Chapter 86: First Time at the Sea
Yuri and I climbed the mountain and reached the summit.
Beyond it, an expanse of sea stretched out before us.
It was the first time I’d seen the sea since being born into this world, and I couldn’t help but cry out.
“The seeeeea!” I exclaimed excitedly, but Yuri seriously pointed out my pronunciation was off. Still, she kept gazing at it, looking happy and saying, “It’s beautiful.”
Just then, a monster that had attacked us several times on the way up leaped out from underground.
I don’t know its name, but it’s a mole-like monster.
It moved around underground, and its movement speed was ridiculously fast. I wondered why, then realized it was digging holes with magic.
I wondered how it did that since magic circles are usually fixed in space, but it turned out to be a magic tool type with a magic circle engraved on its hand.
With Yuri’s help, we beat it down, and I pinned it with Maso. As it tried to escape underground using magic, I quickly learned from it.
I had already finished copying it, so I quickly defeated it.
“Well, we’ve enjoyed mountain climbing. Shall we fly down to the sea surface for a bit?”
“Eh!? Is that really okay!?”
Yuri jumped up and down with joy.
“Of course,” I said, pulling her close, pressing our bodies together with Maso, and taking off.
Since it was for sightseeing, we flew slowly, descending along the face of the sheer cliff.
We got reasonably close to the sea surface, but it was a bit sad we couldn’t go for a swim. So, we flew up again and soared along the coastline.
I heard that if we went about halfway through Mildrad, there would be a sandy beach. In that case, we just had to fly there, so I increased our speed.
Since my Maso enveloped our entire bodies, I no longer had trouble breathing from the wind like when I was with Oji-san.
She couldn’t move from her lying position, but there was no wind, and I’d made the entire Maso transparent, so she had an unrestricted view of the scenery.
As we flew, both exclaiming “Amazing! Amazing!”, we reached the sandy beach in no time.
We landed on the sandy beach and immediately dipped our feet into the waves.
The sea was so blue and clear that you could see even the deep parts. It was what you’d call cobalt blue.
The shallows were an even paler, beautiful color, but even the depths, so profound they could mess with your senses, were clearly visible to the bottom.
It was a frightening yet captivating sight, and my heart naturally danced.
As the waves receded, Yuri, reporting as if she’d made a grand discovery, “The sand under my feet is flowing away!”, nearly fell. I caught her with my body, and she leaned against me with a dazed expression.
This is it, isn’t it? The part where we kiss!?
Just as I hugged her, we gazed into each other’s eyes, and I was about to bring our faces closer, a ball of water came flying at us.
—!?
Still holding Yuri, I jumped back. My feet got caught in the water, but I somehow managed to evade.
Wondering what happened, I looked and saw the figure of a monster in the water.
“There are monsters in the sea too!?”
No, I knew they existed, but I’d forgotten, and on top of that, angered by the interruption, I used a Wind Wall placed diagonally into the sea to churn up the water and drag the monster out.
Looking closely, it was a hideous merman, like a Goblin with gills, distorted.
Yuri was also looking at it with a disgusted expression.
Just as I thought of annihilating it, it shot another slow water ball, but the shape of the magic circle was somehow different.
My interest piqued a little, I took my revenge for the interruption while also copying it.
It seemed to be a very weak monster; it died immediately when I slashed it and was washed away by the sea.
Yuri seemed to have questions about me imitating its magic and shooting it, as she tugged at my hem.
“Why were you pointlessly casting water magic?”
“No, the pattern of the magic circle is different, see?” When I conjured the magic circle, Yuri seemed to notice for the first time and said admiringly, “You noticed that in an instant?”
When I got out of the sea and test-fired it at the water’s edge, its behavior was different from usual. Seawater was drawn in, accumulated in front of the magic circle, and then launched.
Honestly, its power was weak, the activation time was long, and it was at a level where it was useless.
It was so bad I wanted to lament, what’s the point of using this for an attack…
When used on land, the effect was even worse.
A tiny, tiny ball of water would spill and fall before it could even fly.
To Yuri, who gave a wry smile and said, “A dud, huh…”, I replied, “Yeah.” But one thing caught my attention.
This water, it wasn’t created by magic, so it won’t disappear, right?
However, it can’t be gathered in places without moisture. It doesn’t seem like it would help save the town of Orde.
It’s magic unusable in combat, but thinking it might not be entirely meaningless, I decided to note it down and remember it.
Because of the monster, time was taken up, and the sun was beginning to set.
The sunset was beautiful, but knowing monsters were around instantly cooled my mood.
We couldn’t go back to that romantic mood anymore.
Feeling that, I muttered, “Shall we head back soon…”
“You’re right. I feel reluctant to leave, but our trip isn’t over yet.”
“Yeah,” I said, pulling Yuri, who was smiling with an adorable expression, close. I sprouted Maso wings again and took off.
Thinking the same scenery would be boring, we flew to the town of Orde in southern Belfast, looking down on the land of Mildrad from above.
That night too, despite diligently working to prepare meals, Yuri and I were separated into different rooms.
And so, on the third day, we went to a dungeon; on the fourth day, we strolled through the town; and on the fifth day, another dungeon, enjoying our freedom as our mood dictated.
Well, the dungeon felt somewhat like work, but it was a floor with no tension at all, and Yuri seemed to be having fun, so I was also in a playful mood.
However, it seems we don’t need to go to dungeons for a while.
Especially regarding slimes, they said they couldn’t buy any more. They said if they bought all of even our current stock, those who make a living from it would be in trouble, so we kept them without selling.
So today, the two of us were playing with a material called Slime Jelly at the Lord’s mansion.
This material, amazingly, can be freely reshaped using Mana Manipulation.
If you remove the moisture, it hardens in that shape and can be used for various things.
Once the moisture is removed and it hardens, it no longer absorbs water, so it’s used for various coatings.
When it contains water, coloring is easy, so much so that most glossy furniture is said to have Slime Coating.
It’s not only produced here, and since it’s from the uppermost floor, it’s very reasonably priced.
Conversely, they’re so weak that there are few dungeons where they even live.
They’re at a level where even children who can’t use enhancement magic can defeat them.
However, for me, it was a very interesting material.
I was playing by coloring it and making various shapes according to Yuri’s requests.
The fact that I could easily remove water with my new water magic, allowing instant completion, was also preferable.
Getting carried away, I made a life-sized statue of Yurisia and got scolded.
She asked, “What are you going to do with something so embarrassing?”
I replied that I would admire it, but she said “No way!” and destroyed it, leaving me to clean up the scattered fragments.
Then, while cleaning, Yuri muttered.
“Come to think of it, those children who came to sell slimes, judging by their age, they aren’t Hunters, are they?”
That’s right, if you’re not a Hunter, you can’t enter a dungeon. That should be the law in Lestall and Belfast alike.
That’s why soldiers always stand guard at dungeons within towns.
Yuri had been entering dungeons since she was little, but that was because she had cleared special conditions.
Now that she mentioned it, it was strange that they were being bought out normally, so I went to ask Oba-san.
“Ah, there are some towns where it’s permitted under special circumstances, but only if people can’t make a living otherwise,” Oba-san explained.
“So it’s not strange, you see.”
Hearing that, I understood.
The restrictions are to prevent wicked people from gaining power, but it’s probably not a strong enough reason to enforce them when the people’s livelihoods are at stake.
“Does this town have a Hunter school?”
“It does, sort of. Towns with low-rank dungeons usually have them.
Though it’s surprisingly small compared to Oldam.”
Oh, I heard that few towns have them… I wonder if there are few low-rank dungeons?
But that wasn’t what I wanted to ask.
“So, adults still can’t enroll, right?”
“That’s right. Schools are places for children to attend, aren’t they?”
To Oba-san, who said it as if it were obvious, I asked what people who wanted to become Hunters after becoming adults should do.
“Impossible. The country doesn’t allow it.”
“No, why?”
“Well…”
When Oba-san asked “Why?”, I replied that if the number of Hunters has decreased in this situation, they should be increased.
Besides, I find the regulation that you can’t become one after adulthood questionable.
I heard that schools are used to screen children, and it’s easier to identify those who are too mentally immature or abnormal among children, whose emotions are more volatile.
That certainly has some merit, but I think if restrictions and management by the Guild were mandated, it wouldn’t become a threat to the country.
When I talked about that, Oba-san also showed understanding, saying, “Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
“In any case, you can’t bend the law.”
“No, if the law is flawed, it should be corrected, right? We’re on the country’s side, after all.”
“That’s true, but only specialists are allowed to meddle with such things. You mustn’t, okay?”
Oba-san said, looking at me with a sharp gaze.
What she’s saying is correct.
If we allowed nobles to casually meddle in matters outside their expertise, the law would become a complete mess.
But, it’s probably fine to point out to the specialists, “Isn’t there something strange here?”
That said, this Town seems like it would function without issue if the Hunters and soldiers returned, so thinking that would be fine, I replied, “Understood.”
“Well, we’re running out of things to do, so shall we head back soon?” I tried saying that night, but Yuri was pouting.
“Cute. I mean, do you still want to play here?”
“…Even if we go back, can we play together?”
When I replied, “Of course,” she showed her reluctant agreement, saying, “Well then, that’s fine too.”
I really need to head to the Abyss soon, too.
Well, I did go before coming here, so it hasn’t been that long, though.
The day we were scheduled to return.
Since there was a meeting that day, I thought I’d hear the progress report before heading back, so I listened to what Bones-san and the others had to say.
“Thank you very much. Thanks to Rui-sama, it looks like we’ll be able to recover to some extent.
We’re still in a wait-and-see phase, but the artisans have been able to start working. After that, once goods are produced, their work will probably increase somewhat.”
It’s only been a few days, so naturally, it’s still in the prediction stage. Besides, just having the artisans who use those materials start working probably won’t make much of a difference yet.
After this, I’ll just go back, report to Pops, and discuss whether we can send even a few of this Town’s Hunters back.
I have money, so if it were a town I was settling in, I could try creating some jobs, but…
…considering the war with the Empire, this isn’t the time to be spending on that.
Or rather, since Marquis Arbane said he’d send people, I don’t really need to think that far ahead, huh.
Having reached that conclusion, I decided my first trip with Yuri would end today.
And so, we rode on Raku and the others and departed.
Raku and the others, who had been left behind because apparently strong Monsters appear in the mountains, jumped for joy. Feeling soothed by the sight, we set off on our journey home.