Chapter 287: Sonic Boom
After finishing the meeting with Mesaria-san, I handed her some shampoo, conditioner, and treatment as souvenirs.
“What is this…?”
“It’s soap that makes your hair shiny when you wash it… and, well, beauty products, I suppose.”
At the mention of beauty products, Mesaria-san’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“I thought we could set this up in the hot springs and use it for promotion. Of course, I’d like the staff to use it as well, so they can become living advertisements.”
“If that’s the case, please do!”
“Then I’ll teach you how to use it.”
“Ah, I’ll leave it to you.”
To be honest, I don’t really understand the difference between conditioner and treatment since I don’t use them myself. I think it’s better for women to handle these things. Yeah, it’s best to keep my mouth shut about what I don’t know.
“Well then…”
I considered giving the Soy Sauce and Miso Handmade Kit to Fleur as a souvenir. It might be enough to have Hinomaru look for the finished soy sauce and miso. For now, I need to figure out how to get to the Commercial City. It seems the fastest way would be for me to go ahead and then Teleport back to bring everyone along…
Yeah, that sounds good. It wouldn’t hurt to test how long it takes if I push myself to full speed. Spreading out the map, I saw that if I head straight northwest from Fairy Valley, I would reach the Commercial City.
“Alright, let’s organize my things.”
Returning to my room, I gathered Fleur’s souvenirs into one place: soy sauce, miso, and some sweets and food items. Then, I made sure to give Nil, who I had sent ahead, a good cuddle.
“Did you behave yourself?”
“Woof woof!”
Nil enthusiastically licked my face, but since Mesaria-san hadn’t said anything in particular, I assumed he had been a good boy.
When dinner time arrived, I informed them that I would head out early the next morning to memorize the location and return.
“Got it. That seems like the fastest way.”
“I want to learn how to fly too, but I have no idea how Shu and the others do it…”
After soaking in the hot springs and relaxing, morning came.
“Well then, I’m off.”
“Safe travels!”
“Be careful!”
With Mesaria-san and Rio seeing me off, I set out just before dawn. Rising from the entrance of the Fairy Inn, I soared into the sky, heading northwest at full speed.
Flying straight at about a thousand meters above ground, I gradually increased my speed, and naturally, the scenery below began to blur past at an incredible rate.
“I can still go faster…”
I had no idea how fast I was going. I was definitely surpassing the sensation of speed I felt when riding the Shinkansen. I wondered just how fast the speed of sound was as I pushed myself even more. Just then, while descending a rocky mountain slope, it happened.
Just as I thought controlling my speed was becoming difficult, I was suddenly hit by a shockwave. I instinctively slowed down, and a thunderous roar echoed from behind me, causing me to halt. The rocky ground beneath my feet began to crumble from the shockwave.
“W-What was that…?”
I didn’t sense any particularly strong Monsters nearby. The source of the sound was just behind me, but there was nothing there. After standing still for a while, waiting for something to happen, I decided to resume my journey, scratching my head in confusion.
“…Well, whatever.”
About thirty minutes later, I arrived just before the Commercial City Comets. The morning sun was just peeking over the mountain slopes. It felt like I had reached my destination in about two hours.
“Ugh, I couldn’t go all out because of that mysterious shockwave. …Anyway, let’s go pick everyone up.”
“I’ve arrived, so I’ll connect now.”
“Understood.”
Telepathic Communication really is more convenient than a smartphone. Feeling the coordinates I had set up in the Fairy Inn’s office, I opened a Dimensional Rift. As I stepped through, I found everyone waiting for me.
“Impressive… I thought we were at least a thousand kilometers from the Commercial City.”
“That’s about the distance. It’s hard to gauge the scale just by looking at the map.”
Mesaria-san was astonished, but maintaining the Dimensional Rift consumed Magic Power, so I urged everyone to enter quickly.
“Well then, see you later.”
“Take care, and may fortune be on your side!”
“I’m off!”
As Mesaria-san waved me goodbye, Phonia cheerfully waved her hand and walked through the rift. Once I confirmed that everyone had crossed over, I turned back to the Commercial City and closed the rift behind me.
The map that floated up with my Map Skill didn’t show specific distance numbers, making it hard to gauge. I knew the direction, but I had no idea how many hours it would take.
“Fleur probably isn’t here since she’s likely with Raven, but I should drop by later to give her the souvenirs.”
“Right. Let’s find Kaede-chan quickly first.”
“Fleur-san?”
Ivan tilted his head, perhaps because he wasn’t familiar with the name.
“Oh, she’s a merchant who helped us out here. I’m sure she’ll be interested in modern Japanese products. But more importantly, we need to find Kaede-san first.”
“Got it.”
First, we needed to make contact with the information network in the Commercial City. Mesaria-san should have sent word, so I expected to hear about that woman’s whereabouts soon.
Stepping out from the outskirts of the highway, we all entered the Commercial City Comets together.