Chapter 288

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

Ruins Investigation

Gradually the city of Dream Maker disappeared from view as the boat proceeded onward . The river was calm . There was nothing to worry about . Eventually even the last ship funnel vanished from sight . Only water and trees surrounded them now .

『Finally . We don’t see them anymore . 』Gin said as he took out a bottle . 『Why’d they have to show up so early in the morning anyway? All righty, then . How about some drinks?』

『No . Are you stupid? It’s not even noon yet . 』

Wakamaru gave Gin a karate chop to his head . Hikaru didn’t even need a translation to understand what they were saying .

The boat was big enough for ten people . Its wheelhouse and cabin were at the center, with six spots where people could lie down . In reality however, the boat couldn’t carry ten people, unless they sat all the time . After all, space had to be allocated for ten days’ worth of supplies . With only three people, though, it felt spacious .

The vessel’s hull and deck were painted gray . Their cargo sat on the deck, covered with waterproof paper .

「Looks like you can make simple meals here . 」Wakamaru said . 「We didn’t have such a splendid boat back in my day . 」

「It’s powered by sorcery, right?」Hikaru asked .

「Yes . It uses magic rocks for power . King Doriachi improved it considerably . If it weren’t for his efforts, no amount of magic rocks could move those huge warships . 」

「I guess magic rocks are used primarily for military purposes . 」

「Indeed . The army is our lifeline, you see . But too much power can also cause problems . 」

The old man had a distant look on his face . It sounded like there was something more to his words .

「Those ships can carry thousands, right? That means it’s possible for all the citizens of Dream Maker to evacuate to the ships . 」

「It would be best if it doesn’t come to that, but the fact remains we can’t do anything about the monsters . When you think about monsters stronger than the Yamamaneki roaming the northern part of the continent, running away is a wiser option than fighting to the bitter end . That’ll be our last resort, of course . 」

They really are living life on the edge here, Hikaru thought . Peoples’ lives had greatly improved ever since Eiichi brought with him knowledge from modern Japan . The situation might’ve been considerably worse before he came .

「I’m guessing your lives are better now at least . 」

「Yeah… A lot of things happened . 」

Once again Wakamaru wore a distant look .

『Looks like you’re talking about something depressing . 』Gin said . 『How about a drink, then?』

『You idiot . Focus on your job more, will you?』

「Have you two known each other for a while?」Hikaru asked .

「Yes . Most people here know each other . When you’ve worked in the same org, you usually talk with everyone there . Only Gin was interested in being the helmsman this time, so I decided to join as well . 」

「Oh, only Gin was available, huh? I could’ve gone alone too . 」

They could’ve gotten Hikaru in their debt, but even though they were interested in Paula’s healing magic, they didn’t want to embark on such dangerous mission .

『No way we’re letting you go alone . You saved His Majesty’s life . 』Gin said after Wakamaru translated Hikaru’s words . 『Though there are still some people who think otherwise . 』

While everyone knew that Hikaru’s party healed Doriachi, a few people remained doubtful . Some also understood the benefit of healing magic, but couldn’t trust Hikaru after he sank one of their ships .

『Dolan and Zuzun actually wanted to come, but their wives stopped them . 』

『Nothing we can do about that . Only those who don’t have anyone to stop them can go to the forests . Haha . 』

『Come on, man . You’re making me feel sad…』

Hikaru understood that people thought the tower investigation to be a reckless mission . Dream Maker’s soldiers had higher soul ranks and stats than soldiers from Ponsonia or Quinbland, but the forests were extremely dangerous . Hikaru’s destination, the tower, was located farther out than the maximum distance the expedition squad could go .

Then again, only Hikaru would enter the forest .

「He’s asleep . 」Hikaru said as he looked at the boat’s equipment .

Gin lay out on deck, using his arms as a pillow . The sun sat high in the sky, making for a nice, warm weather . Hey, what about the boat? Drake also lay sprawled next to Gin .

「We’re just moving downstream . 」Wakamaru said . 「It’s better if we leave the boat alone . 」

「I see . 」

「So what are you doing?」

Hikaru was preparing some ingredients in the cooking area . 「It’s almost noon, so I was thinking of making lunch . 」

「Oh, you can cook? Is it something from your continent?」

「Yeah, though I don’t have a lot of seasonings with me . 」

「I’m glad I lived long . I never expected to eat food from the home of the Man Gnomes . 」

I don’t know if they serve this over at the Man Gnome’s native place, but telling him that would be insensitive .

The boat was equipped with a device that could purify water from the river . Hikaru boiled some pasta and made pepperoncino . They loved it .

Soon the boat was getting close to what Deena referred to as the Roots, a place where a lot of monsters gathered . Hikaru’s Mana Detection revealed a few creatures with extremely ridiculous amount of mana . They would be at the same level as the Yamamaneki, yet they weren’t as big . In other words, they were annoying monsters, small yet extremely powerful .

I’d like to not ever face one if possible, Hikaru thought .

The boat made it out of the river and was now sailing by the coast . The next day, Hikaru made stir-fried peppers and meat .

『I see the ruins… Oh, that looks delicious . 』Gin said, twitching his nose .

Hikaru used the ingredients that were about to spoil, which meant not having any fresh meat for a while . From here on, he’d have to rely on preserved food .

「So we’ve arrived at our first destination . 」Hikaru said .

Hikaru told Grucel he wanted to investigate the tower . However, Gin and Wakamaru didn’t really object when he said he wanted to see the ruins first .

The harbor looked serviceable, but the wharf had collapsed . Big rocks lay scattered around . The boat’s bottom might get damaged if they got closer . Instead, they moved the boat to a clearer, sandy beach .

「This is good enough . 」

『Be careful out there . Like seriously . I’ll be screwed if you don’t come back . 』

「Gin is worried about you . Make sure you come back in one piece . 」

「Haha . Gin is not that kinda guy . He probably wants me to return safely so he doesn’t get chewed out . 」

Wakamaru averted his gaze .

Hikaru removed his boots and tied it to his backpack . He then rolled up his trousers, stood at the boat’s edge and leaped, Drake wrapped around his neck .

Water splashed as he landed on knee-deep water . He then quickly moved to shore, sat down on a log and washed his feet before putting his boots back on .

He couldn’t sense any mana in a 500-meter radius, but beyond that monsters lurked here and there . Best to move quick .

Hikaru waved at Gin and Wakamaru before heading into some bushes and activating his Stealth . As he peeked through the bushes, he saw the boat moving to the open sea .

「I wonder what those two are talking about . Whatever . I need to think about getting back quick . 」

His plan was to examine the ruins until dusk, spend the night in the ruins, and return to the boat the next day . Gin and Wakamaru vehemently opposed the idea of staying at the ruins overnight, but Hikaru had absolute confidence that he’d be fine . He just had to leave his Stealth on while sleeping . There was, of course, the possibility of his Stealth not working .

「I just have to pray that that doesn’t happen . 」Hikaru muttered . 「Do you smell anything?」

『I do . 』Drake replied with a sour look, pointing at the direction of the ruins with his chin .

Walking in the forest was easier than walking on the beach . Soon enough Hikaru spotted a monster within his sights . Similar to the Forest Barbarians, also known as the guardians of the forest, its body was a murky red rather than green . What made it worse, however, was that it was bigger and grouped up with ten others as well .

With the huge trees and branches, Hikaru had to pay attention above as well . Extremely long pythons as big as a log coiled around branches, and there were even green leopards roaming about—monsters he hadn’t seen in Dream Maker’s immediate vicinity .

Hikaru’s Stealth was working without a problem . Still, he stayed away from the monsters as much as possible . He left his scent along the path . Leopards above the trees twitched their noses, noticing the smell . He even left footprints . Even without being seen, he could still be tracked .

After walking for about an hour, he reached the outer edges of the ruins . He didn’t notice it at first as trees had grown even inside the city . There was a fallen signboard on the main street that read Lands Harvest .

「Oh, right . That’s this place’s name . 」

Kaglai mentioned that this was the capital of the continent . Hikaru didn’t know how big the population was, but he assumed there were many people here . It was completely empty now, though .

「He said capital… Does that mean there are other cities as well? He didn’t mention anything…」

Hikaru stepped into the ruins of Lands Harvest .