Chapter 227

The next morning.
I found myself recalling last night’s discussion—though calling it a “discussion” might be overstating it—specifically, my conversation with ChimegU.

She had said it so naturally: “I want a workshop near the house.”
It was unmistakably a declaration of intent—that she would continue to stay by our side.

I still don’t know much about her. She may have feelings she hasn’t voiced yet.
But at the very least, she didn’t seem to harbor emotions close to hatred—nothing that would drive her to immediate action.

“Whew… today and tomorrow will be travel days, huh. Then I should be able to manage two more.”

Inside the dark bus, I quietly stepped outside so as not to wake Sheele or Melt.
As always, the coastal road was beautifully illuminated by the morning glow.

Just then, I thought I heard footsteps and turned around—only to see Melt approaching, holding the sleepy Sheele’s hand.

“Morning! You’re up earlier than us, Shizuma?”

“Just a little. Look—the sun’s just coming up.”

“It’s so pretty! You know, sometimes when the sun rises, the sky glows in different colors!”

“Oh? That’s the first time I’ve heard of that.”

As Melt spoke cheerfully, the drowsy Sheele chimed in with a soft, almost slurred tone.

“Mmm… that’s probably… the blue moment or the Venus belt… happens in colder seasons… zzz…”

She must have been really tired. Her head tilted mid-sentence, and she fell asleep just like that.

I took Sheele from Melt and carried her back into the bus.
It was still a bit early—better to let her sleep a little longer.

And then—

“Melt, today I’m going to take on another person’s form again. Can you ask me questions to confirm it’s really me?”

“O-okay! If you’re a fake this time, I’ll definitely see through you…!”

She must still be upset about being tricked by Shizuka before. Melt’s eyes were sharp, her breathing heavy—and somehow, that made her kind of cute.

I moved the cursor to the character I’d left unused as a storage mule: Koyoham.

This character existed solely because it was a production class I hadn’t made yet.
The job was called Novelist—and honestly, there was almost no demand for the items it could produce.

It created consumable items called books, whose effects were “activating the magic contained within the book.”
But choosing a magic-based sub-class solved everything, making the novelist’s role completely redundant.

In solo play, though, it could shine—a heavy melee build that could also cast powerful magic.
Still, high-difficulty solo content itself wasn’t popular.

As a result, despite producing powerful items, there was no demand, and the class skills weren’t very useful in combat.
The Novelist was probably the most unfortunate class of all.

For reference, the sub-class I’d set was Light Warrior.

“Phew… looks like I’m still me this time.”

“Ooh… tiny! Cute! You’re even smaller than Rent-chan!”

Incidentally, this was the smallest of all my characters.
A human girl, with every parameter set to the minimum during character creation.

Since the main visual involved holding a book, I imagined a child reading a picture book—and designed her that way.

“Hehe, you’re so small and squishy-looking—cute! Okay, here’s my question!”

“Alright, bring it on!”

“Umm… where did you and Shizuma first meet?”

“In the woods near the capital of the Kingdom of Golda. I was in Silent’s form then, and right after that, I changed into Same.”

“Correct! Then you’re the real one!”

Indeed, I am.

Alright—time to wake Sheele and get breakfast ready.

I gently shook Sheele, who was sleeping in the very back seat.

“Sheele, time to wake up. After breakfast, we’ll pack up the bus.”

“Mmm…? A child’s voice… hmm… who are you…?”

“Whoa!?”

Suddenly, the half-asleep Sheele hugged me tightly with both arms.
She held me firmly and rubbed her cheek against mine.

Even if this body looks like a little girl, my mind is that of an eighteen-year-old man!
This is embarrassing!

“Wake up!”

“Eek! Ah—huh? A child!? Wait—?”

“It’s me, Sheele. This is Koyoham—the novelist character.”

“I see… actually, while we know who each other is, we don’t really know everyone’s detailed appearance until we meet at the round table. Koyoham-chan… she’s cute.”

“Yeah. I made her with the image of a clueless child. More like a kid reading picture books than a novelist.”

“I see—that’s why she has such a soft, absent-minded expression. Very cute.”

“Hey—don’t poke my cheeks.”

“Me too!”

“Hey!”

Both of them poked my cheeks from either side.
I honestly couldn’t predict what kind of personality this character would end up having—

After breakfast, we resumed traveling. I tried seeing if I could do novelist production inside the carriage… but physically, writing inside a moving vehicle was impossible.

Even with a modern carriage that barely shook, I still got motion sickness.

“Ugh… my head hurts…”

“Here—tail pillow! You can lie down right here.”

“Much obliged.”

“Koyoham is so small—so cute! There, there.”

Melt happily stroked my head as it rested on her tail.
Well, in this form I am a child. In a way, it’s nice to see Melt’s maternal instincts growing.

Still… writing really is impossible unless I’m in a calm place. And books take forever to complete anyway. Even writing during breaks probably wouldn’t finish one.

So, after being carried along for several hours while lying on Melt’s tail, it was time for lunch.

This time, there was a scenic campsite nearby, so we decided to take a break there.

Since this was a road far from the capital and major cities, I’d assumed the campsite would be nearly empty—but surprisingly, there were three other groups of travelers already there.

“Hm. Perhaps there are quite a few people heading to the port town ahead.”

“Oh, right. Ports mean all kinds of trading and supplies.”

“Hey, hey! If it’s a port, they’ll have new shrimp dishes, right? Definitely, right?”

“You said that yesterday too. Alright… someone here might know about the port town. Want to ask around?”

At the moment, our group consisted of two young women and one small girl.
Honestly, it was a lineup that practically screamed ‘attack us’.

But both Melt and Sheele wore brooches shaped like Silver Wings on their chests, and both had adventurer tags hanging from their necks.

Anyone who still tried something would be lacking both observation skills and common sense.

We approached a merchant-looking man whose carriage was parked nearby.

“Excuse me—may we ask you something?”

When I spoke, the man turned around, immediately softened his expression, crouched down, and met my eye level.

Hmm—he seems like a decent guy.

“What’s wrong, young lady? And perhaps your older sisters? Need some help?”

“No, we just wanted to ask a few questions.”

“Sure, ask away.”

I decided to ask him about the port town ahead.

“Oh, so it’s your first time on this continent. That’s pretty rare.”

“Do most people head inland instead?”

“Oh! You even know the word ‘inland’—you’re a smart girl! That’s right. Most large cities are inland, toward the center of the country. Entertainment, economy, people, goods—everything gathers inland. That port town is famous for rare seafood, processed goods, and crafts made from marine materials. I buy them there and transport them inland.”

Ah—that was a mistake.
Right now, I looked like a single-digit-aged child. Talking too fluently might raise suspicion.

“H-hey! Rare seafood—does that include shrimp!?”

“Hm? Aren’t you a beastkin from the neighboring Federation of Forty?”

“That’s right! It’s my first time on this continent too. Do they have shrimp at that port?”

“Oh, absolutely. That port has long been known for seafood processing. Shrimp fish sauce, delicacies, dried goods, even sweets. Apparently, the surrounding waters are full of small shrimp. I’m looking forward to eating shrimp pâté toast again after so long…”

The merchant spoke dreamily, clearly fond of the food he was recalling.

Hmm… shrimp pâté toast.
Basically shrimp bread, right? That does sound good.

“Yay! I’m excited! I’m going to buy tons of shrimp food!”

“Hehe, that’s great, Melt. If it’s a port town… there might also be fortified wines. It might be nice to enjoy a wine that pairs well with shrimp.”

“Oh, the elf lady really knows her stuff. Yes, that port gets plenty of sunlight year-round, so they produce fortified wines.”

“I see—using sunlight for both distillation and aging, I assume.”

I’d been thinking this for a while, but Sheele seems quite knowledgeable about wine.
She’d shown interest in fruit wines back in the village, too.

“Sheele, are you knowledgeable about wine?”

“Fufu, are you asking about what we were just talking about? On Earth, there’s something called Madeira wine, which is fortified using sunlight. I thought this port town might do something similar. Since they’re known for seafood processing, it wouldn’t be surprising if their alcohol production developed alongside it.”

“I-I see…”

“Well, anyway, the port town ahead is a good place. You should look forward to it. But…”

The man who had been telling us all these things summarized by saying the port town was a good place.
But then, as if something was on his mind, his expression darkened slightly, and his voice dropped.

“You see, I’m just an outsider merchant, so maybe I don’t know well… but recently, in the port town and villages ahead, there’s been a bit of… a suspicious new religion starting to spread. It’s not a particularly zealous religion yet, but quite a few locals support it, and honestly, it’s a little unsettling. If you’re just traveling through, it shouldn’t be a problem, but… I wanted to give you a heads-up.”

After saying that, he returned to his work in the carriage.

…A new religion? That does sound… a little shady.
Not all religions are bad, of course—but Stil has confirmed that there are groups working behind the scenes of wars even in this country.

So when a new religion appears at this timing… it’s hard not to suspect some connection.

“Shizuma, we might need to be a little cautious here.”

“Ugh… I was looking forward to trying all the new shrimp dishes…”

“No, it’s not like it’s confirmed to be dangerous, but it’s better to stay cautious.”

A tinge of doubt mixed with anticipation. I couldn’t simply enjoy the idea with peace of mind, but it was still an unknown land.
And if we’re just visiting as travelers, there might not be any harm at all.

“Well… we’ll manage somehow.”

In the end, we decided to spend the night at this campsite, passing the time there.
Even Sheele, unusually, was doing some writing as a scholar, so I followed suit and worked on production as a novelist.

And as Sheele and I wrote, Melt probably wanted to imitate us—she began scribbling various things on her own sheets of paper.

The sight of three girls diligently working on their writing must have seemed unusual, because no one approached us.

Eventually, as darkness fell and writing became difficult, we realized it was already night.

“Wow… time just slipped away.”

“I completely lost track… I was summarizing all the combat events, dungeon gimmicks, and other information since arriving on this continent.”

“I was summarizing the dishes I ate here! Shizuma, what were you writing?”

“I was writing the apocryphal text, The Book of God and Demon Descent Piercing the Sky.”

“????”

“Shizuma… that’s… dangerous.”

Yes, I was basically creating an attack item.
This character had been left idle, but its production skills were maxed out.
So I was crafting the most powerful attack item possible.

“Man… my head hurt so much, I couldn’t get much done. Not something to do by myself.”

“That might be true. It’s already dark, so shall we sleep in the tent with a protective barrier tonight?”

Even at a campsite, we set up a tent and, for caution, had Sheele use her skills to create a barrier to block any outsiders.
By the time preparations were complete, all the other campsite fires and lights had gone out.
Only pitch-black darkness and a sky full of stars stretched across the world.

“Phew… goodnight… wait, why am I being carried?”

“Eh? You’re small and feel so comfy to hold…”

“I’m going to return to being Shizuma now and have a conversation with this child in my mind, so stop that.”

“Too bad.”

Today was the day for a conversation with Koyoham.
Among all my characters, she was the youngest girl.
I wondered what kind of conversation would unfold.