BXBX NOVEL Chapter 172: Takatsuki Makoto speaks to his comrades
Chapter 172: Takatsuki Makoto speaks to his comrades
“To the reunion of the former class-1A.”
“““Cheers!”””
Fuji-yan, Sa-san, Kawakita-san, and I were at a bar in the capital of Gamuran.
Kawakita-san has been freed from slavery, so Sa-san proposed to celebrate as former classmates.
Of course, Fuji-yan had no objections.
“Thanks, everyone. In the end, I got saved.” (Keiko)
Kawakita-san laughed as if embarrassed.
“I am so glad, Keiko-chan!” (Aya)
Sa-san hugged Kawakita-san.
They had a girls talk for a while, but Kawakita-san looked over here as if noticing something.
“I heard that you negotiated with an important person of this country, right, Takatsuki? Thanks.” (Keiko)
“By the time I spoke to the General about it, you were freed a long time ago. It was the achievement of Fuji-yan and Sa-san.” (Makoto)
I chuckled and scratched my cheek.
“I have known Michio since a long time ago, and Aya is a friend of mine, so I understand them helping me out. But I never spoke to you at all in class. You are a good guy, Takatsuki.” (Keiko)
Saying this, Kawakita-san showed me a smile which was cute.
When in the classroom, she was gal-like, her tone was rough, and she was a bit scary, but after talking to her for a bit, she is an unexpectedly good girl.
“But you really saved me there-desu zo. Thanks to Sasaki-dono breaking the holy sword Balmung, I managed to get the Fire Country to owe me.” (Fuji)
“Repairing the holy sword must have been more difficult though.” (Makoto)
“Hahaha! I coincidentally had a friend of a friend that was close to a Saint Rank blacksmith. I was just lucky-desu zo.” (Fuji)
Fuji-yan laughed out loud.
But I know.
When Fuji-yan makes a difficult request, he would say ‘about that, it was from a friend of a friend…’ and would wrap most of it like that.
He has way too many connections!
After that, we talked about the hardships we had since the time we came to this world, and got heated up talking about our original world.
Kawakita-san and Sa-san were having a lively talk about their displeasure in the lack of sweet stuff in this world.
Now that I think about it, the ice cream I got from Noah-sama was a tasty sweet which I haven’t had in a while.
By the way, there’s a lot of spicy food in the cuisine of the Fire Country.
The famous food of the bar has skewers that are plenty spicy, and soup that has chilli peppers.
I like it quite a lot.
After having a tasty meal and drinking a good deal, at the time when everyone was decently drunk already…
“Hey, Michio, you have a girlfriend?” (Keiko)
I heard that conversation.
Kawakita-san must be drunk now, she was leaning on Fuji-yan.
No, rather than drunk, it is more like a flirting glance.
(Oh?) (Makoto)
Sa-san and I look at each other.
By the way, I checked around to see if Nina-san was here. (She wasn’t)
“…Uhm, how to say this…” (Fuji)
He doesn’t have a girlfriend.
He has two wives.
It was unusual for Fuji-yan to have difficulty speaking when he normally speaks cheerfully about anything.
Kawakita-san doesn’t seem to notice that state of his, and was looking at Fuji-yan with a heated gaze.
“You see…I was acting tough, but I was scared of being bought by a noble… I am truly thankful, also you are now a noble of an area, right…? I have no place to go to now, so…” (Keiko)
“O-Of course, you can stay as long as you want, Keiko-dono. I will welcome you as a guest!” (Fuji)
“Geez, that’s not what I mean… Also, call me Kei just like in the past.” (Keiko)
(Aah.) (Makoto)
This is not good.
Fuji-yan (married) is being seduced.
The eyes of Fuji-yan are swimming.
I have to save this friend of mine!
Is what I was thinking, but…
“Keiko-chan, Keiko-chan.” (Aya)
Sa-san moved first.
She whispered in the ear of Kawakita-san.
I activate Eavesdrop.
I don’t really have to listen to it to know though.
“Fujiwara-kun already has two wives.” (Aya)
“……Eh?” (Keiko)
Ah, Kawakita-san has frozen.
Of course that would happen.
Fuji-yan hasn’t told her.
I glanced at the face of my friend, and…he looked like he was feeling awkward.
Of course he would, huh.
“I-I see…! I-Is that so! What, so that’s how it was!” (Keiko)
The face of Kawakita-san was bright red.
She was lightly teary eyed.
I feel bad for her.
“Takatsuki, what’s with those eyes?!” (Keiko)
“Nothing-ssu.” (Makoto)
She got angry.
Scary.
The old Kawakita-san.
“Aya, we are drinking today! Keep me company!” (Keiko)
“Eh? O-Okay! I will!” (Aya)
Kawakita-san is chugging down ale as if trying to divert her embarrassment.
Sa-san is matching that and chugging down grape wine.
Sa-san, wine and ale have completely different percentages of alcohol, you know?
I put a hand on Fuji-yan’s shoulder, and sip on a glass myself at the corner.
The drinking party continued till morning.
◇◇
…My head hurts.
We drank too much yesterday.
But having a talk with a former classmate after a long time was fun.
In the end, after that, Kawakita-san shouted at Fuji-yan: “What kind of people are those two wives of yours?! Let me meet them!”
She is strong.
This is the first time I spoke with Kawakita-san so much, but I learned a lot of things and it was fun.
You really can’t tell unless you talk with them.
Now that I think about it, are my other classmates doing well?
It has been a while since I have seen Sakurai-kun.
Maybe we should hang out at least once. I looked outside the window while thinking that.
Raindrops were hitting the window.
It doesn’t rain much in Great Keith, but it looks like the weather here has gone slightly crazy due to my Spirit Magic the other day.
It rains pretty often lately.
Since the weather is like this, maybe I should go out.
I looked outside the window of the inn, and I saw the back figure of a red clothed mage.
I went outside through the window.
“Lucy, what are you doing at a place like this?” (Makoto)
Lucy was holding her staff up while her body was being wet by the rain.
“Training magic. Mama told me to do it everyday.” (Lucy)
“Can’t you do it in the house?” (Makoto)
“If I mess up, I would blow up the surroundings.” (Lucy)
“…I see.” (Makoto)
That’s not good.
“It is better to do it outside.” (Makoto)
The inn we are staying at is connected to the Rozes royalty.
The payment for reparations if we were to destroy it would be scary.
“But wouldn’t it be fine to do so after the rain stops? Should I clear it up for you?” (Makoto)
I raised my right arm onto the sky.
Seeing this, Lucy made a dubious expression.
“Changing the weather is impossible unless you are the Great Sage-sama, right?” (Lucy)
“Really? I feel like I could do it though.” (Makoto)
Noah-sama showed me once.
If it is with the mana in my Spirit Arm, I feel like it might be possible.
“Uuh…it is scary because it feels possible with Makoto… There’s also Aya becoming a Hero. I am the only one being left behind.” (Lucy)
Lucy hung her head down dispirited. She was fidgeting with the tip of her toes.
“Lucy?” (Makoto)
She doesn’t seem to be feeling well?
“Hey, am I being of use?” (Lucy)
Lucy asks me insecurely.
Oi oi, what a stupid thing to ask.
“If you weren’t by my side, Lucy, I wouldn’t be standing here.” (Makoto)
“R-Really…?” (Lucy)
At Spring Log, the reason why a lot of things went well was thanks to Lucy.
I managed to get acquainted with Rosalie-san and the Wood Hero Maximilian-san.
Lucy is the great-grandchild of the legendary magic archer Johnny who was an ally of the Savior Abel.
She is also the daughter of the current legend, the Crimson Witch, Rosalie-san.
She was the school junior of the Wood Hero Maximilian.
The sister-in-law of the Wood Oracle.
She is also the disciple of the Great Sage-sama at the Sun Country.
(When I think about it, she is from quite the elite household.) (Makoto)
Honestly speaking, it was weird that she was having a hard time finding comrades in Makkaren.
But Lucy evaluates herself lowly, and she doesn’t use her family as an appeal point of hers.
Lucy is clumsy, but there were several situations where it would have been dangerous without her firepower.
If my comrade is feeling down, I have to praise them and bring them back up.
“If it is you, I am sure you will eventually be as strong as Rosalie-san. And so, what training were you doing?” (Makoto)
“I don’t feel like I can catch up to Mama… I am training in Teleport, but it is not going well at all…” (Lucy)
Ooh, that’s nice!
Having a party member who can use Teleport would be the best.
“Your current success rate is around 10%, right?” (Makoto)
“Yeah… it won’t be usable unless I raise the success rate a bit more.” (Lucy)
Lucy groans dejected.
It is a spell of high difficulty to begin with.
I think it is natural that you can’t use it so quickly though.
It might be better to have her have a change of pace.
“Then, let’s try it together with me. I want to see Lucy’s Teleport after all.” (Makoto)
I held the hand of Lucy.
“The two of us? It doesn’t go well even when I am alone though…” (Lucy)
She says that, but she holds my hand too.
“When stuck, it is better to test out a variety of things and change the pace a bit, right?” (Makoto)
“Hmm, is that how it works?” (Lucy)
Lucy is tilting her head, but it seems like she is willing to do it.
“Then, here we go.” (Lucy)
Lucy holds her staff with her right hand, and with her left she is holding my hand.
She is doing the chant for the Superior Rank Gold Spell, Teleport – Short Distance.
At the same time, I feel a fearsome surge of mana.
Teleport is a famous spell, and there’s a lot of mages who try to learn it.
But there’s practically no users of it.
One of the reasons why is how bad the cost of it is.
It consumes a stupid amount of mana.
That’s why it apparently suits the elf race that is born with explosive amounts of mana.
Lucy finished chanting.
There were several gigantic magic circles floating around us.
(The mana of Lucy is bottomless…) (Makoto)
I have been adventuring with her for a long time, and I haven’t seen her run out of mana once.
The only times she can’t use magic anymore are when her ability to concentrate runs out.
“Here I go, Makoto.” (Lucy)
“Yeah, I am sure it will go well.” (Makoto)
“[Teleport]!” (Lucy)
We were covered in light.
The next instant, the scenery in front of us changed completely.
On top of that, a strong wind hit my face.
“Lucy! It went well—eh?” (Makoto)
“M-Makoto! Aren’t we falling?!” (Lucy)
We teleported to midair.
Moreover, it isn’t just a slight altitude.
We are at around 1,000 meters up (probably).
We were above the clouds.
The ground was visibly getting closer.
“Kyaaaa! What do we do? What do we do, Makoto?!” (Lucy)
The screams of Lucy were mixing with the sound of the wind.
“You can’t use Flying Magic?” (Makoto)
It is a popular Mid Rank Spell.
Most people can use it.
That’s impossible for me as an apprentice mage though.
“I-I am practicing it, but I can’t fly properly yet!” (Lucy)
“I see.” (Makoto)
“M-Makoto! We are falling! We are falling!” (Lucy)
Lucy’s voice turned teary.
Not good. I was way too calm with Clear Mind.
“Hey, Spirit-sans.” (Makoto)
I push my right arm to the front, and cast [Water Magic: Phoenix].
In the blink of an eye, a giant Water Phoenix showed up.
I pulled the hand of Lucy and dived on top of that giant bird’s back.
I disperse the impact of the fall with water magic somehow.
“Eh? Eh?! Eeeeeeeeh?!” (Lucy)
“Sorry, Lucy. I should have used magic immediately.” (Makoto)
“Makoto, this is a Monarch Rank Spell, isn’t it? Why can you use it so easily?!” (Lucy)
“Thanks to this.” (Makoto)
I showed her my Spirit Arm.
I can pull out the mana of Spirits immediately through my right arm.
What a convenient world it has become -not really.
Lucy and I rode the Water Phoenix, and flew comfortably through the skies of Gamuran.
I search for the inn from the sky.
We flew around for a while.
But the balance on the Water Phoenix suddenly crumbled.
“Woah.” (Makoto)
“Kyah!” (Lucy)
The altitude lowered, and we were on the verge of falling.
“C-Come back!” (Makoto)
I control that and avoid falling off.
That was dangerous.
I can’t use it properly yet.
“Sorry about that, Lucy. Are you okay?” (Makoto)
“Yeah, I am. That’s rare. To think you could mess up in your control of water magic, Makoto.” (Lucy)
“It is difficult to use this Spirit Arm, you see.” (Makoto)
I showed her my right arm shining blue.
Seeing this, Lucy frowned.
“Makoto, doesn’t it hurt?” (Lucy)
“It doesn’t -or more like, I can’t feel anything from it.” (Makoto)
“Eh…? That’s worrying in itself though.” (Lucy)
“Thanks to that, I sometimes mess up the minute controls… Well, I prefer how things are right now though. I can do things like this after all.” (Makoto)
I look up.
There’s gray clouds stretching far in the sky, and rain is falling.
I stretched my right arm up at the sky.
“Spirit-sans, clear up the clouds.” (Makoto)
The clouds began to swirl, spread upwards, and just like that, the sun showed its face from above us.
“…D-Did you do that…Makoto?” (Lucy)
“Yeah. Convenient, right? I can only do this when it is raining and there’s a lot of Water Spirits though.” (Makoto)
“…”
“Lucy?” (Makoto)
She was at a loss for words.
When we arrived at the inn, I told her to train Teleport once again, but she told me no.
Looks like the teleport location is affected by the mana of the people who are being teleported.
There’s the chance that we were pulled to the rain clouds because of my right arm.
So that’s why we were sent all the way up, huh.
Teleport is a complicated spell.
Lucy was working hard in her training, so I thought it would be bad to interfere, and decided to go somewhere else.
“Makoto! I will catch up soon, okay?!” (Lucy)
As I left, she proclaimed this in desperation.
“Don’t push yourself too much.” (Makoto)
“You are doing that all the time though!” (Lucy)
…Really?
I don’t know if I managed to lift her spirit.
◇ ◇
I woke up early in the morning.
Now then, it is time for my morning training, so I unwrap the bandages from my right arm.
I look at my shining arm.
The arm that hasn’t turned back since the time I transformed it into a Spirit.
Even though it is my own arm, I can’t move it freely…and it gives me a weird feeling of it being connected to somewhere faraway.
Mana is pulsating like veins.
Also, slightly above my elbow, there’s a red mark shining faintly.
Its shine resembles that of a light bulb running out of electricity. Most likely because Noah-sama is sealed in the Deep Sea Temple.
However, Eir-sama says that this is Divinity.
…Clear Mind.
Calm down.
I still can’t control my Spirit Arm and the Divinity of Noah-sama.
I still can’t, but…
(Have I gotten stronger recently?) (Makoto)
I managed to control the weather a bit yesterday too.
I felt myself grinning.
When I was thinking what I should do today…
“Hero Makoto, are you up?!”
Someone suddenly entered my room without knocking.
If it were Lucy or Sa-san, I would have complained, but…
“S-Sofia. Good morning.” (Makoto)
It was the princess.
I hurriedly return to a normal expression.
“Oh, you were in the middle of training.” (Sofia)
Princess Sofia saw me and smiled, but soon made a serious expression.
Did something happen?
“The day of the Northern Expedition has been decided.” (Sofia)
Princess Sofia said silently.
“The Northern Expedition… The one about subjugating the Demon Lords at the Demonic Continent, right? When?” (Makoto)
A subject that has been mentioned multiple times before.
“1 month from now. It will begin on the first day of the Lion Month.” (Sofia)
“In 1 month… It is close.” (Makoto)
That’s surprising.
I thought it would be in 3 months at the very least.
It is a large scale plan, so isn’t the announcement a bit too sudden?
Princess Sofia lightly nodded at my words lightly.
“I think so too. Something unexpected must have happened… We were told to have all Heroes and Oracles gather at Symphonia.” (Sofia)
What Princess Sofia informed me about was an urgent assembly from the Sun Country.