Chapter 1:
Off to See the World
A massive forest stretched along the eastern coast of the northern continent, where the land met the South Central Sea. The elves inhabiting these forests had come to live here after fleeing persecution by the humans. Hidden within the trees was a village called Lalatoya.
This particular morning, the village was still enshrouded in mist, with few signs of life moving about. At the center of Lalatoya stood the home of the village elder, though it looked nothing like what one might normally imagine a home to be. The building consisted of a massive wooden pillar with expansive leaves sprouting out the top. Multiple windows had been carved along its outer perimeter, each one neatly fitted with a pane of glass. The entire house was made of a single, massive tree trunk and blended easily into the idyllic village scene that sprawled around it. It was like something out of a fairytale.
My eyes opened, and I sat up with a start. I’d been sleeping in a bed in one of the rooms of the elder’s house.
I readjusted the traditional elven attire that I’d worn to bed in an effort to hide my skeletal frame, and glanced toward the mirror in the corner of the room. A skeleton with a blue flame—a soul, perhaps—flickering deep within its darkened eye sockets stared back at me.
Even though this was the same body I’d been in since I’d first appeared in this world, I still wasn’t used to it, or entirely convinced that it was really me. I moved awkwardly on the bed as I watched the figure in the mirror copy my every move.
I reached for the waterskin next to my pillow and took a swig of the hot spring water—which was, of course, no longer hot at this point—downing it in one gulp.
A moment later, my body began to change.
The curse-nullifying effects of the water I’d taken from the spring at the base of the Lord Crown began transforming my body before my very eyes. The eerie-looking skeleton in the mirror was replaced with an unshaven, brown-skinned man. He had long, black hair, deep red eyes, and appeared to be in his mid-thirties. His pointed ears made it obvious that he wasn’t human.
I rolled my shoulders to loosen them up and get used to my fleshy body once again.
“Well, everything seems all right.”
I slowly stood up in the dimly lit room.
The lump of fur snoring peacefully on the bed wagged its tail in response to the bed moving.
“Still sleeping, huh, Ponta?”
Ponta usually woke before me and spent mornings investigating the room, but it looked like I was the first out of bed today.
Standing at about sixty centimeters, Ponta had the face of a fox, but it also had a thin membrane that ran between its front and hind legs, giving it the appearance of a Japanese flying squirrel. It had been my faithful travel companion ever since I saved it from some poachers. Its back was a dark green, the color of grass, while the fur that ran along its belly and halfway down its tail was white.
I ran my hand through its soft, fluffy fur. This elicited a contented growl, though Ponta showed no signs of waking up.
I looked at the full set of gleaming silver armor that I wore to cover up my skeleton body and the large, two-handed sword next to it. I briefly considered changing into it before deciding to leave the room as-is.
In this world, people got up with the sun, so the village was mostly silent during predawn hours. The only sounds were the occasional bird call and my own footsteps as I padded along the wooden floors.
I made my way down to the second floor and looked in on the dining room, only to find it empty as well.
“Guess I woke up a bit too early.”
I scratched the back of my head as I glanced at the still-cold furnace. Suddenly, I heard a voice call out from behind me.
“My, you’re up awfully early today, Arc.”
I turned toward the source of the voice. In front of me stood a young-looking dark elf—easily identifiable by her amethyst-colored skin, snow-white hair tied and draped over one shoulder, golden eyes, and pointed ears.
The woman had her arms crossed, propping up her bountiful chest, as she eyed me with a questioning gaze.
“Aah, Miss Glenys.” The wife of Lalatoya’s village elder, Glenys now acted as the head of the village in his absence.
“I’m still getting used to your new appearance, so I was taken aback to see a stranger wandering around my home.” Glenys offered up a light chuckle. Under normal circumstances, a skeleton should have been a far more terrifying sight, but she was used to seeing me that way.
Glenys turned the conversation back to the subject at hand. “So, why are you up so early?”
“Ah, that. I was wondering about the matter we discussed earlier…about me boarding a merchant vessel from Landfrea down to the southern continent. Has word come back on if I can go? It’s constantly on my mind. I woke up thinking about it…”
Glenys gave me a slightly exasperated look and shrugged. “You must know that we wouldn’t hear back so soon, right? I just sent the request out yesterday. Why are you so interested in going to the southern continent, anyway?”
I averted my gaze in embarrassment, feeling like an elementary school student who’d woken up too early out of excitement for an upcoming field trip. Instead, I looked out the kitchen window. The morning sun had just started to peek through the trees and was now burning off the mist, bringing the surrounding village into view.
Another woman’s voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned my gaze away from the scene outside and looked toward the source.
The woman rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she walked into the dining room was the spitting image of Glenys. She let out a large yawn. “Good mor… who’s that? Arc, is that you? Wow, you’re up early today.” She was taken aback for a moment at the sight of my body before remembering who I was.
She had the same amethyst skin and golden eyes as her exasperated mother, Glenys, though she wore her snow-white hair straight down her back. Ariane Glenys Maple was a soldier of the city of Maple, the capital of the elven homeland here in the Great Canada Forest. She’d been an immense help to me ever since I arrived in this world.
I greeted the sleepy woman. “Good morning, Miss Ariane.”
Glenys clapped her hands together as if she’d just remembered something.
“It’ll be a while before we hear back on whether you have permission to board a ship departing from Landfrea, so why don’t you two train while I make breakfast?” She looked over toward Ariane and smiled.
I nodded in agreement and turned toward Ariane. “I would be honored to have you as a sparring partner.”
I was now in the body of the avatar I’d played back in the game, and had all of the skills and abilities that came with it. However, I lacked the ever-important fighting prowess and still moved clumsily in combat. Whenever I sparred against the immensely skilled Glenys, she was able to take me out in a matter of moments.
Put in racing terms, power and speed might help you break out of the pack, but it’s all for naught if you can’t turn. To be fair, there were very few people in this world who could fight at Glenys’s level. However, it was still in my best interest to learn how to fight properly.
Ariane ran her fingers through her mussy hair and let out a sigh. “Fine, fine. But I don’t want to work up a sweat or anything, so let’s just keep this simple, okay, Arc?”
She gestured toward me and walked out of the dining room. I turned to the kitchen and waved at Glenys, who was smiling ear to ear, before following after Ariane.
We exited out the back of the large tree house and into the yard. Ariane and I both armed ourselves with wooden training swords and faced off against each other.
As a soldier of Maple, Ariane’s skills in swordsmanship were way out of my league, making me far from an ideal sparring partner for her. However, when I was pitted against a sword master like Glenys, the match always ended mere moments after it began. It was hardly what one could call a training session. I wasn’t yet at a level where I could learn much through training with Glenys, so I would need to start with Ariane.
I readjusted my hold on the training sword, let out a yell, and swung it at Ariane. Without the massive armor weighing me down, I felt like I was able to move a lot faster than usual, though Ariane was still able to deftly dodge my blade and land a blow on me.
“Nng!”
I twisted with the blow and aimed another strike, but she met it with a parry before falling back.
She had no intention of letting an opportunity go to waste.
Ariane closed the distance and launched into a series of strikes, her movements nearly imperceptible.
“Gyaugh?!”
My body instinctively lurched backward in response.
I hadn’t intended to dive so far backward, but when I readjusted my grip on the wooden sword and turned back toward Ariane, I saw that there was now three meters’ distance between us.
Ariane frowned, the annoyance clear on her face. She let her blade drop slightly.
“C’mon, Arc. We can’t spar if you’re just going to run away that dramatically.”
“I’m sorry, I just kinda…” I tried to offer an apology, though I, too, was a bit surprised by my reaction.
I brought my sword back up, and Ariane came rushing toward me.
My body moved instinctively to meet Ariane’s strikes with my own wooden blade, though I overdid it on the fourth strike and lost my balance, allowing her to land a blow on my side.
“Oof!”
Ariane looked perplexed as she fixed her eyes on me. “You’re usually able to move with more precision than this. Why are your movements so exaggerated today?”
I wasn’t intentionally doing anything different, though I did feel a bit stiffer than usual. We continued to spar for several more rounds, but it wasn’t until the effects of the hot spring’s waters wore off and I returned to my skeleton form that Ariane praised me for having better control over my movement.
She rested her wooden sword on her shoulder. “Well, you’ve turned back, and don’t seem to be on the top of your game anyway, so why don’t we call it a day?”
I shook my head. “Just one more round, Miss Ariane. Please?”
“Fine, fine.” Ariane opened up some distance between us and readied her blade.
Even though nothing had changed since the last bout, I felt confident this time. I looked down at the skeletal hand holding the wooden training sword.
“Incoming!”
I let out a yell as I closed the distance between us. Ariane coolly deflected the blow with the side of her blade before twisting it around to turn the tip of her sword toward me, trying to find an opening.
I calmly blocked her first strike and then another, deftly evading her while opening up some distance between us in an attempt to draw her in.
But Ariane knew what I was trying to do and didn’t fall for it. She grinned as we faced each other, blades locked. “Well, you’re definitely doing better.”
“Nnng…”
As we stood at a deadlock, I heard Glenys call out to us from the second-story window.
“Breakfast is ready!”
“Okaaaay!” Ariane responded.
I stretched out and watched Ariane head back into the house before swinging my wooden sword through the air a few more times, recreating the match in my head. I let out a sigh as I muttered to myself, “Well, that pretty much settles it…”
When the spring water turned me back to my elven form, it also brought my emotions back with it, making me much more sensitive to my opponents’ attacks and the pain they might cause. These emotions made me stiffer in my movements and more exaggerated in my attempts to defend myself.
Looking at it that way, it all made sense.
While I was in my skeleton form, my emotions were largely suppressed, and I was able to respond more thoughtfully to incoming attacks. As long as I remained a skeleton while in combat, I’d be able to deal with threats easily. But I’d also never grow that way.
If I intended to spend more time in my elven form, I would need to continue practicing. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before I met my match.
“Hmph, this is all a lot harder than I thought it would be.”
My mutterings were drowned out by the sound of the wind rustling the leaves above.
***
Two days passed.
Without any other pressing duties, I spent the time using spring water to return to my elven form and practicing with Ariane. I trained with her in the mornings and afternoons, and used the remaining daylight hours to practice swordsmanship and help out in the fields, to get to know the village better.
Without any distractions like TV, games, or the internet, I spent a lot more time outdoors. All told, it led to a lot of rewarding experiences. Put another way, the days would have been pretty boring if I’d just sat around doing nothing all day.
That night, after I’d taken a bath and headed up to the second-floor dining room for dinner, Glenys told me that I’d finally gotten the go-ahead for my trip.
“I was just contacted by Landfrea Village. They’ve granted you permission, Arc.”
I rushed toward Glenys, excited to hear the news. “Ooh, really? When is the trading vessel leaving port?”
Glenys put her hand out for me to slow down. “Calm yourself, Arc. They have some terms to sort out, so it’s not like they’ll be leaving right away.”
Given that this was a trading vessel used by both the elves and the mountain people who inhabited their own kingdom on the southern continent, I’d figured there might be some conditions to be met, and possibly money to be paid, in order for me to join the voyage.
I regained my composure. “What do you mean by ‘terms’?”
“The village elder from Landfrea would like to speak with the two of you.”
Ariane was the first to reply. “Wait, me, too?”
Glenys nodded. “That’s right. The village elder said that he would like you to discuss the terms with his older brother directly.”
Ariane and I exchanged puzzled glances at this.
Glenys made it sound like Ariane and I had actually met this man at some point, though, judging by the look on Ariane’s face, she was just as confused as I was as to who he might be.
“I’m afraid I don’t know the village elder of Landfrea, nor do I know his brother,” Ariane said.
I was thinking about the elves I’d met outside the village when one face suddenly sprang to mind. Ariane seemed to have reached the same conclusion as me, and shot me a wide-eyed look. We spoke at the same time.
“Sir Carcy?!”
“Carcy?”
Carcy Held, the peculiar elf researcher we’d met back in Branbayna in the Rhoden Kingdom, spent his days living among the humans and conducting research on the monsters in the surrounding region. Glenys smiled broadly at our response. She looked at me intently, as if prompting me to figure out what these terms might be.
“Hmm. I don’t see any problem in meeting with him.” I cast a sidelong glance toward Ariane, who seemed to agree.
Glenys smiled and clapped her hands together. “Glad to hear it. Ariane, I’d like you to accompany Arc on the journey. I’ve already obtained permission from the central council.”
Ariane responded with an exasperated look. “Wait a minute. I’m supposed to be going to Fobnach!”
“Be that as it may, unfortunately, Arc still isn’t an official member of any village. I used your grandfather’s influence to convince the high elders to agree. So…”
Glenys looked over at me before leaning in and whispering something to Ariane. Ariane’s face flushed a deep crimson, and her mother gave a sly smile. I felt bad about all the work Glenys had done to help me out with my admittedly selfish request, but at the moment, I was more curious about Ariane’s strange expression.
“What is it, Ariane?”
Ariane glared at me before turning her attention back to her mother and letting out a groan.
“Kyii?” Ponta looked up curiously at Ariane from where it stood at her feet.
“It…it’s nothing, okay? Fine, whatever, I’ll go.” She let out a heavy sigh of defeat.
Glenys continued to smile as she made her next suggestion. “Also, I was thinking you could invite Chiyome along on your trip. She’s one of the mountain people, after all!” She looked just like a mom telling you to invite the neighbor kid to come out and play.
Thinking about it, though, it was only natural to invite Chiyome to a country ruled by people just like her. Chiyome was a cat girl and one of the mountain people—known disparagingly as “beast people” to the humans—who lived here on the northern continent. Her clan was devoted to freeing and protecting their comrades who’d been enslaved by humans. A man known as Hanzo had been brought to this world much like myself, and had founded this clan of ninja many generations ago.
Chiyome was one of the six most powerful fighters of the group known as the Jinshin clan. We’d grown close after working together several times, such as in her operation to free a group of slaves back in the capital of the Rhoden Kingdom.
“I agreed to join your village in order to secure a spot on the trading vessel, so what does that mean for Chiyome? Also, she has many duties to her clan, so I wonder how easily she could leave them to come on a voyage like this.”
Glenys seemed oblivious to my concerns. “Well, the vessel’s heading to the land ruled by Chiyome’s people, no? Mountain people join the elves on trading vessels all the time, and even come into our towns. Besides, no matter how well-informed Chiyome and her clan might be when it comes to the lands of the northern continent, I think it would be good for her to get a look at the Great Fobnach Kingdom.”
After mulling this over, I glanced at Ariane.
She returned my gaze. “With your teleportation abilities, we shouldn’t have much difficulty traveling about. Besides, I don’t see the harm in inviting our new friend.”
“All right then, we’ll make our way to Chiyome’s hideout tomorrow.”
“Kyii! Kyiii!”
With that matter settled, and our plans for the following day set, Ponta began to whimper as it nudged at its bowl, urging us to get on with dinner.
***
The following day, Ariane and I sparred again in the morning, ate breakfast, and then departed the village. Well, “depart” probably wasn’t the right word for it. Since I was using my long-distance teleportation spell, Transport Gate, it would probably make more sense to say that we disappeared from the village.
The next moment, we were standing amidst the Calcut Mountains that spread along the northern lands of the Rhoden Kingdom, looking down from the high ground at a camp nestled in one of the valleys. This camp, built deep within the mountains where monsters roamed free, was one of the mountain people’s hideaways, and also the home base of the Jinshin clan.
The village was surrounded by two walls—the outer one made of wooden stakes and the inner one made of stone—to fend off any would-be intruders. It looked more like a fortress than a mountain village. The drawbridge at the gate was firmly shut. Two guards stood watch at either side of the entrance, their eyes scanning the surroundings for any movement.
Considering I’d already been in the village and remembered what it looked like, I could have easily used Transport Gate to teleport inside, but I figured it was better to be well-mannered, so Ariane and I decided to approach from the outside.
The mountain people were all physically strong, with enhanced hearing and vision. On top of that, my exquisite silver armor and black cloak made me stick out like a sore thumb. No sooner had I started approaching the village than the guards noticed me, and one of them ducked inside to make a report.
Ariane glanced up at me and muttered under her breath. “Well, that certainly didn’t take long.” My rather showy display seemed to have left quite the impression on the people of the village.
I waved to the remaining guard once we reached the village gate. Rather than arming himself, he nonchalantly greeted us.
“What’s your business?”
“We would like to request an audience with Chiyome.”
He opened up the gate and ushered us inside.
It looked like the villagers were already well into their morning tasks, with adults and children laughing and rushing about this way and that. The village seemed a lot more vibrant than the last time we’d been here. It was still taxed well beyond capacity of what it could support, but now that the news had spread that we’d found a new place to settle, the people we passed looked a lot more upbeat.
Out of the throng, a muscular cat person emerged. Standing around 180 centimeters tall, and with white cat ears growing out of his head, the man looked like something of a hermit due to his bushy eyebrows and long beard. However, his piercing gaze and ramrod-straight posture belied his true age.
“Arc, Ariane…what brings you all the way out here into the depths of our mountains?”
The cat man, the twenty-second descendant of Hanzo and the current master of the Jinshin clan, smiled and bowed his head slightly in our direction.
I bowed my head in return before cutting straight to the purpose of our visit. “We’re here to speak with Chiyome.”
As if on cue, a short cat girl appeared at Hanzo’s side and looked up at Ariane and me. “Arc! Ariane! What would you like to speak with me about?”
The young girl kept her black hair neatly trimmed and had azure eyes that seemed almost transparent. She looked just like a stereotypical ninja, dressed head to toe in black, gauntlets on her arms, shin guards on her legs, and a short sword at her waist.
“Oh! Hi, Chiyome.”
The ninja girl bowed almost imperceptibly at my greeting.
“Well, you see, we’re going to take an elven trading vessel down to the southern continent and Glenys thought it would be a good idea to invite you along. There’s a massive kingdom down there run by the mountain people, so we thought it would be a nice opportunity for you to take a look at it. What do you think?”
“The…the southern continent?” Chiyome’s azure eyes shimmered at my proposal. She turned to look at Hanzo.
Hanzo looked almost grandfatherly as his lips curled up into a gentle smile. “If it’s Sasuke you’re worried about, don’t. Tsubone will take care of everything.”
As if in response to this, a woman suddenly stepped forward. “That’s right. Just leave everything to me and go explore the world for a bit. While you’re at it, go ahead and take that buffoon Goemon with you.”
Though garbed in the same ninja attire as Chiyome, the woman’s slender legs were on full display, as was her ample bosom, propped up by her crossed arms. She cast a sidelong look at me with her almond-shaped eyes before shooting me a flirtatious grin.
“Oh, Tsubone. You’re back already?”
This woman—Tsubone, according to Hanzo—bowed lightly in our direction before stepping behind Chiyome, wrapping her arms around the small girl and rubbing her cheek against Chiyome’s head. Chiyome seemed to find this ticklish and tried to push the taller woman away. Judging by her long black hair, this new cat girl, Tsubone, looked as if she could be Chiyome’s sister.
Hanzo finally spoke up. “What do you have to report, Tsubone?”
Tsubone looked down at the younger girl held tightly to her bosom. She shook her head. “Things are a little rough out in Nohzan from what I’m hearing, but I plan on heading there next. I’m sure it’ll be good to get a look at the southern continent, but I’m going to be worried about my little Chiyome off on her own. If we send that big, stupid brute along, he should at be able to shield her, right?”
Tsubone was evidently trying to steer the conversation away from the dark subject matter and back toward the trip to the southern continent. Even though she spoke rather poorly of Goemon, it was clear from her tone that this was just friendly banter.
She must have had a lot of faith in him if she was willing to entrust him with Chiyome’s safety.
Hanzo nodded. “I agree. This is a great opportunity for the young one to open her eyes to the world. Go off on this adventure and serve as an inspiration for the children of the village. After all, there’s nothing greater than showing them that there are many routes for them to travel. Arc, I’m sorry to ask this of you, but I would like to have Goemon accompany you as well.”
Goemon was currently off at the peninsula, building the new camp. I would have to use my teleportation magic to make my way over to him, though this would hardly be any trouble at all.
I nodded, then turned to look at Ariane. She nodded as well.
“I’ll put in a good word with Mother. Besides, we both already know him, so I don’t see it being much of a problem.”
Hanzo seemed pleased with our response. He turned his gaze to Chiyome, as if to place emphasis on the fact that this was all her choice to make.
Chiyome nodded to Hanzo and then turned toward me and bowed her head low. “I would be honored to accompany you on the journey.”
A smile broke out on Ariane’s face. “It’ll be good to have you along again, Chiyome.”
It seemed like these two had formed quite the friendship over the seven days I was unconscious by the spring at the base of the Lord Crown. Chiyome, who rarely wavered from her usual cool demeanor, smiled back at Ariane, and her tail began to wag excitedly.
Even though this all left me feeling more than a bit excluded, I was glad to finally have our party settled so we could make our way to the southern continent.
“As soon as we pick up Goemon, the four of us can take off on our next adventure.”
No sooner had I said this than Ponta suddenly started batting at my helmet from atop my head, making mewing sounds. Apparently, the cottontail fox was offended that it hadn’t been counted as a member of our party.
“Sorry, sorry! And you, too, Ponta.”
“Kyii!”
I petted the long, fluffy tail that swished about under my chin as my mind wandered toward what kind of world awaited us off in the vast continent to the south.
***
Early the next day, we teleported back to Chiyome’s village to pick her up before teleporting to the construction site at the peninsula to explain the situation to Goemon. We then teleported with him back to Lalatoya.
Today was the day that we would finally head toward Landfrea, the elven village where the ship that would take us to the southern continent was currently docked. We had each finished our travel arrangements the evening before and were carrying all the supplies we would need on our backs, which didn’t amount to much. Ariane, an elven soldier, was used to camping for multiple nights on end in the monster-infested woods of the Great Canada Forest, while the two ninjas, Chiyome and Goemon, were quite used to roaming freely throughout the entire northern continent.
Chiyome was wearing her usual ninja garb, while Goemon left his upper body bare, exposing his well-toned muscles for all to see, wearing nothing but twin gauntlets on his arms and the bag on his back. We looked like a band of traveling fighters. I hoped this wouldn’t cause any problems on our trip.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Yes.”
“Ready.”
“…”
“Kyiiii!”
While Chiyome and I responded in the affirmative, Goemon simply nodded his head solemnly and flexed his massive pectoral muscles in reply. Ponta, who had been waiting impatiently at our feet, spun around in a circle and mewed.
“Well then, let’s head to the village’s teleportation shrine. Follow me.”
With that, Ariane began leading the way toward one of the massive trees at the center of the village. Chiyome and Goemon followed after her in silence.
As I watched the three walk away, something occurred to me. “I know it’s a little late to bring this up, Ariane, but is it okay to take Chiyome and Goemon to this elven shrine?”
The eleven teleportation shrine was supposed to be kept secret from all outsiders—especially humans. That said, Chiyome and Goemon already knew that I—ostensibly one of the elves—could use teleportation magic on my own, so it was probably a little too late to worry about this.
Ariane put her finger to her chin and tilted her head to the side. “We’ve already gotten permission to bring them. Besides, the Great Fobnach Kingdom also has teleportation shrines…or at least, that’s what I’ve been told.”
Chiyome, usually known for her cool demeanor, joined me in letting out a loud gasp of surprise at this news. “This teleportation shrine, does it work the same as Arc’s ability? Do you mean to say that there are places in the elven villages, and even in the country ruled by our fellow comrades, that allow for this kind of travel?”
Chiyome put to words exactly what I’d been thinking. The humans up here on the northern continent didn’t have access to anything like these teleportation shrines. It would undoubtedly trigger a transportation revolution if they did. But instead, the shrines were kept secret from the humans. I’d thought they were strictly an elven secret, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
“The teleportation shrines were an invention of our founding elder, Evanjulin. He created several in the Fobnach Kingdom once we opened up trade negotiations with them.”
Apparently, the elves in the Great Canada Forest had been carrying out trade with the Great Fobnach Kingdom ever since it was first founded. As Ariane spoke, a question came to mind. “But we’re traveling down to the southern continent by ship, aren’t we? Are there no teleportation shrines connecting the continents?”
The look on Ariane’s face was one of pure exasperation. “Sure, there were good relations and trade between our peoples from the very beginning, but at the end of the day, we are still separate countries. It’d be a horrible idea to have linked shrines where just about anyone could come and go as they please.”
She was right. I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment to try to take some of the heat off of me. “I see your point.”
No matter how good the relationship was between Canada and Fobnach, they were still independent kingdoms. If they did have any sort of facilities that allowed them to travel back and forth instantaneously, one of them could easily send an entire military force right into the other’s backyard. Besides, since the teleportation shrines were a technology developed by the elves, it only made sense that their use and implementation would be more concentrated in Canada than Fobnach.
I looked at the shrine ahead of us. “So, will we be teleporting to Landfrea, then? I’ve never been in one of these shrines before. It’s kind of exciting.”
Lalatoya’s shrine was built into a massive tree at the center of the village. A gentle stream running from north to south cut through the land behind it, reflecting the rays of the early morning sun. I could hear the sounds of burbling water and chirping birds flapping about as they searched for their morning meal. The massive foliage high above cast a dark shadow on the idyllic scene.
A simple wooden fence encircled the tree, though it looked like it had been placed there to mark the edge of the shrine rather than provide any sort of protection. Much like the village elder’s home, the shrine almost looked as if it were being consumed by the tree surrounding it.
Two elves stood watch at the entrance, armed with swords that hung from their waists. They focused their gaze on me as I approached.
Ariane introduced herself and spoke with them briefly. The two elves stepped to the side to make way for us, apparently already aware of our journey, and ushered us inside. Ariane bowed slightly and entered the shrine, followed by Chiyome, Goemon, myself, and the ever-present Ponta atop my head.
What the shrine lacked in diameter, compared to the village elder’s house, it made up for in sheer vertical height. Thick pillars twisted up along the inner wall, creating a wide, open space inside.
At the center of the room was a raised circular platform illuminated by several crystal lamps. Complex magical runes had been engraved into its surface, the light emanating from them reflecting off the shrine’s walls. It looked like a scene out of a work of fantasy.
While Chiyome and I were fixated on the teleportation pad, Ariane was busy speaking to a small elven man who’d come over to greet her. After they finished speaking, she made her way onto the glowing platform.
“Arc, Goemon…you, too, Chiyome. C’mon, it’s time to go. Get up onto the teleportation pad.”
We all nodded and quickly followed her up.
I couldn’t help but feel like there was a slight difference in the way she’d called out to Goemon and me. While I mulled this over, we were engulfed in a bright flash of white light. I averted my eyes, suddenly feeling like I was floating. A moment later, the light faded. Once my eyes readjusted, I could see that our surroundings had changed.
The short elven man from earlier was nowhere to be seen. Instead, three elves stood in front of us along the outer perimeter of the room we now found ourselves in. It looked similar to the one we’d just left, albeit slightly larger.
A woman dressed in traditional elven robes offered a gentle smile to our party of four (five, counting Ponta). She looked almost like a secretary. Standing on either side of her were two men who appeared to be guards, their weapons at the ready.
“We’ve been awaiting your arrival. I take it you’re Ariane, from Lalatoya?”
Ariane nodded. “Yes, that is correct.”
“I will take you to the elder,” the woman responded in a quiet, curt tone of voice. She turned and began to lead the way.
The two guards gaped in amazement at my gleaming silver armor and massive sword, before turning their dumbfounded gaze to the muscle-bound Goemon. Their reaction was appropriate, all things considered. I was actually quite impressed that the secretary woman’s ears had merely perked slightly when she first caught sight of me.
Once we’d followed the woman out of the shrine, it was clear that we were no longer in the pastoral plains of Lalatoya. Several large trees stood in a long row, all apparently serving as residences. We walked along a shadow-dappled path paved with bricks, passing many other elves. Here and there I also caught sight of other mountain people similar to Chiyome and Goemon.
I mumbled to myself. “This village is rather lively, isn’t it?”
Ariane glanced back at me. “Landfrea serves as the gateway to Fobnach, and is one of the largest villages in Canada.”
Our guide led us to a building. Or, more specifically, to a gate leading into a small complex consisting of several large trees. Construction in Lalatoya generally consisted of trees and buildings coming together in various amalgamations, but what I saw in front of me now was entirely different. These were much shorter than the other trees we’d seen in the village. The foundations of the buildings were made of solid, thick trunks intertwined and compressed together, almost like a fresco.
As soon as we stepped inside one of the buildings, I was again impressed by how completely different it looked from Ariane’s home back in Lalatoya. Intricate symbols were carved all along the floor in an exquisite display of carpentry. The largely unadorned pillars, walls, and ceiling, along with the selection of decorative accessories that covered the room, reminded me more of the homes of human nobility than those of elves.
I assumed that we were now in the home of the village elder of Landfrea. Judging by the way Ariane was glancing around with the same look of wonder as Chiyome and myself, I figured this was her first time here. Goemon, on the other hand, simply stood by silently, looking straight ahead, uninterested in our surroundings.
Noticing our reaction, the secretary offered an explanation as she started up the stairs toward the second floor.
“In addition to Fobnach down to the south, we also deal in items from Saskatoon, which has a trade relationship with Limbult. There are probably a great deal of items you haven’t seen before here in this village.”
“Aaah, I see.” I nodded along with her explanation as I continued to glance around the room.
The Grand Duchy of Limbult was located along the Rhoden Kingdom’s border, and it was the only human country the elves of the Great Canada Forest traded with. This was the first time I’d heard the name Saskatoon. I assumed it was the name of a village that served as a point of trade with Limbult. Considering the sheer number of human items I saw around me, I could only imagine that there must be other means of shipping goods than just the teleportation pad here in Landfrea. Since this village served as a port for intercontinental trade, my first guess was that they were transporting goods by ship, but that would require Saskatoon also be located on the coast and have a port of its own.
I was starting to think the teleportation pads weren’t a very efficient way of transporting large quantities of cargo. If they were, it would have made inter-village trade ridiculously simple, and human goods would undoubtedly be available in other villages. However, I hadn’t seen anything like that in the days I’d spent walking around Lalatoya. Either the cost of teleportation was too high, or there were restrictions on its use.
The woman’s voice interrupted my thoughts as she asked us to wait before disappearing into a nearby room. We found ourselves in a waiting room of sorts, though it was nowhere near as ornately decorated as the room we’d seen on the first floor. It was actually rather simple, consisting of a few round tables and several delicately carved chairs.
I set my bag down on one of the tables and pulled out my leather waterskin. This caught Ariane’s attention, and she fixed me with a suspicious look.
“Wait a minute, why are you taking a drink now, of all times?”
“Well, I was thinking that if I’m meeting a village elder, it would be rude for me to keep my helmet on.” I took a straw out of my bag and stuck it into the waterskin’s opening.
Ariane shook her head. “Ah, right. I forgot. I guess I’ve just gotten used to it. You’re not going to suddenly change back in the middle of our meeting again, right?”
I slid the straw through the gap in my helmet and slowly began to drink. “I’m thankful that you’ve been so kind and accepting of my appearance, Ariane. But I collected this water fresh from the spring this morning, so its effect should last throughout the meeting.”
I was impressed with my own cleverness, though the look on Ariane’s face suggested she was unconvinced. Chiyome was also looking at me from the corner of the room, her translucent azure eyes visible through her narrowed lids. She seemed to be in agreement with Ariane.
Apparently, I hadn’t really won them over.
I glanced toward Goemon in the hopes of finding an ally, but he was standing dead still in another corner, arms crossed and eyes closed, looking like a statue.
“Kyiii!”
Ponta dropped from the top of my head onto my shoulder and mewed, in an attempt to cheer me up. Feeling slightly better about myself, I gave it a pet.
A moment later, the secretary from earlier stuck her head around the corner and called out to us. “Elder Noran will see you now. Please, step inside.”
We followed her through the doorway and into the room. As soon as we stepped across the threshold, I heard an elven man speak up.
“Please accept my apologies for calling you all the way here.”
The man had long, green-tinged blond hair tied back in twin braids, one draped loosely over each shoulder. He was dressed in a traditional elven tunic. Though he wore a gentle smile on his face, the look in his eyes—which were the same shade of green characteristic to all elves—bore a startling similarity to Carcy, whom we’d met back in Branbayna. It was easy to imagine that the two were brothers.
“I never imagined this would be how I’d learn of the whereabouts of my long-lost brother, whom I haven’t heard from since he left the village, all those years ago. The world truly is connected in mysterious ways.”
The secretary cleared her throat, prompting the man—whom I presumed to be the village elder—out of his nostalgic ramblings and back to his newly introduced guests.
“Ah, yes, my apologies. I am the elder of this village, Noran Held Landfrea, the younger brother of Carcy, whom I believe you met in that human town. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Noran gestured us toward a corner of the room where he had a space for receiving guests. The conversation quickly turned back to his older brother. Chiyome and Goemon had never actually met Carcy, so they simply sipped at their tea while Ariane and I discussed our encounter with him.
When Ariane reached the part of the story where we helped Carcy in his monster research by helping him capture a sandworm, Noran rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, though his smile was unmistakable.
“Sounds like Carcy…”
In this world, with its lack of communication devices, I could only imagine how hard it would be to keep in touch with people. Once you said your goodbyes, you might never see each other again. Noran must have been quite relieved to hear about the recent escapades of his long-lost brother.
After listening to our story, Noran stood and offered his thanks.
“Thank you for coming all the way out here. I’m glad to hear of my brother’s whereabouts, and that he’s doing well. We still might not be able to get in touch with him, given where he is, but this will certainly be good news for my father and mother.”
Noran bowed his head before turning the conversation back to the purpose of our visit.
“We plan to have all of the cargo loaded today, so your ship should be ready to depart first thing tomorrow morning. I’ve already prepared a place for you to stay here. Please make yourselves at home.”
My shoulders slumped at the news. “Ah, I see… so, we’re not leaving today.”
Ariane pointed out the flaw in my logic. “You don’t just come to the port on the day you’re supposed to leave. You never know when plans will change.”
“I guess you’re right…” I wasn’t completely convinced, but nodded in agreement anyway.
Thinking back on it, it must have been quite an immense undertaking just to get all the various methods of transportation running like clockwork back in my own world. It would have been a challenge even for the massive companies that ran everything in Japan, but it would be another story altogether out here, where sailboats and the like were so easily affected by the weather.
I supposed it made sense then, in this world, to arrive with several days to spare before departing on a journey. Since I usually traveled using my teleportation magic, I hadn’t thought about this fact.
After leaving the elder’s chambers, we followed the secretary woman to a series of rooms. Once I was alone in mine, I set down my bags and gazed out the window next to the wood-framed bed. The sun was still high in the sky, and I could see large groups of people milling about outside.
I figured it’d be a waste to have all this free time and just sit around doing nothing, so I laid down my sword and removed my leather money pouch from my bag. Stepping into the hall, I ran into Ariane and Chiyome, who were also leaving their room.
Ariane looked me over. “Going for a walk, Arc?”
“It’s still early, and I was hoping to get a look at the boat we’ll be boarding tomorrow. I thought maybe I’d find something interesting near the port.”
Ariane shot me a skeptical look. “In that case, we’ll join you. I don’t like leaving you to your own devices.”
She was looking at me as if I invited trouble wherever I went. I had no idea where she’d gotten that idea. No idea at all.
In all seriousness, it really would be convenient to have Ariane along, considering that she actually knew Landfrea. It’d do me no good to just wander around on my own. I agreed to her suggestion, and the four of us—Goemon decided to join as well—notified the house servant of our plans before making our way to the port.
***
Ariane led the way to Landfrea’s port. Chiyome, Goemon, and I followed along behind her, taking in the sights. To a local, the three of us must have looked like a group of country bumpkins impressed at how developed Landfrea was.
The vast majority of its citizens lived in large tree apartments that stretched seven or even eight stories up into the air, one lined up after the next. These buildings looked just like stands of large trees from a distance, and it was only once you got close that you could tell that they were dwellings. Suspended walkways stretched between the trees, and people used them to travel back and forth.
Ponta sat atop my head and gazed straight up, taken by the whole scene around us, its tail swishing back and forth along the back of my helmet like a dust cloth.
“There sure are a lot of people. How many elves live in Landfrea?” There was a sense of wonder in Chiyome’s voice.
Ariane glanced back and tilted her head to the side. “I’m not exactly sure. Maybe around thirty or forty thousand? There are always a lot of people coming and going here, so it might be higher.”
Chiyome’s eyes went wide. “I thought Lalatoya was pretty big, but this is something else entirely! I can’t believe your people built a city this size right in the middle of the woods.” She let out a sigh of amazement.
Chiyome’s hideaway back in the Calcut mountain range was home to around a thousand people—nearly a thirtieth of the population that lived in this village. The capital of the Rhoden Kingdom was probably the only place I’d been to so far that was bigger than Landfrea.
After making our way past the cluster of apartment trees, we started seeing some of the familiar mushroom-shaped wooden houses that were common in Lalatoya. They were packed close together, and the area seemed full of life. Each of the buildings had goods laid out in front of it, suggesting they were all shops. Merchants stood nearby, hawking their wares to the throngs of people wandering past.
The whole area had the vibe of a busy downtown shopping district. In addition to the exciting items for sale (which were probably imported from the south), the likes of which I’d never seen in human towns, the whole street was filled with the fragrance of sweet spices, carried along on the ocean breeze.
“Mmm, something sure smells good. They must use a lot of herbs and spices here!”
“Kyii!”
The overwhelming, almost biting scents tingled the senses and sent Ponta and me looking for the source.
Ariane explained. “A great deal of spices are imported through Fobnach, so the whole city has a rather unique scent to it.”
Her explanation brought to mind the taste of the well-seasoned hamburger steak I’d eaten back in Lalatoya. I swallowed hard, and my mouth watered. I could feel Ponta shifting atop my helmet. The two of us were drawing so much attention to ourselves that an elven shop owner called out to us as we walked by.
“Hey there, sir! You, in the armor, with the two pretty girls! You wouldn’t be hankering fer a fresh tomato, wouldya? Came in just the other day from down south.”
The man looked young, like all elves did, and had the characteristic long ears and green-tinged blond hair, though he wore it cut short. I was a bit put off by an elf speaking like a salesman, but the sight of the fruit in his hand drew me in.
He held a ripe, red tomato. His shop had a whole pile of them.
“They’re selling fresh tomatoes here near the port, too?” Before I could think, my feet had taken me straight to the elven merchant and his juicy wares. Back in Lalatoya, all they had were dried tomatoes, so I’d assumed that only processed goods made their way from the southern continent here to the Great Canada Forest. Unlike the large, round tomatoes I was used to back in my world, the fruit the elven merchant held was more oblong, and a bit on the small side.
Ariane peeked around me at the tomato seller. “If you can buy them here in Landfrea, then you don’t really need to go all the way to Fobnach, right?”
I shook my head firmly in response. “I’ve come this far. It’d be a total waste to give up here. Besides, I was hoping to show Chiyome the country built by her fellow mountain people.”
Behind me, Chiyome and Goemon nodded in agreement. Ariane looked around and shrugged her shoulders.
I turned back to the tomato seller. “Excuse me, sir. I’d like to buy one of your tomatoes, to see how it tastes.”
“Huh? You want to…buy one? To taste it?”
The elven merchant eyed me suspiciously and repeated back my request. I couldn’t decipher the expression on the man’s face and cocked my head to the side in confusion. Ariane spoke up, seemingly having just remembered something.
“Ah, this tomato isn’t prepared yet, right?”
“That’s right. It’s cheaper to sell them in bulk before they’ve been processed.”
She nodded. “These tomatoes haven’t been processed yet and are still poisonous, which is why you can’t just buy one and eat it. Besides, they only use gold here for currency, and you can’t break that down into any smaller units, so it’d be quite expensive to buy just one for a whole gold piece.”
The whole market faded into distant background noise.
“What do you… Ariane, are you saying that tomatoes are poisonous?” My voice unintentionally rose an octave or so in surprise, and I quickly brought my hand up to my mouth.
The elven merchant was the first to respond. “Ohoho. I guess you’re not much of a cook, my armored friend. You really had me going! Tomatoes are poisonous in their raw form and need to be processed before eating. I guess poison is a bit of a strong word, but you’ll definitely be running to empty your bowels after eating one! Gahaha!”
The man let out a hearty laugh and rolled the tomato around in his hand.
Ariane offered a further explanation. “Tomatoes were known down in the south as the ‘diarrhea fruit,’ and were used as a laxative. However, the founder of the Great Fobnach Kingdom apparently loved these fruits, which he called ‘tomatoes,’ so much that he’d eat them regardless of their side effects. Upon seeing this, the founding elder Evanjulin created a magical item that removed the poison from tomatoes and gifted it to the king of Fobnach. He was so overcome with gratitude that Canada and Fobnach formed a trade relationship. Or so the story goes.”
As I listened along, I turned my gaze back to the tomato in the merchant’s hand.
“’Diarrhea fruit’? Huh…that certainly gets right to the point.” I shook my head and mumbled to myself, a bit taken aback by the fruit’s disgraceful name. If a tomato would give someone an upset stomach when eaten raw, I wondered what it would do to me. I’d never heard of a skeleton suffering from diarrhea, but I wasn’t exactly eager to find out if it was possible.
However, if the founder of Fobnach had referred to these laxative fruits as “tomatoes,” and had eaten them despite the side effects, that suggested he was from the same world as me. Given that Evanjulin, who’d built the Great Canada Forest over six hundred years ago, was also from my world, and had bonded with the ruler of Fobnach over tomatoes, it made sense that he would have wanted to make them edible.
From what I’d heard, the Great Fobnach Kingdom had been founded around five hundred years ago. For trade relations to have carried on between the north and south for such a long time, the two rulers must have been on pretty good terms.
“And how do you remove the poison from tomatoes?” I looked back at Ariane. These fruits in front of me were nothing more than eye candy.
“If I recall correctly, you soak them in water with an antidote crystal for an hour or two and then dry them out.”
Ariane didn’t exactly sound confident in her response, so I turned back to the shopkeeper for confirmation. He offered up a broad smile and nodded in agreement.
“Even if I can’t eat them raw, if I can get my hands on an antidote crystal, then I should be able to make my dream of eating a tomato come true. This is useful information.”
I walked on, past several more shops, my enthusiasm entirely curbed. I started to feel my stomach rumble—putting aside the fact that I didn’t technically have one—as the enticing scents of food prepared with southern spices found their way to my nose.
Though I was distracted by all the food, one particular non-food stall drew me in. The shop sold flawless paper of some sort—maybe parchment or even papyrus—in both scroll and bound book forms, and in all manner of sizes. What had caught my eye, though, were several pieces of art that hung from the sign board in front of the shop.
“Excuse me, sir, but could you tell me about the place that’s drawn here?” I pointed to one of the works of art in front of his stall, paying no mind to the man’s suspicious glance as he looked up at the armored figure in front of him.
The picture was an intricate sketch of a town that felt oddly familiar. There were other sketches throughout the stall depicting similar scenes, though in different places.
“Oh, that? That’s a picture of the capital of the Great Fobnach Kingdom. Those other sketches over there are of the port town of Plymouth, down on the southern continent,” the man replied cheerfully, probably viewing me as a potential customer.
Ariane, Chiyome, and Goemon were listening closely as they, too, were drawn in by the sketches that decorated the front of the stall. Considering how underdeveloped travel was in this world, pictures like these probably served as a form of entertainment, offering a glimpse of far-off lands and mysterious creatures.
“Has anything caught your eye?”
I nodded firmly, pointed at an item, and made my purchase.
Ariane waited to speak until we’d walked some distance away, a look of confusion on her face. “Why did you buy that, anyway? I was sure you were going to buy one of the sketches.”
As she said, I hadn’t bought any of the sketches on display at the stall. Instead, I’d purchased a pencil set and several pieces of paper, around the size of A4 sheets, that were bound together with twine.
I ran my hand along the thick bundle and thought back to the sketches we’d seen earlier.
“In order for me to use Transport Gate, I need to have a strong memory of the place I’m teleporting to. But there are limits to relying on memory alone. If I sketch out some locations on these sheets of paper, then it should help to jog my memory.”
Ariane nodded, sufficiently convinced. Still, she couldn’t resist a subtle jab. “Ah, I see. You’re right. It’d probably be good to memorize as many different locations as you can, just so you don’t end up teleporting us to some random place by mistake.”
Just as she finished speaking, we passed the last row of shops and arrived at what appeared to be the entrance to Landfrea’s port. The entire village sat atop a hill overlooking a cerulean blue ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see. The port itself consisted of a cove where ships could dock, and steep stairs carved straight into the cliff face leading down to them. I could see a lot of people milling about the port, though few seemed to be using the stairs.
The stairs ended in front of a large cavern that led straight into the cliff. This was where all the storehouses and underground dock facilities that supported the port were located. It seemed like the facilities were broken into two levels: one above ground and one under.
Judging by the large number of people coming and going, I assumed that the storehouses located above ground must somehow be connected with those deep in the cavern below.
“It’s like some sort of secret naval base.”
The excitement I felt welling up inside was quickly dampened when I noticed a waist-high fence at the bottom of the stairs, suggesting that the port was closed to most people.
A little disappointed to discover this, I stuck my head over the fence to get a better look.
Ariane pointed toward one of the docked ships. “Only dock workers and the like are allowed to go beyond this point. But tomorrow we’ll be boarding that ship over there, the Rievbelta.”
The Rievbelta was a roughly hundred-meter-long sailing ship, far and away larger than any of the freshwater ships I’d come across thus far. Like human ships, it was largely unadorned, though it was quite beautiful in its simplicity. The canvas sails were neatly folded on the deck below three large masts, giving the whole ship a rather imposing feel.
The body of the ship was pale, making me wonder if perhaps it wasn’t made of wood at all. It looked to be coated in a hard, glossy white skin. Sunlight reflected off its surface. The Rievbelta almost looked like something out of the modern era, so I decided to ask Ariane about it.
“What’s that ship made of?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t really know much about boats, but I remember hearing something about ships being made of dragon scales to increase their durability.”
A ship made of dragon scales… It was like something ripped from the pages of a fantasy novel.
I didn’t know too much about the defensive capabilities of dragon scales, but I figured they would turn an ordinary vessel into something like an old ironclad ship. I couldn’t get a good look due to the distance, but the deck of the Rievbelta appeared to be lined with several cannon-like objects, making it more of a trading warship rather than a pure merchant vessel.
If I recalled correctly, in my own world, iron- and steel-decked ships had been designed in order to combat the use of explosive shells. I could only wonder at what had brought about such ships here. Judging by the way Ariane had spoken about the cannons on the ship we’d found docked in the underground lake, it didn’t seem like humans had even invented normal cannons yet, let alone explosive shells. Which meant there must be some threat lurking out there in the ocean that necessitated all that armor.
Ariane tapped me on the shoulder, interrupting my thoughts. “We should head back. Besides, starting tomorrow, you’ll be so close to the ship that you’ll come to hate it.”
I nodded and turned away from the docked vessel, deciding to put those thoughts aside and just trust myself to the winds of fate for the adventure that lay ahead.
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