The next door opened into a hallway.
It was wide, just wide enough for me and Mee to stand side by side with our arms outstretched.

The corridor went straight ahead.
Mi and I walked straight down it.

I glanced at the back of My, who was half a step ahead of me on my left.
The girl with the cat ears was walking cautiously, her eyes carefully scanning her surroundings.

Not quite a trot, but slow.
I followed her quietly so as not to disturb her.

At that moment, Mi's eyes, which had been looking around, turned diagonally back and suddenly met mine.

'A......'

Then, her cheeks suddenly turned bright red.

She hurriedly looked away from me.
She seemed to be getting nervous.

Then, we proceeded a little further.
Then, she opened her mouth.

'...... William, I'm sorry.

'......? For what?'

'Mee, I think I've lost it. This kind of distraction is the end of my career as a thief. I hate myself.

'............'

'But it's William's fault, too. I can't do this. I feel like my heart is going to burst. ...... If we weren't on an adventure right now, Mee would be ......'

'............'

Mee's tail wagged restlessly.
The little girl's ears and cheeks were red in profile as I looked at her from behind.

A feeling of love welled up in my chest.
My body is about to be taken over by an impulsive desire that does not consider the time and place.

But somehow I manage to shake it off and keep my self-control.

'...... Sorry'.

I didn't know what I was apologizing for.
But Mee seemed to have interpreted it somehow.

'Don't apologize. It's a joke. It's a pretext for a joke. If you apologize, the joke will cease to be a joke. ...... Ah, but it's Mee's fault. It's all Mee's fault. It's all my fault. My head is a mess.

Mee seems to be confused too.
When I don't respond and remain silent, the beastman girl turns her back to me and continues.

'But it's because William does things that aren't like William. William wouldn't lie to protect himself by calling something that isn't a joke a joke.

I was surprised to hear that.
I'm sure I hated that stuff.
At the time, it had come out of my mouth as if I were trying to cover something up...

But without knowing my inner thoughts, Mee spun more words.

'...... But this is just another one of Mee's assumptions, isn't it? It's not ...... fake, is it? In the event that you have any questions concerning where and how to use the internet, you can call us at the web site.

I thought that I had come up with a strange idea, but it was the first time in a long time that I could reply clearly, so I answered immediately.

'No, that's not true. I'm real.'

'......, right? I'm sorry for asking you such a strange question.

'No, it's fine.

The fact that I said I was the real thing didn't guarantee anything, because a fake could call itself the real thing, but Mi was satisfied with that.

Incidentally, there is no guarantee that Mee is the real thing either, but if you think about it too much, you'll only get stuck in a quagmire of thoughts.

If we seek too much certainty in the reality in front of us, in the end we will be left with only our own thoughts.
We are always living in a moderately uncertain world, believing in what we feel to be certain.

'But I've calmed down a little because of my strange thoughts. I think I'm okay now. I'm sorry for being so upset.'

'No, I'm sorry too.'

'Yes, I am. Don't tempt Mee too much or she'll be useless as a thief, okay, William? Wait until you're all done and back at the inn. Then Mee will accept as much as you want.

Then Mee smiled at me.
I thought that was my line, but I didn't say it out loud.


But I didn't say it.


After going straight for a while, the corridor eventually turned to the right.

Mie, who had tiptoed ahead of me to the corner, peered ahead and invited me to follow her.
I walked up to her side and imitated her, peering around the corner.

At the end of the corner, there was a door.
There was a door at the end and two stone statues, one on each side of the door.

Both of the stone statues resembled the same monster.
On a pedestal, a humanoid monster sat with its back arched, its hands on the pedestal with sharp claws, its back with bat wings, its head with two horns, and its beast-like mouth with a row of sharp fangs.

When I saw them, I turned my head back and headed back to this side of the bend.
I'm not sure what to do.

'...... William, what do you think?

'No, I don't know what to say. If it's that obvious, I'm inclined to think there's another possibility.

'...... Hmm? What do you mean?'

Mee tilted her head.

I nodded my head along with her.
We're not on the same page.

'Mee, by any chance you don't know about the monster in the stone statue?

'No, I don't. Mee is not like William, who knows a lot from the Academy of Magic. If you know about it, please tell me.

'I see. ...... No, it's not like I studied at the Academy of Magic.

Well, not everyone is a fan of adventure stories.
Even if they are a regular presence in many adventure stories, they are not as well known as dragons and goblins.

I'm a little surprised by the culture shock, but I tell Mee about it.

'That's a gargoyle, a monster that waits for adventurers in the form of a stone statue. They are cunning and will attack adventurers who approach or pass by them, thinking they are just stone statues. In that sense, it's similar to the imitator... but then again, Mee knew about the imitator, but not the gargoyle? In the event that you've got an imitator that's a treasure chest, you'll find that it's a very minor imitator that turns into a sword.



'No, is it the Imitator ......? I didn't know it was a monster too. I just thought it looked stupidly weird.

...... I see, that's what you mean.

I've always thought that Mee was a much more rational thinker than Satsuki, but rationality and knowledge are two different things.
Maybe there's a lot more that people don't know than I thought.

'So, William, is that gargoyle a very strong monster?

'No, it has a monster rank of E, which is about right. If we only talk about how fast it moves, I think Mee can play around with it even if she has to deal with two of them. The only thing is that they are as hard as real stone statues, so Mee's dagger won't be able to penetrate them well.

'...... I knew it. I had a hunch about that.

Mee said disgustedly.


'Then, what should we do?

In the event that you've got a gargoyle, you'll be able to use it as a heat weapon on your dagger. You don't want to assume that you'll be in close combat from the start.

'...... William sometimes thinks more like a thief than a thief.

'I'll take that as a compliment - so I'd like to try hitting him with a magic missile first, and if that doesn't take him down, I'd like to have Mee cut him in.

'All right, sir. The magic missile is very active, isn't it?

'It's a beginner spell that doesn't consume a lot of mana. Besides, it has enough attack power and usability if it's not used against high-level monsters. It's perfect for conserving mana.

'I think William will make a good housewife.

I then went out to the corner of the corridor, completing my chanting, and fired magic missile spells at the two stone statues that appeared to be gargoyles.

The magic arrows, which he allocated two shots each, pierced the head and abdomen of one of the stone statues and crushed it.
The other stone statue, with wind holes in its chest and abdomen, attacked in a haphazard manner, but Mee leaped forward to fight back and put an end to it.

Having passed through the second gate, Mee and I continued onward.