Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
We’re still continuing with the story about the witches. It’s with both Emma and Rose combined.
Thank you for the typo reports.
11/27 22:11: The latter half of the story is slightly edited.
Chapter 035 – Fufufu, son. Get Some Hot Liquor Ready
“Emma, are you ready?”
“Yes, anytime.”
On the outskirts of the village of Eryn, Rean and Emma faced each other in the square while Valimar stood at the side.
The atmosphere was like that in a training ground, and from the sidelines, Roselia and Celine, the referees who were standing in the center, could almost be seen.
Furthermore, children and adults of Eryn watching with curiosity surrounded the square, making it look like a small match was taking place.
“Come, Power of Ashen—— Loa Valimar!”
“Oh!”
At the same time as Rean’s declaration, a dragon-like energy nearly ten arges in size appeared.
A torrent of spiritual power reverberated throughout the surroundings and the giant made of mana trembled as it stirred the adults while the children became extremely excited.
“Et Rex Spirituum, Agrum Impetu Rapere, ratio Magia miles hic (The king of spirit, with power to tear the world apart, bring the servant here).”
On the other hand, as Emma casted a spell, the air above her shuddered and something that could be described as a dimensional hole appeared.
From there, the primitive Magic Knight, Ol-Gadia, emerged.
It was her weapon to compete against the Divine Knight, subordinated using Master Quartz “Geass” and Emma’s magic.
“Hou, we did hear of it, but it seems you have it completely under control.”
“It is all thanks to the guidance I have received from Schmidt’s Classroom.”
“Perhaps he is a modern-day gnome? Okay then, Schwarzer. No need to hold back, just do it to your heart’s content.”
“Okay…… I’m coming, Emma!”
Rean ordered Loa Valimar to attack Ol-Gadia.
Emma used the Divine Knight manipulation skill to move Ol-Gadia and avoid the incoming fist.
The difference in specs put me at a disadvantage… I didn’t have any leeway to maneuver during the fight against jaegers, but with this!
When Ol-Gadia took on Loa Valimar, Emma began chanting to use her Arts.
Rean quickly tried to interfere with the attack with Crimson Slash, but he remembered it was supposed to be Emma’s training, so he held himself back.
It was one thing if it was real combat, but there was no need to be so ruthless at the initial stages of their training.
In the middle of his hesitation, Emma completed her Arts.
“Lordly Flare!”
“Nuu!”
Thanks to the benefits of the Magic Knight, the strengthened flames burned through Loa Valimar’s outer shell, causing its body to crumble.
Loa Valimar immediately launched a counterattack, but Emma had already successfully performed her second Arts.
“Crescent Shell.”
The protective wall surrounding Ol-Gadia weakened Loa Valimar’s attack.
Even though she had no leeway to block attacks completely, the reduced damage allowed the Magic Knight’s movement to continue unabated, and it slashed at Loa Valimar using the thick greatsword in its hand.
Loa Valimar dodged it and went on to attack…… and such actions repeated until Emma’s spiritual power ran out.
At the moment, Rean and others were helping Emma with her training.
It was about increasing her base amount of spiritual power and learning how to use it further…… It could be said to be like laying her foundation in martial arts.
Emma was someone who had the qualification to be active outside Eryn as a wandering witch to begin with.
With the magic that Rean knew and didn’t know in her arsenal, her basic power was basically sufficient.
Even so, she was completely shut out by the Zephyr, and the fact she couldn’t shake off Vita’s causality manipulation could only be attributed to the difference in their fundamental strength.
Emma could learn spells from Roselia and other witches. But whether she could use them effectively in combat was an entirely different issue.
Perhaps it could be compared to the difference between Rean and Aurelia.
Simply put, their strength was different.
It wasn’t like she was weak, but that it just wasn’t enough. So what she needed to do was to move forward and aim for the level that could only be reached through a lot of experience and tireless effort.
The training she was currently working on was to standardize support through Arts in parallel, rather than just moving the Divine Knight.
With the control of Ol-Gadia and after activation of Arts, if either one was missing, she would be defeated by Loa Valimar.
Rean also increased his output of power by imparting power of ogre controlled by Eryn’s pendant to Loa Valimar.
{“Now!”}
“Kuh…… The Wall!”
Loa Valimar’s fist, strengthened by the power of ogre, knocked Ol-Gadia down, and Emma, who had lost her shield, was pursued.
Screams rose up from surroundings, but instead of running away, Emma deployed her magic, creating a wall to block Loa Valimar’s first.
But perhaps due to a difference in mass or control, Emma was blown away, despite protecting herself.
That was when Roselia called a stop.
“That’s enough! Fumu, that’s some pretty impressive controlling skills. We’d like to continue the battle against the Divine Knight, but let’s take a short break.”
“Haah, haah, haah……”
“Aura, give Emma some potions. Liese, get us something to drink.”
After giving some instructions to the adults watching Rean and Emma’s practice, Roselia approached Emma, who was breathing heavily and lying on the ground, and she said something to her.
Rean was also about to say something, but before he could, the Eryn children came over.
“Amazing, outsiders can use magic too?!”
“Nii-chan is amazing!”
“Emma nee-san should be stronger now compared to how she was when she was in the past and yet……”
Sigyn, who was interested in fortune telling, Albireo, who longed for the outside world, and Nina, who looked up to Emma like an older sister, all gave their respective praises.
Rean had talked a lot with them when he first came to Eryn before, but unfortunately, it seemed the children had not yet been able to see Osbon.
“Resu, resu.” 1
“Oops, sorry about that, Rean-kun. It seems Noa got too excited.”
A young man, holding a child that was too old to be called a baby, who seemed to be around two years old, said. I think his name is Eucles? Thought Rean, as he tried to recall the name. Rean firmly grabbed the hand of the small child, Noa. She was probably trying to shake hands with him.
That seemed to be the right answer, as Noah squealed with joy.
“This isn’t magic. I just used the gatekeeper that appeared during the trial of Divine Knight.”
“Eh, that’s actually possible?!”
Sigyn and Albiero were genuinely surprised, but Nina, who seemed to know something about Divine Knight’s trial to some extent, was stunned when she heard that.
“That makes me curious too, boy. How did you do it?”
The one who interrupted them was Gandolf, who ran a workshop in the village.
Being a craftsman who dealt with various things related to Divine Knights, he seemed interested in the story of an irregular in the Ashen’s trial.
“I’m not sure either. I just had a strong desire to get my hands on it at the time.”
The reason Rean desired for the Power of Ashen was extremely simple.
In the Ashen Battlefield, Rosine, who shouldn’t be able to see Osbon, was able to perceive it, so Rean desired the Gray Power also known as Loa Erebonius, who was wielding it.
It was done half out of impulse, but perhaps it was thanks to Emma and Celine who helped him out back then.
When Rean thought of it that way, he was even more grateful to them.
After hearing this, Nina’s admiration for Emma grew stronger, while Gandolf could only make an exasperated voice.
“Amazing…… I have to try my best too! Rean-san, please join me for another magic experiment later!”
“I’ll come when I have time. But please don’t fail this time, okay? I was really surprised when my body turned into stone the last time.”
“Ahahah, don’t worry~ something like that won’t happen in succession! Besides, I learnt healing magic this time, so it won’t be a problem even if the same thing happens again.”
“…………Nii-chan, I’m counting on you. Please take my place and become nee-chan’s sacrifice……!”
“Sigyn, speaking of fortune telling, I have a friend who is a really talented fortune teller. If I get the chance, I’ll bring her over.”
“Really! Dallier-sama told me it was too early to become her apprentice, so I’m happy to hear that!”
Although Rean only got acquainted with them during the day of the teleportation accident and today, Rean’s natural sociability allowed him to become friends with the children, who longed to go outside, without putting any barriers between them.
Rean himself also treated them with the feelings of how they would be his future neighbors, so he was a man who unconsciously covered the moat of Emma and Roselia.
“By the way, Gandolf-san, about Valimar’s weapon, can I ask for a temporary weapon before we procure the Zemurian Ore?”
“Ouh, that said, I don’t have any tachis ready, so give me a little time. It won’t be as durable as one made of Zemurian Ore, but I can make a proper tachi for Divine Knight. As for Valimar, there’s something called Orb——”
The conversation then turned to Valimar’s strengthening plan, so the children dropped the conversation for the time being and headed towards Emma.
After talking with Osbon about EX Orb and Valimar’s strengthening parts, Emma’s strength had started to return.
“Okay, then I’ll use a tactical link this time.”
“In the first place, you should feel that it’s strange to establish a tactical link with a Divine Knight… or rather, its personality.”
Following Roselia’s signal, who agreed with a fed-up Emma, the two resumed their training.
＊
“Phew~…… this feels good. I’d like to let Aurelia-san feel this as a fellow bath enthusiast, but I guess it’s difficult since this is a hidden village.”
Dressing in his bathing robes, Rean stretched his back and soaked in a hot spring, known as the Fairy Spring, soothing the fatigue of the day.
After that, to get used to remote controlling, the training was carried out not with the Magic Knight, but with Valimar’s main body VS Loa Valimar.
There was the issue of the difference in specs, but Rean was an intermediate grade in Eight Leaves One Blade who could fight barehanded. He continued to parry Valimar’s attacks and once again, it became a battle of attrition, waiting for Emma to run out of spiritual power.
Unlike Ol-Gadia, remote control of Valimar seemed to require concentration, the accuracy and the number of parallel activation of Arts were lower in number and accuracy compared to when Emma controlled the Magic Knight.
It seemed that was the part where more training was required.
The adults were surprised by the combat style that wasn’t the same as the Divine Knight’s, but they turned their attention to the strength of numbers shown by Loa Valimar and the Magic Knight and expressed their admiration.
After finishing the practice and playing with the children for a while, Rean was shown around the village hot springs by Roselia, where he enjoyed himself.
“So is Valimar stronger when ridden, after all?”
{“I wonder about that. It’s been over a month since I ended up like this, but I’ve gotten used to it as if I was like this from the beginning.”}
“Is that a right thing to say as a Divine Knight?”
[“Fufufu, son. I don’t think the person who was the cause of it should say something like that.”]
“So it doesn’t mean you can’t ride it?”
{“I wonder. Since my consciousness stays with Rean, my main body is really just a machine. I can’t say anything since it hasn’t been tried yet.”}
“——Goodness, this generation’s Awakener is truly irregular.”
A bell-like voice interrupted the men’s conversation.
Looking in that direction, Rean saw Roselia and Emma, also wearing their bathing suits, dripping their feet in the water.
(……………*mouth open and close repeatedly*).
“What, you have nothing to say to me and Celine?”
Celine was lying in a bucket that Roselia was holding in both hands.
Rean quickly turned around to avoid looking at Emma and greeted Roselia as she placed the bucket carrying Celine into the bathtub.
“Ah, err, Roselia-san. You are here.”
“Be at ease. How is it, the hot spring our village is proud of? They’re amazing and can heal minor injuries right away.”
“It feels great. It’s the perfect place to wash off sweat after training.”
“Phew…… it’s been a while since I last came here, but it feels really nice………………… wait, why is Rean-san here?!”
“You’re reacting so late.”
Emma, with her face in the hot water, stood up.
Perhaps because she was exhausted, she hadn’t noticed Rean until now.
Perhaps due to the sudden change of water flow, Celine, who had been floating in the bucket next to them and enjoying sauna-like heat, cried out, “Nyaaaaahhh?!” as it flipped over and fell into the water.
“Wai…… Kyaah!”
“Emma, what’s wr…… bububu.”
Rean turned around upon hearing Emma’s voice and saw the overturned bucket, then hurriedly rescued Celine.
But after checking the location of the bucket, Rean quickly closed his eyes and approached, causing Emma to step back in shock. But perhaps due to fatigue, she lost her balance and fell, causing a huge pillar of water shooting up.
As she fell, her foot slid forward, scooping up hot water that went straight up Rean’s nose.
Because Rean’s eyes were closed and his attention was focused on Celine, the blast of hot water hit him directly in the face, causing Rean to burst out coughing uncontrollably.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch……”
“Cough, cough, Emma, what is……”
“”Ah.””
Then Rean’s eyes met with Emma’s at close range.
Rean’s gaze was fixed on Emma’s face with her hair down, with droplets of hot spring water dripping from the ends of her hair into her ample chest wrapped in her bathing suit, and the position she had fallen in —— which had her legs spread apart, and even with the steam coming of hot spring, Rean’s pointlessly trained eyesight caught a perfect glimpse of her.
Emma, too, saw Rean’s gaze move from her face to her chest, and then toward her lower body, which caused her to close her legs.
Emma’s action finally brought Rean back to his senses and he turned around as well.
“S-sorry, Emma!”
“N-no, I was in a panic too……”
“Rather, you should apologize to me first……”
“Ah, sorry, Celine.”
“In the first place, this is a mixed bath to begin with. Why are you panicking like that?”
“Who do you think is to blame for this?! Obaa-chan invited me casually, so I thought for sure only the three of us were taking a bath……!”
Remembering her previous disgrace, Emma eventually sank her body deeper until her mouth was in the water.
Rean also turned around with a flushed face and looked at Roselia, but she just looked back and forth between Rean and Emma and didn’t say anything.
“U~hn, it really feels like adolescence. It’s like the essence of youth is seeping into the water.”
“Rose, that sounds like an old lady.”
“We are an old hag, so it’s fine. By the way, Schwarzer, there’s something we’d like to ask you.”
“Y-yes.”
Perhaps because he was agitated as he tried to erase the images of Emma’s half-naked body, especially her voluptuous chest, that kept coming to his mind, Rean placed the rescued Celine back into the bucket and pushed it toward Roselia.
The momentum of the bucket caused it to stop dead in front of Roselia.
Celine blinked at Rean’s mysterious behavior, but for some reason, Roselia also repeated the same action and pushed the bucket back toward Rean.
“McBurn the Almighty Conflagration, is it? We have something to ask about that. According to that doll on your arm, he didn’t seem to be an ordinary human. We would like to know more information about him.”
“That said, what should I tell you? His appearance?’
“Anything is fine, for now. The conversation you had with him back on the island might be important as well.”
Rean nodded at Roselia’s words, and gave as much information about McBurn, be it his characteristics or combat power, as much information as he could remember, while pushing the bucket back to Roselia.
Roselia checked information one by one and finally pushed the bucket back to Rean.
“Hey, what are you two doing!”
“”Well, we just felt like it.””
“Don’t give the same reply at the same time!”
“It makes my head hurt twice as much,” complained Celine in the flowing bucket, but the two ignored that as Roselia approached Rean.
“Roselia-san?”
“Hm, look into our eyes for a moment.”
Rean did as he was told and looked at her scarlet eyes.
They may look like those of an ordinary child, but when Rean looked into her eyes which seemed to contain the crimson glow of the moon, coupled with the fact that he was immersed with the hot spring at the moment, he gradually had a dreamy feeling.
Roselia gently put her small hand on Rean’s heart.
Rean’s heart skipped a beat.
Rather than out of embarrassment, Rean had the illusion that the power of ogre and the Power of Ashen that dwelled in his heart were resonating with Roselia.
The moment Rean felt something being torn off, everything went dark before his eyes and he couldn’t properly perceive what happened afterward.
＊
“O-obaa-chan!”
Emma came to her senses and raised her voice.
She wondered why Roselia suddenly put her hand on Rean’s chest, but then he suddenly collapsed onto her as if he had fainted.
Both Rean and Emma were embarrassed being in the bath together, but seeing Rean’s state, Emma forgot her embarrassment and approached Rean.
Roselia, who was holding Rean’s head on her shoulder, looked at Emma and gave her a mischievous smile.
Her small lips came to Rean’s neck, which was supported by her shoulder—— then she bit it.
“Ah…………”
With Emma’s shocked voice in the background, Roselia sent her “power” into Rean.
Seeing the Power of Ashen up close, Roselia gave Rean the opportunity to put it into good use.
“Don’t worry, we didn’t take anything from him. Rather, we gave some of our power as gratitude, you know?’
Roselia proudly explained to her granddaughter.
She said that the Brave Order was based on the Power of Ashen…… She strengthened the connection made through tactical links through support of Arts.
To be more specific, it would reduce casting time to zero, and it was a support for Arts users like Emma.
“And so, if he establishes a tactical link using the power of Ashen from now on, Emma’s parallel operations will become much easier.”
“I see……”
“In addition, I took a peek at the brat’s memories earlier. Certainly those flames, especially the black flames, were nothing short of a threat. But don’t worry, Emma. Since we will train you in earnest, sealing those flames will be a piece of cake. We weren’t known as the Kin of Fire for nothing.”
“O-okay.”
“Also, Ashen. You might not be aware of it since you have no memory, but there is something beyond Loa Valimar. Show us how you can successfully reach the gate on the ‘other side’.”
{“Hou. So I can get even stronger than my current state.”}
[“Fufufu, Vali-kun. It is a secret trial…… it means both of you can still become stronger.”]
The voices of the two could be heard from Rean, who was supposed to be unconscious, and Roselia chuckled in response.
Emma narrowed her eyes at the scene.
“What, is there something you are dissatisfied about?”
“Um, on top of seeing my own grandmother exposing so much skin at such a close range to a male classmate, even though you were wearing a bathing suit, but you also attacked him, and seeing you had a conversation with an unconscious person, I don’t know how to describe my feelings……”
“You, aren’t you being influenced by that brat in a strange way? Besides, we might be hag, but our appearance is that of a lively girl, so seeing both us and Emma in a bathing suit, the brat must feel that it’s worth it, right?’
Is that the thing you are supposed to retort to? Sighed Roselia as she looked at her granddaughter who grew in a strange way.
Emma wasn’t sure how to react at the sight of a young boy being attacked by a young-looking girl, so for the time being, she asked Osbon and Valimar not to speak too much, for the sake of Rean’s honor.
[“Fufufu, son. Being unconscious right now was unfortunate in a way, but also fortunate in another.”]
Muttering to itself so no one could hear, Osbon also enjoyed the feeling of soaking in a hot spring with its clothes on, and the free day spent in Eryn came to an end.
Author Note:
I think there is a custom among otakus who get excited about any story where a mysterious person (of the opposite sex) kisses them. I wonder if it often happens to people who love the protagonist. I think it’s hard to judge using shoujo manga standards, though…
One of the good things about Roselia is that she righteously calls herself an old hag.
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