Chapter 571 – A Means of Travel to the Village
The day after their brief clash with Negame, who was commanding the ancient-ruins expedition—
Tauro’s party finally parted ways with the expedition because the road to the village that had issued their quest branched off in a different direction. At the fork, they waved goodbye to the soldiers and adventurers they had grown close to.
The expedition members were genuinely reluctant to see them go.
From now on, camping would mean using the bushes as toilets again, eating only the standard-issue preserved rations, and sleeping while taking turns on watch. In other words, back to the usual harsh routine.
It was natural for them to lament; parting with Tauro and the others would result in the loss of a comfortable journey.
“Once you finish your quest, can’t you come join us?”
“It’s too painful not being able to eat your food anymore…”
“Going in the bushes means sometimes stepping on someone else’s mess. Your portable toilets were a blessing…”
They grumbled wistfully as they parted ways with Tauro and the others.
Their reluctance was only stronger because Tauro’s group had sold them an inexpensive breakfast that morning and even sandwiches for lunch, making the farewell that much harder.
Negame watched the scene with a bitter expression, but consoled himself that it would all end today and chose to endure it in silence.
“Well then, shall we head to the village of our client, Bikuta?”
At Tauro’s call, everyone gathered in a circle and held hands.
“—Then, [Teleportation]!”
With those words, they teleported toward what appeared to be a village visible at the foot of the Antas Mountain Range.
The [Teleportation] ability allowed movement either to places the user had previously visited or to destinations within visible range.
Tauro activated the ability with only the vague target of “a village at the foot of the Antas Mountain Range” in mind.
As a result—
The instant after the teleport, Tauro and the others appeared in midair.
“Kyaa!”
“W-we’re falling!”
The sudden loss of ground beneath their feet and the weightless sensation of falling sent everyone into a panic, though none of them let go of the hands they were holding.
“—[Teleportation] again!”
Only Tauro remained calm. Mid-fall, he activated the ability again.
They vanished while dropping—only to reappear mid-air again at the next location.
More screams followed.
After the third jump, they finally materialized properly on solid ground.
Tauro landed gracefully. The others? Not so much—face-first, on their backsides, sprawled in various undignified poses.
“…Tauro! You didn’t say we’d be teleporting into the sky!” Aeris snapped.
“Yeah! I thought I was gonna die!” Ankh added.
“I—I wasn’t scared or anything,” Ragune insisted for some reason.
“I thought I was going to wet myself…” Zion muttered.
“Sorry, sorry. When using [Teleportation] to travel through unfamiliar territory, starting high in the air lets me see farther and cover more distance with the next jump.”
As he explained, Tauro took a mana recovery potion from [Magic Storage] and drank it down.
“…Even so, please tell us next time!” Aeris scolded—rarely this visibly angry.
“I’m really sorry.”
From her reaction, Tauro realized she likely disliked heights and apologized again.
“I think we covered quite a bit of distance… Want to do it again?”
He suggested it anyway.
“…We’re already ahead of schedule. Let’s just walk,” Ankh replied, clearly unwilling to relive that falling sensation.
“Alright, I’ll quickly confirm the village’s location.”
When Tauro said that, he disappeared from the spot again using [Teleportation].
“Where’d the leader go?” Ankh held up his hand to shade his eyes and looked around.
Aeris activated her detection ability, which allowed her to locate her friends over long distances.
Her gaze shifted upward.
“Up?”
Following her line of sight, they looked to the sky.
A small black dot was falling toward them.
“…Is that the leader?” Ankh muttered in disbelief.
The dot grew larger, gradually taking human form. Once it became recognizable as Tauro—
“…Is he planning to just fall like that?” Ragune said ominously.
“H-he’s falling!?” Zion panicked, unsure whether to try catching him.
“Everyone, move! You’ll get caught in the impact!” Aeris ordered calmly.
They quickly scattered from what looked like the drop point.
Tauro came plummeting down—
But he possessed the ability [Levitation].
In other words, death by falling was simply not in Tauro’s fate.
He descended at terrifying speed, only to stop cleanly at the last instant, as though cushioned by an invisible force, landing lightly before them.
“Whew… Combining it with [Levitation] conserves mana nicely. Though falling is still scary…”
He explained the tactical merit of his stunt under the group’s cold stares.
“—Anyway, I was able to confirm the location of the village. On foot, probably about two hours. So, how should we travel?”
He spoke quickly before they could scold him further.
“…We’re walking from here on, right?” Aeris said flatly, too tired to be angry again.
“…Y-yes. Of course.”
Careful not to provoke her further, Tauro nodded and quietly took three puppets out of [Magic Storage]: the child-type autonomous-thinking puppet Seth and the adult male and female puppets Adam and Eve.
“Seth, could you take Adam and Eve ahead to the village? I’ll share your vision as we move.”
Seth nodded, waved to Tauro and the others, and dashed off toward the village with Adam and Eve.
“—Let’s go too.”
Tauro turned to the others with a serious expression.
“No matter how serious you look, that reckless stunt isn’t going away, leader,” Ankh shot back sharply. The others silently nodded in agreement.
“Ahaha… I’m sorry.”
Tauro apologized again and urged everyone forward toward the village.