My Refrigerator Turned Into A Dungeon

Chapter 468

Foothold

Today as well, while diligently attending my bodywork school, I continued my journey of handing out souvenirs. And so, the place I visited was the temple where Unkai-san is.

“How’s it going, Unkai-san, long time no see!”

“This is Egetsu-san, it has been a while.”

When Unkai-san, whom I had asked to come out, appeared, he bowed with a calm expression befitting a monk. Yeah, I see. So this is the kind of atmosphere he has inside the temple.

“Sorry to bother you while you’re on duty. I went to Kusatsu for a bit, so I brought some souvenirs.”

“Thank you very much. I understand the manju, but… what is that large bone??”

“Yeah, this is also a souvenir. It’s a big boar bone, and it works great as a blunt weapon. When I looked it up, even the vajra is said to be the bone of a holy hermit, right? So I thought it might make a good souvenir for you, Unkai-san.”

“I-I see…”

Unkai-san looked at the enormous boar-bone hammer I held out with a doubtful expression.“Oh, and sorry about this, Unkai-san. Could you maybe chant a sutra or something for this bone? I defeated it, but I couldn’t give it any proper memorial.”

“…O-oh, this is quite heavy.”

As Unkai-san received the bone hammer and the manju, he seemed surprised by the weight. Of course, not the manju—the bone.

“Yeah, it feels heavy despite how it looks, right? It’s the finger bone of a giant boar you’d have to look up at, so the bone density must be different.”

“I see, so it was that large of a creature…”

Saying that, Unkai-san placed the manju on top of the shoe cabinet and, holding only the bone hammer in one hand, offered a prayer with the other. Yeah, if the pure-hearted Unkai-san performs a memorial like this, that giant boar probably won’t turn into an undead.

“So, how has that thing been going since then?”

There were other monks nearby within earshot, so I avoided saying “skill” out loud and asked indirectly.

“Yes, well, not here. Let’s step outside for a bit.”

After going to inform them he would step out, Unkai-san returned, and we headed together toward the graveyard.

“…Yes, this spot gets good sunlight, so around here should be fine.”

Naturally, gravestones lined the area, and a faint scent of incense drifted over the stone pavement. Stopping there, Unkai-san said that and looked up at the sun.

“Oh, that’s a confident expression. Then let me see it.”

“Yes, please watch from there…”

Right, the skill I gave Unkai-san was [Space]. Wondering what kind of technique he would show using it, I watched as he placed a small piece of black paper on the stone pavement and put a weight on it so it wouldn’t blow away.

(Hm…?).

Could it be some kind of talisman? Or maybe he planned to summon something like a shikigami from it? As I tilted my head, Unkai-san formed a hand seal, focused, and activated his skill.

“On A Bi Ra Un Ken… Katsu!!”

Then, from the black paper placed on the pavement, wisps of smoke began to rise.

“Ohh!”

But… once the black paper had completely burned away, Unkai-san let out a breath, giving off a sense of accomplishment.

“How was it!?”

(Wait, uh… even if you ask me “how was it” with a smile… what part of that was the [Space] skill—oh, wait!).

“Oh, I get it—the sun! You gathered sunlight using the space skill!”

“Yes, that is correct!”

Indeed, before activating the skill, Unkai-san had been concerned about the sunlight, and afterward he stood with the sun behind him facing the black paper.

“I see… You changed the refraction of light using the space skill.”

Mm, this is like that. The same thing as focusing sunlight with a magnifying glass, but done using a space skill.

“No, haha. I still cannot create barriers or storage spaces like you said, Egetsu-san, so this is rather embarrassing…”

Yeah, but this is where you must never say, “That’s kind of lame… you could do that with a magnifying glass.”

Because the sensation of manipulating magic power is something entirely new, and activating a skill is the same. It is like trying to grab things with your nose or fan yourself with your ears. For an elephant, that might be natural, but for a human, it is extremely difficult.

And yet, with only a simple explanation from me, Unkai-san managed to get this far on his own. That is an impressive result. After all, unlike Ruu and the others, I have not been constantly by his side giving detailed instruction.

Therefore, the best course here is to praise his achievement and use it as motivation for him going forward.

“No, no, this is already quite impressive! You’ve got the hang of it, and if you keep this up, you’ll be able to use barriers and spatial storage in no time!!”

“Yes, thank you very much. I will continue to train!”

“Yeah, do your best!”

Mm, Unkai-san, whom I had not seen in a while, had firmly grasped the starting point for activating his skill.

At this point, all that remained was practice and experience. My expectations for his future growth were only growing.