NBAA Vol. 8 Chapter 1 Part 7
Reito and the others were relieved that they had succeeded in defeating all the sand dolls, and picked up the pieces of the experience stones that had fallen to the ground.
“Ahh… They’ve been shattered into pieces.”
“You won’t be able to exchange them for cash in this condition, will you?”
“Not in that condition… Take a good look at the pieces. They’ve lost their color, like transparent glass, right? That shows that they’ve lost their role as experience stones.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
As Shizune explained, with Dain lending his shoulder, all the experience stones of the sand dolls the three had defeated had indeed lost their color. Due to the nature of sand dolls, it seemed impossible to recover experience stones even if you defeat them.
“How is Shizune?”
“I thought it was because she was in a hot place, but her body is unusually hot. I’ve been giving her water for a while now, but the fever hasn’t gone down at all… W-What should I do?”
“It’s fine. If she rests for a while… she’ll be able to move.”
“Don’t push yourself.”
Shizune’s face was red. She was probably weak from being exposed to the heat for so long.
Reito laid a cloth on the ground and let Shizune lie down, and in an attempt to cool her body, he invoked the “Enchantment Boost” magic with both hands. He poured water-based magic into her.
“How is it? Feeling a little better?”
“Eh, uh… thank you. I’m feeling a lot better now.”
“That’s good then.”
“…Hey, your face is a little close.”
Reito was touching Shizune’s cheeks with both hands. Shizune’s cheeks were red, and she tried to look away, perhaps because her body was just hot, or perhaps because she was embarrassed.
Reito put both hands on other parts of her body besides her face to cool her down.
“Next, I’ll cool your back. Sorry, but I want you to open your clothes a little.”
“Wait… are you serious?”
“I’m serious. Come on, Dain and Gonzo, look away! Hanzo, help me out!”
“I understand, that I do.”
“S-Sorry.”
“I-I get it!”
This time, Shizune’s back was exposed, Reito pressed both hands against her back and poured water-based magic into it.
Hanzo was careful not to expose Shizune in an embarrassing way, while Gonzo and Dain kept an eye on the surroundings to make sure there were no other sand dolls.
“Phew…I think this will be enough. Are you okay?”
“Yes…Thanks. You really helped me.”
Shizune straightened her clothes with embarrassment.
She then realized that her body had recovered surprisingly well.
However, she regretted exposing her body in such a shameless state, even if it was just her back.
Reito didn’t care about that, and while wiping the sweat from his face, he turned his gaze to the rocky mountain.
“I think we should rest a little longer just to be safe. Everyone else is probably tired, so let’s rest there.”
“Rest there…? You want to rest in such a small shade? It’s better than being in direct sun, but isn’t there really no point in going into the shade when it’s this hot?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make a cave.”
“A cave? What do you mean?”
“You’ll understand if you watch.”
In front of everyone, Reito stretched his hand out to the rocky mountain.
However, he decided that it was dangerous to place his palms directly on the hot rock wall, so in the same way he had treated Shizune earlier, he released water-element magic power from his palms and activated “High Speed Shape Change” on the rock wall.
The rock wall he pressed his palms against changed shape as easily as clay.
“Funuraba!”
““Ohhh?!””
“…Are you kidding me?”
Reito simply pushed both hands into the wall, and the rock wall caved in.
Everyone was surprised at the sight of it being pushed deeper into the wall and turning into a cave, and Shizune also let out an upset voice.
Reito maximized his alchemist abilities, creating a cave large enough for Gonzo to enter.
Furthermore, with “Enchantment Boost,” he sent water-based magic to the surface of the rock wall to cool it down. Not only that, he was careful not to let it get too cold, and created a comfortable space like the rest spot they had just entered.
“I think that’s about it, everyone can go in now.”
“Oh, I’m going in, that I am.”
“Whoa, what’s this place⁉ It’s so cool!”
“Wow, even I can go in.”
“Should I say, as expected…? Sometimes I wonder who you are.”
“I told you I’m an Alchemist.”
Everyone entered the cave that was carved into the rock mountain, and it was decided that they would take a break before continuing on.
~
Everyone entered the cave and took turns watching the entrance while they rested.
As expected, it wasn’t as comfortable like the resting spot, but it was still enough to cool down the heat in their bodies.
“Phew… I feel like the heat uses up even more energy.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard. Your sword skills use magic power, so conserve it as much as possible.”
“Wait a minute. Reito built this cave for you. You should at least thank him for that.”
“…you’re right, I’m sorry.”
“You’re surprisingly honest… I was out of line too.”
Currently, Shizune was lying on a cloth spread on the ground inside the cave, with Reito wrapping ice made with his “Ice Block” in the cloth and pressing it against various parts of her body.
Since it would take some time for her to fully recover, Hanzo had gone out alone to explore the surrounding area.
The others are resting, and Reito was having lunch while drinking a magic power recovery potion.
“The bento that Kotomin made for me is delicious. It’s a whole roasted fish…”
“Can you really call that a bento?”
“What are you talking about? It’s a fine bento. So you’re just gonna have rice balls for lunch, Dain?”
“This is all I eat when I go out. I-It’s not that I don’t have enough money to make a bento.”
“Phew… it’s hot, sorry, but I’d like you to take over soon.”
“Okay. Well, it’s my turn now.”
“Before that, I would like you to listen to what I have to say, that I would.”
“Whoa? When did you come back?”
Reito was about to take Gonzo’s place on watch when Hanzo appeared from behind.
She removed the cloth from around her mouth and told him the results of her investigation.
“I couldn’t find any monsters around here. There was no reaction from my detection skills, so I think it’s safe, but instead I discovered a strange building, that I did.”
“A strange building?”
“It’s a large building with a similar design, although its scale is quite different from the buildings with teleportation crystals that I found on other floors. It’s located northwest of here, that it is.”
“Northwest means… that’s a different direction from where we’re heading.”
“That’s intriguing. As far as I know, I don’t remember seeing a building like that…”
“It looks like a ruin. At least I didn’t sense any signs of monsters…”
“What should we do? Shall we investigate?”
Up until now, the buildings that housed the teleportation crystals were located in the center of the floors. However, that may not be the case on this floor.
In any case, it seemed worth going there just because there was a building there.
“Are you alright, Shizune?”
“I’m fine now. Thanks to you, I caused trouble for everyone else. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“We’re all friends, so it’s only natural that we help each other, right?”
“Yeah… that’s true.”
Shizune, who had regained her health, stood up and clasped her hands together as if to check how her body was feeling. It seemed that she had fully recovered thanks to Reito’s “Enchantment Boost” magic that shared his magical power with her, and the “Ice Block” magic that lowered the temperature inside the cave. She nodded as if there was no problem.
“It’s okay. Next time, I can fight too.”
“But won’t you fall again if you go outside?”
“I’ll use this then. I don’t have many of them so I’d rather not use it if possible…”
Shizune touched the brooch on her chest. It seemed to be a storage stone, and a vortex that connected to another dimension appeared, and a glass bottle filled with a glowing white liquid materialized.
Seeing this, Reito tilted his head. Dain, perhaps knowing what it was, yelled out loud.
“Wait, isn’t that possibly holy water?”
“Holy water?”
“What is holy water, that it is? It doesn’t look like blue water, that it is.”
“That’s not holy water, that’s blue water, or rather, that’s ordinary water. I’m talking about a healing potion that has a stronger healing effect than normal healing potions!”
“That’s complicated… I mean, isn’t it just a healing potion?”
“Yes, it’s the best healing potion produced by the Healing Center. It can heal injuries, magic, and stamina, but it’s produced in small quantities, so very few people buy it.”
“By the way, how much does it cost?”
“When I bought it, it cost fifteen gold coins.”
“That’s expensive!”
“That’s still cheap. Normally it would cost twice that.”
Shizune returned the holy water to the storage stone while explaining about it.
It was a precious healing potion for her, so she wanted to avoid using it if possible, but she decided to use it without hesitation if she collapsed again. Vowing not to cause any more trouble for her companions, she stood up and clutched the Four Seasons.
“It will take a little magic power, but when the time comes, I will use the power of my Four Seasons. This magic sword not only freezes the opponent, but with a little fine tuning, it can also change the environment around me. I won’t be dragging my feet in the next battle.”
“You don’t have to be so uptight..”
“…It’s fine, let’s go. I’ll leave the guide to you, Hanzo.”
“Understood, that I will.”
Shizune was determined to make up for the delay in their exploration due to her own poor health, and with Hanzo’s guidance, Reito and the others headed to the ruins she had discovered.
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