BXBX NOVEL Chapter 201: Reunion
Along the way to Meratoni, nothing happened in particular but during that journey, I was told the episode that explained the relationship between Nadia and Skyros-san … or rather, the whole White Wolf’s Bloodline.
Three years ago, Nadia was helped by the White Wolf’s Bloodline when she was still a solo adventurer.
At that time, Nadia was still a rookie but because her swordsmanship caught people’s attention, she received many party invitations from rookie adventurers as well as mainstay adventurers.
However, Nadia refused all of them politely.
Adventurers who did not find that amusing hired bandits and laid a plan to capture Nadia.
But it was lucky that the White Wolf’s Bloodline party who were coincidentally on an expedition to Grandol came across her when she was about to be attacked and defeated the bandits.
However, at that time, Nadia’s thoughts were still deeply rooted in the doctrine of human supremacy due to her upbringing so instead of thanking them, she apparently even suspected if they were the companions of those bandits.
When I glanced at Nadia, her face turned bright red and she looked down in embarrassment.
“I see. But it looks like she isn’t that prejudiced towards you all now?”
“Since we were the ones who taught Miss Nadia the fundamentals of adventuring.”
“Well, it was just something that happened by chance. Nadia’s swordsmanship was decent but her fighting style was too clean and it was as if she didn’t learn the fundamentals like hiding herself or investigating the monster’s weak points.”
“I see. That’s why huh?”
When she met us, she could interact with Cathy and Kefin normally so it was the White Wolf’s Bloodline who changed Nadia’s mindset on human supremacy.
“I didn’t expect her to be in Luciel’s party though. One will never know when and how one would stumble across an acquaintance.”
“That’s very true.”
We’ve been riding on the horses for about an hour while having such conversations.
Fornoir has slowed down her pace but the horses were beginning to tire so we decided to have a break.
“Let’s have a break here. I’ve not had anything to eat since morning so I’m a little hungry.”
“We’ll follow your decision.”
“Luciel-kun, what do you plan to make?”
“Ah, nothing, they are pre-made food.”
I offered them the pot-au-feu and pasta that I made in Nelldal.
” … To be able to take out something warm, is that a magic bag?”
“Yes. I had a tough time in the past when I only had the magic satchel but Pope-sama gave me this.”
“Gave … the Church is rich as expected.”
I tilted my head at Skyros-san’s choice of words.
“I’m not too sure about the Church itself? It’s true that I received it from Pope-sama but it was Pope-sama’s personal belonging in the first place, it was just a transfer of usage from her to me.”
“But, the Healers have such excessive profits so the salary from the Church is obviously good too right?”
Bazan-san pointed that out but I realized that I reached my current position without knowing the ordinary salary of a person.
“True, I believe I receive quite a decent amount due to my title. But I don’t know about the salaries of other people. There’s nowhere to spend the money in the Church as well so I’ve not heard anything regarding that topic too …”
Let’s go to the Healer’s Guild and brush up on the knowledge I lack by asking Krull-san when we reach Meratoni.
Bazan-san was astonished when he heard that and Basra-san spoke.
“Personal item huh? Luciel is cherished by the Pope … she probably has even greater expectations of you.”
” … Possibly. Well then, it would turn dark if we continue this conversation so let’s stop here.”
They didn’t ask any further and we began to have our meal.
Time passed uneventfully after that as we finished our meal and the horses were rested before we once again rode towards Meratoni until we finally saw the outer walls of Meratoni.
The first to notice the out-of-place sensation was Fornoir.
Fornoir stopped running and began restlessly looking around.
“What’s wrong?”
I didn’t understand the reason why she stopped so I closed my eyes and checked the surroundings but I didn’t sense any presence or magical power.
However, the other horses also began to sense the abnormality that Fornoir detected and an unusual number of birds flew off as if escaping to somewhere.
“Is it an earthquake? Or an attack by monsters? Everyone, for now, let’s move forward while keeping vigilant. If it’s monsters, there aren’t any terrain to use as a shield so it’s disadvantageous for us.”
“Understood. Let me take the lead.”
“Okay. Fornoir, let’s go.”
When I said that, I detected a sound gradually approaching us that sounded like it was slicing through the air.
“What’s that? This sound like it’s cutting through the air? It’s coming closer?”
“Is it that? What was it again? Winged Dragon? But it’s a lot larger.”
“Either way, let’s go.”
Fornoir and the horses ran at full speed but the speed of the Winged Dragon? was considerably fast so it gradually caught up to us and I caught sight of it.
“Oi oi, isn’t that over-technology?” (TL: Over-technology is a term from Macross whereby the technology is high-advanced and transcends the current available technology)
I muttered as if ridiculing it as the flying object slowly descended.
Fornoir realized that I was surprised but not afraid so she stopped fleeing.
“Oi Luciel, I’ve never seen that before. It would be bad if it is a new type of golem so we should run.”
Bazan-san noticed that we stopped and shouted at us but I shook my head and explained the flying object to them in simple terms.
“It’s alright. Because my allies are riding that.”
“Riding? Allies?”
“Yeah.”
A bird-shaped flying ship painted in deep red descended.
“It’s as if it symbolizes the Spirit of Fire, exactly like the Phoenix.”
What’s shocking was that there were completely no propellers, I could tell going by the afterglow that it flew by utilizing magical power.
After the flying object slowly landed on the ground, Lionel and the others descended from it.
“Luciel-sama, thank god, thank god.”
I was slightly taken aback by the sight of Lionel literally flying over the moment he landed while looking like he was about to burst out in tears but I was grateful and thanked him.
“I’m glad to see you are well too, you guys did well to chase up to us. Cathy-san and Kefin-san too, thank you for your hard work protecting Lionel-dono.”
” … Why, is Luciel-sama using honorific language?”
Lionel was confused at why I was talking to them in a reserved manner.
“Nya, Luciel-sama, that forced honorific language so extremely unpleasant nya.”
“Luciel-sama, didn’t you say that we would still be your retainers even after you released us from slavery?”
“No no, it just seems like Lionel is about to cry for some reason so it made me want to tease him. Nevertheless, you guys really did well chasing up to us. Thank you. Oh! Dolan, Paula, Rician, it’s been a long time. You guys made a flying ship that far surpassed my expectations.”
The day had come where I could finally see the first step of the things I asked Dolan to make.
“It’s been a long time, Luciel-dono. We’ve had quite a hard time making this. But, by being able to use all the Earth Dragon’s ores and with the funding from Luciel Enterprise, I could finally create what I dreamt of creating. I’m truly grateful.”
Luciel Enterprise’s funding? That was totally a bolt out of the blue but he said that there weren’t any problems when I talked to him through the magic communication bead yesterday? I would just confuse myself if I thought about it now so I decided to give up on thinking about it.
“Luciel, long time no see. When I finished making this with grandpa, my Magic Tool Creation skill reached Level IX. With that, I’ll now be able to make the fully automated cooker.”
“Luciel-sama, it’s been a long time. About the Monster Detector that you talked about before, I’ve successfully made one that can sense magical power but it looks like I’ve not put in enough effort.”
Paula and Rician said that and walked up to me for some reason, showing me the palms of both of their hands.
“What’s with that gesture? … Don’t tell me it’s magic stones you want?”
The two of them nodded vigorously when I said that.
They probably only recognize me as the person who gives them magic stones.
For some reason, that caused me to feel extremely happy but also slightly at a loss for words.
“I’ve heard that you have a big one.”
“If I have that, I should definitely be able to complete my work.”
“There’s no way I can pass it to you two here right? Leaving that aside, what about the creation of the magic communication bead.”
“That’s already done. It’s also compact so there are no problems.”
“Eh? I’m the one who completed the magic communication bead.”
“I’m the one who made it compact and light-weight.”
“Leave all that until we reach Meratoni. I won’t give you magic stones if you don’t behave okay?”
I felt kind of envious at how they could honestly do what they desire without wavering.
I could not give them the magic stones here so I told them I would pass it to them when we arrive at Meratoni and the two of them behaved themselves at once.
“This time, for what reason did you call us to this place apart from the fact that you’ve promoted to Sage?”
It seemed like Lionel didn’t know the reason why they were called here so I began by explaining to them that Shisho was the one who called everyone instead of me.
“Ah. Actually, “Before that, I can’t move this anymore so please store it.””
However, Dolan interrupted me with words that I couldn’t ignore.
“You can’t move it anymore? It can’t move anymore?”
“Yeah. Once it stops, an enormous amount of magical power is required to propel it once again. That’s why it’s impossible to do so immediately.”
… I wanted to ride it even for a short time but it can’t be helped.
Nevertheless, I have to praise them for actually realizing the idea.
” … Luciel-sama, please excuse me.”
Lionel said that and walked to the flying ship before gently touching it, causing the flying ship to disappear in an instant.
“I see that you can use the magic bag without any problems now.”
“Yeah. Thanks to Luciel-sama. Leaving that aside, Meratoni is right in front of our eyes so could we continue with what you were about to say as we walk?”
“That’s true. Bazan-san, I’ve joined up with my retinue so could you all ride ahead to Meratoni first and tell Shisho that we would be arriving shortly?”
“Sure. It looks like it will be fine with this party so we’ll go ahead first.”
“Thank you.”
After I bowed and requested them, they quickly accepted and rode off.
Thus, after seeing off Bazan-san and his party, I walked towards Meratoni while exchanging information with Lionel and the others.
Author’s note:
Thank you for reading.
TLN: We finally get to see what Luciel asked Dolan to make … or at least the first of the things he asked to make. Air travel GET! haha