Chapter 256 - Let's Talk About the Floating Island
◎ Hyvern Dukedom, Dragon Claw Highway
「Heeh, it's a tranquil-looking village, isn't it . 」
Kazane opened the carriage window and looked down the road ahead . Three days after leaving Deer South, Jinrai's hometown Sorae Village had finally come into sight .
「That's right . It's a quiet and empty place, but . . . it really hasn't changed at all . 」
Jinrai smiled fondly and spoke nostalgically . For Jinrai, it was a homecoming after a long absence . He likely had things to think about .
「I've come to see granny Chloe several times . 」
And inside the carriage, Emily was looking at the approaching village nostalgically . Emily and Lyle visited this village several times as children . Cindy was also close to Jinrai's older sister, Chloe, and they visited each other at the capital and village many times . Though Chloe often came to the capital for shopping, so Emily and the others hadn't come to this village in the last decade .
「Nee-san?」
And as soon as Chloe's name came out, Jinrai's eyes changed into something that was subtly different from simple nostalgia . If pushed to say, it seemed more like a cold sweat . After seeing that, Louise grinned .
「Jinrai-kun isn't good with Chloe . 」
『That's right . Even though Chloe is a good woman . 』
Jinrai groaned「Muu」after Louise and Mefirus spoke from inside the carriage . Then Louise's gaze turned to Mefirus .
「Which reminds me, Mefirus, didn't Chloe beat the hell out of you when you made a pass at her?」
『Such places are also cute, though . 』
「That was far beyond the level that could be called cute, don't you think?」
Rarely, Jinrai rebutted what Mefirus said .
「Was it that bad?」
Kazane asked, and Jinrai replied bitterly .
「At that time, our departure from the village was delayed by two weeks due to nursing Mefirus-sama . 」
「 . . . . . . Yikes . 」
Kazane had a slightly shocked expression .
「Nee-san is unusually strong . Both in physical strength and Magic Power, so if she had become an adventurer, she probably would have been very successful . 」
「Heeh」
Kazane and Yumika beside her made surprised expressions .
「Of course, even though I say she's strong, she's amateur level . . . hmm, yes, I'd say she's a person who would be able to kill a bear with her bare hands . 」
「Master, I think that's not amateur level . 」
A girl who exterminated 200 forest animals so objected .
「Well, I don't think anyone beyond Jinrai-kun will be on the receiving end of that bear killing fist, so it'll be fine . 」
Louise said . Jinrai said「I don't want to be on the receiving end either,」but he was ignored . It seemed that was a decided matter .
◎ Sorae Village, Tinoa Inn
The party shortly thereafter arrived at Sorae Village . As usual, Hippomaru-kun and the Thunder Chariot attracted notice, and since they were called out to by an innkeeper on the way, they decided to stay at the inn . That being said, there was only one inn in this village, so if they didn't stay there, their only option would be preparing the Cottage .
(Ah, so if there's only one inn, then it was here? This is the inn where that Mabel-san person was the proprietress?)
(That's right)
In the middle of being guided to their room by the innkeeper's daughter, Kazane questioned Louise in a whisper, and Louise smiled and nodded . For no special reason, Louise had also visited this village back when the innkeeper was a baby, so she had known about him since then .
Jinrai's childhood friend Mirua, the already deceased Mabel, and Louise had spent a night with Jinrai together, and she had treated them like friends since then . They asked Louise not to tell Jinrai about that matter, so she wouldn't say anything even now .
It isn't that rare a story for a village girl to get pregnant from a passing traveler and raise the child without knowing who the father is . . . . when the two heard about the engagement with Cindy, they said that and locked away their feelings .
(However, even though Jinrai-kun is a man who doesn't miss when it counts, who would have thought he would do it to two people at the same time . As expected, right?)
Before the confession from Cindy that she was pregnant, he casually stopped by the village and casually had intimate night practice with everyone, and those single shots were hits . He was a fearsome man .
Jinrai received education in good taste from Cindy after they were married, which put a stop to it, but the possibility of results sprouting from his mischief until then couldn't be denied . And Jinrai, whose modus operandi had been to never chase but to also never refuse, didn't understand that at all .
From the start, Jinrai had never approached a woman of his own accord in his life . A solitary natural Riajuu, he had no obsession with women and didn't remember who he'd had night practice with at all .
That Jinrai had a docile expression as he left the inn with Louise and Mefirus . Jinrai was like a cat being lifted by the scruff of his neck . Kazane's group were told that they were going to meet Chloe, his older sister, who was also the mayor of this village .
They said they would introduce Kazane and the others later, so the youngsters meekly waited at the inn .
「So then, Jinrai-san and the others have left, but shall we decide our future plans?」
So saying, Kazane spread a map of Hyvern Dukedom on the table of the inn room . This town was no more than a detour; Kazane and the other's objective was the floating island . And surrounding the map were Tatsuo, Yumika, Naoki, Lyle, Emily, and Tiara .
「You mean when we go to the floating island, right? I think it was called Elsta Floating Kingdom?」
Kazane nodded after Yumika's question .
「Yeah . It seems it's not completely unexplored territory, but you can't get there unless you're a free Dragon Knight or ride a Wyvern . There are also Griffons and Wyverns surrounding it, so even then, approaching is difficult . It seems the Dragon Knights went on an expedition there a long time ago, but they had a painful experience, and the army hasn't tried to go there since then . 」
Lyle and Emily nodded after Kazane's words . Elsta Floating Kingdom was an island everyone in Hyvern knew about, so Lyle and Emily had also heard those anecdotes while they were growing up .
「The story is that strong dragons are guarding the island . It's also said that the expeditionary force was destroyed by them . 」
Emily nodded after Lyle's words . That expedition was conducted about 200 years ago by order of the archduke at the time . It was said that 100 Dragon Knights were sent to the island, and they came scurrying back .
「I asked Husband . There might also be strong dragons there that aren't properly known about, but more importantly, it seems there are quite a lot of Dragon Eaters . 」
Yumika and the others were astir after they heard that . That amazement was understandable, given the battle at the East Dragon Village . They could easily imagine that Dragon Knights in particular would have the worst compatibility against that enemy .
「Is that true?」
Naoki said with a frown, and Kazane replied「It's information from Husband, so it's certain . 」
「That's why the Dragon Knights couldn't do a thing . It seems that the island is also off limits to the dragons . 」
「Umm, then isn't it dangerous for me, you, and Tatsuo-kun?」
Yumika raised her hand and asked, and Kazane replied「We'll be fine there . 」
「Dragon Eaters distinguish between dragons that have already been parasitized by their same smell, so with my『Dragon Pheromone』I can oppose it, and someone human size holding a Dragon Eater Tree like the ones we obtained from the Dragon Eaters won't be attacked . Dragons are too big, so it's impossible for them, but Dragonoids have actually tested it, and it seems from past results that it's safe . 」
「Is that so . Honestly, the idea of becoming a plant zombie is horrifying . 」
Yumika remembered the parasitized dragons and spoke with a disgusted expression .
「Of course, I'm not planning to let me or Tatsuo go through such an experience either . 」
『If Mother is there, nothing is scary!!』
「No, there are quite a lot of things you should still be afraid of even if I am there, so please properly observe and judge for yourself, Tatsuo . 」
『Yes, Mother!!』
Tatsuo immediately replied vigorously to Kazane's rebuke . Being obedient was good, but she wanted him to reconsider properly when he should reconsider . Kazane was somewhat anxious about Tatsuo's mother absolutism .
「Also, I don't know if they're still there, but Birdmen might be living there, so don't thoughtlessly attack everything . 」
「Birdmen are that race that are like winged angels, right?」
Kazane nodded after Yumika's words . Although they were a race on the verge of extinction within Zexiaharts, it seemed they were currently still witnessed occasionally, so Kazane thought it was possible that there were survivors on the island .
「That's right . If I remember correctly, they're supposed to be a race that is peerlessly superior with bows . 」
「I've heard fairy tales about a winged race existing, but they're bow users?」
Emily asked Kazane with great interest .
「Yeah . They should be . It might be informative for Emily . 」
After those words, Emily said「I hope so . 」
Studying the bow from a phantom race on a floating island . Emily's expectations for the place she had longed for since she was a child grew further .
Name: Yuihama Kazane
Occupation: Summoning Fighter
Title: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King
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