Episode 214: To Ketapang Port
The next day, they decided to head to Ketapang Port in Banyuwangi to take a sea route to India in the afternoon.
Yuma and his two companions boarded the limousine that had come to pick them up in front of the hotel.
At that moment, another car entered the hotel grounds. Hendri hurriedly opened the door and ran towards them.
His face was covered in sweat.
Yuma opened the door and stepped outside. Akito and Rui also exited the vehicle.
“I-I’m so sorry! I’m late.”
Hendri, who had rushed over, placed his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
“You’re really late! We’re in a hurry, we almost left empty-handed!”
To Akito, who was fuming, Hendri said, “I’m sorry,” and produced a small black case he had brought.
Yuma took it and opened the case, inside were several red Magic Gems.
“There wasn’t enough time to get them from the Indonesian government. These were being kept by the Java provincial government. I feel bad that this is all I could do…”
Yuma shook his head at Hendri, who looked apologetic.
“No, this is more than enough. You’ve been very helpful, Hendri-san, thank you for everything.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that.”
“Oh, right. Hendri-san, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“What is it?”
Hendri looked at Yuma with a puzzled expression.
“Zamara-san mentioned something about the ‘Black King.’ Do you know anything about that?”
“Ah, about that…”
He seemed to have something in mind. Hendri nodded once before speaking.
“You know about the White Dungeon in Israel, right? The Dungeon called 【Orpheus】.”
“Yes, I know it.”
“There are several relics that were excavated from that Orpheus, and it seems that various information is written on them. However, the International Dungeon Research Organization (IDR) has not disclosed the contents to the outside world. Originally, we shouldn’t even know about it, but…”
“Is information leaking?”
Hendri gave a wry smile and said, “Yes.”
“Only a little bit, though. One of those leaks is information about the ‘Black King.’ Apparently, his body is made of black metal and can transform into various shapes… Zamara must have remembered that when she saw Mitaka-san’s special magic. I’m truly sorry for the misunderstanding.”
“Ah, no… it’s okay.”
In reality, it wasn’t a misunderstanding, it really was the power of the 【Black King】, but saying that would only make him more suspicious. Yuma decided to remain silent.
“In any case, the information that comes in here is very limited. You might be able to get more useful information if you go to India.”
“I see. Thank you for telling me all sorts of things.”
Yuma extended his right hand and shook hands with Hendri.
“I hear India is much worse than here. Please be careful.”
“Yes, thank you for your help.”
Yuma expressed his gratitude and got into the car. Akito still didn’t seem convinced, but he silently got into the car and closed the door.
The limousine left Hendri behind, heading straight for Ketapang Port.
◇◇◇
“So, how many Magic Gems do you have?”
They were sitting side by side in the back seat, with Akito sitting on the far right, asking the question. Yuma, who was sitting on the far left, took out a small bag from his pocket.
Inside the bag he received were several Magic Gems.
“About this many Red Magic Gems.”
Yuma showed the bag to Rui and Akito. Akito took the bag and began counting the Magic Gems on his hand, saying, “One, two, three…”
“There are nine in total. There seem to be garnets, red spinels, and rubies… but I wonder if their Mana Index is that high?”
Rui pondered at Akito’s words.
“Hmm, I wonder… If you combine them all, I think it would be around 2800 to 2900.”
“I see.”
Yuma had the gems returned to him.
“Well, it’s better than nothing. They’ll be useful in India, where we’re going.”
He put all the Magic Gems on his hand into his mouth and swallowed them whole. He picked up a plastic bottle that had been prepared in the limousine, opened the lid, and gulped down the water.
As he exhaled, Akito looked at him with an astonished expression.
“You swallow Magic Gems like it’s nothing every time, but how much Mana do you have? Normally, you’d carefully measure the Mana before absorbing a Magic Gem into your body. I’ve never seen such a careless way of absorbing them.”
“Eh? Is that so?”
Yuma remembered the first time he absorbed 【Demon Ore】. Certainly, at that time, he had thoroughly investigated it before trying to absorb it into his body.
That must be the normal way. At some point, he stopped being so careful about ingesting Demon Ore and Magic Gems. It was because he knew he had plenty of Mana.
“Well, yeah, I seem to have 400,000 to 500,000 Mana, so it’s not a problem.”
“Are you an idiot! There’s no way anyone has that much Mana.”
He had told the truth, but Akito didn’t seem to believe him at all. He had drunk the 【Red King】’s Magic Gem, so he thought he might believe him…
“Even so, you have over 5000 【Healing Magical Power】, right? If that’s the case, doesn’t that make you the world’s greatest Messiah? Can’t you cure most illnesses and injuries?”
“I wonder, I was able to heal my own injuries, but… I don’t really feel it.”
“If this was a peaceful world, you’d be in high demand~, an annual income of tens of billions wouldn’t be a dream.”
“Really!? If that’s the case, maybe there’s a way of life like a doctor…”
For a moment, an image of living in a small clinic with Kaede flashed in his mind. He shook his head, thinking, “No, no,” but if he could save Kaede, such a future might be possible.
“What are you grinning about? It’s creepy.”
“Ah, no… it’s nothing.”
Akito called him out for his loose expression.
“But, if you treat people with Recovery Magic, wouldn’t that violate the Medical Practitioners’ Act or something? What do the big companies do?”
“I don’t know about such trivial things! Ask Rui about difficult stuff, ask Rui!”
When he turned his gaze to Rui, he slightly raised the corner of his mouth and told them about the laws regarding medical treatment, saying, “That is…”
While they were having such a conversation, the car sped up, heading straight for Ketapang Port.