Fairy Games
Satou here. Ever since I became a working adult, the days off on my calendar have dramatically decreased. In exchange, though, I’ve gotten that much better at enjoying those breaks to the fullest once a game is finished.
“Yeaaah! I got a Herculeees!”
Arisa’s excited cry echoed through the verdant forest, still damp with morning mist.
Today, we were going hunting with the elves. We got to the meeting place early, though, so the elves hadn’t arrived yet.
Arisa and Lulu normally didn’t participate in this kind of thing, but they’d heard that the scenery near the hunting grounds was beautiful, so they came along to check it out.
I had Practical Magic spells like Magic Hand and Enchant: Physical Protection at the ready, so I should be able to protect them even if any unforeseen circumstances arose.
The latter was particularly convenient, since it meant we could walk through the forest in light clothing without getting rashes from sap or having our legs cut up by thorns and such.
In theory, this might even make the legendary chain-mail bikini a possibility, but I decided not to mention this idea lest my companions stare daggers at me.
So today the girls were all dressed in matching safari expedition outfits.
More importantly, what in the world was Arisa doing?
Coming down from a treetop using the Space Magic spell Short-Range Teleportation, Arisa presented me with a beetle that was easily a foot long. She hated spiders, but for whatever reason, giant beetles were fine.
On closer inspection, I realized it did resemble a Hercules beetle. The AR display called it a Bolenan Spearhorn Beetle.
Lulu and Nana, who were picking honeywort with me, looked up at Arisa, but when they realized it was a bug she was holding, they lost interest and went back to harvesting wild plants.
“What do you think? Pretty amazing, right?”
Before I could scold her for behaving like a grade school boy, Pochi and Tama showered Arisa with praise.
“Huuuge!”
“It’s amazing, sir! Pochi wants to find one, too, sir!”
Getting weirdly fired up about it, Tama and Pochi immediately started climbing nearby trees as well.
I’d seen Tama napping in tree branches all the time, but I had never seen Pochi climb a tree before.
“Gotchaaa?”
Tama did a spin in midair before landing on the ground to show off a stag beetle of comparable size to Arisa’s.
“A cat doing a twirl in midair… Maybe I should start calling you Nyanko-sensei?” Arisa murmured gravely. This must be some weird joke from the Showa era.
“Grrr, Tama’s so fast, sir!”
Pochi looked around in the treetops, anxious to catch up. Then she spotted something and leaped to another branch, sticking her head into a hole in the tree.
Judging by the rapid movement of her tail, she must have spotted some prey.
“I have you now, sir!”
Pochi popped back out of the hole and promptly went flying right off the branch.
“Waaah—sir?”
As she screamed, I used Magic Hand to catch her in midair and scoop her into my arms.
“Be careful, all right?”
“Sorry, sir.”
Pochi slumped down, her ears flattening.
“What did you catch, Pochi?”
Arisa’s thoughtful question perked her dog ears right back up.
“This, sir!”
“Geh! Th-that sure is something…” Arisa backed away slowly.
Just then, the elves arrived, along with Liza in the lead and Mia bringing up the rear.
“Delicacy.”
“Gift.”
“It’s quite unusual to catch these at this time of year. I’m told humans don’t often eat them, but they’re delicious if you steam them before cooking. Scooping out the sticky insides with a spoon is the best part.”
Seeing the prey Pochi had caught, the elves all gave their approval.
I wasn’t expecting to hear that about a puppy-size caterpillar, that was for sure.
So they even eat this…? I guess you learn a thing or two when you live that long.
At any rate, now that the elves had arrived, we could get started on the hunt.
“Meow, meeeooooow!”
“Awooooooo, sir!”
This time, it was Tama’s and Pochi’s shouts that echoed through the trees.
They were using the low-hanging ivy to swing from branch to branch, Tarzan-style.
“Master, it is my turn next, I report.”
Nana grabbed a piece of ivy and stared at me expressionlessly.
Though most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, to me it looked like she was just as excited as Tama and Pochi.
“U-um, I think I’d like you to carry me instead, ma—”
Arisa didn’t want to swing on the ivy, so she was strapped to the back of Nana, who was using the Foundation technique Body Strengthening.
Before she could finish her protest, however, Nana impatiently took off.
“—Aaaaaaaaaah!”
Arisa’s scream shook the dew off the surrounding trees.
“M-master…”
Watching her sister shriek on Nana’s back, Lulu turned pale and trembled.
“Don’t worry. I can just lift you with magic and carry you across.”
I lifted Lulu a bit with Magic Hand, then picked her up like a child and floated in the air with “Skyrunning.”
“Waaah! Th-this is so sudden…”
Lulu’s face turned from pale to bright red.
She’d been getting more accustomed to being close to me, I thought, but I guess she still couldn’t deal with unexpected situations like this.
In that way, she was similar to her older sister, Arisa.
“Mrrr. Satou.”
“Mia, I’ll carry you on the way back. Liza, could you take her for now?”
“Yes, master.”
With a wave to Mia and Liza, I took off after the elves and the rest of our party.
“Kyaaa!”
After the initial jump came a head rush like a sudden drop on a roller coaster, followed by an abrupt change in speed and wind pressure that sent my hair and clothes flying back. The experience was exhilarating.
Unfortunately, Lulu didn’t seem to be enjoying it as much. She was obviously stifling a scream as she clung to me for dear life.
Something about the sight made me want to pretend to let my hand slip and scare her even more, but I couldn’t betray Lulu’s trust just to satisfy my childish urges, of course.
I held her securely as I jumped from tree to tree, and soon we reached a break in the forest.
“Ahhh, praise be to solid ground!”
Arisa was practically kissing the grass by the time we arrived.
Tama, Pochi, and Nana, on the other hand, were aglow with smiles from the fun ride. I would have to make sure they didn’t get so overexcited that they slipped up.
“Are you all right, Lulu?”
She was still clinging to me, even though we’d reached the ground.
Since she was pressed so close to me, I could feel her heart racing.
That must have been very scary for her.
“Y-yes. My heart is still pounding a little, but I’m f-fine. L-let’s just stay like this a bit longer, please…”
Lulu’s face was buried in my shoulder, so I couldn’t see her expression. I could feel her fingers trembling as she clung to me, though, so I let her keep hanging on to me for now.
“Oh-ho-hooo? What’s this, now?”
As she peered up at Lulu from the ground, a slow smirk spread across Arisa’s face, and she started smacking Lulu on the back.
“Oh, dear sister? Are you sure it’s because of fear that your heart’s pounding? Hmm?” she whispered in a voice I could barely pick up with my “Keen Hearing” skill.
“A-Arisa, stoppp!”
Turning bright red, Lulu shot away from me like a magnet with the same polarity, tackling Arisa and covering her mouth with a slender hand. I was just glad that their sisterly bond was as strong as ever. It was cute to see Lulu panic, too.
“Geeeh!”
Arisa seemed to be having a bit of trouble breathing, but she could get away with using a chant-less Short-Range Teleportation if she really needed to, so I decided to let them go at it for now.
“Satou.”
Turning around, I saw Mia beckoning me from Liza’s back.
So the last pair had arrived, too. Mia looked surprisingly calm; I guess she was accustomed to being carried.
The area we were visiting was a plateau next to a clear lake.
Flowers bloomed along the shore of the lake, and countless varieties of butterflies danced through the air, their wings rivaling the flowers in beauty.
On the plateau, several herds of buffalo munched on grass, adding to the peaceful atmosphere.
“Pretty butterfliiies?”
Tama bent forward like a real cat, wiggling her butt a few times before pouncing at the insects.
She swatted at the butterflies with her hands, but she was careful not to actually touch them and hurt their wings, so I decided not to scold her.
Usually, Pochi would be right at Tama’s heels, but today she was hanging back, looking reluctant.
“You’re not going to join her, Pochi?”
“I can’t, sir. If I get too close to the flowers, I won’t be able to smell prey anymore, sir.”
Oh right. I suppose the main goal of the day is hunting.
“Safe.”
“Break.”
A few of the elves muttered single words.
As usual, it was difficult to understand this taciturn variety of elf.
“Guya, Gia, you must speak properly today and say what you mean. These kind people haven’t lived with you long enough to understand you, remember?”
“Explain.”
“Trust.”
One of the better-spoken elf boys told the pair off, but they didn’t seem to want to bother explaining themselves, so they left it to him.
This elf who actually spoke in complete sentences was named Hishirotoya, Hiya for short.
“Oh, all right, then…”
Hiya gave a resigned shrug.
“This is a safe area. There are no poisonous creatures here and nothing dangerous in the lake, either.”
I searched my map to be safe, but just as he said, there weren’t any dangerous or aggressive creatures here.
There was one thing that caught my eye, however.
I pointed to a tree in the middle of the lake that had lost its leaves.
“What about that Elder Treant?”
“Oh, that’s nothing to worry about. I’m impressed that you recognized it, though. Most people would assume that was just a tree… But they don’t tend to move much, so you’ve nothing to fear.”
There were a few knots and hollows in the center of the trunk that might look like an old man’s face from the right angle.
“Whoa!”
“Look at that!”
My comrades, who hadn’t noticed the treant, all exclaimed in surprise.
“Won’t we anger it if we light a fire on the shore here?”
“No, that’s fine. If you were to, say, pour oil into the lake and set fire to it, of course it’d get angry, but noticing a little campfire on the shore would be too much effort for it.”
For the most part, he explained, treants didn’t live much differently than ordinary trees.
I would be interested in talking to one at least once, but Hiya told me that they took even longer to converse than giants.
Now that my concerns were assuaged, I picked up my bow and quiver from the ground and nodded to the elves.
“Let’s go, then—”
“Wait.”
“Water Stone.”
The two single-word elves stopped me and headed over to the shore.
“… ? Call Water Sui Yobi.”
One of them, Miss Gia, used a short incantation that sounded like Spirit Magic. The surface of the lake rippled, and a small lump that glowed blue floated up from the surface. According to the AR, it was called a Water Stone.
Looking at it with “Spirit Vision,” I could see that water spirits were wrapped around the Water Stone, carrying it toward the shore.
“Need.”
“Dismantling.”
Miss Gia picked up the Water Stone when it arrived, flowed magic into us, and showed us how it produced water. She seemed to mean that they used it for butchering prey.
“All right—we’ll be back.”
“Make sure you bring home a big one, ’kay? Whoever nets the biggest catch wins a flower crown and a kiss from the adorable Arisa!”
Arisa struck a strange pose from the little camp they’d set up near the flower garden.
I didn’t say it out loud, but I was pretty sure the “sassy pirate” pose worked only if you had a shapely figure. Arisa’s jokes were always so out-of-date.
“It’s a little chilly around here, so I’ll prepare some nice warm soup, too.”
“Master, I shall make garlands for your exclusive use, I vow.”
What am I supposed to do with garlands? Throw a grand opening for a store?
Again, I kept my comments to myself, since Nana seemed to have taken a liking to the flowers. Instead, I let her stay behind with Lulu and Arisa.
Mia, the beastfolk girls, and I all followed the elves away from the camp.
“Master, that is a fine herd of horned buffalo.”
“Lots of beeeef?”
“I couldn’t eat all that, sir.”
The beastfolk girls were staring at a herd of Great Bolenan Buffalo, their eyes gleaming. The buffalo, which looked more or less like American bison, were munching away at the grass on the plateau.
They were about three hundred feet away, just barely within the range of a short bow.
One of the elves put up a sound barrier with Wind Magic so the herd wouldn’t hear us talking strategy.
“Thin out.”
“Ten.”
I didn’t understand what the short-spoken elves were getting at, so I turned to one of the more loquacious elves for an explanation.
“This area is particularly scarce on carnivorous predators, even for the Bolenan Forest. Without any natural enemies, the buffalo population can grow too large and consume all the vegetation if left to their own devices. Thus, our hunting goal today is to thin out the population to a certain amount. We will startle the herd into fleeing and cull ten of the slower buffalo.”
I see. That’s a lot of information to narrow down to three words.
These elves were awfully deep.
“Mia!”
Just as we’d determined the number of our prey and were about to start the hunt, a familiar-looking elf boy ran up to us.
If I remembered right, this was Mia’s childhood friend Goya. I felt bad, but his name just made me want some goya melon stir-fry. There was a really good place for it near my work…
“Goya?”
The boy nodded and showed Mia his bow, then he glared at me and declared, “Contest!”
I wished he’d learn from the sentence-using elves a bit more.
“Erm, are you saying you want to have a hunting competition with me?”
“Yeah.”
Could you not look at me like I’m the idiot here, please?
Most people can’t understand everything you mean if you only say a single word, you know.
“How will we decide who wins?”
“Size.”
Hmm. The boss of the herd would be the biggest, of course, but that would detract from the purpose of today’s hunt.
My best bet would be to aim for the biggest of the ten who lagged farthest behind, then.
“All right. You got it.”
“Let’s go, then. Guya, you use Guiding Wind on everyone’s bows; Gia, you use Noise to scare the herd.”
“Mm.”
“Uh-huh.”
“No Guiding.”
“Does that mean you don’t want hit correction magic on your and Mr. Satou’s bows, Goya?”
“Mm. Right.”
The longer-spoken elf looked to me uncertainly, so I nodded to let her know that was all right.
Even if Goya missed, Mia, the sentence-using elf, and I could take his prey down.
At only 130 years old, Mia was already an excellent shot, so I was sure the sentence-using elf with over a millennium of experience could hit a buffalo with ease.
I gave a simple explanation of the strategy to the beastfolk girls, warning them not to be surprised by the loud noise the magic would produce.
Since they were planning to attack the buffalo directly, they’d changed from their safari outfits into whale leather armor.
“Start. ? …”
Guya began his chant, followed shortly by Miss Gia.
Mia and I nocked arrows to our short bows.
Goya and the other elves were using longbows. All of the elves’ bows, including Mia’s, were elegant in design with decorative carvings and strings.
According to the AR display, they were all elf-made fairy bows with various perks like improved accuracy and range.
I was using a short hunting bow I’d made myself, not the magic bow I got in the giants’ village. It didn’t have any special effects, but that was hardly necessary for a distance of around three hundred feet.
“… ? Guiding Wind Michibiki no Kaze.”
When Guya’s spell was complete, a breeze started up around Mia and the long-spoken elf, flowing toward the herd.
“…Now!”
“… ? Noise Souon.”
On the signal of the verbose elf, Miss Gia’s magic created an explosive sound that reverberated across the plateau.
The startled buffalo reared back and began to flee, with their leader at the front of the herd.
“Let’s go, you two.”
“Tallyhooo!”
“Pochi is on the move, sir!”
The beastfolk girls darted out of the bushes, fast enough to put a rabbit to shame.
Their role was not to chase the buffalo but to finish off any that survived a shot from our arrows.
Pochi zipped along at the front of the pack. At one point, she stumbled and did a little somersault, but she carried right on running without letting it slow her down. Her recovery abilities were pretty impressive.
“Fast.”
“Agile.”
The elves who had cast their spells praised the beastfolk girls as they drew arrows from their quivers.
As I was watching the beastfolk girls out of the corner of my eye, the other elves fired their first arrows.
That was all well and good, but Goya was putting a bit too much power into his shots. He would probably hit his target, but I figured it would just injure the mark without killing it.
I predicted the path of one buffalo that none of the elves had targeted and fired just ahead of it. At this distance, I had to worry about the direction of the wind but not the density of the air or the temperature or any of that. Piece of cake, really.
I shot four more arrows after that and then checked to see if any of the others had missed their targets.
“Mrrr.”
“Skilled.”
The two spell-casting elves had nocked arrows to their bows, but they lowered their weapons now without shooting.
They could probably read the trajectory of the arrows.
Checking on the AR display, I saw that a few of the targeted buffalo had survived, but the speedy beastfolk girls quickly finished them off by slitting their throats with daggers or short swords. It might sound cruel, but this was kinder than letting them suffer and die slowly, not to mention being better for the taste of the meat.
“Pochi!”
“Waaah, sir!”
A buffalo that Mia had seemingly finished off stood up and charged at Pochi with its horns.
The lightweight Pochi was tossed into the air like a ball.
Instinctively, I rushed out of the bushes, but partway there, I noticed on the AR that Pochi was unharmed. I’d crafted that armor with battling demons in mind, so of course a buffalo’s horn wouldn’t be able to pierce it.
Relieved, I nonetheless sent out a Magic Hand to secretly cushion Pochi’s fall.
“It’s maaad?”
Tama had straddled the bull’s neck and was hanging on to its horns like a rodeo star.
I hopped on behind her to try and keep her from getting hurt.
“Masterrr?”
“I’ll support you, so finish it off, okay?”
This was way harder than one of those mechanical bulls. I thought I was going to bite my tongue.
“Aye-aye, siiir.”
I grabbed the buffalo’s horn and yanked its head back, using Magic Hand to keep Tama securely in place.
Right away, Tama leaned forward smoothly and drew her dagger along the bull’s throat.
“Rest in peeeace?”
I grabbed the praying Tama and jumped off the bull to prevent any injuries to us as it fell.
I probably would’ve been fine, but any normal human would have more than a few broken bones if they got crushed under a one-ton buffalo.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine, sir.”
Liza helped Pochi up, confirming that she was unharmed.
The elves arrived shortly thereafter.
“Fast.”
“Magic?”
I’d refrained from using “Warp,” but I had still run pretty close to my top speed out of concern for Pochi, so the elves were a little surprised.
The long-spoken elf was checking on the prey with narrowed eyes but then faced me with a smile.
“Very impressive, Mr. Satou. It’s rare to see anyone with such skills, even among us elves.”
“No magic.”
Mia latched onto my arm and made a victory sign.
“Indeed. I’ve never seen anyone shoot so quickly and accurately without any magical assistance.”
Mia nuzzled my arm triumphantly, evidently pleased with the sentence-using elf’s praise.
> Title Acquired: Bow Master
Oh dear. I got a new bow-related title.
“Next time…”
Hearing a dark mutter, I turned around to see Goya with tears in his eyes.
Considering his resemblance to a middle school kid, I felt kind of bad for upsetting him so badly.
“Won’t lose next time!”
With that shout, he ran away without waiting to confirm the results of the match.
“Awww.”
“Youth.”
The short-spoken elves watched him go rather fondly.
Overall, I had taken down six buffalo, the long-spoken elf three, and Mia one. Goya hadn’t finished off any buffalo, which must have been why he didn’t need to wait to find out who won.
The reason I’d finished off six when I only fired five arrows was that one of my shots went straight through one buffalo and pierced a second one.
But the huntsman who brought down the biggest buffalo turned out to be Mia.
Since boys usually wanted to seem cool to the object of their affections, perhaps the reason Goya ran off crying was because he’d lost to Mia, not me.
“Let’s drain the blood, shall we? Lift the buffalo, please.”
“Right.”
“Okay.”
One of the short-spoken elves used the Earth Magic spell Lift to put some of the buffalo bodies on an incline, assisting in the blood draining.
The other one used Plant Manipulation to use weeds and grass to lift the buffalo.
Using magic for this task was a very elf-like thing to do indeed.
Once the buffalo had been bled out, the beastfolk girls made impressively short work of butchering the bodies.
The elves initially intended to bury everything except the best quality meat and some of the entrails, but at the beastfolk girls’ strong insistence that this would be a waste, they ended up bringing back everything edible.
The meat was transported using an elf-made Magic Bag, which seemed to be a contrivance similar to the Garage Bag.
The maker was a friend of the long-spoken elf, so I was able to request Magic Bags to be made for each of my kids during the course of our stay.
“Cuuute.”
“They’re very, very cute, sir.”
When we got back to the rest of the group, we were greeted by a band of flower fairies.
Arisa, Lulu, and Nana wore flower crowns on their heads and had even braided flowers into their hair.
“Hee-hee! Pretty good, right?”
“Master, I would like your evaluation and praise, I entreat.”
“Yes, you look very cute. I thought you were flower fairies.”
Arisa and Nana posed for praise, so I complimented them accordingly.
“Let me see yours, too, Lulu.”
“A-all right…”
“Those flowers look very nice with your lovely black hair.”
Lulu ducked her head bashfully, so I tilted up her chin.
She looked very cute, so it would be a shame if everyone couldn’t see.
“Tama’s a flower fairy, toooo?”
“Pochi too, sir.”
The two young beastfolk girls looked thrilled with the flowers Arisa gave them.
Darn. I should have put them all in fairy cosplay today instead of safari outfits.
“Look at thiiis?”
Tama gleefully pointed at her ears.
Since her hair was too short for braids, Arisa had stuck a large flower next to each of her ears.
“Arisa, I do not think that flowers suit me very well…”
“Compliment.”
“You all look adorable.”
Liza and Mia had very sharply contrasting attitudes, but I praised them both anyway.
Contrary to Liza’s claims, she looked like a cute flower princess.
All that being said, I didn’t think it was necessary to put flowers on me, too.
But Arisa and Lulu seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, so I didn’t have the heart to stop them.
“Looks gooood?”
“Beautiful ever after, sir.”
Tama and Pochi pranced around me excitedly.
I didn’t want to burst Pochi’s bubble by pointing out her strange turn of phrase, so I simply sat and played the role of their dress-up doll for the better part of an hour.
“Bizarre.”
“Mystery.”
Once I was done being a doll and started preparing for lunch, the short-spoken elves came over to marvel at my cauldron.
Is it really that strange?
“I imagine this was made with a spell like Magic Mold, yes? This normal cauldron is one thing, but the sealed one is very intriguing.”
The long-spoken elf stared at the cauldron in which I was boiling the sinewy meat.
“Wow, you can adjust the temperature of this heat source freely, too?”
The transparent cauldron floating in the air was indeed made with Magic Mold, so it could be sealed so perfectly that it essentially functioned as a pressure cooker.
I had a second cauldron out, too, which I was using to cook rice.
“But normally using it like this would cause it to collapse.”
“Special,” Mia boasted, proudly watching the sentence-using elf’s stunned reaction.
If this were a manga, there would probably be little puffs of air coming out of Mia’s nose.
“M-master, the tree!”
Lulu, who was washing the vegetables in the lake, called out to me anxiously.
“My, it’s unusual to see a treant move.”
Just as the long-spoken elf said, it was the approach of the treant that had startled Lulu so.
“Hallooo!”
The treant stretched out one of its withered, branch-like arms. Standing in its palm was a green-skinned little girl—a dryad.
“Mia, Formation D!”
“Mm. Careful.”
Arisa and Mia jumped in front of me with their arms outstretched, evidently guarding me from the cheerfully waving dryad.
When had they come up with these “formations” anyway?
“Oh dear. The little ones don’t like me, eh?”
The dryad looked a bit sorrowful at their reaction.
“What brings you here, dryad?” the long-spoken elf asked.
“The treants said they had business with the human, so I came to interpret. Unlike elves, humans’ lives aren’t long enough to have a conversation with a treant.”
She went on to explain that the treants had reacted to the wave of excess magic that was produced when I used spells.
Now that I’d learned “Magic Control,” I normally used it to prevent continuous magic leakage, but I hadn’t realized it happened when I used magic, too. I’d have to be more careful from now on.
“So what business do they have with me?”
“Well, it’s their budding season, so they want you to siphon some magic power into the lake.”
“Mrrr.”
“Labor.”
The two short-spoken elves frowned warily.
“Dryad, you know Lady Aaze is quite busy right now, do you not? And even the most magical of us elves have no power to spare from helping her. Can’t you ask the treants if they can wait at least a year?”
I didn’t know what this “budding season” was all about, but I was surprised to think it would be flexible enough to wait a whole year.
“Not the Holytree. They’re asking the human, silly!”
I didn’t mind giving them some magic, but I’d prefer not to have to kiss a little girl in the process.
“Sure. What do I do? If possible, give me a method that doesn’t involve kissing, please.”
Arisa and Mia nodded in satisfaction at my words, but the other elves turned pale.
“Reckless.”
“Suicidal?”
“M-Mr. Satou, dryads don’t know how to hold back. If you transfer magic to them without someone like Lady Aaze or the shrine maidens around, she might well suck you dry.”
“Oh, please. This human can handle it.”
Uh, wait a second.
The dryad didn’t deny what the long-spoken elf said just now.
Thinking back on my previous experiences with her, it was entirely possible that she took more than any normal human would’ve been able to give.
“Well, putting it directly into the lake isn’t very efficient. One second, please.”
The dryad turned to the treant and fell silent for a while.
She was probably talking through some kind of plant network.
Eventually, they seemed to reach an agreement, and the treant slowly shook out its branches, dropping two twigs into the lake.
There was a loud splash—so loud that I realized that what looked like twigs were actually branches big enough to support a house.
“Use those branches to channel your magic into the lake.”
“Got it.”
The branches drifted to the shore on their own, so I picked them up.
I didn’t know whether it was the dryad or the treant who moved the branches, but it meant one less job for Mia to do with Water Magic.
“All right—here goes.”
“Do it!”
I began siphoning magical energy.
I carefully moderated the amount of power I ran through the treant’s branch so I wouldn’t break it.
“Yes! Yeees!”
“Quiet, you!”
Enraged by the dryad’s rather indecent exclamations, Arisa grabbed a berry off the ground and flung it at her.
She was never one for athletics, though, so the berry sadly missed its mark by a mile.
If you weren’t used to throwing things, it was only natural that your aim wouldn’t be very good.
“I was just trying to cheer him on!”
Still, at least it had the effect of stopping the dryad’s shouting.
This was actually harder than I’d expected. No matter how much magic power I poured in, it felt as if most of it was escaping through the surface of the lake.
This seemed like a waste, so I divided off some of my magic to make a thin film over the lake’s surface, holding the rest of it inside. That should do it.
When I’d used up around half my magic, the entire lake began to glow faintly.
“Okay, all good now.”
“…Remarkable. Even Lady Aaze took around ten days to fill the lake with magic…”
Evidently, I’d overdone it a bit, but Miss Aialize and the other elf higher-ups already knew that I was unusual in various ways, so it probably didn’t matter much if the rest of the elves got a glimpse of my power, too.
They didn’t seem to interact with anyone outside the forest very often anyway.
“Looook?”
“The lake trees are in spring now, sir!”
New sprouts were budding from the treants who had gathered in the lake, though they’d looked like dead trees not long ago. In an instant, the buds bloomed into flowers, producing golden fruit.
So this was the “budding season” they’d mentioned.
“Here, human. A thank-you from the treants.”
The dryad handed me a string of wooden beads with pine cone–like designs.
“Treespirit Pearls.”
“Useful.”
“This is a valuable item that can be used as a catalyst for Forest Magic. Even without a grasp of Forest Magic, you can simply put magic into the beads and visualize what you want, and it will help plants grow, bend or stretch wood, and so on.”
Ooh, that could be very convenient for woodworking.
“Thank you, Elder Treant!”
I was so excited that I blurted my thanks.
The dryad promptly burst out laughing, her mouth widening so much, it was practically bigger than her face.
“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Saying thank you for a thank-you? You’re one funny human.”
Once she’d had her fill of laughing at me, the dryad disappeared into the treant’s palm.
The treant moved back to the center of the lake, its leaves and branches rustling.
> Skill Acquired: “Horticulture”
> Title Acquired: Gardener
> Title Acquired: Friend of the Treants
> Title Acquired: Friend of the Elder Treants
> Title Acquired: Guider of Buds
Checking my log, I noticed that I’d gotten a few rather strange skills and titles.
That aside, though…
“What should I do with these branches?”
“Keep them. They’d be perfect for making wands or staffs, and there are probably magic paths in there now, since you sent enough magic through them to fill the lake.”
The long-spoken elf promised to introduce me to an expert staff maker.
We had the golden thorn that Lulu got from the black dragon, too, so that would be a perfect opportunity.
Well, that should do it.
Once this little diversion was over, the cauldrons seemed to be just about done cooking.
I put a large pot under the transparent cauldron and canceled out the magic so that the meat dropped into it. Then I added onions and boiled the lot in water, adjusting the seasoning as I went.
“Master, I’ve finished the preparations.”
“My prep work is done as well.”
Lulu and Liza brought over the vegetables and entrails they’d been prepping, so I used them to make side dishes.
Tama and Pochi got some eggs from the forest, so I decided to make omelet rice for Mia with lots of mushrooms and green peas.
“Mia, allow me to draw a heart shape, I entreat.”
“Bunny.”
“Request accepted.”
Nana stood at the ready to make a drawing in ketchup on Mia’s completed omelet rice.
“Mm, smells good. Is that what I think it is?”
“You’ll have to wait and find out.”
Arisa drew closer, inhaling the scent of soy sauce overflowing from the pot.
Beside her, the beastfolk girls were also standing at attention.
I arranged the completed rice bowls on the table that the elves magically prepared.
Then, once Arisa led the group in a chorus of “Thanks for the food!” we began to eat.
“Ahhh, delicious! It’s been too long since I had a beef bowl!”
Arisa shoveled the meat and rice into her mouth with tears in her eyes.
Usually, Lulu would be gently scolding her for her manners—but not this time. Instead, her face was as serious as Liza’s as she took delicate mouthfuls of food as quickly as she could while still maintaining a polite facade.
On top of that, she seemed to be contemplating the dish and even taking a few notes. Lulu had quite a knack for culinary research.
“Yummy, very yummyyy.”
“It’s full of deliciousness, sir!”
Tama and Pochi waved their fists triumphantly after the first bite of their extra-large beef bowl helpings.
Pochi’s tail was wagging away, too.
“It’s quite delicious.”
Liza’s voice was quiet, but her emotion was plain on her face.
“Master, it is on par with the deliciousness of hamburg steak, I report.”
“Mine too.”
Mia insisted that her omelet rice was just as good as Nana’s beef bowl.
“Oh my, what is that? It smells amazing! Whatever are you eating?”
“Beef bowls.”
Miss Aialize, who’d just teleported onto the scene, addressed one of the short-spoken elves.
Behind her was the shrine maiden Lua.
“Care to join us? There’s plenty more.”
“Thank you, Satou!”
I didn’t know what she came for, but meals were always more fun with more people, so I offered Aialize a bowl.
I’d made plenty, so having a few extra mouths to feed was no trouble.
“Ahhh, this is sooooo good!”
“Oh, Lady Aaze…” Lua shook her head. “By the way, Hiya. The dryad told me that the treants’ budding season had begun, so I came running, but…”
Mr. Hiya, the normally eloquent elf, simply pointed at the treants and their golden fruit by way of response.
Even the more talkative elves prioritized eating, it seemed.
“…What? The golden fruit has bloomed already? But that means the budding is over!”
“Satou.”
One of the short-spoken elves gestured at me.
I guess they all really liked my beef bowls.
“Did you do something, Mr. Satou?”
“The dryad asked me to supply them with magic power, that’s all. The methods you and Lady Aialize taught me on the stone stage to suppress spirit light and magic leakage proved very helpful.”
“‘That’s all,’ he says…”
Lua mumbled to herself in disbelief, so I offered her a beef bowl, too.
“Leave it to you, Satou,” Aialize remarked with a mouth full of food, resulting in a scolding from Mia.
One of the short-spoken elves next to her wiped the rice from her face with a handkerchief.
Just as Lua was starting to take a bite of her beef bowl, she caught sight of this situation and froze.
“…Ah, this is no time to be eating, Lady Aaze! If the treants’ problem is resolved, we must hurry back!”
“Wait, I’m still—”
But Lua grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the fairy ring, where both of them disappeared.
Even if you’re in the middle of a death march, you should really take a break to eat once in a while…
I gazed for a moment at the fairy ring where they’d vanished, then shrugged and readjusted my attitude.
I’d better eat, too, after all.
First, of course, I had to taste the meat. Considering how short the cook time was, the meat was so soft that you barely needed to chew it.
The flavor came out great, too; the sweet sauce mingled with the umami of the meat in every bite.
In fact, the whole thing tasted so good that I was tempted to start planning a nationwide beef bowl restaurant chain.
As I half-seriously contemplated this, I took another bite, including the golden-brown onions this time.
The faint crunch and sweetness of the onion somehow balanced perfectly with the meat.
I had thought it tasted good before, but the onion stepped it up even further.
Then, finally, I took a bite with a mouthful of rice…
Delicious.
It was so perfectly delicious; there was no other way to describe it.
The meat, the onions, the rice, and the unsung hero—the sauce.
Together, they formed a beef bowl symphony that played a delicate harmony on my tongue—
“The red pickled ginger isn’t red!”
Arisa’s shriek brought my mind back to reality just as it started to drift into another dimension.
That was close. It had been so long since I last had a beef bowl that I got a little carried away.
“If I can get some red shiso or food coloring, I’ll make it red next time.”
Red shiso turns things sort of purplish-red, right?
“Exists.”
“Nea.”
“Are you saying Miss Nea has red perilla or red food coloring?”
“Mm.”
I was getting pretty good at figuring out what the short-spoken elves were saying.
I had to meet with Nea, the cook, to go over what spices I needed for curry anyway, so I could ask her about it then.
I thanked the elves for the information, then chopped up the pickled ginger for Arisa.
Specifically, into the kind of slices I’d often seen at beef bowl chains.
I popped one into my mouth to cleanse my palate, then concentrated on finishing my beef bowl.
Pickled ginger is just the thing to complete a meal like this!
“What in the hell?!”
Arisa shouted in an extremely put-on Kansai dialect.
After the hunt, we returned to the elf village and went to the public bathhouse in the underground city to rid ourselves of sweat.
But at the entrance of the bathhouse, Arisa had a bit of a breakdown when she saw the MEN and WOMEN signs.
“But I wanted to have a mixed bath with my sho— Oh, I know! Let’s reserve a family bath!”
“Family bath?”
“None.”
Arisa whirled around like she’d come up with a brilliant plan, but the short-spoken elves only shook their heads.
I guess we hadn’t had a big bath together since the outdoor bath I made along the river.
In the Muno Barony and the old capital, we had only a single person–size bathtub, so we took turns using it.
“Well, shall we head in to the men’s bath?”
I called out to Hiya and Guya, the male elves of the group, and together we entered through the curtain under the MEN sign.
It was only then that I realized that male elves’ names seemed to end in “-ya,” while female elves’ names just ended in “-a.”
Ignoring Arisa’s cry of lamentation, I told the rest of the group to go into the women’s bath. The younger kids wanted to come with me, but there were other men with us today, so I hardened my heart and sent them away.
Since elves didn’t seem to wear robes for bathing, I decided to do as the Romans do and simply carried a towel with me into the bath area.
We appeared to be early, as we were the only three people in the men’s bathhouse.
“Do we use this bowl-shaped fruit as soap?”
It kind of looked like a boob, but that was probably just because I had an incurably dirty mind.
“Yes, it’s a soap fruit that Daisaku created through selective breeding. I believe he called it ‘oppai soap’?”
The word Hiya used was the Japanese word for boobs.
I guess it was Daisaku the Hero who really had a dirty mind.
What was up with that guy…?
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I followed the two elves’ invitation to wash each other’s backs. Since the elves looked so young, it reminded me of bathing with my cousins as a kid.
I couldn’t quite bring myself to use the boob soap, so I found some normal soap instead. This kind had a pleasant, milky smell.
Once I was nice and clean, I immersed myself in the bath and put the towel on my forehead.
Ahhh, there’s nothing like a nice large bath.
“Daisaku brought us many great cultural boons, but the public bathhouse is the best of all, don’t you agree?”
“Good life.”
The two elves seemed to agree with me.
“Baaath tiiiiiime!”
“Arisa, you mustn’t run in the bathhouse.”
As I stretched out to enjoy the hot water, I heard Arisa’s and Liza’s voices from the women’s side of the bathhouse.
Before long, I could hear the rest of the girls and Miss Gia the elf chattering as well.
The girls’ lively giggling definitely added to the bathhouse’s peaceful atmosphere.
Maybe I should make some fruit-flavored milk for everyone after the bath?
“My, human bodies are quite different from elves’.”
A new, high-voiced elf had entered the men’s bath and was now rather rudely squeezing my arm.
The bad behavior was putting a damper on my good mood, so I turned to the newcomer to protest.
…Huh?
Shoulder-length hair, dripping wet from the bath, undulated before my eyes.
Looking farther down, I was greeted with the sight of a barely B-size breast, as well as the rest of a young girl’s body, exposed to the air for all the world to see.
I wished she had at least put a towel over her lower half.
She looked way too young for my tastes, so it wasn’t like I was excited about it, but it was definitely pretty awkward.
Finally, although a little too late for my poor eyes, the steam of the bath rose up enough to cover her delicates.
I gladly returned my gaze to her face and decided to move on to resolve the misunderstanding.
“Excuse me—isn’t this the men’s bath?”
“…Men’s bath? There’s no such distinction in the elf village, ya know.”
According to the AR display, this elf girl’s name was Portomea. She had a cute face, like a Western doll, but her tone was a little aggressive.
Her brazen, unabashed attitude in exposing her naked body to a strange man was similar to Mia’s, although it seemed to be a little too common in this world.
“Then why are there signs that say MEN and WOMEN in kanji at the entrance?”
“I dunno; that was part of Daisaku’s design. He said it was a ‘stylistic choice’ or whatever.”
A “stylistic choice,” huh…?
“I heard mixed baths were normal in Nihon. No?”
“Perhaps in another time, but where I come from, it’s more common to separate them.”
“Huh, that’s weird. Baths are more fun when everyone enjoys ’em together, don’cha think?”
Portomea shrugged, as if what I was saying was utter nonsense.
“Lady Poa, I’ve brought your liquor.”
A brownie who looked like an even younger girl came over, carrying a tray with glasses of wine. For some reason, she was dressed like a waitress in a traditional Japanese restaurant.
“You want some, too, boy?”
“Sure, thank you.”
Miss Poa, who was now soaking in the water, slurped up the wine delightedly.
It was the same type of fairy grape wine I drank before, a light-red wine with a sweet taste.
Ignoring Poa’s rudeness, the long-spoken elf Hiya reached out for a glass of red wine.
“Hey, Poa. Done spider hunting already?”
“Yeah, I landed a big one. Then I let Shiya take care of the annoying little ones.”
Poa mimed slicing something up with an invisible sword and grinned.
Just then, a long-haired young elf g— Nope, a boy emerged from the steam and kicked Poa lightly in the back of the head.
His name was Shishitouya, or Shiya for short.
“You ‘let’ me deal with them? My sword is not meant to cut the likes of mere spider larvae, if you must know.”
“C’mon, what’s the big deal? At least you got to say your line, right? ‘My blade has cut down another worthless thing.’”
Poa swept aside the self-styled samurai’s foot with a sneer.
“Hmph. Such foolishness.”
Shiya grunted at Poa and sank into the bath.
It sounded to me like a fight was about to break out, but clearly this was just their usual banter, and they began to enjoy the bath without any further sparring.
“Y-you shouldn’t go that way, Miss Gia. That’s the men’s bath!”
“Move.”
Unlike the now peaceful men’s bath, it sounded like there was some commotion taking place on the ladies’ side.
In addition to Lulu’s and Gia’s voices, I heard Arisa and the beastfolk girls clamoring, too.
A crash and a loud sploosh echoed through the bathhouse, and a furious-looking Gia appeared.
She was totally naked, just like Poa was.
If I were a lolicon, I was sure I’d be thrilled about all this.
“Heard.”
“You heard what?”
Gia stood imposingly in front of us. I politely offered her a towel, but she made no move to accept it.
“P-please cover yourself up!”
Before the steam could do its job, Lulu hurried over to cover Gia’s chest with a towel.
Lulu was wearing a robe, but it was soaked from the bath, leaving it very clingy.
The sight of her figure was almost enough to lead me down the path of temptation, but I managed to maintain my senses.
“Hoo boy, is this paradise or what?!”
“Arisa.”
Mia arrived and covered Gia’s lower half with another towel, then she scolded Arisa for abandoning their iron-wall duties.
Through the mist, I could see the beastfolk girls and Nana approaching, too.
I guess everyone was gathering on this side now.
“Labyrinth. True?” Gia demanded shortly.
“If you’re asking whether we’re planning to go to Labyrinth City, then yes, that’s right.”
Gia and the other elves all frowned at my response.
Thinking back, I remembered a line in Trazayuya’s notes from the Cradle: Many of our youth have died in labyrinths.
Maybe the elves thought of labyrinths as death traps, then.
“I’m sorry. Did hearing that upset you?”
“No. Dangerous.” Gia shook her head.
“Calm down.”
“I know that slow and steady wins the race, but you must be sure that your words are understood if you wish to get anywhere.”
Miss Poa and Shiya the samurai elf cut in front of Gia.
“Mr. Satou, are you really planning to go to Labyrinth City Celivera?” the long-spoken elf Hiya asked.
“Yes, we are.” I nodded.
“Reckless.”
The short-spoken elf Guya, who had been silent until now, added a single word to the chorus of dissent.
“Do you even know what those labyrinths are like? It’s not the kind of place you go just for a lark!”
It seemed that the elves weren’t angry with us, just concerned for our safety.
“W-wait a second. We’re the ones who asked master to take us to Labyrinth City.” Arisa interrupted Hiya, taking the responsibility on herself.
“Indeed. Arisa is not the only one who made the request…”
Liza and the other kids all chorused in agreement.
Glancing at Hiya, I saw that his eyes had turned serious, so I calmed my kids down for the moment.
“Perhaps I should explain…”
After instructing everyone to enter the water so they wouldn’t catch cold, Hiya explained his experiences.
A few hundred years ago, he and the other elves present had trained in the labyrinth in Celivera.
I guess he didn’t become level 40 just by fighting a bunch of low-EXP monsters.
“It was a terrible place. There are lights that illuminate your path, but it’s actually a trap,” he said.
“Light makes shadows, ya know,” Poa added after Arisa looked confused.
“Goblin Assassins appeared from the shadows, and when we tried to retreat to a safe place, we stumbled onto a Hatch Hole. The battle only got worse from there.”
“It was truly a place like unto hell.”
“Weak spirits.”
I would be fine, since I had the map, radar, and so on, but I could see how this would be a hellish place for any ordinary person.
Incidentally, the Hatch Hole Hiya mentioned was basically a monster spawn point like in video games, where a hole suddenly opens in the wall and tons of monsters appear.
“We’ll find theeem.”
“That’s right, sir! Tama and Pochi will find all the monsters, sir!”
Hiya smiled sadly at the beastfolk pair, patting their heads.
“That’s right. Beastfolk have such sharp senses. They were very helpful in places without a lot of spirits, at first.”
At first…?
“But even beastfolk can’t go on forever with their nerves constantly on edge. People can’t live without sleep. And if you want to get to the depths of the labyrinth, you’ll need to be in there for days.”
In retrospect, when I got caught in the labyrinth under Seiryuu City with the beastfolk girls, I hadn’t slept for several days.
My current body seemed to be able to stay awake for around five days easily enough, aside from a bit of strain on the mind.
“And monsters aren’t the only enemies there.”
“Are there bandits as well?” Liza asked.
“Plunderers,” the short-spoken elf Gia responded.
Plunderers must be to labyrinths what pirates were to the high seas, I guess.
“Yes, those too. But I’m actually talking about fellow explorers. They normally won’t attack you, but if you let your guard down after a monster battle, there are those who might try to entrap you. You mustn’t trust anyone in the labyrinth.”
The younger kids looked like they might cry at that.
“But those people are the minority, of course,” Hiya added to reassure them, seeing me embracing the frightened-looking Tama and Pochi.
When we explored a labyrinth, we should probably build our base camp in deep enough that other explorers weren’t likely to come through.
I had Teleport Magic, too, so it should be relatively easy to avoid interpersonal problems.
“Thank you for worrying about us, truly. If it’s all right, would you mind telling us more about your experiences in the labyrinth?”
Hiya looked at me like I was starting to give him a headache.
“D-didn’t you hear everything I just told you?”
“Yes, it was very useful information…”
How strange. Why were they reacting like this when we were just trying to gather information for safety’s sake?
After a moment of silence, the elves formed a huddle and started discussing something.
Left with nothing else to do, I absently patted Tama’s and Pochi’s heads.
Before long, the contact seemed to cheer them up. Tama started purring, and Pochi’s smile returned with a little giggle.
Finally, Shiya the samurai came over in Hiya’s place.
I guess the elf meeting had come to a conclusion.
“You are truly determined to go to the labyrinth, no matter what?”
“Duuuh.”
“O-of course, sir.”
Tama’s answer was immediate, though Pochi’s came with a bit of a delay.
The other kids all answered “yes” in near-perfect unison.
For some reason, this even included Mia, who was supposed to stay here in the Bolenan Forest.
“Yes, since that’s what the children want.”
Personally, I’d rather go on a pleasant aboveground journey than explore a dark, damp labyrinth crawling with monsters, but if my friends were going to travel with me in this dangerous world, they did need to raise their levels.
“Then whilst you are here in Bolenan, we shall train you ourselves. None of us wishes to send you on your way only to hear of a tragedy later, like in Traya’s time.”
It was an unexpected offer, but we all gratefully agreed.
I wasn’t that concerned about myself, but it’d be wonderful to have my kids learn the techniques the elves had honed over countless years.
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