﻿\setgamedatatitle("Minerva_10")

\text
――How much time has passed since Caym last visited?

\endtext

\text
Since that day, Minerva had allowed herself at least the
mercy of sleep.
\endtext

\text
She would sometimes sip from the bowl of water that came
with her meals.
\endtext

\text
But she never once reached for the food itself.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
(At the very least, by sleeping, I won't be piling up new
sins―probably not even by drinking water.)

\endtext

\text
Minerva, who was gradually accepting her own body. She had
finally allowed herself to satisfy its needs.

\endtext

\text
But eating meant taking the corpses of slain creatures into
her body―she saw it as committing new sins.

\endtext

\text
Since coming to this world, she had accumulated countless
sins. It felt like a symbol of that.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
(Caym says, Live with your sins. That living means piling up
more sins.)
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
(But it's Caym who doesn't understand. Just how heavy my
sins truly are―)
\endtext

\text
The Structa, being immortal, are extremely few in number.

\endtext

\text
Therefore, erasing another―committing murder―is an almost
unbearably heavy sin.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
(It was only because I believed it was justice that I could
do it.)
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
(Even if this world is overflowing with life―)

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
(............)
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
(...No. I can't think anymore...)
\endtext

\text
Minerva repeated cycles of sleep and faint thoughts. ...But
the next time she awoke, it was because she sensed someone
outside her cell.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
...Caym?
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Ah... s-sorry. I didn't mean to wake you.

\endtext

\text
Standing outside the cell was a young monster―a goblin
child, apparently assigned to guard this cell.

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Um, I brought your meal. And some water... and, um, this...

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Leave it there and go. ...Wait, what's that?

\endtext

\text
There was a slot at the bottom of the cell door for passing
in food. On the meal tray placed there, something unfamiliar
had been added.
\endtext

\text
It was a dark, stiff-looking object―if anything, it looked
just like Caym's erect penis.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
W-What is that? It's disgusting. ...It brings back
unpleasant memories.
\endtext

\text
Remembering how she was violated and tormented by Caym's
penis, Minerva turned her face away.

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Ah, i-it looks weird, but... It's called an Otokodake.

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
It's a mushroom that grows deep in the labyrinth, and we
goblins love it.
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
It's really... nutritious. Eating it gives you energy. It's
not just a superstition...

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
A mushroom... Otokodake, huh.
\endtext

\text
Searching the shared memory―it seemed to be an organ that
certain plants use to spread their spores.

\endtext

\text
Apparently, this particular type is believed to be a tonic
because it resembles a man's penis.

\endtext

\text
Large ones are traded at high prices. ...It really did seem
to be a valuable item.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
So, why are you giving me this... peni―Otokodake?

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Well... Onee-chan, you haven't eaten anything, and you
looked like you were about to die...

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
I thought, if it's my favorite food, maybe Onee-chan would
eat it too.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Y-You want me to eat this? Me... something this big, black,
and s-slippery...?

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Yeah! It'll definitely give you energy. It's really tasty!

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
N-No. Just leave it there. I'll eat it... maybe later.

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
No way. You always say that and never eat anything,
Onee-chan.
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
It was really hard to find, you know? Please, eat it right
here...
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Th-That's... but, now that you mention it...

\endtext

\text
Trying to dodge the situation, Minerva looked again at her
companion.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
(A monster child... This is the first time I've seen one in
this labyrinth. Or rather, why is such a young one here in a
place like this?)
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Are you... the jailer's child? Or is your parent someone
else?
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\text("Goblin Child")
Parent? ...I'm not really sure.
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
If you mean my parents, they died in the war. Both my dad
and mom were killed by humans who said monsters had to
leave.
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
When I was crying all alone, people from the Demon Lord's
army found me and brought me here.

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
I couldn't just take food without doing anything, so I asked
if I could help out.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
I-I see... that's...
\endtext

\text
Minerva hung her head in sorrow.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
...I'm sorry.
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
No, it's not your fault, Onee-chan.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
No... it is my fault, monster child.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
I am a Structor. ...I was a Structor.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
It was us who incited the humans and ordered them to
massacre the monsters.
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
But... you didn't do it yourself, right, Onee-chan?

\endtext

\text
Minerva shook her head.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
That's how it is. Lady Verlnya gave the orders, but we are
many and one at the same time.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
And honestly, if I had been ordered to back then, I probably
would have carried it out without question.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Not just your parents. Even you, when you were little... I
might have killed you with my own hands.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
No, I have killed... I have...!

\endtext

\text
Minerva clutched her head, hanging her head in sorrow on the
bed.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
I can't even remember how many goblins I've killed with my
own hands... And I condemned them as evil, too.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
So? You must hate me, right? Someone like me...?

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Onee-chan...
\endtext

\text
With sad eyes... the goblin child slowly shook their head
from side to side.
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
No. I don't hate you anymore. ...I've seen how much you've
suffered because of it, Onee-chan.

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
I do hate the one who killed my parents. But... you suffered
so much because of it, Onee-chan.

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Besides, you're still alive, Onee-chan. You can still atone
for what you've done.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Atone...?
\endtext

\text
Minerva searched the meaning of that word from the shared
memories and found it.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Atone―
\endtext

\text
Stunned, she then asked the goblin child a question.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Please... tell me, monster child. What should I do to atone
for my sins against you?

\endtext

\text
With a big smile, the goblin child beamed at Minerva.

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Okay. Then... eat this. For me, get your strength back. Show
me you're feeling better.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
I-Is that really all?
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Yeah. I'm helping the jailer, after all. If you get weak and
die, I'll get scolded.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Ah... I-I see. Alright, I understand!

\endtext

\text
With a serious face, Minerva picked up the Otoko Mushroom
from the tray.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Ugh... i-it even feels real to the touch. A-and the smell...
it's stinging my nose...
\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Come on, hurry up and eat it. It's really... delicious, you
know?
\endtext

\text
The goblin child watched Minerva with expectant eyes. Unable
to say she couldn't do it now, Minerva mustered her courage
and brought her tongue close to the tip.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
P-picho... ugh, b-bitter...! It's just like Caym's...
p-pre-cum...

\endtext

\text
Minerva grimaced as she licked the tip. ...This mushroom
actually has an aphrodisiac effect, but she had no way of
knowing that.
\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Hah, haa... p-pero... pero, pero... I-I'm starting to get
used to the taste, maybe.

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Come on, just take a big bite! Just go for it!

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
O-okay. ...Nom! N-nom... hyamu... I-I can't bite through it,
it's so tough... hamuu...!

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
It's okay. If you rub it with your lips or lick it, it'll
get softer and softer.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
...! N-no way... ha, ham! Ham, ham, lero... ha, haa...


\endtext

\text
Minerva, nearly in tears, continued servicing the
penis-shaped mushroom.
\endtext

\text
The goblin child's words weren't a lie. As she kept going,
it finally became soft enough to bite through.

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Kuh, ugh! Chomp...! Mugu, muguuu... nkuu... gulp...!


\endtext

\text("Minerva")
Haa, haa! Haa, haa... I-I ate it, okay?

\endtext

\text("Goblin Child")
Yeah. Good job. If you want, I can bring you another one?

\endtext

\text("Minerva")
P-please spare me. I'll eat, I'll eat the rest of this...

\endtext

\text
Panicking, Minerva quickly reached for the tray with the
rest of her meal―
\endtext

\text
There was a figure watching Minerva and the goblin child's
exchange from the shadows of the hallway.

\endtext

\text("Caym")
Well, it was a fairly entertaining show, I suppose―

\endtext

\text
Risbell had brought Caym here, saying that something
interesting was about to happen.

\endtext

\text("Caym")
I don't like it. This kind of method. ...That mushroom, you
were the one who prepared it, weren't you?

\endtext

\text("Risbell")
Normally, she should be killed. But since we're told to win
her over, please don't complain about the means.

\endtext

\text("Caym")
I won't. But let me ask―what do you plan to have that brat
do next?

\endtext

\text("Risbell")
I don't know. It's all up to that child.
\endtext

\text("Caym")
...What?
\endtext

\text("Risbell")
Those words are truly his own. I didn't script anything for
this.

\endtext

\text
In fact, it wasn't a lie that his parents had been killed by
humans incited by Structa.

\endtext

\text("Risbell")
...Given the times, children like him aren't all that rare.

\endtext

\text("Caym")
So it's an improvised play with the conditions set. That's
unusual for you―but I see.

\endtext

\text
Risbell was also an orphan. In this matter, she must have
something she wants to entrust to that boy.

\endtext

\text("Caym")
Very well. It was a reckless request from the start. Whether
this succeeds or fails, I won't hold you responsible.

\endtext

\text("Risbell")
―Thank you very much.
\endtext

\text("Caym")
Well, my own circumstances aren't so different either.

\endtext

\text
With those words, Risbell bowed her head and watched Caym's
back as he walked away―
\endtext