"Cleaning the sewers is... pretty rough."
"He-hehe... Y-Yeah, it sure is... fuhi."
Deep within the Tsudon sewers, two Spirit-possessed girls who had taken a cleaning contract from the Adventurer's Guild were busy at work. Tria and Penpen were currently acting as their original selves while their Spirits remained dormant, using hoe-like tools to scrape the moss and slime from the tunnel walls and ceilings.
The moss was apparently a useful material, as Penpen was diligently collecting every scrap she scraped off. Tria couldn't help but think that she really didn’t want to use any potions or medicine made from that stuff, even if the alchemy process was supposed to purify it.
"Ugh, I just can't get used to this smell, Penpen."
"Maybe it would be easier if I could make some Deodorizer... I wonder?"
"If you can make something like that, please do."
"Only if the Spirit gives me permission, right...?"
"Right."
A quest titled 'Create Deodorizer (For Adventurer's Guild Requests)' was added to Penpen's list. Incidentally, it seemed the moss growing right here was exactly what she needed for the ingredients. Tria felt a bit conflicted about that.
As long as one could stomach the damp, nauseating stench of the waste, the sewer cleaning was a simple job.
However, if cleaning were the only requirement, the Guild wouldn't have bothered hiring adventurers for it.
Undead, crocodiles, and Sahagins appeared here from time to time. Slimes appeared as well, but the Guild had instructed them to simply knock the creatures into the water channels unless they were swarming; apparently, the Slimes actually helped with the cleaning.
"B-By the way, Tria-chan."
"What is it, Penpen?"
"How are things... between you and your Spirit? Do you get along well?"
"...I think so?"
In the first place, the Spirit-possessed offered everything they were to their Spirits. Whether things were good or bad depended entirely on the Spirit’s whim.
Still, Tria believed she was being cherished. She wasn't pampered quite as much as Penpen, but she had received headpats.
"I-I see. Um, well... do you think our Spirits think we're cute?"
"Everything about our appearances was changed to suit their tastes, wasn't it?"
"Ah. But my appearance hasn't changed at all... M-Maybe that means my original look was already to his liking?"
"I think so. You have a very charming body, Penpen. You should have more confidence."
Tria spoke while her gaze drifted toward Penpen's chest—an area so bountiful it frequently led others to mistake her for a Cow Beastman.
(In reality, because the Voxel display mostly omitted such details, Penpen's Spirit wasn't actually paying much attention to that particular feature.)
"Regardless, we work for the sake of our Spirits. That's all there is to it."
"Y-Yeah, you're right. I have to gather lots of materials for my Spirit and raise my level..."
"That's the spirit. Oh, that reminds me... sandals might not provide enough attack power. I think I want shoes that can deal more damage."
"Hmm, then... m-maybe boots? Should we... add Hidden Blades to them too?"
Tria took a moment to imagine it. Truly powerful shoes. Her bare feet had been useless against that Great Turtle, but if she had powerful shoes...
And if they were equipped with Hidden Blades, she might finally be able to gouge out the Great Turtle's eyes and offer them to her Spirit.
"Wonderful. The Spirit has already given me permission to upgrade my equipment, so please make them. I want to become stronger. For his sake."
"U-Uh-huh! My Spirit told me to earn Experience Points by crafting whatever items I can, so this is perfect!"
As they talked, an undead creature—a Skeleton—sluggishly poked its head around the corner of the passage.
Tria sent it flying with a kick. Its skull shattered and vanished, and the rest of its body collapsed into a heap of dry bones.
"Can I have the bones?"
"Mm. Just give the Magic Stone to Tria."
Since Magic Stones could be traded for cash, Tria took it as the one who defeated the enemy. The bones, which were useless to her, went to Penpen.
As for the quest, the kill count was credited to both of them, as were the Guild Contribution Points.
They made an efficient pair. Tria nodded to herself.
"I'd like to stay on good terms with you, Penpen."
"I-I want to be friends with a cute girl like you too, Tria-chan, fuhi! Besides, you know... our Spirits are friends with each other, right?"
"Yeah. I can even tell when Penpen's Spirit is awake now."
"Ehehe... I never had a single friend before this... I'm so happy."
"Tria was the same. Back in the village, no one... yeah."
Finding common ground in the fact that they had both been loners made them both feel a little warmer inside.
"Fuhi, Spirits are amazing, aren't they? They can make friends so easily. I could never do that."
"Spirits probably all get along, don't they? I assume."
"Maybe they were already friends back in the Spirit Realm...? Oh, but they acted like they were meeting for the first time. They really are incredible."
"The Spirit Realm?"
Tria tilted her head at the unfamiliar term.
"It's the country... or the world where the Spirits live. They say the Spirits come to our side from there."
"...Now that you mention it, I think I heard a story like that a long time ago. I see. They come—they've been coming to see us from such a distant place. That makes me happy."
"The Spirit Faith Church talks about it all the time, so it's pretty famous. Fuhi."
The Spirit Faith Church. This was another term Tria was hearing for the first time.
Judging by the name, it had to be a gathering of comrades who worshiped the Spirits.
"I-I mean, the Spirit Faith is an Evil Cult... but still, you know?"
"Excuse me?"
An Evil Cult? The Spirits? Why? What?
"...D-Don't glare at me like thaaat, it's scaryyy!"
"Oops, sorry, Penpen. My eyes just got a bit intense for a second."
"Ugh... I hate that I'm even scared of a tiny, cute girl like you..."
"Anyway, Penpen. Why is the Spirit Faith considered an Evil Cult?"
Tria asked while kicking away a semi-skeletal zombie that was trying to sneak up from behind.
"...A long time ago, one of the Spirit-possessed messed up. After that, the other Spirits said that people shouldn't worship them anymore. That's why openly professing faith in the Spirits makes you part of an Evil Cult."
"...Mmm! Well, if that's what the Spirits said, then it can't be helped."
"But! It's okay to personally adore your own Spirit, right? Right!?"
"Uh, Tria just heard about the 'Evil Cult' thing from you, so I'm not really sure."
"Then it's fine!! Ah, Spirit... I'm yours. Every single part of me! My arms, my legs, my body, my breasts, my head, my eyes, my mouth, my hair, my mind, my joy, my sorrow, my emotions, my soul—every, every, every last bit of me! ...Ahhh♪"
Despite her timid nature, Penpen occasionally became intensely manic.
However, Tria felt that as people who had offered their entire existence to their Spirits, this was perfectly appropriate behavior.
If she weren't in a public place, Tria might have been doing the same. Though, the sewers weren't exactly the right place to offer one's love.
"You really do love your Spirit, Penpen."
"Of c-o-u-r-s-e... You do too, right, Tria-chan? Ah, Spirit, Spirit, please use me...!"
Tria felt there was much to learn from the way Penpen writhed and declared her love so unreservedly.
"! Tria-chan, we have to hurry!"
"What's wrong?"
"The Spirit is going to use my body in five hours! I have to get back to my Home and purify myself immediately!!"
"...Oh. An Oracle. I'm so jealous. If Tria got Oracles like that, I could make sure the Spirit always had a clean Tria to use."
It seemed Penpen's Spirit sent Oracles with plenty of advance notice before an Advent.
On the other hand, Tria's warnings were almost always immediate, leaving her no time to wash up. Still, she felt happy in her own way, thinking it meant the Spirit was rushing to see her as quickly as possible. She would just have to show herself as she was.
...
That said, being covered in the stench of sewer cleaning was probably pushing it.
"...Yeah. We've finished our cleaning and kill quotas anyway, so let's head back now. Let Tria clean her body too."
"Okay! Hihihi! Spirit, Spirit, Spirit!"
"Penpen, your nose is bleeding. You're getting too excited."
"Fuhya! Ahhh, even a single drop of my blood belongs to the Spirit, and yet... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"
After Tria had finished her bath, an 'Oracle' finally arrived for her as well.
The Advent would begin in two minutes.
Another blissful period spent with her Spirit was about to begin.