Well, I'm off.
Have a good day.

　Emily sees me off and we walk out of the new mansion/vanadium dungeon to the ground.
　We walked out into the yard and looked at the little girl next to us.

　Vanadium.
　The little girl is pushing a magic cart that's bigger than her body in a good, good way.

'Are you okay?　Isn't it heavy?
...... (coke-pull)

　I giggled a bit at the mixed replies, both okay and not so heavy.

'Let's go, then.'
...... (nationally)

　I take Vanadium out of the garden of the mansion and walk through the streets of Cyclo.
　Early in the morning, Cyclo is almost empty and the scene is quiet.

'It's an ideal city, isn't it?'
......?
In this world, trash is so easy to haggle with, so the city is always clean and free of trash.

　It's even more noticeable in the early morning when it's not as popular.
　The streets are messy, but there is no trash at all.

　Even in Japan, there is far less trash than in other countries.
　In Europe and the United States, there is dirt on the street and high heels were born to avoid stepping on it.

　Japan is also quite clean, but still, there are small garbage and cigarette butts here and there.
　In this world, in a city where there are many people, there is no trash at all.
　If there was trash, it would be a haggler, and monsters would attack the city.

　Well, that's what I'm saying.
　High heels to avoid stepping on filth, and a city with zero garbage to avoid being attacked by monsters.
　Maybe the essence of both is the same.

　I walked with Vanadium through such a clean and unpopular city to Terdungeon.

　It's for Vanadium's rehabilitation.

　As Vanadium's people-phobia slowly subsided, I decided to walk through the city with him and head to the dungeon instead of the transporter room.
　When I came up with the idea and suggested it, I wondered what would happen, but our Vanadium is happy to be able to help me, or maybe he's pushing his little body in a yo-yo-yo manner, but his face has a happy smile on it.

'Thank you,'
...... (smiling)

　I patted him on the head and he smiled back.
　As I did so, we walked slowly together to work at Terdungeon.

　The first floor of Terdungeon in the morning.
　The less popular one to begin with, it was particularly quiet there.

'Good morning,'
Oh, good morning. Mr. Lord.

　The man who spoke to us as we entered the dungeon was a short, gray-haired old man.
　The deep wrinkles etched into his face make him look like he's easily over eighty years old.

'It's another day, isn't it?'

　Then I saw the (、、、、) slime that Grandpa Lord was playing with.

　Mr. Lord is taunting the attacking slime with a movement like tai chi in kung fu.

　He taunts it, taunts it, and taunts it incessantly.
　He doesn't beat it, he just taunts it.

　Torment the charming but very angry-looking slime in the dungeon.
　The dungeon with the slime looked like a morning exercise in the park.

　This is what Mr. Lord does every day.
　He comes and does it early in the morning when it is less popular.
　Among some, he is recognized as a famous old man.

He says, "If I don't move my body, I'll go out of shape.
If you can move this much, can't you still make it on the job?
No, no, no, no. An old man like me shouldn't be taking a chance on a young man.
I don't think so.
There's no motivation. An unmotivated person shouldn't occupy a place forever. If a person occupies a private room in the bathroom without doing his or her business, he or she will not feel good.
It's a unique metaphor.

　At first glance, Lord-san, who talks while playing with the slime, looks like a good-natured old man.
　However, if he can do nothing more than tame the slime for 30 minutes, and sometimes as long as an hour, he's undoubtedly a very capable adventurer as well.

　That way of life intrigued me a bit.

''By the way, what about that boy over there?　Are you Lyota's daughter?
Oh, no. It's a little girl named Vanadium who lives with me for a few reasons.
Yeah. Yeah, Vanadium, do you want a candy bar?

　Mr. Lord taunted the rushing slime, and with his momentum, he swept it a long way (、、、、、、), then reached into his pocket and pulled out some individual candy balls and offered them to Vanadium.

　Vanadium looked at them for a moment and then looked up at me.

'Huh?'

　I cringed.
　The eyes that Vanadium looked up at me weren't the same as they were when we met for salvation.

'Are you sure you can have it?'

　You look at me like I'm asking you.

Of course you can have it.
...... (nikko!)

　Vanadium nodded, got a candy ball, and smiled back at Lord-san.

　　　　　☆

　After Mr. Lord finished his gymnastics and left the dungeon, I sat down on the ground of the dungeon with Vanadium.
　As I sat cross-legged on my knees, Vanadium sat on my lap, ripped open the wrapping with a fumbling hand and popped a piece of candy into my mouth.
　I wondered if it tasted so good, and he started to smile in no time.

　I get a candy from a stranger (Mr. Lord).
　I was a little happy to see another step forward today.

'Ah, there you are!
Hmm?　Isn't that Mao?

　I looked up at a young voice that sounded familiar and saw the Filin Dungeon Association Head, Mao Mee, there.

　Probably the youngest of all the association heads, Mao. Despite this, she had an unrivaled skill at tasting wine by smell.

　That Mao came in front of me in a flash.

"What's the matter with you, coming here?
I went to the mansion and you weren't there, or rather, I couldn't get into the mansion, so I thought I'd meet you outside to find you.
I see.
Is that Mao's seat?
What?

　All of a sudden, I wondered what he was going to say, but Mao sat on the other side of Vanadium, on his other empty knee.

　I sat cross-legged, and both Vanadium and Mao were on his lap.

'You don't have to compete for anything,'

　Me smiling bitterly.
　Come to think of it, he's been sitting on my lap since the first time I met Mao.

'I'm not competing. I sit in place when I meet you, that's all.
Okay.

　It's not like she's competing or being stubborn.
　Normally she's mature, but as she looks, she's a young Mao, so she's a little bit of a kook at her behavior.

　Vanadium looked at Mao like that, and after a few moments, he thought about something.

''......(sic)''

　I put one of the candy balls I got earlier in my hand and offered it to Mao in the palm of my hand.

''Huh?''
How can I help Mao?
...... (nationally)
Ugh. ......

　I guess there was a part of him that was being stubborn, after all.
　Innocently, Vanadium held out the candy, and Mao was clearly upset.

　Vanadium tilted his head slightly as he held it out.
　Prompted by this, Mao reluctantly accepted the candy balls.

'...... good boy,'
Hmm?
What? No, it's not!　...... Don't think you've won this one!

　Mao jumped up in a flash and ran away like a de-rabbit, leaving behind a discarded line.

'...... No, no,'

　Mao's reaction made me smile.
　I, on the other hand, patted Vanadium's head.

'Great job,'
...... (smiling)

　He strokes my head, tickling me, but pressing his head against me in a way that feels good.
　Thanks to Mao, I guess.
　I don't know what kind of transition of thought it was, but it felt like Mao was another step forward in Vanadium's rehabilitation, thanks to Mao.

　As I did so, I was stroking Vanadium and thinking that I'd have to thank Mao later - when she came back.

'What's up, what's still--'
Thank you!

　He said this with a red face and Mao ran off again.

　I chuckled.
　Let's go see her later, I thought.