kscans

Chapter 231 - Famu, Sameim, and the Night in Richel

I walked through the darkened streets of Richel with Sameim on my back. The moonlight cast a pale, bluish glow over the city. Looking up, I saw it was a full moon. In this world, too, was it the mid-autumn moon? No, if I were to equate it to my original world's calendar, this would be the Harvest Moon. The next full moon would probably be that one. I wondered if they had any moon-viewing events here. The streetlights were few and far between. And though the road was paved with cobblestones, it was hard to walk on. The stones had worn down over the years, their corners rounded, and there were ruts from wagon wheels. The moonlight erased all the shadows, making the uneven surface hard to see. The carriages in this world, of course, had wooden wheels. Yet, wagons must have passed over this road so many times they had worn down the stone. I remembered the anxiety I felt when I took Famu to the church, and the warmth I felt on my back as I walked to the inn. She was walking next to me now. It was already a familiar sight. Thinking about it, the streets of Richel seemed nostalgic. Seeing the sign for the Asuka Inn, I felt my eyes well up unexpectedly.

"This is where I graduated from being a virgin."

"What are you suddenly saying?!"

Famu's face turned beet red as she replied. Was it because of the light from the torch on the inn's sign?

"You lost yours too, didn't you?!"

"I said, stop it! What are you going to do if Sameim wakes up?!"

She checked Sameim's breathing, who had her head buried in my shoulder, and sighed in relief.

"Later, let's have Sameim join us and we can all check our phones."

"N-No way."

Leaving her flustered, I went inside. The first floor, which served as a pub and dining hall, was filled with lively voices. Among them, I spotted Mizuki and Marmi.

After laying Sameim down in the room, I went back to the first floor, got my dinner and an ale, and sat down next to Mizuki and the others.

"Where did Petra go?"

"She said she's staying at Aidan's place."

As I listened to Mizuki, Famu and I shared a long, coiled sausage. It seemed a bit salty, so I took a swig of ale to dilute it in my mouth.

"She went to Aidan's?"

Mizuki nodded at my words. She wasn't smiling, nor was she angry. It was just that blank expression of hers that felt off to me.

"Mizuki, let me see your storage for a second."

"W-Why do I have to show it to you, Mash?! More importantly, is it okay to leave Sameim alone?"

Mizuki was trying to change the subject in a panic. She had definitely restocked her alcohol supply. Why did she want to drink so much?

"Mash... I'm keeping my promise to you, and I only drink when you're around!"

I wondered what she meant by 'I too,' and my gaze fell on Famu, who was next to me, biting into the long sausage. It was as thick as three fingers and over thirty centimeters long. Was she planning on slurping it up like udon noodles? After a while, Famu froze with her mouth full and looked at me. She seemed to be pleading for help, but there was nothing I could do for her.

"Sameim will be fine. Probably."

Ignoring Famu, I replied to Mizuki. Even if she woke up, she probably couldn't do much in her current state. I figured Famu could persuade her, so I wasn't too worried. I was more concerned about Yuki and his group. I shifted my gaze to Marmi. She had finished her meal and was drinking something from a mug, holding it with both hands. It was probably grape juice.

"Mo, I want to go back to Miglutt right now."

"...Impossible."

Her reply was a single word.

"If we summon Laciel, we can have her carry us on her spear..."

Mizuki and Marmi both looked at me.

"But wouldn't your mana run out, Mash...?"

Mizuki answered.

"Why? We were able to travel from that dungeon to Laciel's space."

It was dark, so I couldn't get a good sense of it, but we must have traveled a long distance at a considerable speed.

"The World of the Jar of Holy Oil is like outer space with no air and no gravity, right? With no friction, you can travel long distances at high speed with just the force of acceleration. In this world, you're affected by friction, air resistance, and gravity. You'd need a huge amount of mana, wouldn't you?"

I stared at Mizuki. It was obvious when you thought about it; she was a current student. She was supposed to be smarter than me, so I made a mental note to be careful not to say anything strange in front of her.

"There's still resistance in the World of the Jar of Holy Oil, right? Isn't it filled with mana?"

"...Mana has no physical structure. It doesn't interact with other substances. Its existence can only be perceived through magical power."

This time, Marmi answered. If we tried to have Laciel move us as an experiment and failed, it would take time to summon her again. It seemed better to think of another way. But come to think of it, there was summoning magic. Laciel and the others who responded to summons must have some way of jumping through space.

"...Mash, Lady Laciel said that special skills are a conceptual power. So..."

"If you say 'that,' then it 'is,' huh..."

Marmi started talking as if she had read my mind, and when I finished her thought, she gave a small nod. Was there no other way? I looked at Mizuki.

"That's it. Mizuki, the booze."

"What about the booze?"

"Your storage. It's another dimension too. I think Myra said that the contents of a dead person's storage are sometimes found in dungeons. In other words, the world inside the storage is the 'World of the Jar of Holy Oil.'"

If I summoned Laciel from inside the storage, couldn't I access her temple or the Leafkraut dungeon again? However, Marmi shook her head at my words.

"...There's a restriction that living things can't enter. Even if you could, the walls of the storage are the same as dungeon walls; no one can break them."

"But my arm can go in."

I opened my storage and took out an ear of corn. When I put things in or take them out, my arm can go in up to that point. But no further. I didn't need to put any more of my body in, since whatever I wanted to take out would appear near the entrance if I just imagined it. The only thing left was the adventurer's skill to travel from a dungeon's entrance to a floor they had already visited. But I couldn't think of a way to use that ability to travel to another dungeon or Laciel's space, and it seemed difficult.

"I feel like there was some other spatial transfer magic..."

I wracked my brain for a while, but nothing came to mind.

When I returned to the room, Sameim was breathing softly, still in the same position I had left her in. Famu stroked her cheek to check on her, but she showed no signs of waking. She would probably wake up the next morning. There were two double-sized-or-larger beds placed side by side. One was a fixture, and the other seemed to have been brought in hastily. Thanks to that, most of the room was taken up by beds, and the table and four chairs were pushed into a corner. Tomorrow, I wanted to move to the large room we had stayed in before.

"Master, please sleep next to her tonight."

"I-Is that okay?!"

I gasped. This might be the first time Famu had given me permission for such an act.

"I don't know what you mean by 'okay,' but no!"

"Then what's not okay?!"

"Never mind that, just be as gentle with Sameim as you were with me!"

"In that case..."

I reached for her chest to confirm the sensation I had felt on my back. Famu slapped my hand away.

"Why does it always come to this?!"

She didn't know the fact that her own chest had been groped.

"I understand, but shouldn't we check first?"

"Check what?"

"Whether she's a virgin or not. It would be a pain if she woke up in the morning and started rampaging, saying she'd been taken."

She froze for a moment at my words.

"Sameim, maybe she..."

she started, then quickly shook her head. "What are you saying?! And how do you plan to check?"

Famu rephrased.

"Well, one thrust with my thing and we'll know."

"I told you, one thrust and it's over!"

Her cheeks were puffed out. It seemed I should stop teasing her.

"Alright. Let's go to sleep then."

I said and lay down next to Sameim, and then Famu got in next to me. The other bed had Mizuki and Marmi. Mizuki and Marmi seemed like a strange combination, but Mizuki basically didn't fight with anyone. She was a sociable type, unlike me. So why did she get so angry and treat only me like a pervert? As I was thinking about this, I closed my eyes.

I woke up suddenly. There was a small window in the room. It had a wooden lattice, and moonlight was streaming in. Just like when I was carrying Sameim on my back, the room was bathed in a pale, bluish light. Summer was fading, and the nights had become much colder. The sight of the room made it feel even colder. Along with Famu's breathing, I could hear Sameim's. I turned over to face her. Her chest was rising and falling slowly and gently with her breath. Her sleeping face was peaceful. There was none of the harshness or killing intent I had seen in Miglutt or the Leafkraut dungeon.

'She's like the sun to me. Cheerful, always there, kind, straightforward, quick to anger, dazzling, warm, reassuring, a source of courage, someone I look up to, but also a little naughty...' I remembered Famu's words. Her words were true; there was a warmth to Sameim's body. A warmth like the sun that could warm a cold night. Just as I thought I wanted to see her smile, a single tear fell from her eye. I caught the tear with my finger. I wondered why Yuki would make a girl like this participate in battles, and then I remembered the warmth behind me. I was one to talk. I had gotten Famu involved. I couldn't imagine life without her. Did Yuki feel the same way about Sameim? For her sake, I hoped so. If that was the case, then maybe we could reconcile with him, just as Mizuki wished. However, Sameim, unlike Famu, wasn't wearing a light blue item. And seeing Famu, it wasn't hard to imagine what that meant for the dog-eared race. As I was thinking about this, Famu hugged me from behind. Come to think of it, her breathing had stopped some time ago.

"Master, do you understand now? Sameim is warm."

As she said this, she buried her face in my back and tightened her arms.

"Famu... you're not playing fair."

"You were the one who told me to think of a way to get Sameim back. I wanted you to know about Sameim."

In the end, I had left Sameim's matter to Famu, but she had thrown it back at me. I sighed and closed my eyes. But it seemed that falling asleep right away would be difficult.