Yumeru turned into an axolotl because of me.
It’s a Mexican salamander, right? It looks just like a newt larva, but axolotls are adults in that form.
I parted ways with Yumeru in the deep sea and headed for land. I replenished my magic power using the method the Great Sage taught me, crushing magic stones.
The raging sea was still the same, but it was gentle to me. The freezing cold no longer bothered me; it even felt pleasant.
And then, I reached land!
It was instantly cold! I hurriedly thickened the air layer that had peeled off and thinned. There was still wind from the sea, so it wasn’t the harshest cold, but the land wind stirred up by the spirits that had no connection to me was still cold.
I roughly knew the size of the land, and I think it’s fair to call it a continent, not an island. …I wonder what the definition of a continent is here.
Come to think of it, there wasn’t a clear definition in my original world either. Greenland is an island, and Australia is a continent. It was just a convention to call landmasses larger than Australia continents, right? Well, whatever.
The reason I know the size here is because the range of Yumeru’s power was marked on the map. The terrain is a mystery, but I know the outline! Something like that.
Well, I’ve made it so I can [Teleportation] to the land, so that’s it for today! I’ve crushed a lot of magic stones, and I don’t have many left.
Places where humans don’t venture often have powerful spirits dwelling there. Wind, waves, shadows, light—specific spirits are born, and they become retainers, repeating this process over long periods.
It would be a pain if I encountered another large spirit, so I’ll just go home quietly. I’ll defeat Demon Beasts, increase my magic stones, and come back again. Preparation is important.
So, I returned to my ‘House’!
Rishu came running up to me, stopped in front of me, and sniffed. He cautiously approached and sniffed again.
Sniff as much as you want. My Rishu is the cutest in the world.
After sniffing to his heart’s content, Rishu started playing with me. I rolled him over and rubbed his belly, and he bit at the air near my hand with a smile—definitely a smile!
I know he won’t bite me, but every time he does, I pull my hand away, and when Rishu backs off a little, I rub him again.
We played like that for a while, and when Rishu stopped nipping, we were done. My boy is so cute.
Now, let’s eat something warm. What should I have? —Let’s have Nabeyaki Udon.
Earthen pot, appear!
The ingredients are udon, long onion, fried tofu, fish cake, shiitake mushrooms, shrimp tempura, and chicken for the broth. And an egg.
I have some fried shrimp tempura, but I’ll make some with extra batter for the Nabeyaki.
I just sprinkle the batter liquid from above while frying to make it fluffy. It doesn’t make the batter thicker, but it feels like it has a lot of tempura bits.
I have some leftover fish cake—no, I don’t. I’ll take a new one from the ‘Food Storage’. Peeling it off the board with the back of a knife is fun because it comes off cleanly. If I’m going to use it as a white udon topping, it should be red fish cake.
I’ll cut the onion roughly and grill it. I feel like the insides tend to pop out when I cut it diagonally, so I’ll just cut it into chunks. I’ll boil the spinach and put it in cold water.
I’ll put each ingredient in [Storage] so I can make it faster next time. Preparing just one serving is actually more work, so I made a lot.
Once the ingredients are prepared, it’s as good as won. I don’t know what I’m winning, though. I put the broth and udon in the pot, along with the things that need to be cooked together, and wait for a while.
I don’t really like it when the egg white mixes with the broth, so I’m careful with it. I’ll close the lid and wait for a while.
I’ll prepare some cold water and say, “Itadakimasu.”
The steam when I take off the lid, the aroma of the broth. The way it’s still bubbling even after I take it off the heat! The egg is perfect too!
Now, all that’s left is to eat it carefully so I don’t burn myself! I’m so glad I chose ‘Food Storage’ and [All Cooking]…
I managed to secure the urgent spirits, so I can relax. Now, I’m going to look for a spirit that understands kanji.
I think it’s probably an old spirit from around the ruined cities before the Hero appeared, the one that understands kanji. I hit the jackpot in the ‘Land of Ruin’, so I want to check two or three more places.
I wonder if there are any traces of such a civilization around the continent I went to today.
It’s only recently that the spirits I’ve contracted with have started to learn kanji. I think it’s flowing in when the spirits read my thoughts.
It was nothing at first, but after I contracted with many spirits, the way the spirits exist tilted towards me, and they started to understand or remember kanji.
But the Black Spirit from the ‘Land of Ruin’ understood the kanji on the magic circle I wrote on the box right after we contracted, which is way too fast. So, I think the mysterious being that doesn’t show their face in this world might be Japanese.
Maybe the past Heroes had spirits following them as much as I do, but at least there haven’t been any spirits that understand kanji in the areas where humans are active, or in the desert.
An existence that isn’t recorded, that the spirits keep silent about, that the Mailmen are wary of, someone who has hidden with many spirits following them.
Were they summoned like me and my sister, or did they come to this world by chance?
I don’t feel any malice from them so far, and I don’t intend to antagonize them, but I’m curious.