Lena’s home was about one or two minute’s walk from the port. It is a small house built of the same white stone as the surrounding area. I halted when I tried to knock on the wooden door of the front door as it opened by itself before I could knock on it.
“Who are you, big brother?”
A little girl with cat ears was peeking through a gap in the door. Come to think of it, Lena once said that she has a lot of siblings. I wonder if this child is also her sister or something.
Then Erna crouches down and speaks to the child.
“We are your sister’s friend. Is Lena at home?”
“Yes, she is here. I’ll call her.”
The little girl leaves the door open and runs to the back of the house, her footsteps are echoing with pattering sound. I could only see a glimpse of her, but she was a very cute girl. If a lolicon guy was here, he would probably have been extremely excited. From the back of the house, I heard a voice that seemed to be Lena and the voice of the little girl I mentioned earlier.
“Unya? My friend?”
“Yes, she said they were your friend.”
“How many people-nya?”
“Uhm, well-, one, two, three…… a lot!”
“Oh, it’s stupid of me to ask Luna-nya.”
Shortly after, Lena came to the front door and opened the door, which was already slightly open, all at once. And the moment she saw our faces, her eyes widened.
“Nya! It’s been a long time everyone-nya!”
“Uh-, oh, well, since our vacation here, y-yeah, long time no see.”
Lena jumps at me who was right in front of her and kisses me on the cheek. As usual, she is only wearing a bikini on top and hot pants on the bottom. A soft object is pressed against my body, and I involuntarily breathed heavily.
This is good. It’s really awesome. Mufufu.
“Lena? Do you want to turn into ashes here?”
Erna had a scary smile on her face as she exudes anger. In addition, Liz held a kunai in her right hand.
“Hiii! I’m sorry-nya! I was so happy that I just did it-nya!”
“Good. I just need you to know. I don’t want to get into a useless fight.”
“That’s right. I’ll be sad to lose a close friend too.”
After Erna and Liz said that, they then glared at each other. Lena was terrified as she hid behind me.
“Why don’t we end our reunion greetings here and talk somewhere quiet? This time, we came here not for a vacation, but for work.”
“You guys didn’t come here to play-nya? Well, let me hear about it inside-nya. The house is small and messy, but please don’t hesitate to enter-nya.”
Led by Lena, we went inside the house. Though she described it as “small and messy”, everything was clean and tidy. If anything, it just seems that there are a lot of things. Well, it’s a large family so it’s normal.
After we were led to a large room that seemed to be a living room, we each sat down on something like a round cushion. However, my apprentices remained standing. This is also their training.
After a while, a woman who seems to be Lena’s mother, served us a drink. She was in her early forties. Still, she is a beautiful woman who seems to be only in her thirties. Unfortunately, unlike Lena, she wore less revealing clothes.
“It’s a special juice made by Zañas family. I hope it suits your taste.”
“Thanks. You don’t need to be so polite though. We are grateful to have it. By the way, Ma’am did not add “nya” to the end of your words huh.”
“That’s just because of Papa—Baja’s influence. Not all of the Sea Cat tribe have such an ending in their words. Oh, I’m sorry. You guys have an important topic to discuss with my daughter, right? Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
Lena’s mother greets us lightly and then opens the door to the room. Perhaps they were secretly observing us, but behind the door that their mother had opened, several small children were running away in a hurry. I think she said she has about 20 siblings. Our sudden arrival must have been a nuisance huh. I’ll give them something as an apology later.
“Well, what is the work you were saying-nya?”
“Technically speaking, it’s not really a work but it’s kind of similar. By the way, has Lena heard about angels?”
“The Beast King has been gathering his forces in preparation for battle, so I know all the gossip about it-nya. But the people of Naji are not so interested in the identity of the enemy because we have decided to defeat the enemy who wants to kill Airavata-sama unconditionally-nya.”
“I see, then I think it would be better to explain it from the beginning.”
I told Lena a rough story about our encounter with the angel and the battle that took place the other day. Of course, I did it with the intention of not only letting her hear it, but also the members of “Sword of Glory” who were here. I thought that those who are going to the island had the right to know the whole story. In addition, I thought that it would be better to have a sense of mission rather than jumping into a dangerous place without knowing anything.
Sure enough, Lena and the Sword of Glory were at a loss for words.
“—Are we fighting against God-nya? I can’t believe it-nya!”
“You are free to believe it or not. Anyway, we are here as we want your father to tell us about the island.”
“I’d like to do that, but I think it’s difficult-nya. Actually, Papa doesn’t seem to be on good terms with grandfather, and he really doesn’t like to talk about the old Zañas family-nya.”
“We should do something about that. This is an important matter related to the survival of the world. I want Lena to convince him as well.”
“…………”
Lena furrowed her brow and looks worried. She crosses her arms and glances at me. Somehow, I could guess what she wants to say.
“The family budget is tight this month-nya~. I’m sure Papa is also worrying about it a lot-nya~”
“Then, how about this, a gold coin?”
“We don’t make a fool of child-rearing expenses-nya~”
“Ten gold coins.”
“I heard about your conversation-nya. What do you want to know-nya?”
The door opened, and Lena’s father suddenly appears. Lena quickly pocketed the ten gold coins and gave her seat to her father. With a smile on his face, Baja Zañas sat down and gulped down Lena’s Zañas family’s special juice.
“You tricked me. How long have you been at home?”
“Munya? It’s been about an hour now-nya. It’s your fault for not noticing-nya.”
“Now then, is it a lie to say that you are not on good terms with your father?”
“That’s true-nya. I used to fight with my dad a lot-nya. If you didn’t offer money, I wouldn’t even talk about those old stories-nya.”
Lena apologizes to us, saying, “My family budget is really tight this time-nya. We need money-nya.”
Well, considering that I paid for a valuable information, this is not a big problem. Still, I think it’s quite expensive.
“Alright. I want to know the story about the island that your father went to.”
“It’s the mysterious island-nya. My dad used to say that while drinking-nya. I don’t know the details either, but I remember how to get there because I was told about it till his death-nya.”
“What!? Can we go to the island!?”
“That’s what you really wanted to hear, right-nya? When my dad was still alive, he wanted to go to that island again, but apparently, the inhabitants of the sea made him promise never to come again-nya. He didn’t tell me until the end what the inhabitants of the sea were, but I thought they were probably mermaids-nya.”
We have made a lot of progress here. I didn’t think he would know the route to the island. But then again, it’s too early to tell. Let’s make him take us to the island first.
I took out a hundred gold coins from my bangle. Then, with a loud, coin clinking sound, I placed it in front of him.
“There are a hundred gold coins here, please take us to the island.”
“Nya-nyan….this lot of money…… Who the hell are you-nya?”
“I’m Shinichi Tanaka of Homeless.”
“T-that Shinichi Tanaka-nya!? W-well, do excuse me-nya! I’m sorry for showing you something so embarrassing-nya! Hey, hurry up and bring me a good drink-nya! Vishu-sama’s best friend has come to our house-nya!”
At her father’s behest, Lena hastily brings a bottle from the next room. He on the other hand, prepared a glass, took the liquor from his daughter and poured the amber liquor into the glass. After receiving it, I immediately put it in my mouth and nodded at the taste. It’s certainly a fine drink.
“I told you beforehand that they were the Homeless party-nya.”
“Oh, you fool, tell me the name of the individual first, not the name of their party-nya! And if we deceive his friend, we will be blown away by Vishu-sama.”
“Papa should be beaten by the Beast King once-nya.”
Baja tried to return the money he had received earlier but I refused. I paid for it as a legitimate information fee. On the contrary, it is troublesome if it is to be returned. Besides, his guilt is also convenient for us. The voyage will be a long journey. There are bound to be a lot of problems on the way. Therefore, I think that we should establish an equal or better relationship with the captain, who has the greatest say on the ship. It’s easier to deal with problems that way, and he may be more supportive.
“So, will you be able to take us to the island?”
“Nyahahaha! I can’t even find the words to say no since I’ve been loaded with this much-nya. Leave this job to Baja Zañas, Naji’s best sailor-nya!”
I felt relieved as he slapped his chest. Now, we can go to the island. All that’s left to do is meet the God tree and listen to its story.
Suddenly, a question crossed my mind. It was a story told by an old man in the harbor.
“I’d like to ask you one thing though, is the fruit that your father said he brought home still somewhere in this house?”
“Ah, that mysterious fruit-nya? It was rotten a week after my dad came home. My dad was so sad about it that he kept it bottled up for a while-nya.”
“Rotten? Didn’t that fruit remain inconsumable even after how much it was eaten?”
“It’s strange even now that I think about it-nya. It was as if it had finished its role when my dad came home-nya. Maybe it had some kind of will-nya.”
Is there something like a will on a fruit……? Perhaps it was the fruit of the God Tree.
I already understand that the tree we are looking for is extraordinary. It may be possible for the God Tree to give permanence to the fruit. If that’s the case, it’s a monster in some sense.
When our conversation ended, my five apprentice, who were standing behind me, sat down exhausted. In terms of fatigue, Margaret is the most exhausted. Then Liberto and Dominique. Tina is next. Finally, there’s Leila. As a large shield user, her endurance is by far the best among the five. Still, it looks like she could not bear the weight of the equipment. Leila was lying limp, resting on Liberto’s side.
“By the way, who are they-nya? Are they new members-nya?”
“They are my apprentices. They are known to be operating under the name, Sword of Glory, in the Kingdom.”
“Heh~, there are also humans who were into such things-nya. If you become an apprentice to Shinichi and the others, the common sense you have cultivated will be destroyed-nya.”
“What do you mean? That—”
“It’s as I have said-nya. It’s even scarier because you don’t realize it-nya.”
This impolite girl. I lived my life while respecting the common sense of this world. What this cat girl means is a good sign. I resolutely interpret it like that.
“You can stay at my house for a couple of days-nya. We must prepare for the voyage and discuss the route-nya.”
“I’m grateful for that. Please let me know about the preparation cost. Also, I don’t know if you can call this a souvenir, but please take it.”
I took out meat and vegetables out of the bangle and offers them to the Zañas family. In an instant, the living room was filled with foodstuffs, and Baja and the Sword of Glory team stiffened as if they had been taken aback.
“Thank you so much-nya. I’m going to make Mama cook a treat tonight.”
“We are going to be taken care of by a friend’s family so this is only natural. Oh, and as you can see, you don’t have to worry about food. I have enough savings to live on the ship for a year.”
“That’s why I said so-nya. You’re breaking the common sense-nya. Okay, I’ll carry the ingredients to the kitchen-nya.”
Lena grabs the meat and vegetables and walks out of the room after saying that. Behind me, Liberto muttered, “We might have become the apprentice of a dangerous person……”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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