CH 158.1

Chapter 158 Vacation Part 1

Sytry and Lucia did their best, while Liz and Luke who are usually in charge of guarding the surrounding area had nothing to do, so they were just playing around.

Anthem healed their fatigue with recovery magic, while I asked Tino to inflate the souvenir Luke brought, the floating ring.

The ground was dug quite deep and the hot water that had been dug up and blown out by Lucia’s magic started to accumulate and soon pooled up.

Sytry was humming a song in a good mood while the ground was being solidified by her potions. The ground raised up all around Sytry’s land and became a high wall that could even hide Anthem. It’s even taller than the city’s outer walls.

Tino, who had just finished inflating the floating ring, *ozuozu* asked me timidly.

“Master, well…… What kind of magic does Lucia Onee-sama use?” (Tino)

“Eh…… I don’t know……” (Cry)

“!?” (Tino)

It is because I am not an expert in magic. All I know is that Lucia is amazing.

When she works with Sytry, she can do most things. But well, it seems that she is combining magic that already exists…… 

The facility was built in the blink of an eye. Leaving aside the quality, even experts were no match against their speed. Just looking at it was a little funny. Lucia didn’t even cast a spell. At first, she did, but then she stopped chanting in the middle of the work.

The seeds that Sytry planted quickly grew and turned into large trees. And Golems were chopping it down. The wood that had been chopped and smoothed was dried by magic and assembled on a large, flat, and leveled foundation.

A tremendous heat was rising from the Onsen, which was as large as a pond. Clearly, the temperature of the water wasn’t suitable for humans.

As I was *patapata* flapping my clothes to create some air, Luke grandiosely jumped into the Onsen with his kimono on.

Splashes flew around and Tino let out a small scream.

“Hot! Cry, it is hot! Aah, I know. This is also training. Shit, this is bad! This reminds me of the Shrine inside the mouth of a volcano ―― Ah, Lucia. Don’t lower the temperature!” (Luke)

“It is my training.” (Lucia)

“Say what……? Shit, so that’s what it was…… It can’t be helped, this time I’ll exceptionally let you have it. But, next time I won’t!” (Luke)

He is still as energetic as ever.

I lay down on the inflatable floating ring and made a big yawn.

The unique smell of Onsen water was in the air. My role has always been to decide on the direction to take. Somehow, it has been a long time since I had last felt like this. 

And then, I heard a voice calling my name. I got up and looked towards the only doorway where the enclosure was opened.

A group of people in black armor were staring at the Onsen that was under construction. They were the Gladys Knight Order.

I wonder if they have some business with us. It can’t be helped, I should show them my good side as the Leader.

I pulled Tino’s hand who was next to me and went to talk with them. By the way, Tino is on bodyguard duty.

My “Junior (Kouhai)”, who had largely been selected because she seemed to be free, looked confused but happy. She is so convenient and easy to use.

“Is there a problem……?” (Cry)

The man at the front of the group, a fearless-looking middle-aged man ―― Probably their Leader, frowned when he saw my face.

“…… Ah, aaaah…… I am here to talk about the Barrels we captured, but…… What is this?” (Commander)

“It’s an Onsen. Don’t you see it?” (Cry)

“…………” (Commander)

“We are digging one. You see, our Anthem is a bit tall, so a normal Onsen is kinda, you know……” (Cry)

“Wait, a bit, tall?” (Commander)

“………… He is in his growth spurt.” (Cry)

Right…… All thanks to the power of Mana Material.

Since Anthem has become famous, people are not surprised to see him walking down the street in the Imperial Capital, but since the Gladys Knight Order basically never leaves their territory, this was probably the first time they see him. This is why country bumpkins……

Sure, it may be hard to believe it half of the time, but this is real.

He may be too big horizontally and vertically, but it is he himself who has the most difficulty in his daily life. Still, he is still trying to protect the Party, and he is trying to actively accept requests from the country that are being sent to him personally because if he doesn’t he will feel bad about it.

Hm? What? What is wrong with being too tall? He is a lot more mild-mannered and mature than the rest of the Members, you know.

On top of that, he has a cute and small Shinto priestess as his girlfriend. They are *lovelove* so in love. When you put them together, it is beyond criminal, but when you are as big as Anthem, even Gark-san looks like a child, so she doesn’t seem to mind.

“So, what’s the matter? I’m really sorry, but I’m really busy, you know……” (Cry)

The Commander looked annoyed at me who could be so uptight because my friends were nearby but quickly got down to business.

His business was about the Barrels that had been turned into frogs.

Apparently, they had finished sorting them out and were now ready to transport them.

Sorry, but I am not going to follow you. If I did accept the nomination request, it would make sense for me to check the end result, but as I didn’t, I don’t need to do it, moreover, it is too much trouble.

“Sorry, but I am on a vacation…… Taking down the Barrels just happened to be the result of it, and it didn’t take much effort, so go ahead and do what you need to do. Moreover, I wasn’t even going to accept the request.” (Cry)

“Kuh…” (Commander)

“Ah, right. Arnold-san helped me. If you insist, why don’t you take Arnold-san with you? Arnold-san is someone who has an Alias you know. Heyyy, he did a great job, you know. I could never do what he did.” (Cry)

As a bonus, I put Arnold, who wasn’t here but still seemed to be hostile towards me, on a pedestal. This is the technique of how a Level 8 Hunter gets by.

There is no one who will feel bad about being complimented. I know, while I am at it, I should also praise Count Gladys.

“Aaah, you guys also did great too. You really helped me a lot. You acted very quickly. As expected of the famously powerful Gladys Knight Order. Even a Level 8 is amazed, I am at a loss of words!” (Cry)

“Ma-master~…… I think it is better to keep it at that……” (Tino)

“…… Eh?” (Cry)

“Kuh……” (Commander)

When I looked closely, for some reason there was a blue vein popping out of the Commander’s head. That’s weird…… I better not open my mouth anymore.

The other knights in line behind him were also looking down and trembling. No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t look like they were trying to hold back their laughter.

The Commander clenched his teeth for a while, but then said in a stifled voice.

“Tsk………… Thank you for your cooperation. I will definitely let Count Van know.” (Commander)

“…………” (Cry)

“And so…… I would like to know if anyone you know got accidentally turned into a frog…… For the time being, we have brought back the soldiers who were guarding the city, but there are too many frogs……” (Commander)

“Hmm…… It is probably fine, no? I heard she used Mana Material to determine the target……” (Cry)

Lucia’s magic targets everyone indiscriminately. If this city was the imperial capital, it would have been a big deal, but there were hardly any Hunters in this city.

Even I didn’t turn into a frog, so I guess most ordinary people won’t turn into frogs. There were Arnold and his Party, but his companions had been turned back by Arnold.

And that’s when Tino’s eyes widened. 

“Master~…… Emh…… Well…… Maybe Ruda and the others were also……” (Tino)

“………… Oh, I forgot about them.” (Cry)

There was so much going on that my brain couldn’t keep up with the amount of information that was coming at me.

Indeed, they may have been turned into frogs. But to find them among more than three hundred frogs is by no means a small feat.

TL notes:

Thanks for reading!!

I love how everyone thinks that the tasks Cry gave them is just another training method!

Creating an Onsen = Training your magic control and output

Take a dig in an Onsen = Training your heat resistance

And Cry’s provocation skill is still so effective XD

Tchao à plus!