CH 206

Exhausted, I dragged along the magic stone that was bigger than me and headed towards where Kyousuke and Zeal-san were and when I got there, it seems that the battle had just come to an end. 

What in the world happened, Kyousuke”s entire body was covered in blood, and Zeal-san looked somewhat depressed.

Kyousuke and the others didn’t have an appraisal skill like『Eye of the World』, so it seems that they destroyed the magic stone when they defeated it, not realizing that the monsters that attacked us were Orguns.

I was surprised by Kyousuke who killed the Orguns in one strike as he had purposefully searched for its softer areas where his blade could pierce through.

That was probably when he got drenched in blood,.

Zeal-san”s sword broke because of the Orgun”s neck, so Kyousuke gave him the sword he usually used and defeated the two monsters by himself without using the『Twin Sword Style』.

Zeal-san had yet to come out of his shock that was induced by his broken sword, and was hugging it in a daze.

My “Yatonokami” did not break, but in the end, the cracks had expanded and they became two daggers I currently had, so to some extent, I understood how he felt.

Although there were only broken pieces of it left, they were still bigger than the ones you could get in the dungeon, so I stuffed the magic stones from the two that Kyousuke had defeated into the bag as well.

Now then, just as I was thinking of returning to the base, Kyousuke looked at the towering magic stone behind me and the look on his face tensed.

The height of the magic stone of the Orgun King that I defeated was a matter of course, and the width surpassed that of my body”s as well.

The method in which I moved it all the way here by myself was by dragging the stone over after wrapping the black cloth that I had around my neck around it, since I could not carry it.

Right now, I was grateful for the sturdiness of the black cloth.

「It’s huge.」

「Aah.」

I sighed, then nodded.

Carrying this back to the base would undoubtedly be difficult.

Although there were three of us, I’m hesitant to call out to Zeal-san right now and have him help us.

The two of us could probably lift it up, but if we get into a fight with other monsters on the way back, we wouldn’t be able to respond in time, and there was also the possibility that the magic stone would break.

As the two of us were thinking about what we should do, a rustling sound came from the bushes nearby.

Monsters might’ve come over due to the blood that was all over Kyousuke.

Reflexively, Kyousuke and I readied our weapons, but when we saw what had come out, we relaxed.

「What, it’s Usako, huh.」

Usako was the robot that Noa created to safeguard the base’s surroundings.

Long distance and close combat was a matter of course and if it broke down, it would regenerate by itself. All attacks were poisonous, which subtly showed Noa’s bad personality.

The name that was given by Noa, who had the worst naming sense, was unfortunate, but it was extremely capable as a guardian.

Actually, after we came, we had not encountered any monsters in the vicinity of the base.

Because it was a safe place, it seems that we could take a break, which was unexpected, and the hero and the others’ complexions have gotten much better as well.

As I was fixedly staring at Usako, I was puzzled by the discrepancy that I sensed.

The armor on the robot standing in front of us was different from the one that Usako No. 11 that we met in the beginning had on.

Usako No. 11 had a slightly more slender, it’s joints were protected, and it had a body that did not sustain any injuries since it had a self-regeneration function.

However, the arms of the Usako in front of us had obviously been reinforced and on top of that, there were small injuries in several places.

Looking at it closely, there were also traces of it having been repaired.

It seems that it had been used with caution.

「It’s written here that it’s Usako No. 3.」

Looking at Usako’s back, Kyousuke pointed at the words written there and said this.

When I went around to the back to check it out, there certainly were large words that were clearly handwritten on the armor on its back, spelling out “Usako No. 3”.

Did you treat it with care or not, which was it.

「Come to think of it, after the fight with Usako No. 11 when we first met, we were completely exhausted and could not move and the one who carried us to the base seemed to have been this robot.」

Kyousuke muttered this.

If that’s the case, did Noa dispatch it as a luggage carrier.

As if it confirm that those thoughts were correct, Usako No. 3 easily held the enormous magic stone that we had no idea how to transport in its arms, and furthermore, it took out two more arms from its storage in the back, and helped us carry the magic stones that had been stuffed into a bag.

With this, we only needed to worry about the monster attacks on the way back. 

We headed back to the base, with me as the vanguard and Kyousuke was in the rear, as if fencing in the dispirited Zeal-san and Usako No. 3.

Hugging his sword, Zeal-san did not say a single word throughout.

When we arrived at the base, everyone except for us had already returned. 

「You’re back, huh. …eh, Zeal-san?」

「It seems that his sword is broken. Take him to Kurou.」

Nodding at the hero in greeting, I entrusted Zeal-san to him.

I did not know how emotionally attached he was to the sword in his arms, but there was nothing I could do with regards to swords.

It was better to consult a blacksmith.

Entering the building, I rushed over to Amelia, who seemed to be preparing dinner with the girls. I was glad that she was safe.

Moreover, Yoru jumped onto my shoulder, with a satisfied look on his face.

When I scratched him under his chin, he purred like a cat.

I was nothing but grateful to the two people who accompanied me who had been all alone after leaving Retice Castle.

Because Noa suggested we finish it up before dinner, everyone except for Zeal-san and Kurou went outside. 

We headed towards the back of the building, following behind Noa who was holding a piece of paper that looked like some kind of blueprint.

The spacious area behind the building where the hero and the others received a vicious beating was where all the collected materials were stored, so it could no longer be used.

It seems that up until now, it was used for things like training.

The jaws of everyone, except for Kyousuke and I, dropped when they saw the magic stone that was larger than anything they’ve ever seen before among the stored materials.

It seems that the magic stone that I brought back this time was bigger than the one that Noa showed us.

Probably knowing that she could do as she liked with the world’s largest magic stone, Noa’s eyes were shining with joy.

Just by looking at her appearance, she looked her age, but from what I heard, it seems that Noa had obtained that magic stone after fighting that Orgun barehanded.

As one would expect, it seems that it was an ordinary one, not an Orgun King, but perhaps she had the confidence to win barehanded against an opponent with such sharp claws, or perhaps it was simply because something was wrong with her head, which worried me a little.

However, I understood somewhat when I heard that.

No wonder she didn’t warn us about them aiming for the destruction of our weapons.

She didn’t know about it either, since she challenged it without using any weapons.

I recalled how its neck’s defense was obviously paper thin and I nodded in understanding.

Noa checked every single material.

At the end, she looked at the Orgun’s viscera, nodded, and looked back at us.

「With the final addition of the Orgun’s viscera, the collection of the necessary materials for the production of what will traverse the continent has been completed. We will now commence the construction.」

It seems that she will show us her special skill.

Because we were told to stay a distance away, I pulled on the arms of the hero and the others who had no idea what she was going to do and made them move.

「Special Skill『Creation』. Production commence.」

After ascertaining that we were far away, Noa stretched both arms widely in front of the neatly arranged materials and invoked her special skill.

All the materials glowed, and floated up.

The light gradually grew brighter, until finally, it was burning our eyes.

We squeezed our eyes shut, and turned our faces away.

「…complete.」

I wonder how much time had passed.

I heard a sigh of relief coming from Noa, and opened my eyes. 

There, where there were nothing but materials just before, stood a big ship.

Though it was a ship, it was a ship that was floating in the air.

We were at a loss for words at the size of the ship that was not as big as the Orchid that we boarded in order to travel from the Forest Continent to the Brute Continent, but even so, it was large enough there was still excess space even after we all got on.

Looking closely, the exterior was created from the shell of the turtle monster whose defense was unnecessarily high.

Come to think of it, I recall that we were asked to procure the materials and each person took on an excessive number of them.

「Wow.」

I did not think that she could make something like this.

Hearing the astonishment that came from the bottom of my heart, Noa nodded in satisfaction.

「This is also my first time making something this big.」

She had done experiment after experiment after hearing the hero’s explanation and finally, she had perfected the blueprint.

Indeed, while we went to procure the materials, she had just shut herself in her room.

「When I had designed it, I had calculated that it would descend at the edge of the Volcano Continent, but the magic stone was bigger than I thought, so if there are no mishaps, then perhaps it can travel all the way to the center of the continent. Maa, something unexpected always happens when you travel.」

Noa said this, as if setting up a flag.

It seems that she had made it into a ship so that even if it fell into the sea, it would float.

If we did fall into the sea, its aquatic functions would begin operation.

I just hope that it would not come to that.

「Still, you created something so large, you have quite the magic power.」

The magic power consumption for all special skills was terrifying.

Standing next to Noa who was looking at the exterior and nodding, I muttered this.

「Of course not, obviously, it was insufficient.」

Noa carelessly said this and shrugged her shoulders.

When I asked her how she did it if it was not enough, Noa pointed at Usako No. 3 who was standing in a place that was a little further away.

Usako No. 3, who had been a big help today, looked like it was carrying something in its arms, unmovingly.

「I used the Orgun viscera that I had. It seems that it was just barely enough.」

Staggering, her body swayed.

I immediately held out my left arm and steadied her.

It was most likely magic exhaustion.

The hero and the others entered the ship.

Perhaps it was because she had given the hero and the others a beating until we arrived, as Noa did not want to show them any weaknesses.

「Sorry about that.」

「No, it’s alright. …if the magic power was insufficient, what were you going to do. Do you want to die?」

Previously, I had been in a dangerous situation due to magic exhaustion, so I knew how scary it was. 

Noa had feigned calmness, but she was in a dangerous predicament as well.

「No, I will not die until I see that child’s death with my own eyes. However, I am in your debt. You got rid of my daughter’s enemy.」

Though she seemed like she would lose consciousness at any time, Noa did not stop talking.

In that case, thinking that I should listen to her until the end, I gestured for Amelia and Yoru to not speak with my hand.

「I should’ve been the one to do that. I should’ve immediately killed the man who consumed that girl’s limited time and who did not value it. I had always been in the wrong.」

Seeing Noa who was still half awake, I sighed,

I see, they were truly an awkward pair of parent and child.

「You, I heard from Kurou that you had mistakenly drunk the potion of perpetual youth, but you purposely did it, didn’t you.」

Was it that when she was pregnant with Kurou, she was not able to bear the fact that her beastman son would live longer than herself.

I did not understand as I am not a parent, but was not being able to ascertain your son’s fate such an agonizing thing.

「That’s, right. There was something wrong with me at that time.for me to drink that potion without knowing how it would affect the child in my stomach. Thanks to that, I had caused unnecessary trouble for that child. That was, wrong of me.」

Her consciousness lasted until then.

My left arm was not able to support her entire body weight, so it seemed as if Noa was going to fall down onto the ground.

However, there was an arm to support her.

「…say that in front of me, mother.」

Kurou carried the completely powerless Noa in his arms.

I could not see his facial expression through the shadow of his bangs, but it seems that he had heard Noa’s words.

I saw that Kurou had come out of the building and purposely tried provoking her, but it would be best if their parent and child relationship improved.

「Akira, is surprisingly nosy.」

Hearing Amelia’s teasing words, I feigned ignorance, and headed towards the ship.

『You didn’t know? Master-dono has always been like that.』

「I know. Since I met Akira before Yoru.」

I took the quarreling Amelia and Yoru with me and entered the ship that Noa created.

I would like the matters of the parent and child to be resolved without involving those around them.

『My outstretched hand, did not reach.』

That made me recall the slender Kurou standing in the moonlight.

「It’s good that, this time, it reached.」