Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 053 – Fufufu, son. It’s the Results of the June Field Study [B]
Valimar?
Before Rean could wonder what was going on, Sara received a call from Toval saying that a lot of people had been spirited away, including some children, so he asked the group to take them away with them.
Okay, so you’re short on people, right? I’ll immediately——
{“That’s one of the reasons, but there’s something else too, in a sense, one even more troublesome.”}
Rean frowned at Valimar’s words.
Celine, who was listening with him, also tilted her head.
[“Fufufu, son. There’s no point in thinking about it. You’ll understand whether you like it or not when you get there.”]
“I guess that’s true,” Rean nodded and the group headed towards Valimar.
There, the people of North Ambria who had been spirited away were lying on the ground. There were more than a dozen of them, enough to fill Valimar’s arms.
As Rean worried whether they could carry them all at once, he received another message from Valimar.
{“Rean, use the Power of Ashen.”}
“Eh? But that…… could it be!”
{“Umu. I absorbed it using my main body. Therefore, I was using it as substitute and will return it to Rean’s heart.”}
“Can you do it?”
{“Of course.”}
“I see, that’s good!”
Apparently, Valimar could reconstruct the monster’s energy.
“It’s hyoui gattai,” said Osbon, while Celine screamed in retortion to not casually change Valimar’s personality. 1
Naturally, Sara and the others heard what they talked about, but they had a tacit understanding of which they didn’t want to delve too deeply into it.
Rean, completely unaware of the atmosphere around him, raised his hand and waved vigorously.
“Come, Power of Ashen—— Loa Valimar!”
In response to Rean’s call, the Power of Ashen manifested.
Loa Valimar, who had been following Rean as a gray shadow, had its body dyed white, and it felt as if its intimidating presence somehow became stronger.
Its previous appearance was like a flickering heat haze befitting a shadow, but now it had taken shape as a white shadow enveloped in light.
At this, even Sara and the others raised their voices.
“Rean, that Power looks different from before……”
“We got sucked into that hole and I lost it once…… but it seems to have returned, and even became more powerful.”
“I-I see.”
It was a simple explanation that left out a lot of finer details, but given the circumstances, Sara had no choice but to respond like that.
{“Rean, put that on my body.”}
“Okay.”
As if responding to Valimar, the Divine Knight and the white shadow clasped their hands together.
Then, through its hand, a ball of light, which could be called Valimar’s consciousness, was transferred from the Divine Knight to the white shadow.
Rean felt as if he was watching an Awakener get on board and disembark.
Once the transfer of consciousness was completed, the movements of the Divine Knight itself seemed to change slightly.
{“I have gotten back to normal, I guess.”}
“Ah, you’re back.”
Upon hearing the voice coming from Rean’s heart, Elliot exclaimed in a carefree voice.
Valimar had been speaking from the Divine Knight’s body up until now, but as it spoke, people had grown accustomed to hearing the voice coming from Rean’s heart, so it was a relief for them…… Celine had a sour look on her face, though.
“Oi oi, is that okay? If the main body falls, then the people it’s holding will……”
“You don’t have Geass Master Quartz, is that okay?”
{“Aah, by absorbing the monster, the main body’s basic performance has improved. Of course, it will be even more agile with the assistance of Geass Quartz.”}
“That’s how it is.”
Rean smiled and said “that’s a relief,” but the response he got from Toval was one of astonishment as he seemed somewhat disgusted.
“……………I’ll pretend to be convinced for now.”
“It’s okay to be convinced for real, you know?”
“You see, this brother is a bit troubled because too much information was given all at once. His reaction is jammed.”
“Haah.”
“Rather than that, please carry everyone, Rean.”
“Okay.”
Seeing Sara instructing Rean as a helping hand, Toval gave encouragement to the troublesome student’s homeroom teacher, considering buying her a drink when they returned.
As Group B and Sara carried the people into the arms of Loa Valimar standing nearby, Valimar told Rean.
{“Well then, Rean. Now, it’s time for the main topic.”}
“Main topic? I thought it was because there was not enough manpower……”
{“No, I’ve discovered what I believe to be the cause of the singularity…… it’s that thing.”}
The direction he indicated was a fragment of Salt Pale.
At first glance, it didn’t seem like there was anything wrong, but when Rean focused the power of ogre in his eyes and used spirit sight, he sensed some kind of power leaking out, however slight.
It was so small that one wouldn’t have noticed it if it wasn’t pointed out. Rean squinted even harder, gathering the power of ogre into his eyes, and finally managed to make out its shape clearly.
Rean approached to retrieve it, and was about to dig out the salt——
[“Rean, do not touch it directly…… just to be safe.”]
Osbon spoke with a voice more serious than Rean ever heard before.
Rean was surprised. Celine also turned around to stare at Osbon on his left hand.
“A-aah……”
As instructed, Rean dug around the salt and examined it carefully.
It was a small solid object shaped like a cone.
From the looks of it, it was unclear what material it was made of, but it had been buried there,blending in with the salt. Rean removed a part of it using Loa Valimar and, being careful not to touch it directly, used the box given by Osbon to store it along with the surrounding salt while wearing Ashen gauntlet rather than Ashen armor.
[“Miss Celine, please use magic to seal it securely.”]
“O-Okay.”
Celine obediently followed Osbon’s unusually serious voice.
Eventually, the box was completely sealed, filled with something surrounded by salt, and Osbon put it away without asking for Rean’s approval.
Before Rean could ask what it was, Sara told him to go back to the task at hand.
[“I’ll tell you about it on the way back —— for now, saving lives should be your priority.”]
Osbon just fell silent after that.
Though Rean and Celine felt uneasy, they followed Sara’s advice and prioritized saving lives, transporting the people back to North Ambria.
Eventually, the townspeople and the Northern Jaeger expressed their gratitude for sending the people back, and the June Field Study came to an end.
＊
Toval’s orbal car took Rean’s group to the nearest station, where they bid a reluctant farewell and then boarded the train to head home.
They also met Valerie one last time, and when they parted, she told them that she would send them letters, but Rean thought that Elliot might be her main focus as he recalled how the two of them were excitedly talking about music.
Although they had become closer, compared to when they first met, Group B couldn’t hide their frustration on the point that nothing had been resolved about her and North Ambria’s problems.
“Instructor, the field study this time——”
“It’s fine, you have provided food and warmth for the people of North Ambria, and solved the problem of the people spirited away. That alone certainly saved their lives…… you can’t save a nation with the mere curriculum of a single academy.”
Machias and Elliot clenched their fists and trembled as reality weighed heavily on their faces.
Fie was also leaning back in her seat, deep in thought.
“Rean, is it true that Commander was trying to solve this case of people spirited away?”
“It’s true. I was surprised to find out that he was in the singularity, but apparently, he was doing it for the sake of a person who had taken care of him in the past whose hometown happened to be in North Ambria. Does Fie have any idea who that might be?”
“I think he is referring to Sara’s father. Commander did mention that he owed Colonel Valestein back when he heard that he had passed away.”
“I see…… so something like that happened.”
“Thanks to that person, I managed to keep my life. Rutger-san is also the reason we managed to solve the case of people spirited away.”
“I see.”
If Rutger hadn’t prevented the last attack against the monster’s last clash, there was no telling what would have happened to Rean.
Above all, he rescued the people who had been spirited away, something that Rean’s group were unable to do.
In a sense, it could be said that Rutger was the key player of the incident.
“Then why did he fight Rean and injure you……?”
“He did tell me to behave……”
“If his goal was to solve the case of people spirited away, there’s no need to injure you. In that case, it’s possible to that he might have been doing something else.”
“Wasn’t he just telling me not to go near Fie?”
“To seriously injure someone to intimidate them is no laughing matter, though……”
Rean made a full recovery, but the injuries inflicted by Rutger were severe enough that an ordinary person would have been confined to bed for several months.
Fie’s face clouded over whenever she thought of her adoptive father having assaulted a classmate, and Rean comforted her by telling her not to worry since her father did help her, not realizing that this would only push Fie further into a corner.
Sara noticed that and clapped her hands together, changing the topic.
“Well, a lot of things happened, but for now, you should sleep until we reach Trista. We have a few hours until we arrive, so let’s leave the depressing talk here. I’m also curious about the story of Rean and that Duvalie girl, but let’s save that for later.”
“That’s certainly true……”
“Sara, can you wake up?”
“Sleeping a few hours is a piece of cake. Well then, good night everyone~”
Following Sara’s lead, the other members of Group B also began to snore in their sleep one after another.
While everyone else was sleeping, recovering from their fatigue, Rean and Celine were still awake.
Because there was something he needed to ask Osbon.
“Dad, what was that all about, after all?”
It was obviously about the object they retrieved in the end.
Osbon’s voice took on a more serious tone than Rean ever heard in his life.
Rean tried to take out the object that made Osbon do that, but Osbon didn’t allow him to take out the box.
“Dad……?”
[“——It’s not something I can speak carelessly about, so it would be best to hand it over to Professor Schmidt for now. That said, considering the investigation, I doubt it could be handed over as it is……”]
“So what the hell is that?”
“I’m also curious. What is it?”
{“I’m also curious.”}
Hearing a voice from a person, a cat, and an entity, Rean thought he heard a sigh from Osbon that he shouldn’t have been able to hear.
Then Osbon spoke solemnly.
[“That is the Object of Divergent Law called the Salt Pale, its transformed residue, that is.”]
The current Rean had no idea what the meaning of those words was.
Author Note:
What do you think of the original arc of North Ambria?
This is the longest field study arc so far, and as usual, the story changed from the original plot, but I hope you enjoyed it.
Since the individual episodes of Class VII have been concluded, the slice-of-life stories from July onwards will change, including the disposal of the things brought back from North Ambria, but please take care of me from now on.
Want early access to Cannon Fodder, Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer, and I Was a Man Before Reincarnating, So I Refuse a Reverse Harem? Support the translator on Patreon!
