On the Banks of the Great River
Satou here. When I think of big rivers, I always think of the Yangtze River. I know there are plenty of others, like the Nile, the Amazon, and the Mississippi, but my mind always goes to the Yangtze. Maybe it’s because of the Battle of Red Cliffs from Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
“Lulu, bring us down that side street there.”
“Yes, master.”
At my instructions, the carriage moved off the main road down a narrower path.
“What’s up? A shortcut?”
I smiled back at Arisa and said nothing.
Before long, her doubtful expression turned into a smile as well.
“Ooooh! A flower garden? How lovely! It’s enormous, too!”
Just as Arisa exclaimed, a field of colorful flowers was in full bloom.
I had found it by searching the map for the blossoms used in the crowns that Nana and Mia had purchased when we first arrived at Bolehart City.
We stopped the horse-drawn carriage by a stream near the flower garden.
“Let’s have lunch here today.”
“Understood. Everyone, to your lunch stations! Begin the preparations.”
“Aye-aye, siiir!”
“Roger, sir!”
After my suggestion, Liza was quick to give everyone directions.
Tama and Pochi took care of the horses, Mia and Arisa went foraging, and Liza and Lulu helped make lunch.
Nana usually helped with lunch as well, but today she went with Arisa and Mia as their guard.
I taught Liza and Lulu how to use the meat grinder we’d just bought in Bolehart City as I prepared the ingredients for lunch.
After a while, Tama and Pochi finished their duties and came along to watch us cook.
“So rooound?”
“Very unusual meat, sir.”
Tama and Pochi tilted their heads as they looked at what I’d made with the new meat grinder.
Tama was particularly intent on following the ball of meat with her eyes as I tossed it back and forth between my hands.
She was fidgeting as if she might reach out and grab it at any moment, but in all likelihood the fear of wasting food restrained her.
I arranged the palm-size patties on a hot plate sizzling with oil. Then, once I’d flipped them over once, I covered the pan with a lid I’d purchased in the city.
“It smells very, very good.”
“It might be too soft for you, Liza. Should I prepare a rocket wolf steak as well?”
“Certainly not! Master, I swear to you that I will gladly consume anything you cook without leaving a single crumb of meat behind.”
Liza’s face was intensely serious as she spoke.
…You really don’t need to get that worked up over lunch, Liza.
“Ooh! Are you making hamburgers?!”
Sniffing her way over to us, Arisa correctly guessed the dish I was preparing.
“Is it a beef and pork mix? Or beef only?”
“It’s long-haired cow beef mixed with wild boar. If everyone likes them, we’ll explore some other meat variations, too.”
As I conversed with Arisa, I made some standard side dishes, like French fries and glazed carrots.
The carrots in this world were round and a little sweeter than usual. There were many different varieties of potatoes, so I’d picked out a kind that was well suited to frying.
“Done.”
“Loading capacity exceeded, I complain.”
Nana plopped her haul down in front of the carriage: a heavy-looking bag and a bundle of green bamboo. The bag contained a mountain of bamboo shoots.
“These look delicious.”
“Mm. Yummy.”
“They take a pretty long time to prepare, so we’ll have them for lunch tomorrow, all right?”
“Too bad.”
Maybe I should try to make a spell to shorten the cooking time.
According to the AR, the bundle was of the edible bamboo variety.
I knocked on the green shaft; it felt as hard as metal. Its exterior was many times harder than ordinary green bamboo, then. I could probably even make armor out of it, but that would be a bit silly.
It had to be fit to eat if the name was anything to go by, but I had no idea how to cook it just yet.
I would have to ask around once we reached the next town. Until then, I decided to stash it out of the way in Storage.
Sorting through the herbs, edible grasses, and materials for various potions that Arisa and Mia collected, I set aside what I needed for the day’s lunch and put the rest in Storage via the Garage Bag.
“Shall we make tempura with the angelica sprouts?”
“Mm. Excited.”
I asked Lulu to prepare the angelica sprouts. She was better at handling wild plants than Liza.
“Master, I utilized a great deal of Body Strengthening during transport, so my magical power supply has been exhausted, I report. Magical power replenishment is required, I request.”
“All right. I’ll give you a mana recovery potion later.”
When I responded, Nana went perfectly silent. Her expression was as blank as ever, but she somehow seemed dissatisfied.
“…Direct magic supply is preferable, I entreat. Is it impossible? I inquire.”
She was still expressionless, but something about her tone reminded me of a child asking for a treat.
“I was planning on doing some magic experiments after we eat, but…I’ll prioritize you first as a reward for working so hard.”
“Yes, master.” Nana’s voice sounded much more cheerful.
Immediately, she began to remove her clothes, but Arisa and Mia stopped her in perfect sync.
“Nothing gets past Arisa’s Impenetrable Barrier!”
“Mm. Perfect.”
Looking beyond the two smug girls, I informed Nana that I would supply her with magic after lunch.
“Now, shall we eat?”
After preparing individual plates, I put a stack of freshly cooked steaks in the center of the table.
Then, with the usual Arisa-led chorus of “Thanks for the food!” we began to eat.
“Mmmm?”
“Mmm!”
As soon as they took their first bite, Tama’s and Pochi’s eyes went round with surprise.
Liza made a similar expression for a moment, then turned serious as she focused all her attention on chewing.
Finally, her throat moved visibly as she swallowed, and she smiled with satisfaction.
By all appearances, even Liza, who normally preferred tougher food, was a fan of the hamburger steaks.
“It’s delicious! …And very soft. Its texture reminds me of the fish balls we had before, but I much prefer this dish.”
“Yummy! It’s been so long since I’ve had this. The fries on the side are delicious, too!”
Lulu and Arisa also seemed excited about the hamburgers.
“Mia, I would like to trade a tempura for a carrot, I request.”
“Mm, sure.”
Mia and Nana were having fun making swaps. Next time, I would have to make extras of the sides as well as the meat for everyone to enjoy.
Satisfied with the positive reception, I took a bite of my own hamburger steak.
As soon as it entered my mouth, the meat seemed to fall apart and melt all on its own.
The taste of the two meats and the rich sauce made a harmonious combination on my tongue, filling my taste buds with happiness.
It was so delicious that if this were a cartoon, angels would probably be flying around me.
Next, I tasted the side dishes: the sweet, crunchy carrots; the French fries and broccoli; and some freshly cooked rice to cleanse the palate.
Then, in accordance with my youthful instincts, I stretched my chopsticks toward another piece of meat.
Before I knew it, everyone’s plates were empty.
The beastfolk girls were starting in on the mountain of regular steaks, but for some reason, their eyes were fixed on me.
“Did you want me to make more hamburgers?”
The answer to my tactful question probably goes without saying. I’d just add that the dwarven meat grinder passed its first performance test with flying colors.
After the meal, I got to— I mean, I had to supply Nana with magic by touching her smooth back.
The strangely sexy noises she made in the process caught me off guard as always, but with children present, I kept myself under control in every sense.
Then, in order to work off that repressed energy, as well as the food, I practiced with the fairy sword for a while.
I swung the sword up, paused, and imbued it with magic before swinging it down. When it was lowered, I reabsorbed the magical power and raised the lightened blade back up.
I increased the speed of this exercise slowly but surely to get myself comfortable with the changes in weight and magic. It was the key to mastering the fairy sword.
After about thirty minutes of nonstop practice, I was finally satisfied enough to take a rest.
Once I stopped, I was greeted with the sound of applause for some reason.
Everyone had sat down to watch from a safe distance while I was focused on my training.
“You really are a cheater. Do you even realize what you were doing?” Arisa demanded.
“Er, practicing with my sword?”
Was my self-taught swordsmanship really goofy-looking or something?
“Nope, you have no idea.”
Trotting over to my side, Arisa pulled my head down to her level and discreetly whispered, “Most people can’t put magic into a sword anywhere near that quickly. And usually they have to release the magic they put into it afterward. No one ever reabsorbs it like that.”
Wait, really?
I didn’t have a problem doing it with Liza’s magic spear, so I figured it was normal…
“Maybe they just can’t do it because they’ve never tried or something?”
“I seriously doubt that. If anyone could do that so easily, there’d be no need for magic recovery potions, would there? You could just recover it yourself—storing MP in a Magic Item to reabsorb it after you use spells, that sort of thing.”
Releasing me, Arisa struck a “you’re hopeless” pose.
Well, that’s good to know. I thanked her for the information. It didn’t seem to be enough, so I gave her a quick hug, too.
“Wah! Hey, not so suddenly!”
Just like last time, she gave a weird little exclamation and wriggled in protest.
As usual, even though she was always getting into my personal space, she got flustered when someone else showed her affection. I have to admit, it was fun to catch her by surprise once in a while.
At any rate, I decided to test how effectively I could reabsorb magical power from the sword, then test it further by leaving the magic-imbued sword in Storage overnight to see if it had leaked away at all in the morning.
If my guess was right, this might be a good way to store extra MP, even if I usually had plenty to spare.
Before we departed, I registered in my magic menu all the scrolls I’d bought in Bolehart City.
It was always fun to compare the scroll version of a spell to the magic menu, but I hadn’t used them from the scrolls yet. I just tested them out arbitrarily.
Testing out the scrolls earned me the skills “Light Magic,” “Ice Magic,” and “Ice Resistance,” so I maxed those out with skill points and activated them.
I decided I’d test out the magic menu versions off in the mountains somewhere after sunset.
The rest of the day passed without much event, aside from an attack from a group of gray wolves on the road that allowed us a chance to restock our wolf meat supply. Overall, it was a very peaceful journey.
That day, after dinner and my daily magic chant practice, I stole away in the dead of night and took off into the sky with my hang glider. Because I had the Wind Magic spell Blow, I was able to depart from anywhere.
There was a wasteland in the recesses of the mountains more than ten miles away from the road. Fire didn’t seem likely to spread there, so I chose that as my site. There were a few shrubs and bushes but not enough to be much cause for concern.
Without further ado, it was time to begin the magic experiments.
My first test subject of choice was Forge.
According to the book on Smithing Magic, Forge was classified as an intermediate Fire Magic spell.
I remembered turning the walls of a labyrinth into lava with the lesser spell Fire Shot, so I decided to use a large meteorite from Storage as a workbench.
This was one of the meteorites that had fallen from the sky when I used Meteor Shower, which should make it fairly heat-resistant by my reckoning.
I slashed at the meteorite with a Holy Sword.
There was a slight resistance as I did so, but I still managed to cut off a piece without a problem, and I put the rest away in Storage.
I placed a copper coin, an iron dagger, and mithril ore on the completed workbench, then selected Forge from the magic menu.
As the spell was used for smelting, it was possible to adjust the intensity of the fire. The amount of magic consumed seemed to change depending on the strength of the flame.
As I slowly raised the temperature, the smell of molten metal began to rise.
Whenever the smell got to be too much, I used the Deodorant spell.
It’s getting toasty.
My body in this world was pretty resistant to changes in climate, but standing so close to the flames of the Forge spell was still making me sweat.
The copper coin melted within about ten seconds, and after thirty seconds the dagger liquefied as well.
It took about three minutes for the mithril, but finally that melted, too. The temperature of the flame was shown in an AR display, so I made a note of each metal’s melting point.
At this high temperature, my skin felt prickly, like it was burning under the midsummer sun. This might be fatal for a normal person, so I would have to be mindful of my surroundings when I used this spell.
Next, I wanted to test its maximum firepower.
Though it felt a little wasteful, I decided to use a mithril dagger for the test.
I set the spell to full power and activated it.
Within an instant…
Blinding, white-hot flames immediately filled my vision.
Without waiting for my “Sense Danger” skill to kick in, I immediately deactivated Forge and used Blow to send the heat up into the sky.
The “Light Intensity Adjustment” skill must have been working, as my vision returned to its original state right away.
The top of the workbench was charred black, and the mithril dagger I’d put there for the experiment had all but evaporated, leaving behind only a bit of residue. Oddly enough, the workbench itself showed no signs of melting.
When I checked my body, I discovered several minor burns.
That was to be expected; I’d been standing only a few feet away from flames hot enough to sublimate metal.
If anything, it was probably unnatural that I had nothing but a few little burns to show for it.
The hand I’d used to cover my face took the most damage, but even as I watched, it healed itself up like a film clip playing in reverse. This was probably my “Self-Healing” skill at work.
Honestly, my healing abilities are so fast that it’s a little disturbing, if I do say so myself.
But I guess I should probably be grateful for that.
So my body was healed thanks to my skills, but my clothes were still scorched.
The parts of my outfit that had been facing the flames were burned into tatters, and even the extremely heat-resistant hydra leather coat had a few holes.
I didn’t want to worry everyone, so I decided to change into a similar outfit.
Despite being intended for noncombat usage, the blistering heat of this Forge spell definitely gave it potential as Attack Magic.
Because of its short range, it was a little bit like a suicide bomb, but I decided to keep it in the back of my mind as a very last resort.
That said, I would probably never need to use it like that. Demons could generally only be defeated with Holy Weapons.
I continued my experiments with the other spells.
Curtain, Magic Mold, Polish, Freeze Water, and Pure Water all had potential for some interesting uses. It was going to be difficult to get the hang of Magic Mold, though.
Personally, I didn’t need them, but spells like Bug Wiper and Anti-Itch seemed like they’d be good for the kids when they went out foraging.
In my case, mosquitoes and other bugs couldn’t pierce my skin, so bug bites were never a problem for me.
Wall, Rock Smasher, and Hard Clay were all really useful for construction. I could literally build a castle overnight. I even tried it out in the wasteland and managed to create one in just under three minutes. Easy as making instant noodles.
On the other hand, I couldn’t think of a single use for Condense. Fence didn’t seem totally unhelpful, but Shelter or Shield would probably be more convenient in most cases. And Sonar was redundant with my radar.
As for the last spell, Cube…
“This is fun.”
The spell could make transparent cubes in the air ranging from four inches to forty feet in size; the amount of weight they could support depended on their own weight.
“I wonder how high I could go?”
As I mumbled to myself, I walked up the transparent staircase I’d made using Cube.
The effect time was ten minutes at most, so an ordinary user would probably run out of magic and fall. In my case, though, it took only a second to recover enough MP for a cube that could support my weight, so I could keep making them indefinitely.
While I was floating in the air, a monster attacked me after I invaded its territory, so I decided to practice some aerial combat.
The level-20 monster looked like a rhinoceros beetle the size of a small truck. According to the AR display, it was called a soldier beetle.
Since my goal was to practice fighting up here, I made footholds in the air with Cube and jumped around on them to avoid the soldier beetle’s attacks and magic.
I have to say, I felt like a badass video game character.
With the help of my “Spatial Mobility” and “Midair Maneuvers” skills, I was able to figure out the smallest size of cubes I could make to match my mobility. It was very helpful in my ongoing quest for optimal movement.
By the time the soldier beetle’s strength ran out, I was able to fight in the air just about as well as I could on the ground.
At this rate, I would even be able to fight dragons or demons in midair.
> Skill Acquired: “Skyrunning”
> Title Acquired: Sky Strider
> Title Acquired: Wingless Flier
> Title Acquired: Master of the Sky
As I gained the ability to fight freely in the air, I also gained a skill and a bunch of titles.
The skill name was especially intriguing, so I put the max number of points into it right away and activated it.
“Skyrunning” turned out to produce a similar effect to leaping around with cubes as footholds and had a lower magical cost.
It was highly responsive and allowed me to move without having to think about the size and position of each cube, too.
Even at its top speed, the “Skyrunning” skill took only a little more MP than the amount I recovered automatically, so if I could contrive a good method of flying, I could cruise about as far as I wanted.
I was the only one who would be able to withstand the high winds and low atmospheric pressure, though, so I would probably have to be mindful of my speed and altitude if I was carrying someone else.
It was early morning, a few days after my magical experiment session.
We’d made it through the mountainous region and were getting very close to the main road that went along the river.
“Master, I can see where this road meets the highway now,” Lulu remarked from the coachman stand, and I came out to have a look.
There was a lighthouse-esque watchtower set up near the point where the roads met, along with a collection of duchy soldiers. A forest behind the tower obscured my view of the river.
Liza and Nana, who’d gone ahead on horseback to scout out the area, came back toward us. Mia was riding along with Nana.
“Master, please have a look over there. There’s something on the other side of the forest.”
I looked in the direction where Liza was pointing, but all I could see through the trees were the sails of a large ship. Wait, that was probably what she was talking about.
“Those are the sails of a ship. It must be traveling along the big river on the other side of the forest.”
Tama and Pochi poked their heads out, apparently having heard my comment.
“Shiiip?”
“Where is it, sir?”
Tama used me to prop herself up and tried to see over the forest.
Pochi, too, grabbed on to Lulu’s shoulders and stood on tiptoe, but she still couldn’t see it.
“Come here, please. You could hurt yourselves like that.”
“Captuuured?”
“We’ve been caught, sir.”
I pulled Tama and Pochi into my lap, holding them firmly so they wouldn’t fall.
Tama seemed to enjoy it, but Pochi pouted up at me.
“I wanna see the ship, sir.”
“Just sit tight. You’ll be able to see it soon.” I patted Pochi’s head reassuringly.
Arisa came out from inside the carriage as well. “Will we really?” She draped her arms over Lulu’s shoulders from behind in a show of sisterly affection as she looked ahead.
Finally, the river came into view on our right.
“See?”
“Big shiiip?”
“I see the ship, sir!”
No sooner did I point it out than Tama and Pochi exclaimed with delight.
There was a large sailing ship traveling in the same direction as us, albeit faster, as it was heading downstream.
Still sitting in my lap, Tama and Pochi waved frantically at the ship.
Perched on my left knee, Pochi craned around to see the ship on the right.
“Hiii!”
“They waved back, sir.”
Pochi continued to wave excitedly.
“Oh? They must have good eyes. I wonder if they’re beastfolk, too?”
“Biiirds?”
“They’re Mr. Birdheads, sir.”
Arisa was correct: The people on the ship were likely some kind of birdfolk.
Pochi and Tama continued to wave until the ship disappeared behind the forest.
Along the way, I decided to reinspect my information about the Ougoch Duchy.
The territory included a huge river, nearly five hundred miles long.
The river started up north in the city of Daregan, where Miss Sara, Miss Karina, and the others were headed. It passed through the old capital, then three more cities, and eventually emptied into the ocean.
As its enormous river would indicate, the Ougoch Duchy was very large.
The Muno Barony was around the size of Hokkaido, albeit with an irregular shape, but the duchy we were in now was far larger—around the same area as Honshu, the main island in Japan. This territory wasn’t as long and skinny, though, so it was probably about half the length.
Despite its size, there were only seven cities altogether. The capital had a population of 210,000 people, far larger than any city I’d seen so far. I suppose that was why it was the capital.
The fluvial transportation was probably what supported the locals. There were countless villages along the river, many of which were populated only by demi-humans.
However, 80 percent of the total population was still humanfolk, so it was no different from other territories in its human majority.
As far as I could tell with my map search, there were no demons, reincarnations, or anyone with unique skills.
There were quite a lot of humans and monsters over level 30, so it would be a pain to mark all of them on the map. Instead, I flagged only the ones who seemed likely to encounter us on our itinerary.
There were also several members of the Wings of Freedom, the demon lord–worshipping organization: more than three hundred in total.
They mostly seemed to stay in cities and large towns, so I decided to flag only members in the nearest ones for now.
Once we finished our lunch break by the water, we were nearing the bridge where a stream joined the river when some very troublesome visitors arrived.
The monsters, a group of dog-size creatures called large needle bees, came flying away from the stream as if fleeing from something.
“Pochi, Tama, be careful not to let them surround you.”
“Aye!”
“Yes, sir!”
The large needle bees rushed at the beastfolk girls.
“Whoopsiiie?”
“Take this, sir!”
Tama dodged around the needle attacks with ease, and Pochi took the opportunity to attack one of the bees.
When Tama herded three of them into a single-file column, they were easily impaled by Liza’s magic spear like dumplings on a skewer.
“Oh crap!”
“Sorry.”
A careless ranged attack spell from Mia had inadvertently attracted a swarm.
“Hiyah! Ha!”
Arisa’s Psychic Magic and Lulu’s Magic Gun sniped the bees one by one, but there was still a huge swarm bearing down on Mia.
“I will protect Mia, I declare.”
Nana stepped in front of Mia and used her Foundation technique Shield, but the bees simply navigated around her and kept heading for Mia.
Liza was rushing over, but she was too far away to get there in time.
“Satou.”
“Master, heeelp!”
“M-master…”
I wanted to intercept them with magic, but the rearguard girls were between us—I couldn’t be sure of my aim.
Instead, I dashed in front of Mia and the others before destroying the swarm with magic.
As I rushed over, I thought I felt something weird and slippery for just a moment, but it must have been my imagination.
While I was puzzling that out, the beastfolk girls finished off the last few needle bees.
“Phew!”
“Good work.”
I gave Arisa a drink of cold fruit-flavored water—and distributed more to the other girls, too, of course.
“Thank you. Really, when none of the forwards have the ‘Taunt’ skill, it’s all too easy for one of us rearguarders to end up becoming the main damage dealer.”
“There’s a ‘Taunt’ skill?”
Arisa nodded.
The skill Arisa was referring to was a staple of party-based multiplayer games like MMOs. It allowed a heavily armored tank character, like a shield user, to draw the attention of monsters.
The difficulty of keeping the enemies’ target on one person varied depending on the game, but mastery of this was the mark of a skilled tank player.
“Arisa, please provide additional information on ‘Taunt,’ I request.”
Nana came over to ask about the skill, so Arisa explained it to her.
“Master, we have collected the monster cores.”
“Wiiings?”
“Needles, sir.”
The beastfolk girls, energetic even after battle, came over to present me with the spoils they’d collected from the monster corpses.
“A second wave of bees will be here soon, so take a break while you can.”
I told the girls what I’d learned on the map, so they joined the others in resting up.
Ten minutes later, the second wave arrived.
Just for kicks, I decided to join Nana in attempting to gain the “Taunt” skill.
“Arisa, please offer a demonstration, I request.”
“Okeydoke… Hey, you big, stupid bees! Go get eaten by a honey bear, will ya?”
Arisa gave her best shot at angering the bees, but unfortunately they didn’t seem to notice.
Flying down unsteadily, the bees practically crash-landed on the bridge and lowered their wings. They seemed more exhausted than anything. In fact, they didn’t seem to care about us at all, never mind Arisa’s taunts.
“All right, now you try.”
“Understood… Hello, you big, stupid bees! Are those wings just for show, I deride!”
Nana followed Arisa’s instructions, but again, there was no effect.
Now it was my turn.
“Come at me!”
As soon as I gave a simple shout, the thirty-plus large needle bees that had been lolling around on the bridge immediately charged toward me.
> Skill Acquired: “Taunt”
A swarm that big could tear my clothes, so I used “Short Stun” to wipe them out before they got too close.
“Nooo, my experience poiiints!”
“Isspurrieeence?”
“Exporians, sir?”
Tama and Pochi imitated Arisa, who had thrown herself on the ground dramatically.
I patted Arisa on the shoulder reassuringly.
“Don’t worry, Arisa. Here come the monsters that chased the bees here.”
Gliding toward us from upstream was a thirty-foot-long monster called a hard newt. It was level 25 and had a strong acid attack, so I had no intention of letting it hurt Arisa and the others.
“Come at me!”
As a total of nine of them came into view, I used the “Taunt” skill I’d just acquired.
“Everyone, make sure you get in one hit on each of the newts! Don’t go anywhere near them, just attack from a distance!”
With those orders, I stood up to the oncoming newts.
Thanks to this powerful grinding technique, the girls jumped up from two to four levels. Mia, at the bottom, reached level 11, while the beastfolk girls were the highest at 16.
Each one learned a few new skills, the most notable being Liza’s “Spellblade” and Nana’s “Taunt.”
The ones who had gained the most levels were starting to get sick from it, so we decided to set up camp for the night right where we were.
Because it would still be a while until evening, we spent our free time on activities of our choosing.
Lulu, Mia, and Nana were all down for the count with level-up sickness and sleeping in the converted bed of the carriage seats.
Liza practiced her new “Spellblade” skill, and Tama and Pochi went foraging in the riverbed.
Arisa was reading one of the spell books we’d picked up in Bolehart City.
As for me, I decided to do some crafting for the first time in a while.
I had occasionally thrown together little things like spare masks and new colored wigs to amuse myself on the journey, but it had been a while since I’d devoted time to making more involved projects like weapons and magic tools.
Well, now that I have some handy new spells and all, I might as well play around with casting.
First, I made four walls to keep fire damage to a minimum. I went with a height of about ten feet to be safe.
I was just messing around, so I melted things like silver coins and brass candlesticks for material instead of wasting something more valuable like the iron ingots and steel bars I bought in Bolehart City.
After about an hour, I’d produced all kinds of silver cups, silver vials, and countless brass accessories.
This included custom pieces for the girls: chick-shaped earrings for Nana, a cat and dog badge for Tama and Pochi respectively, and floral cuff links for the other kids. I applied silver plating to each of them with alchemy.
And now with some extra time to kill, I started making Holy Weapons.
“Now, what should I use for materials…?”
I tapped my chin as I thought.
When I made Holy Arrows before, I used obsidian arrowheads and Mountain-Tree branches, but this time I had no obsidian. Instead, I decided to utilize the rest of the meteorite I’d fashioned my workbench from.
I used a Holy Sword to process the meteorite scraps.
As my go-to Holy Sword Excalibur was in use for magic-storing experiments at the moment, I decided to go with Durandal this time. I did have two other Holy Swords, but I picked Durandal because of the legends back on Earth that said it could be restored if broken by putting it back in its scabbard.
Incidentally, though they rarely saw any action, I also had two Magic Swords and one Holy Spear in Storage.
My understanding was that Magic Swords could be used without a special title, but not only were they flashy, they were extremely heavy, so I was reluctant to have my kids use them.
Besides, against monsters less than level 30, a weapon made with mithril alloy was already overkill.
Anyway, I made arrowheads and spear tips from the meteorite scraps, as well as a tool for carving magic circuits. The remaining fragments went back into Storage as gravel.
Once I’d finished carving circuit grooves into the arrowheads and spear tips, I turned my attention to producing more blue.
I had used up the stock I made before, during our stay in Muno City, and we were due for a new batch. This time, I would have plenty of extra.
I’d made this stuff once before, so the process was fairly simple by now.
I poured the completed blue into my newly made silver vials and stored it away. I made five altogether.
After that, I used a measuring rod to pour the liquid into the magic patterns on the arrowheads and spear tips.
In the end, I’d made ten Holy Arrows and three Holy Spear tips.
Since it’d be impossible to use a bow while wielding a Holy Sword, I made up for that shortcoming by preparing a one-handed Holy Short Spear.
“Master, Lulu is awake.”
Arisa called to me from outside, so I removed the walls and went over to meet everyone.
The accessories were very well received.
Dinner that evening was pretty intense. Guess everyone was hungry after the day’s battles.
Leaving Liza and the others to clean up after the meal, I went into a grove of trees to fulfill a dream I’d had for a while.
“This area ought to do it.”
I had chosen a section of the bank with a good view of the river.
First, I made practical use of the Earth Magic spells Wall and Pit to create a bathtub about ten feet around.
Once I used the Hard Clay spell to make sure it wouldn’t muddy the water, I added the pebbles Tama and Pochi had brought from the riverbed at my behest.
This should be big enough for everyone to use.
The ladies’ tub was finished, so I made a private one-man bathtub a little ways away.
It would probably be fine if we all bathed together, but I didn’t want a bashful adolescent like Lulu to feel ill at ease, so I figured it would be for the best to have the girls bathe separately.
Next, I waded into the river under cover of darkness and put a bunch of water into Storage. Then, I filled the tubs and used the spell Pure Water to clean it. The impurities went into Storage to dispose of later.
Finally, I used the Fire Magic spell Forge at its lowest possible setting to heat the water to near boiling, and with that, the outdoor bath was complete.
I added a few finishing touches by solidifying the ground around it with Hard Clay and building a little washing area.
I also put aside a few barrels and buckets of water for temperature control.
Muno Castle had only a sauna room, so it had been a long time since I’d had a proper bath. Hopefully, everyone would enjoy it.
When I returned to the others and told them that I’d made a bathhouse of sorts, their reactions were mixed. Lulu and Nana didn’t know what I meant, so I gave a brief explanation.
“Ah, bathing with a boy! Finally I’ll be rewarded for all the hardships I’ve been through!”
“No, the baths are separated by gender.”
“Wh-whaaaaat?! God, don’t be such a Goody Two-shoes! This is so obviously a chance for a fan-service-y hot-springs episode!”
Just as I expected, Arisa got all worked up over something absurd. It wasn’t really a hot springs anyway.
“Master, I volunteer to wash your back, I declare.”
“No.”
“She’s right—you can’t.”
Also as expected, Mia and Lulu were quick to shut down Nana’s offer.
“We last had a bath quite a while ago. We shall be happy to wash your back again if you wish, master.”
“Tama, toooo!”
“Pochi, too, sir.”
The beastfolk girls, remembering the bath in the Seiryuu City castle guesthouse, seemed very excited.
A few of our number had a strong reaction to Liza’s use of the word again, but I chose to ignore them.
I had already made a tool for cleaning my own back anyway, so I would be fine.
For some reason, this information seemed to disappoint the girls. Liza and Lulu offered to let me use the bath first, but I told them that I had prepared a separate one for myself, so they meekly went off for their soak. Naturally, Arisa tried to follow me, but Lulu led her away.
“Ah, that’s the stuff.”
As I slipped into the men’s bath, I looked up at the sky.
The stars were starting to come out. It was too bad that the river wasn’t quite still enough to reflect the stars, but the moonlight dancing on the surface was still quite beautiful.
I turned off the utilitarian menu display and enjoyed the view.
“I haven’t bathed outside like this since we snuck off that one time in college.”
As I leaned back against the wall of the tub and started relaxing, I heard a sudden plunk and felt weight against my body. I could tell that someone had entered my bath, but with the radar off, I didn’t know who.
I raised my head to find Mia with her long hair loose.
“Mia, this is the men’s bath.”
“Mn.”
Mia, clearly uninterested in my gentle scolding, plopped herself down in front of me with her back to me. I couldn’t help remembering when I helped bathe a younger relative while babysitting.
A recovery team seemed to be on the way to collect her, so I decided to let her do what she liked for now.
“Are there baths like this in the elf village?”
“Shared.”
Meaning there were public baths, then.
Mia rested her small head on my chest and joined me in stargazing.
Then the recovery team arrived, or maybe I should call them the second attack squad.
“Us, toooo?”
“We’re coming in, sir.”
Tama and Pochi hopped into the bath from my left and right.
No matter how small the beastfolk girls might be, that bath was definitely over capacity now. It was starting to feel less like a tub and more like a can of sardines.
Tama and Pochi wanted to copy Mia, so I held them up with a hand each so they wouldn’t sink.
“Hey, you two! Don’t try and get the jump on me!”
Arisa arrived next, clad in a thin bathrobe.
The wet robe was definitely clinging to her body, but I had zero interest in a little girl’s figure.
At any rate, the two older girls behind her soon drew my gaze away.
There was no way to comment on Nana’s figure without being indecent, but I’d admit I did feel a certain sense of almost fatherly pride in noticing Lulu’s proportions were growing.
“Master, I think you ought to come join us in the large bath instead.”
Arisa’s proposal was met with unanimous agreement from the girls, so I ended up being dragged over there.
I guess bigger is better for baths after all.
“Damn, it’s too dark! I guess I ought to learn Light Magic next…”
Arisa kept muttering to herself in between short dives under the water.
I had a hunch as to what her goal might be. Unfortunately for her, I was wearing brand-new swim trunks, so she wouldn’t see anyway. I know that runs counter to the idea of natural bathing, but just think of it as an emergency measure.
“C-collarbone…”
Lulu, who was submerged up to her shoulders next to Arisa, was mumbling something while staring at me with her cheeks flushed pink. Okay, you’re making me a little uncomfortable.
I leaned back on the wall again, resuming my previous pose.
The steam wasn’t doing its job very well, so I couldn’t really keep looking forward.
I was getting a little hot, so I took my arms out of the water and rested them on the side of the tub, only to immediately have them used as pillows. Tama and Pochi were on my right arm and Mia on my left. Oddly, Lulu was inching closer as if waiting for her turn.
“Master, I have made a discovery! Confirmation required, I request.”
Nana’s voice came to me from somewhere behind Lulu. When I glanced over nonchalantly…
“They float in the water, I report! They are also light and rather cute.”
Nana, who had opened the front of her bathrobe, was looking at her floating breasts. Though her expression was blank as usual, she seemed terribly entertained.
If this were a manga, the protagonist’s nose would have started gushing blood. What a sight for sore eyes.
“Miss Nana, you mustn’t!”
“Lewd.”
Lulu quickly moved in front of Nana, blocking my view. Unfortunately, her wet bathrobe was sticking closely to her body, so now I could clearly see the outline of her bottom.
After a moment, Mia blocked my view of that, too, by standing in the way with her arms spread. She wasn’t wearing a robe, so I could see all kinds of things that I really didn’t need to. If she were an older woman, I’d be so happy I could cry.
The rest of our bathing time passed in a similar fashion—relaxing, if occasionally boisterous.
The next morning, I found Liza looking sorrowfully at the cold bath, so I warmed it back up for a morning dip. She always was fond of them.
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