LIGHTNOVELONLINE Book 4: Chapter4
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Chapter 4 – We Hurried To The Royal Capital
When my story was over, the place was closed.
“Munya… We’ve found the wild ruins, Kou-san…”
Relic was completely asleep and was pleasantly mumbling in his sleep.
I mean, what are wild ruins?
Well, dreams are without context or logic, and it would be foolish to seek logic in them.
“We’ll carry Relic-oniisan to his room, okay?”
“We’ll all help you with that, Surara.”
“It’s safe, safe, Helper Slime transport!”
And so, Surara and the other Helper Slimes carried Relic on the back and brought him to his room.
“…I’m a little envious.”
Lily muttered in a whisper.
By the way, there are a lot of slimes working in Blaznir.
And as their names suggest, these slimes love helping out.
One of the Helper Slimes that happened to be rolling around nearby heard Lily’s words and called the others over.
“We’re all going to carry Lily-oneechan to her room.”
“Here comes the soft and fluffy Helper Slime!”
“Let’s go!”
“Eh? Eh? Whoaa…”
Lily was carried up by the Helper Slimes to her room in no time at all.
“I see. I completely understand.”
Leticia snapped her fingers.
The result is needless to say.
And somehow, she also took Milia with her.
“Thus, only Iris and I were left behind.”
“Shall we go on foot?”
“Yes, let’s.”
So we decided to go to our rooms on our own, without relying on the Helper Slime.
But Blaznir is a very large ship, and I still don’t have a complete grasp of its internal structure.
I activated [Auto Mapping] and walked while looking at the map of the ship.
“Hey, Kou!”
Iris whispered in my ear.
“Wanna take a little detour?”
I needed some air.
Iris said so, so I changed course and headed for the deck.
“It’s cool. It’s kind of relaxing.”
“Especially after a few drinks.”
We decided to lean over the edge of the deck and take in the view side by side.
The Blaznir had gained altitude and before we knew it, it was higher than the clouds. There was nothing to obstruct our view, and the sky was full of stars above us.
“It’s a beautiful view, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s beautiful.”
I nodded as I looked at the profile of Iris on my left.
The white skin on her neck was slightly burning, probably due to the alcohol she had consumed.
Iris, perhaps noticing my gaze, turns to me with a mischievous expression on her face.
“Do you mean about the starry sky? Or is it me?”
“…I don’t know.”
I answered vaguely and looked up at the sky.
“Kou, you must be embarrassed. Your face is a little red.”
“I drank a lot. That’s why.”
I don’t really know what’s going on. But I was sure that I had a sweet and sour feeling as if I was back in my school days.
We spent some quiet time together, lightly hovering over each other’s shoulders for a while.
There were no words, but the silence was not awkward but rather pleasant.
After a while, Iris whispered to me.
“…I wonder why Kou was summoned.”
“I don’t know about all that.”
If the people who were involved in the “[Transmigrator] Summoning Plan” 4,000 years ago have survived to this day, they may know why I was chosen as the target of the summoning.
Since this is a fantasy world and ancient civilizations had advanced technology, I wonder if there are any ancient people frozen somewhere.
…I’m joking.
I think I’ve had too much to drink today, and my thoughts tend to go in strange directions.
I look at Iris with a sideways glance. Perhaps it is because I am drunk that she looks more lustrous than usual.
…Let’s stay in control.
I don’t want to ruin our current relationship by acting rashly.
We can lean on each other a little. Such a balance, I am sure, is precious.
After returning to the ship from the deck, I decided to take Iris back to her room.
“Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Good night.”
We exchanged a few words and parted in front of the room.
Iris opened the door and turned to me.
“Is there something you need?”
“…No. We should both go to bed early.”
Iris was probably right.
Tomorrow we will arrive at the royal capital, but considering the journey so far, the possibility of suddenly getting into trouble is by no means zero.
“We should probably get a good night’s sleep and not stay up too late.”
“T-that’s right.”
Iris nodded her head as she fiddled with the side of her hair with her right hand.
“Um, I have been having a little trouble sleeping lately. Do you have anything good for me, Kou?”
“Wait a minute. I’ll see what I can find.”
I remembered that when I created Blaznir with [Creation], my skill had increased to level 26.
The number of items I could make also increased.
What kind of recipe was it?
It was the one that uses materials I missed a lot, but… this is it.
Punch Rabbit’s Fur x1 → Punch Rabbit’s Pajamas (for men) x1
Punch Rabbit’s Fur x1 → Punch Rabbit’s Pajamas (for women) x 1
For a moment, the idea of matching pajamas crossed my mind, but I tossed them straight into the trash bin of my mind.
Punch Rabbit is a rabbit monster that inhabits the area around Aunen.
They are called “Punch Rabbit” because they are good at one-hit-kill punches.
Its fur is not only soft but also keeps the body warm. So it would be perfect for a good night’s sleep.
So, I activate [Creation] inside my [Item Box] and create a pair of Punch Rabbit pajamas.
Naturally, they are for women.
The granted effects are《Touch A+》and《Sleep S+》, so I can say that this item is exactly what I was hoping for.
I took out a pair of pajamas from my [Item Box].
They feel fluffy and soft to the touch.
This feels good.
By the way, there is a hood with rabbit ears on the head.
“You can use these if you like.”
I handed Iris the furry pajamas, explaining that they had been granted《Sleep S+》.
“Can I have them?”
“Yeah. It’s important to get a good night’s sleep, you know.”
“…Fufu.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just thought it was very Kou-like.”
Iris smiled as she hugged the pajamas tightly to her chest.
The expression on her face was so cute that it was a shame to part ways with her.
Oops.
Calm down, calm down. Sleep time is just as important as sleep quality.
I shouldn’t drag out the conversation too much when we are about to go to bed.
“Well, I’ll go then.”
“Yeah, good night.”
My room was a short distance away from Iris’s room.
I opened the door and went inside and suddenly became calm and thought.
“…What am I doing?”
Giving Iris the pajamas was, metaphorically speaking, like giving away equipment in an MMORPG.
But what about giving clothes to a woman with whom you are not in a relationship, considering the distance between you and her?
“Well, I guess it’s too late for that now.”
Iris seemed pleased, and even for her, it might be as simple as “I got a useful item.”
I guess it’s because of my age that I’ve come to be able to separate the two and say that there’s no point in worrying about that.
If I had been a teenager, I probably would have agonized over it even after lying in bed.
Let’s switch it up.
The room was as usual (?). It is a suite, and in addition to the bedroom, there is a living room, a kitchen, and a shower room with a bathtub.
The quality of life has obviously improved since I came to the other world, hasn’t it?
I don’t know why I was summoned here, but I can thank the people of the ancient civilization for this.
I finish my bath and lie down in bed. A lot has happened today.
It’s nice that the people of Fort Port went out of their way to see me off, and when they send me off so warmly like that, it makes me feel like I should stop by again sometime.
After the awards ceremony, I would like to have a lot of fun at the casino in Fort Port.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a gamer’s blood pumping in my veins.
From the recording crystal that Relic brought, we learned that the “[Transmigrator] Summoning Project” was put on hold at one point, but there are still many things that are unclear.
Anyway, I am glad that everyone has accepted that I am from another world.
I wonder what kind of events await me in the royal capital.
Well then, good night.
* * *
Knock-knock, knock-knock.
A subdued knocking sound awakened me.
It is still dark outside the window.
The clock on the wall showed 4:00 am. I don’t think it’s time for breakfast, so I wonder who it is.
I get out of bed and open the door to my room.
There was Lily.
She looked up at me with anxious eyes.
“Kou-san. …I’m sorry for troubling you at this late hour.”
“No problem. What’s the matter? Did you have a bad dream?”
I asked her that, and she nodded her head.
“I had a [Foresight].”
“What was it about?”
“Actually…”
Lily began to talk about the events that would happen today.
The place is the royal capital, a huge white dragon will appear there as a new calamity, and everything will be trapped in ice.
“The people of the royal capital, not knowing what had happened to them, were encased in ice… and in an instant, they stopped breathing.”
Lily’s voice was clearly trembling.
Even though it was in a dream, she witnessed the moment when many lives were lost, so it was only natural.
And if it is an event that is supposed to happen in the future, it is even more so.
“Are you okay, Lily?”
“…Yes.”
Lily nodded her head firmly and stoutly and continued to speak further.
“I think the calamity will appear in the morning, probably at exactly 9:00 am.”
“How do you know?”
“In my dream, I saw a large clock. It was in the royal capital, in a place like a plaza.”
I see.
It is true that in a large city plaza, it would not be surprising if the clock was placed as one of the monuments.
“Thank you for telling me.”
I pat Lily on the head.
“I think we’d better hurry to the royal capital for now. Hopefully, we can get there first and stop the damage before it happens.”
“But…”
Lily told me sadly.
“I’ve never had a [Foresight] be wrong. So I’m sure this time too…”
“I doubt it.”
“Eh?”
The other day, Leticia said that I am the reincarnation of the Greedy Dragon.
And Greedy Dragon is said to have a unique ability called [Awakening] that causes out-of-spec evolution in order to fulfill its own desires.
If I have the [Awakening], then I should be able to change one or two things in the future if I put my mind to it.
* * *
I asked Lily to wake everyone else up, and I headed for the ship’s command center.
I don’t have a second to spare right now.
I opened the [Item Box] in my mind and switched to my battle gear. My entire body was enveloped in a flash of golden light, and Armored Bear Armor, Bastard Gauntlets, and Fenrir Coat were attached.
“…Okay.”
I took a deep breath and activated the Fenrir Coat’s granted effect.
──The《Divine Speed Blessing EX》.
At the same time as activating it, my concentration is increased to the limit. One second is equal to an infinite amount of time for me right now.
Now, let’s go.
I run through the Blaznir ship at full speed and stop in front of the command center.
After deactivating《Divine Speed Blessing EX》, I opened the door.
Inside the command center, even though it was late at night, there were about ten Helper Slimes.
“Speed, no problem!”
“The course is clear!”
“No abnormalities on board… Oh, Master-san!”
One of the Helper Slimes noticed my presence and shouted.
“What’s the matter? What can we do for you?”
“I have a favor to ask. I’d like to ask you to hurry up to the capital.”
I said that and then explained about Lily’s [Foresight].
“Eeeeeeehhh!”
“Calamity! A calamity is coming!”
“Pii! It’s a problem! It’s a big problem!”
Immediately, the command center was in an uproar.
The Helper Slimes all jumped up from their positions and began to operate the machines at their stations.
“I’m going to turn the magic engine’s output to maximum!”
“Hurry up! Hurry up!”
“The ship will shake a bit, so be careful!”
Ziinggg.
For a moment, the ship was hit by a strong g-force. The main monitor in the center of the ship displays the scenery outside the ship, but clouds are drifting by on both sides of the ship at a very high speed.
It seemed that the ship had sped up considerably.
“What time do you think we will arrive at the royal capital?”
I asked the Helper Slime that was standing nearby.
“Wait a minute! I think it’s about 11:00 am.”
“…Not good.”
According to Lily’s [Foresight], the calamity will appear at exactly 9:00 am.
At this rate, we won’t make it in time.
“Is there any way we can go faster?”
“There is! But I’m going to have to ask you to do some work, Master-san, if that’s all right with you.”
“Of course. Tell me.”
I nodded, and the Helper Slime typed away on the keyboard attached to the machine at hand.
Then, on a sub-monitor nearby, a floor plan of the ship was displayed.
“I’ve just released the limiter of the magic engine. Now, all we need is for Master-san to pour in the magic power, and we should be able to go much faster than we are now.”
“Where is the engine?”
“At the very back of the ship, in the engine room!”
“I know where it is. Leave it to me.”
I replied and immediately ran out of the command center.
The Fenrir Coat’s granted effect,《Divine Speed Blessing EX》, was activated.
In less than a breath, I ran through a distance of several hundred meters and arrived at the engine room at the tail end of the Blaznir.
It may seem obvious, but the engine room was quite large. In terms of area, it would be comparable to the grounds of a junior high school or high school.
However, it did not feel spacious at all.
Huge cylindrical or spherical devices were lined up in rows, each connected to the other by pipes like an industrial complex.
Many Helper Slimes were busily running around among them.
“Work! Work!”
“Work! Work!”
“I’m a working slime! I’ll do lots of work!”
Apparently, they were all working hard to speed up the ship.
I called out to one of the slimes nearby, who had already heard I was coming, and led me to the back of the engine room.
‘This way, Master-san! C’mon, c’mon.”
I followed the Helper Slime bouncing on the floor and stepped over several pipes.
What greeted me was a place that looked like an altar. In the center of the altar was a pedestal on which a blue crystal ball was set.
“What is this?”
“It is a device for supplying additional magic power to the magic engine! If you touch the crystal ball and pour magic power into it, you will complete the mission!”
“How much power do I have to pour in?”
“As much as possible! A lot! Lots! The more you pour into the crystal ball, the faster the Blaznir will go!”
“I understand.”
We’re in a time-sensitive situation.
Let’s go all out.
I put my right hand on the crystal ball. It felt warm.
By the way, my current level is 109.
My MP is 65800, which is equivalent to 658 regular magicians.
I poured all of it into the crystal ball at once.
Shinggg!
A dazzling radiance emanates from the crystal ball.
“Master-san, that’s an amazing amount of magic power…!”
At my feet, the Helper Slime sighed in admiration.
“I think that should make it quite a bit faster.”
“Not yet.”
“Eh?”
“Second time, here we go.”
For me, my MP recovers one percent per second. After an interval of about 15 seconds, I again poured magic power into the crystal ball.
The amount in terms of MP is about 10,000.
“There is still more to come. …This is the third time.”
“Hieeeeee!”
“Let’s do it for the fourth time.”
“Awww…”
“All right, fifth time. ──Hmm?”
The crystal ball is burning up.
“Master-san!”
A Helper Slime shouted impatiently.
“You put too much in! Too much!”
“Is that so? …Maybe so.”
The amount of magic power poured into it is about 100,000 MP, equivalent to that of a thousand ordinary magicians.
I may have overdone it a bit.
While scratching my cheeks, I began to hear a violent driving noise from all over the engine room. And soon, the whole ship was shaking violently.
Is everything all right?
Please don’t tell me that the magic engine will explode due to an oversupply of magic power.
As it turned out, the ship was fine.
When I returned to the command center, I found Surara there, telling me about the current situation in Blaznir.
“Master-san! Listen, listen! Something amazing is happening!”
“What’s going on?”
“The ship is going very, very fast, thanks to the magic power that Master-san has poured into it!”
Surara repeated the repetitive horizontal jump with a swoosh on the spot.
The current speed of the Blaznir is, by the way, equivalent to three times its normal speed.
“That’s not all! Look!”
Surara looked excited and turned his attention to the main monitor at the front of the command center.
It shows the surrounding scenery, but the entire image is faintly red. It was as if a filter had been applied to the screen.
When I asked what was going on, I found that the effect of my magic power was not only on the magic engine but also on the barrier surrounding Blaznir, which had apparently increased in strength.
I learned this in high school, but as the speed of an object increases, its air resistance increases dramatically.
Since the current Blaznir is running at three times the normal speed, the air resistance we have is nine times since it is the square of the speed.
Normally, the ship would be subjected to violent shaking, and in the worst case, it would lose control and crash.
However, thanks to the reinforced barrier, air resistance is greatly reduced, and the Blaznir seems to maintain comfortable stability even while flying at high speed.
Still, I muttered to myself inwardly.
As a result of the infusion of magic power, not only did the ship speed up but the barriers were also strengthened.
It was truly an unexpected change, but when I thought about the reason why such a thing happened, I realized that──
“──It may be that Kou-sama’s [Awakening] has taken effect.”
As if anticipating my thoughts, I heard a voice in my ear.
I turned around and saw Leticia there.
She put her hand over her mouth and smiled, and said to me,
“Kou-sama, the thought just leaked out of my mouth.”
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t changed in that way, have you? Fufufu. …Well, I guess that’s enough of playing the big sister.”
Leticia muttered mischievously and spun around to step back.
Her long blonde hair and the hem of her green skirt fluttered. Her movements were so fluid that one could not help but admire them.
If this were a ballroom, she would have attracted the attention of everyone around her.
Looking at Leticia’s figure, for some reason, I felt a nostalgia that scratched deep into my heart.
I think I may really be the reincarnation of her brother.
* * *
Not long after that, Iris, Lily, Relic, and Milia came to the command center.
Leticia and Surara had been here from the beginning, so now everyone was here.
“Kou. I heard from Lily-chan.”
Iris spoke with a serious expression on her face.
“I heard that a calamity is going to appear in the capital.”
“Yeah. According to [Foresight], there will be a white dragon.”
“…Kou-san.”
Lily asked with an anxious look on her face.
“Can we make it in time?”
“Probably.”
I asked Surara to do the math for me earlier, and it seems that Blaznir will arrive in the royal capital at around 8:30 am.
According to the [Foresight], the calamity would appear at exactly 9:00 am, so if everything went according to schedule, we should be able to get there before it.
The wall clock in the control room currently showed 5:32 am.
We have about three hours until we arrive at the royal capital.
In the meantime, we discussed countermeasures against the calamity.
“…Despite that, we don’t have enough information.”
All we know so far is that the white dragon is going to put the royal capital on ice.
“Does anyone know anything about this?”
I asked, but there was no answer.
Well, what are we going to do?
Just as I was beginning to think about it, Relic shouted out in surprise.
“Iris-san! Something’s coming out! It’s coming out!”
“Eh? …Kyaa!?”
Iris’s scream echoed softly.
Looking that way, from the pouch on her waist, a spear with a pale blue tip──the Holy Dragon Spear Fimbul──was slowly appearing.
Iris did not touch the spear.
The spear was moving by itself, trying to get out of the pouch. It looks like something out of a horror movie, but the Fimbul is more than just a spear.
It is an item created from two sacred weapons with [Creation], the unmarked holy spear and the Dragon God’s shield, and has three powerful effects:《Dragon God’s Blessing EX》《True Dragon God’s Barrier EX》and《Absolute Freeze EX》but also has what should be called its own will.
Perhaps it has something to tell us about the calamity.
“Iris. Can I ask you to hold the Fimbul?”
“…Okay.”
Nodding at my words, Iris picked up the spear and took it completely out of the pouch.
“Ah.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I can hear the spear. Can you give me a minute?”
Iris said and lightly closed her eyelids. Perhaps she was concentrating on Fimbul’s words.
A minute or so later, Iris flutters her eyelids open.
“Everyone, can I have your attention, please? I think I know what the calamity is.”
According to Iris, Fimbul had fought a white dragon calamity 4,000 years ago when he was… an “unmarked spear.”
The name of the calamity was “The White Dragon of Destruction.”
It was said to be able to manipulate cold air at will and freeze everything in its path.
It was said that this dragon was partly responsible for the destruction of an ancient civilization, and at the time, it was able to turn an entire continent into ice.
“In other words, if we fall behind, we will lose.”
If we had been waiting to see how the enemy would react, only to find that we had been put on ice… we would have been blindsided.
The ideal thing to do would be to immediately crush the white dragon when it appears.
Compared to before, our forces are much more substantial, and it should not be impossible.
The strategy meeting itself was over in about 30 minutes, and we headed for the ship’s restaurant to finish our breakfast.
“Master-san! Eat up and be active! Home Run!”
It seems that the slime in the chef’s hat had already entered the galley, and the food was soon brought to us.
On a large plate, sandwiches of various kinds are lined up.
It seems that you can take and eat what you like.
I put a pork cutlet sandwich in my mouth as a good luck charm. The crispy shredded cabbage and the thick cutlet wrapped in a crispy batter are a good match.
It was supposed to be a heavy breakfast, but I couldn’t stop myself from eating five or six sandwiches by myself.
“Kou-san, you’re so energetic! It was amazing, amazing!”
I looked at Relic and saw that he had not eaten much. It seemed that his stomach was upset from last night’s heavy drinking.
“Want to try drinking this? Maybe it will help.”
I said and took out a potion from my [Item Box].
“Thank you. Kou-san. Well then, if you’ll excuse me…”
Relic received the potion and gulped it down.
Now, how about the effect?
“Kou-san!”
“Yeah.”
“This is amazing! My chest feels so clear and… now I can eat endlessly!”
Shupapapapa.
With what could only be described as gale-force movements, Relic brought the sandwiches to his mouth one after the other.
“Oh, it’s so good! It’s so good! ──It’s so good!”
“Are you all right, Relic-san?”
Milia smiled and handed him a glass of water.
“Thank you very much! I’m still going to eat! As I am now, I might be able to win the world with my gluttony!”
I wonder if he could use that momentum to eat the white dragon as well.
Who knows.