“Next, we’ll practice putting the harnesses on the horses. Then we’ll actually try driving the carriage. Go ahead and take it out for me.”
At the ranch manager’s request, I pulled the carriage out of my Item Box.
Whoosh. Thud.
“Oh, this is a fine carriage. Isn’t this the latest model released this year?”
“You know quite a bit about carriages too, Manager?”
“When they’re making a carriage, they usually do test runs, so I get to see them pretty often. Anyway, let’s get the harnesses on the horses.”
With the ranch manager’s help, Sue and I put the harnesses on the horses and hitched them to the carriage. Then came the test run around the ranch.
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop.
“You’ve got the hang of it, kid. Just like that.”
Maybe it was because we’d already practiced horseback riding, but I was able to handle the carriage surprisingly smoothly. Sue took turns driving as well, and Shiro and the others had no trouble handling it either.
Perhaps it was partly because these horses were so easy to work with, but it looked like everyone could manage the carriage if necessary.
Still, I had a feeling I’d be the one doing most of the driving.
“Goodness, I never thought I’d see a slime driving a carriage…”
“Ao is a special kind of slime.”
“I suppose it is. It’s not every day you see a slime riding a horse, either.”
The ranch manager watched in fascination as Ao skillfully manipulated the reins with his tentacles and drove the carriage.
After that, we spent about an hour learning how to handle the horses.
“The horses have worked up a sweat, so now we’ll give them a good wipe-down.”
“““Okay!”””
The horses were sweating from all the exercise, so Shiro and the others grabbed stools and carefully wiped down their bodies.
Meanwhile, the ranch manager taught me how to take care of their hooves.
Sue filled a bucket with water that Ao produced using magic and gave it to the horses to drink.
“You’re all picking this up remarkably quickly. I have to say, I’m impressed.”
“What should we do when the horses sleep at night?”
“It would be best to lay down fresh straw for them, but that becomes extra baggage when you’re on the road. Fortunately, horses can sleep standing up, so you should be fine without it.”
I vaguely remembered seeing stables on horse-racing programs in my previous life. They always seemed to have straw spread across the floor.
Well, it’s probably better to have it if we can.
I decided we might as well buy everything we needed.
“Then I’d like to purchase the horses, along with two weeks’ worth of feed.”
“Are you sure you want that much feed? It’s going to take up quite a bit of space.”
“I’ll make a magic bag specifically for the horses. I’ll also keep some in my Item Box and Ao’s Item Box.”
“Hahaha. In that case, I don’t see any problem. Come on, let’s head back to the office.”
And so, I successfully purchased the items needed for the carriage journey.
That said, there is still more to be done. I am going to further modify the carriage to ensure a comfortable trip.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
The carriage itself was fine. The real question was which horses we should get to pull it.
“How many horses does this carriage require?”
“Two. A single horse would be enough if you used one of the larger breeds, but I’d recommend going with two. It’s the safer choice.”
While paying, I asked one of the craftsmen at the workshop about the horses.
As far as I remembered, the carriages I’d seen online back in my old world had usually been pulled by two horses as well. Carriages in this world seemed to follow the same principle.
There’s a horse ranch they recommended, so I had the craftsman write me a letter of introduction.
“By the way, how are you planning to transport this carriage?”
“I have an Item Box, so I’ll just store it in there.”
Whoosh.
“Oh! You can store something this huge? You’re not just some ordinary cook, are you, kid?”
The craftsman cheerfully slapped me on the back several times.
Uh… So he really did think of me as a cook rather than an adventurer…
I couldn’t help but slump in disappointment.
Sue and Toria-san watched me, barely managing to hold back their laughter as their shoulders trembled.
And so, we boarded a horse-drawn carriage service and headed toward the outskirts of the city. As it turned out, there was a ranch located just outside the city.
“““Hi-hiiin!”””
“““Horses!”””
When we arrived at the ranch we were looking for, we were greeted by a whole herd of horses.
For Shiro and the others, this was their first time seeing horses anywhere other than pulling a carriage, and they were absolutely thrilled.
“First, let’s go to the office.”
“““Okay!”””
We had quite a few things we needed to ask about, so we headed to the ranch office first.
“Oh, you’re that young man, huh? I’ve heard a little about you. Come on in.”
As soon as we arrived at the office, the ranch manager came out to greet us. Apparently, the Margrave’s household had informed him in advance that we would be visiting the ranch.
I handed the ranch manager the letter we’d received from the carriage workshop.
“Let’s see… Two horses, the harness equipment, and instructions on how to care for them.”
“If we were going to the royal capital, we could keep them in our family’s stables, but…”
“I see. So you need someone to look after them during the journey to the capital. All right, come this way.”
We followed the ranch manager toward the stables. Inside were countless horses, each one being carefully looked after.
The ranch manager brought one of them out for us.
“For feed, you’ll want to give them hay or pellets made specifically for horses. They also love carrots, as well as sweet things like apples. However, don’t give them vegetables such as cabbage or broccoli.”
He paused before continuing.
“And they can’t eat a large amount all at once, so make sure to divide their food into several smaller meals throughout the day.”
I always assumed horses could eat pretty much any kind of leafy vegetable, but apparently there were some things they shouldn’t eat.
I’d have to be careful about that.
“Taking care of their hooves is important, too. Dirt and small stones can get stuck in them, so if possible, you should check and clean their hooves whenever you stop to rest. You should also wipe away their sweat and brush them regularly to keep their skin healthy.”
Just like humans needed to bathe, horses needed regular grooming and care as well. I had a feeling Shiro and the others would be more than happy to take care of that part.
“At this ranch, we raise horses that aren’t particularly tall, but have strong legs and sturdy builds. This one can be used for riding, too.”
“““Ooh!”””
Besides Shiro and the others, it looked like Ao would be able to ride as well. So, to get some practice handling horses, we decided to go horseback riding right away.
Standing in front of us were two horses, one chestnut and the other bay.
“Whoa! It’s so high up! We’re moving!”
“This is fun!”
“This is interesting!”
Perhaps it was because they were demi-humans, but Shiro and the others took to horseback riding almost immediately. According to them, they were able to ride because they could talk to the horses while doing so.
“I never thought I’d see a slime riding horses. As expected of the champion.”
Ao was no different. She held the reins with her tentacles and skillfully controlled the horse.
The ranch manager was visibly impressed by how effortlessly Ao handled the horse.
“Sue, you’re really good with horses.”
“I’ve ridden before, but only for the riding itself. The staff always took care of the horses for me.”
Sue is handling her horse with ease, and I’m managing to ride mine quite well, too. The horse is incredibly docile and even I was able to ride it without any trouble.
Since we’re all riding the same two horses, we’ll likely end up buying them.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
“Zerod, Kairas, make sure you don’t do anything disrespectful to the other nobles. As for you Nova, just greet them. Nothing more.”
My father had never expected anything from me.
“Good for you, Nova. You get to take it easy. But when we get back, you’d better train with me. I’ve been looking for a good way to blow off some steam.”
My eldest brother hated me because I was weak.
“…………”
My second brother didn’t even bother speaking to someone as worthless as me.
I had been born into one of the kingdom’s most prestigious noble families, yet I possessed not a single talent worth mentioning.
There’s no place where that fact was made more painfully clear than when I am with my family.
Even now, we had come all the way to the Royal Capital. But unlike my brothers, who were constantly showered with expectations by Father and the other adults, no one expected anything from me.
And being there, surrounded by all of them, was unbearable.
So, I ran away.
Just like I always did when I locked myself away in my room at the estate. Just like I did whenever I claimed I was going out to clear my head and wandered into town.
I ran away from it all.
It was the season when snow fell lightly from the sky. The Royal Capital is chilly at night, cold enough to make both my body and my heart tremble. I had run as though I were trying to escape from my family, but after a moment, I realized that there is no reason to run at all and slowed my pace.
There is no way my family would come after me.
Well, I hadn’t expected them to…
But realizing that expectation had become reality still hurt.
With my heart weighed down, I wandered into a back alley. I wasn’t sure what kind of shop it belonged to, but various things had been haphazardly piled up around the place.
And there, in the middle of it all, a tiny snowman trembled as though it might collapse at any moment. The moment I stepped into the deserted alley, the snowman seemed to greet me. Leaning against the wall, it looked almost as if it were burying its face, crying.
“What are you doing out here?”
Perhaps it was because there was no one else around—just me and the snowman—those words left my mouth before I even had time to think.
Then—
The snowman moved. It twitched at the sound of my voice and it slowly raised its head.
A girl around my age, her eyes swollen from crying. She looked up at me through tear-filled eyes. Her gray eyes gleamed beautifully beneath the falling snow. Along with the snow that had settled on her hood, strands of black hair fell softly down, dark as the night.
“.……..”
Something about the way the snowman—no, the girl—looked made me feel that something was seriously wrong.
Without asking permission, I sat down beside her.
I don’t have anywhere else to go. And there was no family waiting to come after me either. So I suppose this place was exactly where I needed to be. Even after I sat down beside her, she said nothing, just like the silent snowman she had appeared to be.
“Do you not want to go home?”
“…………”
She gave a single, quiet nod.
“I don’t want to go home either. Everyone keeps calling me a failure.”
“…A failure?”
Her voice sounded as delicate as a bell.
“Yeah… My family is pretty strict. But I’m terrible at everything, so they all gave up on me.”
“…I’m the same.”
When I turned my head, she was looking at me.
Her gray eyes were fixed directly on mine, and I could even see my own reflection in them.
A boy who didn’t want to go home, his face filled with pain, was reflected in the eyes of a girl who looked just as miserable.
“I can’t control my magic at all… I either can’t use it whatsoever, or, if I can, it runs wild. So my family told me to just… stop doing anything.”
“I see… So that’s what happened.”
It felt the same. I was the only one in my family who couldn’t use Haki—the power passed down through our bloodline—even in the slightest. Because of that, they had decided I had no future.
As for her, she had been abandoned by her family because she couldn’t control her magic.
“We’re… the same, aren’t we?”
“…Yeah… We are.”
I had thought I was carrying a burden that no one could ever understand. But meeting someone who was suffering through the same thing made me happy. I think she must have felt the same way, because she answered me with a smile.
It was a weak, awkward little smile, as though she barely had the strength for it.
But it was still a smile.
“H-hey… Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine… It’s… it happens all the time…”
I realized that this was the magical outburst she had been talking about.
But back then, I had no idea what I was supposed to do.
Even so, I couldn’t just stand there and watch. I moved around in front of her and took both of her hands in mine.
I hadn’t thought it through at all. I simply acted on impulse, shouting out the first words that came to mind. Words my kind mother, who was no longer with us, had said to me only a handful of times when I was little.
“You can’t do that!”
Looking back, I really was just a child.
I didn’t do anything to stop the magic rampaging inside her. All I could do was scold her, relying on nothing but my words.
As if yelling at magic would actually accomplish anything.
But this time, a miracle happened.
The pained expression on her face gradually softened. The cold sweat that had gathered on her forehead disappeared, and her tightly shut eyelids slowly opened.
For the first time, we looked directly into each other’s eyes from such a close distance. Those gray eyes that, only moments ago, had reflected the pathetic boy who felt unrecognized and unable to connect with anyone…
To me, they looked like they were shining.
—Beautiful.
I remember thinking that very clearly.
The look of surprise on her face was something I would remember just as vividly.
“Th-thank you…”
“Are you really okay? Does anything still hurt?”
“Y-Yeah. I’m really okay… I feel fine now. It’s almost like nothing happened.”
I let go of her hands and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like we’d managed to avoid the worst.
“I’m glad. It sounds like it wasn’t too serious of an outburst after all.”
“Mmm… I guess so…”
She smiled as she said it, but there was something about her expression that suggested she wasn’t entirely convinced.
Just as I was about to ask her what was wrong—
“Nova-sama!”
I heard the call signaling that my time was up.
“Oh no! It’s Tanya! Sorry, I have to go!”
If she caught me, she’d drag me right back to my family. I didn’t want that. I wanted to keep running away, even if it was only for a little longer, so I hurriedly got to my feet.
I think part of me also realized that if I stayed here any longer, I’d only end up causing trouble for the girl.
I turned to run—
But she suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Wait!”
She yanked my arm so hard I thought my shoulder was about to pop out of its socket.
“Gueh!”
I let out a pathetic noise as I turned around.
I was about to complain, but when I saw her looking up at me, the words died in my throat.
“Your name… is Nova?”
“Ah? Oh, yes, that’s right. And you?”
“I’m Shia.”
“I see… Well, I’m glad we managed to calm down your magical outburst somehow. Anyway, I’m in a hurry, so I’ve gotta go! Sorry!”
“Ah!”
The moment her grip loosened, I pulled my arm free and started running toward the back alleys.
By then, all I could think about was getting away from Tanya.
“Nova-kun! Thank you!”
The girl stood up and called out her thanks.
I wasn’t entirely sure what she was thanking me so much for, but I turned around anyway.
“Yeah! See you again!”
I waved as I said it.
We had only met by chance in a city I happened to visit.
I didn’t even know if there would ever be a next time.
And yet, I said it anyway.
× × ×
Even now, I remember that boy running away as though his life depended on it. I can recall every detail of his retreating figure as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.
That snowy day in the Royal Capital, I watched a boy named Nova disappear into the distance.
After I could no longer see him, I looked down at the palm of my hand.
That was when I noticed something strange.
No…
At the time, I didn’t know it was something strange. It simply felt strange. A strange sensation I couldn’t explain.
“Nova… kun…”
In the years that followed, as I grew into adulthood, I would eventually come to understand what had happened to me that day.
And as I did, the feelings I had for him only grew stronger.
But everything began at this very moment.
From that time on, his presence was carved into my heart—a heart that had previously been empty.
It was etched there—so vast, so immense, that there was no room left for anything else.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
The Fors family is a prestigious lineage of swordsmen and a prominent noble house ruling the southern domain of the kingdom. Born as their third son, Nova endured a harsh childhood, branded a failure due to his utter inability to wield the exclusive power inherent to their bloodline. Even after reaching adulthood and being granted a small territory, he is burdened with virtually zero duties and zero expectations from his family and the people around him.
However, an unexpected marriage proposal finds its way to Nova. The other party belongs to a great noble house that rules the northern domain—the Archgate family, which is currently at the height of its prosperity despite a long-standing feud with the Fors family. Furthermore, his prospective bride is, astonishingly, the head of the Archgate family herself, Chia…
“I have been in love with you… ever since that time.”
Thus, the third son of the Fors family, a man who possesses nothing, finds himself welcoming a wife of excellent character and stunning beauty—or rather, a wife who is simply perfect in every regard. She is a woman destined to change Nova’s fate, determined to give him everything.
Before me stretched an endless glacier. Above, an abyss of pitch-black darkness concealed everything. No stars. No moon. Nothing. Even beneath my feet, I could sense traces of magic. The faintly glowing ice wasn’t real ice at all. It must have been crystallized magical power.
“Hah… hah…”
My ragged breaths turned white and drifted away in the freezing air.
Ymir stood before me, his massive body wrapped in red-black flames, silently watching me.
“You cannot move.”
The Golden Flame surrounding my body is gradually growing weaker. Perhaps it’s because I had been separated from the gods by such an immense distance.
…Think. Organize your thoughts.
Ymir had traveled from place to place, devouring the world as he went—through the Royal Capital, Flocia, Alvis, and countless others. And with every place he consumed, he regained more of his strength. Until, at last, he reached this place—Ginnungagap, the Void where creation itself had begun.
He had torn open a rift in the world so enormous that it had cast us completely beyond the boundaries of our own world. This was also the place where cold and hot magical forces had once collided—the place where Ymir himself had been born.
I looked up. In that starless darkness, I could just barely make out a thin streak of light.
Was that the rift I had fallen through?
“…I’m fine.”
I raised my short sword toward Ymir.
I lowered my stance.
But even as I did, I could feel the warmth in my chest being drained away faster and faster.
—This is terrifying.
The gods had told me about this place. But the reality was beyond anything I could have imagined. There was no sound. No wind. Nothing. Only Ymir and me.
Scary.
I’m scared.
Something deep inside me was screaming. This is a place where no living thing is ever meant to exist.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t picture myself defeating this titan. I couldn’t even picture myself surviving.
“So that is the extent of your strength.”
Ymir advanced toward me without a care in the world.
On his left arm, the icy bracelet Lu had given him glimmered faintly.
“This place is far too cold for an ordinary human. And far too terrifying.”
The titan lowered his body.
Move. Move!
My instincts told me so.
“—!”
I threw myself sideways, rolling across the ice.
A blast of wind tore past me.
And then I felt it, something had been ripped away from my waist.
“Urgh…”
My pouch was gone. On the right side, I kept the Gjallarhorn—the horn that could awaken the gods—as well as my potions.
On the left—I kept the Heart of Frost and Flame.
Ymir is now holding the pouch from my left side.
My legs trembled. Sweat broke out across my body. He had stolen it from me while my movements were slowed.
This is bad.
Really bad…!
“My heart…”
Ymir tore open the pouch with his fingers and pulled out the Heart of Frost and Flame. The heart, encased in ice, began beating faster, as if rejoicing at finally being reunited with its owner.
“I’m taking it back.”
Ymir pressed the heart against his chest.
For a moment, I thought I saw his massive body ripple.
My entire body trembled.
I nearly dropped my short sword.
Then Ymir let out a roar.
“—!”
It wasn’t so much a sound as it was like having a massive slab of wood slammed directly into my face. I was blasted backward, tumbling dozens of meters across the ice. My hands struck the glacier, and the freezing air immediately sapped even more of my strength.
I want to fight. But fear—terror—had seized my arms and legs.
No, I had to fight!
“S-status…”
Desperate for something—anything—I clung to the gods’ voices.
But the voice that echoed in my head was different from usual.
It was faint. Raspy. So weak that it sounded as though it might disappear at any moment.
Rion — 14 years old — Male Level 35
“…?”
Was it because I had fallen into the Void?
Had the divine blessings of the gods in our world completely disappeared?
A faint tremor ran through the glacier.
I raised my head. For an instant, I caught my reflection in the blade of my short sword. I looked deathly pale.
Ymir had reclaimed his heart. And here, in the First Void, the primordial titan was slowly—ever so slowly—growing larger.
◆◆◆
Mia sprinted up the grand staircase leading to the temple.
Running alongside her, Felix murmured,
“…It’s quiet. Unnaturally so.”
Ever since they had heard Ymir’s roar, not even the sounds of battle had reached them. And yet, an eerily cold wind is blowing down from the temple.
Mia pulled her cloak tighter around herself and ran faster. When they reached the top of the stairs and arrived at the temple, both of them stopped dead.
“…W-what the hell is this…?”
The temple had been swallowed by a gigantic hole.
Except for the area around the entrance, a rift dozens of meters wide had opened its gaping maw through the structure.
There was no doubt about it.
Ymir had torn space apart.
And Rion—
Rion was inside that hole.
Mia swallowed hard.
“R-Rion!”
No matter how loudly she shouted, there was no answer.
She scratched at her red hair and muttered,
“…It’s dangerous, but… should we try going down?”
Just as Mia moved forward, Felix grabbed her by the shoulder.
“Don’t.”
“But—!”
“We have no idea where it leads. There’s no guarantee it will take us to the same place as Rion.”
Mia clenched her teeth. She wanted to save him. Then Luisia, still dressed in her priestess robes, peered out from behind one of the pillars.
“Mia-san”
“Luisia! You’re safe!”
Mia rushed over and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Rion must have protected his little sister with everything he had.
Mia wiped away the tears welling in her brown eyes.
“Ugh—y-you’re squeezing too hard…”
“S-sorry. …Was this Ymir’s doing?”
“Yes. My brother went into a rift earlier, too. I thought he’d come back, but then…”
Luisia looked toward the enormous hole.
“…this happened.”
Mia and Felix turned their eyes toward the temple once more.
There was almost nothing left. Only the entrance, with its three pillars standing side by side, and a few fragments of wall remained. Everything else had been swallowed by the gigantic rift.
Beneath the dawn sky, the dark, bottomless hole gaped open in the ruins. There’s something deeply unnatural about it.
“Felix, let’s come up with a plan.”
“Yes. However…”
“I know it’s reckless. But we can’t just leave everything to Rion.”
That was when a voice echoed inside their heads.
—I believe this rift extends to an unimaginably deep place.
Mia frowned. The voice seemed to be coming from Luisia. Her left eye had turned green.
“…Freyja?”
—Yes.
—Most likely, this rift extends all the way to what is known as Ginnungagap—the space that existed before the world was created.
Luisia’s voice trembled.
“Is my brother… safe?”
—I cannot tell from here.
—But this cold… it is abnormal.
—If Rion is being exposed to magical energy this cold, energy that drains heat itself, then he is in grave danger.
Felix planted his staff firmly against the ground.
He touched the coronet on his head and let out a slow breath.
“…I want an honest answer. Goddess Freya, can you help him?”
—It would be difficult for me in my current state.
—The cold magical energy has reached even the heavens, rejecting the gods.
—However, the gods in the heavens… especially the Sun’s Daughter, who can bestow warmth… there may be a chance.
By then, more and more adventurers were catching up with Mia and the others.
“Mia! We’ve got a problem!”
“What is it this time…?!”
“The monsters down on the snowfield are multiplying. Most likely—”
The adventurers stared uneasily at the hole that had swallowed the temple.
“There’s another hole just like this one at the edge of the snowfield. Ymir must have summoned more monsters.”
Mia clicked her tongue.
The Primordial Titan is regaining his strength far faster than they had imagined.
“…As expected of the monster boss.”
Suddenly, a murmur rippled through the back row. About ten adventurers were walking towards them, and a ragged man emerged from between them.
Luisia’s eyes widened at the sight of his flowing blond hair.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
In the middle of my battle with Ymir, I fell into darkness.
The Primordial Titan had devoured the world itself, tearing open a rift in space. The rupture swallowed the floor of the Great Temple, sending both Ymir and me plunging into the darkness beyond.
The thoughts accelerated by the Golden Flame presented me with countless possibilities.
I steadied my breathing.
Opened my eyes wide.
Then, even in this empty space with nothing beneath my feet, I repeated the movements my father and the gods had taught me. First, I needed to assess the situation. I activated the blessing of the God of Hunting to detect magical energy.
A crimson glow emitted by Ymir could be seen in the darkness ahead. That meant he had fallen into the rift with me.
Suddenly, the darkness below me brightened.
The exit.
I gripped my short sword and braced myself.
“—!”
The instant I passed through the opening, a wave of warm, humid air enveloped me. The floor rushed toward my face. I hastily twisted into a landing, rolled across the ground, then sprang back to my feet.
Ymir was standing in the dimness ahead.
We were inside some kind of building. Through the collapsed walls, the dusky light of the outside world streamed into the ruins.
“…Where is this?”
The reddish-brown walls and flooring looked familiar. This was the remains of the dungeon where the Blood-Red Sunset had occurred. We must have been transported here in an instant, all the way from the northern frontier of the kingdom.
Ymir stared at me with bloodshot eyes.
The Primordial Titan let out a thunderous roar.
Red-black flames writhed around both his arms. His enormous body stood over two meters tall, muscles rippling beneath his skin, while his long golden hair streamed behind him as though it were a living creature of its own.
The deafening sound shook the entire ruin.
Somewhere in the darkness, bats took flight, their wings beating frantically as they fled.
“My… heart…!”
From those words, spoken like fire itself, I understood instinctively.
Ymir probably hadn’t come here with any particular plan. His eyes were bloodshot, and the bruises covering his face pulsed an angry red. Even now, wounds across his body twisted into mouths, chattering and laughing at me.
He wasn’t sane. Somewhere deep in his unconsciousness, he must have returned to his old base.
“I waited…!”
Had he devoured the world because of his hunger?
Or was he simply trying to burn through even a fraction of the overwhelming magical power that was causing him such agony?
“For my heart… to be put back inside my chest…!”
He charged.
Despite his enormous size, he moved with unbelievable speed. I twisted aside at the last possible moment. Ymir smashed straight through the dungeon wall behind me as though it were nothing.
I was left stunned.
The primordial titan simply kept running through the shattered wall and disappeared from sight. A cloud of dust billowed through the ruins, accompanied by the continuous sound of stone being pulverized. He was tearing through the labyrinth with sheer, overwhelming strength.
I’ve never heard of a monster like this…!
I backstepped, putting as much distance between us as I could, then pressed my back against the nearest wall.
An instant later—
An arm engulfed in flames burst through it.
“Give it to me.”
Fingers wreathed in red-black flames reached for me. They grazed my cheek. The heat and pain were so intense that I nearly cried out.
“Wake up!”
I spun around. I unleashed a storm of explosions from the Wind Spirit Sylph and the Fire Spirit Salamander, hammering the collapsing wall—and Ymir along with it.
As another cloud of dust billowed through the ruins, I ran, putting as much distance between us as I could.
Skill 『Divine Protection of the God of Hunting 』was activated. 【Hunter’s Steps】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅Moves silently without being detected.
I erased both my footsteps and my presence as I slipped behind a pillar.
This should buy me a little time.
Well, that thought lasted for only an instant.
Thump.
A heartbeat sounded from my left pouch. The Heart of Frost and Flame seemed to scream, “I’m here!”. Every hair on my body stood on end.
I was careless!
There was no way an opponent who had spent a thousand years searching for that heart would fail to notice it at this distance.
“There you are.”
The pillar shattered. Ymir’s hand closed right in front of my face.
If I had been even half a step slower, he would have crushed my head in his palm.
Don’t run.
Face him.
Steel yourself.
“Ymir!”
I glared up at my enemy and stepped forward.
As we passed each other, I slashed Ymir across the ribs with my short sword. I felt the blade bite. But my opponent merely grinned, then opened his mouth wide.
“OOOOOOOHH!”
The space around us trembled again, and the ground seemed to sink beneath my feet. The wound caused by my short sword twisted into a mouth, chattering and cackling. Then the world cracked. A pitch-black rift opened beneath us, swallowing both Ymir and me.
“Again…!”
Teleportation!
Ymir’s deeply carved features twisted into an expression of sheer delight.
Was it because his heart was so close?
Or was it because—
He was devouring the world?
The next transition ended almost immediately.
“Gah?!”
A burst of bubbles escaped my mouth.
What is this place?!
I swung my arms.
There’s water around me.
No— I am underwater!
Far above, I could see the faint glow of a twilight-colored light. But it was incredibly dim. This water is deep. Very deep.
“Wake up!”
At my command, the Water Spirit Undine burst from the gauntlet on my right hand. The Wind Spirit Sylph emerged from the crystal set in my short sword, surrounding me in a pocket of air.
I was enveloped in a bubble roughly two meters across, giving me enough air to breathe.
An underwater battle huh.
I had never imagined it, but apparently I was going to fight Ymir beneath the water.
Large rocks littered the area around me. This must be the lakebed. Then something caught my eye—a white wall to my right.
The White Tower, sunken beneath the lake…?
“Lake Flocia…?”
Once again, we had been transported.
Ymir floated in the water nearby. Then red-black flames suddenly engulfed his enormous body.
As I narrowed my eyes and watched, the primordial titan began to change. His arms and legs swelled grotesquely, while webbing seemed to form between his fingers. Scales even appeared across his bare upper body. He looked like a sahagin.
Apparently, the primordial titan had devoured monsters before as well.
A roar thundered across the lakebed. It was as though an entire wall of water had been slammed into the depths.
Ymir abruptly changed direction.
Then he shot toward me like an arrow.
“U-underwater…!”
I had experience with this too.
The Water Spirit Undine manipulated the currents, controlling the bubble surrounding me. I used it to evade Ymir’s charge.
Thanks to the spirits, I had the advantage in mobility.
“Thanks!”
The mermaid-like spirit bowed at the waist toward me. Beside her, the dog-shaped Wind Spirit Sylph wagged its tail with a happy woof.
“Now, then…”
I stared at Ymir. He’s swimming violently through the water, but he seemed to realize by now that I had the spirits on my side. That was precisely why he wasn’t recklessly approaching me.
His attacks couldn’t reach me. But neither could mine reach him.
My short sword simply wasn’t long enough, while the spirits were busy maintaining my air bubble. And the Fire Spirit Salamander couldn’t do much with all this water between us and the enemy.
That left the gods’ abilities.
And when it came to fighting underwater with a blade—
“A harpoon.”
The idea struck me.
I pictured the armored goddess in my mind and began moving along the lakebed. I planted my feet on the roof of the sunken White Tower. The damage to the ceiling that Solana and I had destroyed was still clearly visible.
For some reason, seeing it left me feeling a little lonely.
【Sigris’ Spear】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅a ranged support. The magical effect is channeled into the spear, delivering it to the target. [+] Effect increased by the magic of the Medicine God.
Skill 『God of Mischief’s Divine Protection』was used. 【Friend of Spirits】…… Draws upon the power of spirits. [+] Effect increased by the magic of the God of Mischief.
The fire spirit Salamander resides in Sigris’ Spear. Perhaps it should be called the Flame Spear.
Like a fisherman using a harpoon, I aim at Ymir, who is swimming towards me.
Sensing the danger, he turned towards me and kicks the water with all its might. We pass each other. Its rock-like arm pierces the air bubbles and grazes my side. Enduring the impact that felt like I was going to cough up blood, I strike Ymir with the spear as it swims away.
“Ha!”
The spear I threw sank into Ymir’s shoulder. An explosion erupted underwater, tearing a deep gash through the giant’s shoulder. Trailing blood and fire through the water, Ymir continued thrashing about like a madman.
His head turned toward me.
A roar burst from his wide-open jaws.
“OOOOOOOOOOH!”
His massive jaws snapped shut. Cracks spread through the space on either side of me, and once again, reality itself was torn apart.
The rift swallowed both of us, along with the water surrounding us.
“Again and again…!”
First the Blood-Red Sunset, then Flocia.
Where would we end up next?
Ymir was falling through the pitch-black space alongside me. Red-black flames began to engulf his entire body. He looked like a giant of pure flame—Surtr, the Flamebone.
The heat radiating from him was so intense that the water dragged into the rift with us began evaporating before my eyes.
The darkness brightened.
We passed through the exit and suddenly found ourselves falling through open air.
“Where are we…?!”
I was falling.
Far below, many people were moving about busily. The smell of smoke stung my nose. The space was enormous, perhaps forty or fifty meters high. On the lowest level, furnaces belched smoke, while tents packed with various materials crowded the floor.
Then I heard it—Clang!
The ringing of a hammer made me realize where we were.Looking more closely, I noticed that everyone working below was only about the size of a child.
“Wait… the dwarven kingdom of Alfheim?!”
We had been transported to the enormous chamber where I had once fought Surtr.
In the time since then, the dwarves must have converted the massive hall where they had once restrained the Flamebone Surtr into a forge.
Several of them noticed us falling from above.
I suddenly realized what was about to happen and shouted,
“Everyone, get out of the way!”
The white-haired dwarves of Alfheim stared up at me in stunned silence.
I was completely soaked from the underwater battle. And falling alongside me was Ymir, his entire body engulfed in red-black flames from head to toe. He looked like the return of the Flamebone Surtr himself.
We hit the ground.
Relying on the physical abilities granted by the Golden Flame, I twisted into a landing. I crashed straight into what appeared to be a pile of sand or some other loose material, sending a cloud of dust billowing into the air.
“Cough—”
A chain of startled voices erupted from the dwarves around me.
“Rion?!”
“Rion-sama?!”
Ymir had gotten back to his feet as well. He knocked over shelves and half-finished weapons as he walked toward me.
Wrapped in red-black flames, the primordial titan threw his head back and laughed.
“Hahaha!”
I shouted at the top of my lungs.
“Run! Get out of here!”
Ymir slammed his fist into the floor. An explosion of flame erupted. Barrels and wooden crates went flying, their splintered fragments slicing into me. I shielded the nearby black dwarves and urged them to flee deeper into the forge.
The titan suddenly stopped. He was staring at the enormous apparatus standing in the center of the smithy. It was a massive smelting furnace, at least five meters tall. A huge, pot-like structure rested on a brick foundation, belching thick clouds of black smoke. There’s probably molten iron inside.
Ymir punched it. The bricks shattered. The great basin crumpled inward. Some of the fragments broke apart into light and were sucked straight into Ymir’s mouth.
“What the hell is that thing…?”
Molten iron poured out across the floor. Smoke billowed around the furnace, and the dwarves’ screams echoed through the forge. The temperature of the entire chamber rose in an instant.
Cutting through the thick clouds of smoke, Ymir and I continued our battle. If we stayed too close to the flames, we’d be caught in them.
The heat felt like it was scorching my eyes from their sockets. For once, the fact that my clothes were still soaked was a blessing.
“Hah.”
I slipped past Ymir’s arm.
My blade struck him, but a magical barrier blocked the attack. He’s gradually regaining his senses. From within the flames surrounding his head, I caught sight of a twisted grin.
“Wake up!”
I used the Water Spirit Undine to control the water meant for cooling the furnace.
I hurled a blast of water at Ymir.
A cloud of steam erupted.
It’s a momentary distraction. I put some distance between myself and the furnace, then steadied my breathing. Looking around, I spotted a bucket filled with a white liquid.
I had seen it several times at the Awakener facility before, but—
“Hah!”
I grabbed it and threw the entire contents at the pursuing Ymir.
The milky-white liquid splashed across his face.
“Ggh…?”
It was plaster mortar.
Since it’s commonly used to repair bricks and walls, the dwarves must have kept a supply around for maintaining the furnace. Even for the primordial titan, having his eyelids completely plastered over should leave him blind for a while.
At the very least, it would buy me some time.
A voice called down from above.
“Rion-dono?!”
Floating in midair in the form of a young boy was—the king of the dwarves, ruler of the kingdom of Alfheim.
I raised my short sword.
“I’m fine! I’ll be out of here soon…!”
The red-black flames surrounding Ymir suddenly surged. The roar echoing through the forge reminded me of the Flameboned Surtr.
I called upon the power of the Thunder God.
“Thor, please!”
Skill 『God of Thunder’s Divine Protection』was activated. 【Will of the War God】⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅When facing an enemy stronger than oneself, it increases the power one’s blow. [＋] Effect enhanced by the God of Thunder’s magical power.
Skill 『God of Thunder’s Divine Protection』was activated. 【Mjolnir】 ⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅Borrows the legendary war hammer from the God of Thunder. [＋] Effect enhanced by the God of Thunder’s magical power.
I thought back to all the adventures we had shared.
Ymir had probably inherited the memories of countless monsters.
But he had merely devoured them and made their power his own. He didn’t understand true strength—the strength of the bonds we had forged with the gods.
Lightning gathered around my short sword. The light swelled before my eyes, rapidly taking shape until it became an enormous hammer nearly as tall as I was. The ornate head crackled with bolts of lightning.
I drew it back and swung with everything I had.
Then I brought Mjölnir crashing down onto Ymir’s red-black, flame-wreathed head.
“Ha!”
The entire space trembled.
The red-black flames vanished, revealing half of Ymir’s face. His face had been scorched black by the lightning, yet his incredible regenerative power immediately began repairing the damage before my eyes.
But there was no doubt.
I had taken a chunk out of his strength.
Ymir opened his enormous jaws and bit down on space itself once again.
The ground beneath us cracked.
Then it split apart.
Just like tearing a page from a book, we were being transported from one place to another—through the memories of places this giant had devoured and remembered.
As I fell into the void, I shouted.
“No matter where we go, no matter what place we end up in, I won’t lose…!”
After being transported through so many different places, I had realized something.
I had traveled to countless places alongside the gods. And with every journey, I had grown stronger. That was what had brought me to where I was now.
“I’m not like you. I didn’t just devour everything I came across…!”
In the darkness of the void, Ymir and I stared each other down. For just a moment, I thought I saw the corner of the titan’s mouth curl upward. Then we passed through the void, wrapped in the light of twilight.
A familiar breeze swept gently across us.
Before I knew it, I was standing face-to-face with Ymir.
A familiar sky.
A familiar great tower.
A familiar flower garden.
This was—the Odis Temple in the Royal Capital.
The battle against the monsters was probably still raging. Wounded adventurers were scattered throughout the grounds, while healers kept rushing out of the cathedral one after another to tend to them.
“Rion-san…!”
Pauline stared in shock at both Ymir and me.
“Rion?”
My mother, dressed in her priestess robes, was in the middle of healing an injured adventurer with magic. Near the cathedral stood Safi, hammer in hand. Her eyes widened when she saw me.
With everyone watching us, I faced Ymir.
The primordial titan was already breathing heavily, his shoulders rising and falling.
I’m exhausted too. We had spent so long traveling through those endless spaces. We had to be running on fumes by now. So I wanted to settle it here.
With the magical power the Goddess had left behind for me.
Skill『Sun’s Divine Protection』was activated. 【Sword of the Daughter of the Sun】…… Imbues the Daughter of the Sun in a weapon. [＋] Effect enhanced by the Goddess’s magical power.
I pulled a gold coin from my pocket and gripped it together with my short sword.
Normally, the sheer heat would cause the coin to fuse with the blade, but with Solana herself absent, the transformation wasn’t nearly as dramatic. Even the coin itself was blank. Without Solana—or any of the other gods—it bore no design.
But I had received the Goddess’s solar magic in the heavens. I focused on the skill and channeled that power through the short sword. Through the gold coin, the Goddess’s power flowed into the blade.
A golden blade, as long as a longsword, emerged from it.
Ymir spoke.
“…I can feel the presence of a goddess who shouldn’t even be here.”
I stared at the giant.
“Because she entrusted her power to me.”
Solana’s bright smile flashed through my mind.
I’m going to make it back to her.
No matter what!
I brought the golden blade down upon Ymir. A magical barrier rose to block the strike. Magic clashed against magic, sending golden sparks spraying through the air.
Slowly—
steadily—
the sun’s magic began melting through Ymir’s barrier.
Golden light raced from Ymir’s shoulder all the way down to his feet.
“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Ymir roared, and the space around us cracked.
A cold wind whistled through the darkness, enveloping us both.
I called out to my mother and the others as they struggled to hold onto their hats.
“Don’t worry! I’m coming back!”
I passed through the dark rift with Ymir.
Eventually, we landed back where we had started—the Frost Palace.
The once-majestic interior of the temple had been devastated. Already weathered by the passage of time, it now had countless pillars lying shattered across the floor, while parts of the ceiling had collapsed entirely.
Wind carrying flakes of snow swept between Ymir and me.
“…Ymir. Let’s end this.”
At my words, Ymir coughed up blood.
This monster had undoubtedly been exhausted by the time we reached the heavens. And on top of that, he had fought me while I was borrowing the power of the gods.
It wouldn’t be strange if he had finally reached his limit.
If we had fought fairly from the beginning, I probably could have fought Ymir over and over again and still never defeated him. But Lu, the gods, and the adventurers had all worn this monster down.
That was why the battle was finally reaching its conclusion.
Ymir stared with fascination at the blood coating his arm.
“I still don’t know where your strength comes from.”
Grrrroooowl.
A deep rumble echoed through the chamber. It was Ymir’s stomach.
Red-black flames gathered over the wounds covering his body. The injuries didn’t twist into mouths or contort as they had before. Instead, they simply healed. Quietly.
“…I’m hungry.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Ymir opened his mouth.
It was several times—no, many times—larger than before.
The pitch-black depths of his throat looked as though they could swallow everything in existence.
“Even in a place where there is nothing… can your strength still endure?”
The entire floor of the temple was swallowed by a gigantic rift.
We fell into darkness. An icy wind swept over us. We shouldn’t have reached the exit yet. But as I fell, a freezing gale slammed into my body. Even the golden flames surrounding me flickered uneasily.
A pale blue glow appeared ahead—the exit.
I burst through it, and a blast of frigid air enveloped me. With trembling arms and legs, I twisted into a landing. I found myself standing on an endless expanse of ice.
Glacier…
That was the word that came to mind.
The faintly glowing ice stretched as far as I could see. The sky was dark, yet there wasn’t even a single star. There was nothing here. Only Ymir and me, standing in the emptiness.
The Primordial Titan spoke.
“—Once, there was nothing in the world.”
A chill ran down the back of my neck.
There was nothing here. My heightened senses told me that with absolute certainty.
Not the voice of a living creature. Not even the sound of wind. Not a single star in the sky. There was only this vast, endless expanse of ice beneath our feet.
“…The gods call this place Ginnungagap.”
The place where Ymir had been born.
The great void where our world had been created. The homeland of this titan.
They said that the Primordial titanhad been born when cold and hot magical forces collided. The gods had once explained what happened here: chunks of ice from a great glacier collided with waves of heat from an enormous flame.
If that was true—then this glacier…
My breath turned white.
The magical power I had received from the gods was exposed to an overwhelming force of cold, and I could feel it weakening before my eyes.
The presence that had always been beside me—the presence of everyone I had come to rely on, the presence of the gods—is growing faint. Then disappearing.
“Can you still fight here?”
Ymir’s voice echoed across the emptiness.
“In a place where neither the gods nor your companions can lend you their strength?”
After crossing through countless worlds, I had finally been cast out of the world I came from.
And now I stood here, alone.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
However, the next day, we ended up having to go shopping again—this time for a completely different reason.
“Shun, you guys won’t be traveling by carriage service this time, so how are you planning to travel with the army?”
The Margrave brought it up over breakfast, and I froze.
Wait… what?
“Can’t we ride in one of the army’s carriages?”
“Oh, you thought you could. One of the army officials came by yesterday, so I asked. Apparently, there are so many people being transported that all the carriages are already full. And it’s difficult for my household to lend you one right now, too.”
What?!
The carriages are full?
I suppose I should be grateful that the Margrave was actually getting things done for once, but… What were we supposed to do now?
“There’s a shop in town that sells carriages. They have all sorts of models, so go there and ask them what would suit you. They’ll even teach you how to take care of the horses.”
“I’ll show you the way today. I haven’t been able to help everyone for some time now, so I’d like to make up for that.”
Toria-san volunteered. She had been taking care of Maria, who had been suffering badly from morning sickness, so she hadn’t been able to help out at the church. Of course, everyone understood that there was nothing she could do about that.
And so, with Toria-san leading the way, we headed into town.
“This is the carriage manufacturer.”
“““Ooh!”””
Toria-san had brought us to what looked more like a carriage factory, where numerous carriages were being built. But what really caught me off guard was the construction of the carriages themselves.
I walked over to one that is still being assembled. Sue, Ao, Shiro, and the others followed behind me.
“This is a suspension system, isn’t it?”
“Oh, you really know your stuff. It’s a newly improved model that was developed just this year.”
As I am examining the carriage’s undercarriage, one of the craftsmen from the factory came over to us. Apparently, he had seen me during the Harvest Festival.
“It’s a leaf-spring carriage. Most modern carriages have some kind of basic suspension these days, but this one can handle a fair amount of weight.”
“It would be well suited for freight wagons or carriages carrying a lot of passengers.”
“Exactly. Even on fairly rough roads, it’ll make for a much more comfortable journey.”
Ao is poking at the carriage’s leaf springs with one of her tentacles. There’s a huge difference in comfort between a carriage with good suspension and one without it. Until now, we’d had to rely on improving the cushions as much as possible to reduce the vibrations.
Fortunately, money wasn’t really an issue for us.
And they even had covered wagon-style carriages.
“By the way, would it be possible to have the carriage maintained in the Royal Capital?”
“Of course. We have a factory in the royal capital as well, so we can handle all the necessary maintenance there.”
Cars needed regular maintenance, and carriages were no different.
All right. This is the one.
“Then I’ll take the covered wagon equipped with this latest suspension system.”
“Sure thing. Give me a moment.”
They had plenty of luxurious carriages designed for nobles, but we didn’t need anything like that.
A covered wagon gave us more room inside, and if we arranged our belongings properly, we could even sleep in it.
Looks like we made a pretty good purchase.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
We also needed to stock up on supplies before leaving for the Royal Capital. So that day, we wrapped up the children’s studies around noon and headed out shopping in the afternoon.
“Let me make one thing clear right from the start. We’re buying sweets last. We’re getting the things we actually need first.”
““““Ehhhh…..””””
I laid down the law with the girls to make sure they didn’t immediately drag me toward the sweets. There were plenty of complaints, but this was one point I wasn’t willing to compromise on.
Ao and I decided to start by buying food.
“Just to be safe, let’s buy enough food for two weeks.”
“What about fruit?”
“As long as you don’t go overboard, you can buy some.”
““““Yaaay!””””
Eating fruit is healthier than filling up on sweets.
That said, Shiro and the others…
I think they might have gone a little overboard as they bought enough fruit to fill their arms. Still, the three of them looked so happy that I ended up giving in and buying it anyway.
“It’s going to get colder, so let’s get some new blankets and warmer sleeping bags, too.”
“Can I get a scarf?”
“Sure. Get enough for everyone.”
“Okay!”
With the food taken care of, we headed to a clothing store next.
Winter is approaching, so we need to make sure we have enough warm clothing for the journey. Scarves are a must, but we should probably get gloves, too.
“We should probably get some coats as well.”
“Sue, which one do you think is good?”
“I have no idea…”
“For Fran and Horn, let’s pick ones that won’t get in the way if their wings come out.”
““Okay!””
Sue helped choose coats for Fran and Horn. I also picked out a cute hooded coat for Shiro. They’d be able to use them long after this trip, so there was no harm in having them.
“Let’s get two slightly larger tents.”
“Eh? Wouldn’t one tent for everyone be fine?”
“Shiro, you need to be a little more aware that you’re a girl.”
With Sue being old enough to care about privacy, it was definitely better to have two separate tents. It had been fine when it was just Shiro and me sharing one, but with everyone else joining us, that simply wasn’t going to work anymore. We already had all the cooking equipment we needed, so I figured we were pretty much set.
“Next, let’s go buy some sweets!”
““Yay!””
We’d bought everything we needed for the journey, so now Sue and the others were finally free to make their long-awaited pilgrimage to the sweet shops.
Wait,weren’t their Magic Bags already completely full?
“Don’t worry. I bought a Magic Bag specifically for sweets.”
Sue, you really didn’t need to puff out your chest and look so proud when saying that…
Buying an expensive Magic Bag solely to store sweets in it, wasn’t that kind of missing the point of having one?
But completely ignoring my silent scream, Sue and the others happily made their way from one confectionery shop to another. There wasn’t much I could do about it, so Ao and I simply wandered around and waited for them.
“We’re back.”
“““We’re back!”””
An hour later, Sue and the others returned from their shopping spree, all of them looking thoroughly pleased with themselves.
Yeah, I think I’ll just avoid asking exactly how much candy they bought. Despite all the chaos, we had finally finished shopping for our journey to the royal capital. Now we were ready to leave whenever the time came.
“Oniichan, are we going shopping again tomorrow?”
“We’ve already bought everything we need, so no more shopping.”
““““Ehhhhh!?””””
It wasn’t just Shiro, either. Every single one of the girls looked disappointed at the prospect of not going shopping tomorrow.
Regardless of age, I guess girls really do love shopping.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
My head felt unbearably heavy, and even opening my eyes is a struggle.
“God, my head hurts… Ugh…. I feel like crap…”
I tried to sit up, but my entire body felt as heavy as lead. A sharp headache stabbed through my skull, and every time my pulse throbbed inside my head, the nausea grew worse.
“Did I… drink too much…?”
I tried to search through my hazy memories, but I couldn’t remember a thing about last night.
Well, technically, I did remember one thing.
After the toast, I had downed three large mugs of draft beer in rapid succession. Everything after that was a complete blank. It was like I’d been watching some painfully boring late-night anime and simply fallen asleep halfway through it. So I had absolutely no idea how I’d even made it to this room.
“Where… am I…?”
I somehow managed to force myself upright despite the crushing headache and overwhelming nausea, then looked around.
“W-what the hell is this place…?”
I felt absolutely miserable, but the sheer extravagance of the room that greeted my eyes somehow cleared my head a little.
As my memories from before I started drinking gradually came back into focus, I began to piece together my current situation. This is probably one of the guest rooms at the Guild Headquarters’ directly operated ultra-luxurious five-star hotel, Grand Hills Tokyo.
And judging from the room itself, this is probably their highest-grade Deluxe Suite. The sheer size of the bedroom and the luxury of its furnishings were on an entirely different level from an ordinary hotel room. Even the bed was enormous when I looked at it closely, while the feel of the sheets against my skin and the way they molded perfectly to my body were in a league of their own.
“Damn… this is one hell of a room… Ugh, my head hurts… I need something to drink…”
Unfortunately, I am in absolutely no condition to appreciate any of it. The alcohol still hadn’t completely left my system. I need to drink some water to dilute the alcohol in my bloodstream even a little.
Holding my aching head, I pulled back the covers and get out of bed.
“!?”
I noticed that something is wrong almost immediately.
No, not immediately.
My senses had been too hazy to notice until I pulled back the covers. It was only when a faint breeze from the air conditioner brushed coldly across my skin that I realized it.
I am completely naked.
“…Huh? Wait. Did I get so drunk that I stripped everything off?”
I had been sleeping on the far left side of the absurdly enormous bed—big enough to comfortably fit three adults. I glanced down beside the bed, searching for my clothes, and immediately found them.
My slightly grimy Twilight Robe, my boxer shorts, and the rest of my things were scattered carelessly across the floor.
They were obviously mine.
Of course, I had absolutely no memory of when—or how—I’d taken them off.
“I really got carried away and drank myself into a stupid state…”
“Mmm… nnngh…”
“!?”
…Huh?
The bed was so ridiculously huge that I hadn’t noticed. There was someone else on the far right side of the bed!
W-whaaaaat the?!
Don’t tell me I…
I had my first ever morning-after incident?!
“Fwaaah… Ah! Daishi-san! You’re awake?”
“S-Satsuki-chan…?”
“Honestly! You got completely carried away and drank way, way too much! Seriously! After that, it was such a pain to— Wait, KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”
I had thrown all the covers aside. And for some reason, I was giving Satsuki—who had apparently been sleeping beside me—a full view of my birthday suit.
Huh? But something felt…
This was a seriously strange reaction for a “morning-after” situation.
“What happened?! Is everything all right?! …Hm?”
“Satsuki?! What’s wrong?! …Eh?”
“SHAAAAAA!! …Sha?”
Apparently, this suite had a living room separate from the bedroom. Shion-san, Mina-chan, and Ryunosuke—who had, for some reason, been in there—immediately came rushing in after hearing Satsuki scream.
The scene they found was me, a completely naked grown man, and a girl covering her face while screaming.
Objectively speaking, this looked really, really bad.
“Ah, no. This is…”
“I have no idea why you stripped and left your clothes lying around, but why don’t you just go take a bath as you are?”
“Yeah. We already had ours ages ago. You passed out drunk and went straight to sleep, so you’re pretty filthy right now, Daishi-san.”
“SHAAAAA!! (Stinky, stinky, stinky)!”
…Huh?
Shion-san and Mina-chan were surprisingly calm.
They weren’t going, “What the hell are you doing, old man?! You pervert!!” or anything?
“Ah, I was just a little surprised because you were suddenly naked, but it’s really fine! Everyone was worried about you, so we took turns looking after you!”
Satsuki-chan turned her back to me and sat down again, finally regaining her composure.
So everyone had been taking care of me…
Incidentally, aside from naked me, everyone else was wearing what looked like expensive hotel-provided nightwear—something along the lines of elegant negligees. They were all dressed comfortably and casually, looking completely different from how they had in the dungeon, and I couldn’t help feeling a little flustered.
“Huh? So that’s what happened…”
“Yep! I was tired too, and it was a little cold, so I thought I’d just get under the covers for a minute… and then I ended up falling asleep.”
“…Sorry about that.”
I was genuinely, deeply relieved to learn that I hadn’t done anything stupid while drunk. Thank God I wasn’t about to get arrested over some non-consensual-whatever situation.
“But Daishi-san, you look absolutely terrible. Is the alcohol still in your system?”
“Y-Yeah… (*urp)…”
Mina walked over to me while I hurriedly pulled the covers back over myself to hide my naked body.
Apparently, she could tell immediately that I was having hungover.
“Honestly. This is why adults…”
“?”
“Drink this.”
Mina-chan pulled a tablet from what appeared to be a pocket in her negligee and handed it to me.
“If the toxins in your system are alcohol-related, this should break them down immediately. Chew it thoroughly before swallowing.”
Just what I’d expect from Mina-chan, our resident healer. She’d actually prepared medicine in advance, taking my condition into account. That was seriously thoughtful of her.
Still, I had to admit—I wasn’t a fan of chewing tablets. Doing that while I was still nauseous sounded less like treatment and more like torture.
“Uh, y-yeah… but I still feel really sick…”
“Enough complaining. Hurry up and take it.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
The pressure in her voice left me with no room to argue, so I did exactly as I was told.
Fighting back the urge to throw up, I somehow managed to chew the medicine and swallow it.
Ugh… I feel awfu—
…Wait.
I don’t feel awful now?!
No way! Even my headache was gone!
“What the heck is this medicine? It’s amazing!”
“You’re better now, right? Then hurry up and take a bath. Get yourself properly awake. We still have some time before we leave for Guild Headquarters.”
There was a digital clock built into the headboard above the pillows, so I checked the time.
5:30 a.m.
“We’ve been told that someone in black will come to take us at eight. Before then, we should discuss what we intend to do next. That is why we are gathered in this room.”
Shion-san’s explanation instantly snapped me out of party mode and back into serious mode.
Ah. So that was what this was about.
Right. We weren’t here for a relaxing vacation!
This was enemy territory!
I needed to stay sharp!
“We didn’t really have time to sit down and talk properly while we were in the Nether Class dungeon. I think everyone’s had a chance to recover and clear their heads now, so first things first—strategy meeting!”
Satsuki-chan, standing beside Mina-chan, clenched her fist with renewed determination.
Obviously, we couldn’t just go meet the head of the Guild without any kind of plan!
All right! Then I’d better hurry up, take a bath, and get myself cleaned up!
“While Daishi-san is in the bath, why don’t the rest of us get our combat preparations in order as well? Oh, and don’t worry about your filthy, stinky clothes. I’ll make sure to get them nice and clean for you!”
“R-Right…”
I had no idea what kind of secret technique Mina-chan intended to use, but apparently, she’s going to wash my clothes at high speed or something.
Filthy and stinky…
Well, I couldn’t exactly deny it.
Still… That kind of hurt a little.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
Today, Casey-san, Telma-san and the others are departing for the Royal Capital with the army.
“Shun-san, Sue, thank you so much for everything. The fact that my daughter is safe and sound is all thanks to the two of you.”
“Once you arrive in the Royal Capital, please be sure to visit our home.”
Casey-san and Telma-san’s mothers had changed into traveling clothes as well. They would be returning to the Royal Capital alongside their daughters in the carriages waiting outside the Margrave’s mansion.
“I suppose I’ll need to focus on my bridal training for a while.”
“But I still want to continue accepting requests for the sake of the townspeople.”
“This whole experience made us realize just how many people are supporting us. We still have a lot to learn, so we’ll keep studying and improving.”
Casey-san and Telma-san blushed slightly when Emilia-sama said that, but they had quite a bit of studying ahead of them if they were going to marry into the Margrave’s household.
And with that, Casey-san and Telma-san climbed into their carriage and set off for the royal capital.
“They’re gone…”
“Don’t worry, you’ll see your big sisters again soon.”
“Yeah…”
Kent-chan had grown quite attached to Casey-san and Telma-san, so once the carriage disappeared from sight, he looked rather dejected. Still, just as Emilia-sama had said, in a few years, Casey-san and Telma-san would be living here in the Margrave’s household permanently.
“All right, we’re heading to the church work site.”
“Shun, you don’t need to go to the church today. We can’t keep relying on you forever. Instead, would you mind teaching the orphanage children?”
Emilia-sama had decided that there was no point in us continuing to linger at the church work site, so we were given a different job instead.
And so, we headed over to the children who were staying in the annex.
“Fran, Horn, since we’re here, why don’t you study together with the other children?”
“Ehh…?”
“Okay!”
Fran loved playing more than anything, so the moment she heard the word ‘study’, she immediately looked unhappy. Horn, on the other hand, is a smart girl so she cheerfully agreed.
“Shiro, help Fran with her studies. If you all work hard, I’ll make you some dessert as a reward.”
“““Yaaay!”””
The moment they heard the word ‘dessert’, Shiro and the others became incredibly excited.
Of course, I couldn’t exactly give dessert only to them, so I decided to make enough for all the children at the orphanage, the sisters, and Kent-chan as well.
“““Yummy!”””
As expected, when snack time came around, Kent-chan joined the orphanage children and happily dug into the desserts. Apparently, Kent-chan had been reading picture books and studying numbers as well. Since he’d worked hard, there was no reason he shouldn’t get a treat.
“Hey! Why don’t I have any dessert?!”
“These were made for the children. If you eat dessert here, Emilia-sama is going to be angry with you.”
The Margrave had apparently caught the scent of the desserts from his office and made his way all the way to the annex.
But even for the Margrave, I couldn’t exactly give away desserts that had been prepared for the children. More importantly, he really should have noticed Emilia-sama standing right behind him, wearing that perfectly composed smile.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
