Chapter 13: Our Journey: Travelogue⑥ – The True Pleasure of Travel, and Tuna

After returning to town, we went straight back to Skia Coffin Ele.

I was starving, and Hoss-san made pasta for us.
It was a huge serving, packed with cheese and meat—comforting in the best way.

Mineha-san and Shaldina still hadn’t returned.
Dagaa was asleep on the sofa in the observation room.

After eating, drinking, bathing, and collapsing onto my bed, I fell asleep almost immediately.
I must have been more tired than I thought—I slept deeply.

The next day.

Mineha-san and Shaldina were in the dining room.
They were chatting cheerfully while drinking tea brewed by Anna-san.

Apparently, they had returned late the previous night.
They were eating breakfast made by Hoss-san.

A four-stack pancake tower with honey and raspberry jam.
French toast made with bread beans.
Scrambled eggs.

I ordered something simple with butter, then suddenly made a request.

“Can you make pancakes with potatoes mixed in?”

“That’s unusual, but yeah, I can.”

Hoss-san gladly agreed.

The Witch was in her workshop.
Maybe she didn’t plan on coming out today either.

We talked and decided we’d stay in town for about two more days.
We even got the Witch’s approval through the door.
I was a little worried about what she was up to.

The Explorer Knights were hunting the remaining black dogs in the area.
Local explorers joined in, and they were almost completely wiped out.

No matter how thoroughly the forest was searched, though, we never once found the villains themselves.

Two days later, early in the morning.

Skia Coffin Ele departed from the town.

Despite the early hour, the entire Explorer Knights force came to see us off.

They themselves would leave town in a week to head east and subjugate a massive bandit group causing trouble there.

Apparently, the shadow of another Dragon Fang Row was involved.

“No matter where you go, villains just keep popping up,”

Piany-san said with a wry smile.

She also apologized to me again.

Her initial rude attitude had apparently been caused by rumors about me.

Since I was known as an “Night (Conquest King),”
she had been wary of being “conquered” herself.

Conquered… I wouldn’t do anything like that.

Honestly, I don’t think there’s any man who could conquer Piany-san anyway.

Still, seeing her so guarded was kind of cute—I couldn’t help thinking that.

“Just so you know, keep that a secret.”

“That?”

“…The underwear… thing.”

Piany-san’s cheeks turned slightly red as she looked away.

“Ah, understood.”

“And the number of times with the tentacles… too.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Then Hals-san stepped forward smoothly and handed me a letter.

“This is our request. Could you deliver it to Pakira?”

“Understood.”

I accepted it.

It also came with a formal commission—and 20,000 oro.
Isn’t that a bit much?

“Let’s meet again, Wof.”

“Yes. Let’s.”

I shook hands with Piany-san and promised we’d meet again.

And so, we resumed our journey toward Heisen.

Encounters and partings like this are part of the true pleasure of traveling.

I woke up.

I was standing on water beneath my feet, under a blue sky where white clouds drifted by.

Cold.
This was water.

When I looked up, the same blue sky and white clouds stretched overhead.

A fantastical landscape—blue sky both above and below.

“Ah… I see. The Uyuni Salt Flats. But why the Uyuni Salt Flats?”

Uyuni Salt Flats…
That reminds me—when I drank the Awakening Water.

A mental landscape within my mind.

But I hadn’t drunk anything this time.

『……I am the Silent One』

A man’s voice suddenly echoed.

Who was that?

『……I am the Sacred One』

Another man’s voice came from a different direction.

A second one!?

『……I am the Azure One』

This time, a woman’s voice came from yet another direction.

What is going on?

『『『We are the Azure Saints』』』

“A-Azure Saints…!?”

Azure Saints… huh?
Wait—aren’t we missing one?

“The Silent One is gone?”

What does that mean?

Then—

『……I am the Sacred One』

Yes.

『……I am the Azure One』

Yes.

『『We, the Azure Saints, are here!』』

They redid it and pretended nothing happened… what is this!?

『……You will understand someday……』

『You’ll understand soon……』

I really don’t want to.

『……You’ll understand very soon』

『Soon……』

“That’s why I said I don’t want to!!”

I shouted—and woke up.

“…A dream, huh.”

If anything, it could only be a dream.

“Na?”

Dagaa was sitting right in front of me.

“Good morning.”

“Na!”

“…Right. The inn.”

This wasn’t Skia Coffin Ele.

We were in the port town of Leeds—one of the harbor towns connected to the Great Reeve River.

We were staying at an inn in Leeds.

To put it simply, Skia Coffin Ele couldn’t be loaded onto a ship.

Even a large cargo vessel capable of carrying massive caravan wagons couldn’t handle it.

If we wanted to go to Heizen, we’d have to leave Skia Coffin Ele behind.

That would be a terrible waste—it was more comfortable than most inns or houses.

But the Witch had anticipated this.

She had already begun modifying Skia Coffin Ele so it could be connected to a ship and travel alongside it.

The work would take three days.

That’s why we were stuck here.

Well, three days isn’t that bad.

This port town of Leeds mainly makes its living serving as a bridge to Heizen.
There’s fishing too.

The Reeve River is so wide you can’t see the other side, and the fish catch is decent.

“Still, I was surprised they had tuna.”

On the first day, Hoss-san had found bottled tuna and bought a huge amount.

She said she’d used tuna often when staying in Heisen too.

Though it felt a bit different from the tuna I remembered from my past life.

Maybe it’s a different species of fish.
Wasn’t tuna supposed to be maguro?

There were other kinds too, I think.

Well, whatever.

I lightly patted Dagaa.

I got up, changed, washed my face, and went downstairs for breakfast.

That’s when Bid-san came down carrying a fishing rod.

“Morning.”

“Morning.”

“You’re going fishing?”

My eyes went to her rod.

“Yeah. You remember the Hydrangea Water Dungeon?”

“Ah… yeah. I’ll never forget that.”

I still remember doing an aerial turn on an ancient jet bike and blowing it up in a fiery explosion.

That was… pretty bad of me.

“I’ll never forget it either…”

She muttered quietly, resting her hand on the pommel of the Flashstep Sword at her waist.

Her Flashstep Sword was an out-of-place artifact imbued with the relic [Flashstep].

It was something we’d found in a hidden junkyard inside the Water Dungeon.

The bracelet I’d given her gleamed on her wrist.
A black band with a white gem—perfect for her.

“So, what about the Water Dungeon?”

“There’s a famous fishing spot there. I used to fish there sometimes.”

“I see.”

That makes sense—it is a Water Dungeon.

“Wof-kun, if you’d like… want to go fishing together?”

Fishing, huh.
Honestly, I don’t have many good memories of fishing.

“Sure.”

I had time, and maybe a different spot would finally let me catch something.

And going with Bid-san somehow made me happy.

Bid-san’s face lit up, and she hurried out to borrow another fishing rod.

While she was gone, I finished my breakfast, sipping clam soup.

Black bread beans soaked in it were delicious.

Just as I finished eating, Bid-san returned.

She handed me a fishing rod and gear.

“Thanks.”

Alright—let’s go fishing.