Chapter 24 ā Whispering Shell / The Real Intention of the Two / Sacred Spring
Part A
Translator: Erothur @translation.craneanime.com
Patron: Adam G.,Ā Alfonzo M., Sherif YMGA, JP Luna, Wolololy
Yuishia has already acquainted with Riona, Milty, Stella, Monica-san, Wendy, and Nameless-san. Nobody tells the young girl group about her actually being an Empress Dragon but Milty seems to be able to smell that she is actually not a normal human so, at the start, she was acting very wary around Yuishia. But when they accidentally met each other in the forest sometime later, and it seems that, as the same cool and silent character, both of them could somehow understand each other well and the ice between them has been broken since then.
Thatās why, later when I reintroduce Yuishia as my guardian beast, everyone could accept the fact easily and treat her nicely.
āI have recorded Hiroto-samaās friendsā voice in thisā
āUn, Thank you. Everyone seems to be doing great. At least I donāt have to worry about them for the time beingā
LOG
ā You have received [Whispering Shell] from <Yuishia>.
This [Whispering Shell] is something I bought from a traveling merchant that visited Mizell before. The power of a sound spirit is dwelling inside it and anyone could convey their voice into it.
When I read the itemās name, I hoped that it is something that could be used in the same way as the whisper function back in the game world but things do not go as easily as one wishes. It is shaped like a conch and when you speak into its hole, your voice will be ācapturedā inside the shell. It has 6 magic stones embedded in the shellās body and each one of the magic stones corresponds to 1 session of recording. The way it works is similar to an IC recorder and it is actually quite convenient.
āThe boys already fell asleep so the number of recordings is enoughā
āHahaā¦ā¦ Both Ash and Deen is an early sleeper after allā
I was like that too in the past. When I was still 10 years old,Ā the latest I could stay awake was around 10 pm. Then I gradually could hold on longer and longer and finally, I could stay awake all night to play Eternal Magia. The yellow-colored morning sunlight used to be the thing I saw before I got to sleep. Well, if I canāt do that much then I wonāt be able to become a top player in the game.
Looking at Yuishia, it seems like the lingering feeling from before still remains as she lets out a long breath before she sits on the bed. She then lies on the bed sideways, a pose that she rarely takes, and keeps her gaze on me.
It seems like a way of her saying that she can watch me forever without feeling bored and her gaze is really unmoving. It takes me a while to get used to her lock on gaze and I am now already growing accustomed to it.
āWell then letās recover the sound immediately thenā
LOG
ā You are using the power dwelling inside [Whispering Shell]!
ā The voice recorded in the shell is reaching your ear.
[Hiro-chan, are you alright in there? I am fine here. The capital is bustling with people and with that many people around, Milty-chan gets afraid and hides inside. Stella-neechan will always grab my hand so I wonāt get lost. I want to meet Hiro-chan quickly. From Riona] [ā¦ā¦ I am not really hiding. But I donāt like it when there are so many people. The festival seems fun but without Hiroto around, I donāt feel like watching it anymore. I hope you can come back quickly. I will protect Stella and Riona with my beast magic so you donāt have to worry. I learned new beast magic that I havenāt shown Hiroto yet so I will show it to you once we get back to Mizell. Milty] [Hiroto, I want to remind you of one thing. When you are escorting the princess always keep in mind to not say anything impolite to her. And then I know that the princess is beautiful but remember to not stare at her too long. Because if you do, you could be arrested for doing a disrespect crime. Now that we are apart, we canāt talk to each other that much but when you get back to the town, letās study together again. I finally managed to read difficult books that would surprise you, you know? Look forward to it. From Stella]
If I have to say, rather than worrying about my conditions, it feels that they are saying more things about how they wanted to play with me. Stella-nee has been giving me the cold shoulder lately but her voice sounds very tender. Is it because she is not talking directly to me that she finally let out her true feeling? ā¦ā¦ I feel a bit bashful.
I am secretly having a big expectation of Stella-neeās high learning ability. The book that she reads for me gradually becomes more high level and before I realize it, she is already capable of reading books with language that even I canāt read. From grappling around all the time with [Ancient language] reading comprehension, it seems that she has succeeded in learning the [decipher] skill.
(Even if I donāt learn all the skills, if someone else close to me has it then there would be fewer things that we could not do. In a sense of preparing for the future, team play is something I should cultivate from now)
Of course, I am not thinking that I want to take her skill when Stella-nee changes her job which would also change her inherent skill. That thing might happen in the future as who knows what would happen in the future but expecting that from the beginning is not something good. I should start thinking of another way to grind the skill even if it would take a longer time. That is what the pure side of me is saying right now.
Maybe Stella-nee managed to guess the conflict I have inside my mind and because of that, she is giving me the cold shoulderā¦ā¦ I have been worrying about it for some time but, it seems that I am just thinking too much. However, I canāt just turn deviant when she is still showing her affection to me. Everything should be done in moderation.
āEveryone is mostly worried about you, Master. And they also told me to give their regard to the holy knightā
Donāt treat her as something you also regard because she is in a convenient position. After all, coming to Filianess-sanās domain is the current main eventā¦ā¦ Well, I think I am not that slow-witted to not realize that everyone is treating me as someone important. I should just take everyone elseās portion for feeling happy toward meeting Fillianess-san again.
Next is the older group right? ā¦ā¦ Somehow, saying it like this made me feel like being in a kindergarten back in Japan. Maybe dividing it with the adult group and children group would be easier to understand?
[Hiroto, I think you would have safely arrived at Filianess-sanās place but there are still possibilities of another attack so keep your guard up okay? Even if I say it like that, my logic could still tell me that Hiroto would definitely not let the princess meet any danger but even so, I am still worried. We still have the last resort by announcing that Yuishia is also a member of our party butā¦ā¦ if we really do that then it might be hard for Hiroto and Yuishia to live peacefully ever again. Anyway, make sure to come back okay? Monica]
If everyone knows that the one escorting the princess would be me who also has a sovereign dragon as guardian beast then there would be no one who dares to attack us. But just like what Monica-san said, by divulging the existence of Yuishia, there is a high possibility that people who are blinded by greed and tried to slay the dragon for fame would appear. Well, Yuishia could definitely repel all the attacks but there will be too many people dying.
Borrowing Yuishiaās power would be the last of the last resort. With her around, I can let Luche easily escape any predicamentā¦ā¦ But for the time being, letās think of a better way so she could peacefully live inside the dukedom.
[Oshishou-sama, are you alright right now? We arrived at the capital without any problem and are currently relaxing in a retreat-like lodging. The boys seemed to be very tired from helping out in the caravan so they soon fell asleep once we reached the lodging. The girls on the other hand still seem energetic. They are currently having a nice chat in their room. I was also with them just a moment ago and they asked me about my relationship with you Oshishou-samaā¦ā¦ When being asked like that, I somehow found it difficult to explain. I want to consult Oshishou-sama about matters regarding that the next time we meet. So I am hoping for your quick return. From Wendy]
Wendyās relation to me is that she asked me to make her my disciple after I, who was not even 2 years old at that time, saved her when she was about to get kidnapped by kobolds in the forest. Most of the humanoid monsters would always try to kidnap human women for their breeding purposes. When people are capable enough, those kinds of weak monsters would become a source to farm for experience and loot and they would be hunted excessively. But not everyone has the power to fight. Monsters are basically dangerous after all.
[This could record this oneās voice? This magic item, in this one knowledgeā¦ā¦ No, itās nothing. Forget what this one was mumbling. Anyway, this one has something to tell you. This one thinks that you would not encounter this problem but it would be better for you to know. Recently, there was a person entering the Junegan dukedom area and this one heard that this person has been indiscriminately challenging every strong person this person met. This person has been appearing a lot in the adventurer guild and become quite famous lately. If you happen to meet that person, this one personally wished for Hiroto-kun to teach that person how strong you are. That person had appeared in Juneveās adventurer guild just a while ago and left the capital from the south gate. Please tell the holy knight-dono to also be careful. From Nameless, that when used as a way to call oneself feels very awkwardā¦ā¦ This is something to ponder on]
Nameless is not her real name. It is more like a nickname or an alias. But anyway, that Dojo breaker person seems to be going this way now. I canāt say that I am not interested. I want to see how strong that person actually is.
And it seems like the time for Nameless-san to teach me her true name would soon comeā¦ā¦ The flag has been raised up. From the way she talks, it doesnāt seem like she does not want to tell me her real name. It is rather that she seems to be waiting for a perfect time.
āHiroto-sama, when you finish overwriting the record, I will bring it back to the group. After I deliver it to them, I will be watching over them while hiding myself so they wonāt meet any dangerā
āAa, please do soā
I record 6 messages for everyone in the whispering shell and give it to Yuishia. She looks a bit reluctant to part but she still gets out from the balcony and then jumps to the night sky. Her body then wrapped by a veil of light and then she transformed back into her giant dragon form. After gently ascending for a while, she sped up and flew off to the horizon until my sight could not see her figure again. The reason why she goes up slowly is that if she goes fast from the start, the wind caused by her flight would negatively affect the people living in the surrounding. She has been very careful to not cause any loss to other people.
If she is not an Empress Dragon then she would not be able to use the dragon magic or even turn into human form as it is only limited to a certain dragon species. Yuishia definitely can completely disguise herself as a human and lives among them if she wants. By the dragon species standard, she is also counted as a valuable being. Just how lucky I am for being able to take her as my own guardian beast from the get-go like thisā¦ā¦
(I am also thinking the same thing as you and my heart will always be with you, my Master)
Masterā¦ā¦ such a nostalgic way to call me. Back in the game when I am still sitting in the position of the guild master, a few of the guild members call me that way. Well, they mostly would just call me guild master though.
Rather than being called goshujin-sama or hiroto-sama, being called master feels more natural for me personallyā¦ā¦ Maybe it was because I am still being affected by the second-grader disease A.K.A Chuunibyou I wonder?
(Eros: goshujin-sama = owner. I translated that as master in the previous chapter but it is more for the owner/employer)
(Thank you. Be careful out there Yuishia)
Even when we can have telepathic communication with each other, there are still limits to its range and after passing through the limit, it would be hard to contact each other with it. Before Yuishiaās presence disappears, I feel that she sent me one small last message before departing.