16. Transformation
1046 Words
Finally free of her troubles, Kaya looked around the crowded outfield as she called out Inali's name.
After a long search, Kaya heard Inali's answer from one of the stalls in the public toilet.
...
Although it was a bit strange, Kaya followed Inali's request and entered the stall as inconspicuously as possible and closed the door.
Then Kaya's gaze fell on the figure wrapped in a crude, ill-fitting sheet of metal in the shape of a column.
'Nali, who is this? A new friend you know?
Kaya looked critically at the unidentified, genderless species, smaller than herself and covered in metal.
Inali had no time to answer.
Kaya noticed the corner of Inari's iron armour peeking out and her face changed slightly. She pulled Inari, who was a few steps away, to her side.
With a disgusted look on her face, Kaya lifted Inari's craftsman's shirt and at the same time put her hand on Inari's waist, which looked much thicker,
What kind of shoddy armour is this? It's bulky and ill-fitting, and so ugly that if any other dwarf saw it, it would be a real disgrace to our family.
Inari felt the light pressure of Kaja's hand on her waist. After a faint golden light rose, Inari realised that the strong torso she had tried so hard to support with the armour had been reduced to its original form.
The armour had been transformed into a thin, tight-fitting style.
Nali, although your current form is not the popular aesthetic of the dwarves, don't be too self-deprecating. There are people of all races in the infield today, and no one will care about your appearance...' ...
...
My name is Gude, a servant given new life by Master Inali. While Kaya was lecturing Inali, Gude moved his currently bulky cylindrical body and came over.
The unnatural stiffness that accompanied Gude's movements made Kaya frown. She seemed to want to restrain herself, but in the end she couldn't.
Kaya placed a hand on Gude's shoulder and, without thinking, did the same again, covering the iron plate that covered Gude's body with a layer of her handy golden magic.
You don't know where you got that raggedy underground armour, and you don't know anything about servants. If you're trying to lower your status and ask Nelly to help you modify the iron armour, forget it. Nelly's ironsmithing skills are still immature, so I'll do it for her...'
Kaya's words suddenly caught in her throat.
Kaya looked at the good in front of her. Under her magic, the iron body of the cylinder slowly transformed into an iron skeleton. Paired with a roughly sketched iron mask with five facial features on the round head, it looked even more sinister at that moment.
Kaya took a breath and turned to Inali's somewhat panicked and hesitant expression: 'Inali, what are you doing?
'I, I can explain...'
Inali hurriedly stepped forward to support Goode's back, which had suddenly frozen. She sent a small burst of spiritual energy from the Spiritual Root Seed in her Sea of Consciousness into Goode's body, then gave the command, 'Gude, introduce yourself in detail, from the beginning.
...
--Gude--
Two years ago, Goode awoke beneath the dirt outside the underground trading floor. His thoughts were empty, and he vaguely remembered being some kind of important figure.
In reality, he was just a skeleton made of bones that could move.
The underground trading floor opened only once a year, and the rest of the time there was no light or signs of life. Goode wandered the outer field alone, unable to find a way out.
When the Underground Trading Fair opened a year ago, Goode was exposed to signs of other creatures' activity for the first time. He carefully buried himself in the ground the whole time to gather information, hiding until the end of the fair before crawling out again. In the darkness, he collected many discarded items on his own.
Over the course of a year, Goode used the discarded items he collected and the things he took from the storage ring that hung from his little finger to create a humanoid form for himself, and then he simply waited for the next time the fair opened.
...
After nearly two years of searching, Good discovered that he was bound to this underground marketplace. He vaguely sensed that clues to his origins might be found in the interior of the marketplace.
For this fair, Good disguised himself as a dwarf conducting a trade and tried to barter for a pass to the interior of the underground market.
However, after shaking hands with the only person who spoke to him, Inari, a strange aura flowed through Good's body. Good discovered that he had inexplicably signed a master-servant contract with this girl.
...
Kaya
Kaya knew two years ago that her father had brought home a human who claimed to be his lost dwarf sister.
But Kaya was born with a big heart, a high capacity for acceptance, and she listened to her father. Coupled with the protective instinct she felt when she saw her new sister's thin and slender figure, she decided that day to treat her human sister, disguised as a dwarf, as part of the family.
After two years together, Kaya had always known that her younger sister Nelly did not have the creative talents of a dwarf. She was not good at blacksmithing and could not use earth and metal magic as freely as she could.
However, she had also discovered a little secret that her younger sister Nelly had hidden. Because of this, Kaya believed that her human younger sister would excel in areas other than those in which the dwarves excelled.
Today, she finally confirmed Nelly's first secret - Nelly could use contract magic.
----
The entrance to the underground market is actually quite striking.
The walls of the Underground Exchange are full of unrestricted entrances, except for one, which is surrounded by a fence and guarded by a dwarven sheriff.
Having presented her credentials, Inali signed the receipt for the items she was carrying, despite the sheriff's prying eyes, and then led the iron skeleton with the large 'Made by Inali' stamp on its arm through the open fence.
- Writer
