CH 289.2

Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”

She thrusts her hands into the sides of her tight skirt and slips down her underwear. After taking a breath, she slowly welcomed it into her front door.

When she had it all the way to the base, she put her underwear back on and held the wand in her opposite hand, and fired at herself.

「Hng!!」

Ponytail’s young, supple, well-trained body grips the sides of the table tightly and stiffens for a moment. She waves the wand again to turn off the vibration and exhales heavily.

(This is quite something)

A girl with a stern face and her hair pulled back in a ponytail, flopped on the table, breathing heavily.

Just as she was catching her breath, she noticed something in her vision. It was the other toy set.

(…Just what am I thinking)

After staring at it intently, Ponytail closes her eyes tightly and shakes her head from side to side.

(No, I can’t)

But when she opens my eyes again, her gaze is drawn back to the thumbstick. Ponytail closed her mouth tightly and shook her head again.

But she has found an excuse to justify her desire.

(This is training. In order to beat him, I have to do this)

With a feverish expression on her face, Ponytail reaches for the thumbtack on the table. She lowers her underwear again and leans forward to place it behind her.

Then, very slowly, she gently pushes it in.

(It’s hard to sit on a chair)

After she finished putting it in, she fixed her clothes and sat down on a chair. Then, after swallowing her spit, she grabbed the wand with both hands in opposite directions.

(Here I go. Brace yourself, me)

She took a deep breath and jumped up at the sound of fists pounding on the door. Right after that, she frowned and groaned loudly.

(Are you there? Can you listen to my story?)

She tried to pretend that she wasn’t present, but soon gave up and put the wand on the table. She then got up from her chair and unlocked the door.

When her best friend came into the room, she seemed to be in a somewhat bad mood.

「He was the worst. I never expected him to be such a guy」

Apparently, her date today did not turn out so well.

(I wonder if she’s going to return to her room soon)

Ponytail was in anguish because she had to stop halfway, listen to her friend’s rants, and sighed in her heart.

Busty-chan, having vented her annoyance to some extent, noticed the wand on the table.

Before she could stop her, Busty-chan already picked it up, stared at it, and looked at the engraved words on the bottom of the grip.

「This is the toy that became popular lately, isn’t it?」

Unlike the owner of the room, her best friend seems to know a lot about worldly affairs.

After that, Busty-chan looked for the thumbstick that should’ve been in pair with the wand. When she realized she couldn’t find it, her mouth twisted into a grin.

「Hee– that’s surprising. So you’re interested in this kind of thing」

She laughed devilishly with her half-lidded eyes, and without warning, she swung the wand at Ponytail. The light arrow fired from close range, hit Ponytail in the stomach before she could avoid it, vibrating the thumbstick in the front.

「Fuuuaaahhh!」

Ponytail held her crotch and plopped down on the table. Busty-chan swung the wand again to turn it off and then suggested while looking at the remaining wand on the table.

「Haha, sorry sorry. Looks like you got two of them, so why don’t we compete against each other? I was actually pretty interested in it too」

But Ponytail did not answer. She kept her face down on the table.

A woman’s intuition dropped like a thunderbolt into Busty-chan’s mind.

「Eh? Wait, is it like that? Are you for real?」

With an expression of disbelief, Busty-chan grabbed the wand and swung both of her hands before Ponytail could stop her. Ponytail, who got hit by the two light arrows, fell to the floor, screaming and flailing around with her hand holding her front and back door.

「Stop it! Turn it off!」

But Busty-chan, instead of dangling the wands in her hands, opened her mouth and just stared at her best friend who looked at her in disbelief.

This was the moment when the category of 『Doubles』 was born in the toy invented by the Revolutioner.

***

Here, the perspective returns to Tauro.

After receiving permission to use the guild Knight for personal purposes, I departed later that afternoon.

I had to buy emergency rations and water in the shopping district and loaded them into the cockpit of the Old Lady, which is why I was late.

(Thirst aside, I can’t fill my stomach with potions)

I thought as I made the Old Lady jog along the road heading east. The reason why we are only hovering intermittently is because we occasionally pass a golem carriage.

Even if I use a Knight for personal purposes, the complaint still goes to the merchant guild.

(I don’t think I’ll need this much though)

I look back at the large cloth bag I shoved behind the cockpit and smile wryly.

『At midnight, teleport to the Spirit Lake, shoot the world tree, and return』

It was a one-day mission, so three days’ worth of food was probably too much. Although it was typical of me that I still prepared that much despite knowing that.

(Alright, here we are)

I arrived at the southern shore of the eastern lake just before sunset. Even though I departed later than planned, we were still on schedule, probably because I had given too much thought to the travel time.

I turned the Old Lady’s face to the sky in the direction of the royal capital and stared at the sunset.

(We must not let that light turn into a fiery red color)

Beneath the crimson clouds is the city where the people and spirit beasts I cherish live.

I thought of Light Cruiser-sensei, Explosive Onee-san, and Goblin Jii-chan, and renewed my resolve.

I chewed on some ration, drank some water, and pissed standing up in the woods by the lake while getting bitten by an insect. Then I waited for the time to pass while I had the luxury of using magic to heal myself.

As people crawled into bed and turned off the lights, a wave from Zaratan came to me, announcing his arrival.

(Maybe because he’s too far in the center of the lake, I can’t see him from here)

In the garden pond, I can see the teleportation magic circle appear while emitting blue light. Here, due to the low angle of view, I couldn’t see it at all.

The Old Lady’s stance was changed from one knee to a half-sitting posture, and we moved across the surface of the lake by hovering.

(…..What a frightening size)

Soon, two islands came into my field of vision.

Half of it was the shell with ruins and the other half was the face. Those are the only things visible from above the water’s surface, but it still looks so powerful as if we’re dealing with mother nature.

(No wonder the Heavy Lancers and Capricorns are scared looking at him)

It was hard to believe that he was a 20-centimeter-long turtle that I usually lift up with both hands.

「Please treat me well」

I crawled up the Old Lady’s back, trying not to get overwhelmed.

The giant turtle that poked its head out of the water looked back at me and stared at the B-class knight from the merchants guild that was stuck to its shell.

(Oh yeah, he always wanted to see the Knight, now that I think about it)

I remember the time when I tested D-rank injury magic after the Old Lady got renovated.

I cast it as propulsion magic, but it was absorbed by the Knight and the response remained.

『The Old Lady’s damages have been healed, though not completely.』

This is something I found out from my experience. But I’ve also proven that my three types of magic are only effective against living things.

Assuming that both of these are true, there is naturally only one answer to this.

『The Old Lady is a living being』

But I was still unconvinced, so I consulted with the knowledgeable turtle who had lived for a long time.

He must have a clue why, because his eyes gleamed for a moment. Then he said 『I want to see it myself』, which was unusual for him.

But I couldn’t find a good way to bring him outside the garden, so I shelved the idea until now.

「How is it?」

Since he was my familiar, I don’t need to speak via the external sound system. Zaratan picked up the waves of my thoughts and quietly replied.

For some reason, his reply contained pity and a hint of sadness.

『……Someday, there’s something I would like to discuss』

It seemed to be a heavy story.

(I’m tempted to ask, but I think we should wait until Zaratan is ready to talk about it.)

He would’ve immediately stopped me from riding it if it was something dangerous. It should be fine, as long as I don’t use more than B-rank magic.

「Of course. Let’s talk after we are done dealing with the Spirit Cannon」

After receiving the answer, the turtle turned to the front and drew a huge magic circle that emits blue light in the water.

(It should be safe to dive since the Old Lady is a B-class Knight)

The living island is slowly sinking. I told myself as I cling to its back.

(…..So this is how it feels huh)

Fortunately, the Old Lady’s cockpit was not flooded and it doesn’t feel suffocating

『B-class Knight can operate reasonably well underwater』

There seemed to be no mistake in what I had learned in the classroom at the pilot school.

I breathed out a sigh of relief as I gazed through the eyes of the Old Lady at the magic circle several hundred meters in diameter glowing on the pitch-black bottom of the water.