Chapter 145

Chapter 145 \nOnce you get used to living on a ship, you start to see the many ways to enjoy it.

　I was able to enjoy a different kind of peaceful journey, gazing at the changing scenery and the flowing river.

　It was noon on the third day after we boarded the boat. We would be arriving at the Kingdom of Lingle in about half a day.

　As I was leaning against the edge of the ship, remembering our journey so far, Nea, who had taken human form, came up next to me.

 

“You look bored.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

 

　We basically had nothing to do on the ship, since the sailors were doing all the work.

　Oh, come to think of it, Arc-san has taken the lead in cooking-related matters at some point.

　Bluerin is coasting, Amako is writing a letter to Kanoko and Rinka, and Leona-san is cleaning the spear she brought instead of the hero’s weapon.

　So, it was only me and Nea who really had nothing to do at the moment.

 

“Nea, there’s something that’s been bothering me for a while.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“You’re a vampire, aren’t you?”

“Huh? Why the hell are you asking that right now?”

 

　At this point, I thought I’d ask Nea something I was a little curious about.

　I hadn’t heard of it for some reason.

 

“No but I’m just curious, do vampires in this world drink blood and increase their own kind?”

“…… By this world you mean, is that true in Usato’s world as well?”

“In our world, vampires are fantasy creatures, but there are many stories about them.”

 

　In my world, I’m not sure if they exist or not, but it’s a common setting for vampires to suck blood to increase their army.

　Nea opened her mouth at my words, turning her head away.

 

“It’s not impossible, you know.”

“Really!?”

 

　Without thinking, I took three steps away from Nea.

 

“Why are you distancing yourself!”

“Because, you know? You’ll suck all the blood out of humans and turn them into ghouls, right?”

“No, I wouldn’t do such a horrible thing! How freaky are the vampires in your world?”

 

　Apparently, I was wrong.

　After calming her breathing down, Nea looked away from me with a slight hesitation.

 

“The way we increase the number of our kind is not by sucking blood. Rather, it’s the opposite; we feed them blood.”

“Feed them? The blood of vampires?”

“Yes, of course. Not just any blood of course. It can’t be just blood because that would violate the prohibition against transforming humans into demons. To put it simply, it’s a special kind of blood that contains highly pure magical power. It will reconstitute the human body into our body.”

“…… Is it really that easy to do?”

“Fufufu of course it’s impossible.”

 

　Nea laughed hilariously at my words.

 

“There’s no way a normal human being can withstand the kind of load that would remake their body. Even if you’re lucky and your body can withstand it, your mind will be destroyed and you’ll end up like a slightly stronger zombie.”

“…… That’s some …… egregious stuff.”

“Well, I’m knowledgeable about it, but I’ve never tried it.”

 

　I would never want to be a zombie, or a slightly stronger zombie.

　But turning a human into a demon, isn’t that kind of dangerous? As I was inwardly reaffirming the abnormality of vampires as demons, Nea turned a mischievous smile towards me.

 

“If you’re physically and mentally ridiculously strong, you can do it, can’t you? What say we give it a try? It will raise the upper limit of your physical body and increase your lifespan incomparably to that of a human, you know?”

 

　Nea said, peeking out her sharp fangs.

　I sighed at Nea and lightly poked her in the forehead.

 

“Ouch!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I still want to be human.”

“Uuuuu~ Jeez, of course I’m joking! You’re not human enough at this point! How long do you want to act like a human, you muscles for brains!”

 

　You-You would go that far.

　I know with your illusions that I’m not so human okay? And I’m aware that I’m not human, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped acting like a human right?

 

“You on the other hand….Un?”

 

　She was angry and glaring at me with tears in her eyes, but then she suddenly noticed something and turned her gaze towards the river.

 

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I just saw something move down there. ……”

 

　Is there a fish or something?

　I wondered the same thing, and like Nea, I leaned forward to take a peek at the river, but at that moment, with a huge splash, something the size of a man jumped out at us.

 

“Gegege–!”

“”Huh?””

 

　The poisonous coloured thing jumped up right in front of us, and our eyes met.

　It had a rotund physique, viscous skin, and a long tongue. Its appearance was similar to that of the frog on earth.

　However, the moment I saw it in my field of vision, which was many times larger than the frog I knew, I almost reflexively slammed my gauntlet fist into its abdomen.

 

“Nun!”

“G-Gefuu!”

 

　The giant frog returned to the water with white eyes.

　It’s probably a demon, but …… well, I was surprised when it came out of nowhere, but that’s about it.

　It’s not even as scary as the ghost or Rose.

 

“Blergh, my gauntlet feels really sticky ……”

“Heh, you just naturally punched it without hesitation …….Sometimes I can rely on that kind of unwaveringly.”

“Can you stand?Nea.”

“Hmm? Yeah I can.”

 

　As I brush the mucus off my hands, I help Nea, who is slumped over in surprise to stand up. Then, from a different place than where we were, several of the same giant frogs from earlier climbed onto the boat.

 

“””Gegege–!”””

“…… Uwah.”

 

　In an instant, the top of the ship was in trouble.

　The sight of a giant toad bouncing around on the ship made Nea and me twitch our cheeks.

　Hearing the commotion, the sailors, Leona-san, Arc-san and Amako come out from the ship.

 

“A bunch of aquafrogs! What’s with all the numbers ……! Usato, are you okay!”

“We’re fine over here. Amako and the …… captains, please stay hidden!”

“Gero!”

“Tsk!”

 

　The two giant frogs, the Aqua Frogs, must have noticed me, because they jumped and hit me.

　I don’t want my gauntlet to become slippery, so I aim with my right fist and fire two healing blows. The healing magic bullets released with the sound of air popping knocked the aqua frog down into the river.

 

“Okay, let’s just knock them all down to the river for now.”

“Even though I’m saying this now, are you really a healing magician?”

“Think of me as the new generation of a healing magician …….”

 

　After confirming that with Nea, who had turned into an owl, she had flown to my shoulder while uttering an excuse that I found painful, I moved to Arc-san and the others while keeping the Aqua Frog in check with my healing magic bullets.

 

“Leona, Arc. Do you have any feedback?”

“…… Somehow, I’m starting to think Usato is pioneering a new kind of magic.”

“It’s great to see it again. …… Yeah, really.”

 

　Leona-san replied to Nea’s words with a somewhat distant look on her face, while Arc-san gave her a normal compliment. However, she immediately changed her expression and pointed the point of her spear, which was different from the hero’s weapon, at the aqua frog.

 

“It seems that because the ship didn’t pass through, this has become Aqua Frog’s territory. …… I didn’t expect them to come up to the ship, but ……”

“What kind of demons are these guys?”

“On their own, their combat power isn’t very high. You just have to be careful not to get caught by their sharp claws, the poison they secrete from their backs, or their tongues. The problem is the number of these—-“

 

　As far as I could see, there were a dozen or so aqua frogs bouncing around on the ship, trolling around.

　It’s a sight that would normally scare me in more ways than one, but it doesn’t matter to us right now.

 

“–Well, with you guys, it won’t be a problem.”

“Yes.”

 

　Leona-san generates ice magic in her hands, and Arc-san makes his newly-made sword glow red.

　I’m the only one holding my fist without using magic.

　I’ve never been in a fight where I felt like a magician.

 

 

 

　The first thing I learnt from fighting the Aqua Frog was that it was dangerous to touch it with your bare hands because it looked too slimy to touch, but even without that, the poison that covered its body surface was dangerous.

　With my healing magic, I could quickly heal the poison, but there was no need to waste magic power, so I decided to safely fight off the Aqua Frog.

 

“Gege!”

“Too slow.”

“Geooo!”

 

　I grabbed the tongue sticking out like a spear with my gauntlet and threw it outside the ship after having Nea cast a restraint spell on it.

　Oi, you gotta be kidding me! Making me feel a little sorry for the Aqua Frog as it fell into the water with a look on its face that said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

 

“I’ve already noticed it!　Healing magic burst palm!”

“Gee!”

“Uwaah……”

 

　The aqua frog is blown off the ship by the bursting palm.

　Anyone could tell when it flopped down from behind and approached us.

 

“I knew it, normal demons are no longer a match for you. I know I can’t help it, but …… you’re really not human.”

“There’s a frog with its mouth open, do you want me to throw you in?”

“Aah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!　I’m sorry, but don’t grab me by the ears and pull me down!”

 

　Nea clutches my cloak tightly and fights back as I sigh and fires a healing finger bomb from the gauntlet into the wide-open mouth of the Aqua Frog.

　They are much less powerful and have a range of less than three meters, but they are much faster than healing magic bullets. The aqua frog that was hit in the oral cavity writhed in confusion, then lost its balance and fell into the river.

 

“Well, now that that’s mostly taken care of. Are Arc-san and Leona-san okay?”

 

　After dropping all the aqua frogs in the vicinity from the boat, I looked at the two who were probably dealing with them elsewhere.

　Arc-san was using his flaming sword to fight off the aqua frogs, and there were no scorch marks from the flames or even dead aqua frogs around him.

 

“As expected of Arc-san, I don’t need to help him whatsoever. As for Leona-san …….”

 

　Most of the aquafrogs had been defeated on Leona-san’s side as well.

　Using ice magic and a spear that she hadn’t shown in her fight with Karon, she was able to toss the aqua frogs around and knock them off the ship in a fluid motion.

　Freezing the floor and manipulating magic bullets remotely, the variety of techniques as always was something to marvel at no matter how many times I saw them.

 

“Usato-dono, all the demons that came up to the ship have been cleared.”

“It seems so. Well, I’m glad it wasn’t a strong demon. I don’t want to encounter a powerful demon even on my way back home, you know?”

 

　No, I really don’t want that.

　I’m in a desperate state of mind, like I can’t go home normally with the Lingle Kingdom in front of me.

　After dispatching all the Aqua Frogs, I was conversing with Arc-san, who had put away his sword, when I noticed that Leona-san was still clutching her spear and had a grim expression on her face.

 

“Leona-dono, is there still something lurking?”

“No, I don’t know yet.”

 

　Leona-san replied vaguely to Arc-san’s words.

 

“…… Aqua Frogs are demons that act in packs. The boss of the aqua frogs, Motherfrog, is supposed to be in that flock, but …… I’ve been wondering why she hasn’t shown up yet.”

 

　I see, so that’s why you were still on alert.

　But Mother Frog is the parent of Aquafrog, so Mother?

 

“There are two possibilities I can think of. One is that either Mother Frog has already died out. The other is …… that she’s trying to attack us when she’s exhausted from hitting us with her child, Aquafrog.”

“……In case you’re wondering, how is that mother frog different from a regular aquafrog?”

“It’s—-“

 

　Just as Leona-san was about to continue, the surface of the water in front of the ship exploded vigorously, and a huge object the size of a light car flew high into the air.

　A purple frog, incomparably larger than the Aqua Frog.

　With a somewhat distant look, Leona-san pointed at the purple frog.

 

“Yeah, well, it’s not as big as …… that one.”

“No, no, no! If that thing falls on the ship, we’ll sink!”

 

　Nea was right, there was no way the ship could withstand the weight of that thing. I mean, how high is it jumping?

　They’re not trying to board the ship, they’re trying to destroy it!

 

“Usato, Arc-dono!　We’ll use maximum firepower to repel them!

“Alright!”

“Maximum firepower? I’m a healing magician though.”

 

　Leona-san was ready to throw a spear filled with ice magic, and Art-san was holding a flaming sword that was even more brilliant.

　I can’t be clueless anymore.

 

“Yeah, I’ll have to use it!”

 

　I put the maximum amount of magic power into my gauntlet and move into a healing fist stance.

　To be honest, it may seem like overkill, but if it falls into the ship, we’re finished.

　I’m going to try to leap, keeping my eyes on the Motherfrog that is falling towards us.

 

“—- Wait! Something’s flying at us from the side!”

“What?”

 

　The moment Leon-san’s voice stopped me, a crescent-shaped magic blade with a dazzling electric shock hit Motherfrog from another direction.

　The crescent-shaped magic blade blew away the Motherfrog’s huge body and at the same time scorched it with electric shocks.

 

“Wha-!”

“This electric shock is …… no way.”

 

　The Motherfrog fell a short distance away from the ship, making a huge splash.

　The rolled-up water rained down on the ship, but I ignored it and looked in the direction where the magic blade had flown.

　In my line of sight, I saw the reflection of a black-haired girl who had swung her sword with a gush of lightning.

　When she spotted me, she waved at me with a big smile on her face.

 

“Inugami-senpai!”

 

　Inugami-senpai, one of my best friends whom I had vowed to meet again.

　It was unexpected that I would see her again before arriving at the Kingdom of Lingle, but it was a joyous occasion for me.

Author’s Note:

 

This is the first time I’ve seen her in about three months.

In the real world, it’s been one year and nine months ……. When I think about it again, it’s hard to imagine a heroine who hasn’t seen the hero this much …….

 

Today, November 1st, at noon, “N-Star”, the official web-based novel magazine of “Shosetsuka ni Narou”, was launched.

I’m sorry for the sudden announcement, but I’m going to be writing a new series there.

 

The title of the series is “The Right Way to Use Weather Magic: Rain Man Wants to Grow Vegetables.

 

It’s a story about slow life in another world (?), updated every day. It’s a story about slow life in a different world.

You can read it by searching for the name of the work in the usual way.