Arc 5 - The Fallen Witch and The Mythical Beast That Tumbled Down From The Sky Above
Chapter 1 -
A fishing line stretched out from the deck of a ship. Teto and I were fishing on the merchant ship whose escort request we accepted and was treading the sea on its way to the capital city of the Lovile Kingdom.
“It’s so hard to fish, Majou-sama.”
“Well, have some patience and think about how fun it will be when we finally catch a fish.”
A fishing line was dangling from the fishing rod in my hands as I sat on the ship’s deck. Teto was sitting while hugging me from behind, her chin resting on my head as we both gazed at the ocean.
“Hello ladies, are you fishing for tonight's dinner’s side dish?”
“0 points. It’s just for fun.”
The leader of the adventurer party — private guards to be more precise — called out to us. He made a bitter expression while pointing at the empty bucket placed beside us.
“That’s a pity. Anyway, were you guys able to get used to this sea voyage?”
“Let’s see, I think yeah, somehow. It’s just the food part that’s hard to adapt to. Though we’re grateful that we can at least prepare our own food.”
I spoke out my impression up until now at the query of the adventurer party’s leader.
The ship was loaded with more preserved food and other foodstuffs that required less cooking time. Like gruel, porridge made from simmering water and wheat, dried fish, jerky, salted pickle, and pickled vegetables.
Cooking was done as fast as possible because both water and firewood were precious commodities that were preserved very carefully and also due to the rocking of the ship which could cause a disaster. Our meals weren't as refined as usual due to such reasons.
That was why we've been preparing our meals by ourselves for the last two days.
“Indeed the meals you prepared looked delicious. And what about you, Miss Teto? Have you gotten used to the lifestyle on this ship?”
“I can’t sleep with Majou-sama so I hate it slightly.”
We slept on hammocks as it was impossible to prepare beds for every member of the ship crew. Teto was unhappy because she couldn’t sleep with me due to the cramped space of the hammock. I usually pass the time reading a book on the swaying hammock, fishing for fresh fish, or chatting with the adventurers and crew members when they were on their break.
And last was—
“......A monster appeared at 10 o'clock.”
I had my mana sense wrapped around the ship and the area while fishing. I caught the mana of some monsters that were approaching us from underwater so I alerted the leader.
“Amazing senses you have! Let me call my comrades and greet them with our attacks!”
“No need to raise the alarm, it would be faster for me to act. Besides, it’s going to be our meal tonight. Please look after the ship, Teto.”
“Come back soon, Majou-sama!”
I motioned the leader to stop his actions, took out my flying wand ‘Hisui’ from the magic bag, straddled it, and leaped to the sky while activating the flight magic. I blasted several spells towards the monsters that I sensed were directly heading here.
“Now become our dinner’s side dish. —«Sound Bomb»!”
A pillar of water rose up from the sea surface as I dropped my compressed sound bomb. Some of the fish-type monsters fainted from the sound waves and floated on the sea surface while those who didn't faint fell into a panic, scattered, and ran away.
More and more comatose fish monsters floated onto the surface due to the 2nd and 3rd sound bombs I fired in succession.
“I can’t sense any more signs of monsters, so that ends the job. Alright, fishing time. —«Psychokinesis».”
I manipulated a large net for fishing using my psychokinetic power, scooped up the fish monsters that were floating on the sea surface, and brought them back to the ship.
“I’m back~, Teto. Look at my great haul.”
The fish monsters caught in the net had sharp teeth and fins which could inflict wounds with their bites or sharp fins. These fish monsters might have had the terrain advantage of being able to move underwater, but that same advantage also became their bane. Their overall resistance was hellishly low. Even a chilly wind of 0 degrees celsius could freeze them to death
They could be easily killed using cold wind from wind magic when they were caught in a net while unconscious.
“Welcome back, Majou-sama! Amazing, let’s hurry and process this with everyone!”
Teto looked at the school of fish several tens of centimeters long on the deck and started the preparation to process them. She chopped off the fish heads and fins that were their dangerous parts, opened their bellies, removed their organs and the magical stones inside their bodies, and turned the sliced fish into ingredients for cooking.
Other crew members who had free time in their hands also began to help out while excitedly looking at the fresh fish that was going to be tonight's dinner.
“Majou-sama, how should we cook these fishes?"
“Right. We had purchased sauce from the harbor town, hadn’t we? Let’s have fried fish tonight.”
Frying fish in large quantities with oil on the ship was not a recommended method due to the risk of fire, but it was easie-peasie with knowledge and the power of magic.
I covered the seasoned fish in wheat flour, dipped it in beaten eggs, and then covered them with breadcrumbs.
“What should we do now?”
“We'll pan-fry it.”
I poured a small amount of oil into a frying pan and then cooked and fried the fish on a magic fire. Once one side had turned light brown, I flipped the fish and ta-dah, the fried fish was ready once both sides became fluffy.
“Teto is going to sample-taste it!”
“Go ahead. Give them a try with lemon juice and other juices too.”
On one side I was frying fish one after another for our dinner and on the other side, the crew members and guard adventurers who had helped out in processing them were looking at the food hungrily with their throats making saliva-gulping sounds.
“I will teach you the cooking process so help yourself.”
“ “ “ “Hoorayyyy!” “ “ “
I demonstrated how to cook fried fish as they burst into excited cheers and had them taste it.
It was yet the passing of another peaceful exchange between the sailors and the adventurers on the monster-infested sea.
I also taught the crew members how to use the «Clean» spell from the cleanse magic since we couldn't use water to wash our bodies on the ship as well as the «Water» spell from the life magic that may come in handy in securing drinking water.
Besides that, I also received their admiration when I made the porridge cookies out of the leftover porridge — porridge wasn’t popular among the others due to its bland taste — by adding a little flavor like mixed dried fruits and pressed barley, turning the mixture into a dough, baking it on a pan, and then cooling it.
As the voyage proceeded smoothly, and we passed half of the scheduled route, I found myself in the familiar black space as I was sleeping in a hammock on the ship.
“Oh, the oracle space. I wonder whether it's Liliel or Lariel who called me this time.”
“Teto is happy to meet the gods once again, Majou-sama!”
Just when I, the goddess apostle, was surveying the space while Teto was trembling from excitement, an unfamiliar woman that wasn’t Liliel or Lariel appeared.
She carried a gentle and noble vibe around her, had blue-green wavy hair, looked just slightly younger than Lililel, and had something that neither the energetic Lariel nor the wise, serious to the core Liliel had, her chest was huge.
«Nice to meet you, the new apostle of my esteemed sisters. I’m the Oceanus Goddess Luriel.»
“Nice to meet you, I’m Chise.”
“Teto-nanodesu! Nice to meet you!”
Luriel gave a wry smile at our simple self-introduction to her, an unfamiliar goddess.
She was exuding a refreshing air different from the easy-going Lariel or the overly-sincere Liliel.
«I had been so waiting for this time after hearing the constant praises from La Ane-sama and Lili Ane-sama! There was no end to my surprise when I heard that the reincarnated individual this time is a rare bird who has been striving to restore that «Empty Wilderness».»
“We’re just working to make a place of our own.”
“We now have Baretta and the others too, every day is fun!”
“Oh, I’m glad to hear that.”
Luriel looked at us as the corner of her amiable-looking eyes dropped while smiling gently.
Then—
“You’re a great person for someone so small.”
“Err…… but why the petting?”
«Your cuteness drew me in, I guess.»
While she looked cute when she put her finger on her cheek and inclined her head at my question, Teto hugged me, apparently riled up by the words of Luriel.
“It’s forbidden to snatch Majou-sama!”
«Fufu, I’m not taking her away from you. But jealous Teto-chan is not any less cute though.»
“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh……”
Luriel pulled Teto and me, whom she was hugging, into a big hug. I kinda feel that her magnanimity was a level higher than the Earth Goddess Liliel.
«Fufu, pardon me. It has been a while since I got so excited since you’ve finally arrived at my domain.»
“*Huff* Oh, alright.”
So long story short; she was excited to finally meet us because since she was the Oceanus Goddess who governed over water, her influence has yet to reach the «Empty Wilderness» where there was no source of a river in the past or even in the current time which was still outside of her influence.
«Even Leri-chan, who is the Heaven Goddess, had a hard time controlling the air in the «Empty Wilderness» since there’s that barrier that prevents the flow of mana — more like, she couldn’t interfere with mana flowing in the atmosphere there due to the barrier. And you know Lo-chan, the youngest amongst all us sisters, is the Hell Goddess who brings both death and peace though she’s usually in her half-sleepy mode. Ah, but I guess it was nice of her to release the souls of the victims of the ancient magic civilization's runaway magic experiment. And you know what happened after that……»
I somehow endured the fainting sensation I was having from Luriel’s one-sided conversation and occasionally hummed along absentmindedly. Luriel, who seemed like she finally had enough, then released us.
“So Luriel, do you have any request for us? Like Lariel.”
I considered that we had a nice enough introduction and so brought the main topic forward, though all I got was a clueless look from her.
«Fufu, I came to just chat with you guys. But you’re right. You have been such a huge help to both my Ane-samas so let me give you a god-esque oracle.»
Teto and I immediately took an attentive posture to not miss out on any words of Luriel who said so while raising her finger.
«The ship you’re on will face a storm tomorrow afternoon. So be careful.»
“Storm……”
«Yes. Well, I doubt it could do anything to both of you cuties but just in case, okay?»
Then I felt the gap between us widening at an incredible speed just as Luriel said her goodbye with a light tone.
Looking at the rising sun in the distant horizon peeking out from the crevice of the ship's room and the crystal clear weather, Teto and I braced for the incoming ‘Storm’ that Luriel foretold us through an oracle.
