Volume 9 Chapter 216, Demonic Dragon ~ 31
Following the consciousness of Amon who was leading the way, Satoru and the others stepped into the mountain body of the Sacred Mountain Nevis.
Satoru in front. Leia was on the left, Solor on the right, Rico, Liz, and Minerva in the center, and Isolde at the far end.
The snow was probably all-year-round snow. The fluffy feeling was only faintly present, and the snow was very tight. There was no obstacle to walking.
Soon the rock surface begins to be exposed, and they enter the mountain. There were occasional large icicles, but there was hardly any sign of snow. The rock surface is dark gray with bluish tints, giving it a unique atmosphere.
「The earth is good, after all. Stomping on the ground is different in this way, isn't it?」
It is Isolde who is happily stepping on the earth. She has never lacked in training by making herself smaller in Yamato, but the metal floor and the earth must feel different. But she was just too excited.
「Don't get too excited, okay?」
Satoru also reminded her that she had to be careful not to let the light go out.
When the light was gone, Satoru ordered Solor to prepare two torches, one for Liz and one for Isolde, with the 【Light】 art. Satoru, Leia, and Solor could see at night, so there was no problem.
「...... there's really no sign of monsters」
Rico, who had been cautiously searching for signs of the area, let out a small leak. Although they had not yet entered the mountain body, the cave remained strangely quiet.
「I said I have already eliminated the monsters in our path. If you want, you can use my voice to use 【Truth False Judgment】art」
A voice came from the floating consciousness in front of Satoru. Amon and the others must be confident in their ability to eliminate the monsters on the way to the Holy Dragon. Leia can use the 【Truth False Judgment】. She glanced at Satoru and asked him if he wanted to use the art. Satoru shook his head.
Perhaps Amon knows how to dodge the 【Truth False Judgment】 art. He may be able to trick you into believing that he is not lying, so you don't want to do anything unnecessary.
「Just the scaffolding, eh」
Satoru blurted out as he jumped over the thorny rocky terrain.
『That can't be helped. The inside of Nevis is a natural cave. Like the labyrinths of the Ancient Magical Kingdom, it has not been touched by human hands.』
The paths are not uniformly wide, and their heights vary. The footholds are not good. It is a bare, natural cave that has hardly been touched by human hands, so it can't be helped that it is not suitable for people to walk through.
「Ouch!」
Satoru screamed as he hit his head on the ceiling, falling short of bending down to do away with the low ceiling. For a moment, the conscious body stopped moving.
『......That was not my fault.』
「I know.」
Satoru replied in a half-whisper. Satoru is not small enough to complain about the low ceiling. Satoru, careful not to let Minerva, who is the second tallest after himself, bump her head as well, notices that Minerva's expression is more mysterious than usual.
「...... what's wrong? Minerva.」
Minerva looked up as if she had been played by Satoru's voice and twisted her head as if troubled.
「Somehow, you see...Minerva got a tingling sensation in her skin like this.」
「Like signs of demons or something?」
「No. It's different........Minerva doesn't know, it's Minerva's first time feeling this way.」
Minerva has a keen sense of intuition. Satoru thinks her intuition is telling him something.
『Master, I apologize for using 【Telepathy】. I presume that Minerva-sama is sensing the presence of her ancestor, the Holy Dragon, Feather Dragon.」
(I see.)
Solor's voice echoed in Satoru's mind.
As a race, the Flying Dragons is a race whose ancestor is the Five Dragons. Minerva acutely sensed the presence emitted by the Holy Dragon Feather Dragon, the apex of the dragon ― that explanation makes sense. For a moment, Satoru wondered why Solor was speaking telepathically, but that question quickly drifted from Satoru's consciousness.
After a while, they descended the mountain, struggling to find their footing.
「Ohh, it's much wider now.」
Satoru was impressed by the presence of the cave that appeared in the light of the 【Light】. Satoru's voice echoed through the cave.
The color of the rock surface did not change. The lack of a solid path was the same, but it had become much wider. The path is about three majors wide and a little higher. This must be the home of the beasts that usually occupy this area, but there was no sign of any beasts or monsters.
「If it's this big, it's possible to move around using a 【Shukuchi】」
『Oh. Well, there are no obstacles, so let's use that. That would certainly get us there faster.』
Normally, there is no such thing as using a 【Shukuchi】 in searching caves and labyrinths. Of course, the movement speed increased dramatically, but the ability to detect is drastically reduced. Jumping unprotected into a trap or into a crowd of monsters is foolish beyond reckless.
However, this time, the monster is said to have been eliminated and this is a natural cave. There are no traps like in a labyrinth. Amon said it would take 10 days if they walked, but it was clear that it would be better to do so if they could save some time.
「Isolde. Lead the way just in case.」
「Understood」
Liz is the only one among Satoru's slaves who can't use 【Shukuchi】 now. Liz can be held in one hand by Satoru, just like before. However, there is no guarantee that there will be no obstacles ahead, so Isolde will take the lead.
「Rico is with Minerva. Solor, you watch Minerva.
「Roger that~」
「I understand.」
Rico, as usual, chuckles at Satoru's overprotective remarks, and Solor responds with her same blank expression. Muuu~, puffing out her cheeks a little, and Minerva tugged at the hem of Satoru's clothes.
「Minerva, it's okay, you know? Shu, shuku ...... 【Shukuchi】, right? Minerva can use it now, you know?」
「Just in case.」
Muu~, Minerva's cheeks puffed up as Satoru patted Minerva on the head, but she nodded grudgingly. Satoru knows that Minerva can use 【Shukuchi】. But although Minerva can generate speed, her footwork is not very good, and she once almost fell when she landed in the wrong position ― although she was wearing a skirt at the time.
Under these circumstances where the foothold is not secure, and in the early stages of pregnancy. No amount of care can be too much.
「Come here, Liz」
After carrying the Giant Killer on his back, Liz approaches him with a somewhat apologetic look on her face, and with one arm, Satoru picks her up and carries her in his arms. Liz, holding a torch filled with 【Light】 in her hand, wraps her arms tightly around Satoru's neck. The last time they were in an open area, it was not so scary, but this time they were in a cave. The guide had already eliminated the monsters, but she was still afraid, and when Satoru felt her trembling, he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Leia smiled bitterly at his usual overprotectiveness. Leia, who is not very physically strong, chose to move by 【Flight】 instead of 【Shukuchi】, and she and Isolde took the initiative to lead the way.
In fact, during this time, her 【Distant View】 body of consciousness was sent ahead to check the situation on the road. No matter how good Leia is, she cannot use two arts at the same time. Strictly speaking, it is possible to use both imaginary and verbal chanting, but since it requires a very high level of concentration, it cannot be used in this case while moving in 【Flight】. That is why arts are refined to have multiple effects in a single formula, and magical tools are essential to compensate for simultaneous activation.
There was no problem with advanced reconnaissance by using the conscious body as much as possible. Leia nodded toward Satoru. Satoru nodded in response.
「Amon」
『What is it?』
「Follow me properly, will you? It would be unfashionable for the guide to be left behind, wouldn't it?」
Satoru smiled wryly, and Amon's conscious body swayed up and down happily.
『Oh-ho. Then let's see how you do.』
「Oh, well. Then, let's go」
At the same time as Satoru's signal, everyone except Leia, who was using 【Flight】, and Liz, who was being held in one hand by Satoru, began to move with 【Shukuchi】.
『......! My goodness!』
Isolde followed closely behind Leia, her cloak billowing in the wind, with her superb body movement.
The other two were also very fast, but Amon was surprised to see how fast they were in the cave, even though the obstacles had been eliminated. Not only Satoru but also the other women were running through the cave with light but firm steps at breakneck speed.
『This is quite fast.』
Even Amon was surprised that Leia, the Immortal King, could move that fast, and that the rest of the group could also move this fast. Especially Satoru, the group's leader, was running at full speed while carrying a half-elf girl. Even with one person in his arms, he still seems to have room to spare.
「Can you pick up the pace a little more?」
After running for about one minute (four minutes), Satoru's voice was answered by all the slaves in their own words that there was no problem, to which Amon was still surprised. Even now, the speed is about 1 mile (1350 meters) in half a minute(?半渡). It's a ridiculously fast pace considering they were in a cave with poor footing, but the pace was still going to increase.
「Amon, you are」
『Up to four times this speed』
If you are in a conscious body, you can go quite fast, depending on your magic power. If it is Amon, the Immortal King, the speed he can generate it will not be half-hearted.
「All right! Everyone, pick up the pace!」
Amon rushes to keep up.
The tallest woman was the most dangerous, and although she (Minerva) seemed to be adjusting to the speed that she (Minerva) could achieve, it was still close to double the speed as before.
Amon's tongue was in cheek. It is said that the maximum speed that a human being can achieve with a 【Shukuchi】 is five miles per half-minute. If it is instantaneous, it can be done with a different art called 【Quick Stride】[疾歩], which can be faster, but if it is to be maintained to a certain extent, as it is now, 【Shukuchi】 is more suitable for running. But usually, 3 miles is the limit for a half-minute running. And that's in open land.
In a cave, where movement is restricted to some extent, a speed of two miles per half-minute is extraordinary.
「Hyah!」
The half-elf girl in Satoru's arms screamed and shrank back. She must be turning her eyes around too fast, Amon thought.
「If you're afraid, keep your eyes closed.」
「I-I won't!」
Amon was again amazed to see that not only Satoru, who had called out to the girl in his arms, but also the female swordsman in the lead still had room to spare. Perhaps these two could reach a higher speed than the maximum speed Amon knew in the 【Shukuchi】.
Amon is an Immortal King who became an Immortal King to study sorcery and the ecology of beasts and monsters.
Some beasts and monsters can use physical sorcery with an efficiency unmatched by the human race. This Sacred Mountain Nevis is a wonderful environment to investigate them, and they were allowed to live here by worshipping the Holy Dragon Feather Dragon.
It is highly unusual for the Holy Dragon, who is the king of this world, to have been asked to do so this time.
The Holy Dragon has never been proactive in its dealings with the human and elven races that visit this land. Aside from the ancient cases of hostility, it would not help or hinder them otherwise and only spoke to those who had the ability to reach the Holy Dragon.
The Holy Dragon had said that this was because there was a possibility that the entire Sacred Mountain would be blown away. Amon almost laughed, but couldn't. He thought that even in the Ancient age of sorcery, let alone in the modern world, there would be no one who could use sorcery or magic to blow up this Sacred Mountain. The Holy Dragon's words were filled with considerable truth.
The ability to sustain moving at that speed for half koku is also astonishing. There is no doubt that Satoru is capable enough for the Holy Dragon to be concerned about it, Amon thinks so too.
「Stop!」
Satoru's loud voice rang out and everyone stopped in their tracks. The one who breathed heavily was the brown-skinned girl, Rico.
「Minerva, are you okay?」
「Yep! Minerva said she was fine, right?」
「All right, all right.」
In fact, Minerva looked fine to Rico's eyes. Satoru was just nervous that she might get her legs entangled at any moment, and that made him nervous. The speed at which Rico was going in the 【Shukuchi】 was close to the limit of her speed, and she could not relax even for a moment because she was in a cave.
「To be honest, I was saved. I was about to run out of magic stones.」
Satoru approached Rico, who was indeed looking tired, and patted her on the cheek as if he cared for her. Rico is an ordinary person among the magical slaves. She has a talent for 【Shukuchi】 and 【Light Work】, and even though her soul has tripled compared to when Satoru first met her, it is still quite difficult for her to keep using 【Shukuchi】 in a tense state.
Liz, who was let down from Satoru's arms, also looked exhausted. Although she was just being held, there was inevitably a sense of strain from continuing to move at such incredible speeds.
Leia approached and filled Rico's magic stone with magic power. Leia, Solor, and Isolde all looked like it was nothing. Minerva is not too tired either.
「Amon. What is our current location?」
『I'd say about two-fifths of the way there. If we can maintain the speed we were going, we'll be there in three kokus.』
「Oh. Well, I guess that's enough for today.」
At the sound of Satoru's voice, Rico and Liz breathed a deep sigh of relief. It was honestly tough to maintain a sense of tension and concentration all the time.
The art of 【Shukuchi】 is only a physical aid and requires basic physical strength. It also requires basic physical strength. This is not an art that will enable an old man who is unable to walk to move easily and lightly.
「It's getting pretty late. Let's have dinner.」
「'Kaaayyy!」
In all these travels so far, they have had no contact with beasts or monsters. Satoru doesn't know what kind of means he used, but Amon must really be a guide sent by the Holy Dragon. Otherwise, it would be impossible to keep the beasts and monsters away from this Sacred Mountain where the Holy Dragon mainly resides.
Of course, it is not enough to trust without caution. Satoru built a hut out of stone in a suitable space and had the bedding prepared inside.
『Humans need to rest. It's inconvenient.』
「You are noisy. You may have been manifested as the Immortal King for a long time, but if you forget the time when you were human, you will be in trouble.」
Amon's consciousness did not immediately respond to Satoru's voice. Just as Leia had forgotten the inconvenience of excretion and the pain of menstruation, once you become an Immortal King, you will forget the sensations of the human body that you once struggled with. Even though he is a being who has abandoned his living body, he still has to have a body and spirit to be able to use sorcery.
『.....it's probably so. I'll keep those words in mind.』
Satoru felt that the Immortal King was a man of discretion, although it would be rude to say so. Whether they can understand each other is another matter, but he has a feeling that he is not such a bad person.
「Um, Onii-san」
Satoru turned around and noticed that Liz's expression had become a little shy. He can easily guess what she wants to talk about.
「As expected today we're not doing that. We've got a peeping tom on our side.」
『By "peeping tom," do you mean me?』
「Who else is there? I don't want other men to see the skin of my magical slaves.」
Satoru is a jealous man and has no intention of showing his woman's skin to other men, even if he knows they have no intention of doing so. He would never let anyone touch them.
『Hohou. You are indeed very possessive. But just to add, it is useless. I am still the Immortal King, you know? I have long since lost my sexual desires.」
Come to think of it, the Immortal King has nothing to do with the three major human appetites: appetite, desire to sleep, and sexual desire ― Satoru remembers hearing that when he met Leia. However, he's beginning to have some doubts about his sexual desire.
「Even so...」
『Besides, I'm not interested in women.』
It took Satoru some time to understand Amon's statement.
「......Huh?」
『I'm more interested in men like you. ......Uhoh!』
「.........」
Satoru suddenly looks at Amon's conscious body coldly in the face of his unexpected confession. Satoru doesn't even know if what this conscious body says is true or not. Because you can't see the other party.
「......, I'm sorry, but I'm straight.」
「By "Straight", what is that?」
Liz was quick to ask. Satoru made a reluctant face and hesitated for a while.
「......Ahhh. A man who never says he likes a man, that's what it means.」
『I, for one, don't mind at all.』
「I'm the one who minds!」
Satoru yelled back with half a tsukkomi. Liz looked at the floating consciousness with incredulity.
「Let's see, ...... In other words, Amon-san is a man, and you like a man?」
『That's correct, half-elf girl.』
「.........」
If the expression on Liz's face at that moment were to be written, the word "contempt" would be the most appropriate. In this world, it is natural for a man and a woman to love each other. Same-sex love is forbidden.
The reason is simple: it is impossible to conceive offspring. The reality is that the world does not have the same understanding of sexual minorities as the world in which Satoru lived. This is because of its primitive nature.
『Don't look at me like that. It makes me excited.』
「This guy is no good......」
Haa, Satoru sighed, holding his forehead.
Although Amon is a guide who eliminates difficulties in advance, he seems to have a proclivity that is difficult to accept. Fortunately, he does not seem to force Satoru to do so.
Satoru was honestly miffed when he thought that there was one more factor that he needed to be careful of.
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