Chapter 26

Before chasing after Hinata and the others, there was one thing that concerned me—Cipher’s arm.

“We will search for traces of Hinata’s group while moving.”

“Yeah, I’d like that… but before that, let’s do some first aid on your arm.”

“Repair is possible in the lab, but… ah…”

Cipher handed me the arm they were holding. The broken part was slightly distorted, but since the joint wasn’t destroyed, it looked like I could reattach it as it was.

Since my ‘Fixation’ skill locks spatial coordinates, I wasn’t sure if I could keep Cipher’s arm attached while fixing it—but I had to try.

“I’ll see if I can keep your arm attached with my skill. What do you think, Cipher?”

“…If that is your command, Master, please proceed.”

“Got it. Stay still.”

I imagined Cipher’s arm being reconnected and fixed in place—and then.

《Skill ‘Fixation’ activated. The connection between the objects is fixed.》

“Alright… the arm’s reattached. Does it seem okay?”

I was able to ‘fix’ two objects together—Cipher moved their arm and checked it with their camera.

“The connection of the magical nerves has been restored. The broken edges seem to have aligned well.”

“That’s good. But it might be fragile if it gets hit in the same spot again… it’s just a temporary fix.”

“Understood. I will be careful.”

Even though Cipher protected me without hesitation earlier, hearing that made me realize—I’ve grown quite attached to Cipher in just one day.

“…Master, is that skill of yours ‘spatial magic’?”

“Haha… people say that a lot, but even I don’t really know. It might seem strange to use a skill like this as a ‘Baggage Carrier,’ but it makes sense to me.”

“Because it is an ability necessary for a ‘Baggage Carrier,’ correct?”

“Yeah, exactly. By the way, Cipher, you’re really good at talking… if your voice wasn’t so robotic, you’d almost seem human.”

Cipher’s camera whirred slightly, but they said nothing—sometimes Cipher reacted like this, which only made them seem even more human.

“Beep. Combat traces detected.”

“…It looks like they defeated a ‘Green Balun’ here. Seems like they took down some other monsters as well.”

“I have detected a frozen ‘Green Baloon.'”

The core had been split in two—it looked like Hinata had cut it with his Holy Knight sword technique. There was also a frozen ‘Green Baloon,’ likely due to some kind of magic attack.

(…Huh?)

I noticed a piece of paper sticking out from under a rock behind the ‘Green Balun.’

When I picked it up, it had “To Fujiwara-kun” written on it. Under the paper was a pair of search goggles in a case.

There was no guarantee that I would be the one to find this, but I did. I put on the search goggles and turned them on, and a map of the area was displayed on the lenses.

“I’ve found our destination. We can go without getting lost from here.”

“What kind of magic tool is that?”

“It makes registered things glow, and apparently it has a map function as well. It even shows where Nanami-san is…”

The dot marking Nanami-san’s location on the map wasn’t moving at all.

If she were exploring the dungeon, she should be moving around more. What’s going on…? Rather than thinking too much, I had to keep moving.

In a cave with many elevation changes, running around blindly would wear me out, so I tried to find the shortest route and reduce the burden as much as possible. Compared to my previous life, when I used to carry a much larger backpack, I felt much lighter even with lower stats now.

As I approached the dot on the map, I started to hear the sounds of sword fighting ahead.

“Beep. Detected combat from another group.”

It’s Hinata’s group—I could tell from a distance. After two of Hinata’s companions attacked, Hinata delivered the finishing blow.

“Hah!”

The monster they were fighting was humanoid and covered in tattered rags. Hinata’s sword glowed with magical power as he decapitated the monster in one strike.