kscans

Chapter 892 - The Sparkling Lake

Thirty minutes… had passed.

"Isn't this… bad?"

"It's bad, isn't it."

"Bad."

And so, quietly…

The other three, who had been stealing glances at the pair on the shore putting on a show for a world entirely their own, were reaching their limit of pretending to innocently splash around in the water.

Nonomi was half-amused, half-exasperated. Natsume was eighty percent exasperated and twenty percent appalled. Ri-na, for her part, wore her usual listless expression, but her words suggested her inner thoughts were much the same as the others'.

Namely—what in the world is that? Are they the pinnacle of purity?

"They've completely tuned us out. Their sense of time is gone, too."

"What is with them? Their fingers are just barely intertwined, and they haven't moved an inch…"

"They're like middle schoolers."

They had kept their voices down, limiting themselves to occasional glances, but it was questionable whether such consideration was even necessary. The sensory range of this pre-relationship lovey-dovey couple, frozen from being hyper-aware of each other, was likely limited to only one another.

Despite having come to the lake to play… or rather, to investigate while playing in the water, the青春 pair sitting on the sidelines without even touching the water had somehow become the main attraction.

—Well, if that's how it is.

"You know, I feel like even middle schoolers these days are more advanced than that… Ri-na-senpai, isn't that sort of thing grounds for jealousy? And I don't mean from a girl's perspective, but a sister's."

"Not really. I just wish they'd hurry up and start dating already."

"Hmm… That tone is her serious voice. I see—so Ri-chan isn't the type of little sister to go, 'No, I don't want anyone to take my big brother away!' huh?"

"I support my 'family's' romantic pursuits, you see."

"…You say that so matter-of-factly, but there's a lot wrong with that statement."

"But I do get jealous. Of a very select few."

"Oh? Like who?"

"Ah, yes, yes, Nonomi-chan, I think we get it!"

"If Mi-na started playfully flirting with him just to show off to me, I'd probably snap."

"Eh, scary…"

"Right? Scary, isn't it? For the record, I've seen Ri-chan seriously angry exactly once, and if that were directed at you, Nonomi-chan, you'd cry."

"Scary…"

"You should be careful too, Natsume-chan."

"Hm…? …Huh? W-Wait, no way, I'm one of those 'very select few'…!?"

"It's fine if you approach him because you 'like' him, but if you tease him just for fun, I'll get angry."

"Hey, I have absolutely no intention of teasing him like that… Eh, I don't, okay? I'm just… ahem… interacting with him as a junior I'm fond of!"

"Yes, the way you are now is fine. Big Brother seems to be having fun too, so please be good friends with him."

"Seriously…"

"This Ri-chan is amazing. She's completely mastered the little sister persona. So super cute."

"…………………………He's a real magnet for trouble with women, that guy."

"And it seems he's also the target of some rather heavy emotions from his close male friends… Fufufu… He truly is a fascinating man, never a dull moment to watch!"

And so, they chattered on as they pleased.

As expected, the sub-middle-schooler couple didn't even turn their attention toward us. They had an air about them that suggested they could stay like that for hours if left alone—at which point.

"…Okay, isn't this long enough?"

"I'm getting tired of pretending to play."

"Right? I suppose we should have them come back to us now."

Their reading of the room (service time) was officially over.

Deciding it was about time to move on to the 'side-task'—the main event—the considerate trio, who had been feigning high spirits while frolicking in the water, turned and headed for the shore in unison.

◇◆◇◆◇

"—…………………………I see. …How… interesting."

"Yeah, it is. Right. There's probably some other hidden story behind this and that again."

Somehow, I'd realized that over thirty minutes had passed.

Thus, it had been five minutes since someone called out to Nia and me as we remained perpetually frozen together. After being yanked back to reality with a colossal dose of shame, we began to tackle the main reason for our visit to the 'lake' with dead-serious expressions, but…

"It's too late to put on an act now, you two."

"Your faces are still red, you know? Are you both okay~???"

…as you can see, it was too little, too late. No matter how much we tried to compose ourselves, the two idiots who had been so openly observed without even noticing had neither the right nor the power to deflect the teasing.

""…………………………""

"They've gone silent."

Nia and I stood together, accepting our punishment as we were scorched by the flames of embarrassment.

Meanwhile, the little sister who had just mumbled something with a hint of amusement was in a perfectly good mood. Seemingly unconcerned with the pathetic state of her useless older brother, who could no longer call her a useless little sister, she took advantage of my weakened position and clung to my back.

I don't know about her body heat or the sensation. I shut off my avatar's sense of touch with pure willpower.

—Anyway, let me forcibly set that aside for now.

"…So in the end, we won't know unless we dive in, huh?"

"Seems so. We can't draw any major conclusions just by looking at 'this.'"

The water-playing group, dripping wet and frankly hard on the eyes, had returned, and we were back to a circle of five on the shore.

Among us, Nia, Nono-san, and I—the final rookie being just an extra—all three magitechnicians were focusing our appraisal eyes on the 'pebbles' we each held.

Not just the ones in our palms, but a colorful, multi-sized pile was heaped on the blanket. These were all things that had been resting at the bottom of the lake.

—More precisely, they were the crystal pebbles that formed the lakebed itself.

A giant slab of rock. A pleasantly cool veil of green. A breathtaking panoramic view from up high… and chief among these fine location elements was the very thing that had been delighting our eyes without a moment's rest since our arrival.

The water was clear enough to drink straight from the source. The surface of the terrifyingly transparent lake was not, however, colorless; it was a collaboration between the sunlight it received and the things lying at its bottom.

It was on the perfect line of not feeling toxic. Like a watercolor painting drawn with faint hues, the sparkling lake continued to emit a soft glow from the shimmering light of various colors—

Well, I was almost certain there'd be 'something' here.

If not, we could just enjoy a vacation and stretch our legs, which is why we made the trip at the strong request of Nono-san, whose excitement had shot through the roof the moment I reported it yesterday.

And our guess was a hit.

"Nacchan-senpai?"

"Right, about thirty meters. It's a clean vertical shaft, and it opens up wide right below."

Just as the little kitten-sama who had done some preliminary scouting with her 'thread' said. It seemed there was something 'beyond' the entrance that gaped open at the lake's center.

Incidentally, Nia's clairvoyance couldn't see through it.

The crystal stones, which were apparently embedded not just in the lakebed but throughout the surrounding ground, possessed a slight amount of mana, obstructing her Anima's vision.

Therefore, I could only imagine what sort of sensation she was getting, with the information from the [Thread-Weaver] who read it via her threads being my only material for speculation. As for the crystal stones themselves, the three of us could only surmise that they were 'slightly unusual stones'… so, well, in other words.

There was only one 'path' forward.

"I… see…………………………………… Hey, Nacchan-senpai-sama."

"What is it? I'll kick you if you call me that weird name again."

I had already confessed to my phobia of large bodies of water when we decided to visit the lake. That's why my not joining in the water play was mostly overlooked with only a little teasing, but that was that.

She probably thinks something like, 'He'll get serious when the situation calls for it,' and that assumption isn't wrong. However…

"This lake… can't you just zap it with dark magic?"

"Eh, you want me to kick you?"

As a result of a mental tug-of-war between my genuine fear of water and the situation, the current mission priority of 'let's just check it out' was utterly and completely insufficient.

I'd appreciate it if you didn't underestimate the trauma of a man who gets scared by a big fish (?) jumping.

As long as I don't have to touch it. I can tolerate getting near the water's edge—but if you ask me if I can jump in or step into it, the answer is no.

Regarding the recent business with the Great Water Spirit Rapharn, I was able to tolerate jumping into the river, being swallowed by water, and fighting a deathmatch with a horrifyingly huge whale for the single reason that a massive reward was promised. Conversely, if it's not something of that scale, it's mentally tough for me.

To put it plainly, it's like this.

"Look."

"Huh?"

"Look. At my legs."

"Wha…? What… is…"

Well, how about that—can you see that they're trembling?

"Oh dear… I might have underestimated it. It seems this is a serious weakness."

Nono-san's words likely represented the consensus of everyone here besides me. Although I had told them I was afraid of water, I had omitted the real-world details about the incident from my childhood.

I wasn't joking; if possible, I wanted to live a life completely detached from the world of water. I'm sure my stance has been properly conveyed by now.

"A-Are you okay…?"

"You don't have to force yourself."

The worried voice of Nia, who seemed to have grasped the situation, and Ri-na's gentle words soothed my heart. Even the little kitten-sama who'd been talking about kicking me had a look on her face as if the wind had been taken out of her sails.

It's utterly pathetic, but I can't help this emotional scar. It's a big deal for a guy to confess his weakness in the middle of a group of girls, so the seriousness of it must have gotten through.

"…Well, yeah. We were only planning on scoping things out if we found anything, so it doesn't really matter if we go now or not. Let's leave it to someone else next time."

"My apologies…"

"You told us you were scared of water from the start, didn't you? No need to apologize. Being underwater is a pain for me in various ways too, so there's zero reason to push yourself."

"Just finding out that something is here is an achievement in itself! To be honest, Haru-san, you've already done the work of a hundred, no, a million people just by being our transportation! Good boy, good boy!"

"There's also a little sister here who hasn't been helpful at all and would be utterly useless even if we did start the conquest. You can hold your head high, Big Brother. There, there."

And just like that, I was suddenly being showered with affection.

It was a situation that was unavoidably pleasing as a man, yet also unavoidably pathetic. And when I finally raised my head after all that coddling, what I saw was,

"…………"

"Eh, what? I'm sorry…"

…the pouting cheeks of a certain indigo-haired girl, watching a guy being surrounded by kind young women.