Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 050– Fufufu, Son. It’s June Field Study⑧ [B]
After completing their marathon around the village, the two people and the cat sat down by the river at the edge of the village.
The village had no inns or restaurants, exactly like a remote area with no facilities to welcome travelers.
So it was only natural for Rean to fish for food while Duvalie prepared a bonfire next to him —— but it didn’t last long.
“Wait a minute! We have no time to eat leisurely!”
“As the saying goes: One can’t fight with an empty stomach. For a calm state of mind, it’s best to have a delicious meal so that we can think of good ideas.”
“Yeah, I think so too.”
“I would have agreed with you if you were not staring so intently at the fishes all this time…… rather, are the fishes here even edible? Won’t it give us an upset stomach?”
Duvalie complained, but still continued to prepare diligently.
Her swiftness in her movements in gutting the fish Rean caught and placing it on a tree branch near the campfire suggested her easily-tempted nature.
As Rean caught and released fishes, as he waited for the fish to be cooked, they organized the information they had gained during the marathon.
“Let’s talk about what we have found so far. I’ll start by saying that there’s no doubt that this is North Ambria.”
“What is your basis for that?”
“It’s the fishes I caught. I went fishing when I first came to North Ambria, and the species I caught were the same. To be precise, how they were before their abnormal evolution. The fishes we can catch at fishing spots are determined by the area. I checked repeatedly, so I think it’s probably right.”
“So that’s why you kept fishing but releasing them afterwards…… it seems you actually think and act.”
“Also, I’m sure the residents of this village were the people who were spirited away. They don’t seem to remember anything about it, though.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, look over here.”
Rean showed Duvalie the documents he received from Toval.
After seeing some of the photos, Duvalie muttered, “This is……”
“Although we don’t have records of everyone, some of the residents match these descriptions. I don’t know why people who were spirited away ended up here like this, though……”
“Let’s put that aside for now. As for what I found out, I think the civilization here is quite old-fashioned. Even for household chores, there are very few places that use orbal tools, which makes me think of civilization that existed before the Orbal Revolution.”
“I was wondering about the buildings being on the outskirts of the village. If the village is normally inhabited and people are living here, I think it’s possible that the cause is somewhere outside.”
There were other things that Rean was curious about, but those were the four main points.
What caught Rean’s attention the most were the people who got spirited away and the buildings on the outskirts of the village.
What Rean and Duvalie had mentioned were mere points of concern they had within the village, but they didn’t seem to be the direct cause of everything.
“Well then, let’s investigate the buildings right away…… Hm, this is delicious.”
Although she was surprised, Duvalue timidly took a bite of the salted grilled fish after sprinkling the salt that Rean took out via Osbon, which made Rean think, you’re eating the fish in the end, but he didn’t say it out loud.
But from her movements when eating, Duvalie seemed to have learnt proper mannerism. Perhaps she was a young lady from some noble family.
After finishing their meal and discussing their future plans, Rean and his group headed towards a building on the outskirts of the village.
“It might be weird to say this myself, but I wonder if this is really North Ambria. To be honest, the North Ambria I have seen is a nation that has lost the foundations allowing people to live decent lives, unlike what is happening in that village. It feels so different that it makes me feel like it’s just a different place that happens to look similar.”
“Singularities are places where phenomena that are originally hard to believe can happen, can occur, which is why they are referred to as such. Surprisingly, it’s possible that this place was North Ambria in the past.”
“Does that mean the black hole is connected to the past?”
“Our investigation is to understand more about that…… or so I thought, but it’s possible that your guess is correct.”
“Eh?”
Celine pointed her paw towards the building in question.
At first glance, it looked like a ruin, but that was all.
That was nothing to back up Rean’s speculation.
[“Fufufu, son. It’s understandable that you didn’t notice, but try to recall the object that turned into salt that you saw before you ended up here…… its shape, that is.”]
Osbon’s words made Rean search the depths of his memory.
He imagined a bird’s-eye view of the thing, most of which had turned to salt——then he realized that the building in front of him matched it.
“Duvalie-san, do you remember the building near the place where we encountered each other?”
“Eh? Yes…… but I only know it as a big lump of salt.”
“And this building matches that one, to an odd degree.”
“What did you say?”
While Duvalie stared at the building, Rean gathered power of ogre into his eyes and used spirit sight.
Then he noticed that the entrance door to the building was filled with unusual spiritual power.
Naturally, Celine, a member of the Hexen Clan, saw through that at a glance, and was the first to point out that Rean’s guess was correct.
Duvalie seemed to have spirit sight, as she stared intently at the door closing the entrance to the building.
“That door…… no, beyond that gate lies the source of the singularity, isn’t it?”
“Yes, I think so too. But if that’s the case, then what about that village? Considering we were absorbed by the hole, it would be more natural if we woke up near that building.”
“Speculating without concrete information is just delusion. Anyway, the best thing to do is to go in and check it out, so let’s get on to it now. We need to get back to the real world as soon as possible, after all.”
“Y-You’re right. We are supposed to be opposing forces…… this is not the time for something like this!”
Duvalie seemed to have returned to her senses, as she distanced herself from Rean and went through the door first.
Rean hurriedly chased after her and went through the door with Celine.
Beyond that was an area surrounded by reefs and the sea.
Or rather, it was the sea.
Finding Duvalie with her mouth wide open in shock, Rean tried to call out to her, but before he could do so, Duvalie turned to face Rean and approached him.
“What, what on earth is going on here! How on earth are we supposed to find something in a place like this!”
Duvalie grabbed Rean by the chest and shook him as hard as she could.
Celine got shaken off and fell out from the hood, letting out a cry as she fell.
“Uuh, this is too much…… what did I do to deserve this……”
Duvalie fell to her knees, covering her mouth and looking like she was about to cry.
But Rean spoke without mercy.
“You did attack us without any intentions to settle the situation through talking, right?”
“Nghu!”
Ignoring Duvalie, who was clutching her chest and trembling, Rean placed Celine back inside his hood and continued.
“But look, we can see land ahead, even though it’s more than a thousand arge away.”
“Eh? A-aah…… you can see it with spirit sight, huh. It looks so strange.”
Just as Duvalie said that, by using spirit sight, Rean was able to see the temple on what appeared to be an isolated island in a landscape that looked like an ocean. It was extremely suspicious.
Even though there were reefs, it would be difficult to jump across such a distance…… Or rather, it would be impossible.
Thinking that they would either have to find a boat or at worst, swim all the way to the destination, it made Rean feel melancholic and he called out to Duvalie.
“Look, if it’s Duvalie-san’s speed, wouldn’t that be possible?”
“W-What do you mean by that……?”
“It’s about running on the water by stepping forward before your other foot sinks in the water.”
“There’s no way I can do that!”
“In that case, please wait here. I’ll go and explore.”
Ignoring Duvalie, who was screaming in completely messed up grammar, Rean took another step towards the sea.
Seeing this, Duvalie muttered, “No way,”
“Schwarzer…… Are you really going to attempt that?”
“No, this is what I can do. Come, Power of Ashen…… Loa Valimar!”
{“Oh!”}
When Rean shouted, a giant energy entity resembling a dragon appeared before their eyes.
“That’s the thing you used against Cryptid……”
“Okay, Valimar. I’m counting on you.
{“Umu. It’s my first time trying it, but there should be no problem.”}
As Rean said this, Valimar jumped toward him.
Unlike the usual ashen armor, it completely enveloped Rean, forming pseudo riding.
Duvalie frowned at the sight and was speechless in the next moment. On the side note, Celine was also speechless.
Amazingly, Loa Valimar jumped into the sea and began swimming with amazing skillfulness.
The way it plowed through the sea made it hard to believe it was a beginner swimmer.
It was no surprise as Valimar, who had been watching Neithardt’s swimming lessons and conflicting training methods at the military academy from inside Rean’s heart, was able to demonstrate its skills by imitating the swimming styles.
“W-What an ideal swimming form……!”
“Is that what you’re supposed to say?!”
The stunned Celine turned to Duvalie and hissed from inside Loa Valimar.
Rean nodded in satisfaction and Osbon cheered with joy for Valimar.
Duvalie, who was left behind, looked at it in shock for a moment, but then became angry at being left behind.
She couldn’t bring herself to listen to Rean’s request to wait.
In the first place, Duvalie wasn’t good at sitting and waiting, so she was aware that simply watching the result and offering it was something her master had to do, and that she had to be the one to offer it.
In addition, Rean who activated his power of ogre had planted the impression in Duvalie that she wouldn’t be able to defeat him in terms of her greatest weapon, speed.
As Rean shook the confidence she had for herself, a feeling that she couldn’t lose welled up within Duvalie.
Therefore, she steadied her breathing, removed her armor, and with a lighter body, she resolved to take on the sea—— and naturally, she took her first step.
Still, Duvalie continued to swim, not wanting to be outdone, but even though she had taken off her armor, her clothes absorbed water and became heavy, so it was only natural that they would cling to her body like lead, and the distance between her and Rean’s group grew larger and larger.
Even if she was in inner wear beneath her armor, which was easy to move in…… even if the thing she was competing against wasn’t the Divine Knight’s main body, Loa Valimar was still a giant nearly ten arge in size.
The difference in size meant a difference in their striding lengths, and obviously, even when swimming through the water, Duvalie, who was a slender woman, was unable to make up the gap.
“W-Waaaaaaiiiiiiiiittttt!! Wait right thereeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”
Despite facing such a handicap, she was determined to continue swimming, refusing to come ashore.
Hearing how desperate her scream was, Rean told Loa Valimar to retrieve Duvalie.
Author Note:
Q: Why didn’t they go into the dungeon from the beginning?
A: My work is void (in plot) spiral (in plot structure) ——
My apologies, it ended up as a chapter about the interaction between the two people and the cat.
Characters easily agitated like Duvalie-chan are too compatible with Rean…
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