Chapter 96

―――Today is the 1st day of the winter month.

Today is the first day of the winter month, and the world’s season has changed to winter.

The flow of time in the other world seems to be very fast.

This is proof that Yuri is spending such a dense time every day, and of course, it is also due to the unique specifications of this world, where there are only 160 days in a year.

The season that was spring when I came here has already turned into winter. Perhaps it was because it was changing so quickly, but Yuri felt no emotion.

At this rate, next month, when it will be one year since she came to this world, she will have to feel the same emotion again.

Starting today, the new city “Ulysses” will be open to the public.

At first, Yuri had thought of naming the new city “Blue Lake”. This was because the “Tourist Resort Section” in the northern part of the new city was based on the ‘lake’ that Yuri had previously created.

The water, which is always kept clean by the effects of [Purification Ward], is highly transparent and the lake is filled with a pleasantly pure blue. Yuri liked the color.

It was the children of <Kikyou> who reject the city name “Blue Lake” that Yuri had proposed.

“I want this city to be named after Sister too!”

According to Meteora’s words on behalf of units, they don’t like the fact that their name doesn’t include the word “Yuri”, unlike the city of Yuritania.

If <Kikyou>, who took care of all the construction, says so, I can’t ignore it.

It can’t be helped, so Yuri named the city “Ulysses”.

The blue of the lake resembled the color of the wingspan of the Asian Swallowtail butterfly.

In Japan, the butterfly is called “oriental swallowtail”, but in Australia, where it is most abundant, it is called “Ulysses”. I had learned this from a novel I read a long time ago.

That’s why I decided to use the name.

The population of Ulysses is still zero, but it is a city that you can freely move to use [Transfer Gate] if you register to Explorers Guild of the Yuri Empire and the Holy Land of Nimun, so it is not impossible to expect visitors.

In the Ulysses [Labyrinth Dungeon], the merchant associations of Yuritania will be opening their stores from today, and the merchant associations of the Holy Land of Nimun have also opened a few stores.

Of course, the city of Ulysses also has its usual ‘food stalls’.

The stalls are usually based in the Divine City of Yuritania and those that are usually based in the Holy City of Farrata. Both of them will be open for business in Ulysses starting today.

As a rare city where one can freely purchase both the specialties of the Yuri Empire and the specialties of the Holy Land of Nimun, as well as enjoy the cuisine of both countries at the same time, Ulysses is sure to pique the interest of many.

―――Of course, we must not forget the existence of the [Labyrinth Dungeon].

As a result of the ‘Great Transformation’ that took place a while ago, people living in this world have been given [Class] which are different from the [Vocation] that they used to have.

It seems that there are more people than Yuri thought who are willing to take on the challenge of the [Labyrinth] to develop their [Vocation] and also develop their newly acquired [Class].

The other day, Yuri broadcasted a video of Pope Altorius’s group exploring the labyrinth and defeating a demon, which seems to have sparked a great deal of interest in the labyrinth among the people of the Yuri Empire and the Holy Land of Nimun.

There are a lot of people who visit the [Labyrinth Dungeon] in Ulysses dressed as if they were wearing normal clothes and have just bought a cheap sword from a weapon shop on their hips. Even for such amateurs, the lowest level of difficulty in the labyrinth will allow them to experience an easy adventure.

There’s no need to be ashamed of that since everyone is an amateur at first anyway.

And even if it hurts, it won’t kill you. I think it’s fine for each of us to decide whether or not to continue to visit the [Labyrinth] after experienced both the fun and hardships of exploration a few times.

A while ago, Yuri went to inspect the Explorers Guild, which was set up in the center of the city. From the first day, the guild was crowded with people who had registered as explorers.

Even so, the guild seems to have been able to function without any problems, as there were eight points of contact from the very first day, and users did not experience any overcrowding.

This was probably due to the leadership of Sofia, the guild master.

Yuri was impressed by the fact that she was still a young girl.

In contrast to the “Labyrinth Dungeon Area”, which was bustling with people from all over the city, the “Tourist Resort Section” is deserted.

After all, the “Tourist Resort Section” charges a daily fee of “10,000 Beth” just to enter. This is equivalent to four to six days’ wages for an ordinary person, so it is not cheap.

However, once you enter, there are free lodgings available in the compound. So even ordinary earners, if they try hard enough, can visit the “Tourist Resort Section” once in a while to enjoy a swim in the lake and refresh themselves.

Of course, there are also very luxurious and magnificent lodgings for the rich and aristocrats.

The fees would be quite high, though. I want to make this city block attractive to rich people.

―――“Ulysses Butterfly” is the most luxurious hotel in the “Tourist Resort Section”.

On the hotel’s private beach, Yuri changes into a swimsuit.

The entire Tourist Section of Ulysses is built on top of a lake that was created during the recent battle to eradicate the kingdom’s army, so this is not a sea by any means.

Despite this, there was a beautiful white sandy beach behind the Ulysses Butterfly Hotel.

The other day, Yuri flew his beast to register a distant beach in the south as a [Transfer Point] and took some <Nadeshiko> with her. The beach was artificially created by bringing sand from the beach that was stored to the limit in the [Samurai Bag].

At this beach and hotel, Yuri was planning to enjoy a full day of vacation.

In the past, when I asked the <Kikyou> children in the audience room if they had any desired rewards, captain Meteora’s last request was, “When the new city using the lake is completed, I want to spend a holiday with my sister!”.

So today, all 24 members of <Kikyou> are also near Yuri.

Today, she plans to spend the entire day playing with all of <Kikyou>, enjoying swimming and resting.

“Sister! Let’s swim together to the shore of the lake over there!”

“Yes, of course.”

When Lalibela, a member of <Kikyou>, invited her to play, Yuri readily agreed.

In the past, Yuri’s physical abilities, such as [Strength] and [Agility], were often lowered to 0 due to the effects of some equipment. Now that she was in her swimsuit, she had removed all of her equipment and was not hindering her mobility.

Even though it is a Magic Class, at level 200, the physical ability value is quite high. Yuri swam at super-speed toward the shore of the lake that Lalibela pointed to, but she was still no match for <Kikyou>, the architect, in terms of physical ability, and was defeated by a large margin.

“Nice try, Lalibela.”

“Thank you very much.”

“I’m tired, can you give me a ride on your way back?”

“Yes, Sister! I’d be delighted!”

So, on the return trip from the lakeshore, I rode on the back of Lalibela, who was doing the breaststroke.

I enjoyed the sight of Lalibela moving on a steady trajectory on the surface of the water and the scenery that surrounded us.

I wonder if this is what it feels like to go to the ‘Dragon Palace’, Yuri thought somehow.

“Sister! Let’s play beach volleyball!”

“It’s good, but… you’ll need a sturdy ball.”

“It’s okay! I requested <Rindou> in advance to have it made.”

As soon as we came back from swimming, another group of kids invited us to play beach volleyball. I decided to enjoy beach volleyball on the beach.

The team that Yuri joined was always defeated one way or the other because they were not as physically strong as the <Kikyou> girls. Even so, Yuri was surrounded by her lovely wives in their swimsuits, and she was enjoying the greatest happiness.

“Sister! Let’s build a big sandcastle together!”

“No!”

“What? Why am I the only one rejected?”

I was taking a break after the beach volleyball game when Meteora, the captain of <Kikyou>, asked me to join her. Without hesitation, Yuri immediately rejected the proposal.

Of course, it’s not that she rejected the proposal because it came from Meteora.

(If you guys make ‘Sandcastles’, it will be no joke…)

Yuri sighs inwardly, thinking so.

Normally, building a sandcastle would mean several people working together to build a castle large enough to fit in both hands. ―――But with <Kikyou> children participating, Yuri could guarantee that this would never happen.

This is because all of <Kikyou> children are so skilled that they can build a 1:1 scale castle using only sand as a material.