Chapter 311

Extra: Crossing the River

The next day, we’d come to the river to make our way to South Donsama .

According to what Wataru told me, the river was around a hundred meters across if you went straight . There were stairs that descended to a harbor around two meters above the water, along with a ferry docked there .

There was a slope for wheeled vehicles to descend as well, of course .

That said, we weren’t at the area to get onto the ferry .

“—and so we’ll be crossing the water today . ”

“Oi, hold up . ”

“What’s wrong, Kehma-san?”

“I mean yeah, crossing the river is fine . But how’d it come to [Running Across the River] being a thing?”

“Because it’s something special in this town, water running!”

Yeah . Following Wataru here, it turned out that this was some sort of self challenge spot .

It seemed he was a bit of a celebrity here too, since people who’d come here to challenge themselves were calling out to Wataru and seeming overall giddy at seeing him .

“Wataru-san! Please teach me!”

“Over here! Watch me run, Wataru-sensei!”

“Are those people with him his pupils?”

—that kind of stuff .

Incidentally, it seemed that the number of people that were able to successfully cross the river was somewhere in the double digits, including Wataru .

“Alright then, how about you give it a go, Kehma-san?”

Heck no . I don’t feel like running over a river . Do I look like a sports junkie to you?

“Oh yeah, Ortega-san, the person who made the inn we were at yesterday, managed to do it, too . In this town, people who’re able to cross the river are called heroes . ”

“Heeeh, thanks for the info . ”

“Which is why, Kehma-san, I think you should at least give it a go . ”

“Which is why my butt . I ain’t doin’ it!”

“I want to see if you can do it, Kehma . ”

Rokuko supported Wataru from off to the side . Nope! Definitely not!

“It’d be bad if I fell into the river . I could drown . ”

“Oh, don’t worry man . This place is famous, there’s a rescue team always swimming around . ”

Famous? How much free time do these people have to even have a rescue team? Monsters won’t appear? It’s safe? Oh, so it’s only safe during a certain time range huh . Heeeh~ .

“… Changing clothes after I get wet sounds troublesome . ”

“You have [Dry] and [Cleanup] . That’d be enough . ”

Kuh, life magic is too convenient!

It looks like Wataru’s wanting me to do it, no matter what .

“C’mon dude, give it a shot . Maybe you’ll like it?”

“I can’t do the impossible . ”

“When there’s a will, there’s a way!”

“I don’t have any merits like that . ”

“Could you show me that you do?”

Rokuko interrupted us with a self-satisfied look . But like… I don’t . It’s more like I’d just get another demerit after I fall in—which I definitely would .

“… Goshujin-sama . ”

Meat looked like she really wanted to try it . Her tail was wagging back and forth . She was definitely looking forward to it .

“Kuro . You don’t have to hold yourself back for me, go for it . ”

“Okay!”

“Oh, so Kuro-chan’s participating! Alright, let me show you how to do it . ”

Saying that, Wataru crouched in preparation to dash .

“Momentum is important! Kehma-san, make sure you take a good look too . ”

“I’m not doing it though?”

“I’m off! Hoh!”

Lot listening to me in the least, Wataru took off running . No—it was more like he got shot from a cannon .

Each time his feet hit the water, they sent out waves of force .

… Just before his left foot would sink, his right foot hit, followed by his left foot doing the same .

After a moment, Wataru reached the other side and came back .

“… And that’s how you do it . So how about it, think you go it?”

“That’s inhuman . As expected of a hero . ”

“Hah, don’t flatter me~”

You took that as praise?

“Umm, Kuro, you don’t have to push yourself . ”

“No, I’ll do it . ”

“Kehma-san, see how hyped she is? You should follow her example!”

You can stop looking at me like that—I’m not going to do it . You know that, right?

With that, Meat crouched to prepare herself to dash .

She was concentrating… and then started running . She then began to kick at and soar across the water .

Maybe she can do it?… But soon as I thought that, she sank around halfway across the river .

Collected by the rescue team, Meat was brought back to where we were standing .

“Ah, too bad . You almost made it across—you get brought to the other side if you make it more than halfway . ”

“Muu…”

I used [Cleanup] and [Dry] on Meat, whose tail was sagging down in disappointment .

Gozoh stepped up .

“Alright, I’m gonna give it a go! Roppu, see if you can figure out the trick . ”

“Ooh, good luck, Gozoh . I’ll get you something good to drink if you make it . ”

“It’s impossible for me! How ’bout ye get me some to comfort me after I fail?”

Gozoh was up to bat this time . Again, with a crouch .

… He broke into a run, but sank on the first step . The rescue team nearby collected him and quickly brought him back .

“Kuh, guess it was useless…”

“You made it two meters at least . It’s okay . ”

Seeming like he knew it was going to happen, Gozoh didn’t look too down about it . He used [Dry] on himself .

“Alright, next up’s Kehma!”

“Nope, not gonna . What’s with you wanting me to cross the river?”

“Because I’m pretty sure you’ll make it . ”

“I think so too . Kehma can do it . ”

“I agree . ”

“That’s a bit much… I can’t do what I can’t do . ”

Haaah, oh well . If they’re going to be like that, why don’t I just try it?

“Alright, I get it . I’ll just go until I hit the other side . ”

“Oh! So Kehma-san’s finally getting serious…”

Everyone took that crouching start so far, so I… didn’t .

I just prepared to run off normally .

“Hoh . So you’re going classic style, eh?”

Wataru said that, but I had no clue what he was talking about .

I didn’t pay him any mind and took a step into the water . And sank .

I then continued to just swum to the other side .

“Wh… at…!?”

It was a bit hard to swim with my clothes on, but even while being pulled downstream, I managed to keep going thanks to the golem assist .

With that, I made it to the other side .

“… Phew, that was tiring . Hey guys, c’mon and hurry up—!”

“You’re not supposed to just swim though!?”

Rokuko raised a complaint from the other shore, but I ignored it . I mean, I never said that I would run across .

In the end, Rokuko and the others just came along with the coach on the ferry . The heck, doesn’t that just make me look stupid?

“That was an amazing defeat, Kehma-san . ”

Wataru spoke with such a big smile that he was practically radiating light . I tilted my head .

“Eh? I never said I’d run across though?”

“That’s not what I meant! We’d overlooked the essence of river crossing to start with . Essentially, river crossing is for the sake of making it to the other shore . There was never actually a rule for running across! In other words, Kehma-san, the moment you decided to go classic style for your start, you won!”

What an abrupt, weirdly reasoned explanation . Very .

I just took it as Wataru’s usual, annoying goal of wanting to lose to me . Given that he loves getting played around with by Nerune, he’s definitely an M .