Lalakie Route
Satou here. I think exploring unknown waters is an important part of any adventure at sea. Even if you have a map that’s basically a walk-through guide…
“Master! There are seabirds circling around up ahead!”
Liza called out from the lookout post on the mast.
“We finally found them.”
“Uh-huh. I’ll finish them off with a single slice.”
Arisa grinned eagerly, and I responded with a similar expression.
Even the orichalcum alloy knife in my hand seemed keen to finally see action.
“All right, I’ll be right back.”
“Good luuuck?”
“You can do it, sir!”
I took off from the deck with a quick wave.
Near where the birds were circling, something broke the water’s surface.
Gotcha!
It leaped into the air with a spray of seawater, far larger than anything I was expecting.
“Haaaaaa!”
“Flashrunning” put me right in front of my prey within an instant, and I swung the orichalcum blade with all my might, slicing through its head as easily as cutting through cloth.
The attack, so sharp that it seemed as if it could have sliced a molecule in two, went straight through its target and cut a swath through the ocean waves behind it.
The creature continued its leap as if it hadn’t even noticed that it had been cut, but as soon as it tried to turn in midair, its body split into perfect halves, killing it instantly.
I wasted no time in grabbing both halves with Magic Hand and putting them away in Storage.
Finally! We’ve got ootoro!
I almost struck a victory pose right then and there, but I was getting ahead of myself.
“Master, behind you!” Lulu cried.
I didn’t even need to turn around to know that a school of bullet tuna was coming this way, aiming for the circling birds.
As the school of thirty-foot-long bullet tuna zoomed toward me, I prepared my orichalcum tuna knife and charged into the fray.
“Ahhh, it’s melting in my mooouth.”
“Very…yummy.”
As Arisa and Rei enjoyed the ootoro sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce, I reached out my chopsticks as well.
Sushi was high on my list, but trying out the sashimi was my main objective.
Lulu, Tama, and Pochi seemed very interested, but Liza stopped them, so they were just watching.
At last, I took a bite of the long-awaited ootoro.
The fat really did dissolve in my mouth, spreading the delicious taste of tuna across my tongue.
I’d eaten ootoro in Japan before, but this was on a whole different level.
It had an incredible depth of flavor and was rich enough that a single piece seemed like enough to satisfy me, yet I couldn’t stop myself from taking another bite.
Delicious. It’s way too delicious.
I’d prepared a few different kinds of wasabi and soy sauce with the intention of figuring out which went with it best, but I accidentally wound up eating a whole plate’s worth of sashimi with the first kind of soy sauce alone.
“Ahhh, I can die happy now.”
“Yes… It was very, very…good.”
Arisa and Rei sighed happily.
“Meeew?”
“I—I want to try it, too, sir.”
Tama and Pochi, who were still being held by Liza, had stopped squirming and were now just staring at the empty plates with drool on their lips.
“You mustn’t. Raw fish has a high chance of giving you a stomachache.”
“I want to try it even if my tummy hurts after, sir.”
“Me toooo?”
“I-I’m willing to take the risk, too.”
Liza was trying to dissuade them, but Pochi, Tama, and even Lulu seemed determined this time.
“It’s all right, Liza. I’ve already removed any parasites or eggs that could make us sick.”
“Master… Very well, then. Since the three of them seem quite firm about this, I shall test it first as a guinea pig.”
Liza’s expression looked grim.
Her spirit of self-sacrifice was admirable and all, but since some of us had already eaten a lot of it, a guinea pig wasn’t really necessary.
Still, this was my chance to finally get Liza to try sashimi.
I lined a plate with more tuna sashimi, and Liza tremulously lifted the ootoro with her chopsticks, then squeezed her eyes shut and popped the whole thing into her mouth.
“I-impossible…”
Liza’s wide-eyed expression prompted the other girls to reach out with their forks and chopsticks as well.
“Fishy, yummyyyy?”
“It’s so squishy and juicy and tasty, sir!”
“This is amazing, master! Tuna is unbelievably delicious!”
Tama, Pochi, and Lulu all praised the taste as they reached for another bite.
“…Delicious.” Liza put a hand to her cheek and murmured blissfully.
I guess she must have liked it, too.
“I see now why you were so beside yourself about acquiring this, master,” Liza added.
I wasn’t really that worked up, was I?
I turned to Arisa to ask her, but she quickly averted her eyes. Ridiculous.
“Want to try it…Nana?”
“If you insist, larva, then I shall do so, I consent.”
“You too, Mia…”
“Mrrr. No.”
Nana gave in to Rei’s adorable request, but Mia hated fatty foods, so she made an X in front of her mouth with her fingers.
“It is delicious, but it would be even more so if cooked, I declare.”
“Yes, tuna steak might be good, too.”
My Japanese instincts cried out in protest at the thought of cooking such high-quality tuna, but I had read somewhere that it was good that way, so I decided to cook some per Nana’s request.
“Ahhh, what a waste…”
“It smells good, though, doesn’t it?”
I understood Arisa’s feelings, but Lulu was right: The scent certainly piqued one’s appetite.
Tama and Pochi were visible proof of that. They were standing next to the charcoal grill, sniffing the air and drooling excessively.
Once it was finished, I cut it up and gave Tama and Pochi the first two pieces.
“Yaaay!”
“Thank you, sir.”
The pair picked up the tuna steak with their forks and brought it to their lips.
“Très bieeen?”
“It’s almost as strong as Professor Hamburg, sir!”
Tama and Pochi burst into huge smiles immediately, waving their fists around gleefully.
Just flailing their arms evidently wasn’t enough to express their feelings, as they soon started stamping around on the deck, too.
It may have been my imagination, but I thought I even saw tears in their eyes.
“Master, as I surmised, tuna is better cooked than raw, I insist.”
“It is…really good…cooked. But I think…the sashimi…was even better…”
Nana was head over heels for the tuna steak, while Rei quietly stated her own preference.
It was nice to have someone else who understood the deliciousness of sashimi.
“Grrr, I hate to admit it, but it is really good.”
Arisa frowned reluctantly even as she stuffed her cheeks with the tuna steak.
“It’s quite delicious. The taste is somewhat similar to beef.”
“Yes, it really is tasty.”
Liza and Lulu seemed satisfied, too.
“Satou…”
Mia rubbed her cheek against me, clearly feeling left out, so I decided to make a dish for her before moving on to sushi.
Hopefully everyone would like the sushi right away, though.
“Ahhh, that was delicious.”
Arisa, who’d been tidying up after the meal with the other girls, flopped down next to me, sitting back against the forecastle.
“Did you finish cleaning up?”
“Why, of course we did. So have you figured out our route from here?”
I used the Light Magic spell Illusion to display the map information of the Kraken’s Domain, which was next to the Kingdom of Sorcery Lalagi.
“This is where we are now, and these four points are the Sealtower Islands.”
The Skeleton King was likely planning to place a gem similar to the one from the Crimson Cane at one of these four islands to raise Lalakie.
It was a pretty gamelike setup, but if I had to use force, there were plenty of ways I could stop him. I could even destroy all the islands without a trace if I had to.
Not that I was looking to use that option at the moment.
“What’s the scale on this map?”
“One inch is about twenty miles.”
“Wait, then they’re super far apart! Won’t it take days to get to all of them?!”
Arisa jumped up in surprise.
She was shouting pretty loudly, but I’d used the Secret Field spell to put a sound barrier around us, so the others didn’t seem to notice.
It certainly was far, but if I had to, I could sacrifice my clothes and use “Flashrunning” to travel around in no time.
“Right now, we’re trying to get to this spot.”
“The middle of the four islands? But there’s nothing there, is there?”
Arisa frowned in puzzlement, so I zoomed in on that part of the map.
“Another island?”
“That’s right. We could go to each of the islands, but they’re all pretty far apart. It seems likely that there’d be something important on the center island, right?”
“True. And even if there isn’t, if something happens on one of the islands, we can get to any of them in about the same amount of time, so…that makes sense, yeah.”
It didn’t take Arisa long to catch on to my line of thinking and nod in agreement.
“Hmm? But up is north on this map, right? Aren’t we going off course?”
“There’s a place I want to stop at on the way.”
Since we were stopping at islands to set seal slates as we traveled, our course was already pretty zigzagged, but it was still farther south than it should be.
“I have some business over here.”
“What is it?”
“The roc lives on this island.”
“You really want to go sightseeing right now?”
Arisa raised her eyebrows, but I shook my head.
“No, no. The Sky Lord is on that island.”
The Sky Lord was supposed to be kin to the Dogheaded Demon Lord, an enemy of the floating island Lalakie, so I didn’t want to risk it interrupting while I was facing down the Skeleton King.
That guy was already pretty quick to flee, so the last thing I needed was to give him another chance to do so.
“So this is the roc, huh?”
When the bird spread its wings, it was around the same size as the island it was using as its nest.
PYWEEEEEWN!
With a loud cry, its enormous heavy bomber–like body took off into the sky. It was most likely supporting itself with Wind Magic.
At level 87, it was a little stronger than the Flame Lord. Its species was roc, while its individual name was Sky Lord.
I put magic power into Claidheamh Soluis, elongating the blade, and then added Sacredblade to the tip, making it long enough to cut the Sky Lord.
PYWEEEEEWN!
The Sky Lord produced a tornado full of wind blades, so I blew it apart with a wind spell of my own, Air Cannon.
I thought I saw surprise flash through the Sky Lord’s eyes, but that might have just been my imagination.
Dodging the compressed-air shots that zoomed toward me like anti-aircraft missiles, I swung my glowing blue blade almost casually and cut through the Sky Lord’s thick neck.
“All right! Poultry!”
I wasn’t sure how it would taste yet, but it was easy to run low on poultry, so I was genuinely happy to acquire it in such a large quantity.
Grilled chicken skewers were one of Liza’s favorite meals, so now I could make plenty for her.
I put the enormous body into Storage and headed for the nest in the middle of the island.
The nest contained twenty-odd enormous eggs the size of small houses, a huge amount of bones, and a pile of treasure.
Rocs seemed to share with crows a love of shiny objects; there were even gems the size of large eggs, like emerald and sapphire.
Most of the bones belonged to monsters, fish, and other creatures, but there were more than a few human bones in there, too. The nest itself seemed to be made of the remains of ships.
I recovered the treasure, the eggs, and the human bones into Storage before returning to the ship.
I planned to give the latter a proper burial at sea later.
“That was…a big…bird.”
The ship had been pretty far away, but I guess they could still see it from here.
Luckily, the island wasn’t in view to give a size comparison, so nobody seemed to have noticed just how gigantic the bird was.
“Yeah, I guess it was called a ‘roc.’”
I probably should’ve said “Sky Lord” in the hopes that it would jog Rei’s memories, but I didn’t want to remind her of the downfall of her home, so I decided not to mention that name.
I should also note that we dined on roc meat that evening, which was a little tough but very flavorful in a rustic way.
“Satou…”
As I was sitting in my usual after-dinner spot behind the forecastle, watching the sun set on the horizon, Rei came over to me.
“Can I talk to you…about that girl…?”
“You mean Yuuneia? Sure.”
Arisa would probably be better at giving advice than I would, but since Rei had gone out of her way to ask me, I didn’t want to pass her off on someone else.
“Do you think you can…remove her shackles?”
“Yes, of course.”
Rei breathed a little sigh of relief.
If that ghost bird hadn’t gotten in my way the first time, I’m sure I could’ve gotten rid of those miasma shackles.
I had been able to do it for Rei when we initially rescued her, after all.
“Then…please…do it. Remove…that girl’s…shackles.”
“No problem.”
When I agreed immediately, Rei broke into a smile.
She’d only seemed scared of Yuuneia, but I guess she was concerned for her after all.
“So you’re worried about Yuuneia, Rei?”
“Yes… She’s scary…and I don’t remember her…but she calls me ‘Sister’…and she seems to…miss me.”
That made sense. Rei did seem to care a lot about other people.
“We’ll be…at Lalakie soon…”
Rei gazed at the seas ahead.
“If I go there…do you think…my memories…will come back?”
“It’s very possible. But try not to stress out about it too much.”
She looked anxious, so I placed a hand on her head and rubbed it gently.
“S-Satou…?”
“Oops, sorry, sorry.”
I’d automatically done the same kind of gesture that I would normally use to comfort Tama or Pochi.
“Don’t worry. Whether your memories return or not, you’ll still be Rei. And you’ll always be our friend.”
“…Thanks.”
Rei’s eyes almost looked teary as she smiled back at me.
Our conversation ended there, and together we enjoyed the sunset in a pleasant silence.
Although Arisa’s and Mia’s faces as they stared at us from around the corner were a little bit frightening.
“Is that our destination? I inquire.”
“That’s right.”
The other kids gathered around the helm to see where Nana was pointing.
A subtropical-looking island had come into view, with a little inlet and a small mountain wreathed in trees.
Along the way there, we’d been attacked by octopus, horned swordfish, and other such sea monsters with relative frequency, but I took care of any threateningly high-level ones with Remote Harpoon, so to the rest of the group, it probably seemed like a pretty boring journey.
“I wonder if that’s Lalakie, then?” Arisa asked Rei in a light tone.
“…I don’t…know.”
Rei lowered her head sadly, so I reassured her.
“You don’t need to try to force yourself to remember. This place just happens to be near the Sealtower Islands, so we don’t know if it’s part of Lalakie or not.”
With that, I steered the ship into the bay.
“Swirlyyy?”
“So whirly, sir.”
Up in the lookout post, Tama and Pochi were excited about something.
The entire island was surrounded by a whirlpool-like current, as if to prevent ships from entering, with sharp reef outcroppings hidden in the water.
I checked it out with the map and my scouting gargoyle golems, but there didn’t seem to be any suspicious barriers or defense mechanisms hidden in the vortex.
“An island protected by a whirlpool… Do you think Poseidon’s going to show up?”
If I remembered correctly, Poseidon was the Greek god of the ocean, but knowing Arisa, this was probably some kind of anime or manga reference.
Our ship easily flew over the whirlpool and proceeded into the bay.
“Sea turrrtle?”
“It looks delicious, sir!”
The waters were so clear that it was easy to see the ultramarine-shelled sea turtle swimming slowly past.
Liza threw a harpoon at it, but I’m afraid it got away.
I was busy making sure nothing unusual was happening on the island, so I wasn’t able to participate in this particular hunt.
“It’s so peaceful.”
“Yes, it seems that way.”
We laid anchor near the beach, and there was still no reaction. The island seemed to be very quiet.
I had been half hoping that some mysterious objects would rise from the sand or the sea, but I’d probably read too many stories.
“What a beautiful beach.”
Lulu gazed at the near-paradise-like island with an admiring sigh.
I wanted to take a picture of that expression.
“I imagine there are plenty of shrimp and shellfish here.”
“I hope to find more tropical fruits, I propose.”
Liza and Nana seemed more concerned with food.
I did a map search across the island.
There were no monsters within the circumference of the whirlpool; the island seemed to be inhabited by normal animals and rare mythical beasts.
We could already see palm trees laden with coconuts, but there seemed to be other fruit trees growing elsewhere on the island, like bananas and mangoes.
Until anything strange happened, we could probably just enjoy a relaxing vacation.
“First we should find a safe place to set up camp.”
We went to shore in a small rowboat, then set up a simple camp on the beach a safe distance away from the tide line.
I placed a magic tool on top of a waterproof sheet and poured magic into it, and it produced cloth and a frame with a little pop, forming a tent in no time flat. The tent was big enough for everyone to stand inside.
I’d made this myself in the elf village, since they had textiles that expanded and contracted magically, the magic version of a shape memory alloy, and other such materials.
I could’ve simply produced a bungalow from Storage complete with all our everyday needs, but since it was the first day of our little trip, I thought it would be more fun to camp out.
“All right, everyone, time to change!”
“Aye-aye, sirrr!”
“Roger, sir!”
Tama and Pochi struck a dramatic pose, and the three of them ran into the tent, followed closely by the rest of the group.
Mia and Nana tried to drag me in as well, but that would defeat the purpose of putting up the tent in the first place, so I slipped out of their grasp right before the entrance.
While everyone was changing, I used my “Quick Change” skill—transformation sequence excluded—to put on a pair of knee-length trunks.
Arisa wanted me to wear some kind of thong-like swim briefs, but I didn’t think anyone but athletes and pro swimmers wore those, so I declined.
I wasn’t really interested in showing off my beach bod anyway.
“Master, look?”
“Look at Pochi, too, sir.”
The first two to pop out of the tent were Tama and Pochi.
As they sent the tent flap flying on their way out, I thought I caught a glimpse of Lulu’s pale skin, but I’d just pretend that didn’t happen.
Tama was wearing a peach-pink two-piece swimsuit, while Pochi wore a similar getup in yellow. The bottom of Tama’s was skirt-shaped, while Pochi’s consisted of shorts.
“The two of you look very cute.”
Both of them grinned bashfully.
“Master, the three of us will go harvest some seafood, if that’s all right.”
Liza appeared in a crimson two-piece, wielding a harpoon made from a land urchin spike.
To cover for her lack of volume, there was a rose-patterned decoration over her chest.
“All right. I’ll put some magic on you for safety, but don’t rely on it too much.”
“Understood.”
“Aye-aye!”
“Yes, sir! Get ready for a big haul, sir!”
No doubt the three of them would return with some tasty prey.
I would have preferred for them to simply enjoy some normal swimming and relaxation, but everyone has fun in different ways. No doubt Arisa would invite them to play after we ate later.
“Satou.”
Wearing a white-and-aqua-striped bikini, Mia did a little twirl in front of the tent.
Her usual twin tails were braided into buns.
“Master, the larva and I are ready as well, I declare.”
Instead of a bikini, Nana was wearing a plain one-piece suit, probably thanks to the iron-wall pair.
Unfortunately for them, their plan had backfired: The plain swimsuit only increased the sexiness factor, especially considering her bust size increase from the cultivation tank.
“How do I look…Satou?”
Rei hesitantly peeked out from behind Nana.
She was borrowing one of Arisa’s spare swimsuits, a bikini that matched the design of Mia’s.
“All three of you look extremely cute. They look great on you.”
They smiled, looking pleased.
“I’m ready, too, master.”
Lulu appeared from behind the other three, clad in a pink cardigan over a black-and-white one-piece with a low back. The cardigan covered her back and shoulders, but the open front revealed a glimpse of her cleavage and cute belly, giving her an innocent charm.
“I’m sorry—it took a while to braid everyone’s hair.”
Come to think of it, Nana and Rei had the same braided-bun style as Mia.
Lulu seemed to be the one who had done their hair for them. Her own long black hair was held in a simple braid.
“That’s all right. You look wonderful.”
“Th-thank you, master.”
Lulu turned adorably bright red, although the way she pressed her shoulders together and ducked was a little dangerous.
“Ta-daaaa!”
Finally, Arisa appeared in a white swimsuit, announcing her own arrival with a little tune.
“Obviously, you’ve got to save the star of the show for last!”
…Oh, Arisa.
“What’s the matter? Have you succumbed to the adorable Arisa’s charms?”
I rolled my eyes at Arisa, who was wearing a classic old-fashioned school swimsuit. There was even a name tag on the chest that said ARISA in hiragana.
The school swimsuit was a staple of anime and light novels, but I had never seen someone wear one in real life outside of cosplaying.
Dryly averting my gaze from Arisa as she struck pose after pose, I turned to address the others.
“Why don’t you all go for a swim while I prepare a barbecue?”
“Awww, c’mon, swim with us!”
“Master, if you’re preparing food, I’ll help you.”
Lulu seemed determined to help me rather than enjoy herself, so I agreed to go swimming with everyone instead.
“It’s the oceeeeean!”
Arisa shouted as she made a mad dash for the water.
“Mm, ocean.”
“That is without a doubt the ocean, I confirm.”
“Yes…ocean…”
Nana took Mia’s and Rei’s hands and ran after Arisa.
Nana usually seemed oblivious to anyone else’s pace, but this time she did shorten her strides to match the smaller girls’ as they ran.
“Huh? Okay… Um, it’s the ocean!”
Finally, Lulu sheepishly followed me toward the water.
I was quick to put away her unnecessary cardigan in Storage.
“Whew, that was fun!”
“Mm. Satisfied.”
Arisa and Mia sighed happily as they finished burying me in the sand.
Lulu and Rei had long since given up and were relaxing under a beach parasol.
“Master, I have found many small and cute seashells, I report.”
Nana showed me the contents of her bag.
Freeing myself from the sand to look inside, I saw that it was indeed full of colorful little shells, true to her report.
“Very nice. Why don’t we make some seashell accessories later?”
“Am I capable of making them? I inquire.”
“Of course. We’ll all make them together.”
The other girls would probably be interested, too, so I figured we could have a little seashell accessory–making class after we ate.
“Preeey!”
“We caught a lot, sir.”
“We’ve successfully captured fish, lobster, and some large shellfish.”
Liza opened the hunting Fairy Pack and showed me their haul.
There were tropical fish, striped beakfish, and enough spiny lobster to go around, plus oysters, turban shells, and even a pearl oyster so gigantic I almost expected Venus to be inside.
“Mia, can you take care of the shellfish?”
“Mm.”
Mia used the Water Magic spell I’d made on the journey, Clean Clams, to quickly remove the sand and grit from the shells.
This particular spell had taken a lot of work, and more than a few exploded clamshells, to perfect.
“Awww, you couldn’t get any sea turtles?” Arisa asked.
“No waaay?”
“Mr. Sea Turtle is very speedy in the water, sir.”
Tama and Pochi shook their heads sadly.
“Master, may I open this shell?”
“Yes, of course. Clams can be very strong, so I’ll get it started for you first.”
I didn’t want Liza’s arm to get stuck in the shell by mistake.
I gave it a light pull and it came apart easily enough, and Liza thrust her short sword into the gap, expertly slicing up the clam.
The clam did its best to close, but it didn’t stand a chance against my high strength stat.
“Whoa, what a big pearl!”
It really was big.
Probably around the size of a softball.
“Master, is the shell transparent now?”
“You’re right—that’s strange. It was normal only a moment ago.”
For some reason, the giant clamshell had turned transparent.
“Actually, I think it’s just blending in. Looks like it changes colors using magic power.”
It probably used this ability to disguise itself on the seafloor.
It was pretty solid, so I could probably make some fun things with it, which was an exciting creative prospect.
As I thought about such things, the other kids opened the smaller shells.
“Master, I have found a pearl larva, I report.”
“Wow, I didn’t know they could have pink pearls.”
“This one has a black pearl.”
A high proportion of the clams near this beach seemed to have pearls inside.
There weren’t enough to make a pearl string necklace, but I could probably make a single-pearl necklace for each of the girls.
There was coral washed up on the beach, too; our post-lunch accessory-making workshop was shaping up to be pretty involved.
Meanwhile, as for the lunch itself…
“Whoa! It’s like a beach-house smorgasbord!”
I’d prepared a lineup of curry, yakisoba, ramen, and grilled squid. The yakisoba and salt ramen were new menu items.
“But the clam’s not missing from the curry, and the ramen’s not soggy enough…”
Arisa complained that it didn’t seem like real beach-house food, but I wasn’t going to make it poorly on purpose.
Even as she complained, she slurped up the ramen with a satisfied expression.
“Mm. Yummy.”
Mia seemed to be enjoying her vegetable-filled salt ramen, too.
“The one with meat is good, sir.”
“That’s roast pork. It’s also called ‘chashu.’”
“Chashu rameeen?”
Tama’s pronunciation was a little off, but she and the others all took a liking to ramen at once. Tama and Pochi were using forks, since eating it with chopsticks proved difficult for them.
For some reason, the yakisoba wasn’t particularly popular, so I would have to work on my recipe some more.
“Ramen is hot, but it’s delicious.”
“There are lots of other kinds, so I can make more next time we’re someplace colder.”
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t want to boil up tonkotsu ramen broth in this sweltering heat.
I could’ve simply used magic to control the temperature, but that was beside the point.
“Spicy…and good…”
“Curry is most delicious on the third day, I inform.”
Rei and Nana were enjoying some curry together.
“It’s very good. The curry and fried seafood go quite well together.”
Liza was eating curry topped with fried shrimp and fish.
Afterward, once we’d cooled off with some shaved ice, we made the seashell accessories and built a tree house as part of our island vacation.
“Firewooorks?”
“Pop-pop, sir!”
Tama and Pochi were twirling around on the beach by the campfire.
They were both holding a short staff in each hand with a Fireworks Illusion spell on them.
These staffs had been made by the high elf of the Beliunan clan when I told her about the Fireworks Illusion spell I made. She said she wasn’t very good at making light-type magic tools, but she still turned these out in a pretty short time.
Making them required special magical assistance, so I couldn’t reproduce them myself.
“Larva, it is used like this, I instruct.”
“It’s…very…pretty.”
Nana was teaching Rei how to use the Fireworks Illusion short staffs.
“They really pull you in, don’t they?”
“Yes, they are truly impressive to behold.”
Lulu and Liza were fascinated by the prototype sparklers I’d made.
These ones just used regular gunpowder.
“Campfires are pretty romantic, huh?”
“You think so? Didn’t you ever have one at a school event?”
At Arisa’s request, we were dancing the “Oklahoma Mixer,” with accompaniment by Mia.
I don’t think you’re supposed to do this dance with only two people.
“Mrrr. Trade.”
Mia was the only one who could play an instrument well, so Mia and I danced to Arisa’s humming.
“Larva?”
Hearing Nana’s confused voice, I turned to see Rei with the light gone from her eyes, staring into the campfire with a blank expression.
“<…Fire,>” she murmured.
“Mew!”
“Something’s coming, sir!”
Tama and Pochi dropped their short staffs and got down on all fours, looking alarmed.
A moment later, the ground shook.
At the same time, birds took off in droves from all over the island, and we heard animals howling.
“An earthquake?”
“I don’t think there are any underwater volcanoes or anything around here.”
Opening the map, I checked for any moving monsters, but nothing stood out. The Skeleton King’s and Yuuneia’s markers were still in the Spirit World.
“Let’s check the other islands, then.”
I used the Space Magic spell Clairvoyance to look at each of the Sealtower Islands.
Three of them were unchanged, but one had produced a towerlike structure that was letting off a red light.
Guess he’s making his move.
“Is it an evil omen of some sort?” I heard Liza murmur.
“No, don’t worry,” I reassured her lightly.
Minimizing the menu that had taken up all of my vision, I saw that most of the group members were trembling and clinging to me.
There weren’t many earthquakes in this world, so even a magnitude three was probably enough to scare them.
Arisa was clearly just taking advantage of the moment, so I flicked her forehead, and we decided to turn in for the night once everyone had calmed down a little.
I thought about going to the Sealtower Island now but decided against it.
The Skeleton King might come after Rei while I was gone, and it would be annoying to run around being one step behind him anyway, so I figured it would be easier to destroy the Sea Lord and the Divine Wrath Cannon after Lalakie had been revived.
Although I planned to do my best to stop him before that happened, of course.
“Let’s look for tropical fruits tomorrow!”
“Mm, agree.”
“Arisa, I wish to play split the watermelon, I request.”
“All right, we can do that in the afternoon.”
Despite their earlier unease, everyone was back to normal before long, largely thanks to Arisa.
At first, they were all staying awake and chatting even after we’d laid down to sleep on beds of banana leaves, but by the time the moon was gleaming gently in the sky, they were all sound asleep, no doubt tired from playing during the day.
Then, late at night…
I woke up feeling as if something was calling to me.
With my “Night Vision” skill, I quickly realized what was wrong.
Rei was gone.
On my radar, I saw that Rei’s dot was moving toward the mountain in the center of the island.
Being careful not to wake anyone up, I extracted myself from bed and followed Rei on her unexpected evening walk.
The soothing cries of nocturnal creatures echoed through the tropical rain forest, along with the gentle rustling of the leaves.
“There she is.”
I was chasing her from above the trees using “Skyrunning,” so I caught up to her very quickly.
Wandering along unsteadily, Rei looked like she was sleepwalking.
I continued to follow her, looking after her from above.
When Rei reached the rock face of the mountainside and extended her hand, a gear-like magic circle appeared over the rock, and I heard a voice similar to the one that came from the Box in Lalagi.
“<This device can only be used by senior personnel. Please speak your identification number.>”
“<La. 1090609. Reiaane Tuuwa Lalakie.>”
Rei identified herself in a trance state.
That might’ve been the first time I’d heard anyone in this world use a middle name.
“<Identification number accepted. Disengaging camouflage.>”
The rock fell apart like sand, revealing a small towerlike structure beneath.
The top of the tower was inlaid with a crystal like the Lalakie crest.
“<The Lalakie central control core welcomes your return, Queen Reiaane— Warning, negative interference detected in Queen Reiaane. Initiating security scan.>”
The crystal on top of the tower flashed.
“<…Queen…?>”
With that murmur, Rei suddenly fainted on the spot.
“Rei!”
I rushed over at once, but the central control core created a defensive barrier around her.
“Get out of my way.”
With a wave of my arm, I effortlessly broke the barrier into fragments of light.
“<Potential threat to Queen Reiaane detected. Suspending scan to remove threat—>”
I picked up Rei and prepared to block the tower’s attack with Flexible Shield.
“<Removal suspended. Unable to harm an elf envoy in accordance with article E-3.>”
The tower must have detected the Silent Bell of Bolenan on my belt.
“<Addressing elf envoy. Return our queen at once. Queen Reiaane’s memories show evidence of tampering. They must be repaired via the central control room at once.>”
“<I am her traveling companion. If you’re the central control core, you’ve been monitoring us since we arrived on this island, right? Then you must know that we would never harm her.>”
The crystal began to blink like an electrical device that was low on battery.
“<…Fellowship acknowledged. Lalakie is currently in magic-conservation mode and therefore cannot safely guide Queen Reiaane to the central control room. Envoy, requesting that you escort Queen Reiaane…to the central…control room…>”
With that, the crystal fell silent.
Its voice sounded strange at the end; maybe it really was running out of magic power.
I pried open the door and used “Search Entire Map,” since we’d entered a new area.
So this is the entrance to Lalakie.
The map name read Lalakie: Ruins.
That meant I had fulfilled my mission of bringing Rei back to Lalakie, but it sounded like I needed to bring her to this “central control room” to completely restore her memories.
Maybe this was like a follow-up mission to bring her to the main control room.
Anyway, I brought my attention back to the map.
It was much bigger than I thought—so large that it could encompass all of Tokyo. There was no one inside the ruins, not even any monsters or golems.
True to its name, the central control room seemed to be right in the middle of the enormous ruins.
I checked the time on my menu.
“It’s almost morning…”
I returned to the campsite with “Skyrunning,” laid Rei down on the bed, and started preparing breakfast.
There didn’t seem to be any danger inside the ruins, so I figured I could take the whole group with me to explore on the way to the central control room.
“Yikes, this staircase is looong!”
Arisa looked down the spiral staircase, which descended so far that light didn’t reach the bottom.
“ ? … ? Create Wisp Makoudama Souzou.”
With the ball of light that Mia created using Spirit Magic going on some thirty feet ahead, we had Nana use her Foundation ability Mana Light and take the lead.
In the middle of the group, Lulu was carrying a lantern with the same Mana Light magic. This was a farewell gift from Inenimaana, the witch’s apprentice we’d met in Kuhanou County.
I was also able to use Mana Light, since I’d learned it from a scroll, but my version of it was so bright, it would ruin the exploratory atmosphere, so I refrained.
In case of an emergency, I had our flying ship ready in Storage.
“Ugh, it’s waaay too long…,” Arisa grumbled, sounding bored now.
The rearguard and Rei had quickly gotten too tired to walk, so they were sitting on a Floating Board I’d produced from Storage that followed along with us.
Lulu and Mia still seemed all right, but the board could carry four people as easily as it could two, so I had them ride it, too, to increase our speed.
“Not looong?”
“I heard the rock before I got to two, so we’re almost there, sir.”
The pair was gauging our progress by dropping small stones from Tama’s pocket down the length of the spiral staircase and counting how long it took to hear them hit the bottom.
I doubted they understood gravitational acceleration and other such calculations, but they seemed to be able to get a general idea.
“Mm. Hall.”
Mia sent the wisp ahead, illuminating a hall at the bottom of the staircase.
It was a fairly empty place with a single door.
Immediately, Tama and Pochi sprinted toward the exit.
“Doooor?”
“Can we open it, sir?”
Reaching the double doors, they looked back at me.
There were no enemies on my radar, and my skills like “Trap Detection” and “Sense Danger” weren’t reacting, so it should be fine.
“Go ahead.”
As soon as I gave them the okay, Tama and Pochi pushed the doors open with all their weight.
Light shone through from the other side.
“Wooow?”
“Amazingly amazing, sir!”
Tumbling into the next room, Tama and Pochi frantically beckoned us over.
Curious, I stepped through the exit into the large open space and was greeted by a completely unexpected sight.
“Master, the ocean is above us!”
“Master, I can see the sun through the ocean, I report.”
Both the serious Liza and the usually sensible Nana were looking up in surprise.
Sure enough, the only ceiling was the ocean, with no visible barrier between us. There was probably either a highly transparent resin or some kind of Foundation magic creating the illusion.
On the other side of this ceiling, colorful sea life swam along rhythmically, almost like an aquarium exhibit.
According to my map, this was the central residential area of Lalakie.
The space was so enormous that I couldn’t see the other side.
“It’s beautiful…”
“It is beautiful! It’s so very, very pretty. It’s as pretty as watching spirits dance; it really is!”
“But doesn’t it seem as if the ceiling could collapse? It’s a little unnerving.”
Lulu released an admiring sigh, Mia went on one of her rare excited rants, and Liza looked up worriedly.
As for Arisa…
“Grrr, it’s like an aquarium where stupid normie couples would go on their stupid dates…”
Better leave her alone. She seemed to be remembering something unpleasant.
“<Ultra-effective magic-enclosing barrier, a miracle from a god. A device to protect Lalakie from the cold winds and air pressure of high altitudes. Only the floating ships of Lalakie can pass through it.>”
Entering a trance, Rei explained the workings of the ceiling.
It was a little different from the information in my AR display, but that wasn’t a big deal, so I didn’t bother correcting her.
“Is the tower over there the central control room?”
“<Sky Tower. A sacred place where the queen communicates with the gods. The imperial palace of the queen and the royal family.>”
Arisa and Rei were looking at a thick tower at the center of the residential area.
It was made from orichalcum that glittered gold in the light.
As we continued through the wide room, we happened upon a grate-like floor from which a draft was blowing.
The mischievous wind lifted Lulu’s and Mia’s skirts, revealing a glimpse of white and stripes.
“<…Wind.>”
Rei’s murmur made me think of something, so I trusted my intuition and used Clairvoyance to check on the three remaining Sealtower Islands.
Another one of them had produced a tower, which was glowing green.
Of course, the Skeleton King and Yuuneia were nowhere to be seen.
“Another shake… This one was pretty weak. Magnitude two, maybe?”
“Yes, around that.”
The tremors weren’t as noticeable this time, so the rest of the group didn’t get as scared as before.
Lulu and Liza tugged on my sleeves, and the younger girls grabbed my hands, but that was all.
“Master, there are people, I report.”
The far end of the enormous space tapered into a cliff of sorts, looking out on the townscape of Lalakie.
There were indeed a large amount of humanoid figures where Nana was pointing.
However…
“Something seems off, no?”
The people were semitransparent, and they were all young adults—no children, no seniors, not even anyone middle-aged.
“<The Happy Ones of Lalakie—people who have cast aside their needless physical forms to live in happiness forevermore as souls. They are reborn as half-ghosts in the Purifying Mausoleum, and when their physical bodies decay, they cast aside even their spirit bodies to take pure soul form.>”
So a half-ghost wasn’t a child of a human and a ghost—it was a state somewhere between human and ghost.
As usual, it seemed like any civilization that ruled the world in glory ended up striving for eternal youth.
“Huh… It’s better than being turned into a bolt in some distant galaxy, I guess, but is being a disembodied soul really any fun?”
“<They no longer feel anything but happiness. The human heart is frail. Without a physical body, one’s memories fade, and without a spirit body, even one’s emotions fade as well. They have become mere vestiges of the past. If the backups stored in the Lalakie central control core should cease, they will simply disappear.>”
Rei’s face was expressionless, but tears were pouring down her cheeks.
That explained why my AR described them as Lalakie apparitions, treating them like undead monsters.
Nana and Mia wiped the tears from Rei’s face with handkerchiefs.
After taking a moment of silent prayer for the transparent figures, we left them behind.
The Purifying Mausoleum that we passed through on the way looked similar to the elves’ sleeping tanks, but while the elves in the tanks looked healthy as they slept, the people in the glass cylinders of the mausoleum were dried up like mummies.
As we made for the central control room, some of the passages had been submerged in water by broken waterwork pipes, but we used Water Breathing and Resist Water Pressure to walk right through.
“<…Water.>”
That was fast. The third Sealtower Island had been unlocked.
The earthquake that followed must have opened up a hole; a sudden fast current formed, so I used Magic Hand to hold on to everyone until we made it to our destination.
“Scaryyyy?”
“I thought I would be washed away, sir.”
I used the Practical Magic spell Dry to deal with all our soaked clothing, and we hurried toward the control room.
If possible, I wanted to restore Rei’s memories before the final seal was broken.
Both sides of the huge hallway leading to the central control room were lined with black sheetlike stone pillars. The hall was so large that a giant could walk through it.
There were murals on the stone pillars flanking the hallway.
“Whoa, these are some pretty grim light-versus-darkness murals.”
Half of them showed how Lalakie controlled the world, prospering at the expense of the land-dwelling people.
“Looks like the land people didn’t take it lying down, though.”
Farther down the hall, the latter half slowly changed into a war against the rebels, until in the end, the Dogheaded Demon Lord brought destruction on the world.
“…What’s this?”
One of them caught my attention so much that I stopped without thinking.
“What is the matter, master?”
“Some girls and some octopuses?”
Arisa’s summary of the mural was a little oversimplified.
It showed sacrifices being thrown off a cliff into an ocean, where octopus monsters lay in wait.
“<The sacrificial maidens. In order to turn the tides of the battle, which had become unfavorable, young women with the rune of domination engraved into their bodies were offered to the sea lord’s spawn.>”
If I remembered right, Rei had a Sacrificial Maiden title, too.
Were the events in this image part of her past?
“<The sacrificial maidens were usually twins or sisters. Once a spawn had been captured with the first maiden’s rune of domination, it could be controlled with the rune of operation carved into the other maiden’s body.>”
Looking closely, I saw that the girls in the picture were bound in chains, being thrown almost like fishing bait.
I knew that lots of places used some extreme methods when they were about to lose a war, but just looking at it made my chest burn with anger.
In the next image, the controlled spawn were causing tidal waves, destroying the enemies’ ships and harbors.
“<With the controlled spawn, they were able to turn the war back in their favor, but all was lost when Doghead’s four warlords entered the battle. The attempt to control the Sea Lord itself failed, the queen’s younger sister lost her life, and the queen herself had her soul rent away and entered eternal slumber in the Coffin.>”
The next few images showed an island that was probably Lalakie being dragged into the sea by the Sea Lord, which was about equal to it in size.
It was probably an exaggeration, but I still would have preferred not to fight an island-size giant octopus.
The final six images showed the Flame and Ground Lords being sealed and the end of Doghead’s reign.
“What’s this giant cone-shaped creature? A faceless ghost?”
“<The gods’ apostles overwhelmed the Sky Lord, sealed the Flame Lord with the Blazeshine Sword, and confined the Ground Lord to the labyrinth.>”
The gods’ apostles, huh?
Rei made it sound like these “apostles” crushed Doghead’s kin effortlessly, but the images showed a single lord being surrounded by a dozen or more apostles.
This part was probably drawn after Lalakie sank into the sea.
“What about the seven pillars of light surrounding a wolf and a person here?”
“<The forms the gods took when they descended to seal Doghead. One of the gods took human form to defeat Doghead.>”
Huh? Do those numbers add up?
I doubted the evil god who created the demon lord joined in to defeat him, so maybe the dragon god joined instead?
Since the dragon god taught the goddess Parion the Hero Summoning magic, they seemed to get along well enough.
Besides, since dragons loved battling so much, I bet the dragon god would’ve shown up for a fight either way.
“<We have been waiting for you, Queen Reiaane.>”
When we arrived in front of the central control room, an orb above the door glowed, and the voice of the central control core spoke.
“<Elf and elf envoys. Your escorting of Queen Reiaane is appreciated.>”
We were invited in through the door.
“Master! The larva has disappeared, I report.”
“<What’s going on?>” I shouted at the control core.
Part of the shutters around the dark room opened, illuminating one section like a spotlight.
There was Rei, floating in the middle of a red magic circle.
“<Security scan complete. Evidence of tampering located within Queen Reiaane’s memory storage. Recommending restoration from backup.>”
What is she, a PC? I wanted to joke, but I decided it wasn’t quite the right time.
“<…I don’t want to…forget.>”
“<Only altered memories will be targeted. No other memories will be changed.>”
From the sound of things, Lalakie’s technology was pretty amazing.
“<Then please…do it.>”
“<Understood. Initiating restoration.>”
Layers of gear-shaped magic circles appeared around Rei, and a light similar to the scan from before continued for a half hour or so.
“<Restoration complete. Are you well, Queen Reiaane?>”
“<Thank you. My memories are still somewhat cloudy, but most of them have come back to me.>”
Rei spoke in the same tone she usually used in her trance state.
She still looked like a little girl, but she seemed more composed than usual.
Her name in my AR display changed to Reiaane Tuuwa Lalakie, and her once-grayed-out skills and level turned white.
“Satou, I remember now. I am—”
Rei’s words were interrupted by a particularly large quake.
“Aaaaah!”
Lulu’s scream was the loudest, but even I was a little perturbed by a magnitude five–class earthquake.
Rationally, I knew I would be fine at my level even if the ceiling and floor caved in, but some things are still scary no matter what.
“<Queen Reiaane, a report. The Queen’s Tower has declared a state of emergency. Until the declaration is revoked, the central control core will enter slave device mode, prioritizing commands from the Queen’s Tower. If you did not request this declaration, please suspend it using the control terminal in the Queen’s Tower.>”
After making an announcement that was sort of reminiscent of a password change notification e-mail, the central control core fell silent.
“M-master, something’s wrong! This doesn’t feel like an earthquake!”
Arisa was right. This felt more like an intensified version of the shaking in a large ship’s engine room than an earthquake.
I couldn’t tell what was happening from here, so I used Return to teleport us to the seal slate I’d placed in the large viewing area in Lalakie.
“Master, look at the ceiling.”
“Is the ocean…moving?”
I looked up.
“Skyyy?”
“The sun is bright, sir.”
“Lalakie is surfacing? B-but…that would mean that Father has released the Sea Lord after Mother sacrificed her life to seal it…”
Rei’s eyes widened in horror.
So it was true. Lalakie was rising to the ocean’s surface.
Hmm? Surfacing?
But if this much mass suddenly rises to the surface—
“Satou.”
“Master!”
Following Mia’s and Nana’s gazes, I saw a gear-like magic circle growing and a person appearing through it.
Sure enough, it was Yuuneia.
“<I’ve come for you, Sister!>”
Yuuneia was wearing an old-fashioned shrine maiden–style outfit, shooting Rei a challenging smile.
The outfit was similar to the formal shrine maiden clothes I’d seen in the Tenion Temple in the old capital but with less humble saintliness and more flashiness.
“<You are…Yuuneia…correct?>” Rei asked uncertainly.
“<That’s right! You finally remembered me, Sister!>”
Unconcerned with Rei’s strange state, Yuuneia quickly nodded.
“<Let us go, Sister. Father is waiting for us!>”
For some reason, Rei was giving Yuuneia a sad look.
Sad or even pitying.
“Satou… I’m…going with her.”
Without answering Yuuneia, Rei turned to me and spoke in the Shigan language.
“I will bring an end to Father’s delusions…prevent the world from falling into chaos…and protect the gravestone of those sad lost lives of Lalakie.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes… If everything is to be saved, then I must go.”
Rei gave a faint smile, the expression of a martyr.
“Larva! I will go with you, I declare!”
The rest of the group all clamored forward in agreement.
“Nana… Thank you for all you’ve done. The rest of you, too… Thank you for being kind to me when even I did not know who I was.”
Rei shook her head, refusing to let Nana and the others come along.
“<Let us go, Sister.>”
Yuuneia took Rei’s hand.
“Rei, wait! If you want to save everything, shouldn’t that include yourself?!”
Rei gave no answer to my final question beyond an unhappy smile, and then she disappeared into the Spirit World.
Then the dots that represented the two of them reappeared on the top floor of the Queen’s Tower—along with that of the Skeleton King.
“<Evacuation orders received. Initializing…>”
A moment after we heard the central control core’s voice, we were returned to the beach of the central island where we’d had the campfire.
But now the bay was little more than a puddle. The island had become a part of the top of the ridge around Lalakie’s urban area.
It seemed that this place was actually the western end of the city of Lalakie.
On the other side of the mountain, I could see the glowing dome of Heavenslight Protection.
“Master!”
Arisa’s light punch hit me in the stomach.
“That’s when you’re supposed to embrace Rei and stop her from leaving!”
“Mm. Duh.”
“Master…”
The indignant iron-wall pair and the expressionless Nana surrounded me.
But I knew that, of course.
“I didn’t go with her because there was something else I had to do first.”
“What could possibly be more important than saving Rei?!”
“Tidal waves.”
If I didn’t do something, the enormous tidal waves created by Lalakie’s rise would strike all the nations on the coast.
And a tidal wave moves faster than most people realize.
“I’ll take care of it quickly and then go save Rei, so all of you board the ship and get away from Lalakie.”
As I spoke, I produced the flying ship from Storage, then the core parts of the figurehead golem from the large Fairy Pack Lulu was carrying, setting it up on the helm.
Since golems were considered living things once they’d been activated, they couldn’t be put in Storage.
“Mrrr. We’ll save her.”
“Master, I wish to join the larva’s rescue party, I request.”
Mia and Nana puffed furiously, insisting they would go save Rei.
“Let’s gooo?”
“Pochi wants to help, too, sir.”
“Master, I, too, request your permission.”
“I want to help her, too.”
The beastfolk girls and Lulu felt the same way.
Arisa was giving the rest of them a thumbs-up, so it was probably safe to guess how she felt.
“Arisa, the ship’s defenses are perfect, but try to avoid battle if you can.”
“I know that, duuuh! We’ll just buy some time for you!”
“All I need is ninety seconds. I’ll be back after that.”
“Okey-dokey!”
I transferred control of the ship to Arisa and taught her a few command words.
These were the key to activating the armament and propellers I’d added during our long journey.
“Wh-when did you make all this?”
Arisa stared at me in disbelief, but I grinned in response.
“Oh, you know. Just in case, I figured.”
With that, I took off from the deck.
Opening the map, I looked at the ring-shaped tidal waves and decided to start with the outermost areas.
Taking a shortcut with the seal stones I’d placed around the islands like stepping stones, I arrived just outside the ring of tidal waves.
On the horizon, I could see the enormous waves coming closer.
Instead of using “Skyrunning,” I chose “Flashrunning” to charge toward them.
Right now, I had to prioritize saving time over my clothes or a little burn damage.
I had to get back before Arisa and the others did anything crazy.
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