of the wilderness. It seemed he had been lying in wait for me to emerge.
『Ooh!? What is this? This isn't where we usually go!』
"Huh? Shiroru, you were able to come too?"
『Of course I did! I was walking right next to you!』
"I mean, you're right, but that’s not really the point. This is Ren-kun’s—the Destiny God’s house."
『Oh! So this is Lamuyadas-sama’s home!』
I scooped up Shiroru as she tried to dash around in excitement and made my way to the front door. When I rang the intercom, a voice drifted through. "Come in~. Make yourself at home~." Since I had his permission, I let myself in without hesitation.
『What’s this? We take our shoes off?』
"That’s the rule in this house. Let’s get your paws clean too, Shiroru."
Shiroru wore a puzzled expression as I stepped out of my shoes at the entrance. We hadn't encountered such a custom anywhere else in our travels, so I could understand her surprise.
I wiped her paws with a scrap of cloth I used as a handkerchief and then cast Clean for good measure. While the spell alone would have done the trick, sometimes it’s the thought that counts.
Still carrying Shiroru, I headed into the living room to find Ren-kun lounging lazily on the floor. He gave me a casual wave without getting up.
"Welcome back. I’ve been waiting for you~. Here, have some barley tea."
Three glasses of barley tea were already lined up on the low table. One was a shallow cup, which I assumed was for Shiroru.
"It’s been a while, hasn't it? Your name is Shiroru now, right? You’ve certainly taken on a lovely form."
『It has been a long time, Lamuyadas-sama! But... have you shrunk somehow?』
"I’m a god, so I can change my appearance however I like. Right now, I’m looking like this to match Ruto—Tort’s mental image of me."
『I’m pretty much the same!』
Ren-kun and Shiroru chatted away like old friends reuniting. For some reason, the conversation made it sound like I was the culprit behind both of their current appearances. I could see the argument for Ren-kun, but in Shiroru’s case, her form had changed all on its own the moment we met. Well, her current look was certainly cuter than a terrifying beast, so... yeah, maybe it really was my fault.
"So, has anything changed since we last spoke? As usual, I can't really see what’s going on inside that dungeon."
『I ate takoyaki!』
"Oh, takoyaki! Nice! Speaking of takoyaki, there’s this 'Shadow Game' called Russian Takoyaki..."
"Wait, Ren-kun!? Don't teach Shiroru such weird things!"
『Hm? A Shadow Game? Is it tasty?』
I had intended to bring up the giant bird since Ren-kun had asked, but Shiroru beat me to it, gushing about the takoyaki. That was fine, but then Ren-kun had to get carried away and try to introduce her to "Russian Takoyaki." He called it a Shadow Game, but it was really just a prank—you hide a "dud" among the batch and everyone eats at the same time. The "dud" was usually filled with something like extremely spicy sauce.
"Sorry, sorry. But if you were eating takoyaki, that means you found octopuses. Around C-Rank, I'm guessing it was a Hide Octopus?"
"Yeah, exactly. We secured quite a lot, so we’re set for a while. Though, I don't actually know many octopus recipes. Are there any others?"
"Hmm... wasn't it a staple in oden?"
"Oh, you're right! Oden... that sounds like a great idea."
『What’s that? Is it delicious? It’s definitely delicious, isn't it?』
Ren-kun had given me an unexpected hint for my next octopus dish. Since we had fish, making fish paste wouldn't be impossible. Eggs... well, we didn't have a steady supply of chicken eggs yet, so I’d have to put those on hold. There were vegetables that resembled daikon, at least. The real challenge would be the konnyaku. I hadn't seen anything like it yet.
"Ren-kun, is there any konnyaku around?"
"Eh? This really isn't supposed to be my job, you know... Let’s see. Konnyaku yams exist in your world, but nobody’s actually made konnyaku yet."
When I pressed him, he gave me the answer with a bit of a reluctant groan. It sounded like obtaining konnyaku would be difficult for now. Oh well—even without it, oden was bound to be delicious.