Water Magician

Vol 3. Chapter 674: Bonus Part: Ryo and Abel’s Journey Home (1)

0674 The Visitor on Deck

“The world is this wonderful!”

On the deck of Public Vessel Number Ten, the water-attribute magician raised his voice with that cry.

“Yeah, it sure is wonderful.”

Beside the magician, the swordsman gave a perfunctory reply, but there was no heat in his voice.

Naturally, the water-attribute magician shot him a sharp glare.

“Abel is always like that. You always stand off to the side and say twisted things. I think people would follow you more if you were a little more honest.”

“No, I do think the scenery spread out beyond the deck is wonderful. I agree with that from the bottom of my heart. But when you say ‘the world,’ that includes what’s on the deck too, right? And what’s on the deck is...”

On the deck, a little drinking party was being held.

The four participants looked quite drunk.

Of course, they were not crew members of Number Ten.

The crew rarely drank enough to get drunk aboard a public vessel when they were supposed to be operating it properly.

“Wiii~ The liquor you drink on a ship is good~”

“So this is what getting drunk feels like~”

“No way I can swing a sword...”

“When you’re drunk, even opening a ‘gate’ to get more liquor starts to feel like a hassle~”

The four devils—Leonor, Pastra, Argenta, and Jean-Jacques—were holding a drinking party.

“It’s a wonderful sight, isn’t it... very peaceful...”

“Is it?”

Ryo said it with a strained expression, and Abel turned a dubious look on him.

“More importantly, why are devils on the deck of a public vessel?”

“Because Jean-Jacques opened a ‘gate’ and brought them here...”

“Yeah, but the ‘why’ here doesn’t mean how. It means why.”

“You can’t expect me to know that.”

Ryo shook his head with a grimace.

It had happened only thirty minutes earlier.

After departing Hanlin and setting course for the Grand Duchy of Atinjo, the group had been spending the afternoon on deck as usual.

Ryo was fiddling with the Flight Ring he had bought in Darwei, and Abel was swinging his sword.

Then, without the slightest warning, a jet-black “gate” opened, and the four devils stepped out.

“This is just right, then.”

Ryo had heard Leonor say that.

“Right?”

Ryo had heard Jean-Jacques answer that too.

“Not bad, having someone provide us with a place for the experiment.”

Ryo had heard Pastra nod and say that as well.

“It’s wide enough to swing a sword.”

Ryo had heard Argenta murmur that too.

After that, the drinking party began.

“It’s Ryo’s fault for not stopping them.”

“It’s not my fault!”

Abel pronounced judgment, and Ryo hurriedly protested.

“Who is the one person here who has beaten those four?”

“Th-that would be me, but...”

“Then realistically, who could have stopped them?”

“Th-that would only be me, but...”

Ryo glanced over at the four who were drinking.

He did not know why, but he had no choice but to admit it: the reason those four had appeared on Number Ten had something to do with him.

But even so, stopping them...

He had beaten them one-on-one.

But what if he had to face all four at once?

Absolutely impossible.

They were devils, after all.

Incidentally, the crew of Number Ten, including Captain La Wu, had been startled when the four appeared, but before long no one paid them any mind anymore.

They had realized the four were not going to damage the ship, nor were they going to harm the crew.

And among themselves, the crew quietly exchanged information.

“They’re acquaintances of Duke Rondo.”

That one sentence was enough.

The crew stopped worrying about it.

And they went back to their work.

That whole set of circumstances also put pressure on Ryo.

It was true that the four devils were acquaintances of Ryo’s. Entirely true.

But most of them were devils who were after Ryo’s life.

Still, he had no choice but to ask.

There was no one else he could ask.

“Um... excuse me.”

“Hm? What is it, Ryo?”

“Want a drink too, Ryo?”

At Ryo’s question, Leonor replied, and Jean-Jacques invited him into the drinking party.

Argenta silently held out a cup as well. Apparently it was meant for Ryo to use.

“No, I’m fine. That’s not it. What are you doing?”

“As you can see, we’re having a drinking party.”

Leonor answered Ryo’s question with her head tilted, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) as though it should have been obvious.

“I asked that wrong. Why are you having a drinking party here?”

“An experiment.”

Pastra was the one who answered Ryo’s question in a single word.

Yes, he knew she liked research and experiments.

“What kind of experiment?”

“An experiment to see whether drinking alcohol on a ship makes you drunk.”

“...What?”

Pastra had answered appropriately. Perfectly.

As words, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

A perfect answer to Ryo’s question.

And yet he had no idea what it meant.

No, come to think of it...

Ryo realized he had a more fundamental question.

“To begin with, can devils even get drunk from alcohol?”

“If we turn off the decomposition circuit, we can.”

“The decomposition circuit?”

“The circuit that breaks down alcohol and poison.”

“You have something like that...?”

Ryo nodded at Pastra’s concise explanation.

Of course, he did not understand the finer points, but he simply accepted that devils must have such a circuit.

At the same time, he understood that poison normally did not work on them either.

The next time he fought them, that might become useful information...

As long as there was even a possibility, there was always a possibility!

Ryo left the four and returned to Abel’s side.

“They say it’s an experiment to see whether drinking alcohol on a ship makes you drunk.”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“They say devils can get drunk if they turn off the decomposition circuit.”

“I heard that too.”

“...That’s all.”

Ryo could not continue beyond that.

“There were plenty of things I wanted you to ask, like why this ship, and when they plan to leave.”

Abel let out an exaggerated sigh.

“I-I did think I should get that kind of information, you know? I did think that, but...”

“But?”

“They were having such a good time that I figured... well, whatever.”

“...I see.”

Both Ryo and Abel sighed.

It was peaceful, so maybe it was fine.

And yet...

“Good, then the conclusion is clear!”

Leonor declared as she stood up.

Then, while walking toward Ryo, she said:

“Well then, Ryo, let’s fight.”

“Huh?”

Leonor was smiling. Ryo was utterly dumbfounded.

But he came back to himself at once.

“That’s not allowed.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re drunk.”

“If I turn the decomposition circuit back on, I’ll sober up, you know?”

“The drunker a person is, the more they insist they’re not drunk.”

“Hm?”

Ryo argued forcefully, but Leonor only tilted her head.

“Look at that swordsman Abel over there.”

“Hm.”

“He always insists he isn’t a battle maniac, but is that really true?”

“Anyone who says that about himself is absolutely a battle maniac.”

Leonor nodded vigorously at Ryo’s argument.

“It’s the same thing! People can’t tell for themselves!”

“I see. Then it can’t be helped this time. We’ll fight the next time we meet.”

It was Ryo’s usual trick—using suspicious logic to talk his way around a situation.

Needless to say, the moment he heard Leonor’s answer, Ryo felt relieved in his heart.

The four devils left.

They came like a storm, and they left like a storm.

“Phew, I somehow got through it. Still, what was that really about?”

“Hey, Ryo.”

“What is it, Abel?”

“A little while ago, you said I was a battle maniac, didn’t you?”

“Ah, that was just a figure of speech. I only said it because I had no choice if I wanted to get us out of that situation. In my heart, I was crying over the fact that I had to sacrifice you, you know?”

“Ohhh?”

Ryo said it in a rush, and Abel gave him a dubious look.

“I always say it, don’t I? Survival comes first. Making a profit comes after that.”

“Well, fine.”

Abel lowered the spearpoint of his questioning toward Ryo.

Abel understood too. Whatever it was Ryo had done that passed for persuasion, it was because of that that the devils had left.

If those devils had started rampaging, everyone except Ryo—including Abel—would have been killed instantly.

They were exactly the kind of people no one wanted anywhere near them.

“But why did they show up here in the first place?”

“Exactly.”

At Abel’s words, Ryo also frowned and shook his head.

Then he continued.

“When beings that aren’t normal start acting in ways that aren’t normal, it may mean something else abnormal is about to happen ahead of us.”

“I hate the sound of that.”

This time Abel frowned and shook his head.

Thus the visit from the devils left both Ryo and Abel thoroughly bewildered.

Volume 6 of The Water-Attribute Magician goes on sale on Monday, February 20, 2023!

(It seems preorders have already started in various places.)

This time... I really did it.

I added over 120,000 characters.

Half the book is newly written.

(I worked hard on it while also serializing Part Three of the Narou version!)

“Twilight Land,” which is also in the Narou version, is included here,

but that one is only 99,000 characters long.

In order to make all of Volume 7 the “Kingdom Liberation War,” I had to add a huge amount to Volume 6.

So yes, over 120,000 characters of additions!

After “Twilight Land,” a new arc called “The Preliminary Battle” has been added.

From its placement, I think you can guess what it is:

it is the preliminary battle for Volume 7, “Kingdom Liberation War.”

So all kinds of things are going to collide!

Yes, Ryo and Oscar are going to collide too!

And plenty of other things as well...

“Twilight Land” itself has also been heavily revised and expanded to the point that it no longer retains its original form.

And several secrets that were not touched on in the Narou version have been written in as well...

Though I do not know whether readers noticed them or remember them.

I worked pretty hard on this one too, so please give it a read!

And as for the following Volume 7, it is mostly written already.

In fact, the release date for Volume 7 is almost decided too...

But that is still a secret!

Volume 7 should come out not too long after Volume 6 is released.

After all, various things are written in the afterword of Volume 6.

Please look forward to it!