Chapter 308

En Route (2)

We were en route to the second inn-town after Mikhan, passing through a pretty rocky area filled with shaded areas . We’d finally arrived somewhere with good public safety, a main road .

… That town we stopped at last night was great . Being able to sleep properly in a private room was a huge difference compared to sleeping out in a tent .

Just then, we were stopping for a toilet break . There were a lot of shaded areas and there weren’t any enemies around, so it was a great opportunity .

We decided we’d have some lunch after we were done relieving ourselves .

“Phew…”

… Humans had to deal with physiological phenomena to keep living, I was no exception . Rokuko was, though, since she was a dungeon core .

“Oh, Master Kehma . I’ll join you, excuse me . ”

“Uoooh!? Why’d you come here for!? I’m in the middle of something!”

“Oh come now . The men in the knight order always do it and I wanted to give it a try too, so I figured now was a good chance!”

Shikina was standing next to me as she spoke .

“But you’re a girl! You can’t—”

“~♪”

… Oh, come to think of it, she got affected by that [Futanaru] magic drug so she had it . I’d forgot . Wait, it’s still there?

“Mmmm, penises are so convenient!”

“Just stop, you lewd girl . Girls shouldn’t talk like that . ”

“Whoops, excuse me . Still though, it was hard to get used to . I mean, I have two holes to pee from now so it’s pretty hard to just get it out the right one . So I’ve been practicing with it!”

“Please spare me the details . Women shouldn’t talk about pee like that . ”

As ever, she’d never stop on her own .

“… Ummm . So, it’s still there? When’s it supposed to go away?”

“She said it’d be sometime within the next year… but it’s basically just a part of me now . No, it’s always been a part of me! … I think of it like my child . Like how it grows up when I care for it—”

“Ahem! Uhh, so, we’ll be going to the imperial capital, your house is there right? … Will it be alright?”

Although I didn’t exactly damage her… she did manage to have an extra, well, tool .

Her parents learning of that seems a bit scary .

“Well, you could probably hide it for a little while, but…”

“Do not worry yourself! For I… have realized I am a man! Just look at this thing!”

“That’s exactly why I’m worrying!”

Don’t say anything about having one, seriously . I mean really, promise me, yeah? It’d suck, so please don’t .

“But well, I feel like we’ve deepened our relationship, Master! So this is what they all talked about, bonding by peeing together? I bet it is!”

“The… f*ck? Never again . Seriously, please, I can feel my mind breaking . ”

“Awww! … Oh well, I’ll join in on Wataru-sensei or Gozoh-dono next time!”

It looked like the next victim wouldn’t be me again, so I decided to leave it be .

Let’s not step on any snakes I don’t have to…

After we ate, I suddenly remembered how I was the only one left out when we were dealing with the flame dragon a few days before . I was a bit worried about it, so I decided to ask Ichika for more information .

“Sooo, Ichika-sensei . Got a sec?”

“What’s up?”

Hmm, how should I put it? I was worried about everyone easily coming to grips with Ontentoo but just couldn’t accept Igni .

“Why was Igni no good but Ontentoo was OK?”

“Oh, that’s ’cause of magnitudes . ”

“Magnitudes?”

Ichika nodded when I parroted the word back to her .

“Like their status . I meant, between Igni and Ontentoo, Ontentoo’s is bigger . Like, Ontentoo’s is waaaaaay bigger . ”

“… Yeah, I don’t follow . ”

I mean, if his is bigger, wouldn’t that mean Ontentoo’s more frightening?

“Mmm, to put it a way ya’ll understand… it’s like comparing a bag of flour to the entire field? Igni bein’ the flour, Ontentoo the field . ”

Oh .

I started to understand what Ichika was saying .

To put it another way, it’s the difference between being able to comprehend a numerical value at first sight versus not .

To put it some other ways, a truck versus a skyscraper, or a dump truck versus the ground itself . Like what kind of damage could it deal…?

“Igni’s, well, easy to understand just how strong she is . Ontentoo’s more… unknowable . It’s more like yer the only person that’d think [Oh yeah, he’s a great guy], Goshujin-sama . ”

“It’s that big of a difference?”

Saying that, Ichika leaned forward to whisper something into my ears so that no one else could hear .

“By the way, Goshujin-sama… in terms of magical power only, it’s probably the same for Goshujin-sama too?”

“Eh?”

“I mean, yer a hero . It’s natural ya’d be that strong right?”

“… But like, I haven’t trained at all?”

Ichika shrugged and sighed, a gesture that seemed to say something like [That’s why ya don’t get it, Goshujin-sama] .

“Goshujin-sama’s been usin’ [Create Golem] most every day ya? That’s magic, remember? And I’ve heard stuff about how stuff like meditation and faith raisin’ magic power . ”

“… Wait, sleeping is training?”

Now that I think about it, I’d had to drink tons of mana potions to restore my magical power from using [Create Golem] during that last Dungeon Battle, but nowadays I basically don’t use them at all . Well, I they do taste kind of alright, so I do sip some now and then .

“I’ve also heard about how using yer magical power up and then letting it entirely fill back up over and over and over again can actually improve yer resilience and capacity . Dunno if that’s true though . ”

I see, so your resilience improves by exhausting your supply, while your maximum capacity increases by storing it up… or something? Though she did say it might not be true .

“So then, it’s just my guess but like… imagine heroes have like a hundred points . Wataru woulda split his half ‘n half between strength and magic yeah? But yers is more like all in on magic . Get it? It makes sense . ”

“Yeah . Great job, Ichika . Your theory makes sense . ”

“Also, Goshujin-sama, ya know how far you’ll be able to go usin’ magic yeah? Yer upper limit I mean . ”

“…”

Crap, I have no clue . I mean like, magic’s something that you can do anything with if you have the magical power for it, is that the upper limit?

Isn’t that a contradictory question, like if you’re asked a [Yes] or [No] question like [Is your answer [No]?] . Whatever you answer could mean either .

… Come to think of it, it was a fail, but I did try summoning Ichika with that [Summon Gargoyle] magic a while back, and even that should be possible if I’d reorganized it to be closer to [Teleport] or something . I just needed the magical power for it .

“Not bein’ able to respond straight off is what I mean . To be honest, me, Gozoh, Wataru—none of us can figure out how strong yer magical power is, Goshujin-sama . ”

“And physically?”

“I could probably beat ya if ya didn’t wear a clothes golem . Ya’d probably even lose against a Pavueran punk . ”

Oh . Alright then . Well, I’m confident in my magical ability so there’s that I guess .

“Hey, am I actually pretty awesome?”

“Yer just now gettin’ it?”

Ichika spoke in amazement . It got me thinking .

“But yeah… as far as battle’s concerned… Goshujin-sama, yer magical power’s just too much . If ya put it next to Igni’s magical power, yers would probably drown it completely? It’s like S-Rank with a good bit to spare . Ya’d get wrecked if ya didn’t have the clothes golem on, but with it… ya’d beat even B-Rank adventurers… yeah . ”

Mulling it over for a moment, Ichika turned to me again .

“Objectively lookin’, Goshujin-sama’s amazin’?”

“O-Oh . ”

I guess I am? I guess, since if not there’s no way I’d ever have something like a connection to B-Rank adventurers .

… Though I guess it wasn’t just a connection, be it the dragon subjugation or Ontentoo .

“So . Today’s dinner is meat from the great boar Meat-senpai and everyone hunted . Wataru sliced the meat suuuper thin and boiled it!”

“Shabushabu1 huh . Is there any sauce?”

By the way, this world has shabushabu too . It sounded like the god of food, Hero Ishidaka, made it well known… I wonder if he spread the concept of draining the animal’s blood first, too?

Well, I guess it’s possible he didn’t . It’d be a profitable thing to keep close, after all .

“… Is there a magic that can drain blood in one go?”

“Huh? Why’d ya bring that up? That’d be super convenient . You can do it?”

“Is it space-time magic, or water magic? Should the blood drain out of the body directly? Or maybe from its mouth… well, it might be impossible . ”

“That’d kill a human straight off if ya used it on them… Goshujin-sama’s cruel . ”

Don’t say that . It’s supposed to be a convenient magic, not some instakill magic .

… I guess it’s just another example of it depending on how it’s used?