Chapter 22: 22
Seigyou Tensei – Legitimately Employed Reincarnation
22
As Eris and Ruijerd talked, I worked. For this new model drone, I decided to go with two engines instead of the single engine design on the smaller drone—speed was of the essence here. Because it would be acting as a carrier, I made it large—so large I had to knock down the walls and raise them again when I was satisfied it was big enough—and made the interior hollow, giving it a set of doors on the bottom that would open and release smaller drones.
I gave it retractable landing struts so that it could touch down somewhere if needed. Then, because I saw the need for vertical takeoff and landing, along with hovering in place, and wanted to make it easier on the spirit I was planning to stick into it I added a set of four small, vertical facing engines that would be sealed off under normal flight conditions for aerodynamic reasons. Those, I set each on their own independently turning gimbal system so they could direct thrust as needed. Luckily, I didn't actually need to do anything beyond build the parts and tie in some control enchantments—the spirit I summoned would do the rest.
Because I was a bit paranoid about defending it, I also enchanted in a Shield spell and Invisibility, on top of the general elemental manipulation spells I'd added to the phones—then I had Sprite go ahead and update the phones with those too, in case they were needed. It would be easier to shield against a threat than to try to fix 'dead,' after all. The rest of the enchantments were pretty much copy/pasted from the phones and other drones at this point, since nothing really needed to be added that I could think of at the moment—but I something did come up, I could remote update it.
Finally, looking over the new engines, I decided that the situation warranted breaking out something I'd been thinking about for a while now but hadn't had a need for yet and so hadn't really gotten around to playing with. Before now, all my 'jet' engines were essentially forced air scoops running off a modified wind spell. The short version was, they ran off of compressed air. But I really wanted this thing to get where it was going as soon as possible and while compressed air engines were fast (I'd gotten up to, at a guess, 250 in the ultralight on a relatively small version of that engine), actual jet engines were faster.
Why not Send it to Sylphie or Roxy, since they were closer? Actually, that was the plan. It still had to cover the ground between either Ars or Shirone back to Fittoa though.
I created a smaller drone as a mock-up for the new design and held it in place with Telekinesis, then enchanted the new, smaller engine with the spells I wanted. Since I was holding it in place, I could power it myself, so there was no need for a mana crystal or summoned spirit yet. When I was satisfied, I looked over to my companions. "I'm about to test something. This could get loud."
Eris looked over, saw what I was working on, and grinned like a loon. She knew from experience that any time I improved something like this, that improvement generally went towards every other design that worked on the same principals. So if I improved my bike, hers got the same improvements shortly after. When I went from the fan engine to the pressure jet, Eris had demanded I take her up and had the time of her life. To her, improvements with something like this generally translated to her getting to ride something fast, and the girl was a speed demon.
Bracing myself with Telekinesis and creating a shield around myself just in case, I fired up the engine.
The engine promptly exploded, sending shrapnel pinging off my shield. Instead of looking annoyed, Eris only looked more excited.
"Well, that didn't work."
Apparently just throwing fire and wind together was a bad idea. What about… A fuel tank? Pull water from the air. Split water into hydrogen and oxygen in separate tanks. Mix hydrogen and oxygen in engine. Cram in air to burn. Ignite fuel air mixture. Second ignition as it exits the engine… Essentially, a hybrid between a hydroxy engine and a true ramjet with afterburner.
More shaping of metal, more enchanting, more shields… And I was ready to test again.
This time, it didn't explode. Not immediately. No, the single engine roared to life and flames shot out the ass end at it tried to hit escape velocity and I held it in place. The force behind it was immense and the engine was loud, but it seemed stable. Ish. It had enough force that where it was pressing against the telekinetic force holding it, the frame was starting to warp. Still, I had learned my lesson from the tires. Even with magic, sometimes problems weren't immediately obvious.
So, I tested it to failure. I upped the output to full burn and waited. Eventually, the metal began to glow a cherry red, then parts began to slag. Finally, the whole thing exploded when, if I had to guess, something hot got to the hydrogen fuel tank. Right. No fuel tanks. Straight conversion from atmosphere inside the jet itself. Going to need cooling too, so an ice spell on the engines maybe. What about something less intense than a full time burn and instead, timed pulses? The old 'donuts on a rope.' Could get it up into scramjet territory if I do it right. Just requires changing the internal structure for more compression, if I recall correctly. Add in magic and we could up that by a lot.Also, I think I can just enchant it to use earth magic to self-repair, so I'll test that too. That way, if it starts looking like it's going to break, Sprite can fix it.
As I worked, I set my phone to the side. "Sprite, call Roxy and Sylphie again for me."
"I'll reconnect you to their group call. Should I add Eris, master?"
I sent a look over at the girl talking to the Superd. "Eris, I'm going to call Roxy and Sylphie again," I called out to her.
Eris looked between me and the Superd warrior. Ruijerd gestured for her to join me. "Go. I will go hunt for food."
"Mm," Eris nodded, hurrying over to sit beside me.
So we wouldn't have to hear the drone's engines, or it exploding, I enveloped the whole thing in a sphere of silence. Then, I had Sprite place the call. I saw that in addition to Roxy and Sylphie, we had the blonde on Sylphie's side still—though apparently Sauros had hung up at some point, so it was just the three of them. The slightly older girl's sky blue eyes immediately shifted to me. "You're American!" she accused.
I sighed. "Guilty as charged." Casting a sidelong look at Eris, I considered her for a moment. "So, truth is I'm not from this world—"
"Reincarnated. I know. Roxy and Sylphie told me."
Blinking, I turned my gaze back to the hologram. Roxy had the good grace to blush. "Did she now?"
"Yeah," Eris nodded. "Doesn't really change anything. Annoyed you didn't tell me yourself, but… I probably would've blabbed it to everyone if you had earlier anyway."
Nodding at that, I asked, "So, you two told Eris?"
It was Sylphie who answered. "Sorry, Rudy! We just thought—"
Roxy cut her off with a simple, "Yes."
No attempt to prevaricate, explain, plead, or anything else. A simple statement of fact, admittance that she did it, and apparent willingness to accept responsibility for it. I sighed. "Well, it's not like I wasn't considering considering it anyway, especially after last night. I would've told her eventually. Don't tell anyone else unless I give you permission, okay? Blondie there is the exception, if only because we figured each other out."
"I won't," Roxy agreed immediately.
"Okay!" was Sylphie's reply.
A simple "'Kay," was all I got from Eris.
Nodding, I sent the bluenette a threatening promising look. "Roxy, you're still getting a spanking later."
"Eh?! W-why?"
"You're old enough that you should have known better," I answered.
Hesitantly, Eris leaned closer and asked, "Can I watch?"
"EH?!" Roxy's response was a bit louder.
"Me too!" Sylphie cheered.
Roxy buried her face in her hands, hiding a blush. "Eep!"
The blonde laughing drew us out of our moment. "Wow. You really are a harem protagonist."
I sent her a flat look. "Not even remotely. Firstly, I'm not dense when it comes to recognizing when the women around me are interested." Eris and Sylphie nodded. "Secondly, I actively pursue women." Roxy nodded where she still had her face hidden. "Thirdly, I'm not some celibate Japanese herbivore man with decision paralysis or moral qualms about whether he should or shouldn't sleep with the women surrounding him. I can and do get laid." Eris leered, nodding enthusiastically.
"Now, not to be impolite, but who are you and why are you with Sylphie?" I asked the blonde.
"Rudy!" Sylphie hissed, trying to wave me off. I raised an eyebrow at that.
"Ariel," the blonde introduced herself with a smile. "And who might I have the pleasure of addressing?"
I considered the surroundings on Sylphie's side of the call, what the girl was wearing, and her general high class looks—on top of the fact that she had introduced herself as Ariel and was speaking in a more down-to-Earth manner. Mid-to-high ranked nobility, maybe royalty. She's not throwing around her titles or her noble status, and she's trying to make herself approachable and put herself on our level socially.And Sylphie, I looked at the formerly green-haired girl who nodded hesitantly, isn't giving more details and is implying I go along with it for now. Okay then. I'll play her game and see where it goes.
"Rudeus Greyrat."
Beside me, Eris puffed herself up. "Eris Boreas Greyrat."
Ariel nodded. "Sylphiette—Sylphie? Can I call you Sylphie?" she asked, turning her attention to the gre—whitehaired girl in question.
"Y-yes Your—"
"Ah ah ah! No. Ariel," she insisted, before gesturing at me. "Be more like Rudeus there. Please?" After getting a mumbled agreement from Sylphie, she said, "The others told me you were looking into the Fittoa situation?"
"Yeah. I should have a drone over there by mid-day tomorrow at the latest. Just depends on how long it takes to prototype, then I can Send it over."
Ariel blinked, before laughing. "Of course. I should have known. And you make these yourself? What all can they do? How do they work?"
"Yeah, I make them. They're basically flying wing style drones with forced air engines, aside from the big one I'm using for a carrier. I think I've managed to figure out a scramjet. Maybe. Still trying to keep it from exploding but I should have something that works by the morning. They've got many of the same enchantments the phones have on them, so remote A/V capability, and a few other spells—"
"By which you mean they're armed."
I rolled my eyes. "Well, yeah. American."
"Naturally," the girl laughed.
"And they're all controlled by summoned spirits."
Looking interested, Ariel asked, "What other things have you managed to import over from our world? Besides cellphones and drones, that is."
"You want it in order, or by what I think is the most impressive?" I considered it for a moment before a small grin crossed my lips. "Not that it matters, it starts the same way anyway."
"Oh? What do you feel was the most important?"
"The flush toilet, followed by the shower."
Ariel froze in place, her eyes growing slowly wider before she turned to Sylphie. "Is this true?"
Sylphie nodded, but it was Roxy who answered. "I helped Rudy build the first one. That was the day he told me about your world. My first hot bath was… amazing."
Orgasmic. She meant to say 'orgasmic.' She tried to be quiet, but I'd heard her in there having fun.
"They are pretty nice," Eris agreed.
Ariel whimpered. "No, no, no. You people don't understand. For you, this, this living in filth is normal and those things are a novelty at best! Nice, but you could do without. But you!" Ariel turned suddenly half-crazed eyes my direction. "You understand."
"I do," I agreed with a nod. "I could make you one when we get back, as a favor to a fellow modern day citizen of Earth."
Ariel looked like she could weep with joy. "Thank you."
"And speaking of returning, that brings up a good question. What is the kingdom of Asura going to do about the refugees, princess?"
The blonde flinched slightly, a quiet sigh escaping her lips. Sitting up, back straight, tucking her hands into her lap just so, and tilting her head to look down at me ever so slightly Ariel put on a kind smile. The time for pretending to be normal was over and we needed to talk business, and while she seemed reluctant to do so, that didn't stop her from doing it. "What is your magely title, Rudeus Greyrat?"
I sketched a half-bow. "King-level Elemental Mage Rudeus Greyrat, at your service… Second Princess Ariel Anemoi Asura."
Yeah, I'd done my research. I didn't recognize her on sight, but given her bearing and everything else, along with the name, the list of potential candidates was short. Considering that Sylphie cut herself off from addressing her as 'your highness,' that kind of shortened that list to one.
The girl's smile became slightly strained, but she nodded. "I see. As of now, my father, the king, is not aware of any disaster or happening in the Fittoa region of the kingdom. He is aware of an irregularity that teleported a monster into the palace garden and killed one of my guards, Derrick Redbat. A monster which Sylphiette rescued me from." She reached out and patted Sylphie on the shoulder once, her smile turning much more genuine for a moment. "However, it will be the better part of a week before scouts can reach the region, assess the situation, and report back."
"And if he had access to visual evidence?"
Ariel shook her head. "Your friends have adapted well to the idea, both from whatever you've taught them and from seeing it for themselves—not to mention, they all trust you greatly. My father is not so trusting—cannot be. Nor does he have the benefit of our knowledge. I believe you because I understand the technology and concepts involved, but lacking that information he would likely believe it to be a ruse of some sort. I cannot vouch for you in this as to do so would be to reveal my nature and that is a risk I cannot take—for both my reputation and safety."
"I see. They don't know you're a reincarnation. Fair enough, I didn't exactly tell my parents either, nor do I plan to. You're from Japan and if the royals are anything like most of the nobles, that must be rough. How old were you?"
The mask of 'Princess Ariel' cracked. "You have no idea. The nobility are all degenerate filth, but the royals take that and turn it into a contest. I was seventeen and in my third year of highschool. The things I've had to do, to sacrifice to fit in, just to keep them from suspecting that I'm not one of them…"
"I'm guessing you were the girl on the street that day?" Ariel nodded. "I'm sorry. If I could've saved you too, I would have."
Taking in a deep, shuddering breath, Ariel closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, the princess was back. "I don't blame you. It was our fault for having our argument in the middle of the street. The driver is equally at fault for his failure to stop. You did all that a man could in that situation—more even than most of my," she paused and I could see her forcing herself to correct the thought, "my former people would have. The past is the past. Let's leave it buried there and focus on the present."
"Agreed. What do you think the king will do, once he learns of the disaster? What will he do about the various refugees? Sprite hasn't had the drones up for long here and she's already spotted a few and had to intervene to prevent them from getting killed right away. And that's just the few within a small radius of where I am now. There's no telling how many are out there dying right this second. Eris' father would have likely suffered a similar fate, had we not intervened."
"He may submit a mission to the Adventurers' Guild, organizing a Search and Rescue mission and offering a reward for their return." After a moment's pause, she added, "Or he may decide it's a problem for the Lord of Fittoa and delegate it to your grandfather, Sauros," she directed her gaze to Eris, who nodded. "Who was next in the line of succession?"
"My father," Eris supplied.
"Who was also in Roa when the disaster struck," Ariel murmured. "Then it would probably go to your uncle." Eris winced and, seeing that, Ariel extended an olive branch. "I'll talk to father about it. If he doesn't handle it himself, I can bankroll it on behalf of myself as princess."
"Thank you," Eris muttered, looking away as she did.
"And I take it your father wouldn't take seeing Sauros on a call as proof of life and not hand over the reigns to her uncle?"
Ariel shook her head. "Most likely not. Not without having one of our court mages examine your magical cell phones and mostly figure out how they work."
"Yeah, that's not happening," I immediately denied. "Okay. If the Guild is handling it, I can go to Rikarisu's Guild office and submit the same mission. Then, I can scale up, build a plane or an airship, and we can come pick Sylphie and Roxy up and start looking for our families within the week."
Ariel's sharp-eyed gaze locked firmly on me. "You could build airships?"
I nodded. "Yeah. It'd probably take a while to get it right, but not that long. I've been experimenting with related stuff for a while. It's just a matter of putting it all together. Here, I'll send you a phone so you don't have to borrow Sylphie's and you can let me know when your dad makes his decision. Just don't let your court mages get ahold of it. I don't need someone trying to replicate the tech. Someone's been sending thieves and assassins after me for about a year now, and that was just over the bikes and an ultralight aircraft."
I Summoned a spare phone from the bunker to hand and Sent it line of sight to Ariel's own hands. The girl fumbled the phone, her mask as the princess breaking entirely as she caught it before looking up at me with wide eyes. "You can teleport things?!"
Roxy smirked at me. "I was wondering what it would take to finally break her."
"What? But— This is bullshit!" Ariel yelled.
Turning a more amused smile on Ariel, she said, "Now you see what we have to deal with."
Ignoring Roxy, Ariel asked, "You can teleport things! You can clearly do it line of sight. You have drones! Why can't you just teleport all the refugees back—"
"NO!" a chorus of three voices shouted her down instantly, silencing the princess and leaving her with a flummoxed expression.
Ariel glanced to her side where Sylphie shuddered. "Never. Again."
Eris was reacting likewise beside me. "So many tentacles."
Roxy pulled a face. "Rudy, did you upgrade your lab to include automatic purge protocols yet?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Anything that gets out of hand will get a Saint-level spell's worth of fire magic crammed into the space of an Elementary-level Fireball to the face."
Seeing our reactions, Ariel asked, "Okay, just, what? Would someone please explain?"
Sighing quietly, I fielded that one myself. "Someone," Eris winced, "suggested pretty much the same thing. At the time, I was experimenting with…" I blinked. "Oh. Shit."
"What?" Ariel demanded.
Eris and Sylphie turned their gazes onto me, but it was Roxy who asked, "Rudy, what do you think the odds of the test subjects surviving the teleport incident are?"
"Too high for comfort," I murmured. Clapping my hands, I grinned. "Good news though! They're all sterile. So we won't be overrun with a swarm of magically enhanced super mice!"
"'Magically enhanced super—'" Ariel blinked, her eyes going wide, before narrowing into a glare. "Did you make those things from Warhammer? The intelligent rats?"
"Not quite," I answered evasively. "Tiny was the closest thing to them, and he's dead."
"Unless he regenerated," Roxy whispered.
"Very. Very. Dead." I reiterated. Turning my attention back to Ariel, I asked, "You ever watch classic horror? American horror, that is."
Ariel shook her head. "Not really my genre, sorry. Scary things are scary. My friends made me watch the original Ring once and I refused to watch any other scary movies."
"Okay, well, let me explain. You see, what had happened was, we tried a live teleportation experiment on one of the lab mice I had been keeping for medical experiments—trying to develop higher level healing spells. Cause, you know, Millis."
"Yeah, those guys suck," Ariel agreed.
"Well, Tiny was a MOUS." Ariel raised an eyebrow. "Mouse of Unusual Size—"
"Princess Bride! I haven't seen that in ages." She stopped, then cleared her throat and retook her 'princess' pose. "Continue."
"As you wish." The mask cracked around a giggle and a smile. "Well, Tiny was a cantankerous, evil little shit. By the time we tried this experiment, he was about the size of a badger—and mean as one too. I Sent him from one side of the lab to the other. The problem is, we shouldn't have disregarded the warnings in the book. Summoning/Sending is a much lower level spell than Teleportation or creating a Portal. If you're into scifi, it's the equivalent of a cargo transporter—good for inanimate objects, but not something you send live specimens through. We Sent Tiny through and he came out looking like a badger crossed with a pillbug, covered in tentacles."
Eris covered her ears and shook her head. "La la la! I can't hear you!"
"Yeah, apparently it isn't immediately lethal. No, instead you get The Fly. He was, I guess spliced with tardigrades and likely some sort of intestinal parasite. Someone thought it'd be a good idea to take her sword to him—"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time!" Eris wailed, still covering her ears.
"Except some worms regenerate when you cut them. So instead of one armored tentacle badger, we got two. Then ten when they started moving again. Eventually, Sylphie and I killed it with fire."
The white-haired girl nodded. "It smelled really bad. And they screamed the entire time…"
By now, Ariel was looking a bit green around the gills. "You should have nuked the entire site from orbit, just to be sure. You're American, surely you've built one by now."
"So miss 'scary things are scary and I refuse to watch horror movies' has seen Aliens. And hey! I resent that accusation!" Ariel stared. "…I haven't had time," I admitted quietly.
"Please don't," Roxy shook her head.
Ariel cast a look between Roxy and myself before asking, "You told her about those?" I nodded and she sighed. "Well, please keep the nuclear genie in the bottle. As to the refugees, I can see that teleportation isn't an option. But you can build airships. Would you construct some and ferry refugees back to Fittoa?"
Looking between Eris, who shrugged, and Sylphie and Roxy who nodded, I gave my own shrug. "Sure, as long as I get paid."
"Out of my own pocket if I have to," Ariel agreed immediately. "In fact, I'll set things up for it tomorrow."
I guess we'll go with my original plan. Use drones to scout out the Demon Continent, find the survivors, and get them all down to Wind Port. Then I'll make some airships and send them home. Are you going to pay extra to get people from places other than the Demon Continent?"
Ariel nodded. "You're the only one I know of with the ability to do so, other than perhaps Perugius. And no one simply walks into Laputa and knocks on the door. As if they could get up there anyway."
"Fine. I guess it looks like we're not going to be making a quick trip back. Sylphie, what do you want to do about your mom and sister?"
The girl bit her lip and considered it. "I want to go get them, but even knowing they're safe in Sprite's care we don't know where they are."
"I'll send a drone once I have one made," I promised. "Have you tried summoning your bike?"
Sylphie shook her head. Pulling out her key, she held it out to the side of the bed and did so. What appeared was… mostly a bike, if it had been wrapped around a tree. Hers hadn't been in the bunker with ours, so it stood to reason that something could have happened to it. I winced, but Sylphie hummed. "I think I can fix this. The enchantments feel intact and the tires look fine, so all I really need to do is straighten out the metal."
Ariel stared. "Is that a motorcycle?"
"Yep," I nodded.
Considering the bike, Ariel asked, "Could you make a car? Or perhaps something larger?"
"Maybe. All I've got is bike tires, but I don't think it'd matter much. Why do you ask?"
Sending the girl at her side a fond smile, Ariel answered, "Sylphiette saved my life. I am in her debt. And yours, as her master. I would like to provide her an escort to wherever she needs to go to find her mother."
Reading further into that, I asked, "You suspect you're going to have to leave or something?"
The princess hesitated before nodding once. "Eventually. I've been considering bowing out of the political backbiting and leaving to go to Ranoa College of Magic for a while now. This would give me a legitimate excuse to leave and a way to get ahead of any messengers my siblings could send. My own magical bodyguard died in the teleport incident and I had hoped to ask to pay Sylphiette for her services, but that would keep her from rescuing her family. If I leave now however… Two birds, one stone."
Humming, I sent Sylphie a raised eyebrow. "It's your choice."
The white-haired girl nodded slowly before turning to Ariel. "My fee is that of a King-level mage and Intermediate-level swordsman."
Ariel laughed, agreeing with a nod. "Of course. I would pay whatever you like."
"Alright, now that that's settled," I cut in. "I'm going to hand the call off to Eris so I can get back to work on that carrier drone. Anything you need from me, ask her to relay and she can fill me in later. Sylphie, Eris, try to get ahold of your family and wake them up. Roxy, did Lilia and Aisha ever wake up?"
"They have not yet. Sprite said she would alert me when they did. She believes they are in the Shirone kingdom, within the castle, after some investigation using her imaging spells."
I blinked, before turning my eyes to the silently waiting and watching hologram of a woman in miniature, off to the side of my projection. "Thank you. Do you think you could…?"
The spirit smiled. "Of course, master. I cloaked them inside an invisibility spell and am moving them now, using telekinesis. I will choose an inn and set them down nearby, where they can wait for mistress Roxy."
Chuckling quietly, I sighed. "Thank you for anticipating my needs, Sprite. I know you do a lot for me, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for more very soon."
"Command me as you will, my master. I will do whatever I can for you if it is within my power to do so."
Turning my attention back to the others, I said, "Okay. I've got to get back to it. Let Sprite know when you're ready to reconvene tomorrow and we'll get together and review where we stand. Hopefully, I'll have a drone in the air over Roa by then. Ariel, it was nice meeting you. We'll have to talk more later. Sylphie, Roxy, good night."
Having said our goodbyes, I had Sprite transfer the call over to Eris' phone and pocketed my own before shooing the girl off. Then, I settled in and got back to work.
That was how I spent the rest of the night, refining the drone design until I was sure it wouldn't explode. Shortly before dawn, yawning and feeling the lack of sleep but knowing that if I slept now I'd never get over the magical jet lag, I summoned up another wind spirit and had it take over the big drone, after I finished loading the last of the smaller drones inside (and having summoned a spirit for each). Four wind-based pressure engines lifted it up and out of our shelter before directing it away. Then, the main engines kicked in and it began to accelerate and climb, retractable doors closing over the VTOL engines as it picked up speed.
It circled a few times before it disappeared in a flash of multi-colored light as Sprite sent it back to the Central Continent, using the feed from Sylphie's phone there to send it to the sky over Ars, where it immediately began releasing a few of the smaller drones as it winged its way towards Roa—the drones each peeling off in a different direction. One to stay behind in Ars and one in each cardinal direction but west since Ars was situated on the coast. Over the next week, I planned to make more drones to Send to the current drones and spread out from there.
I checked the feed from my phone just to make sure everything was working as it should be, then instructed Sprite to let me know if something happened. Looking over the camp, I found Eris curled up asleep nearby under Ruijerd's cloak. The Superd man had watched the drone take off in silence, a contemplative look on his face. "Alright," I called over to him, "let's get a move on."
"You aren't going to sleep?"
I cast a healing spell on myself and shook my head. The spell would blunt the worst of the effects of sleep deprivation, but it wouldn't do any of the things sleep did for the body and mind—meaning I'd just put off the inevitable crash for a few hours. "I'm fine for now."
Reaching down, I shook Eris awake. The girl sat up with a confused look, starting slightly when she spotted Ruijerd before calming down and reminding me of that particular mess I wanted to investigate. Later. Way later. It didn't even make the top one hundred on the list of shit I needed to get done ASAP. "Oh. We're really here."
"Yeah," I quietly confirmed. "You hungry?" I asked, before realizing I hadn't eaten the night before. A glance over at the fire showed no leftovers from whatever Ruijerd brought back.
"Mm," Eris nodded, sitting up and rubbing sleep from her eyes.
I fished one of the MREs out of my backpack and broke it open, before offering her the bag. Eris dug out a handful of jerky and a couple of pieces of hardtack. I took a bit for myself before offering the package to Ruijerd. The man took it in hand and studied it curiously before fishing out a piece of jerky. He bit into it carefully before nodding, a small smile crossing his face. "It's good. Thank you."
I dug out the tea and made us some drinks to go with it. Once everyone was done, I put everything away and moved off to the side. "Alright, let's see what the damage is," I muttered, before focusing on my bike and summoning it. I had sent them to the underground storehouse, but I hadn't exactly been careful about it when I did, so I was worried that I might have damaged one of the frames or something.
Turns out, I needn't have worried and should have trusted my own skill at building them—or maybe my skill with Sending. Either way. My bike looked fine when I inspected it, both visually and with magic. Eris took out her key and summoned her own bike and I gave that a look over too before confirming it was good to ride. Ruijerd had stood and approached, looking at the bikes with curiosity. "What are they?"
Eris chuckled deviously, climbing onto her seat. "You'll see. Rudy! Knock down the walls!"
"Hold your horses," I grumbled. I considered summoning Ghislaine's bike, but she would need that to get back to Roa—or what was left of it—and it would be faster on wheels than on foot. Instead, I tried to summon the bike that Phillip and Sauros had been using. When that met with failure, I instead summoned the key for the bike and used it to summon the bike itself—since the keys were enchanted to summon a specific mana crystal and everything attached to it and not 'the bike.' That was how Sylphie had summoned her own bike and one of the reasons I had enchanted them the way I had—specifically so that if someone stole it and damaged or repainted it, I could still summon it as long as the mana crystal was intact. It arrived exactly as I had originally expected my own bike to, and in a pretty similar state to Sylphie's—with a warped frame and damaged parts. Thankfully, nothing was missing, so I was able to get it back into shape in just a few minutes.
Setting the newly restored bike upright, I patted the seat. "Okay, hop on."
Looking at Eris waiting impatiently, Ruijerd mimicked her pose on the bike, holding his spear in one hand. "Oh, hang on, you're going to need both hands," I held up a hand. A bit of reshaping the metal of the faring and I had a place to put the spear for now, until I could work up something like the mount for my staff. "Right, put that in here. Now, let me show you how it works."
Eventually, I lowered the wall and we took off, allowing Ruijerd to lead—even if he was still a bit wobbly on the bike at the moment. Several hours of time difference, so Roxy and Sylphie are still sleeping. I'll give them a call when I think they've woken up and we'll review and compare notes. In the meantime…
"Eris," I called to the girl, riding up beside her. "Tell me how things went with everyone else last night. And any update from Ghislaine?"
"Mom's fine. She was awake by the time we called her back. She's in some place called Labyrinth City. Roxy said it's about as dangerous outside the city as the Demon Continent, but she's got money so she'll be staying there for a while. Sylphie's mom and sister are in the north somewhere—she said thanks for sending her a drone, by the way. Sprite killed some kind of bears that were prowling around and now they're walking towards a town. Lilia and your half-sister woke up and are waiting on Roxy to get them out of the city in an inn. Ghislaine met up with some people and she's somewhere called the Conflict Zone. Sprite thinks dad is there too. She's actually pretty close to Roxy, but Ghislaine is going the opposite direction, back to Fittoa. Grandfather was able to confirm he's in Millis, so he's going to head to Millishion and get a carriage back, after speaking with the local Guild and organizing a search and rescue mission."
"I see," I said, once she'd finished speaking. "Okay, that's… mostly good."
Quietly, almost so quietly I didn't hear her over the sound of our wheels on the ground, Eris said, "We'll get our family back, Rudeus. We will."
That wasn't hope I heard in her voice, I realized. It was faith.
Faith in me. In what I had done and built.
I wished I could feel the same. But as time had proven again and again, faith was no shield against imminent physical danger. Not from men and certainly not from the monsters of this world.
23
As we rode, I molded a slot for my phone on the 'gas tank' section of my bike and slotted it in, then had Sprite project a hologram from one of the small drones that I'd had flying overwatch for us. We picked up speed as Ruijerd grew more comfortable riding (and I was able to extend the range for my earth spells to create a road and the occasional bridge—seriously, the terrain here was awful) and I frowned as I watched our path veer around monsters—even when terrain prohibited line of sight. He's obviously detecting them somehow. I wonder if I can make a spell to do the same?
Still, it was irritating. I needed to see just how much danger we were in for myself and he was skirting around said danger. I left it alone the first few times he did it, but eventually I moved up beside him and asked.
"You're riding around monsters before we even get close enough to see them."
"It would be better to avoid them," was his short answer.
I shook my head. "No can do. We need to get a feel for the local monsters and what we're dealing with."
"You are children. There is no need for you to worry about it."
"I'm a King-level Elemental mage capable of silent casting and Advanced-level in Sword God and Water God styles. Eris is Advanced-level in both of those, if not close to Saint-level, and Intermediate-level in every element and healing magic." Only because I beat it into her head that she needed to be able to heal herself during or after a fight, in case she was ever in a situation where she had to act on her own. "I know the village is close so it's not a big deal right now, but later, we need to get some experience fighting actual monsters."
Ruijerd was silent as he considered it. Finally, he asked, "You wish to become warriors?"
"We already are. Untested, maybe, for the most part," I admitted, because I wouldn't actually call what I had done to rack up my count as any kind of test beyond one of will to survive, "but we've had training. Besides, I'm looking at this as an opportunity. We get to test those skills out on live targets. I'm sure you're a pretty powerful warrior if you're wandering around out here by yourself, but we don't want you to fight our battles for us. With us, as partners, certainly. But we're not going to be dead weight."
"Very well."
With that decided, I fell back closer to Eris. "What was that about?"
I turned and shot the redhead a smile. "Don't worry about it."
The Migurd village wasn't all that far from where we had fallen. A few klicks maybe, but most of that was up and down steep terrain, ravines, and so on. Even so, I'd built the bikes with rough terrain in mind (much rougher than the relatively smooth road I was making) and even at a low speed and going around enemies, they ate up ground much faster than if we had been hoofing it. We were rolling to a stop outside their gate within the hour, to a confused look from the blue haired guard. There were a dozen or so homes crowded inside a crude fence, with a little plot of tended land off to the side.
"Ruijerd, what in the world are you riding?" the man asked, eyeing the bikes. I say man because with Migurd, it was hard to tell. He didn't look any older than Roxy had.
The green-haired Superd dismounted his bike and popped the stand down as I'd taught him. "A magical tool for traveling. Do you remember the shooting star we saw fall last night? That was them."
"Uh huh," the man looked us over critically. Eris glared back, not taking kindly to being eyed up. "They look suspicious."
"They are victims of a magical disaster—"
"What did he say?" the redhead asked quietly from behind me.
"Don't worry about it. I'll explain later," I murmured back.
Sliding off my bike, I walked up to Ruijerd's side as he was glaring at the guard, reaching under my collar and pulling Roxy's necklace out of my shirt. "What do you mean, they look suspicious?"
"They just—" the guard stopped, his eyes swiveling to the trinket dangling around my neck. "You! Boy! Where did you get that?!"
"My old master. She told me if I ever found my way to the demon continent, I should be treated well if people saw it," I explained.
The man stared at it before asking, "What was the name of your master?"
Ruijerd was now eyeing the necklace as well—a necklace that closely resembled the one worn by the guard. "Perhaps this is a conversation best held with the chief, Rowin."
The now-named Rowin's eyes cut over to glare at Ruijerd before he sighed and closed his eyes. He was silent for several seconds and I blinked as I realized what it was he was doing. That's right, Roxy said they can communicate telepathically. It's why she left her village, because she couldn't. …Wonder how she'd react if I could figure out a spell version? Well, we have the bikes, so I could spend a day or two here observing to try and figure something out. It'd give me time to turn out a few more drones in the meantime.
With that in mind, I took hold of my mana and pushedoutwards, trying to feel for anything abnormal. I had felt things with it before, especially recently—as though powerful mana were brushing against my own. All of the direct manipulation spells contained an element that I'd taken from earth spells and started using with them that allowed me to sense what I was doing. So I took it the next logical step and tried to feel out with my own mana, like a sixth sense. The result was… strange. A sort of static in the air. Like trying to listen to a radio with the tuner set to a dead station. Except the static came in bursts and I could pick out the direction each burst came from.
Yeah, may be on to something here.
"Rudeus, what are they saying?" Eris demanded again. "And why'd you show him your necklace?"
"They think we're suspicious. They've sent for the village chief."
Eris considered that for a moment before nodding. "Okay."
Not long after that, an oddly youthful looking bald man came walking out with a cane and the help of two young women who, again, looked around Roxy's age. And like not-quite clones of Roxy herself. Damn long-lived races. They're probably in their first century, at a guess, but he's got to be pushing one-eighty.
"These are the children?" the elder asked, aloud for our benefit.
"Yes," Rowin nodded. "And the boy speaks the Demon language. It's suspicious no matter how you look at it. Also," he gestured my way, "he has that necklace."
Moving closer, the elder Migurd eyed the necklace. He hummed quietly before smiling. "I see. I am the chief of this village, Rokkus."
"King-level Elemental mage Rudeus Greyrat, at your service. Nice to meet you," I nodded. Turning a considering look on Eris, I added, "This is my student, Eris Boreas Greyrat."
"Oh ho? And how old are you, Rudeus?"
"Ten," I answered, having an idea of here this was going.
Rokkus nodded and asked, "That level at your age? I find it hard to believe."
"And this was why I stuck with 'Saint-level' for so long," I muttered, shaking my head. Louder, I said, "Hard to believe or not, it's the truth, sir."
"He's lying. Ask him about the—!"
Rokkus held up a hand, cutting off Rowin. "Where did you get that pendant you're wearing, young man?"
"I'll tell you the same thing I told him. My former master and future wife."
The old man chuckled. "And what is this lady's name?"
"Roxy Migurdia."
Rowin went pale and wide eyed, spluttering as he stared at me. Rokkus, on the other hand, laughed out loud. From somewhere in the village, there came a high pitched 'squee!' Finally, Rowin pulled it together, but he seemed to be stuck somewhere between angry and anxious. "Roxy? My Roxy? Where is she now?"
"My Roxy," I countered immediately, "unless you're her father."
"I am her father!"
Well, it's plausible, given the aging thing. I nodded and added. "Still my Roxy, then."
"Over my dead body!" the man growled.
I grinned. "If that's what it'll take—"
Eris sighed before reaching over and slapping my arm. "I can't tell what you're saying but I know whatever it is, you're doing it to make him mad. Stop."
"Don't worry, I'll give you plenty of attention later," I promised, earning an annoyed look and a flush from the girl as she balled her hands into fists at her side. "But the adults are talking, so shush."
"Reincarnation bullshit," she grumbled, but quieted down.
Turning back to Rowin, I decided to stop fucking with him for the moment. "Last I heard—that is, last night—she was heading back into the Shirone Kingdom on the Central Continent to secure my maid and half-sister."
"She's still alive," Rowin whispered. "After twenty years, and not a word…"
"That is very welcome news." Rokkus reached out and patted Rowin on the shoulder. "Perhaps we should sit down? Come, let them in. Let's retire to my home."
We followed them inside and I frowned as I looked around. The place was, quite frankly, barely scraping by. There were less than twenty buildings, almost all of which looked like they were dug into the earth and then covered with a giant tortoise shell. The fence looked to be mostly made of monster bones. They had a garden, but it was filled with wilted plants, things that looked like weeds, a few scraggly herbs, and some kind of toothy flowers on the edge of the field that looked like they'd come straight from the Mushroom Kindgom.
Worse than the run down feeling was the absolute silence. I could partially attribute that to the low population—just a few women and girls, and very few men. I assumed most of the menfolk were out hunting or something, seeing as the women seemed to be doing the usual sort of 'women's work.' The other half of the silence equation must be the telepathy. I can see why Roxy left and never looked back. This place feels like it's got one foot in the grave already. It's creepy.
On the other hand, an entire village full of Roxy clones. Younger Roxy clones. Slightly older Roxy clones. PregnantRoxy clones.
Urge to knock up my waifu rising…
We made our way into the elder's home where his two escorts left him. We were seated around his hearth, where a new woman soon joined us, introducing herself as Rokari—another Roxy clone, but this one sharing even more of my waifu's features. By some unspoken, but likely telepathic agreement, Rokkus went first. "What are you planning to do, now what you've found yourselves here?"
"Search for other Fittoa region survivors along the way to Wind Port, after we report in at Rikarisu to the Guild to register a mission for the same."
Stroking his beard, the old Migurd hummed quietly. "Forgive my saying this, but I don't think you quite realize what you're getting yourselves into. The trek is long and arduous. There are many dangers between here and Wind Port. On foot, it would take months of non-stop travel—much longer if you're trying to earn your way. And if you intend to branch out from that path to search for survivors, then it would surely take even longer. You could be looking at years, if you plan to search every village between here and there for survivors. I believe you may have some magical aptitude, but—"
"Rudeus is what he claims he is," Ruijerd interrupted.
Rokkus raised an eyebrow. "Have you seen proof of this?"
The Superd shook his head. "No. I have not seen him cast King-level magic. However, I have seen him demonstrate a skill with magic that I haven't seen since Laplace and things that not even Laplace himself created. If he says he is a King-level mage, I believe him."
"Putting that argument aside," I interjected, drawing the elder's scrutiny back to myself. "We're not traveling on foot. We came here on magical vehicles I made—the ones you saw at the gate. They're many times faster than a horse and never tire, so we can cover a lot of ground in a day. I have a tool that lets me see what's around us, so we can avoid monsters we can't deal with and turn every engagement we choose to take on into a surprise attack. And we're not going alone. Ruijerd has volunteered to escort us."
Elder Rokkus turned a disapproving look on Ruijerd. "And what purpose would that serve? You can't enter towns, can you?"
Sometimes, the wisest course of action was to simply shut your mouth and open your ears. I listened while the pair argued. Apparently, Ruijerd was feared enough that he had been run off from cities before by their garrisons. He was also stubborn enough that, if we went into one without him, he would either find a way to follow, or spy on us with the magical organ on his forehead and kill everything between him and us if we were threatened. Apparently, the man had some sort of soft spot for kids. He had actually met the Migurd tribe here by rescuing one of their kids from a monster attack and had been staying with them for the past five years.
As they spoke, I quietly translated for Eris, who watched the back and forth with a growing look of annoyance. "We can handle ourselves," she muttered.
Sensing a mutiny brewing, I reached over and laid a hand on her knee. She stilled, red eyes tracking down to my hand before coming back to my face. "I know that. You know that. They don't know that. As far as they're concerned, we're just two lost kids talking a big game and who are likely going to get themselves killed because we underestimated just how much danger we're in. I think the elder is trying to push for us to stay here."
Eris growled quietly and shook her head. "No!" she hissed, quietly but vehemently. "I need—we! We need to get back to Roa! Together."
"Agreed," I nodded, squeezing her knee gently. The elder said something that caught my attention and I perked up. "What's this about a goal?"
And so, I learned of Ruijerd's goal of clearing the name of the Superd race. Of the truth behind the betrayal of Laplace and his cursed spears gifted to the Superd. Of Ruijerd's murder of his entire family while under the influence of what sounded like a Berserk effect. How his son managed to break Ruijerd's cursed spear and free him from its influence. How he freed his remaining men and they fled, swearing vengeance on Laplace. His assisting of the heroes in the defeat of Laplace. And his subsequent ages of exile and isolation on the Demon Continent, broken up by the occasional good deed.
"Well," I said, when the Superd warrior finally wound down. "That's—I'll be honest here, that's all kinds of fucked up. I wouldn't even know where to begin repairing that reputation. I mean, it's hung around for hundreds of years past the actual events…"
"You don't have to do anything," Ruijerd denied.
"No, if you're helping us get home, then I'll try to help as I can. Give me a few days to think of something. We'll have to test whatever we come up with in Rikarisu…"
Putting that aside for now, I checked my phone. It was approaching noon, which meant it was still early where Roxy and Sylphie were. Sprite had by now generated a second clock readout displaying the local time in Fittoa, which confirmed that—and confirmed my guess that we were about twelve hours ahead. Pushing myself up to my feet, I cracked my back and stretched out. "Eris, are you hungry?" I asked the girl, earning a nod. Pulling off my bag, I passed it to her. "Here, you know what to look for."
"What about you?" the redhead asked, frowning.
"I'll be fine for now. I'm going to go take a walk. Get some air. I need some time to think."
As I turned to leave, Rokari called out, "Wait! What about Roxy?"
"We're twelve or so hours ahead of them, so she's sleeping right now. If you'll wait a few hours, I'll let you talk to her," I promised. Not giving them a chance to say more, I left the elder's hut and started walking. Pulling out my phone, I said, "Give me the view from the western drone."
The hologram popped up, showing a view of nothing but dark land lit only by the moon. At first, I thought I was looking at a wall or something, then the drone must have passed between the moon and its field of view and I caught sight of its shadow. The area below it was flat. Barren. Not a tree. Not a blade of grass. Just a bare patch of dirt.
No, wait. There, I squinted and the hologram zoomed in. There, I made out shapes in the dirt. The occasional partial wall. Even some grass, outlining square shapes where buildings had been. So the bare parts were occupied by buildings. Okay.
"Let me know when it gets light enough to see by unassisted there. Put the drone into a holding pattern over… over where Roa should be," I instructed.
"It already is, Master," Sprite answered quietly, and I winced.
"Okay. Survey the rest of the area then and we'll see how bad the damage is." I pocketed the phone and looked up as the hologram dispersed. I saw I had attracted some curious looks, but ignored them as I continued my walk, letting my mind wander.
Soon enough, I found my way to their little garden. Stepping inside the fenced in area, I knelt down and examined the plants. While some of them were looking particularly ragged, some looked like they were holding up better than the rest. Humming quietly, I put my hand to the ground and focused on the feedback I was getting from earth manipulation. Low on water. Poor nutrients. Deficient in everything else. Can't do anything about the microbial content, worms, and so on. Maybe the rest though…
Taking out the phone again, I waved it at the garden. "So, what are these?"
Sprite's answer was detailed, pulled straight from Roxy's book on the Demon Continent and its language, people, monsters, and plants. Thanks, Roxy.
Reaching out, I touched one and cast my diagnostic spell. Results came back filtered through Sprite as about what I expected: malnourished and barely holding on, even if these plants had been selectively bred to better handle the harsh environment. Picking off a few leaves and seeds from each of the different plants, I made my way out of the garden, to a bit of empty ground inside the fence.
Sitting down, I set the phone in my lap and the samples to the side as I focused on the earth ahead of me. I cast, turning over the soil and restoring a patch of ground a few square feet wide to something approaching healthy dirt and topsoil—all it was lacking was water and the biological components that made topsoil a small ecosystem. A quick water spell fixed at least that part of the problem and I had a serviceable section of soil. Taking one of the leaves, I planted it an inch into the ground and began playing around with healing magic. The Diagnostic spell to see what I was doing. Healing and Flesh Crafting to grow a new plant, using nutrients from the soil and water to speed its growth.
Plants were so much easier than animals, as it turned out. Much less likely to get cancer and the cellular structure was just simpler to manage. I could do things with plants that I wouldn't dare try on animals yet, outside of lab mice. Not until I either figured out my own method of doing it, or cracked whatever the hell broken method Sylphie used to combine my scientific approach with the 'just go more like hnng' school of casting.
Humming quietly, I considered what I was looking at. I could give them a larger garden, but the water issue is a permanent problem. I could modify the plants to survive better, grow faster, or produce more… but that would take lots of time experimenting that I don't have in the here and now. Transplanting and regeneration into new plants is the best I can do. The best possible advantage I could give them would be fixing their soil problem and giving them a better water source than a handful of mages.
That decided, I stood up and brushed my pants off. Moving over to the side of the plateau the village was situated on, I looked down the sloping rise of rocky terrain. Earth manipulation sent a rumble through the ground as I began flattening sections out into recessed terraces, connected by a series of steps, all the way to the bottom. Within each terrace, I turned over several feet deep worth of dirt, enriching it as best I could with what little I had to work with. Next, I made my way into the center of the village.
I ignored the crowd I had gathered as I found a nice open spot. Reaching down with water manipulation, I searched for water… and found it. It was deep, but it was there, and clean. Ground parted, shifting into a stone circle four feet wide that would be a well to store water. Fifty feet down, I bottomed out the well. Then, I created a pipe of stone, roughly six inches wide, down the side of the well and deeper into the ground, until it hit the water table, then a good fifty feet below the start of it just in case. I used water magic to begin drawing clean water up to fill the well from the pipe.
Next, I added a second pipe underground, connected to the well and running off towards my terraces with a simple stone lever to open or close it. Running the pipe underground, I brought it out above the terraces. Carefully elevated sections would slowly drain excess water towards the lower levels, which would then empty out below the village. Careful use of small stone structures would prevent topsoil runoff while allowing excess water to drain. The main pipe coming out of the mountain was elevated above each terrace and branched out into smaller pipes, each with small holes in their bottom, allowing gravity to draw water down and spray the field. The whole system of pipes, I supported with thick stone pillars. A check of the system at full pressure provided a decent, fairly even spray of water over every level of the terrace.
Once I was satisfied, I made my way back up to the well, where I summoned a magic stone from storage. Going to need to hunt for more of these soon.
Planting it somewhere the locals could reach, I enchanted it to pull up water from the ground, cast detoxification on it daily, and keep the water nice and cool. Finally, I capped off the well and added another pipe coming out (with another simple on/off lever), leading above to an open, covered basin big enough to hold a few gallons of water. I even made a few stone buckets (filled with hollow vacuum spaces to make them lighter) for them to use for drinking water.
Not quite satisfied, I made another pipe leading up to a raised reservoir, which I slapped a heating enchantment on—to be powered by the same magic stone that purified the water. Then, I ran pipes back down to a stone building, where I constructed a single communal bath, with a separate shower area and toilets. Waste water would be directed to a reclamation tank to be dried, purified, and the ammonia broken down so the nitrogen could be used in the dried remains as fertilizer.
I'd have to explain everything to them before I left, but it was all pretty simple to operate and shouldn't need to be maintained for years.
Essentially, I made in miniature the project Sauros, Phillip, and I had discussed but never started on beyond some research in Roa. Then, I went back to the newly created fields after collecting my samples and set about making more crops.
"Sprite, any matches for refugees that the drone's picked up?" I asked, taking out the phone so it could project the display while I worked. What I saw was both good and bad. There were several that she had found last night, but for every one near a village or city, another had been stranded in the middle of nowhere and confirmed killed, unless they were very lucky to be near an adventurer party at the time or Sprite got to them first and killed every threat in the vicinity. "Alright, plot me out a route for the least amount of travel time from here to Rikarisu, then out to Wind Port, stopping at every major village between here and there."
Can't just run out and get them all myself, though. That's definitely a job for the Guild. Once they're secured by adventurers, send them back to Fittoa by way of Wind Port. My options here are overland or building airships now.
If we go overland, have to provide some money for travel expenses, paying for adventurers to escort them the whole way too—better to send them in groups, then. And if they're making a long overland trek, this place is the very definition of a hostile environment. They're going to need shelter and water, at a minimum, along the way. Somewhere they can stop, give their guards a chance to get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.
What about rest stops? I could easily erect permanent structures that could hold up to pretty much anything this place can throw at it. I just proved that making wells is easy peasy with magic, so water's taken care of. I'll run out of magic stones long before I finish though, so I'd have to start hunting monsters and collecting them. While I'm at it, may as well see about planting a few vegetables or something for whoever gets there.
That is a lot of work. Versus just making an airship and flying to each village, picking them up, and going from there.
The problem with the airship approach is resources. Lack thereof. I don't have enough material processed in the bunker to do it. Trying to buy it would break the bank. That's just raw metals though. I don't have the monster cores necessary to power them. So I'd need to collect cores and metal if I wanted to build them.
…Could have Sprite do it? Make kill drones, have her hunt down and harvest bigger monsters for their parts. Excavation drones to find and process resources. But we're getting back into the power source bottleneck, meaning more kill drones. Ugh.
May actually be better to go the land route and build up my drone supply over time as I collect the resources for it, then build airships in Wind Port.
Thinking of the -bunker- storage vault reminded me that it was getting kind of full, and I was in a new land full of new critters and such. If I kill things and collect parts for later use, I'm going to want somewhere to put them. Bunker's getting kind of cluttered. Going to need to make a new one.
What better place than here, under a small mountain? What better time than now, when I had some time to do it? So, I dug into the side of the hill (away from the well) and set about constructing a second storage area almost identical to the first and marking it with Summoning/Sending markers so I could designate where I wanted to Send things.
When I finally finished, I made my way back up to the village. I found Ruijerd waiting nearby, sitting at the bottom of the nearest set of stairs. "Sorry, didn't mean to keep you waiting. Where's Eris?"
"She decided to take a nap shortly after you left." He stood and followed me as I made my way up.
I nodded. "Not surprised. The time difference is pretty big, so she's probably going to feel off for a few days."
"And yourself?"
Shrugging, I said, "I'll sleep tonight. It'll be easier to force a hard reset than trying to adapt over time. Come on, let's go wake her up. Roxy and Sylphie should be up by now. Or if not, close enough."
We reconvened in the elder's hut, rousing Eris from her nap and sitting down. "I heard you did us a great service, young Rudeus."
"Don't worry about it. I needed something to occupy my hands for a while so I could think, and it's something I wanted to try prototyping anyway, for later in our travels," I waved him off.
"At least let us pay for for the magic stone."
Sighing quietly, I shook my head. "Roxy is going to be my wife. That makes you family by extension. And you're in kind of a poor situation out here, so I'm not going to take what little you have for something that cost me nothing but time when you can't afford it."
With that decided, I took out my phone and set it on the floor in front of me. Eris scooted closer to my side to watch. Then, I had Sprite put in the call. Sylphie didn't answer, but Roxy picked up right away. "Rudy," she greeted, before her eyes trailed over her feed, moving over Eris before pausing. She went very still, her already pale face going even more so. "Rudy, behind you," she whispered.
"Hm?" I asked, looking behind me, to find Ruijerd sitting and watching. Turning back, I asked, "Him?"
Roxy nodded. "Superd."
"It's fine." Roxy's expression shifted from fear (likely for my and Eris' lives) to what I had come to know as her 'what the fuck, Rudy' face. She never actually said the words, but the emotion was clearly there from time to time. "This is Ruijerd—"
"Dead End," Roxy whispered again.
Ruijerd shifted uncomfortably where he sat. I sighed. "Roxy, play nice. He's going to be escorting us across the continent."
The bluenette considered me for a few moments. "You trust him?"
I made a so-so gesture with my hand. "He hasn't given me a reason not to and he seems like a decent guy. I'll give him a chance until he gives me a reason not to. Doubt he will, though. He may look tough, but Ruijerd there has a soft spot for kids."
"I see," the woman murmured, nodding to herself. Blue eyes flicked to Ruijerd before disregarding him entirely. "Has there been an update?"
"Sprite?" I asked, and the spirit projected a second hologram on both sides. The view was of a vast expanse of flat land, most of which was covered in grass, but some places were barren stretches of dirt—as I'd seen earlier.
"What's that?" Eris asked, pointing to one patch of dirt in particular.
Sprite answered before I could, overlaying the hologram with the map of the Fittoa region, stretching and adjusting it as needed to make roads and terrain features match up. The patch of dirt Eris had pointed out was covered by a drawing of a city. The label read: The Citadel of Roa. Then, just to illustrate the point, a transparent hologram of images taken of the city from previous drone flights overlaid the map—buildings lining up perfectly to square patches of dirt in the ground.
Eris' hand found mine and I felt the girl tremble, but her face remained a stern mask. "Okay. So Roa is gone. What about the rest of Fittoa?"
The feed panned out, showing more and more flat emptiness, little patches of dirt labeled as a village here and there. Buena Village was among them. Roxy's hand covered her mouth, her eyes moist at the corners. "No."
"Yeah," I sighed. "It stood to reason that everything at least out that far was affected. I've got some good news though. Sprite, bring up the survivors you found." The display of Roa was replaced by individual pictures of humans or small groups of humans, taken from altitude. "These were taken last night. We know people survived. We're going to try to get them home."
Roxy rubbed at her eyes, looking away from the feed. "I have a few contacts on the Demon Continent who may be willing to offer you assistance if you can track them down, but it's been years since we last spoke."
"Better than nothing," I shrugged. "As for money, is there an exchange rate between the currency here and Asuran gold?"
Roxy nodded. "There is. You can exchange it through the Guild."
"That takes care of money, then. Saves us from having to rely on shit jobs to make coin."
"You should use what funds you have on yourselves sparingly. They must last the entire journey. There are fees you have to pay in order to board ships and they will undoubtedly be expensive."
Sending my blue-haired former master a mischievous smile, I nodded along. "Yeah, probably wouldn't want to spend all of my ridiculous stacks of coin sitting in my underground storage."
Roxy nodded. "I will return to Shirone and visit the Adventurers' Guild there today to put in the search and rescue mission there, then secure Lilia and Aisha. After that… do you want me to search for your family? And where should I take them?"
"Paul can take care of himself. It's Zenith and Norn I'm worried about, since they're the only ones unaccounted for. But to be honest, there's not going to be much you can do on foot that can't be done faster by air. I'd say get down here as quick as you can and we can go from there. As for Lilia and Aisha… would you mind bringing them with you? I'd rather have them where I know they're safe as opposed to in some random city with no real means of providing for themselves. At least with you, they'll be mostly safe."
Shaking her head, the Migurd woman smiled. "I don't mind at all. Since we have confirmation of the fate of the Fittoa region, I think I'll head southeast and travel to Millis."
"Then I'll set up shop in Wind Port and we can meet up and take the rest of the journey together."
"Very we—"
"If you're going to be coming to the Demon Continent, why can't you visit your home?" an irritating voice interrupted, and I was abruptly reminded that we had no privacy—and in fact had an audience, in the form of Rokkus, Rowin, and Rokari.
Roxy frowned. "Father?"
"Yes! We're both here," Rokari called.
Roxy sighed quietly, her head drooping a bit. Rowin continued, "Well? When are you coming to visit? We haven't seen you in twenty years!"
"You can rotate the display on your end, Roxy. It picks up in a half-sphere, so…"
The bluenette nodded and reached out to touch her side of the hologram, turning it around until it stopped. "Hello mother, father."
Standing, I made my way over and handed Rokari the phone. "Here. Take a while and talk things out. I've got some things I need to see to in the meantime. Try not to keep her long, that was kind of important."
Rokari's eyes went wide as she realized the implication, before she turned and swatted her husband's shoulder. "Apologize for being rude!"
"What? No, I—" Rokari swatted him again. "I'm sorry. It's just…"
"Yeah, I get it. It's why I'm not mad. Just make it quick, because we've got more to discuss and I'd like to talk to Sylphie too. I can always just leave you a phone and you can talk with her later. This situation is time sensitive."
I left the elder's hut again as the Migurd began speaking with their wayward daughter for the first time in two decades. Eris and Ruijerd followed. "Is that to be our course of action, then?" the Superd asked.
"Hm?" I questioned, finding an empty spot to sit out by my new terraces. "Yeah, I think it'll work best."
"What about taking adventurer jobs?" Eris had that sulky look on her face that she got occasionally when I was denying her something she really wanted. Usually a new spell, when she hadn't mastered an old one yet.
I also knew that Eris loved Ghislaine's adventuring stories and one of the reasons she did so well in my lessons these days was that I catered them to her interest in adventuring. Moving from lessons to actual guild jobs in Roa had improved her mood and willingness to put forth effort to learn significantly. I didn't want to just take that away from her, but in the same breath, I saw it as a time waster here. Well, I suppose it wouldn't take too much time out of what we're doing, given that we have the bikes. As long as Sprite organizes everything properly and we don't stay too long in one place, we could pick up a few jobs, spend a few days in each town with a Guild office, spread the word that we're looking for survivors, and then move on.
Sending her a grin, I asked, "Did I ever say that wasn't part of the plan?"
"I thought, since we had money we could exchange, you wouldn't want to do it because you didn't need to…"
I rolled my eyes. "There are benefits to being an adventurer and you have to keep that stuff up to date, otherwise they revoke your membership. Namely, access to the Guild's resources. Besides, I want to collect some materials off of the local monsters, and what better way to do that than to get paid while doing it? I'm not saying we'll be spending a huge amount of time on it though. No more than a week in any large town with a Guild office, just to look for survivors while we're doing jobs."
Eris' eyes lit up at that. "You really mean it? No changing your mind after!"
"When have I ever changed my mind, once I've made it up?" I asked, earning a nod from the girl. "Now, I've got an airship to prototype. Hey Ruijerd?"
"Yes?" the man asked from where he was watching passively, seemingly content to follow along.
"Would you mind sparring with Eris? Don't want her to get rusty."
The man considered Eris for a moment. "Very well."
Eris smirked. "I can use magic, right?"
Ruijerd raised an eyebrow before nodding. "Let us spar. First without magic, then with. I will evaluate where you stand." Turning to look at me, he added, "We will be below the village."
I nodded, waving him off. "Yeah, go ahead. I'm not going anywhere."
Ruijerd and Eris left, and I sat down to work. Pulling metal out of the ground, I constructed a basic skeleton for a ship, then coated it with a thin layer of iron. "Okay, let's see if we can make you fly…"
As I worked, I extended my fledgling mana sense and listened to the telepathic chatter, with the hope that I could crack it before I left.
"Hey Sprite, going to need your help on this one. Think you can help me crack this telepathy problem?"
I was a bit surprised when the spirit materialized a full-sized avatar at my side. Normally, she stuck to chibi-sized avatars to fit inside a holo-call. The one time I'd seen it was when I asked her to help Phillip. Of course, that time she had been nude, before I'd asked her to put on some clothes.
I shouldn't have really been all that surprised that, like with the rest of her avatar, she seemed to mix and match elements from the women in my life. She wound up with short boots, mid-thigh stockings, a skirt that stopped just a couple of inches above the stockings (making for some delicious Absolute Territory), and a hoodie. The colors were all in a shade of off-white, trimmed in gold.
Sitting down beside me, the… woman, if I'm being fair, sent me a smile as she settled in to watch me work. "Of course, master." Smiling conspiratorially, she asked, "Do you think mistress Roxy will enjoy it?"
My lips quirked into a small smirk. "Probably. Pretty sure Sylphie would too. Eris is a maybe." Sending her a look from the side of my eye, I asked, "What about you?"
"We already share bonds, master. Would you tie me to yourself a third time? Your soul, your mana, and now your mind?"
I sent the spirit an amused look. "Maybe you're right. You're so nosy, I mean curious," the spirit pouted, "I doubt I'd be able to keep you from ferreting out everything I know the minute you have any kind of access. That is, if it even works like that. What I'm feeling seems more like… data packets than some sort of mind meld. Transmission of thoughts and maybe feelings without any read or write access from the other party to anything else. Otherwise, there'd be a lot more traffic."
"It could be," she nodded. "Why not both?" Raising an eyebrow, I hummed in question and she elaborated. "A 'data transmission' version of the spell similar to what the Migurd use and a 'mind meld' spell for more… intimate exchanges."
Considering the woman for a moment, I smiled. "Liked that idea, huh?" When she simply smiled, I gave a shrug. "Sure, why not? Could be fun. As long as we're safe about it, anyway. Don't want to accidentally break something or hurt someone. End up with some weird mixture of two people in two bodies, instead of the right person in each. Or some kind of body swap…"
"Your mind goes to the strangest potential failures, master," Sprite mused quietly. "Why can everything not simply turn out for the best?"
"Because that's not how the world works," I answered with a chuckle. "It's called Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Usually in the most spectacular fashion."
Looking confused, the spirit asked, "Would that not fall into the realm of superstition? Or self-fulfilling prophecy? For instance, if you believe you can't cast silently—"
I groaned. "Then you won't be able to."
I can't believe I need my own lesson to Roxy turned around on me. Again. Maybe… I should reevaluate a few things for assumptions. And maybe I should have someone around to check my work on things, to make sure I'm not missing something—baking in potential failures because I made an assumption that seemed obvious to me. Well, that kind of is what I summoned her for—to help out.
Turning my attention to the small ship forming between my hands, I shook my head. "Thanks for the reminder, Sprite.
She said nothing, but she didn't really need to.