Water Magician

Vol 3. Chapter 688: Bonus Part: Ryo and Abel’s Journey Home (15)

0688 Transport Operation

It was a one-hour walk from Blossom on the Ridge, where Ryo and Abel were staying.

The group arrived at the lake in question.

Quite a lot of people were gathered around it.

People who were probably involved in the construction work, people who were probably from the magistrate’s office, and people who seemed to be locals...

“There’s supposed to be some strange occurrence going on, but there are people everywhere. Is that really safe?”

“Maybe it’s the kind of strange occurrence that doesn’t harm people.”

Neither Ryo nor Abel had any idea what was happening.

As the group approached, one man came toward them.

It was a familiar face.

“Ryo, Abel, thank you for coming. I’m sorry I couldn’t go greet you this morning.”

The one who said that was Deputy Magistrate Hyuran.

“You said there had been some strange occurrence?”

“Yes. Rather than saying it happened, I suppose I should say it appeared...”

“Appeared?”

Hyuran answered Abel’s question with a grimace, and Ryo tilted his head.

“It’s on the far side of the lake. I’ll take you there.”

With that, Hyuran started walking.

Ryo and Abel followed him, as did the five members of Winter Thunder.

“There are people praying?”

Ryo asked while looking at the gathered crowd.

“Yes. They’re locals.”

After answering, Hyuran continued.

“I’ve told the construction workers not to go any farther. So only people from the magistrate’s office are on the far side of the lake.”

After walking for a while, they reached the far side of the lake.

A little way off, an old man in blue clothes was standing there.

But that was...

“That’s not human.”

Abel said it with near certainty, and Hyuran nodded.

The blue old man seemed to waver slightly.

Suddenly... the old man began to walk.

He seemed to have noticed the group and was coming toward them.

“He hadn’t moved at all since he appeared in the middle of the night...”

The one who muttered that was Deputy Magistrate Hyuran.

That was probably what snapped them back to themselves.

The five members of Winter Thunder took up combat stances.

“Wait!”

But a sharp voice stopped them.

It was Ryo.

“Ryo?”

Abel asked suspiciously.

“He feels similar to my master.”

“Your master?”

“Yes. My sword master. The one who gave me this robe and sword.”

“Ah...”

Abel nodded at Ryo’s explanation.

That nonhuman being in the forest of Rondo...

Keeping pace with the approaching blue old man, Ryo stepped slightly forward as well.

Not too far, though—just enough that Hyuran and the others would still be able to hear the conversation that was about to take place.

The blue old man stopped about five meters in front of Ryo and opened his mouth.

“Hm.”

That was all he muttered, but it was clear he was looking Ryo up and down.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ryo, an adventurer.”

Ryo decided to greet him first.

“My name is... not something a human mouth can pronounce. But ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) that would make conversation difficult. You may call me Samptou.”

“Then, Samptou it is.”

Conversation was possible between Samptou and Ryo.

Once it became clear that conversation was possible, a great many problems usually began moving toward resolution all at once.

Usually.

“You... said your name was Ryo, did you not? To wear the King’s robe, the King’s boots, and carry the King’s sword... he must think very highly of you.”

“Ah, so you really are connected to my master.”

Ryo’s robe and the rest had been given to him by the Dullahan who had trained him in swordsmanship in the forest of Rondo.

That Dullahan was apparently the Water Fairy King.

Which meant the blue old man before him was... someone connected to the Water Fairy King?

“Hm. To call the King your master... and those ‘droplets’ overflowing from your body. You are not human. And yet you are not an elf, a Spermelno, or a vampire of that sort... and of course not a devil or a dragon either... vexing.”

“No, I’m human.”

Ryo declared it with complete confidence.

Apparently that reaction had been unexpected.

The blue old man blinked in surprise.

“No, but...”

“I’m human.”

“Even so...”

“I am human.”

“I see... very well, human Ryo.”

“Yes. Please understand it that way.”

The blue old man gave up resisting, and Ryo nodded firmly.

Somewhere in the back, a certain swordsman muttered, “Ryo really does push hard,” but that is a secret.

“Um, you’re the one who’s been breaking the tools and the embankment, aren’t you, Samptou?”

“Yes.”

Ryo cut straight to the heart of the matter, and Samptou immediately admitted it.

That part was not really the problem.

From Ryo’s point of view, Samptou—someone who seemed to be a companion or perhaps a relative of the Water Fairy King—was not a bad being.

And he had no doubt that Samptou was an extremely powerful being as well.

If the embankment kept being destroyed and the tools kept being broken at a lake where such a being was present, then it was only natural to assume that it was the result of Samptou’s actions.

That line of reasoning held.

At the same time, it also suggested that there had to be some unavoidable reason.

“Could you tell us why you’re doing that?”

“At this lake now... humans were calling it Sweet Dew Lake, were they not? At this Sweet Dew Lake, Baoi are about to be born.”

“What?!”

The one who cried out in shock at Samptou’s answer was Deputy Magistrate Hyuran, who had been listening from behind.

But he wasn’t the only one. All five members of Winter Thunder had widened their eyes as well.

The only ones who had not reacted were Ryo and Abel...

“Um... sorry. We’re not from the Eastern Countries, so we don’t really know what Baoi are.”

Ryo said that apologetically.

Abel gave a small nod as well.

The one who explained was Deputy Magistrate Hyuran.

“I thought that might be the case from your clothing and Abel’s hair color. Baoi are also called the ‘treasure fish’... they’re an extremely precious species that can almost never be seen.”

At that point, Hyuran paused once, then continued.

“But even more than that, they’re also called the ‘treasure of the nation.’”

“The treasure of the nation?”

“Yes. There is a tradition that says any region where Baoi are found will become abundant in harvests and is guaranteed to become a prosperous nation.”

“That’s incredible.”

Ryo was visibly astonished by Hyuran’s explanation.

But then he noticed that Hyuran’s expression was not bright at all.

“But you don’t look very happy about it, Hyuran.”

“No... Baoi are a precious species, but they lay eggs only very rarely, and it takes a long time for the fry to hatch from the eggs.”

“A long time? How long?”

“I’ve heard five years.”

“Five years... just as eggs...”

Even Ryo was taken aback by that.

And then he understood.

He understood the meaning behind Hyuran’s expression.

They could not wait five years.

“But they’re a precious species, aren’t they? Enough to be called the ‘treasure of the nation’...”

“You’re absolutely right. If this were a flood-control project for Chuarow alone, I would have persuaded the magistrate somehow and wrung out the time no matter what. But...”

“It concerns other lords, and by extension the central government as well.”

Hyuran answered Ryo’s words with a bitter expression, and Abel showed that he understood.

Samptou, who had silently listened to the humans speaking, opened his mouth.

“Yes. That would be how it goes.”

This being, who had clearly lived far longer than humans, seemed to understand even the affairs of the human world.

“That is why I had planned to keep interfering for the next five years.”

“What an incredibly musc— no, I mean, forceful way of thinking.”

Ryo almost let the words “muscle-brained” slip out in honest response to Samptou’s resolve.

“I understand full well that this is entirely for our own convenience, and I imagine you have every right to be angry...”

“I am not angry. But neither do I intend to yield.”

Samptou said that plainly in response to Hyuran.

Tilting his head, Ryo asked:

“You aren’t angry that humans are changing nature to suit themselves?”

“Isn’t altering nature part of human nature? I have watched humans for tens of thousands of years. I have learned at least that much.”

The blue old man answered with a laugh.

“But if they take it too far...”

“If they take it too far, it comes back to humans, and humans perish. Is that not true of everything? With living creatures and with monsters alike, if they consume too much of what sustains them, it returns against the survival of their own species. The truth of life is the same in all things. If one goes too far, it returns to oneself. Am I wrong?”

“I see.”

Ryo nodded.

The being before him seemed to have transcended human emotions entirely.

For humans to destroy nature was simply one part of human nature.

He would not condemn it, nor would he interfere as a separate species.

If humans went too far, it would return as the destruction of humankind.

It was not that some other species would destroy humans.

The consequences of human actions would return from nature itself... that was the principle by which he understood the world.

At that point, Ryo returned his thoughts to the situation in front of him.

If left alone, this would probably continue as a struggle for five years.

Samptou would obstruct the disappearance of the old Sweet Dew Lake, and the human side would keep trying again and again to make up for the construction delays.

A struggle like that.

“It’s common enough for public works to be delayed by landowner issues... but it’ll become troublesome if the military gets involved.”

Yes. If the human side tried to solve this by force and resorted to military power, the result would probably not be a good one.

With the current central government of Darwei... Ryo doubted that the Emperor or Prince Ryun would do anything so foolish, but the same could not necessarily be said for local officials who did not want to report construction delays to the central government.

Or for the people on the central-government side who served as the window for local administration...

So Ryo made the obvious proposal.

“Can’t the Baoi be moved to the new Sweet Dew Lake?”

“No. It cannot be done. They are already carrying eggs inside them. In that state, their strength is at its very limit. Moving them is impossible...”

Samptou fell silent partway through.

He placed a hand on his chin and began to think about something.

The whole group stared at him.

If the Baoi could be moved, everything would be solved.

But everyone present understood that it would be difficult.

If it had been possible, Samptou would have done it already.

Even Hyuran and the five members of Winter Thunder had sensed that he was a being with that much power.

A being far beyond humans.

After a while, Samptou lowered the hand he had held at his chin.

Then he stared at Ryo and spoke.

“Those ‘droplets’ overflowing from you... do they always overflow?”

“Um... by the ‘droplets’ you mean the thing the elves call the ‘fairy factor’ and the devils call the ‘fairy drop,’ right?”

“Yes. That.”

Samptou nodded at Ryo’s confirmation.

Depending on the person—or rather, the species, or perhaps the kind of being—the name seemed to differ, so it was better to confirm it properly.

“To be honest, I can’t tell for myself, but apparently it’s always overflowing. A spirit beast I know said that it lived longer because of it.”

Ryo remembered the spirit beast in Nils’s village saying something like that.

“I see!”

Samptou’s eyes opened wide, and he nodded once.

“Then Ryo might be able to do it.”

“Ryo’s fairy factor is incredible. Even though it doesn’t do anything for Ryo himself.”

Samptou was delighted. Abel was surprised and a little exasperated. Ryo lamented that he wished it had some more immediately practical effect.

“Yeah... if I had to have it, I’d rather it made me invincible, or let me regenerate instantly when I got hurt, or something like that.”

“.”

A fairly large , five meters to a side, was generated.

Though compared to the four s sitting in the back yard of Blossom on the Ridge, it was small.

But the water-attribute magician who had generated the was tilting his head.

“What’s wrong, Ryo?”

“Well, this time it’s going to hold a large volume of water, so it’ll be heavy. And if we move it a full kilometer, the Baoi in the water will be burdened too. Even if we lay down . Ideally, I’d want to completely eliminate the vibrations from the ground and the wheels... the best thing would be to float it through the air.”

“Float it? That would be difficult, wouldn’t it?”

Abel answered that Ryo’s idea was too difficult, which seemed only natural.

Ryo stared at Abel.

And then inspiration struck him.

“As expected of Abel, that’s a wonderful idea!”

“...I didn’t say anything.”

That was right. Abel had said nothing.

“.”

What appeared where the had vanished was an ice platform for delivering speeches, about the same size.

“That thing you’re calling a podium... isn’t that what you made in Rune?”

“I’m impressed you remembered. It’s the one you stood on at your coronation, Abel.”

Ryo praised Abel’s memory.

“That... flew through the air.”

“Yes, yes. That’s it. I’ll fire downward and float it just a little this time, then we’ll just glide it along.”

What Ryo had in mind was air hockey.

In air hockey, air came out from the table and floated the puck, but this time water would be ejected from the ice platform to float it.

With no friction against the ground, it could be pushed with a single finger, and above all, it would not pick up the unevenness of the ground, which meant it should not stress the Baoi in the water.

“Operation Baoi Relocation, launch!”

“Right...”

And so, what Ryo called Operation Baoi Relocation began.

Ryo lightly dipped his hand into the edge of the lake.

“Now then... there are two Baoi, right?”

“Yes. You figured that out well.”

“Yes. It’s one of my specialties.”

All he had done was use , but Ryo answered with a slightly proud look.

To begin with, they felt different from the other fish.

They were about a meter long, perhaps.

Large for freshwater fish, certainly, but more than that, something about them was different.

Ryo’s sonar analyzed targets by using the vibrations in water and their reflections.

Those reflections changed in various ways depending on the material of the target, which made analysis possible.

If one thought about it that way, then the “presence” of the Baoi might perhaps mean that their material composition was fundamentally different from that of ordinary fish...

(Neither living creatures nor monsters?)

That was what Ryo felt, but he did not say it aloud.

If only Samptou and Abel had been nearby, that would have been one thing, but Hyuran from the magistrate’s office and the members of Winter Thunder were here too, and they were locals.

“I’m going to turn the water around the two Baoi into ice that isn’t cold, and move them just like that onto this platform. Samptou, could you tell them?”

“Understood.”

Samptou lightly closed his eyes.

Ten seconds later, he opened them.

“They say they are ready whenever you are.”

“Understood. Then... .”

As Ryo chanted, the water surrounding the Baoi froze and was cut free as a whole.

Then icicles lifted the “tank,” and it slowly moved toward the lakeshore.

“.”

The tank was slowly transferred from the icicles onto a road of ice, then slid further onto the ice podium...

and came gently to rest atop it.

“Yes, that looks good.”

Ryo checked various things, then nodded in satisfaction.

The next moment, the podium carrying the tank rose about five centimeters off the ground.

“Then let’s get moving.”

Ryo immediately proposed departure.

It was clear that the water inside the “tank” contained quite a bit of air.

Over a one-kilometer trip, the Baoi should not suffer from lack of oxygen.

Even so, this was still a different environment than normal.

If there were eggs inside them, then the less time they spent in such conditions, the better.

The group set out.

It was one kilometer from the old Sweet Dew Lake to the new Sweet Dew Lake.

But because the road had many rises and dips, it took about twenty minutes.

“It really does look light.”

Abel called out to Ryo as he walked beside him, pushing the “podium.”

Ryo was indeed pushing it as he walked, but it looked astonishingly light.

“Of course. That’s what makes this podium so amazing. Once we get back to the kingdom, I’m going to show off how easy it makes transporting heavy cargo like this.”

“Show off?”

“I’ll promote it, then manufacture alchemy tools like this podium and sell them. Money will come pouring in!”

Ryo answered happily.

But Abel, listening beside him, was tilting his head.

“What is it, Abel? Don’t tell me you’re about to say you want a cut of the rights because this only worked thanks to your idea, so I should hand over half the profits.”

Ryo asked with an openly wary expression.

“No... the reason that podium is floating is because of your water-attribute magic, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And if you made it as an alchemy tool... that would still mean using water-attribute magic to make it float, right?”

“Yes, that’s right?”

“Then what kind of magic stone would it use?”

“Huh?”

For a moment, Ryo did not understand the meaning of Abel’s question.

But after thinking about it for a while, his expression stiffened.

And then...

“A blue... water magic stone... I suppose.”

He answered in a small voice, almost muttering.

Yes. Ryo understood too.

“Water magic stones are precious. No, it’s more accurate to say they hardly circulate among ordinary people at all. Because...”

“Because they can only be obtained from underwater monsters. And underwater monsters are hard to capture...”

Ryo nearly collapsed to his knees, but hurriedly forced strength back into his legs.

They were in the middle of transporting the Baoi.

“Damn it... I’ll solve that problem after we get back to the kingdom. For now, I’ll focus on the transport.”

“Yes. That’s best.”

Twenty minutes later, the group arrived at the new Sweet Dew Lake.

Using the reverse of the same procedure they had used at the old Sweet Dew Lake, they lowered the “tank,” and the two Baoi were moved into the new Sweet Dew Lake.

“How is it?”

Ryo asked Samptou with a tense expression.

“Yes. Both are doing well, they say. Apparently they feel better than they did in the other lake. It is thanks to you, Ryo.”

“Ah, that’s a relief.”

Samptou was smiling, and so was Ryo.

Hearing the two of them speak, the rest of the group shared in the joy.

Operation Baoi Relocation had succeeded.

Yes, the operation to relocate the Baoi had succeeded.

“I actually have an earnest request for you, Ryo.”

“What is it, Samptou?”

“The truth is, there are other fish in that lake as well...”

“Huh...”

There certainly were.

Ryo had seen them with his sonar earlier.

There had been quite a lot of fish in the old Sweet Dew Lake...

“I had thought that lives lost to human development were simply part of the natural order... but after seeing the relocation of the Baoi...”

“You don’t have to say any more. Leave it to me!”

Ryo struck his own chest with his right fist.

It was his way of saying to leave it all to him.

Abel watched from behind with a shrug.

The movement of his mouth said, “Ryo really is too soft-hearted.”

Four hours later.

“That... huff, huff... completes... huff, huff... the relocation... huff, huff...”

This was exactly what it meant to be barely on one’s feet.

Well, Ryo was somehow still standing on two legs, at least.

“Ryo, you truly have my thanks.”

The blue old man, Samptou, bowed deeply.

“No, no, it was nothing important.”

Ryo answered with a smile.

He was exhausted, but this was the moment to act strong.

“As expected of the man the King saw promise in. We water fairies will never forget your devotion, Ryo.”

With those words, Samptou disappeared.

Only after he had vanished did Ryo realize there were all sorts of things he should have asked him.

“I really messed that up...”

Ryo sank in regret at his blunder, and the fatigue hit him hard.

But the job was not over yet.

“On behalf of the Chuarow Magistrate’s Office, you have my gratitude.”

Saying that, Deputy Magistrate Hyuran bowed deeply as well.

Behind him, the five members of Winter Thunder bowed in the same way.

And behind them, several hundred people bowed.

They were the local people of Sweet Dew Lake.

Some of them were even crying.

They bowed again and again.

“Ah, no, really, it wasn’t anything special.”

Ryo was happy to be thanked, but he seemed to be the sort who got embarrassed when the gratitude came from so many people, and so deeply.

In the end, they stayed at Blossom on the Ridge that night as well, and Ryo and Abel did not leave the town of Chuarow until the following day.

Naturally, they rode Andalusia and Feiwan, while the four enormous s followed behind them.

“This was a very peaceful adventure.”

“Yes, I suppose it was.”

“You sound very dissatisfied, Abel.”

“Dissatisfied? No, not particularly.”

“That’s a lie!”

Ryo accused him in a sharp tone.

“You were hoping for some huge crashing, smashing battle to set your blood boiling, and instead you got let down!”

“No, I wasn’t hoping for anything like that.”

“Hmph. You can lie all you want, but I can tell. People in barbaric melee professions like swordsmen are probably all like that.”

“There it is again—Ryo’s prejudice.”

As usual, Ryo and Abel bickered back and forth, and sensing that familiar exchange behind them, their beloved horses whinnied happily.

The peaceful return to the kingdom had only just begun.