339-307 Falling (1)

The smoke was getting thicker as we fell.

Visibility was deteriorating rapidly.

An unusually deep valley.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

But thanks to the height, we were able to get into position before we hit the ground.

Natsuki put his hands around my neck, and I pulled Natsuki's waist to support him.

"Nao-kun!　What about the transfer?

No!

This magic is useful in many ways, but you need to know where you are and where you're going before you can activate it.

But we're in a state where our position is changing in less than a second.

In other words, our current location changes between the time we prepare the spell and the time we cast it, and we can't determine it.

If we were rattling along in a carriage, we could get by, but at this speed, it's impossible.

But that doesn't mean I jumped out of the carriage without thinking.

"Walk on air!

Good thing I'm practicing magic.

Since I found out about the situation at the second layer, I've been practicing this spell.

I skipped all wind magic and lower level magic.

As a result, I was able to use it successfully... but that's not the case, is it?

The world is not so easy.

But the effort is not in vain.

You feel a resistance under your feet, and your falling speed decreases slightly.

Immediately after that, the resistance suddenly disappears, and the fall begins again.

"Natsuki, bring down the light!

Yes!

As soon as I responded, Natsuki sent three lights downward at regular intervals.

Nice!

You can't see the bottom of the fog, but you can see the light.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

Since the lights are floating at intervals of about 10 meters, you will be able to tell when you are 30 meters from the ground.

'Walk in the air, walk in the air, walk in the air!

Incomplete magic.

Half as effective and half as powerful as the magic used.

Normally, when a person falls, there is a limit to how fast they can accelerate in free fall, and they reach terminal velocity relatively quickly.

In other words, as long as you can see the ground, it is very inefficient to slow down slowly, but at the present time, it is very difficult to slow down from the terminal velocity - about 200 km/h - to a velocity where you can land safely. However, at present, we don't know the distance required to slow down from the terminal speed - approximately 20 km/h - to a speed at which we can land safely.

Because 200 km/h is a drop of more than 50 meters in one second.

Even if you could see the ground at 100 meters above you, you would only be able to use magic once.

So the only option is to keep slowing down the fall.

--Oh, I should have prepared a parachute.

Even if it was incomplete, it would have added some value.

It's too late to realize that now.

"Walking in the Air" ...... "Walking in the Air

Hmmm. It's a little bad.

I've been using a lot of magic today, and I'm not sure how much I have left.

"Recover Mental Strength. Good luck.

Oh. Walking in the air.

Natsuki's magic makes me feel a little better.

But it's about time... I see it!

The surface!　Natsuki!

Yes!

It's obvious, when you think about it.

There was a possibility that the cliff was not the shore, but a river.

It was fortunate that the river seemed to be deep enough.

On the other hand, the unfortunate part is that the current seems to be very strong.

A bang!

My body and Natsuki's body fell into the current of the river, sinking deeply.

If this is the case, I should have practiced breathing underwater.

However, if we had spent more time practicing underwater breathing, we would not have been able to slow down when walking in the air, and we would have crashed before drowning.

We didn't have an unlimited amount of time to practice, but I guess that's what you call begging for something.

Just before we hit the water, we sucked in our breath and dove deep into the water, but even so, we never touched the bottom of the river and were swept along by the violent current.

But we were lucky to have Natsuki's "light".

Relying on it, I kicked the water toward the surface.

"Whoa!　Are you okay, Natsuki?

"Yeah, yeah, I managed to ......".

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Can you send the light around?

Yes, please wait a moment.

While being swept along with only my head above the water, I checked the situation around me, relying on the light that Natsuki had released.

Incidentally, one of the tips to avoid drowning in case of emergency is not to put your hands in the water unnecessarily.

The human body is buoyant when it is in water, but when it is above water, it becomes a load.

In other words, if you raise your arms above the water, you lose the buoyancy of one arm, which in turn becomes a load, making it easier to sink.

The best thing to do is to keep your head - or more precisely, your face - above the water and wait for rescue, but that is only possible in a situation where rescue is possible, and that is in the ocean.

However, this is not the case when you are in a river like we are now.

If you know what's going to happen, one option is to drift until the current becomes calm, but that's pretty scary when you don't know what's going to happen.

The danger that there might be a waterfall ahead, the danger that the current might become more violent and slam us against the rocks, the danger that there might be demons like flying gars in the river.

The list goes on and on.

So all I can do now is to try my best to climb up out of the river.

I look around for a place where I can climb up, but...

"Isn't there any sand at ......?

The river where we were being swept away was probably more than 20 meters wide.

Both sides of the river are steep cliffs, and beneath them is a rugged rocky terrain.

It's better than a cliff with no place to hold on to, but it's still a little more dangerous than a sandy beach.

Let's be thankful that there are rocks. Nao, go over there.

Oh.

On the left, facing upstream. I swam up to the cliff where we had fallen and managed to grab a rock.

"Natsuki......!

Yes!

I pushed Natsuki up onto the rocks and helped her up onto the rocks.

I breathed out a sigh of relief that we were in a safe place for the time being, and that we had successfully escaped from the fast-flowing river.

As if in sync with me, Natsuki also breathed out, and we looked at each other and laughed lightly.

You've been swept away, ......?

I don't know, I was pretty desperate myself, but the current was fast.

I looked up, but all I could see was a white mist in the sky.

We couldn't tell how far we had fallen, or even how high the cliff was.

And when we looked upstream, we couldn't even see the waterfall, only hear the roaring sound.

Shall we call it in?

"Yes. Can I do it twice?

Then Natsuki took out a whistle.

It was a whistle, but not a musical instrument, like a horn or a whistle.

This whistle is an emergency whistle that each of us has, and it was prepared for the same purpose as the whistle in the so-called "emergency bag".

By the way, sounding it twice is a signal that you are safe.

We have also decided on other methods of communication using lights and mirrors, but they are useless at present.

It's not completely safe yet, but if we're not sure if we're alive or dead, Haruka and the others might be overwhelmed.

Yeah, that's probably a good idea.

Then I'll blow.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea.

The high-pitched sound echoed twice in the valley, cutting through the roar of the waterfall and its heavy bass.

Then, after listening carefully for a while, I heard the same sound twice from a distance.

Hearing this, Natsuki and I looked at each other, relaxed our expressions, and exhaled heavily.

It seems that the other side is also safe.

"Yes. I'm not sure what to make of it.

I'm sure you'll be happy to know that he managed to avoid falling.　He thrust his sword into the ground.

He was the second from last to go down.

The only person left on top was Toya, but when the rock collapsed, his body seemed to float in the air for a moment, but he was still hanging on to the sword he had thrust into the ground.

I'm really impressed with your quick decision in that situation, even though it looked a bit risky.

But even if you transfer back, you still need to wait for your magic power to recover. ...... It's a small place, isn't it?

Yes, it's a bit uncomfortable.

In addition to the fact that the rock we crawled on is less than a tatami mat, it is not a square block, so the only place we can practically sit is a slightly slanted half-tatami mat space.

The two of us were sitting there, huddled together, and Natsuki was right, it was quite uncomfortable.

Furthermore, we were soaked from falling into the river, surrounded by fog, and the temperature was a bit chilly.

It's impossible for me to recover my magic power in this condition.

Let's dry our clothes first. I'm not sure about me, but Nao-kun might catch a cold.

You can't overestimate the power of [Robustness] either.

You can't overestimate the strength of the [Robust] either.

Fortunately, none of us have gotten sick in the past year, but I'm sure that's due in part to the fact that we've been trying not to push ourselves too hard.

I don't think [Robustness] is a skill powerful enough to keep you from getting sick under any circumstances.

So, Natsuki, please.

I'm sorry. Purify.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea.

But it was only for a short time, and as for the clothes on top, they soon became damp with fog.

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

No, no, no. You can dry your clothes with the Dryer, right?

I could, but I'd have to take my clothes off.

Haruka created a water magic called "Drying".

You can use this magic to dry wet clothes, but it is a bit dangerous to use while wearing clothes.

If it dries your skin, it's just a funny story, but if it fails, it's not so funny.

Well, inanimate and animate.

If you compare inanimate objects and animate objects, the latter are much more resistant to magic, so unless you make a mistake, it won't be fatal.

However, I don't want to strip in front of Natsuki, and it's too dangerous in many ways to be naked in such a small place.

If you're not sure what you're looking for, you can always try to find a place where you can find it.

It's not only fatal to your wallet, but it will certainly make Haruka angry with you.