Part One
Aside: The Legendary Rodriguez
It happened during a Magical Beast subjugation.
"… Oh, a Magical Beast with the name '???' appeared."
"That's a new species of Magical Beast no one's ever defeated before.
"If you take it down, you'll get the right to name it whatever you like."
"Heh…"
And then, after winning without trouble…
A new species of Magical Beast has been subjugated.
Please give the Magical Beast a name.
That was what the system displayed.
"… So if I give it a weird name, it gets adopted as-is?"
I asked offhandedly.
"… Once, there was an A-Class Master named Rodriguez."
"Pfft."
"…?"
The moment Lyuka started speaking solemnly, Yuria let out a snort utterly unbecoming of a beautiful girl.
… What was that about?
"Rodriguez, an adventurer, discovered a new dungeon in the monster territory.
"Every Magical Beast that appeared in that dungeon was a new species, without exception.
"This dungeon is a treasure trove of new Magical Beasts, Rodriguez thought.
"Overjoyed, Rodriguez began naming the Magical Beasts he found there with names that praised himself.
"Rodriguez the Number One
"Rodriguez the Victory
"Rodriguez the Master
"Rodriguez the Sexy
"Rodriguez the Super
"Rodriguez the Star
"Rodriguez the Superstar
"Miracle Rodriguez
"Perfect Rodriguez
"Speedster Rodriguez
"Finality Rodriguez
"Ultimate Rodriguez
"Galactica Rodriguez
"Beautiful Rodriguez
"Sexual Violet Rodriguez
"Most Powerful Rodriguez
"Most Technician Rodriguez
"Most Dangerous Rodriguez
"Most Strongest Rodriguez
"Excellent of Rodriguez
"The World of Rodriguez
"Master of Rodriguez
"Kaiser of Rodriguez
"King of Rodriguez
"That makes 24 in total."
"…'Rodriguez' is starting to lose all meaning to me."
"How can you recite all of them from memory!?"
It was a huge hit with Yuria.
"Many of the names made it unclear whether he was praising the monsters or mocking them, but Rodriguez's actions were eventually discovered by the S-Class Masters.
"And, as you'd expect, it was deemed a problem and brought before the S-Class Conference.
"Apparently they ran into a Monster bearing the inexplicable name Sexual Violet Rodriguez while walking through the monster territory.
"Many of these oddly named monsters were also formidable, and the reasoning was that no adventurer could rest in peace after being killed by a monster with such a name, so most of the names Rodriguez had assigned were changed.
"Rodriguez himself was summoned to the S-Class Conference and scolded with, 'You must not give monsters strange names.'"
"… Pfft."
Yuria was struggling to hold back her laughter.
Apparently this was a stock joke in this world. This sort of comedy was made all the funnier by Lyuka's deadpan, expressionless delivery.
You really shouldn't laugh at your own joke the way Yuria was.
"Ever since, giving monsters strange names has come to be called a 'Rodriguez Act' in this world, and it's reviled.
"Incidentally, as a lesson from the incident, only King of Rodriguez was preserved, on the grounds that it was 'comparatively weak' and had 'a fairly low appearance rate.'
"These days, rumor has it that meeting King of Rodriguez brings you good luck for the entire day."
That was the explanation Lyuka gave me.
"… Naoto-san, all of the S-Class Masters know each other personally. Word will get around about who named which monster.
"You'll be pointed at behind your back as 'That guy is Naoto Akai, the one who committed a Rodriguez Act.'
"Even so, Naoto-san, will you go through with a Rodriguez Act?"
"… I'll give it a properly thought-out name."
"Incidentally, ever since this story caught on, the monsters bearing the name 'Rodriguez' have actually grown to over 24 species.
"Rodriguez himself apparently stopped naming monsters after himself, but other Masters who found the story funny started naming monsters 'Rodriguez.'
"Most of the time they get reprimanded and the names get changed, but there are also comical, gag-style monsters out there in the world, and in those cases naming them 'Rodriguez' has been deemed acceptable.
"Trickster Rodriguez is particularly famous. Apparently it's a clown-type Monster that puts on a goofy act and makes you laugh while coming to kill you, quite a formidable Monster.
"Its higher-tier form, High Trickster Rodriguez, is reputedly quite a powerful enemy."
"Heh… by the way, how much of that story was a joke?"
"All of it is true. I'm not good at jokes."
"… I see…"
That was the sort of little story I got to hear.
Not wanting to be thought of as someone who gave it a strange name, I…
"It's a worm-shaped insect that spits silk, so… Spider Worm."
… tried out a name with absolutely no flair to it.
That name is already registered.
"What the heck!"
It reminded me of trying to claim a name in an online game and finding it taken, and I felt a bit irritated.
"You don't have to give it such a flavorless name.
"Like Gurubon, a name where you can tell who the namer was based on their naming sense is fine, you know?"
"Hmm… then maybe I'll go with Spider Worm 99 or something."
"99?"
"It's year 299 right now. Tacking on the last two digits of the year is a Japanese-style naming convention. Like Type 98 Tank, or Type Zero Fighter, or Ultraman 80."
"I see… that's not bad at all."
"That's a rather unusual naming sense. I'd say it works."
Lyuka and Yuria both gave it the OK, so his name became Spider Worm 99.
Well, just a little aside.