CH 125

Chapter 125 : Ether

We are currently traveling through grassland just like yesterday. There are no forests or rocky mountains that obstruct our view.

It’s safe for us because we can easily know if there are enemies approaching us, but I’m tired of seeing nothing but grass. To be honest, I kinda hope there will be something going on.

「Celine, are we not going to stop by a village until we reach our destination?」(Mark)

「Yeah, we’re going to sleep outside tonight.」(Celine)

「I see…」(Mark)

「I normally sleep outside when I go to a faraway place, but tonight will be different ‘cause I have you with me~ I’ll be counting on you, Mark~」(Celine)

While saying that, Celine brought me closer, pushed my face against her breasts and stroked my head roughly.

Her breasts were really soft. I can understand why Nicola likes them a lot.

「My life becomes easier with you around, really. Say, Mark, Sanmina asked you to marry her daughter, but remember you can always propose me anytime~」(Celine)

After Celine said that, Delica, who was driving our carriage, turned her face around and looked at us with a somewhat panicked face.

「Eh!? B-But I think Celine-san is too olー」(Delica)

「ーDid you say something, Delica-chan~?」(Celine)

「….N-Nothing……」(Delica)

She immediately looked forward again as she replied.

Looks like she realized that she almost said something that might make Celine mad.

This was Delica’s first time hearing Celine’s joke, so it was natural for her to be surprised. I didn’t feel anything because I’ve heard that kind of joke many times from her.

Speaking of Celine, even though we’re not in a master-disciple relationship, she took me out of town for an adventure and taught me various things. Well, she kinda forced me to join Monster Fishing and fight the lord of the lake last night, but I got stronger because of that. She also buys my potions from time to time, so I have some pocket money thanks to her.

I feel like I owe her a lot and I feel like I won’t be able to refuse her if she asks me something…

Wait a minute… She’s not trying to make me feel indebted to her so that she can ask me to marry her, right…?

When I was thinking like that, Nicola hugged Celine from the side, joining us.

I suddenly remembered that I wanted to ask her something, so I asked her with telepathy.

『Say, Nicola, about the power of soul you explained about… Umm, the mixture of the remnants of the monsters’ souls and the monsters’ natures, was it? …Is it well known to the general public?』(Mark)

『Just like when you felt stronger after defeating the lord of the lake, people should feel that they get stronger when defeating strong monsters, but strangely I haven’t heard people talking about the power of soul. It’s probably either kept secret or still under research in this world. Either way, I think it’s best to ask Celine.』(Nicola)

『I see.』(Mark)

I looked at Celine and asked her.

「By the way, Celine, I feel like I got stronger after defeating the lord of the lake. I can control my mana easier and I feel like I can use my magic better than before. Do you know what happened to me?」(Mark)

「Ara~ I knew it, you got “Ether” after all. I’m glad for you~」(Celine)

「Ether?」(Mark)

「Yup. When you defeat a strong monster, you may feel your strength increase. There’s a theory saying that it’s the effect of the soul of a monster merging into your soul. It doesn’t seem to harm your body, so you should gratefully receive it.」(Celine)

Celine’s explanation was roughly similar to Nicola’s.

I see, so the people in this world call the power of soul “Ether”, huh?

「Actually, this is something that is commonly known by adventurers, especially the strong ones, but we don’t usually talk about it because we don’t want the weaker adventurers to hear about it and do reckless things like challenging strong monsters and end up dying in vain.」(Celine)

Ah, so that’s why Nicola never heard of it.

「Celine-san, is it possible to get Ether from weak monsters?」(Delica)

Delica, who heard our conversation, glanced at us and asked Celine.

「I don’t think so. It’s said that it’s only the strong monsters that will give you Ether if you defeat them, so Delica-chan, please don’t think about doing such a reckless thing before you become stronger, okay?」(Celine)

「…Okay.」(Delica)

Delica replied with a disappointed tone.

『As I told you before, weak monsters such as goblins and kobolds have what people called Ether, but the amount is too little so people can hardly feel it. Even if people hunt hundreds or thousands of goblins and kobolds until they can feel that they get stronger, people will consider it as the result of their practice rather than getting a small amount of Ether from those weak monsters.』(Nicola)

Suddenly, Nicola gave an additional explanation with a serious face while still hugging Celine.

Since God provided Nicola with knowledge about this world, I don’t think what she told me is wrong. It seems that her knowledge just doesn’t match with common knowledge in this world sometimes.

If that’s the case, it’s better to have Delica to kill weak monsters we may encounter as much as possible. Although killing weak monsters won’t affect her much for now, it will definitely help her reach her dream little by little.

However, we haven’t even encountered a single monster so far…

I can’t ask Celine to stop by a place where we can find a lot of weak monsters because that will just be a waste of time. We went to complete a request from the guild, not to hunt weak monsters after all.

Still, I hope we will encounter some monsters on our way.

「*yawn* Fwaaaahh~……. This journey makes me sleepy… But this kind of request is not bad at all. We just have to go to the destination, check the situation there, go back to our town and receive money~ If only they would give us more money as reward, this would be the best mission I’ve ever done though.」(Celine)

Celine often complained about the strange requests she did while drinking sake at our dining hall. However, it seems like this kind of mission is not as bad as the missions she usually does.

「I’m going to sleep for a while. Please wake me up before lunch time.」(Celine)

「Alright. Good night.」(Mark)

Celine let go of me and lay down while hugging Nicola as her pillow.