CH 52

Chapter 52 – The Young Women’s Vacation

Eustia and Dominique were singing under the blue sky, and Irmhild was playing a melody with the Lute in her hands. Although it was ordinary music, the melody was refreshing and bright, which suited the scenery well.

Today was also a sunny day. The temperature gradually rose, and it was the perfect season to swim in the sea.

On the other hand, it was humid for those who dressed heavily in the Labyrinth. I felt that the temperature inside the Labyrinth stayed the same throughout the years, though it differed depending on the area, so there wouldn’t be any problems if one planned to change clothes before entering the Labyrinth.

After leaving Termuilles, we continued along the coastline in a carriage.

The beach was white, and the sky was a transparent blue. The ocean was a bright light-green, often called emerald green, and it was very beautiful.

I took off the canopy of the covered carriage. This carriage had been rented from the stable, in the hopes that everyone would ride it. Although the interior was different from that of the carriage we had originally used, I felt that it was quite spacious, so this carriage wasn’t that bad. We had invited Forest Bird and Rossetta as well, but they seemed to have their hands full with requests and work, so we couldn’t match our plans.

Although it was a bit unfortunate for them, this time around, I was with my party members and those Monster girls.

“It’s beautiful…”

“So the sea…can become this transparent, huh.”

Grace and Ashley looked at the sea as if they were devouring it.

Even I thought that the sea looked beautiful, so these were probably the appropriate reactions for these two, who were seeing the sea for the first time. Even though it was just this, I was glad that we could come here.

“By the way, how far are we going? The beach seems to be fine around here.”

“There’s supposed to be a better place that’s just a bit further up.”

Even though Sheila had heard that we would be going to the sea to play, she hadn’t shown much of a reaction…but from what I could see, her tail was standing erect, so she appeared to be quite interested. Speaking of Sheila, I had recently found it easier to understand her thoughts by paying attention to her ears and tail, rather than her expression. Well…it was only when she had her guard down or when her mind was wandering, though.

As for myself, I understood the terrain around Termuilles and knew the location of suitable places to play at by the sea. I decided to claim that I had researched it by listening to people in the city, and we were currently in the middle of heading to that location.

The carriage advanced onwards, towards the small peninsula. We changed our direction along the way and proceeded onto a somewhat rocky path in a forest. After the carriage had traveled past the shaded, rocky surface, a natural tunnel appeared. This place was a bit hard to find…but in BFO, this was a hotspot on the outskirts of Termuilles.

“Oh, there it is. It’s up ahead, over there.”

I had thought about whether we could get there by carriage, since we would be unable to proceed if the carriage’s wheels were covered in sand…but it looked like we could go until the end of the tunnel.

The tunnel’s length was nothing to worry about. It wouldn’t take long to reach the exit.

“Wow…”

Ashley exclaimed softly.

“I think I like this atmosphere.

Eustia said after seeing this sight, as if showing her feelings.

I didn’t think that this place would receive a siren’s approval.

The beach and the sea, surrounded by cliffs in three directions, laid beyond the tunnel.

This was what one would call a bay. It was adequately wide and there was abundant sunshine, so it wasn’t dark, even though the place was surrounded by cliffs. Due to its mysterious atmosphere, it was a quiet and secretive place.

In the center of the bay, there was a small island, or rather a round rock, staring at you, above the surface of the water. It was perfectly fine to go there if one wanted to fish.

“I’ll go change clothes under that tree over there, then.”

“Ok. Understood.”

It was probably better for me to change my clothes in the shadow of the rocks.

I changed quickly and came back. To begin with, I had prepared the rank 5 Darkness Spell, Dark Field, which spread out a thin barrier and covered a large distance.

The extent of its effect was to reduce Light damage…but it might be able to reduce the effect of UV rays.

Eustia ran towards the sea with a harp in her hands. She was wearing a satisfied smile…which was quite different from her usual, calm appearance. Just as I wondered about whether she would dive into the water, she released her human form and jumped into the sea.

“Ahaha!”

…Well, nothing was better than making them happy. She was literally a fish in the water.

Dominique also released her human form and frolicked around the sea surface. It was a bit different from bathing in the sea, but she appeared to enjoy it.

“Ara ara, everyone ended up releasing their human forms. Well, it’s not like anyone is watching us.”

Irmhild also released her human form as she said that. It looked like she planned on swimming too, and she entered the sea with her half snake body. She wove back and forth and swam skillfully. Although it was naturally my first time seeing a Lamia swim…I didn’t look too carefully at her. As for why, she looked quite a lot like a human…so it would be somewhat problematic no matter where I looked at her.

…The next to follow was Sheila. Wearing an extremely low-rise bikini like that…was it so that her tail wouldn’t get in the way? It couldn’t be helped. Those two were dangerously attractive…

(TN: raw uses poison to the eyes here 目に毒)

“I want to eat some fish.”

Sheila headed towards the rocky area in the center of the cove, a fishing rod in her hands. She swam like a dog or a cat.

“Theo.”

I looked back towards the person who had called me.

Grace and Ashley were walking together. They both had near transparent, white skin.

Under the bright daylight, they looked like they were glittering in the sunshine. It was significantly different when compared to seeing them in the bath. As I had thought, swimsuits were for the sea.

“Can Grace swim?”

She had grown up inside country. How well had she fared when she pulled me out of the waterway after I fell in there? My memories of that time weren’t great, but there was no doubt that she had jumped into the waterway for me.

“I can. Although I’ve never swum in the sea, the waves here appear to be calm. I think I won’t have trouble swimming.”

At the very least, Grace…seemed unconcerned about the water currents. Was it because she was a dhampir, or was it an effect of the ring? Or were, perhaps, vampires in this world not afraid of flowing water? They weren’t particularly good at Water Magic.

There was no doubt that they were weak to sunlight, but in the case of true vampires, every single one of them was strong, so I couldn’t say for sure that they were like this. As for vampires described in the tales on Earth, all kinds of legends were jumbled up together. Speaking of their fear of flowing water, there had been theories that people who had caught rabies were mistaken as vampires who feared water. Either way, as long as Grace was fine with it, then it was alright.

“What about Ashley?”

“I’ve never been swimming.”

Ashley appeared a little nervous.

“I’ll let you get a feel for it in the shallow sections, then. I will also teach you a Magic that’s useful underwater, so you don’t need to worry about drowning.”

“Okay.”

Playing near the shore would help her get better at this. Grace seemed to be a bit worried about me, but I was fine as long as I had my water-breathing spells. As long as I had them, I wouldn’t drown.

//

“Yes, it’s like that. Draw the power out of your body like that. Well done.”

Ashley quickly learned to swim under Grace’s guidance. Even if she had learned how to breathe while swimming, she wouldn’t have much trouble, since it was now possible for her to breathe underwater. As long as she wasn’t anxious about drowning, it was possible that she would even be able to relax.

Grace looked like she had choked on a bit of saltwater, but she originally knew how to swim and immediately got used to it.

I had been drifting along the surface of the water while verifying the use of Underwater Life Magic.

It seemed that Sheila had an excellent catch. As soon as Eustia placed herself on the rock and played her harp, fish started biting. Her tail stood erect, and the corners of her mouth curled up. Simply put, she looked happy.

“…Hmm?”

I had been unconsciously watching everyone as I drifted along in the shallows. After watching Dominique stand on the surface of the water with her toes and fly around, creating whitecaps, I remembered what I was supposed to do. I decided try out a quick experiment.

To start, I stood on the water’s surface using Water Walk, a Spell that allowed one to walk on water. At the same time, I used a Spell that controlled the water currents to act as a driving force.

“Oh.”

I moved forward while tearing up the water. I controlled the spell to turn to the left, then to the right.

…I could do it. If I increased the spell’s output a little more, wouldn’t I be able to ride on the water and glide around on the ground?

As for how I would proceed with this experiment, if I ran on the beach while using Life Magic to create water at the same time, I could glide above the ground like I intended to.

…That was for practical use, though. It was extremely fun to do. You could even enjoy the sensation of water skiing if you were able to do it at faster speeds. Flying in the sky was another kind of enjoyment.

Everyone looked surprised after watching me.

“That’s interesting. I didn’t think that a human would do something water that could make me admire them.”

With that, Eustia gave her opinion.

“You’re amazing, Theodore-sama!”

“That’s right. You seem to be enjoying it.”

“Want to give it a try, you two?”

When I invited both of them, who were looking at me with sparkling eyes, they didn’t stop nodding. I was acting as a water bike, and we joined hands after I used the water-walking spell.

“Then, are you ready?”

“Yes.”

I dashed on the sea’s surface with our hands linked, like we were skating on an ice rink. Although the speed was more modest compared to earlier, this still made both of them quite happy.

Hmm… At least I was already using the pretense of training.

In actuality, our main goal was to play. Somehow, I ended up learning a new skill, which I was in the midst of using. From the looks of it, I would even be able to use it in the Labyrinth.

However, I was a little uncertain about who I should pull. Whenever I accelerated or decelerated, our balance would break a little. I was being modest with my speed, after all. Perhaps it would be better for me to do this on my own, in case I was thrown into an actual battle.

“This is interesting.”

“B-but it kinda tickles the soles of my feet a little.”

They both appeared to feel a different sensation from me, who was acting as a driving force, since they were just being pulled along. Their balance broke and they clung onto my arms while laughing happily. Naturally, they were in their swimsuits. A feeling of softness and warmth spread out on my arms.

…I wanted to praise myself for not losing control of my spell.