n

n

nThe next day.

nI opened my eyes to the warm sunlight pouring into my room.

nAh~… I slept well. It’s been a while since I last pulled off an all-nighter like that…

nThe sun’s already pretty high…

nHmm? High?…… That’s not good!

n“Good morning, Ryouma-sama.” Sebasu

n“Sebasu-san, what time is it?” Ryouma

n“It’s just before noon. It seems you really were exhausted. I hope you were able to have a good night’s rest. Would you like to have your meal now?” Sebasu

n“Thank you, but I need to go to the guild. I’ll have it when I come back.” Ryouma

n“Very well.” Sebasu

nI quickly did my preparations and went to the guild.

nWhat a pain… There’s no time left.

n…Can’t be helped.

n“Draw the veil upon this body, “conceal” it from prying eyes.”

nI put up a Barrier of Concealment around me, invoked a ‘Body Reinforcement’ 1 spell, and then ran through the rooftops to get to the guild as soon as possible. Whenever there wasn’t anything to step on, I would use Dimension Magic to teleport me across. Like that I managed to run almost straight to the guild.

n“Excuse me.” Ryouma

nBy the time I got to the guild and was brought to the room, the other people were already there.

n“Ryouma, you came. With that everyone’s present.” Wogan

n“Sorry for making you wait.” Ryouma

n“You made it on time, actually. Almost late, but still on time, so don’t sweat it. It’s time to hand out the rewards!” Wogan

nOn top of the 3 medium silver coins I got for taking the latrine pits cleaning job, I also got 30 small gold coins. Everyone else got 10 small gold coins each.

n“Hold on a minute there, old man. Don’t you think you’re getting a bit too spendthrift here?” Jeff

n“For real. Not that I’m complaining, of course, but you do realize that all we did was keep a look out, right?” Wereanna

n“Don’t you think this is too much? I know we could’ve gotten sick, but we didn’t really do anything personally. Just half would’ve been fine, I think.” Mizelia

n“Nah, that much is just right. As for the reason, that’s because… Ryouma.” Wogan

n“Yes?” Ryouma

n“You said the disease in the latrine pit is called Idake, right?” Wogan

n“That’s right. It’s information from the Identify skill, so it should be accurate.” Ryouma

n“Yeah, well… Apparently, that Idake Disease is some really nasty stuff. An old hag I’m well acquainted with says that it’s so nasty that even if people live through it, they’ll be completely unable to move their limbs, leaving them with no other choice but to die.

nThat reward properly reflects the risks you took. The fatality rate from that Idake Disease is low, sure. But children and the elderly aren’t likely to survive, and for the rest who do, they’ll have to live the rest of their lives unable to work.” Wogan

nEveryone drew cold sweat upon that sudden revelation.

nThat’s really bad… Of course, the prognostic syndromes themselves are bad, but not being able to work perpetually is fatal. Because that means no money.

nIf this world had insurances and disability rights, perhaps it could still be somewhat bearable, but as it stands, that’s no different from a death sentence. If you can’t work, then all that’s left is to starve to death.

n“Thank goodness we stopped things before it got any worse, nyaa…” Miya

n“In one sense, it could actually be worse than diseases with a high fatality rate.” Mizelia

n“If you catch it and die, you pass on, but if you survive, you’re in hell…” Jeff

n“Because of this incident, the government office got a good scolding. Word says the boss and his lackeys have been apprehended, and those left behind are pulling their hair out figuring out what to do with the latrine pits from now on.” Wogan

n“Can’t they just leave it to the slum people as usual?” Wereanna

n“Unfortunately, that’s no longer possible. The big wig responsible for refusing to pay them was fired, but even if the government office promises to pay them the old amount, the slum people can’t trust them anymore. Besides, the slum people have already found a new job.

nOther towns aside, this is a mining town. There’s no shortage of dirty or labor work to be done here. Since they can get money elsewhere, there’s no reason for them to clean the latrine pits.

nAlso, since it’s the government office that’s at fault in the first place, they can’t really tell them to give up their work and clean the latrine pits, so they’ve already given up on them and are currently looking for another solution.” Wogan

n“What are they going to do? We’re fortunate this time around cause Ryouma noticed it, but if this happens again, it won’t be funny.” Jeff

n“Right, right… Honestly, the only reason we took this job is because the guild pushed it onto us. From here on, the guild might have to turn this job into compulsory work to punish members that fail a lot of missions or break contracts.” Mizelia

n“You can leave it to me, I’ll do something about it, de aru.” Raypin

n“You make it sound so easy.” Jeff

n“Personally, I can take the job while I’m here.” Cher

n“That would be a huge help.” Wogan

n“Nyaa? Ryouma, did you come from another town, nyaa?” Miya

nCome to think of it, I went straight to work, so we didn’t have much opportunities to talk.

nI explained to them how I ended up in Gimuru.

n“You lived in a forest all by yourself at 8? What a reckless guy.” Wogan

n“You going back to Gana Forest?” Jeff

n“I’m wondering about that too… I do have some attachment to the house I lived in for 3 years, but I could also live in a nearby forest.” Ryouma

n“If you’re going to be living nearby, then why not just live in town? Does it have to be a forest?” Mizelia

n“Chores are taken care of with magic and food is taken fresh from the forest via hunting. It’s actually a pretty refreshing life style, you know. Money isn’t needed too.” Ryouma

n“Ryouma, this one thinks you might be a bit too young to be a hermit, de gozaru.” Asagi

n“It does feel somewhat like that…” Syria

n“Well, don’t sweat it. It’d be a load off my back to have you around, but no one’s pressuring you to stay here. Just live as you please.

nAnyway, the government officials embezzling funds have had their properties forfeited and their subordinates’ salaries reduced. The money from that is being used to cover the maintenance costs of the town. In the worst case, that money can be used to hire enough people to do the job, so it should be fine.

n…Alright, with that I’ve given you your dues and have informed you of what you need to know. I just have one thing left to tell you. The day after tomorrow there’s going to be a big job.

nThere’s a mine that’s officially going to be abandoned this year, although it’s actually already been defunct since last year… A lot of monsters have taken nest inside it. They’re all small fries, but there’s a lot of them, so the area that needs to be covered is huge. The guild is going to need adventurers to deal with them. If you can participate, that would be a huge help. That’ll be all! Dismissed!” Wogan

n1 Used to be Strengthen Body.

nAfter that we all went our ways.

nWhen I got back to the lodging, the ojousama and the others were there waiting for me.

nThey were waiting so that we could have lunch together. I thanked them and took a seat, and then the ojousama spoke.

n“Ryouma-san, might I invite you to train with me?” Elialia

n“Why all of the sudden?” Ryouma

n“I’ll be learning magic from today onwards, so I thought you might be interested too.” Elialia

n“Elia’s training is actually a part of our itinerary.” Reinhart

nApparently, the Jamil Household had a custom of sending their children out to travel once they were old enough. Depending on what they wanted, they might even become adventurers.

n“It is good to widen one’s perspective and learn new things, but before one can set off, one must first gain the power to protect oneself. Going on a journey accompanied by guards is also a choice, of course, but that wouldn’t be very fruitful. Traveling without any of the struggles will only result in half the benefits, which is why we’re having Elia learn how to protect herself.” Reinbach

n“Even without traveling, one might still be summoned to deal with a monster threat or a group of bandits, so the power to protect oneself is a necessity.” Reinhart

nThat explanation was a little surprising.

n“The ojousama too?” Ryouma

n“Not just Elia, the bigger the scope, the more likely nobles will have to join the fray. It raises morale and paints a good image, after all. Protecting one’s own fief, there’s few better propaganda than that. But that’s also why power is a necessity.” Reinhart

nOh, right. There’s magic in this world, so there’s not much of a difference strength-wise between men and women.

n“To that end, I’ll be attending the academy in the capital starting this year to study magic as well as other subjects. But I’d like to have some experience before that.” Elialia

n“So that’s why you came here.” Ryouma

n“That’s right. I’ve been training since this morning and I’ll be training later this afternoon, So, how about it? Won’t you train with me, Ryouma-san?” Elialia

n…Sure, why not? It’s a good opportunity and I did promise to teach her how to play with magic, so as long as I won’t be a bother…

nWhen I told them that they agreed, and it was decided that we would be going to the training grounds in the afternoon.

nThe training was mostly about magic and the training grounds would be a 20-minute trip on carriage to a rocky area outside town.

nAfter lunch.

nWhen we got to the designated area, Jill-san was there to meet us.

n“Ojousama, I’ve been waiting. I see Ryouma is also with you. I hear the last three days have been difficult for you.” Jill

n“I could say the same to you.” Ryouma

n“Well yeah.” Jill

n“Come on, you two. Let’s start already!” Elialia

n“By the way, Ojousama. What attributes can you use? I can’t teach you how to play with magic without knowing that first.” Ryouma

n“I specialize at fire and ice. I have a lot of mana, so I’m sure I’ll be able to use lots of powerful spells as long as I practice.” Elialia

nLooks like she’ll probably end up specializing on powerful spells. But fire and ice, huh…

n“Is something the matter?” Elialia

n“Water and earth are relatively safer, so there’s plenty of ways to play with them. But compared to them fire and ice are a bit…” Ryouma

n“Well, you certainly can’t play with fire in the middle of the forest.” Hyuzu

n“It won’t be a laughing matter if you start a forest fire, after all.” Jill

nHyuzu-san and Jill remarked as they watched me and the ojousama from a distance.

nThey’re right, though; and in my opinion, the hardest attribute to play with is poison.

n“This is the only game I can teach you with the fire attribute. ‘Darkness’ ‘Little Fire Flower’.” Ryouma

nAfter darkening the area on my hands with the dark magic, Darkness, I made a really small flame at the tip of my index finger and lit up the darkness with its sparks for a few seconds.

n“How beautiful.” Elialia

n“Indeed.” Reinbach

n“Ah, it stopped.” Elize

n“It’s a little sad seeing it end like that.” Reinhart

nWell, it is a toy fireworks.

nIt’s a pretty spell, but that’s it. It has no other use. One day I’d like to turn it into a full-fledged fireworks, but that will have to wait until I’m a little better at magic.

nAs for the ice magic games, all I had were skating and ice sculpting.

nAt first, I had my hands full just maintaining a giant block of ice, but I later managed to turn it into something much bigger.

nAs for ice sculpting, I tried it out because I had experience working part time as an assistant in making them. Ice sculpting takes time, though. It’s not something you can just pick up and do.

nIt takes a lot of stamina because you have to pile up lumps of ice and there’s also a chance everything might collapse, so it’s also dangerous. Because of that it paid pretty well, though.

nMaking ice sculptures and keeping them in the cave sure made hot days that much more bearable.

nOn a small-scale, you could make a magnifying lens with it and heat up stuff too, but it’s only fun until the novelty wears off. If you want to start a flame, it’s quicker to just go use fire magic.

nHow troubling…

n“What about water? It’s not a specialty of mine, but I can use water too.” Elialia

n“Oh, I have lots. For example, ‘Bubbly Water’” Ryouma

nI put my finger tips together to form a circle, and then inside that, I used a water spell to produce water.

nThe water produced wasn’t just water, however, but one that was particularly viscous, so it was able to create a thin film.

nI blew softly on that thin film, and a bubble the size of a human’s head appeared.

nThat bubble floated under the windless sky with the sky as its backdrop. As sunlight shone upon it, it looked like there were countless dazzling stars reflected on its surface. Before long, however, the bubble popped.

n“Oh my, that looks like a fun one. It’s like soap bubbles.” Elize

n“It’s so pretty.” Elialia

nThe ladies in particular seem to like my bubble magic. This world does know soap, but they’re expensive, so they would never use them for something like this. The guys seem to be enjoying it to some extent too.

n“We can use water attribute mana to make the water stickier. For example, ‘Water’, ‘Wave’.” Ryouma

nI used my hands as a container and poured water on it, then I moved the water with another spell.

n“This ‘Wave’ is an elementary water spell that can make waves. With it we can create waves using water mana, and after a little practice, we can… do this!”

nI threw the water in my hands upwards. Normally the water would come falling back down because of gravity, but this one didn’t. Everyone looked up at the water ball floating up my head. I’m using a spell that can move water, so naturally the water can float.

nEveryone knows there’s an offensive spell under the water spell tree called Water Ball, so no one was surprised, but I’m just getting started.

nGo!

nAs I moved the water a little, its shape changed from that of a ball into that of a small fish, causing voices of exclaim to rise from around me.

nI’ve been killing time with this spell for three years, so it’s already stupidly detailed to the point that there are even scales on it. That water fish moved through the sky while bending loosely back and forth…

n“Ah! It’s swimming in the air!” Elialia

n“You’re pretty good.” Reinbach

nApplause rolled out from around me.

nThat’s a little embarrassing.

n“Well, something like that. I figured since I could move water, I could probably make it stickier too. The result was that Bubbly Water from before. You could think of it like we’re joining water droplets together.” Ryouma

n“Like this? ‘Bubbly Water’” Elialia

nAfter hearing my explanation, the ojousama created a thin film of water in her hand. Unfortunately, it broke when she softly blew on it.

n“Use a bit more water mana and imagine the sticky slime’s sticky liquid’s stickiness when making it.” Ryouma

nShe’d already succeeded, so I just gave her some practical tips.

nThe ojousama excitedly tried out those tips. Mana poured out from her like water gushing out, and then she chanted the name of the spell.

n“Bubbly Water.” Elialia

nThe water this time was a lot more viscous, and when she spread it into a circle with her fingers and blew lightly on it, a bubble floated in the air.

n“I did it!” Elialia

n“You can change the size of the bubble with your breath. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you’ll also be able to do this.” Ryouma

nThis time I used more mana to create the bubble. The result was a basketball-sized bubbled floating in the air. I pushed that bubble toward her.

n“Look.” Ryouma

n“Huh!?” Elialia

nI pushed the bubble but it didn’t break. Instead, it slowly flew over to the ojousama.

nThe ojousama looked at that bubble with eyes full of curiosity as she received it and bobbled it.

n“This one doesn’t disappear like the one earlier.” Elialia

n“The more mana you use the more viscous the water becomes. A bubble like this won’t pop even if you touch it. Of course, if you hit it hard, it’ll break, but if you just leave it be, it’ll eventually pop on its own.” Ryouma

nBy the way, these bubbles are made purely with water mana, so they can’t harm the human body or the environment. Even a baby accidentally drinking it won’t pose a problem.

n“It’s just like a slime.” Elialia

nThe ojousama poked at the bubble, and when it shook, she laughed.

nI guess it was worth teaching her if she’s having this much fun. When there’s a chance I’d like to show her the other attributes too.

n