kscans

Chapter 100 - A Contest of the Night and News from the East

"Wh-what is it?!"

Cecily snapped, looking back at me as I stared at her during breakfast. Breakfast at the encampment was a rice porridge with vegetables and fish. I say rice, but the taste and texture were different from what I ate in my original world. I blew on the hot soup to cool it down before slurping it up. The only seasoning seemed to be salt; it could have used a little something more. The members of Levante were eating together, sitting on crude chairs made of logs. We had headed to the soup kitchen at dawn, but even then, we were on the late side. Some were already preparing for departure, and the port was beginning to fill with noise. A morning mist enveloped the area, but as the sun grew stronger, the fog cleared, revealing the magnificent river scenery.

"Why won't you join the rotation?"

I asked, and Cecily glanced at Mizuki.

"We promised not to tell Mash what we talked about in yesterday's meeting, right?"

"Y-yeah. But... I'm sorry."

Seeing Mizuki apologize, Cecily let out a heavy sigh.

"...It's my business, isn't it? I'm a free person now."

"You were making a fuss at the bow yesterday, and you said you'd be with us until Miglutt, didn't you?"

"I did. But I didn't say I would sleep with you."

Cecily seemed to want to end the conversation quickly, so she tried to wolf down her porridge. And then she choked. Aira, who was next to her, rubbed her back.

"Have you started to hate me?"

I asked after waiting for her coughing to stop.

"Mash, if you have time to worry about me, you should think about yourself. Besides, you're fine with any girl as long as you can do lewd things with her, right? You've got plenty of options. Cough."

Something still seemed to be stuck, as she let out one last cough.

"I want to be with you, Cecily."

"What are you saying first thing in the morning, are you an idiot? You're an otherworld hero, aren't you? Weren't you told by Laciel-sama to defeat the Demon Lord?"

"I don't care about the world. I want to be with you, Cecily."

"...What is someone who's going to die in ten years if left alone even saying!"

She finished the last of her porridge, stood up, and walked away. Everyone watched her go, but only Aira was looking at me.

"Mash, if Cecily chooses someone else, I'll choose that person too. I'll leave the party."

I felt like I'd been hit with something heavy.

"...Are you really okay with that?"

"I don't want to increase my body count any more than I have to, and I think you're fine, Mash. So make up with Cecily so that doesn't happen!"


Once again, we were on the ship. The fleet sailed down the river. We saw other ships more often than I expected, mostly fishing boats casting their lines. They were pulling up fish that resembled salmon. For most of the way, the river was over three hundred meters wide and sufficiently deep, so passing each other was no problem, but it seemed the rule was to sail on the left side. There were places where mountains rose on both banks, narrowing the river, but even there it was quite wide. It seemed to be the fruit of repeated river maintenance since the days of the old empire.

"Going down is fine, but going up must be tough,"

I muttered, looking at the mountainsides pressing in on both banks. The current had picked up a bit.

"Looks like they're waiting for the wind over there."

Where Cecily pointed, the river widened and the current slowed, and a fleet of ships was anchored. They looked like the same kind of merchant ships we were on. When we waved, they waved back. In the morning, Avea put us through our paces. The combat training was mandatory for all members, so Myra, Cecily, and even Aira, who usually just observed, participated. We were taught how to use crossbows and handle oars. By the afternoon, we had nothing left to do and were bored. The other members, trying to be considerate, left me and Cecily alone. I gazed at her profile. I wondered if she was feeling seasick today.

"...There you go, looking at me with that face again,"

she said.

"Let's go on a date when we get to Heilon."

"Mm. Okay. I want to go out on horseback again."

"Are you sure?"

I was taken aback by how easily she agreed.

"You're the one who invited me, don't ask weird questions."

A flock of water birds flew overhead in a V-formation. Cecily's gaze followed their path.

"I thought I'd live in Richel forever. I never thought I'd fight with Laciel-sama. I never thought I'd join a caravan and travel. I never thought I'd end up saving the city of Nieren. I never thought I'd be gazing at a peaceful river scene like this. I never thought Aira would go after a guy like this. I never thought I'd want to be with a guy like this. This guy, I..."

"Cecily..."

"Just because I could use magic, I never did anything... I'm powerless."

Mages were a rare profession. She must have been proud of it. She wants to help me solve my problem, but just like me, she doesn't know how. I'm optimistic that if I go to the Demon Kingdom and get information on the Demon Lord, I'll see a way forward, but she doesn't think so and seems to be getting impatient. In that sense, I believe in Laciel, but she doesn't. Our faiths had been reversed. She must be serious by nature. I thought she was taking it too hard.

"Cecily, let's have a match."

"A match? A game?"

She asked again, unable to read my intentions.

"Yeah. I'll use tweezers to pluck the nose hair from your right nostril and move it to your left nostril. If you sneeze even once before I'm done moving all of them, I win. If you don't sneeze, you win."

"Are you a child? There's no way I'd do something so stupid!"

"Hmph, you act all high and mighty, but you're just scared of losing, aren't you?"

I prodded her competitive spirit.

"I'm not scared! I'm just saying the content of the match is childish! You're a grown man, what's with that idea?"

"Then it's a forfeit. You'll join the rotation. After Claire."

"I told you, I'm not joining!"

"You're scared of losing, aren't you? You've got nothing but pride, after all."

"...Fine. Then if I win, the rotation is abolished. Every day will be my day!"

She came back with an outrageous condition.

"Wh-what? If I do that, everyone will get mad!"

"You're scared, aren't you?"

"I'm terrified."

"...I was finally playing along, don't go back to being serious now!"


We entered the cabin. Sunlight couldn't reach, but the light from a lamp secured enough brightness. Cecily lay on the bed. I loomed over her, tweezers in hand. The members of Levante had all gathered. They all had uniformly exasperated looks on their faces at the nature of the match, but aside from Mizuki, whose turn was over, it was no laughing matter for them. Their expressions were a complex mix of anxiety, discontent, and anger. Everyone must have been curious about the outcome.

"A-Aira, what do you think?"

Myra asked Aira for commentary, her face tense.

"I don't think anything. I just think Cecily is an idiot."

"You think so? Could it be that Cecily is actually a brilliant strategist?"

Is this how Myra talks to her sister? It was somehow refreshing. Would the day come when she would talk to me as casually as she does with Aira?

"Cecily just fell for Mash's sweet talk. She hasn't thought of any strategy."

"Who do you think will win?"

Myra clenched her fists at her chest. She seemed to be hoping for a heated battle.

"I don't know."

Aira shook her head curtly. She didn't seem interested in the game.

"What do you think, Famu?"

"Master isn't strong in this kind of contest. But when it comes to a crucial match, he never loses. I too was taken by his hand."

Was she talking about the nipple-guessing game? That was a serious distortion of the facts. I wanted to tell her she was crying with joy when I guessed correctly, but I kept quiet to focus on the match. I looked at Cecily. She was staring at the tweezers in my hand as if frightened. She had long eyelashes. When I clicked them open and closed, she swallowed hard. I noticed my other hand was resting on her chest. Since I was there, I decided to check the texture. I savored her self-assertion, which was a little bigger than Famu's.

"...Mash, if you keep that up, I'm going to declare it a forfeit."

Cecily's words made me realize I had completely lost myself. A terrifying trap she had set. I carefully brought the tweezers closer to her nostril.

"Eek!"

Someone let out a small shriek. Everyone except Cecily was holding their noses. The tip of the tweezers entered Cecily's right nostril. A small hole. I found myself getting excited by the act. It seems I've awakened to a new fetish. Thank you, Cecily. Cecily's nostril twitched.

"Achoo!"

Without even plucking a hair, she let out a cute sneeze.


While I was engaged in a fierce battle with Cecily in the cabin, it seemed a small boat had come alongside our sailing ship. Avea summoned me. When I went out on deck, I saw that the boat that had pulled alongside was a slender vessel with a large lateen sail. I could also see oars extending like the legs of a centipede. It looked like a fast ship. People from other trading companies had also boarded this ship and were gathered around its crew, deep in discussion. We watched them from a distance.

"Apparently, a Demon Kingdom pirate ship has appeared about four days downriver from here. A merchant ship was attacked,"

Avea said.

"This is an unpleasant way to put it, but if they steal the cargo, won't they just leave?"

"Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, it was a fleet of five ships. One was sunk, but the rest managed to escape."

"I see. So there's a possibility another ship will be attacked."

Avea nodded. Mercedes approached us.

"Today, we will stay at the next settlement as planned. The problem is what comes after. Do we turn back, push forward, or wait for the Furufto fleet and move with them?"

"Will the Furufto fleet take care of the pirates?"

"Yes, protecting this stretch of the river is a direct order from the imperial capital, and more importantly, it's the city's lifeline. However, we don't know when the fleet will be dispatched."

"Won't a fleet be sent from Heilon?"

"Heilon and Miglutt are the next targets for the Demon Kingdom that destroyed the old empire. Right now, they're waging an information war in the cities behind them. Some cities are on the verge of war over whether to side with the Empire or the Demon Kingdom."

"Won't the human race unite under the human nations?"

Mercedes shook his head. Just because they were the same race didn't mean they could easily unify their will. There were various interests and motives involved.

"The city of Miglutt is united in its resistance against the Demon Kingdom. However, the city of Heilon seems to be wavering."

So, there are those who would let the Demon Kingdom's pirates pass upstream, and internal divisions make it difficult to dispatch a fleet.

"What are your thoughts, Master Mash?"

"Me?"

"Yes. The other merchant ships are in favor of pushing forward."

The more time it takes to transport the cargo, the more personnel costs add up, which becomes a loss. In business, you can't let those losses exceed the value of the cargo. Besides, the crew members are also combatants, so it's not like they're unarmed. They probably don't want to take the option of sitting and waiting in a situation where they don't know when help will arrive.

"I don't want to take any unnecessary risks. I think it's best to dock at the next settlement and monitor the situation."

I want to avoid extra risks. A battle would likely result in considerable damage. Besides, I want to avoid getting involved in conflicts between humans as much as possible. I looked at my companions' faces. Famu started to say something to me, then fell silent. Her face was unusually pale. I remembered that the ship her friends were on had departed a day earlier. Since it was a passenger ship, it should be light on cargo and faster, so it was possible they were ahead of us.

"Clearing out some pirates doesn't sound too bad. We just saved the city of Nieren, after all."

At my words, Famu bit her lip.

"Master, it doesn't matter what happens to me. But... thank you."

Famu bowed her head.

"However, I think my friends will be fine. They have a strong knight named Wake with them."

"No, no matter how strong one knight is, if they're up against a group, there are times when it's just not enough."

Isn't that why you're making such a tragic face? I asked her in my mind. It looked like she was just trying to force her worries away.

"Could it be the 'Unsinkable' Wake?"

Myra asked.

"Un-sink-able...? He didn't seem to have been castrated. I think he's just a regular man."

The women froze at Famu's words.

"Famu! It's fine that you like Mash, but don't get infected by his way of thinking!"

Mizuki shook Famu by the shoulders. What a rude woman.

"Mizuki, Famu has always been like this. She possesses the advanced skill and ability to convert anything you say into something lewd."

I thought it was a futile effort, but I told Mizuki anyway.

"There's no way!"

"N-no, that's right. The lewd one is my Master!"

Mizuki was being fooled by her childlike appearance. Who knows whose underwear she's wearing today.

"But, if it's the Unsinkable Wake..."

Myra murmured.

"Is he that amazing?"

"Yes, back when I was in Aidan's party. He came to the city of Richel seeking a weapon made by Aidan. We explored a dungeon together then. We only fought low-level monsters to match my level, but his strength was completely unfathomable."

She had explored up to the 30th floor. Could the 30th floor really be called 'low-level'?

"Is he stronger than Aidan?"

I knew of Aidan's strength from the battle in the goblin-occupied settlement.

"I can't imagine him ever losing. I think anyone who's spent time with him once would feel the same way."

Such a terrifying person exists? I felt a shiver run down my spine.