Volume 5 - CH 19

Chapter 19-

T/N: Sorry guys, I kind of messed up a bit in the earlier chapter. Ancient Dragon was called ‘Grandfather’, not Master. I apologize for the mistake. I have fixed the earlier chapter. Though using same

I accepted the request of the Dragon Grandpa. Though, it wasn’t something that could be done in a jiffy.

For now, I woke up the unconscious Yuusha after seeing off the Dragon Grandpa who returned to his burrow.

“Haaa! A giant dragon…… Am I alive, Chise-san!?”

“Calm down. He was an extremely intelligent dragon. We had a pleasant conversation.”

“He was a kind dragon grandpa.”

“I’m glad~ I almost thought I was a goner there~”

I guess this kind of event was too stimulating for a 17-year-old girl, eh? I thought so while heading for the settlement of the floating island. There, we built a cabin in the corner of the village after talking with Shael and Yahada so we could install a <Transfer Gate> in it.

“Chise-san, isn't this house a bit too small for us? I think it’s going to be tough living here.”

Yuishia said worriedly while looking at the stone cabin Teto built with her earth magic.

“Don’t worry. This isn’t where we're going to live— Teto, I'm taking it out.”

“Roger-nanodesu!”

I addressed Yuishia to ease her worry and then took out the <Transfer Gate> from my magic bag. We only managed to collect the valuable items before making our escape, and Yuishia was looking at one of those items — a square door magic tool.

“Chise-san, Teto-san. This object was in the main room of our old house, wasn’t it? What is it?”

“It’s a <Transfer Gate>. A magic tool which can let you transfer between a pair of gates.”

“When you pass through it, the scenery will be like whoosh and change.”

“<Transfer Magic> is high-grade magic, isn’t it? There are hardly any, or maybe not even one magician who can use it in any country, no? A magic tool which can make it possibl—…… ah, Kuro-san!”

<Nya!>

She hadn’t even finished her words when Kuro slipped past her legs and jumped into the <Transfer Gate> and vanished, making her yelp in surprise.

Almost reflexively, she immediately ran to look behind the transfer gate to check for signs of Kuro.

“Kuro-san disappeared!”

“Come, let’s register your mana on it.”

“Teto's hungry, let’s quickly go back and have lunch!”

Teto and I pulled Yuishia’s hand to let them touch the transfer gate to register her. With this, she could now use the transfer gate at any time.

“Alright, time to return.”

“Inhale Haa~…… I am going!”

Yuishia tightly shut her eyes and passed through the transfer gate. Teto and I pulled her hand and returned to our mansion in the <Empty Wilderness>.

< < <— —Welcome back, Master, Teto-sama, and dear guest.> > >

And when she gingerly re-opened her closed eyes, she was full of surprise again at the unexpected scene of a row of maids bowing their heads in welcome.

“We’re home, Baretta. This girl has become my disciple from today onward.”

“……Ah, yes! Nice to meet you!”

Yuishia, who finally collected herself, bowed her head. Baretta, too, performed a graceful bow in response.

<Disciple of Master Yuishia-sama, is it? I’m Baretta, the head maid of this Mansion. It’s my pleasure to be your acquaintance.>

Yuishia was surprised when she saw Chise being treated as if she were an aristocrat, and then looked around at the mention of the word ‘Mansion’.

It was then that she realized she was in an unfamiliar room, and confirmed she was also somewhere else after looking at the scenery outside of the window.

“Amazing! We really transferred to another place! It's amazing, Chise-san! And the clouds are overhead!”

I guess seeing the presence of clouds above us must have made it quicker for her to accept reality since the floating island was located far above the clouds.

“Somehow, her reaction gives me a fresh feeling.”

“Hmm? It’s about Majou-sama, so it’s natural!”

I felt a fresh feeling seeing her surprised appearance at the revelation of my abilities which I usually kept hidden. Though for Teto, I seem to be an omnipotent person.

Selene always wore the expression of ‘Well, that’s just how Okaa-san is~’, but Yuishia’s expression made me understand that it was more than shocking enough for an ordinary person.

I guess I’m going to see a lot of similar reactions when we use the <Transfer Gate> for the migration from the floating island.

Then a flustered Yuishia, unaccustomed to being treated respectfully by Baretta and the others, said to me,

“Chise-san, they’re calling you Master, so are you an aristocrat? No way, so you are working as an adventurer while hiding your identity……?”

“I’m not. Now or in the past, I’m just a commoner.”

While speaking, we left the room and headed for the dining area under the guidance of Baretta and the maids.

<Today’s menu for dinner is stew and hamburger steak made using tomatoes from the farm and orc minced meat.>

“Sounds great. Is everything here alright?”

<Master has already explained what to do when you last came home, so there’s no problem as of now.>

We returned here once while Yuishia was taken to the Suzurland’s residence to prepare for our trip to the floating island, and we left after giving instructions on what to do in what situation in case our trip lasted for a long time.

Though, I didn’t think we would be back within a day.

<Master has returned quite early this time, have you managed to reach the floating island?>

“We did! Anyway, Teto wants to have dinner quickly!”

“We left the rented house in Lovile, so we’re going to live here for a while with Yuishia. Well, I'll explain everything later.”

<Understood. I can finally attend to Master.>

At the long table in the dining room, Teto, Yuishia, and I took our seats. Alongside us, several other mechanoids who already acquired souls, including Baretta, sat together to have dinner.

Service dolls who have yet to acquire a soul didn’t need to eat so they took turns in serving dinner.

“Let’s eat. Thank you for the food.”

“Thank you for the food-nanodesu!”

We started eating with everyone, and amidst that, Baretta and the other mechanics were having conversations in extremely stiff, mechanical tones.

Though it may not seem like it, their individual quirks were subtly different, which I have become accustomed to enough to notice.

Teto was completely focused on her meal, though Yuishia, who seemed to be restless in a different environment, made me smile wryly.

And then, I began to explain the situation to Baretta while sipping on some post-meal tea.

“So, about our trip to the floating island— —”

I talked about how we managed to get into the floating island, and our encounter with several mythical beasts, and the two demonic races: the Angel and Dragon-Demon races.

Then I told her about our meeting with the Dragon Grandpa, the owner of the floating island who governed them, the history behind the birth of the floating island, how the two races came into existence, and lastly, his request.

Yuishia, who had fainted at the sight of the Ancient Dragon, looked like her whole common sense was falling apart as her expression was constantly shifting while she listened to me speak.

<I see. So you have accepted that request, Master?>

“Yeah, fortunately, there are very few people who live in this <Empty WIlderness>, unlike other places.”

While this place might rival a small nation in size, the only ones living here were two whimsical adventurers, me and Teto, and we were usually out on a journey. The main ones living here were Baretta and the 20 maids who were managing the whole <Empty Wilderness>.

There are also some working golems but, there will still be plenty of empty land after the addition of 100-something mythical beasts and 350-something members of the two demonic races.

<I understand the request of the Dragon Grandfather, Master. However, there’s one problem with all this.>

“What’s the problem in it, Baretta?”

<We can create a suitable mana environment for the mythical beasts if we limit the areas in the current <Empty Wilderness> with a barrier magic tool. However, when it comes to creating an environment truly conducive to the survival of these creatures, we still have a long way to go.>

Certainly, Baretta and the rest of the members were planting trees following the ‘Nature’s Route’ strategy to connect with the forest in the southern outskirts of the wilderness, but there was still much work to be done.

<Furthermore, each mythical beast has their own preferred environment, surrounding vegetation, and habitat conditions. We need to conduct ecological surveys of mythical beasts if we want to artificially replicate a place for them.>

“You’re right. However, my plan isn’t to migrate all of them at once. I'm thinking of taking it slow, shifting them here slowly over 10 or more years.”

Moreover, the Dragon Grandpa should also know there was no need to worry about the lifespan factor if the sea mother goddess Luriel already told him about my <Immortality>.

<I apologize for my impertinent words.>

“No, you don’t need to apologize. In fact, as you said, we do need to conduct surveys on their living habits. That’s why, come with us when we visit the floating island next time and you can conduct a survey there. We also need to have a discussion about it with the Dragon Grandpa, after all.”

<Understood.>

After that, I talked to Baretta about administrative things.

Meanwhile, Teto and Yuishia were— —

“C, Chise-san and Baretta-san are having a serious talk, but it’s so hard to understand…… Teto-san, do you understand?”

“Teto doesn’t understand difficult things! But everything will be fine if we leave it to Majou-sama!”

“A, ahaha, I see…”

Yuishia let out a dry chuckle while caressing Kuro, who was perched on her knees.

“Really, why am I even here? And in a plan that’s in the unit of decades, it'll be too late for me to go anywhere.”

“You've acquired the <Slow-Aging> skill, so you won't grow older appearance-wise as quickly as you may think, Yuishia. Though it'll depend on your mana capacity, by the time it’s over, I think you will at most look like an Onee-san in her twenties.”

With so many things happening in a single day, Yuishia had completely forgotten about the ‘Slow-Aging’ skill. 17-year-old Yuishia’s growth and aging will undoubtedly be slowed down due to the skill's effect.

Now that she was my disciple, and has also acquired the slow-aging skill, I guess it was the right time to talk to her.

“There are still many things you don’t know, Yuishia. Like why I asked you to come and live together with us on the first day we met…”

“Why did you… take me in? It wasn’t just to help you out with the household chores?”

I quietly shook my head and began to talk about the <Immortality> factor she possessed.