Chapter 77: Volume 5 - CH 1

—River Chigtes.

It was a large river wide enough you would mistake it for the ocean at first glance. It was known as the world’s longest river, reaching from the west of the humanfolk territory on the Continent Loindars all the way to the east. The width was large enough that you can’t even see the other riverbank. One certain ship was now going down the river, with Kyle’s group being passengers of this.

The passenger ship was slowly but surely drifting down this river, and without it massing such a width, a large ship like this wouldn’t even be able to fit on it, transporting the current 500 passengers. Up on the deck, other people besides Kyle’s group were present as well. In order to have the ship go upstream, you could have the sail be hit with wind, or have domestic animals pull it along from the riverbanks, but this ship, in particular, is being pulled by trained monsters of the river.

The bow of the boat had chains connected to it, leading into the water, and if you looked down, you could see giant turtles swimming beneath the water, pulling it. As if they were closing in on the river, statues imitating the ancient legends were seen on the cliff wall. These are supposedly the remains of a genius dwarf sculptor, who created these all on his own through his entire life several centuries ago, still used as a tourist spot, which is why many people stepped out onto the deck.

“So these are the famous carvings of Geora…Wonderful work. You wouldn’t expect that they had been made by dwarven hand.”

Seeing the job of a dwarf, the elf Urza albeit unwillingly had to praise the magnificent work in front of her.

“It truly is a piece of art…Oh, what is that?”

Shildonia looked past starboard, pointing at a group of waterfowls, colored in lively colours such as red and yellow. Many of them were buried below the water surface to the point you couldn’t count all of them.

“Hmm, that’s a block of Gayos. We’ve been appreciating these famous waterfowls since the age of Zaales.” Shildonia said it like this, but as this was her first time seeing them, she couldn’t hide her excitement.

She might look young and innocent on the outside, but she is actually an almost exact copy of history’s greatest and most respected wizard, the [Magic King].

“Though, we definitely didn’t have as many back then. I guess they’ve reproduced quite a…Ohhh!”

Right as Shildonia was in the middle of admiring the Gayo flock, a swarm of giant fish appeared from inside the water, which startled the Gayo birds and had them fly away. They possessed a magical appearance filling all of your view with their beauty, completely entrancing all the people on the dock, including Kyle’s group.

“Woah, amazing…”

Lieze’s eyes opened wide, putting both her palms together in front of her mouth, as she let out a voice of admiration.

“…But, that bird has too much muscle, it’s not suitable as food, and the fish reeks a lot, it doesn’t even seem edible.”

However, immediately after being excited, she then sounded disappointed. She clearly saw these beautiful animals as nothing more than possible ingredients.

“I don’t know how to feel about these impressions, really,” Kyle commented, but he knew Lieze so he wasn’t too shocked.

“What, such a shame. Those fish looked great.”

“I mean, depending on the cooking strategy, it might work out. For example, if you get rid of the stench with cow milk…”

“Oho?”

Shildonia seemed dejected at first, hearing that she wouldn’t be able to eat those animals, but her eyes soon lit up in excitement at hearing Lieze’s words. Once again, Kyle was filled with a newfound respect for his childhood friend.

“This really is a huge river, alright…can’t even compare to the small one back at Rimarze.” Seran was resting his chin on his palm at the fence of the deck, remembering the small river back at their hometown.

As the name of their hometown appeared from Seran’s mouth, Lieze seemingly remembered something and spoke to Kyle.

“That reminds me, Kyle, when are we going back to Rimarze? Going back once should be fine…and I’m sure they’d give us a warm welcome.”

It’s been three months since Kyle earned the title of [Dragon Slayer] in the country of Eddos, and this greatly changed the world’s evaluation of him. As it had been centuries since the greatest title of honor [Dragon Slayer] was given to someone, which is why this rumor spread like a wildfire, more and more people knew of Kyle’s name.

In order to be influential amongst the important people of the humanfolk during the impending ‘Great Invasion’, Kyle had begun to work on his fame and reputation across the continent. As he had made great success in that, evidently, Lieze now offered the idea of temporarily returning to their hometown.

“…No, it’s still too early. There’s something we have to do.” Kyle thought about it for a moment but eventually shook his head. “And if things went bad, we’d be restrained for too long.”

Rimarze is your average village with nothing really worth mentioning. If the now-famous Kyle returned, it would turn into chaos on the level of a festival. That would stop them from travelling for a short while.

“Yeah, that makes sense…Rezel-sama would definitely use that to develop the village. Maybe even make a statue out of you?”

“Isn’t she already doing that? That lady would probably advertise the village like the one that gave birth to the [Dragon Slayer].”

Lieze and Seran both remembered the elderly lady of their hometown who was neither kind nor forgiving. Kyle also imagined the current state of his hometown and shuddered.

“Guess we shouldn’t go back for a while…I mean, you don’t have to mind me, you can just go back yourselves.”

“What good would it do for us both to go home alone?”

“I don’t have any intention of going back either…Well, I’m sure you have other reasons for not going home.” Seran grinned with a fiendish look in his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

Lieze asked, and Seran whispered to her—in a way that Kyle could clearly hear it—about what he meant.

“Remember the thing with Seraia-san? He probably feels too awkward to go home now.”

“Ahhh…” Lieze seemed satisfied at that conclusion, whereas Kyle flashed a disheartened expression as soon as his mother Seraia’s name came up.

During their travels, according to what Seran’s foster mother and their teacher Layla said, Seraia was currently pregnant, expecting the child quite soon.

“Personally, I’d love to meet the child, though…”

Lieze loved children very much. She would probably treat that child as a younger brother or sister. However, the man in the centre, Kyle, clearly didn’t like the sound of that.

“…All of that is totally fine. I’m just worried that things will get noisy if we go back now.”

If the child’s birth would happen soon, Kyle’s group returning would only complicate things. Or so Kyle reasoned, but Lieze once again sighed. It’s not as if Kyle and his mother were on particularly bad terms, but he always had a certain disposition of not being honest when it came to her, especially so during his teenage years.

Ever since he heard the story of Seraia’s pregnancy, it was like his attitude from back then had returned. It wasn’t a problem of being happy or not, but it was a complicated situation to take in.

“You really are childish…” Lieze complained, throwing Kyle a sharp gaze.

“Urgh…” Kyle lost his words being on the receiving end of that.

“You’ve always been like this, Kyle. I get that Seraia-san is deficient when it comes to housework and such, and the way she’s completely useless for anything related to livelihood, she’s a failure as a housewife.”

“You don’t sugar coat your words at all, huh…” Seran threw in a retort, but he also couldn’t deny it.

“But, she still loves you a lot, Kyle. Yet you can’t even be honest with her…”

“Blah, blah, I can’t hear you~” Kyle seemingly got tired of all this teasing he received, covering his ears with his hands.

He often used this skill of acting deaf ears whenever Lieze had him cornered.

“Hey! Listen to m—”

“What are you causing such a ruckus for? I thought you didn’t want to stand out?” Urza warned them with a perturbed expression, to which Lieze quickly covered her mouth, and Kyle looked around them as well.

Luckily, the other passengers were too busy admiring the scenery, which allowed the two to sigh in relief.

So far, Kyle had tried his best to stand out as much as possible, but his fame and reputation had already spread far and wide, to the point it was out of control. Now that he had reached this point, he had to make sure to always act righteous, and not gather any negative attention. As he never knew when somebody could be watching them, he had to be careful of his words and actions so that it wouldn’t ruin his image as a hero. In fact, immediately after boarding this ship, rumors started by the other passengers had been going around, all related to him. He had known about this already, and he was the one who wished for this, but it would surely be a harsh path ahead of him.

“Cough…Anyway, we’re almost at our destination, so let’s finish our business here first.” Kyle cleared his throat, completely ignoring the previous conversation.

“I can see it from here. It must be that.” Shildonia pointed ahead, spotting the final stop of this passenger ship—City Bayone.

Bayone was located on what you would call the sandbank of River Chigtes, acting as a tourist city and a merchant city. The surroundings of the city were filled with passenger ships, cargo ships, and more of the sort, allowing you to understand instantaneously that this was a city bringing people together. Naturally, Kyle’s group didn’t come here as simple passengers. The sightseeing just now was merely an act, as they rode on the boat for an entirely different reason.

Now that Kyle’s name and reputation had spread, he wanted to move on to the next stage. Namely, to meet the most influential people of humanfolk, and build connections with them. And the first individual on that list was located here in Bayone.

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As their ship arrived at the port, everybody agreed to Shildonia’s ‘food comes first’ proposal, which is why they headed for a tourist and high-class restaurant. Bayone is a city filled with canals, making it famous for offering tours on small boats. The restaurant Kyle and his friends visited faced one of the city’s main canals.

“The view is nice.” Lieze leaned her body on the railing, admiring the scenery.

Kyle’s group was sitting on the third floor of the restaurant, made up of a balcony, with the various water canals and tourists on the small boats.

“Hmm, quite the luxury indeed.”

They sat at a large table that could easily fit ten people, as Shildonia quietly looked at the food she ordered covering the entirety of said table. As the city was located on the sandbank of the large river, they mostly focused on seafood and fish, but as it was also a trading city, they had exotic foods all the same.

“What is this…? Fish? Raw?”

One of them was cut white fish, which had Seran narrow one eye.

“I think it was called…sashimi? You add a special sauce to raw fish. It’s a specialty from an island state to the east.” Kyle explained.

“Raw fish?”

Seran wasn’t used to eating raw dishes, having a baffled expression on his face.

“They have a lot of weird food over there. Like beans on rice.”

“…I’m never going there in my life.” Seran suffered from a culture shock because of the difference in food when Lieze seemingly remembered something.

“Oh yeah, talking about the east, what is Minagi doing?”

Minagi came from the said country to the east. She technically is an ally, but she was always acting separately, so she would only show up in front of them when absolutely necessary.

“Same as always, she’s got her own mission.”

Minagi came to this city ahead of time, gathering information. She would most likely reach out to Kyle soon enough.

“I see…Sometimes I wouldn’t mind eating together with her, though.” Lieze voiced her regret.

“I told you. When she’s seen with us, it makes moving harder for her.”

Minagi’s role was to act in the shadows, so not being perceived as Kyle’s ally was beneficial for her, and she couldn’t be around when he already gathered this much attention.

“I get why, but…The more people, the better the food tastes.” Lieze pouted.

At first, Lieze wasn’t too sure how to interact with a professional assassin who worked in the shadows, but by learning more about her, and especially through their battles together, she became a lot more assertive. At this point in time, Minagi was the one bewildered.

“Mom, mnom mnom mnom mom nom.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, okay…”

Shildonia had stuffed her mouth with meat, wrapped up in herbs, offering just the right amount of spices, making her look like a squirrel with how much her cheeks were filled. Kyle however couldn’t decipher any word she had said. After their noisy dinner temporarily calmed down, they received the diverse arrangement of cakes they ordered, which made the eyes of the girls’ group light up.

“Hm, this abundant sweetness is different from your normal fruity one.”

As a hole had built up in the cake with fresh cream, Shildonia showed a nod paired with a satisfied sigh.

“Personally, I like the natural sweetness of fruits, but this is pretty delicious as well…Ah, they’re using koku fruit for the smell. That’ll be a great reference.” Lieze closely inspected and judged the fruit cake she was enjoying.

“Both are great…”

Usually, Urza was the sweet-taste enjoyer, so when she carried a piece of the chocolate cake to her mouth, her face and mouth distorted in pleasure and ecstasy. As the girls were thoroughly enjoying the cakes, the boys were busy talking about something else, neither being sweets lovers.

“So after that…we’ll meet this Klauwhatsit guy?”

“Klaus Marnico. He’s basically a celebrity.” Kyle doubted Seran’s common sense, who showed absolutely no interest in a famous person like Klaus.

Klaus Marnico originally had been nothing but a sailor originating from this city, but the business he built managed to reach a global standard in a single decade. His success story made him even more famous, acting as the hero of traders and businessmen. His name was even more well-known than your average ruler. The main office of this Marnico Business Group is actually located in Bayone, and they were basically the rulers of this city.

“So, he’s someone mighty important, yeah? Can you even meet him?”

“I went ahead and had a letter delivered to him, and got a good response back at least. We even decided to meet.” Kyle exclaimed.

“Hmmm…Well, either way, I got nothing to do with that old man, and I’m not interested either.” Seran picked a slice of cake that didn’t seem as sweet as the rest, clearly showing off that he couldn’t be bothered.

“Yeah, I figured as much.” Kyle took a sip from his tea and looked at a letter in his hand.

“Hm? What’s that?”

“The delivery guild just handed it to me.”

Just as the name suggested, the delivery guild is an organization specializing in letters or other luggage. The roads built by the Ancient Magic Kingdom Zaales were still used to this day, experiencing a lot of traffic. The delivery sections of that organization made up a great amount of that traffic. If you paid enough money, you could enjoy great accommodation, which is why the letter even reached Kyle in this isolated city.

“This one right here is from Erina.”

“Erina? Let me have a look!”

Urza was still busy stuffing her cheeks with cake, but the second Erina’s name was brought into the conversation, she pushed her body forward towards Kyle. During their previous adventure at the Country of Eddos, Kyle’s group ran into Erina, who was half-dark elf half-human, as well as a dark elf tribe, dragons, demons, and Mera Cult followers, somehow managing to fight their way through. Erina seemed quite enthusiastic about joining Kyle’s group, but she had to take care of her sick mother Luctera, which would take a few more months. She had to stay in Eddos as a result of that, but they continued their exchange.

The majority of the letter was used to report on recent happenings, and according to that, Luctera had almost recovered fully. Thanks to the dark elf Paserane, they were even allowed to visit her father’s grave, and their relationship with the whole dark elf village improved drastically.

“I see…”

Reading the joy and happiness Erina felt from the letter, Urza narrowed her eyes, showing a relieved smile.

“Also…I have some news from Gou.”

“What, Gou even?”

This time, Shildonia showed great interest in the conversation. Gou is a specialist focusing on magic items, who they met in the mining city Callan. Kyle actually became his sponsor, supporting his attempt to recreate human-type weapons first constructed in the Zaales days—Golems. In the past, Shildonia had given Gou tips and assistance on the golem construction, which made her feel like somewhat of a teacher, so naturally, she would be interested in how he’s doing.

“So, what is he saying?”

“The restoration seems to be going great. Half of the progress is done as well.”

“Hoh, faster than I had anticipated. Well, he had the supplies necessary, and his environment is making him flourish all the same.” Shildonia nodded, showing her joy.

Gou is actually the step-son of the current mayor in Callan, Gazas, as well as receiving full support from the leading Ambassador of Zilgus, Miranda. With all of these connections, his research was clearly doing just fine.

“Well, he’s using my expenses like it’s growing on trees.”

Gou once again sent Kyle his estimated costs, and Kyle couldn’t help flash a bitter smile when seeing that. That being said, Kyle was more than willing to pay as much money as needed.

“But, you know…” Kyle looked at the mirror, his face stiffening.

It really was going along smoothly, but some words amongst the report made Kyle feel anxious. Examples were ‘Rather than efficiency and beauty of ability, I believe that it has to look just as appealing as its usage!” or “I will guarantee efficiency and beauty!” and so on. In the previous world Kyle experienced, the golems used to fight the demons showed no such beauty whatsoever, simply golems in the shape of humans. That’s why Kyle felt oddly hung up on Gou using words like that.

“Just what…is he making?” Kyle massaged his temple to counteract the headache.

“Hmmm…Well, if he’s talented and diligent enough, that’s fine and all, but every genius is messed up in their own right. Gou must be part of that. But don’t worry, he will bring worthwhile results……Most likely.” Shildonia commented while reading the letter.

“I sure hope so…” Kyle looked up at the sky with worry in his eyes, realising that he would have to all leave it to Gou, and gave up on thinking about it.

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