I logged back in. After our discussion, I was naturally exhausted, so I logged out. Then, on the first day back at work after Golden Week, I had to do overtime and couldn’t log in, leaving a day’s gap. Jigoro, for one, might be getting bored by now.
――――――――――
The race level of your familiar has increased.
The job level of your familiar has increased.
――――――――――
It seems that Karl had leveled up again while I was absent. This had happened during the event too, but at the time it appears that Android No. 18 who was bored and was looking for something to do, had taken Karl out for a hunt. As expected of an ancient android.
Incidentally, Android No. 18 has been repaired as much as possible by Iris, who has been using her own knowledge to make as many fixes as possible. Although she might not be robust enough for intense combat, she seemed to be capable enough to handle general tasks reliably. That’s precisely why No. 18 could accompany Karl outside. I’m truly indebted to Iris for her efforts.
“Ah, you’re here, brother.”
“Yes. Good evening.”
“Good evening. It’s still quite bright outside, though”
When I stepped outside of my room, I found Jigoro and Iris, who were to join me on the journey, waiting for me. It seemed they had logged in before me. I felt sorry for making them wait.
“Where are the others?”
“Ruby and Genjuro, along with Shio and Hanna-san and her husband seem to be exploring around the ‘Ancient Ruined City’.”
“Around it? Not in the city itself?”
“We did take down the Harpies boss, but the city is pretty vast, right? So, there are still a lot of them left. It seems like they’ve already replenished their lost numbers.”
“They have Shio who is good at long-range attacks, but it’s difficult without Karl and Isam around.”
If Shio was the only one amongst their party who had the ability to handle aerial threats, then exploring inside the city itself would undoubtedly be a daunting task. The others were certainly more skilled on the ground, and Hanna and Roja would definitely perform at their best when fighting mounted combat. Given these factors, navigating the obstacle-laden ruins of the ancient ruined city would be quite difficult.
Fortunately, we had not really explored much around the ruined city before. There might be new discoveries to be made, and unseen events might occur. They should find enjoyment in their own way.
“Then, let us depart as well. The other two must be waiting.”
“The desert, huh… I wonder what kind of enemies we’ll encounter. It’s quite exciting!” Jigoro said.
“Um… aren’t we supposed to avoid staying too long?”
Iris smiled bitterly at Jigoro who was grinning widely at the thought of the unknown strong enemies he would be facing. We had planned to quickly pick up Eiji and Usaji and make a swift return, but we might need to engage in a little combat to keep Jigoro from complaining. It would be ideal if we encountered enemies of just the right strength. With a hint of unease, we left the guild house and headed outside.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
“Uh-oh, this is troublesome.”
“It’s a problem indeed…”
“Didn’t expect it to turn out like this…”
After we joined up with Karl, we promptly headed towards the “Ancient Spring”. The plan was first to easily teleport to the “Ancient Travel Tower” and then fly through the sky to meet up with Eiji and Usaji. We had received map data from the two, so there was no worry about getting lost. Everything was supposed to go according to plan. I didn’t even doubt that.
“Who would have thought Karl couldn’t fit in…”
The only and biggest miscalculation on our part was that Karl had evolved and grown so large that he no longer fit in the warp device needed for teleportation. Come to think of it, right after his evolution, he was about the size of a horse, but now he’s nearly twice the size of Roja. We had overlooked this since he had been gradually getting bigger.
“Grrrrr…”
“No, it’s not your fault, Karl. Don’t worry about it.”
Karl seemed to feel responsible for our predicament. It was more my mistake than his, so it wasn’t something to fret over. Besides, it’s not like there were no solutions.
“Besides, you have splendid wings, right?”
“Wings… hey, brother? Are you suggesting…?”
“Yes, exactly as you’re thinking.”
“Are… are we going to fly out from the floating island?!”
Iris exclaimed in surprise, but it was indeed true. With the ability to fly thanks to my equipment’s effects, Karl could carry Iris and Jigoro, and it would allow us to travel in the air together. It might take a considerable amount of time, but there could be uninhabited islands where we could rest along the way. If not, we would think of something then!
“Karl, show us the strength you’ve gained from your growth.”
“Guoooooooo.”
When I gently patted Karl, he let out a roar of joy. Good, good. I’m glad to see his spirits lifted.
“Traveling through the sky sounds quite exciting,” Jigoro said.
“I-It’s a bit scary, but I’ll do my best!” Iris added.
Jigoro seemed eager to try it, while Iris was hesitant, but both of them agreed to the idea of traveling through the air. With the decision made, there was no time to dawdle. We immediately set out on our journey!
◆◇◆◇◆◇
After emerging from the “Ancient Spring”, we immediately began our journey through the sky. Jigoro was straddling near the base of Karl’s neck, while Iris was being cradled in Karl’s arms. However, she wasn’t just passively being carried; she was actively clinging onto Karl with her tentacles to secure herself firmly in place.
“I’m bored…”
“It is indeed quite dull…”
Our aerial voyage was extremely safe…. and for that reason it was utterly uneventful. There were flocks of bird monsters flying in groups, but none dared approach. They seemed to be intimidated by Karl.
One might think that we could simply enjoy the scenery. Initially, we did. The Vetus floating island was located at a considerable height, so in order to avoid being detected from the ground, we maintained our altitude without descending.
As a result, there was hardly any change in the landscape. The vast sea below was certainly a spectacular sight, but it got dull after a while.
“Grrrrrrr!”
Karl was the only one among us who remained spirited. He seemed to find joy in the act of flying itself and carrying his companions, and he was in a consistently good mood. It was hard to believe he had been so downcast just a while ago.
“Hmm, you two, there’s a huge cloud ahead.”
“Is that… a cumulonimbus cloud?”
As I was thinking about this, a very large cloud began to appear in front of us. As Jigoro said, its shape resembled that of a cumulonimbus or thundercloud. Such clouds often bring heavy rain. We should probably detour to avoid passing directly underneath it.
“Umm, no… it’s nothing, just my imagination, yes.”
“What’s the matter?”
Just as I was about to tell them about the change in flight route, I heard Iris murmuring something in a soft voice. Was she feeling uneasy about that cloud?
“Um, I might be imagining things, but… it looked like there was a huge leg sticking out of a gap in that cloud…”
“Huuh?”
“A leg you say?”
A leg visible from here…? If it wasn’t an illusion, the height of such a being would be astonishing. It was almost as if…
“A giant, you say? Sounds like something straight out of a fairy tale we used to read as kids.”
Jigoro seemed to recall the same type of fairy tale I did. It was the story where a man climbs a beanstalk that stretches up to the heavens and steals a goose that lays golden eggs from a giant living above the clouds. Revisiting the plot now, I realized something I hadn’t as a child: even though the giant was a man-eater, the protagonist, who brazenly intruded into the giant’s home with dirty shoes and stole his treasures, was actually just a thief.
“No, it’s different! What I saw didn’t look like a human leg, but more like the foreleg of an animal!”
“What?”
“A beast’s leg, you say?”
It appeared that Jigoro and I had made a significant misinterpretation. But then, what could be out there?
“Guo! Grrrrrrrrr!”
At that moment, Karl began to growl lowly while baring his fangs and gums; this was a sign that he was on alert. Knowing this, we immediately adopted a battle stance and followed Karl’s gaze.
All we could see was the cumulonimbus cloud from earlier, but slowly, something seemed to be approaching. I wondered if my eyes were deceiving me as it drew nearer. No, that couldn’t be. Jigoro and Iris were just as astonished as I was. It wasn’t an illusion!
“Hey, brother. That thing, it looks like a human, right?”
“Yeah, it does.”
“And what it’s riding… that’s a sheep, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“But isn’t it huge?”
“Doesn’t it look really big?”
“Yeah, it does.”
I could only nod in agreement with the two of them. Just as they said, what was approaching us did indeed look like a human riding a sheep.
However, there was no doubt that what they described as incredibly huge was true. It felt like the sheep was as tall as a skyscraper. Such a massive creature was heading straight towards us.
“Ah! Th-this is no time to be dazed! With that speed, we won’t be able to escape!”
“Even though it’s incredibly huge, we’ll just have to crush it!”
“I-I’ll try my best not to be a burden!”
“Gaahhhhhhhhh!!!”
As the sheep grew larger and larger in our vision, driving fear into us, we knew we couldn’t just let ourselves be killed. Although we might not be able to win, if we couldn’t escape, then fighting was the only option. That was when we braced ourselves.
“Hey, hey! You, the small person over there!”
“A-A child’s voice?”
Incredibly, straddling the sheep was a gigantic child. I knew it was a child because of the high pitch of the voice and the clearly visible youthful face and proportions. If converted to human scale, he would be a young boy in the lower grades of elementary school, perhaps?
“Wow! Small people who can fly! And there’s a cool baby dragon too! Who are you? Where did you come from? Tell me!”
The giant boy…. or rather, the boy who was a giant approached us with his eyes sparkling with curiosity before bombarding us with questions.
…Could it be that he’s not an enemy? Perhaps our ability to fly in the sky was so unusual that he had just come over to talk? Alright, let’s try having a friendly conversation. After all, I’ve averted crises many times through communication!
“Nice to meet you. My name is Isam. My companions and I are traveling from the Vetus Floating Island to the Luxresia Continent.”
“Ah! I’ve heard about it from my father! The Vetus Floating Island is where the Dragon God lives, right? And Luxrecia Continent is the home of the Tree God?”
“Tree… God…?”
Tree God…? That was a term I had never heard before. Could there actually be such a being? But wait a moment, could it possibly be the immense tree we had seen from the “Ancient Travel Tower”? If so, its size would indeed befit a deity of trees.
“Most likely, the place you’re thinking of is correct.”
“Yay! I got it right!”
The boy rejoiced innocently. Good, good. Let’s continue in this manner, avoid any trouble, and proceed peacefully.
“By the way, we are traveling…”
“Your Hiiiighness! We’ve been searching for youuu!”
“Geh!? Old man!!?”
Ah, this was someone we couldn’t just escape from easily. That’s what the three of us realized when we saw an even bigger sheep approaching us with a heavily armed giant riding it.
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