by Aneko Yusagi
“That’s it. That’s good enough. You’re progressing faster than I expected. I’m surprised,” said Gaelion.
“Yeah, not bad,” Sadeena added.
After that, a little puzzle popped up, like when I’d cast magic along with Ost or Sadeena. I was already familiar with how to do the rest.
“I call upon the power of this water to come to me and take form. Earth Vein! Lend me your power!”
“Aqua Seal!”
A target icon popped up on my screen. I chose myself and verified that the magic had successfully been cast.
“Hmph. You sure learned that quickly. I guess heroes really are different,” Gaelion said.
“Yeah, you must be a genius, little Naofumi,” Sadeena poked.
“Oh, shut up. You have no idea how much time I’ve spent studying on my own.”
Now that I had figured it out, it seemed like it had taken hardly any time at all. But they had no idea how hard I’d worked to get here. Ost had granted me the ability to use it, and I’d been practicing ever since getting Therese to teach me the basics! I’d been racking my brains and trying to figure it out forever now.
“All that’s left is to practice, practice, practice. Diligence is key,” said Gaelion.
“Yeah. Now that I can manage this much, I guess that’s really the only option,” I replied.
It was like learning to ride a bike. Being able to just barely pull it off would be pointless. I needed to shoot for becoming a pro cyclist. Well, they didn’t have those in this world, but still . . .
“Alright, I guess we should wrap things up and get some sleep,” I said.
“Good idea. I completely lost track of time,” Gaelion replied.
“You know what that means, little Naofumi. It’s time for you and me to have a drink!”
Sadeena brought a barrel of alcohol out from the back and plunked it down in front of us.
“Where the hell did you get that from?”
“I salvaged it from a shipwreck. It’s perfectly aged!”
As if I cared. Wherever she’d gotten it, I’m sure the circumstances had been shady. That’s probably why she was keeping it here.
“Salvaged it from a shipwreck, you say?”
“Yep.”
“Is keeping something like that for yourself allowed? In Melromarc?”
“It’s perfectly fine. This barrel falls outside of salvaging law jurisdiction.”
“Salvaging law?”
“Salvaging law says that someone who salvages something maintains seventy percent ownership, and the remaining thirty percent goes to Melromarc. It’s a pretty useless law actually. It only applies to the territorial waters of Melromarc. I salvaged this in international waters.”
Well, I guess it would be impossible to prove who had salvaged what. People could probably get away with it as long as they kept their mouths shut.
“The waves have been high lately, and the currents around Melromarc are strong. Now is the right time to be on the lookout.”
I guess the waves of destruction made the ocean waves more dangerous too. Now that she mentioned it, I did seem to recall the captain saying something similar when we were on the boat headed to the Cal Mira islands.
“Do you want me to do a bit of treasure hunting if I get some free time? That might be dangerous if I don’t level up some more first though.”
“You’ve already leveled up quite a bit. I could use some treasure right about now if you’re up to it.”
What I really wanted to know is how she leveled up so quickly. Maybe monsters gave more experience in the water. But underwater treasure sure sounded lucrative. I guess salvaging was kind of like a side job for Sadeena. That must have been how she’d made money before meeting me, apart from her fight purses and other funding from Zeltoble.
“Okay, let’s all get our drink on!” Sadeena exclaimed.
“Hmm . . . I could go for a stiff drink,” said Gaelion.
He leaned toward the barrel.
“Here! This is for you, little Gaelion!”
Sadeena pulled out a 1.8-liter glass bottle and handed it to Gaelion. Umm, was that Japanese sake? The bottle was shaped the same. I guess one of the previous heroes must have told someone how to make it like that.
“Cheers,” he said.
Gaelion starting drinking straight out of the bottle.
“Oh! This is the good stuff, isn’t it?”
“It sure is. It’s from the region where I grew up. It’s strong enough to satisfy even a dragon.”
“I see . . .”
Gaelion continued drinking. He seemed to be in high spirits.
“What about you, little Raphtalia? Your parents could really hold their alcohol, so I bet you can too.”
“Umm, sure.”
She could definitely drink a lot. L’Arc had been totally smashed by the time Raphtalia had only started getting tipsy.
“Drink up, you two. I have some rucolu fruit for you too, little Naofumi.”
Sadeena handed me and Raphtalia a drink. It wasn’t like I actually liked rucolu fruit that much. But whatever. Going on about that at a time like this would be tactless.
With a map of the sea in one hand, I discussed our plans, while we all went on drinking. Every time the conversation died down for a moment, Sadeena started prodding Raphtalia.
“Hey, little Raphtalia. What do you think about little Naofumi?”
“I have a lot of respect for Mr. Naofumi.”
Oh? She was always getting upset with my crude behavior, so her answer was a bit of a surprise to me. This probably wasn’t the kind of thing a person should admit, but I really did do a lot of terrible stuff.
“Is that really how you feel?”
“Yes.”
“So you don’t want to marry him or anything like that?”
“I . . . uhh . . .”
Huh? Marry me? Was she asking if Raphtalia thought of me in a romantic sense? It wouldn’t really bother me if she did say she liked me, but I’m pretty sure Raphtalia had other things much higher on her list of priorities. That was clear from how hard she was working to ensure that more children didn’t end up in the same unfortunate circumstances she had, as a result of the waves.
“I . . . That’s . . . Umm . . .”
Raphtalia’s face turned red. She was looking this way and that, avoiding eye contact. Chronologically speaking, Raphtalia was still pretty young. She probably shouldn’t have been drinking alcohol actually, and she wasn’t old enough to be thinking about things like love and romance. She only thought of me as a surrogate parent. Asking her to think about me in that way was probably just getting her worked up.
“I . . . Mishter Nawofoomee . . .”
Raphtalia was starting to slur her speech. I didn’t think she would be that drunk already.
“Oh? Little Raphtalia?”
“Whuud I’m shaying ish . . .”
Raphtalia’s face fell smack-dab into the table with a loud thud.
“Err . . . I, too . . . am feeling a bit . . .”
Gaelion shook his head back and forth and then lay down on his back.
Hmm . . . Raphtalia was no lightweight, and she was passed out drunk. Meanwhile, Sadeena and I were completely unfazed. Something about that was kind of depressing. I always felt out of place when I went out drinking with a group of people. That’s why I didn’t really like drinking very much. I just felt more and more alone as everyone else happily drunk themselves further into oblivion.
I had no idea what it felt like to be drunk. I’d never even gotten motion sickness, which was supposed to have symptoms similar to being hungover at least. I guess the closest I had ever come to being drunk was experiencing a state of euphoria. Well, that was an exaggeration, but I’d felt carefree while just having fun before. I guess I’d been drunk with success before, but that was obviously not the same thing.
I don’t remember who it was, but someone once told me I drank like a mutant fish. Mutant . . . Really?
“
Well, look at that. Dragon Killer and Tanuki are both famous drinks where I come from, and it looks like they live up to their names. I guess they were a bit much for little Gaelion and little Raphtalia.”
What?! What was Sadeena implying?!
“You . . . This was your plan, wasn’t it?!”
This was bad. Sadeena had obviously intentionally chosen drinks that would be too much for Raphtalia and Gaelion. And now there was a chance that she would make a move on me. Worst-case scenario, I could use Shield Prison and then flee using my portal, maybe.
“Now then. Let’s have another drink!”
“No thanks. I’m going home.”
“Oh, come on. If you go home, what will happen to little Raphtalia and little Gaelion?”
“I’ll take them with me when I use my portal.”
“I’m sure you will. But I want to talk with you a bit before you do that.”
“Talk? Aren’t you planning some kind of rampant debauchery?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Sadeena cheerfully chugged the remainder of her drink. And then her demeanor changed instantaneously.
“Little Naofumi, I want to know what your true intentions are toward little Raphtalia.”
Sadeena completely dropped her usual playful attitude and changed into her demi-human form. She had a dead-serious look in her eyes when she asked.
“You got Raphtalia and Gaelion completely smashed just to ask me that?”
What did Raphtalia really mean to Sadeena anyway? I didn’t know what the deal was, but asking Sadeena about it always felt like crossing some kind of line. She never gave me a straightforward answer.
This was something that happened not too long ago.
We were right in the middle of getting the village set up and rebuilding the neighboring town. Having gotten wind of the fact that my most-trusted assistant was a racoon-type demi-human, a whole bunch of demi-humans, racoon-type demi-humans, showed up at the territory.
“Shield Hero, since your most-trusted assistant is a racoon-type demi-human, that makes us practically family. We rallied together and came as quickly as possible to help you with the reconstruction.”
When I saw the other racoon-types, I couldn’t believe how different they were from Raphtalia. I’m not sure if portly was the right word . . . Basically, they struck me as a bunch of pudgy country bumpkins. They didn’t seem very driven. It was more like they figured they could come latch on to me and live an easy life, so I wasn’t too keen on the idea of taking them in.
But seeing as they were racoon-types, I also found it really hard to refuse. Any time I met eyes with one of them, they started explaining all the details of how they were related by blood, probably in an attempt to pressure me. That really started getting on my nerves, and I was contemplating just telling them to leave.
That’s when Sadeena stepped forward. Unlike her usual cheerful self, she was seething with anger. She pointed her harpoon at them.
“I’m sorry, but any blood ties you might have with little Naofumi’s most-trusted assistant are so far separated that you’re as good as complete strangers. Don’t try to use that as an excuse to win his favor. Understood?”
Sensing her anger, the whole bunch of them were scared stiff.
“Well, if you really want to help out, then I guess you can give us a hand with the reconstruction over at the neighboring town. I’ll think about making you an official part of the team later,” I told them.
After wrapping up the discussion, I sent them to help with the town’s reconstruction. But not long after . . . Yeah, now I remember. I’m pretty sure almost all of them had fled during the night by the time three or so days had passed.
That wasn’t the only time Sadeena had acted strangely. Every now and then I would catch her glaring at something in the village, but there was never anybody there. She’d have a wary look in her eyes, as if there was someone hiding or something. But if someone were using concealment magic, I’m sure Raphtalia would have noticed. She never actually mentioned anything, so it was most likely just her imagination.
“Seriously, what’s the nature of your relationship with Raphtalia anyway?”
I don’t know, but . . . Even I’d been able to work out that finding Raphtalia had been Sadeena’s true motivation for buying up the slaves in Zeltoble. Of course, judging by how she interacted with the villagers, securing the slaves was still a big part of it, I’m sure.
“Little Naofumi, little Raphtalia and her parents were what gave my life meaning.”
“Gave your life meaning?”
What was her connection to them? That just made things even more confusing. Back in my world, cultural concepts like chivalry or the way of the samurai had existed in the past. Maybe it was something like that.
“When the first wave occurred here in this world, I wasn’t able to protect little Raphtalia’s parents. Well the truth is, I had been somewhere far away when it happened, and I couldn’t make it back in time. It was carelessness on my part.”
There was a hint of regret in Sadeena’s whispers. She took another drink. Judging from her demeanor, she definitely didn’t seem to be joking. Raphtalia was still out cold. Sadeena tucked her into a simple bed in the cave and then continued where she left off. Sadeena seemed to be serious, so there was no reason for me to be hard on her, even if it was just the two of us.
“But when I finally made it back to the village several days after the wave occurred, nobody was there,” she continued.
“I searched and searched. I was sure that they had survived. But I’m a demi-human, so I had to stay away from the shadier side of things in Melromarc. Zeltoble specializes in the slave trade, so I went there and continued my search as a combat slave. I had some big-name connections there, so I figured things would work out if I could save up some money.”
“You took quite the detour, huh?”
In reality, Raphtalia had been a dirt-cheap slave. Sadeena may have searched really hard, but she sure ended up a long way off target.
“Searching specifically for a slave named Raphtalia that looked like a racoon was just taking too much time. I did manage to find some of the other village children though.”
“Yeah, you were protecting the village slaves, right?”
“Yes. And then when I did finally come across little Raphtalia, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I never expected her to be fighting by your side, little Naofumi.”
“Talk about a life full of ups and downs. Raphtalia’s, that is.”
If possible, I wanted Raphtalia to live a comfortable, quiet life once this world had found peace. She’d believed in me, so I wanted her to be happy. That wasn’t going to change. Sometimes I just wanted this world to go up in flames, but as long as Raphtalia lived here, I had no qualms about doing my best to make it a peaceful place.
“You said, ‘looked like a racoon.’ Is Raphtalia not a racoon-type?”
“It’s kind of like how I get mistaken for an orca. She’s not exactly a racoon, but she’s something close.”
“I see. Well, Raphtalia is Raphtalia, regardless of her type.”
There were lots of animals that were similar, yet different species. Kind of like native and non-native species of the same animal.
“That’s what’s nice about you. Hey, little Naofumi, if you’re not ready to commit to sticking by little Raphtalia until the very end, I’d prefer if you’d just settle for me instead.”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking you to be prepared to commit before getting into a relationship with little Raphtalia. If you’re not prepared to commit, but you still feel the need to get intimate, then I’d rather you use me to get that out of your system.”
Well, I wasn’t expecting that.
“Do you think I’m some kind of savage or something?”
Well, I guess I did act like a savage. But I’d rather die than get intimate with a woman. I mean, I trusted Raphtalia. If you asked whether I liked her or not . . . Yeah, I liked her.
I was certain about that much. If you told me to tell that to Raphtalia’s face, I could. Although I’d prefer not to. But was it in a romantic kind of way? I don’t know.
Raphtalia was my trusty sidekick. We were companions that had shared the good times and the bad. At the same time, she was like a daughter to me. In that sense, I considered myself her “father,” as Motoyasu liked to call me. As long as this world hadn’t found peace, I was sure Raphtalia would remain focused on her mission and wouldn’t be interested in things like love and romance. On the other hand, I loved her like a child. Wait a minute, I needed to slow down. I was getting caught up in Sadeena’s pace.
When Sadeena said “very end,” she probably meant until Raphtalia died, and not just until the waves ended. In manga and games, it wasn’t uncommon for the protagonist to settle down in another world. But . . . I wasn’t prepared to make that kind of commitment, I don’t think. I intended to return to my own world once this one had become peaceful.
Sadeena was probably worried I would try something with Raphtalia, and knowing my personality, that’s why she had been teasing me. Her advances seemed like harassment, but by keeping that up she probably figured it would keep me away from Raphtalia. Sadeena was always messing around, but the truth was, she had a knack for calmly observing people’s behavior and leading them to act in a certain way. She was the type that would be a real headache if you made an enemy out of her.
She was trying to sound playful, but her eyes were dead serious.
“You must have a good reason to keep pushing the issue.”
I wasn’t planning on doing anything with Raphtalia, but I wanted to get a better idea of what Sadeena was thinking.
“Oh, alright. I guess I can fill you in just a bit.”
Sadeena ran her hands through Raphtalia’s hair gently and then began her explanation.
“You might have suspected something like this, but little Raphtalia’s father belonged to an important family with a long lineage. I was a miko priestess that served that family.”
“Oh? Was this in Siltvelt or Shieldfreeden?”
“Nope. I can’t tell you exactly where. I’m already telling you way more than I should.”
So it wasn’t a demi-human country. And what kind of position was a miko priestess, anyway?
