Kanna no Kanna

The morning of the next day.

Though I didn"t allude on it much, Chloe was a virgin. I heard that the morning after the first time is always painful for the girl.

And in fact, Chloe couldn"t even stand, going “Wafuun…………Wafuun…………Kuun…………” and muttering some incomprehensible stuff after we piled our bodies for the fifth time yesterday.

for starters, I changed her clothes then princess carried her to the girls" room. Though I got a cold sweat thinking about the other three waking up, things went well. Finally I went back to the guys room and feel asleep. being my first time combined with all that intense moving I did, I fell to sleep pretty fast.

The first thing I felt when I woke up in the morning, was tiredness and muscle pain, not. Nevertheless, it was a pain to wake up. Looks like I gave it a little too much of my best since it was my first time. No well, since I"m an adolescent I guess it couldn"t be helped that I ended up like a rugged old cat, or so I convinced myself. The opponent was a wolf, yet I was the one who did the eating.

But then, Chloe who was supposed to be having a harder time because she"s a woman, was actually pretty energetic. It was the most surprising when she stood and moved around normally.

“Ah, Kannshi. Good morning degozaru yo.”

Having completely returned to her old way of speaking, Chloe cheerfully greeted me. With glossy skin, her beast ears standing tall and her tail energetically moving around, she was totally back to normal.

She was clearly overflowing with vitality.

“………… Just why are you so energetic?”

Though I"m also fine mentally, I can"t keep up with Chloe physically. Even counting the difference of our stamina she"s still a little too lively.

“It"s true that this one was a dropout among my race degozatta ga, but the only thing I wasn"t losing in was my stamina degozaru yo. The thing is…………Yesterday, though this one couldn"t keep going after that degozaru ga, with some sleep I"m back to normal degozaru.”

The voice of Chloe when talking about  ｢that｣ was barely audible due to embarra.s.sment. More importantly, If I had more stamina we would have done it even more after that.

“Ah, no. Last night having been this one"s『first time』and all, anymore than that would have been a little…………”

I"m relieved. Knowing I didn"t get one-sidedly sucked. Looks like I was barely able to protect  my pride as a man. Though at first I forgot myself, the sense of exhaustion  after the deed was nothing to scoff at.

“(No no, for you to be like that on your first time, truly a fearsome personage degozaru noda ga. This one was a step away from drowning in the doodlebugs of pleasure degozaru yo)”

(TL; Doodlebugs! The heck man? This author is too deep.)

Feeling relief from Chloe"s words, I missed the words she muttered.

When the next morning came, I was unable to move my waist. Having avoided such a stupid template, we left town as planned.

Once again, we spent a week of being shaken by the carriage.

Aside from the time spent at the village at the base of Reizan, I"ve been doing nothing but travelling since I came to this world. Since the only means of travel here are walking or riding a carriage it can"t be helped huh. Back at the real world there were cars, trains and planes. Well, thinking about things that are not here won"t do me much huh.

Though when it takes this much time just to move around, time really pa.s.ses by in a flash. A little over a month since coming to this world. Going by this flow it might take at least half a year for me to return home.

“What are thinking about?”

Real called out to me when I was looking at the scenery outside the carriage.

“Well, I was wondering when I"ll be going home.”

“…………Ah, you also had such circ.u.mstances.”

Oi! Please stop that way of talking that screams ｢I just remembered｣! It"s quite the serious problem for me!

“Sorry sorry. I meant no ill. It"s just that despite having met for the first time a month ago, it feels like we"ve spent a long time together.”

“Well…………It"s not like I don"t understand that feeling myself.”

Ever since the Yurufiria castle escape, I"ve been together with Real. I trusted her with my back to her in battle many times. Not to mention that she accompanies me in training a lot. There is no doubt that a rather deep bond exists between us despite having known each other for only a month.

“Only a few days until Diagal"s border. Once we reach the town there it won"t take much to arrive at the capital. You just have to hang in there a little more.”

“Even if we set foot in the capital, I don"t think a way for me to return home can be found that easily though.”

“Those are some pessimistic words there.”

“If you"re too positive you"ll miss the back-doors after all. At times like these it"s better to put in mind that the road will be a long one.”

Thanks to always having a way too positive idiot by my side, that kinda way of thinking came to be.

“By the way, what will you do once we reach the capital?”

“I think I"ll first drop by my『work place』.I"m more or less someone left with subordinates after all. There should be quite the commotion since I didn"t show my face for a month.”

“Nah, If the superior disappeared for a month there"s gotta be more than quite the commotion going on.”

“That might be true. But worrying about it here won"t help. First thing first, I have to go take a look. Well, it"s probably fine.”

She"s properly looking at her surroundings, if necessary she"ll think things through, but at the heart of things Real is really positive. Being all positive after thinking it through could be said to be a good point huh.

“I have some connections at the castle too, so I"ll try looking into a way for you to go home.”

“Frankly put, you"re about the only one I can rely on due to my situation. Sorry but I"m really counting on you.”

“It"s a request from you of all people. Of course I"ll gladly do it.”

Though we were doing a secret discussion, it"s not like we were talking in small voices. Despite that, this talk didn"t reach a single soul.

The reason for that would be the spirit magic that I had been using.

The spirit magic that I possess rules over iceーーfrost and freeing.

(TL; He actually said ice, cold and cooling but since that makes him sound like a refrigerator.)

It"s a simple science problem but, the reason why water freezes into ice is that the movement of the molecules of water freezes and they clump together. This spirit magic makes use of the『freezing』part.

VoicesーーOr yet sounds are transmitted through the vibrations of the air, I put up a barrier of『freezing』around me and Real. I"m stopping the movement of the air here.

Of course, I won"t mess up and freeze the air in the carriage. This part is where the acc.u.mulation of the convenience of spirit magic comes to shine. Though the barrier layer itself is rather cold, the temperature around it is pretty normal.

Simply put, using this barrier, I don"t have to mind the surroundings. Besides, I"m not even using magic power so the worry of other magicians noticing is pretty low.

It"s pretty much thanks to the event in the valley that I became able to do such tricky stuff like this one. I had manipulated the cold to stop Chloe"s heart, relying on the sensation I had at that time, I"ve been piling up training for the past few days. Thanks to that I can even do the job of an air conditioner now.

To be honest, spirit magic is pretty free. if you have a clear image there might not be any restrictions. On the other hand, without a clear image you can"t do complicated things. This will be the next weakness to work on. For now I understand the problem and have a countermeasure against it but.

“Rather than that, what are you planning on doing? It"s not like you"ll get information once we get to the capital. I"ll be spending a while in my work place, so I can"t keep you company?”

The contract with Faima ends once we reach the capital, as she just said, Real will be acting separately from me. So naturally I"ll be going solo.

Of course, it"s not like I didn"t give that any thoughts.

” I think I"ll take the chance and join the adventurer guild. For better or worse, my hair"s become like this after all.”

I turned my eyes to the hair on my head.

At that time we fled the castle it was a choice that I couldn"t consider. Obviously because my face was seen by the people at the castle. I know about the hero summoning, which is a state secret, and even helped break Real who was confined out. Even if they don"t issue an official search, they should be moving behind the scenes, is what Real said.

Had I registered at the guild at that time, the possibility of being found out was high. Though it can proof one"s ident.i.ty, the adventurer guild card is also used to monitor the activities of adventurers. In other words, my personal information will be recorded by the guild. Sure, they"re not supposed to disclose that to anyone, but some pressure from the country and they"ll give in. Not to mention, my black hair, black eyes are pretty rare in this region. If such information reached the Yurufiria royal castle, they might have moved to arrest me right away.

On the contrary. Thanks to the events at the valley, my eyes and hair changed color as can be seen. Since this world doesn"t have anything like pictures, they should identifying people by their race, age and  body size. And the color of their eyes and hair. Even if there was a similarity in the other factors, they wouldn"t think it"s the same person if the color of their hair and eyes isn"t the same. Though a way to change hair color exists in this world, even my eyes have turned bright crimson. It shouldn"t be that easy to change eye color here.

“Finding fortune in misfortune. At least I don"t need to worry as much as I used to about being found out.”

“You"re being optimistic here.”

“It"s simply that being positive for no reason is called being an idiot.”

A truly positive guy is someone who finds something worth rejoicing about in the middle of despair. A baseless positivity is the same as giving up thinking. Though you can find guys who still manage even then, I can only call those as『loved by G.o.d』, the type who has the luck of the world is an exception.

“If you add this time"s reward to what you already had, I think you can live without working though.”

The treasures we stole from Yurufiria"s castle were divided between me and Real. The stuff that is hard to turn to money was taken by Real while I took the things that are easy to liquidate. Though we split them evenly, it can"t be helped that it ended up looking unfair for Real. According to her, since she knows the right people in the capital of Diagal (self proclaimed), she only has to give the goods to a merchant acquaintance who will take care of it. She said something about them dealing in borderline legal business. It"s exactly due to her having such connections that we split the goods like this.

“It can"t trouble me to have more gold. Most problems in the world can be solved through money after all. I can"t go becoming a hikikomori NEET until I find a way back to the real world.”

“What"s a『NEEーT』?”

“It"s about the folks who don"t work and spend their lives in depravity.”

(TL: I"m sure he means no ill by that.)

This fantasy world is lacking in forms of entertainment compared to the real world. Even if they existed they"d mostly be board games and card games. If I had someone to accompany me I wouldn"t mind becoming a NEET but sadly I don"t have any such acquaintances. Hence, I"d rather do whatever job I can.

“Fumu…………Then you might want to learn from『her』. A C-rank who got close to B-rank, she should be able to teach you how to be an adventurer.”

“Oh, I didn"t think about that one.”

Following by Real"s advice, I released the sound barrier and called out to Chloe.

“Oi Chloe, can I have a moment?”

“Hnm? What"s the matter degozaru ka Kannshi?”

“Once we set foot in the capital, I plan on registering in the adventurer guild. If you"re fine with it, could you teach me the ropes?”

“What is there to teach…………This one thinks Kannshi is already strong enough as it is degozaru ga.”

“Don"t be stupid. I"m at most a little better than your average commoner. It"s not only fighting, I"m quite ignorant about common sense and the only thing I know about the guild is it"s name. I want you to teach me how to use the guild and the thinking of an adventurer.”

“Ah, so that"s what you meant degozaru ka. Of course I don"t mind degozaru. Since the opportunities to return the favor would increase, this one couldn"t ask for more degozaru yo.”

I personally think she already returned more than enough with last night"s『wanwan time』. But it seems like Chloe thinks she still has ways to go. It"s doesn"t seem like she forcing herself to help me. Let"s take her kindness gratefully.

Just like that, a week of travelling on the carriage has pa.s.sed, we safely reached the southernmost town in the Diagal territory. Maybe due to being close to the border, trade is flourishing here. And that"s probably why it"s a rather big town. Though there was nothing like a castle, it was as prospering as the capital of Yurufiria.

Normally, it would take at least two weeks from here to the capital on a carriage. If we"re talking simple distance it seems to only take a week. but compared to the kingdom of Yurufiria, not only is the rate of meeting magic beasts much higher, they"re also stronger.

Besides, despite being something like the diplomatic link to Yurufiria, it appears that the way from here to the rest of Diagal ranks first in harshness compared to the rest of the country. Having to avoid the areas where magic beasts live and looking for a safe pa.s.sable route, it becomes quite the roundabout trip.

To begin with, it was only around a hundred years ago that this country stopped being an isolated nation. With that being said, the magic beasts are stronger than normal and danger crawls everywhere. It was bone breaking just to make a town.

One of such dangerous places would be the valley that got caught up in trouble a few days agoーーI think it was called the flame lizard"s valley. It seems to have been an uncharted territory until the hero of that time subjugated the so called flame lizards.

　It has so harsh an environment that one  would think it"s haunted grounds.  In the process of learning about these things from Faima it made me rather dispirited. The place we"re aiming for happens to be right in the middle of such a haunted land after all.

But those fears of mine were blown away with Faima"s explanation.

“…………Who thought I"d be seeing this guy in a world of swords and magic.”

It didn"t really hit home when I heard the explanation about this country a few days ago, but the thing that appeared in such explanation is the exact same thing i"m looking at right now.

“…………This one hasn"t seen one before too degozaru ga. This is amazing degozaru.”

“Me too, since I had intended to use it, I had heard the stories but, to think it was to this degree.”

Looking at『that』both Chloe and Faima were overwhelmed with surprise and admiration. Of course the other three were no different.

“I see, the only one here who has seen『this guy』would be me huh. Well, it"s understandable. Most of the people who come from outside are overwhelmed ny this guy after all.”

Real was nodding as she started getting convinced on her own.

“Come! This is the Diagal empire"s famed『magic train』!”

ーーーーMagic train. Just as the name implies, it"s a train that moves with the power of magic.

After Diagal opened diplomatic relations, known to be more technologically advanced than the other races, it was in cooperation with the dwarfs that the magic train came to be, serving as the main brand of Diagal.

Beginning with this town, it rails real several cities and towns which are all  connected to the capital.

“It took about twenty years for it to come to it"s current completed state. From finding the right routes for pa.s.sing the rails to coming up with countermeasures for magic beasts, it seems to have been a series of hardships to arrive at the stage of making the train.”

A train is useless if the rails are destroyed. But then again, it appears anti magic beast barriers have been deployed around the rails. As long as it"s not a pretty powerful magic beast, the rails are safe or so they say. although there are magic beast immune to magic, there are apparently no rails in areas where those live.

“With the completion of this magic train, Diagal which is br.i.m.m.i.n.g with danger areas managed to make good diplomatic relations with other countries. And has been growing to be what it is today.”

Real who was proudly declaring the achievement of her country was pretty talkative.

“Though the job of this guy consists mainly of transporting goods, and escorting big shots, anyone can ride it by paying a fee. Though it"s a little expensive.”

Going from this border town at the southern tip of the country till the imperial capital would be one gold coin per head. A price not easily affordable to all. But if you think about it, you could even sleep in the train until your destination, compared to that, walking or using the carriage entails more expenses when dealing with rations and magic beasts. Once you think like that, one gold coin becomes quite the cheap price.

“Departing from this town, we"ll arrive at the capital in two days. The astounding part of this train is that with just some repairs it can keep going nonstop. Since it"s pulled by living creatures, a carriage must make stops. Moreover, the speed is on a different league.”

“The hybrid of steam engines and magic. I think they produced the water and heat with a magic tool then made use of the pressure from the generated steam to move the wheels.”

“As expected of Faimjō. You"re quite knowledgeable. It"s exactly as you said.”

Looks like, a machine that runs on『electricity』has yet to be invented in this world. Being one of the  magic elements, they have a certain level of understanding concerning ｢lightning｣. But the idea of using it as a source of energy is still unheard of. Such research will probably take place in the future.

Honestly, it"s a talk that has nothing to do with me. Although i know about electricity, it"s not to a level where i can teach them how to use it. Nor do I have the technical skill to make such device. Never mind that, my goal is to return from this world back to my own. I don"t really have the leeway for such side quests.

“How do you intend to handle the horses that we brought with us? Are we gonna bring them along?”

When I asked Rand such he replied by shaking his head to the sides.

“No, We"re gonna sell them in this town. We intend to reside in Diagal for at least a month after all. Whether we leave them or bring them, it" kind of feels bad to leave them on standby for a whole month. Surely the horses will be happier to be left in the care of someone who will properly look after them.”

It was only for a short period, but they pulled the carriage for us. I got a slight bit curious about their destination.

“Don"t worry, just yesterday, I left them in the care of a trusted horse merchant. At least they won"t be sold to  someone who mistreats them. Even the side that"s selling has the right to choose who to sell to after all.”

No well, Kisuka is. .h.i.tting my shoulder as if to ease my worries but I"m not that worried you know? Won"t you stop making that『I understand everything』knowing face?

“As someone who calls himself a knight, it"s only normal to feel a bond towards your horse, your partner. Your feelings have no doubt reached that horse.”

“Nah, my feelings aren"t that strong. Actually, I"m not even a knight. I don"t even have a sword.”

“Ara, don"t you have a splendid『sword』right here?”

And Kisuka lowered her gaze. Hmm? Following her line of sight, it was glued to a certain point in my lower halfーー

“Tte, a dirty joke huh!”

“You possess quite the wonderful…………”

Putting her hands on her beet red cheek, she said while looking down.

“Even though I"m being complimented, I can"t honestly get happy! Rather than that, when did you see it?”

“…………Wanwan.”

“It was that tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!!!”

Of all things, it looks like my graduation ceremony was perfectly witnessed.

“Rather, what the heck were you doing, peeking at that hey!”

“I saw Chloe-san heading towards the baths at night, once I followed her…………ne?”

“No, even if you demand agreement from me.”

“Moreover, even I am a woman you know? Even if only through the crack in the door, if you show me something like that, I can"t simply pretend not to have seen anything.”

” Pretend not to have seen anything. I"m begging you!”

“Actually, you should praise me for not breaking in then.”

“Ah, un. That"s right. True enough.”

“Really, I was even seriously thinking whether to join in or not.”

“I somehow can"t bring myself to be grateful!”

Hearing such a conversation go on next to her, Chloe went ｢Wafuu…………｣ with a  reddened face. Her beast ears hanging down, she held her head and crouched down. Un, you"re also someone that had her graduation ceremony witnessed.

“What are you guys talking about?”

“It"s nothing important. Don"t worry about it!”

And here, the incarnation of discipline, the committee chairman Agatt make his appearance. This is bad, if this guy partic.i.p.ates in this talk, the already low SAN level will get lower. If this guy know that I did『wanwan』with someone a few hours after meeting them, surely he"ll snap.

(TL: I want you to see my SAN level. I snapped long ago.)

Anyway, I managed to deceive him. Fortunately, Real and Faima who weren"t really that focused on our talk seem to be still in the dark. Only, Rand let out a bitter smile while listening to the conversation. It might have been exposed to that old man. d.a.m.n it, I messed up.

there was such a happening when setting out but, apart from that event nothing happened as we departed on a graceful two day train trip towards the capital.