Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Something from the Seafloor
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The characteristically overcast sky of Levan Pole didn't take on a hint of blue just because this was the seaside. The port city of Delmure was no exception, producing fog clouds within the city limits to blanket the vast expanse of sky overhead. According to Shimo, they were made using animal bones and oil along with specially cultivated fog flowers.
"Cleaner than I expected...?"
Facing the salty breeze, I muttered my first impression absentmindedly. Delmure's initial vibe, now that I'd just set foot here, was surprisingly tidy. I'd imagined some gloomy, decadent noir atmosphere since the lord had the sailors' backs, but nothing like that.
The streets were cleaner and livelier than I'd anticipated. The Dracains who looked like locals wore mostly bright expressions, too.
"Where do you plan to start looking around?"
At Shimo's question, I gave the surroundings a casual scan. The city sprawled alongside the massive harbor wasn't something you could just poke around lightly. Without pinpointing exactly where things were, I'd waste the whole day sightseeing.
"I'd like to check out the library first... Is there one here?"
"Library... Yeah, there is. It's on the small side, but way better than anywhere else. Let's head there."
Shimo answered with confidence and took the lead. The way he strode ahead suggested this wasn't his first time in Delmure. I guided Durel and Olbern along as I followed.
"Not your first time in Delmure, huh?"
"I've been a few times before."
"What for?"
"To meet friends, obviously."
Shimo's calm reply left me at a loss for words. It seemed my Dracain disciple had more friends than I'd realized.
-Olbern... Shimo has other friends.
-I heard that too, Senior...! Friends can exist in multiples...!
-How do you even make friends...?
-Senior Durel...! Didn't you buy a gift for a friend last time?
-I, I mean how do you make a second friend...
-Ah...! Right!
Olbern and Durel whispered back and forth over Shimo's answer. They were trying to keep their voices down, but it carried just fine. Shimo, walking ahead, twitched the corner of his mouth like he'd heard it all.
"I have a second friend too."
It hit me as I overheard their muttering. My second friend. My confident declaration made Olbern, Durel, and even Shimo whip around with wide eyes.
I even remembered this one's name. Nodding, I spoke up.
"Lenila. We met in the desert."
"The desert—you mean the Red Desert?"
"Desert...!"
"Yeah. You two wouldn't know—Shimo and Olbern."
Lenila, the mage from Hayar. A same-age friend of the same sex I'd run into while wandering the desert with Durel. She was a weepy little hothead; I secretly worried if she'd cried when I slipped away.
"We're here."
Shimo had stopped in front of a substantial two-story building. A quick look around showed nothing bigger nearby. He'd called it small-scale, so I'd pictured some neighborhood bookshop—this was incomparable.
"This is what you call small?"
"Isn't it kinda small? The one in the capital's at least twice this size—that's what I meant."
Library size aside, as long as I got the info I wanted, it was fine. I nodded and headed up the steps into the building.
The entrance had the library rules posted. Thoughtfully written in three languages—but I couldn't read them. True to form for Dracains who shunned humans, the text used Dwarf, Elf, and Dracain scripts.
"What does this say?"
"Non-Dracains can't borrow books, and there's an entry fee. Copying's allowed... Quiet reading only, no big issues. Damage a book, and you'll pay a massive fine—watch out. No food or drinks, no magic, no sleeping... stuff like that."
Durel read it off unexpectedly.
"You... can read this?"
"Yeah. Picked it up bit by bit from Shimo and Olbern during training."
"No way..."
I nodded blankly as Durel explained. Nothing too restrictive. We paid the entry fee to the librarian and got our passes.
"Three Dwarves. One Dracain. Entry confirmed~"
Just to be safe, we'd altered our appearances. This time, I'd gone with a Dwarf look too.
Late evening, I stepped out of the library to grab some food. Truth be told, there wasn't much I could do inside. I couldn't read the books. Classic Dracains and their human exclusion.
'Guess I need to learn these languages too...'
My disciples were all multilingual—I couldn't fall behind. Can't keep asking the kids to read stuff for me forever. My steps quickened with resolve.
No food allowed inside, so street eats it was. I prowled the streets, eyeing the stalls. Fruits, bread, fish skewers, fried fish, seafood stew. True to a port city, most of it was seafood.
I settled on fruit preserves in sugar syrup and a set of small fried fish. As I bustled along holding the paper-wrapped grub, my spread-out Gentle Wind sense picked up something odd. A presence closing in fast from very close range—aimed right at me.
'Pickpocket?'
Bad target choice if so. No need to dodge. I just took a casual step like normal walking, and the Gentle Wind barrier kicked in—the incoming hand froze solid.
Whoosh—
"Wh, what the..."
The pickpocket was a Dracain man. No average citizen. Heavily muscled, clothes scarred from hard labor. His body odor—a mix of salty sea tang and booze—made my nose wrinkle.
"Wanna die?"
My light warning paled his face. He'd finally clocked that I wasn't some ordinary Dwarf. I wiggled my free left hand and continued. This guy could help me borrow a few library books.
"Perfect timing. You look like you need cash—help me out, and I'll pay you..."
Pretty generous for a pickpocket, right? But his buddies didn't see it that way. My Gentle Wind picked up multiple shady movements.
'Seven?'
Seven in total. The ones scattered around converged, boxing me in. The instant circle formation naturally shoved the street crowd aside. Onlookers avoided looking our way. Looked like lord-backed thugs after all.
"Hey. Kevin. What's the deal?"
"Ahem... hmm... Just a little misunderstanding with this Dwarf here. No biggie."
"Aha...? I see. Dwarf miss. Looks like a mix-up. Kevin do something to bother you? Cut him some slack. Folks mess up sometimes, yeah? I'll make sure there's no next time."
What now? These were the lord-backed types. Stirring up trouble might force me out of the city.
'Still, can't just let 'em off... Want those books... Light thrashing maybe...'
Fine, scare 'em a bit first.
"Impolite ones, soon one who wishes to meet you shall come..."
As my words trailed off, my heart's Mana Circle spun wildly, expelling a massive surge of mana from my body. No attack spell. This was illusion—crafting a phantasm to deceive the eyes. Blue mana absorbed color, molded into specific shapes, and spread outward.
Taking the ground beneath me as center, black seawater flooded out. At the same time, it formed a barrier severing us from the outside. Basic safeguard so bystanders couldn't witness my illusion.
Prep complete. The next instant, the phantasm from my mind took form in this world.
Sshhh—
Black seawater rolled out alongside thick fog. The encircling Dracains finally sensed something off, panic twisting their faces as they glanced around.
"Wh-what...!"
"People? The people vanished!"
"W-water's rising...!"
No sign of passersby. The fog that had swiftly engulfed the area swallowed everything. The black seawater crept up to the Dracains' ankles.
"Seawater...?"
The familiar concealing the unknown. An immensity impossible to oppose, an existence beyond comprehension—vaguely conjured beneath the veil of illusion. No need for perfection. Their imaginations would fill in the rest.
The next moment, a massive eye opened on the dark seafloor. It did nothing. Just glowed with yellow light, silently regarding the beings beyond the water. A blink rippled the currents, faintly revealing then hiding part of an enormous body.
But it wasn't over. Next, a horrific wail crawled up from the seabed depths, echoing everywhere.
"The, the sea god is angry!"
"Kuaaaak!"
"Hieeek!"
I amplified the wail over time, creating the illusion of a colossal presence drawing nearer. The Dracains who'd surrounded me rolled their eyes back in screams, pounding futilely at the barrier's transparent wall.
To someone from the 21st century like me, this was textbook cosmic horror—now brought to life in this world through mystical illusion.
'Dodged a bullet...'
If the illusion flopped, I'd have given them a light beating. No need now.
Time to wrap it up. Right on cue, the eye on the seafloor began drifting closer.
"It's, it's coming...! The god, the god is coming!"
"Grrr..."
Of the eight Dracains, two had passed out; the rest squeezed their eyes shut, bodies shaking. Watching them, I snapped my fingers lightly.
In that instant, the mana sustaining the illusion and barrier dissolved in a blue haze, revealing the ordinary street. I spread my arms wide and declared,
"That one decrees: 'I seek a few to aid me. Forget your prior rudeness, and receive fitting reward.'"
Might as well ride the momentum. The trembling Dracains raised their heads and nodded vigorously.