CH 40

They ended up killing monsters in many layers that day, and it was expected that monsters would not be overflowing in the dungeon for quite some time. Of course, some soldiers had been injured, but most of them were safe.

They would be heading from Gromble tomorrow. It was a special night, and the soldiers were allowed to drink, which meant that the barrels of ale and apple wine were taken out. And so began the feast by the lake, whose mirror-like surface beautifully reflected the moon.

As Maki and Chiharu were helping with the cooking, they still had to work while the others were drinking. But the soldiers had fought very hard, and so it could not be helped. 

Eventually, they were able to settle down and eat. And just when they started to line up for apple wine…

“Ah, the entertainment!”

The soldiers began to shout.

“What do you think it is?”

“Maybe it’s karaoke?”

“Or some kind of parlor trick?”

“Hey, Chiharu. What if they ask us to do something?”

“Oh, I know. Dumpling ears.”

“That’s so old. And stupid. They don’t even have dumplings here.”

“Okay. Then how about that dance we did last year during the welcome party for the new employees? The one where the men and women danced together.”

“They’ll ask us where the song came from.”

“Well, I don’t think they’ll ask us to do anything, in the first place.”

“But as an adult, you never know when people will ask you to do something. So it’s best to be ready. Now, apple wine! Apple wine!”

Maki excitedly turned back to the barrels.

“Kenneth! Ryan!”

“Ggg…”

“N-no… At least let me drink one sip first…”

“That can come later. Go and fly!”

“Huh? Fly?”

Maki said stupidly. When she turned around, there was a straight path from the lake to the apple wine, like a runway.

“Ma-, no, Kenneth and Ryan! Let’s go.”

“No-no-no. Why?”

Sauro and Saikania were waiting for them. The birdfolk seemed to constantly want to carry them.

“No-no-no. If anything you people should be carried!”

“There’s nothing amusing about seeing humans get carried!”

Maki and Chiharu resisted as hard as they could. But it was no use against drunkards.

“But it is amusing!”

“FLY! FLY!”

The crowd of men began to chant.

Sauro and Saikania were smiling more than usual. Their faces looked a little red. Maki shouted.

“You’re beastkin, but you drank! Who gave them alcohol!”

“Just a little.”

“A little bit.”

Flying under the influence was probably illegal here. However, the chanting did not stop.

“Maki-chan, what should we do?”

“Well, the only people we were seriously hiding from already know. We might as well go.”

“But…”

Chiharu wasn’t very enthusiastic about it. But Maki raised her hand.

“Alright, I’ll go.”

“GO! GO!”

And so Maki started to run as fast as she could, away from the barrels. Sauro swooped down, picked her up, and lightly rose over the lake!

“Save some of the ale for me!”

Maki’s voice rang. Everyone laughed.

“You go too, little guy!”

“This is tyranny!”

“Go!”

It was no use. In despair, Chiharu raised her hand.

“Here I go.”

She declared, and started to run. Saikania picked her up and rose into the air.

“Woah…”

“He’s better at it than Prince Edwy.”

“It’s because he’s lighter. Oh, they rotated. Wow!”

Amazing! After being flung around by the birdfolk, who had become bold through the alcohol, Chiharu was thankful that she hadn’t drunk first. But then again, Maki seemed to be enjoying herself. Acrobat flight? How cool was that?

After much excitement, Chiharu was about to ask Saikania to put her down again, when she suddenly noticed something. She felt a stare.

“Saikania, uh…”

“Chiharu. Shhh.”

A stare. To the left? There was an eye. But this was the sky, and yet right next to her…a Gazer!

“We’re returning to land now!”

“Got it!”

But why? I thought these monsters didn’t leave the dungeon? Someone had said that on the train… Oh, yes. It was Kaider.

“Tsk. It’s following us!”

Just then, she felt an impact. And then Saikania’s tight grip around Chiharu loosened.

SPLASH! After a brief sensation of weightlessness, Chiharu fell into the mirror lake.

“Chiharu! Saikania!”

She thought she could hear Maki shouting.

“Chiharu! Chiharu!”

“Maki. Calm down. We’ll land first!”

There was more than one Gazer. Sauro dodged the Gazer that chased him as he rushed towards land. On the ground, the soldiers were not so drunk as to not respond.

The Gazer slowed down when it saw the soldiers. Sauro glided over the ground and dropped Maki.

“Chiharu!”

Maki was about to jump into the water, but a soldier stopped her.

“And what use will you be in there! Leave it to us!”

But once the soldier jumped into the water, his movements became slow. On the other hand, the entire sky was the battlefield of the Gazers. The soldiers frantically prepared boats and arrows, the scene seemed to be falling into a stalemate. But then…

“The bird people!”

“They’re…”

“It’s their second form.”

Maki looked up to watch. While they were still humanoid, their talons grew longer and they now had very sharp-looking beaks. There were four of them.

“Sauro! Saikania!”

They nodded at her and then flew off with a flutter of wings. These white birdfolk had a wingspan of three meters. The Gazers were eyeballs that were one meter in diameter, and there were ten of them floating in the sky.

By now, a whole minute had passed. Chiharu! Chiharu!

She had to be fine. She hadn’t fallen from a high place. And we had all gone to swimming school as children. Chiharu knew how to swim.

Maki stared at the water as she tried to pull away from the soldier who held her back. Was that bubbles? It was bubbles. A wave appeared on the surface.

“Oh.”

“It’s just a fish.”

And then Chiharu burst out of the water with such a loud exhalation that Maki and the others heard her.

“Chiharu! Good! Huh?”

Chiharu wasn’t even swimming, and yet she was moving in the water towards them. Someone was holding her.

“Merfolk…”

“It’s merfolk…”

It’s merfolk! And then a Gazer caught sight of them and plunged down towards them.

“No! Chiharu!”

The birdfolk were too busy fighting the others. However…

Slap! The Gazer went flying back. They could see the shapes of Merfolk dancing over the water.

“The merfolk hit it back!”

More and more of them came up and protected Chiharu from the Gazer until she reached dry land.

“Maki-chan!”

“Chiharu!”

She was soaking wet, but otherwise, unhurt. Maki and Chiharu held hands and turned to the merfolk.

“Thank you!”

“This is why we asked you to come with us, precious children. The land is a hard place to live on.”

The young merman said.

“Not yet! There are still too many Gazers! Take these two away and tell the birdfolk to fall back! We must fight on land, and not in the sky!”

It was Kaider who barked this order in a loud voice.

“It is you!”

“The interfering dwarf. The Gazers are attracted by our precious children. Only fools would try to fight them in the sky. You must lure them to the ground.”

“Tsk! I know. Edwy!”

“I heard! Sauro, come back! Bring them to the ground!”

The entertainment tonight had certainly taken quite a turn.

“This is the reality.”

“A world of monsters.”

Maki and Chiharu whispered to each other in shock.