Volume 4: Discovery
Volume 4 Chapter 27, Discovery ~ 01
High in the sky, a dragon dances. The sky, now nearing the end of summer, was blue and almost cloudless. A pair of men and women were riding on the back of a flying dragon that was quite large for a cavalry dragon. In front was a light brown-skinned girl, and behind her was a large, dusky yellow-skinned young man.
The girl, Rico, shouted loudly at the sensation of the wind cutting high in the sky.
「Wow, this feels greaaat! Ahahahaha!」
「Don't get too excited. You're going to fall.」
Satoru, a visitor from another world, called out a warning behind her. Rico is physically strong, and he doesn't think she'll lose her balance, but she still needs to be careful.
「Yep! I'll be careful!」
Rico replies cheerfully. She didn't seem to be listening to his advice. Minerva's ears perked up at the loudness.
『She's being too loud. ......I think she's getting a little excited.』
The voice from within Satoru's shadow has a somewhat muffled, accusatory quality to it. It was Leia, the Immortal King, Satoru's summoner, who has become Satoru's magical slave. Leia's voice echoed in his mind, and Satoru replied with a mumble. Even with his mumbling, he had no problem communicating with the shadows.
「No, Leia, you get the idea. That was yesterday. There's no way her heart is healing so easily.」
"Hmm," he heard an edgeless exhale from within the shadows.
『I see..........That's why she's so cheerful.」
「That's what I meant.」
Rico, who was enjoying her walk in the air as much as she could, looked back at Satoru.
「What did you say!?」
The wind noise was so loud that it seemed to be naturally to shouting.
「I didn't say anything. Even so, you're getting too excited, Rico.」
「Sorry. I've never been out of Galhassan's very much. Besides, it's not every day you get to fly on a flying dragon. It's like I've been set free!」
「I don't know how you feel about that, but if you make too much noise, I'll tie you to Minerva's tail.」
「Guo!」
「Wha, I'm sorry!」
She also bowed her head to Minerva, who snorted and said, "Good grief," and Rico was indeed silent. But her face was still full of smiles, and he could hear her humming.
Whatever the case, it's good that she's enjoying the journey. She had just decided to leave her old life behind and start a new one, and this level of energy is just right for her to move on.
Satoru found a nice little spring a little off the road, and pulled on the reins. He pointed out the spot to Minerva, who promptly turned her huge body toward the small spring. Even if he doesn't speak the language, he can communicate with her perfectly.
Minerva soars down with a loud buzzing of her wings. The sound of her wings startles small animals and birds, but there is nothing that can be done about it. After confirming that Rico and Satoru had flown down, Minerva plunged her face into the lake and gulped down water.
Rico took a quick look around, and then looked back at Satoru.
「It's time for a break, right? Do you need a fire?」
「No. That's all right.」
He doesn't want to stay long, so he doesn't need a fire. Satoru took out the plant catalog he had bought in Galhassan from his backpack, and picked up a red fruit that was close at hand and started comparing it to the catalog.
「Hmm, this fruit is ......」
「Don't eat the red fruit. They are poisonous. The small yellow one over there is not poisonous, but it's really bad. You can eat this one.」
Rico expertly plucked a small yellow-green gourd-like fruit from her hand, and throw it toward Satoru.
「You know it very well.」
It looks like a hairless kiwi, but it's a couple of sizes larger than the ones sold in supermarkets, and the gourd-like shape is a bit unpleasant. It's not a bad idea to try to take a bite out of it, and he glanced at Minerva, who had been automatically judging whether it was poisonous or not, but Minerva didn't react either. He took a big bite, and a nice sour taste spread slightly in his mouth. The taste is similar to lychee, and the texture is like a thin, watery melon. It was delicious in its own way.
「Being a thief, you have to know a lot of things. In my case, Threnody-san and Jim-san taught me a lot.」
She spoke of her past in a flowing manner, and must have realized that she had done it at the end. Gradually she whispered, and Rico froze her smile and looked down.
「Ah-aha-ahahaha, I can't do this. I shouldn't be thinking about the town I left behind. I have to forget it.」
Her smile that was obviously forced on was dry. Satoru took a deliberate breath and said, "Fuh".
「There's no need for you to forget about them.」
「Eh?」
「The experiences and knowledge you gained in Galhassan are your assets. It's what you gained in Galhassan that makes you who you are today, so forgetting it won't help you.」
In other word, if she loses all of that, Rico will be left with nothing but her pretty face.
「Ah, ...... yeah.」
Rico slowly accepts Satoru's words one by one, as if chewing them over. Satoru also spun each word carefully as if to say to himself. Satoru remembers that he hasn't asked Rico's age yet.
「You don't have to forget, you just have to accept it and swallow it. Painful experiences can be used as food in the future.」
「Was it like that for you, too?」
「Yes, I did. I have a younger sister. I can't wait to go home to her. My sister and I lost our parents when she was born. Our mother died when she gave birth to my sister, and that was inevitable, but my father. I guess the shock of our mother's death was too much for him. A week after her death, he committed suicide. My sister and I were the only ones left, but we ran away from the grief. The suicide is still good. That's how it ends. But for those who are left behind, it doesn't work that way. They have to start with grief, face the sense of loss, and fight the reality.」
Rico widen her eyes at Satoru's confession.
「For Alice, I'm like a big brother, like a substitute parent. My father escaped by committing suicide, but I don't want to run away from that responsibility, and I have no intention of running away from it.」
「...... Yeah.」
Satoru's muttered words were serious. Every word is engraved in Rico's mind.
「It was especially hard when my father died. There were times when I hated him for dying, but no matter how I tried, he would never come back. I can't forget my parents. No matter how much I hated or resented them, if it weren't for my parents, I wouldn't have been born. In other words, I accepted the fact that my parents died there.」
「.........」
Of course, it took him some time to do that. But in order to confront the reality that was coming one after another, he could not only be immersed in sorrow. If he hadn't done that, his sister would probably have been put up for adoption and he wouldn't even be able to see her anymore.
「Rico, how old are you?」
「Eh, 17......」
「Then, you can be reborn now. I lost my parents when I was 16. Don't worry, if I could do it, Rico can do it too.」
Satoru's encouragement, smiling wickedly, touched Rico's heart. This eccentric man who had been summoned from another world was strong. That strength was nurtured by overcoming many things.
「Whatever it is, it's not something that can be done overnight. It takes time. But I think it wouldn't hurt to have more determination to make it that way.」
Rico was ashamed of herself. No matter how hard she tried, the fact that she had grown up in Galhassan would never go away. So, as Satoru said, she had to accept it.
「...... I understand. I'm sorry, for making you talk about painful memories.」
Satoru shook his head from side to side.
「It's okay. I don't care if it takes a while, just make sure you get well, okay?」
「Yeah ...... I'll go to and find something else to eat!」
Regaining her energy, Rico turned on her heel. Part of her wanted to escape the somewhat unpleasant atmosphere. Satoru, who was aware that he had given an inappropriate sermon, suddenly felt embarrassed and raised his voice to cover it up.
「Don't go too far.」
「Okaaaayy!」
Her reply was vigorous, and Rico was out of sight in no time, stepping lightly. She may be a thief, but she seems to have experience and aptitude for the outdoors.
「I've never heard of my Lord's father committing suicide.」
As if she had been waiting for Rico to disappear, Leia called out from behind Satoru. Satoru didn't even look back, but shrugged his shoulders.
「That's right. My bad, I didn't mean to hide it from you.」
「I had heard that he was dead and had no other relatives. I see, my Lord's strong sense of responsibility for your sister was the reverse of your feelings about your father's suicide.」
At Leia's point, Satoru thought for a moment - there was nothing he could deny.
「....... I guess. I hadn't really thought about it much.」
Even as Satoru, he was unaware of it, but now that she mention it, He think it might be true.
Leia showed a difficult face when she received Satoru's reply.
「......I'd like to give you one advice」
「What is it?」
「I think your sense of responsibility is very good, but you don't have to bear the same responsibility for me and Rico, do you?」
Satoru slowly chewed on Leia's words, then turned around and looked at her rather sharply.
「...... What do you mean?」
「If I, Rico, or Minerva were to die on the way, my Lord would not have to bear the responsibility. Each of us has become my Lord's magical slaves of our own free will, and you are simply following along. If we become a hindrance to you, you may cut us off at any time.」
Leia's red eyes are sincere. No doubt, she meant what she said.
Satoru's strong sense of responsibility and chivalry is a double-edged sword. For now, of course, he has strong feelings for his former world and Alice, but when the time comes, he won't be able to cut Leia and Rico loose. Leia pointed this out clearly and told him that it was okay to cut them off.
Satoru couldn't help but sigh as he was once again shown Leia's loyalty and determination.
「......I can't honestly say I understand. If it comes to that, I'll decide. I'll make sure I don't regret it.」
Leia looks at Satoru in amazement.
「......I know I'm a stubborn person, but how can my Lord so stubborn?」
「And then there's Rico.」
「It's not like master and servant.」 [TLN: sorry bit confused here, 似たもの主従というわけじゃの]
「This guy.」
They laughed out loud at each other.
After spending a week together, a relationship of trust and solidarity is born, and they know each other. And moreover, they have been laying their skin on each other every night.
Their relationship, which began with a strange encounter, has become inseparable.
「I'm back. ......, what happened?」
Rico came back. She has a grape-like fruit hanging in her hand and looks at the two of them curiously as they laugh at each other.
「No. It's nothing. That's right Rico, take this.」
「Measuring beads ...... again? No, it's fine, but ...... "Soul Search" is not something you do this often.」
Leia groaned at Rico's question as she took the measuring beads from her pocket, being careful not to touch Leia.
「Come to think of it, I didn't tell you the reason. You know what? You're having sex with my Lord, right? It seems to increase your magic power.」
「......Hah? What is that, even if It's a joke, there are limits.」
Rico seemed to think she was just joking, but Leia shrugged her shoulders.
「I hope it's just a joke. So I want to make sure of that. "Soul Search."」
Leia slips her finger into Rico's measuring beads and peers at them. She turns and makes a difficult face.
「.........」
「So, how was it?」
She looked up as if she had been bounced by Satoru's question, then put her hand on her chin and nodded.
「My Lord, let's start with the conclusion. As I predicted, Rico's magic power is also increasing.」
「Eh, no way!」
「...... For real」
Leia's statement, which is almost impossible, is filled with ingredients that even he cannot believe. This is why Leia's words are more believable.
Leia looks down thoughtfully, puts her hand on her chin, and thinks. This beautiful girl is most picturesque in this kind of gesture.
「This is an event that requires some statistics. Is it better to pour it into the womb, or is it the same with the mouth or butthole?」
「Wh-What do you mean by mouth or butthole」
Leia smiled nastily at Rico's surprised expression while blushing her ears.
「My Lord has a very strong sexual appetite and is also a pervert, all right? Eventually, Rico will be dyed by you. ...... my Lord, that's a compliment, okay?」
Satoru smiled at the hastily added words. A very strong sexual appetite may be a compliment, but a pervert would hardly be a compliment.
「I don't feel like I'm being complimented at all. Well, Leia did both of those things so I can't deny that.」
Rico looked at Satoru and Leia in turn with a quirky, surprised expression. She doesn't think he's lying, but it's too hard to believe. Satoru's penis was quite large, but Leia's small body could take it with her mouth and ass, not to mention her vagina.
Leia looked back at Rico with a slightly triumphant expression, then turned her face back to him.
「Let's get back to the topic. Well, I told you where to pour it. Is there no change in the amount that increases at once, or is there a head start somewhere? I want to find out.」
「......And? What am I supposed to do?」
「My Lord is free to do as you please. If you could, please pour some more into Rico's womb soon, so we can have more to judge.」
Satoru felt a small sense of relief. To be honest, he didn't want to have sex for the sake of experiment. Surely Leia is aware of this and is telling him to behave freely.
「W-well. How much has it increased?」
「When I measured it yesterday, it was about 80.」
Leia replied to Rico, who had asked her fearfully. Rico was slightly surprised.
「Ah,th-that's right. When I was first born, I was told I was about 70. ......」
Satoru was surprised in no small way by the fact that it was also quantified at roughly the same level. Rico must have raised her level by about 10 after all that training.
「So, how many did it increase to?」
「About 90.」
「............ Eh. That's lie.」
She was stunned by the value that Leia had given her.
The vessel of the soul is absolute. It was thought to be almost impossible to increase the soul by any other means, except in special cases, although it can be increased by about 20% through training. It was impossible for Rico's soul, which was around 70 when she was born, to reach the upper limit at the age of 17. But now, she has already reached 90 - the common sense of this world has been overturned, so Rico's surprise is natural.
Leia, shrugged her shoulders lightly.
「It's not a lie. Rico, be careful, okay? You seem to have a flair for the physical arts such as "contractions" and "light work". But "light work" is a art that requires balance. Because of the increase in your magic power, there is a change in the amount of contribution that can be made at once. Even if you use it with the same sense, there will be differences in speed, distance, and time to maintain the art.」
「Ah, I see.........Okay, I'll be careful.」
There is no doubt that Leia has more than a day's worth of experience in magic. Rico nodded, her expression tightening at the advice of her predecessors. The art of "Contraction" is useful for increasing agility, but it can also be dangerous if you make the slightest error in calculation. What happens if you think you want to fly this far and you fly too far? There is a risk of death.
「It's as if the size of the barrel has increased, and the faucet has become wider, making it more difficult to pour out a thin stream of water. Well, it's up to me to be careful, but she'll have to get used to it.」
Leia muttered with a sigh.
Even with just one intercourse, Rico's soul had increased by about 10. Is it a percentage increase, is it a fixed value increase, is there an upper limit, and by what logic is the soul being enhanced? Even the most knowledgeable Leia could not have imagined this situation.
「......Uhh, can I ask about the souls of Leia and Satoru, while we are talking about this?」
When Rico asked again, Leia replied without hesitation.
「My number is about 3,500 and a little more. Thanks to my Lord, the number has increased a little. I haven't been able to get an actual measurement, but that's about it.」
「...... Oh, that's right. The Immortal King is amazing after all.」
The number of 3,500 is not realistic.
「What is the average size of a human soul?」
At Satoru's interruption, Leia tilted her head slightly.
「It is said to be 100.」
In other words, even with the enhancements, Rico's soul is still below average. It's within the margin of error, though.
「What are the lowest and highest?」
「The lowest was said to be 6. The highest value in the soul probe right after birth was 900.」
「Leia. That's a little old.」
Rico gives Leia a complement.
「The current princess of Rothforts got 1,000 in her "Soul Search" right after her birth. There was a lot of fuss that time.」
「Hooh」
Leia has been out of the world for a little over 200 years, so she has no recent knowledge.
Leia's current magic power has increased to about 3,500, and she said her magic power quadrupled when she become Immortal King, so her magic power when she was human was 700 or so. The average is 100, the lowest is 6, and the highest is 1000. I think 700 is pretty high.
「So, what about Satoru?」
「Impossible to measure.」
「Huh?」
To Leia's immediate answer, Rico raised her bare voice.
「I tried it before. The measurement bead broke when it tried to show the sixth digit.」
「Six digits you say ...... Because 110.000, so more than 100,000!? Wait, what's that digit ......」 [TLN: Sorry bit confused here ６桁って……一十百千万だから、１０万以上！？ ちょ、なにその桁……]
Rico was beyond stunned by Leia's confession with an exaggerated sigh. Satoru only shrugh his shoulders with a wry smile.
「The upper limit of my Lord's soul is unknown, so the bottom is not known. The strongest "King" of this continent, the Feather Dragon, is estimated to be between 70,000 and 80,000. That's outrageous.」
In this world, only the five dragons can reach the number of ten thousand. The Feather Dragons are the only ones that can reach that number, and the rest are estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000. It's a miracle if a person can reach four digits, but his numbers are so out of this world, she can't help but be stunned.
「It's too crazy. ...... Do people from other worlds all have souls like that?」
「No way, that's not possible.」
As she tried to laugh at Rico's question, Leia thought about it. It is possible that the inhabitants of Satoru's world are as powerful as he is, just because they have a different frame of reference. Not only Leia, but even Rico raised an eyebrow and thought seriously about it. Satoru was out of the loop.
Rico opened her mouth cautiously.
「...... Hey, Leia」
「What is it?」
「I've never heard of such a art before. The art that summoned Satoru. ...... It's called "Summoning Another World". That's a forbidden art, isn't it?」
「Indeed」
Leia only learned about it from the forbidden grimoire left behind by her teacher, Yarth. Before her manifestation, she didn't know about the existence of the art. It's no wonder Rico doesn't know about it.
「Why is it forbidden?」
「Th-that's.......I don't know」
There it is, the stupid kid... Satoru couldn't help but mutter in his mind.
In Satoru's mind, Leia's reputation has changed from a stupid child to a dumb child, but even so, you can't be too careful because sometimes she comes up with dumb answers like this. Rico continues to poke fun at her.
「If you think about it normally. It means that someone used that art before, and it was too dangerous, so they designated it as a taboo, right?」
「Th-That's right. ......」
It's rare to see Leia faltering under Rico's attack.
「In other words, someone has been summoned before.」
As if she had been taken by surprise, Leia's expression turned serious as she thought about it.
「It's a good story.. But as far as I know, I've never heard of such a story.」
「That's because it's forbidden. There's no way there's any such story left.」
Rico cut off Leia's defenses with a single sword. Leia couldn't help but gasp. She made a good point. She was embarrassed to find out why she hadn't thought of it before.
On the other hand, Satoru inwardly shouted at Rico's cool analysis. It was a mystery to him how she could be so calm and analytical and yet not be able to see Jim and Kai's intentions. But no matter who you are, you can't be objective when it comes to yourself, and Rico may be one of those people.
Rico turns around and looks back at Satoru.
「So, Satoru. This is a suggestion.」
「Say it.」
Satoru tucked his chin lightly and urged her to go on.
「Right now, for the time being, Satoru is looking for the labyrinth where the [Immortal King] Yarth is, right?」
「That's right.」
「And now, we're heading for the Chorus labirynth, where the [Immortal King] Yarth may be, is that correct?」
「Yeah.」
The reason they turned their course to the southwest is because he was informed that many labyrinths have been discovered in that direction. The Chorus labyrinths are in their path, based on the information Rico brought to him, so he thought he'd take a look. Rico pondered deeply.
「It's not easy to find a labyrinth aimlessly, is it? I think it's better to narrow it down.」
「When you say narrow it down, how?」
「It's definitely more efficient to gather information first. If you're looking for information on labyrinths, you should go to the magic city of Ares, or even better, meet the Feather Dragon. ......」
Rico paused, glanced at Leia, and then opened her mouth, as if it were hard to say.
「...... Let's go to Rothforts.」
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