Chapter 373 - To the Selkie Village
In IRO tonight, we immediately headed to True and the Selkies' village.
"Alright. I'm heading out for a bit, but I'll be back today, so please look after things!"
""Wuff~"" """~~~♪"""
Sent off by Leda and Roy and the Fairies, we set sail. True led the way, and we pushed off from shore on the raft carried by the Selkies.
"The wind feels great!"
"Wuff!"
"Sweee, be careful not to get blown away."
"~~~♪"
I heard a reply from Sweee's second regular spot, inside my hood. Well, if she was really about to be blown away, she'd cling to my neck.
『The shore is far away already!』
"Yeah. The Selkies are amazing."
""Kyu~!""
In less than five minutes, we were near the cove's exit. But beyond here, the open sea had waves, and sea monsters were said to appear, so we carefully rounded the eastern cliff face, making sure not to go too far out.
"Ohh~."
"Wuff~."
What we saw ahead was a sandy beach stretching almost perfectly straight north and south. The raft moved towards that beach, and soon we were close enough to see the seabed directly below.
"Wuff!"
Lupi jumped out, swam a little, and landed first. Her 'wolf drill' was cute. The Selkies were now more pulling the raft than carrying it, so I decided to disembark too.
"Whoa there. Thanks! Um, I want to keep this from floating away, though."
I wanted to tie the rope attached to the raft to a rock or a tree somewhere, but…
"Kyu kyu~."
"Ah, that way, huh?"
True beckoned me, saying "This way, this way," pointing to the area behind the cliff we had just passed. Was there a cave there, where the Selkies lived? I found a suitable rock, looped the rope around it, and tied it securely.
"~~~♪"
"Oh, thanks."
Sweee provided light with a Light Spirit. The cave was dark, but the Selkies probably had good night vision. Well, if they could dive to deep parts of the sea, then that made sense.
"Kyu♪"
Guided by True, we proceeded inside, and after a short distance, we emerged into a wide space. In the center was a tide pool, so deep that the bottom was completely dark…
『Does it connect to the sea?』
"Ah, it might."
A Selkie popped its head out of the water, and when it waved its hand,
"Kyu kyu~♪"
"Oh~."
I waved back. "It really does connect to the sea. Do you usually come to the port from here?"
"Kyu kyu."
They nodded, indicating they didn't have to go all the way around most of the time. If I went through here… Lupi couldn't do it, though.
"Kyu~♪"
"Ah, yeah."
The hall had several side tunnels, each apparently a dwelling. As I was guided, I gradually lost my sense of direction, but I guessed we were heading west, towards the center of the island. Following True up an incline, we reached a T-junction that continued left and right.
"Kyu kyu~."
"~~~?"
"Kyu~."
True and Sweee were talking about something, but…
『What's wrong?』
"I wonder."
Then True and Sweee moved to the right. Following them, after a short distance, we found…
""Ah…""
"Kyu~…"
Beyond the cave, the ceiling had collapsed, blocking the path. It looked similar to the passage leading to the ancient ruins' control room, but fortunately, the ceiling above was open, letting in light from outside, so it seemed like it could be fixed if the debris was cleared. No, True stopped quite a bit before it, probably wary that the ceiling ahead might still fall.
『Shou-kun. Can't you do something about it?』
"Yeah. Just a moment."
"~~~♪"
"Wuff!"
Sweee was telling True something, seemingly along the lines of "Don't worry, Shou will handle it." In any case, I'll use my Civil Engineering Skill to check the safety of the ceiling and walls.
"The update has made it much easier to understand, hasn't it?"
『Your Civil Engineering Skill has also increased.』
Until now, I could only see about 50cm square in the area I intently looked at, but now I could see about 3m square, making it much easier to use. The place we were currently in was green, so it was safe, but the collapsed upper part ranged from yellow to orange, looking dangerous. "The walls are fine, so it might be better to bring down the dangerous part near the ceiling."
『Does it seem like a large-scale project?』
"Yeah. The visible range isn't that big, but it depends on how far the debris extends…"
I wondered how they dug a tunnel through rock like this, but then again, it's a world where there's Excavation magic and Earth Spirit magic to dig holes. "Yeah. I can't fix it right away, but I think it'll be fine if I prepare properly."
"Kyu~♪"
True's face brightened, and she hugged me, which made me happy. I wanted to do it right away, but if I opened the ceiling wider, rainwater would flow in even more than before, so I'd have to prepare a simple roof for them.
"Oh, right, does this path ahead lead out to the port side?"
"Kyu kyu~."
Apparently so. Perhaps somewhere further south from where the Camlus trees are? In that case, I could come to the Selkie village even without the Divine Tree, so I should try to fix it quickly.
"Kyu~ kyu♪"
We returned the way we came and continued straight, reaching an exit on top of a small hill. "Whoa, that's amazing."
『That's amazing!』
The first thing that caught my eye were olive trees. Selkies were gathering fruits with wicker baskets in hand. "Kyu kyu~♪"
"Yeah."
As True pulled me along, we went to the deepest part of the olive trees, where…
"~~~♪"
Sweee zipped off to a large tree. It was undoubtedly a Divine Tree.
『There's one here too!』
"Yeah. With this, True and Paan's groups can all have a meal together."
『I'm looking forward to it.』
I cautiously approached the Divine Tree, careful not to step on the flowers. At its base, a small altar-like structure was made, surrounded by beautiful stones…
"Ah, the Jade Goddess Statue I gave them. They've properly enshrined it."
"Kyu~♪"
Everyone sat in front of the shrine and offered a simple prayer.
『I feel kind of embarrassed.』
"Haha. But it might actually come true, you know?"
『Th-that's right…』
If Mion becomes the image character for the Jade Goddess, will the Jade Goddess Statues in the mainland churches also change? Somehow, that feels a bit subtle…
[Update History]
12/30 Chapter 319 Who Is Worthy to Be the Representative? ~ to this chapter
My work for the year is done, and I've finally been able to update.
I will continue to publish more tomorrow.
I haven't been able to reply to comments, but I read all of them.
Thank you as always. m(_ _)m