Partner licked her lips and put the bits of Giant Crab carapace down the ground.
And then, she made a satisfying growl that sounded like a mix of both a yawn and a burp.

Leaving Partner be, I turn towards Wight who is crouching down behind the roots of a tree.
Well then, time to check out her status.
The Giant Forest Crab was a rank D monster.
It should give the rank E Wight a good amount of exp points for sure.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Species: Skull Low Mage
Status: Cursed
Lv: 4/13
HP: 9/26
MP: 2/22
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Hm…… wait, is that it?
Only three levels? Even though Wight did her best.
Well, the one who did the finishing blow was Partner, but still……
Treant’s fighting capabilities are pretty high, and I was also in a position for an easy kill at the Crab, so Treant should receive a good amount of exp points for its efforts.

And besides, unlike them, I have a skill that doubles the amount of exp points I receive and another that reduces the amount of exp points needed to level up.
That’s probably why my expectations on the two of their levels aren’t what I expected.

I shouldn’t rush things, it’ll still work out fine.
It only gave Wight three levels when fighting safely.
Let’s just keep this up safely. Everything will be in vain if you die after all. Even though Wight’s technically dead anyway.

But still, if Wight becomes an all-powerful bone mage, what’ll become of the future?
Will it gain a magic skill that recovers its flesh? Or, will the next evolution just be bones again?
If Wight ends up having a monstrous appearance as its final evolution and is stuck with that forever, how am I going to offer consolation to it…

Staring at her, Wight lowered her head at me.
What is it? Was I staring for too long at you?
I don’t know if you’re just embarrassed or tired with that poker face you’re making.

It’d be nice if you can make facial expressions too so it’ll be a bit easier to communicate.
Speaking of which, I’m pretty tired myself.
Aah, but at least there’s a village I can go back to now……
It’s good to have a goal in mind, but I still feel sad.

I unintentionally thought of that while staring at the back of Wight’s head.

【“The name of Aino’s daughter is… Alo. She had not reached 10, yet she died so young.”】

Suddenly, Hibi’s words come to mind.
A small little girl who hadn’t reached the age of 10, huh.
Is it really possible that Wight’s her?

Noticing the change in my expression, Wight faced up at me.
Our eyes meet. I won’t know if I don’t make sure.

Simple thoughts and intentions seem easy to be conveyed, but not so much on proper nouns like names.
In that case, I’ll have to use〖Human Transformation Art〗and personally say it to her.

“Gru~o”

First off, I ask Partner if she’s okay with it before I do it.

“Gra~a?”

Partner’s reply sounded like she had no idea what I just said and she tilted her head doing so.

Fine then, I won’t ask you. Just looking at your clueless face already has me convinced that you’re of no help. I raise my claw up at Partner’s forehead and grabbed the spider egg sacs and transferred it to a nearby tree. I don’t know what’ll happen if it remained stuck with us during the transformation after all.

“Gra~a?! Gra, graa……”

Partner tries to retrieve the eggs back on her head by stretching her neck at the tree.
I grab Partner’s neck and immediately use〖Human Transformation Art〗.

Our body heats up and shrinks down.
It doesn’t hurt that much anymore. My body is slowly getting adjusted to the changes from〖Human Transformation Art〗.

“Gru, gru, gru~a……”

I push Partner inside my body as she shrinks.
Partner is gradually turning smaller.
Her eyes were staring at me from the skin (creepy), but it soon disappeared.
By the time the transformation ended, I now have one head.

I stretch my fingers and check my hands.
There are bits of scales here and there and the skin color looks pale, but it’s definitely human hands.
The first time I used this skill sent all my hopes down the drain about being human because it was so shitty that time, I’m surprised it progressed this far.

I extend my hands up on my head and comb my hair.
Umu, having a human body is great indeed. I got so used to my dragon body that it still feels weird moving in a human one. [T.N: We got an “uwu” from Irushia, pplz XD]

Unlike before, my current height shortens the distance between my line of sight with Wight’s eyes.
Wight got curious and went closer to my eyes.
Oh yeah, this is my first time showing my human form to Wight.

I sense something else staring at me and I turn towards it, there I saw Treant angling its body for a closer look at me.
Looking at Treant in human size, he’s very scary.
He’s so much bigger than me. Now, I’m the one looking up at him.
This is kind of a refreshing change of scenery.

Wight keeps walking around me, looking at every part of my body from back to front, and even the sides.
Then, Wight started touching my body from different areas.
After touching my body to some extent, Wight knelt down on the spot. [T.N: Ara Ara ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )]

…… Are you perhaps envious?
S-Sorry. I didn’t meant to show off this body……
I-I’m sure in the next two evolutions, you’ll get your own body too! Definitely… probably……
Wait, I shouldn’t promise that.

“A, a, a…… a, aa, a”

Ooh, I can talk normally.

Listening to my voice, Wight leans closer.

“Alo. Do you know that name?”

Wight then… looked away.
The movement was stiff and somewhat hesitant.

…… Maybe nothing comes to mind?
Wight has〖Grisha Language: Lv1〗though, so there should be an understanding.
Then again, I also can’t tell if she still has her memories from when she was alive.
Maybe I’ll just ask her again after Wight evolves a few more times.

Oh yeah, I haven’t really mentioned about the mother’s name.
Let’s see…… it was……

“Aino. Do you know someone named Aino?”

When I asked, Wight paused completely.
During the silence when I waited for Wight’s response, Wight’s body kept making rattling noises.
Its jaw bones were moving three times. That’s when I realized that Wight is trying to repeat what I said.

Wight covered her eyes and crouched on the ground.
I sit next to Wight and pat her head.
A pale, hard, cold skull.

“…… I see. So, you’re Alo then.”

There was no reply after I said that.
Just that, I did see Wight’s jaw react.

Don’t worry, Wight…… no… Alo.
I’ll definitely make you human again.