CH 1.2

After they left, Reito turned toward the corpse of the Mamou.

He figured he would do resource collection for the first time in a while.

“Given how large this is, there’s no way I’m going to be able to strip it down for resources and take it back home. But, that being said, I should be able to use its pelt for something. Ullr, help me!”

“Woof!!”

It would be impossible to carry the gargantuan Mamou body on their own. For now, they would have to just take what they want and entrust the rest with the Adventurer Guild.

Reito put his hand to the flesh of the Mamou and whispered: “I bet we can eat this. I never thought the day we would eat mammoth flesh would come along. I guess it’s not a mammoth, but… Maybe I could send the excess meat to other villages.”

“Woof!!”

“Regardless, why did this Mamou come all the way to this region? If it can only survive in the realm of beasts, somebody must have brought it out here” he whispered before Airis replied.

『The Mamou was set as a trap to attack the elves from before. Thanks to Reito, they were saved, but if it hadn’t been for you, they would have all died.』

『”What?!』

Airis had said something unsettling, putting Reito aback.

Reito asked again.

『Why were Tina and crew attacked?』

『It was part of what’s called a succession dispute. That princess is the third daughter of the king. The oldest daughter and contender for the throne appears to have set her sights on her. The sorcerer hired by her older sister set the Mamou as a trap. She was waiting for Princess Tina to come as an envoy to the Baltros Kingdom. If the elves’ princess were to die in Baltros Kingdom, the kingdom would have to take responsibility too. Two birds with one stone.』

『That’s horrible, but, she really brought in quite the large beast.』

『It was likely a beast brought in for the Hunting Festival. Well, they probably had to kill some sorcerer tasked with bringing it in. It’s really quite sad.』

『Sad, to say the least… By the way, we just let that princess go on her way but, is she gonna be okay?』

『She will be all right. The people accompanying her were quite skilled by the looks of it. If it were a regular attacker, they should be able to drive it away easily. When they reach the city, the Adventure Guild’s Fang Dragon will join the party.』

『Does Fang Dragon belong to the same guild as Gon-chan?』

Gon-chan referred to a warrior who was a giant named Gonzo. He ate all of Reito’s cooking one time without asking and that’s how they ended up as friends. Before long, Reito ended up calling him “Gon-chan”.

Reito put the materials he had managed to collect from the Mamou into a cart he had left in the middle of the village. He used his Storage Magic to collect as much meat as he could.

“All right, this should be enough… I’ll drop by the market and ought to get a decent price off of it”

Ullr whimpered.

“I’ve got a portion set aside for you. All right, let’s go back.”

“Woof!!”

Ullr was in a good mood and pulled the cart which was custom built for wolves. They headed for Adventure City.

~

Reito returned to the Adventurer’s Guild and reported that he had defeated a Mamou. He told them the spot he had left behind the Mamou’s body, and then headed for the market.

He wasn’t able to sell all the materials from the Mamou. Using the pelt he set aside for himself, he fashioned a cloak using his Sewing skill. He heard his Mamou’s pelt was resistant to magic attacks, so he equipped it.

However, summer was coming soon so wearing a pelt cloak would have been painfully hot. He decided to only don the cloak when he left the city.

◆◆◆

『We went yesterday! Why do we have to go to Faas Village today… I wanna go home!』

『I see, infantile regression. It’s been a while. Don’t complain and head out. If you’re not on time, don’t come crying to me.』

『What’s with that tone of voice? Are you Vegeta or something?』

“Nnn?” Ullr was confused.

They left Adventure City for Faas Village. Ullr tilted his head in confusion as Reito continued talking to himself. They arrived in Faas Village right away.

“Alright, let’s get to work… 『Helmet Splitter』”

『Is there really a need to use battle tactics when you’re just cutting down trees? Don’t waste your physical strength.』

“So annoying… ‘Iceclad Sword’”

Reito used ‘Ice Block’ to produce a saw and started cutting down lumber.

He wanted to build a water mill. He planned to set it up using the water flowing in the river to the side of the village.

Normally, in order to make a water wheel, a lot of time was required but for Reito it didn’t take very long.

Reito followed Airis’s suggestion and promptly got to work on making the water wheel.

~

After spending half a day on the project, he had finally completed a gorgeous water mill.

As a finishing touch, to make sure no monsters would attack it, he spread out a smell that all monsters hate, Decay Stones. In addition, he also laid out Barrier Stones to form a barrier ring around the mill.

『Hey now, it’s moving!!』

『You did a great job. Now, if you just do something about the field, people would be able to make a living here.』

『The field… As the soil is right now, it can’t grow any crops, which means, we gotta get our hands on some sandwurms.』

『Yeah, it would be better to have some of those.』

And so, Reito went out to find some sandwurms when suddenly the water was splashing behind him.

“Ahh, what was that?!”

“Woof!?”

A giant water column shot out as if a bomb had been dropped in it. Reito and Ullr were covered in a great amount of water. Something came jumping out of the water and now stood on the ground.

“… I … landed!”

Reito had seen that characteristic blue hair somewhere…

“Could that be, Kotomin?”

“Brr… Reito?”

It was the young girl Reito had met just a month earlier, Kotomin. Kotomin shook the water off her body as if she were a dog, spraying it everywhere.

“Woo. My morning exercises are finished”

“Exercise? What kind of swimming were you doing! Look, I’m all wet because of you!”

“For mermaids, this much swimming is everyday stuff”

“Grr” Ullr suddenly tapped Reito’s back with his paw. Reito looked at Ullr’s face to find that he looked sad.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Reito looked where Ullr was looking. What appeared before his eyes was a mercilessly shattered water wheel.

“Ahhhhhh!?”

Reito collapsed onto his knees.

Kotomin was surprised by his voice and surmised the situation in a second. She looked at Reito without any expression on her face as if nothing had happened.

“Anyway… I got something to do so…”

“HEY! WAIT A MINUTE, YOUNG LADY!”

Reito grabbed on to her without regard for the fact that she was a girl.

“Oof.”

Even for someone as good-natured as Reito, there was no way he was going to let the perpetrator who destroyed the water wheel he spent half a day making go. He angrily shook Kotomin’s shoulders.

“You little shit! Do you know how long it took me to make that water wheel! Take some responsibility for this!”

“Woah! Take it easy! Maybe if you have a drink of that clear river water, you’ll feel better.”

Reito continued yelling at Kotomin while he was angry before Ullr came and licked his face. He whimpered.

Reito felt a little better and took a deep breath, slowly letting Kotomin go. To make sure she wouldn’t run away, he held on to her arm.

He resentfully said: “Ahh. Half a day of work, gone. It’s in pieces so repairing it would be so hard.”

“I’m sorry. It was the first time I had gone swimming in a while so I got carried away.”

“I can’t believe it. Now that I think about it, did you say you were a mermaid earlier?”

He remembered the conversation from before. The more he thought about it, there was no way a human could have moved the water to produce such a powerful water column.

“That’s right, I’m not a human!”

“Did you break Dio’s stone mask or something?!”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but, probably not. Allow me to introduce myself anew, my name is Kotomin the mermaid.”

“What? Your name is Suramin?”

“No! Also, what kind of a name is that?! It sounds like slime?!”

He heard her name was Kotomin the first time he met her, but this was the first time he had heard that she was a mermaid. He knew her appearance was a little weird but she looked like an ordinary human.

Reito tilted his head and asked, “So you’re a mermaid. But, you look like just a human. I don’t see any fins and all…”

“Hmph. That’s not true at all”

Reito didn’t pay any mind to having his question rejected and asked another one.

“Do you have any proof you’re a mermaid? Are you sure you’re not just a slime that thinks they’re a mermaid? Try shaking yourself off like a dog?”

“Why are you so obsessed with slime? Brr. I’m a full-fledged member of the mermaid race, just look at these legs.”

“Legs?”

Pretending to be a slime as a joke, Kotomin showed her legs to Reito.

But, all Reito could see were some ordinary human legs.

He tried using his “Observing Eye” skill and looked at her legs again. He did notice a pattern imprinted on them.”

“Are these fins?”

“Yep, there’s your proof. Humans don’t have these.”

“Mmm, there’s still a chance you’re just a fish beast.”

“I don’t think so,” she said coldly poking fun at Reito’s words.

Reito sighed and interrupted the conversation to chastise Kotomin.

“Anyway, you destroyed my water wheel so you’ll help me fix it. You have no right to refuse!!”

“Oh, I don’t really like manual labor…”

“I don’t wanna hear any excuses! You literally washed a day’s worth of work down the drain! That’s on you! I won’t forgive you!”

Ullr whimpered and looked at the sunken water wheel in the river. He had a sad facial expression.

The water wheel had been extravagantly destroyed past the point of repair. The lucky part was that only the water wheel had been destroyed and not the mill.

“Pfft. If you’re going to take it that far, I don’t really have a choice,” Kotomin said apologetically, causing Reito to soften his facial expression.

“But, it’s getting late, let’s call it a day. You better be here tomorrow morning though!”

“Are you sure? You’re not afraid I won’t run away?”

“It’s all right, even if you run away, I’ve got confidence in my fishing skills. I’ll just catch you and have a little grilled fish for dinner”

“Grilled? You’re a scary guy… got it”

Even if Kotomin had run away, Reito could simply ask Airis for her precise whereabouts. Regardless of whether he would actually need to do that, he decided to let her go home for the day.

“I’m going back too. See you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.”

“That’s a promise. I’ll cut off your pinky”

“Hmph” she said before they did a pinky swear.

Kotomin returned to the water. Reito watched over her and felt strange. He had been able to determine that she was a mermaid, but watching her disappear into the water made him uneasy. There was something horror movie-like about it.

“Let’s go back home”

“Woof!!”

They went back to Adventure City.

He considered staying in Faas Village but the desire to rest in the large house he had rented won out.