by Hiro Ainana
After I set up a seal slate for the Return spell in a corner of the observatory, just to be safe, I put on a void suit and went out to see the jellyfish alone.
“This is Satou. No reaction from the jellyfish yet.”
After reporting in, I produced a tiny amount of curry powder in the palm of my void suit.
Aha!
The jellyfish shot out their tentacles very quickly indeed.
I didn’t know how they even detected the smell, since there was no air in the void.
Regardless, this was a far more intense reaction than the alcohol-based bait potion the Beliunan clan made.
I could take these jellyfish on now, but I didn’t want to send them into berserk mode, so I used Return to reach the observatory.
“I’m back.”
I explained the results of my experiment to Aaze and Lua, and we arranged to inform the other clans of the discovery of a new bait.
While we waited for confirmation, Kiya from the magic-tool shop and Aea from the transmutation workshop helped me make a magic device to produce curry-scented mist. I offered samples and blueprints to each of the other clans.
Since the void still had gravity, and not even balloons could float there, I tested out a prototype device called a “void engine” that I’d found in Trazayuya’s research.
When I saw it ascending through the void without any visible propulsion, I thought maybe it was a gravity-controlling device, but alas, when I looked over the materials in more detail, I figured out that it was a similar mechanism to my “Skyrunning” skill.
The device created a small floating foothold inside itself with Practical Magic, then ran a gear along it to climb upward.
While we were developing this device further, the golem maniac Kiya and I got a little carried away and wound up making a living doll using a World Tree branch for use in the void.
“Satou, it worked! The World Tree’s lightning isn’t attacking the doll!”
“Perfect. Now we can put the living dolls in charge of working in the void instead of sending people out into danger.”
With a little experimenting, Aaze and I got even better results than I’d expected.
From what I heard, there was another elf who had thought of a similar thing once. This time, though, we used a Treespirit Pearl from a treant to transform a sprout on the World Tree and use it as a base for the doll.
The engine that made the doll move was a separately prepared magic device, but we had to get a little clever to make that work, too.
“Seems awfully heavy… Don’t you think the lead layer is a little too thick?”
“If we make it any thinner, the jellyfish will react to the doll.”
In order to keep the jellyfish from noticing the magic power, we sectioned off the engine with lead, which didn’t conduct magic.
I explained these mechanisms to the other elf clans, too. Few of them had Treespirit Pearls, but they all had some Forest Magic experts, so that wasn’t a problem.
I really wanted to hurry up and learn how to chant already.
After a few days of this, the Beliunan clan’s experiments confirmed that the scent of curry attracted jellyfish and didn’t cause them to go into a rampage state.
Then I was invited to the Holytree Council again…
“Very well. In accordance with the vote, we have decided to proceed with Nanashi the Hero’s proposed strategy, Operation Curry.”
There were some protests to the name of the operation, but in the end they decided to adopt it as is.
Names should be easy to understand, in my opinion.
“As the Bolenan clan has contributed the most to the development of this strategy, I propose that they spearhead the operation.”
Aaze made a little fist pump of triumph. Spearheading must be considered an honor.
It was cute to see her celebrate like that.
“B-but we the Beliunan clan also—”
“But of course. I would like the Beliunan clan to be second to enact the plan.”
“Hmm. V-very well, then.”
The high elf of the Zuwakanan clan, who was acting as the chairman, expertly dealt with the protests of the Beliunan clan, who had also contributed to the research. I guess the chairman had the authority to assign such roles.
Evidently, they had the clans undertake the operation in succession instead of all at the same time in case of any unexpected situations.
“The operation shall commence ten days from now, when all clans have completed the repellent potion application as a preliminary step.”
This repellent potion was to be applied to the branches of the World Tree to keep the jellyfish in check and ensure they would follow the curry powder spray.
“Any clans who may be falling behind are to report in at once. The Holytree Council wishes you all the very best of luck.”
With this slightly military-sounding send-off from the chairman, the council meeting came to an end.
All that was left now was to prepare for the extermination process and make some backup plans.
Pest Control
Satou here. When things are going well, I automatically get anxious. Maybe it’s a programmer’s self-defense instinct? The fact is, unexpected problems are going to come up whether you’re ready or not.
“Now, children of Bolenan! Let us commence Operation Curry! Let’s be careful and cautious, and enjoy ourselves a little, too!”
Aaze’s cute voice echoed through the observatory.
First, the elves’ light ships, which looked just like the hero’s silver ship, emerged from the void docks underneath the observatory. The curry powder diffusers looked awkwardly tacked on.
Next, the multi-legged golems set out into the void, equipped with curry powder diffusers and void engines. The golem made from a World Tree branch had already been transported the previous day to its planned position on a light ship.
The World Phone spell brought us messages from the high elves of the other World Trees.
“This is Keeze of the Bulainan clan. Hero Nanashi, we pray your operation will be a success.”
“This is Saaze of the Beliunan clan. We are ready to launch at any time.”
“This is Tooza of the Zuwakanan clan. We are prepared as well. We await good news from the Bolenan clan.”
Maybe it was just my imagination, but the Beliunan high elf sounded a little agitated to me.
Their clan seemed rather competitive with their fellow research lovers the Bulainan clan, so I was a bit worried.
“Satou, are you ready?”
Miss Aaze arrived, wearing a special void suit that looked like something straight out of a sci-fi anime.
It was a wonderful garment that clung to her body.
“Yes, if you are.”
I took Aaze’s hand, and the two of us flew into the void. Since we weren’t helping with the curry powder spraying, we drifted up to an altitude where there were no World Tree branches around.
Anyone with the “Spirit Vision” skill would see that we were surrounded by enormous spirits.
Normally, there wouldn’t be spirits in the void, but Aaze’s Space Magic and my spirit light on full blast made it possible.
I’d gathered the spirits on the ground, then Aaze used a teleport gate to bring them to the observatory in advance.
Once I confirmed on the map that everyone was in position, I gave Aaze the go signal.
“Begin diffusion!”
Aaze produced light pseudo-spirits with her Spirit Magic, which unleashed a dazzling brightness.
This was the signal for the golems and light ships to start spraying the powder.
The points of light marking the jellyfish on my map turned red for just an instant, then turned white to indicate neutrality.
“Satou, they’re sending up the signal. The jellyfish are on the move!”
Aaze grabbed my shoulders and shook me excitedly.
I could see on the map that she was right. The jellyfish were beginning to
follow the diffusers.
Their role fulfilled, the multi-legged golems began to return to the observatory.
“Next, please prepare to have the sylphs guide the diffusers.”
“I’m on it! …… Create Sylph Kaze Seirei Souzou.”
Aaze cast the spell, and translucent creatures who looked like adult versions of dryads began to appear one after another.
Since the diffusers’ void engines were disposable, they were designed to float straight up like a balloon, making the sylphs’ guidance essential.
“Sylphs, please guide the devices you see below toward us. Be careful not to get caught by the jellyfish following them.”
The sylphs nodded and flew toward the powder diffusers.
I was afraid to say it out loud and jinx it, but things were going so well that it was making me nervous.
“… Dimension Jail Mugen Rougoku.”
Once the jellyfish had been lured together, Aaze used Space Magic to trap them in a cage.
Next, she used Dimension Pile to fix the cage in place. Since its position was set relative to the World Tree, it wouldn’t get left behind by the planet’s rotation or anything like that.
They were just far enough away from the other jellyfish that they wouldn’t set off a rampage, but since the next wave of jellyfish was coming from farther away, it was the perfect distance from the World Tree.
Here, the elves’ advanced attack magic should be able to finish them all off in one blast.
“It worked!”
“Yes, now we just need to repeat the process.”
Aaze’s happiness almost elicited a smile from me, but I managed to use my “Poker Face” skill to stay serious.
The first round had captured 197 jellyfish.
In order to exterminate all ten thousand jellyfish, we would have to repeat this process more than fifty times. We had a lot of work ahead of us, probably including breaks to recover MP.
“Ohhh, Satou… Please be gentle…”
Aaze’s sensual voice threatened to rob me of my senses, but I forced myself to keep it together as I used the Practical Magic spell Mana Drain to assist with her MP recovery.
It was all I could do not to lose myself in the high of the experience.
Silently counting prime numbers in my mind, I managed to fulfill my role as a supply ship.
This was the seventh time we’d stopped to recover magic in the observatory.
Sadly, this moment of bliss was interrupted when Lua appeared.
“Mr. Satou, please refrain from toying with Lady Aaze.”
“My apologies, Miss Lua.”
Lua seemed relatively angry, so I decided to stop messing around with the strength of my power supply to Aaze, at least for the time being.
“How are the golem team’s preparations going?”
“They just finished. Something was causing a problem with a few of the golems’ movements, but they were able to fix them by replacing the leg units in question. The operation can proceed on schedule.”
This little round of maintenance had been my suggestion.
It cost a bit of extra production time, but as a result, the parts could be replaced smoothly even without an experienced technician around.
Just as I was standing up to get back to work, Goya came running over to us. I hadn’t seen his face in a while.
“I’ll help!”
“You can’t. It’s too dangerous.” Miss Aaze frowned and shook her head.
“I’ll help!”
“Couldn’t we let him help a little?”
Goya was unfazed, so I decided to throw him a bone.
“Satou?”
“Of course, since he hasn’t been trained on the procedures, we can’t put him on the front lines. But he should be able to help Miss Lua and the others with logistical support.”
Goya looked surprised, so I explained my thinking.
“Fight!”
“Sorry, but you aren’t trained enough.”
It would be too dangerous to bring someone who was only level 13 out into the void.
He looked a little frustrated, but I couldn’t put the other elves in danger just to win his favor.
“Besides, the front lines can’t do this alone, you know. Without the help of the support teams, they wouldn’t get anywhere, right?”
“Mrrr.”
I was sure a young gun like him would’ve preferred a job that earned him more attention, but I wasn’t going to let him turn up his nose at the jobs behind the scenes.
Even companies like the one I worked at couldn’t just have a development department. It was departments like sales, accounting, and general affairs that made the business world go round.
“…Okay.”
Goya hesitated at first, but at last he nodded and accepted my proposal. He might have been a little reckless, but he wasn’t completely stupid.
“Well then, Goya, follow me. We need more communication officers to help sort things out.”
Miss Lua pulled Goya along by the arm, and they disappeared behind the piled-up materials in the observatory.
With that, we could get back to work, too.
“Shall we?”
“Of course, Satou.”
I offered Aaze a hand to help her up, checking the distribution of the rest of the jellyfish on my map.
There were only about 30 percent of them left. Another fourteen or fifteen rounds of guidance should do it.
This was the part of the process where mistakes or accidents tended to happen most, so I had Aaze and Lua warn the elves to metaphorically tighten their helmets.
“You can do it, sylphs!”
When Aaze called out to them, the sylphs shot off to guide the diffuser devices.
“My, this is going well,” she remarked, leaning against my back.
As I savored that pleasant sensation, a glint of red suddenly caught my eye.
…Hmm?
“What’s this? We’ve got a call through World Phone…”
Absentmindedly ignoring Aaze’s statement, I opened my map with a feeling of dread.
The dots that marked the jellyfish were flickering red and white. When I expanded the view, it looked like a wave of red was flowing through them.
Uh-oh. This can’t be good.
“Everyone! Emergency evacuation now!”
After I contacted Lua back at headquarters with Telephone, I unleashed three red Fireworks spells to indicate a halt on the operation.
The branches of the World Tree crackled with electricity.
I didn’t know what had gone wrong, but first we had to evacuate everyone.
The golems had shock resistance, so they should be able to stand up to the World Tree’s electrical shock, at least for a while.
“Satou! The Beliunan clan failed! They were carrying out the operation at the same time as us!”
They what?!
Didn’t they hear us say that the Bolenan clan was going to act alone first in case of any unexpected issues, since all the jellyfish seemed to be linked?
Well, there would be time to pitch a fit later.
Reining in my frustrated thoughts, I pulled away from the safety of Aaze’s side to become a decoy.
“Satou!”
Once I left her wind barrier, my voice couldn’t reach her, so we connected with the Telephone spell.
“Miss Aaze, retreat to one of the light ships! I’ll distract the jellyfish and the World Tree.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Everyone will be fine as long as we don’t make sudden moves!”
I didn’t want to worry Aaze, but it was better than letting anyone get injured or worse.
“Hey, you useless weed! Are these branches or roots? Pick one already!”
I steeled myself and used the “Taunt” skill to attract the attention of the World Tree.
Without any air, the sound of my voice shouldn’t have been able to travel, but it seemed like the idea got through to the tree anyway.
A huge bolt of lig
htning shot up toward me from the World Tree below.
“Watch out!”
On my radar, the distance between Aaze and me shrank rapidly.
No! Is she trying to protect me?!
Unlike last time, the electric shock had only just fired off.
At this rate, Aaze would get hit by the blast.
As my sheer panic seemed to slow down time, I reached out a Magic Hand to the lightning bolt.
Since it didn’t have a physical form, the hand was able to catch the lightning bolt without being shocked.
In the next moment…
“Satou, am I dreaming…? The World Tree’s lightning disappeared…”
Miss Aaze’s voice sounded astonished through the Telephone spell.
Thank goodness. I made it in time.
Now the gigawatt-class electric shock was sitting safely in Storage.
Since it could preserve oxygen molecules perfectly, there was no reason Storage couldn’t hold the electrons and charged ions that made up the bolt as well.
I’d failed to store flame once before, but that was a different case because I didn’t understand the nature of the flame well enough.
“I have all kinds of anti-shock measures, so don’t worry about me. Just meet up with the light ships and help them retrieve all the elves. I’ll come back once I’ve served as a decoy and destroyed the jellyfish.”
The wind barrier wrapped around me, and Aaze’s voice and warmth reached me from behind.
“You can’t do this alone! Let me—”
I took Aaze’s hands and gazed into her earnestly worried eyes.
A light ship arrived from the interval between dimensions to pick her up.
“Don’t worry. I’ll come back safely.”
“…You promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
I exchanged a pinkie promise with Aaze, just as I once did with Mia in the collapsing Cradle.
Since she still looked worried, I leaned in and kissed her through our void suits.
The gentle clink of our helmets bumping together was a little bit tragic.
“S-Satou…”
“Please just wait for me. Trust me.”
Aaze’s eyes were wide and her face red as I pushed her toward the light ship, propelling myself back into the void.
