On my way home (1)
The Trinio returned safely to San Taylor’s harbor.
The people who stepped on the ground were genuinely happy to have returned and shared their feelings.
The sailors didn’t show that much, but there were still a few people who prayed for safety.
Among them, the captain came up to us and bowed his head.
“Thank you so much! If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“I heard a lot of thanks on the ship. I’m worried that I’ll break my neck, so just stop there.”
Douglas had taken a step back, so I, who was in charge, waved my hand and signaled to hurry up, but the captain still seemed to have something to say.
“And about Tug’s bounty, he said it would be difficult without proof. I can be your witness if you want.”
“I didn’t really want a bounty, so it’s okay. It’s enough for you to return safely to San Taylor.”
In fact, such a bounty is not so urgent right now, and it was very annoying to follow the procedure.
It was a similar reason for avoiding grateful passengers.
Being entangled with such people was because it was accompanied by troublesome things afterwards. Rather, only Ethan benefited from the fact that he was acquainted with me.
Well, the profits of the Lantern Merchant eventually lead to my profits, so that’s more pleasant to me.
The captain, unaware of my inner thoughts, held my hand and raised his voice as if he was rather moved.
“Please visit the Taylor you bought again sometime! At that time, we will provide you with the safest and most wonderful sea travel!”
“… … If you come, I will definitely find you.”
If he didn’t say that, he didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down, so he had no choice but to do so.
Fortunately, the captain nodded contentedly, bowed repeatedly, and withdrew.
In the meantime, I saw people staring at us from afar, but I ignored them and turned their heads to Douglas.
“Senior, I will sell the name of the mercenary king for cleaning up in case you don’t know.”
“If the old man stepped forward, he would do something. Wouldn’t it be better to build up your reputation a little more?”
“I don’t have a lot of greed. That’s the reason why I don’t do S-class mercenaries, what.”
“Huh, no matter how you look at it, he’s a talent that’s fit for an S-class, but he says he doesn’t like it… … .”
Following Douglas, who shook his head in regret, Scarlett pouted her face and opened her mouth.
“Wow, what kind of hero are you trying to become? There is no desire for money, no desire for fame, and in fact, isn’t it like having lofty beliefs or something?”
“Not like that.”
“Ah, I guess that’s right? Didn’t you just ride a whale this time? Isn’t that what senior called? Ah, then, is it because you want to show Rize a cool side?”
“… … .”
I walked over to Rize, who was still looking at the sea, roughly passing Scarlett who was teasing me with nonsense.
It seemed that Rize didn’t even know I was close.
Am I remembering the whale I met earlier?
I don’t know why the whales suddenly appeared, but I was really grateful that they gave Rize such a wonderful experience.
“Reese.”
“… … Huh, Dad?”
At my call, Rize barely took her eyes off the sea and looked at me.
Looking at Rize like that, he brought up a question he had been wanting to ask for a long time with a smile on his face.
“How was this trip?”
It was a trip planned to give Rize special memories.
It was almost ruined by the sudden appearance of pirates, but the whales that Rize wanted to see came in groups and gave them a twist.
Still, I was very curious about what he was thinking.
Rize immediately raised both hands and smiled brightly, raising her voice without worrying at all.
“Oh, it was so much fun! After all, Dad is the best!”
“Heuk!”
With Rize’s cheers, he grabbed his heart and knelt down.
I heard such overflowing words that I couldn’t contain my sincerity, so the happiness within me exceeded the limit.
As I realized with my whole body that the phrase “I feel like I’m going to die of happiness” doesn’t come out for nothing, Rize came over and hugged me tightly.
“Thank you, Dad. It was the best birthday ever.”
“… … .”
“… … dad?”
“… … .”
“Seniors? Wow, I passed out. Are there any daughter fools like this in the world?”
“Kuk, for my birthday next year, I will definitely… … !”
“Okay, look away. Let me take it for now.”
* * *
On the way back, I rode a wyvern and flew in the sky.
Just like that time, a wyvern named Kyu-kyu pulled the sky carriage, and Yuria, the crew member, was in charge of guiding it.
“I heard you! I heard you defeated the pirates on the ferry! San Taylor has been rocking that story all day! Deflecting incoming shells, flying through the sky, and manipulating whales with your hands!”
Watching Yuria raise her voice in excitement, Irvin got in trouble and replied with a casual smile, but Rize responded instead.
“Right, right? My dad is so amazing! To be precise, I didn’t fly in the sky at that time, but stepped on a flying shell… … !”
Rize excitedly explained what I had shown her, and if that wasn’t enough, she even turned up the heat to talk about other battlefields.
No matter how much my daughter brags about me, it was more unfamiliar than I thought to hear her talking to someone right in front of me.
So I had no choice but to look out the window.
The continent seen from the sky is peaceful as always, and nothing major has happened yet.
The next 5 years, no, maybe 6 years.
Incidents happen one after another on all continents, and people’s daily lives are colored with chaos.
Indeed, how many cases can Rize be able to solve at that time? How much help can I help.
Many thoughts filled my head in an instant, and I immediately shook my head to scatter the thoughts.
No matter how much I went back, I couldn’t think of this on Rize’s birthday trip.
When she turned her head back inside, she saw Rize sitting next to YuRia and looking out the window, as if they were talking.
I saw it when I came, but the sky was still strange.
Douglas lightly closed his eyes, as if slightly tired, and Irina and Scarlett were talking about something.
Sounds like a sword story… … I wanted to be like two people.
“uh? dad? Come over here and see!”
At that time, Lize suddenly called me, and the eyes of the others also turned to Lize.
As they approached a little faster, Rize pointed out the window and opened her mouth again.
“Is that a village over there? But something is strange.”
“Let’s see.”
When I looked out the window right next to Rize, I could see a small village.
And next to it, something like black smoke was creeping in.
what? wait for a sec.
Is that what’s happening now?
I remember all the big events, but I didn’t remember the date of those things.
Most only remembered the approximate time and place.
But why does that appear on the day you pass over this place?
“Anyway, it seems to be influenced by monsters. It is not a natural phenomenon.”
From noble mtl dot com
Hearing the commotion, Douglas woke up and looked outside.
“Even so, there is nothing we can do here. Even Dad can’t jump from this height, right?”
“I will die.”
“I’m a little taller too.”
Douglas and Irina said that and shook their heads.
I also had a hard time landing properly at this height. They had tools for emergency escape, but they weren’t worth using even in this situation.
Rize looked down with worried eyes and then turned her head to Yuria.
“Crew sister, can you go down there?”
“Our airlines are supposed to only land at destinations except in emergencies. We are also responsible for the safety of our passengers, so we shouldn’t make exceptions.”
It’s not that I don’t understand.
No, it was a natural story.
What an outrageous request to ask for something like this that is not even a crisis situation.
It was something that the staff had clearly informed before departure.
but… … .
“dad… … .”
Rize wanted to help in any way she could when she saw people in trouble, and I promised to grant Rize’s wish.
so i’ll have to
“Mr. YuRia, is there really no way? If it’s the responsibility, I promise I’ll take it. Can I write a memorandum? My name or the name of the mercenary king will not be taken lightly.”
When I asked that question while making eye contact, YuRia seemed to hesitate a bit, then nodded.
“I heard that he wiped out the pirates and saved many people in other places… … You are amazing too.”
There seemed to be a misunderstanding, but I didn’t bother to correct it.
For now, finding a way to get down somehow was an urgent priority.
Yuria pulled the trumpet-shaped tool next to her seat to reveal the connected string and spoke with a determined face.
“I will tell the rider first. I’ll ask if I can get off at the nearest location.”
Yuria used the tool to talk to the wyvern rider, and soon turned into a puzzled expression and turned her head this way.
“What? They say the wyvern doesn’t want to go down. They say he looks like he’s scared of something… … If this is the case, I have no choice but to drop it off at a place too far… … .”
It seemed that it was because of the existence of the monsters below.
It was fortunate that the rider was cooperative, but I couldn’t help it if the wyvern didn’t follow me like that.
If I could get off and run to a place a little further away, it wouldn’t be too late.
The moment she was about to say that, Rize suddenly jumped up from her seat.
“Kyuuu!”
Then he raised his voice with all his might and called out the name of the wyvern.
“Look down on us!”
I wondered if I could hear it from the outside, but to my surprise, the altitude slowly began to drop.
Having received something from the rider, Yuria spoke to us.
“Everyone, please sit down and fasten your seat belts! Diving!”
Quickly refilling Rize and fastening my seat belt as well, the sky carriage fell down and descended at an astounding speed.
As expected, Rize had a talent for handling wyverns.
That’s great too.
I was a little worried about the future of Rize and waited for the heavenly carriage to reach the ground.
After a while, the speed gradually decreased and the carriage stopped, but I felt a sense of floating as if I had not yet reached the ground.
“They say they can’t go any lower because there’s no place to land. Is it possible for you to jump from here?”
“it’s okay. Please open the door.”
“Yes, we will be waiting some distance away. Good luck!”
I thanked YuRia and looked down through the open door. It looked three stories high, and I could see the source of the smoke right in front of me.
After thinking for a while, I reached out my hand to Rize.
“Rize, stick close to your dad.”
“Yes, I will stick with you!”
I thought I wanted to wait in the carriage, but Rize didn’t seem to listen quietly, so I decided to take her.
If he jumped down with his back on his back, he might bite his tongue. When he tried to jump down with Rize in his arms, there were two figures who ran ahead of him.
“Senior, wind it up first!”
“I’ll get down and make sure I’m safe!”
Scarlett and Irina left the words and jumped down without hesitation.
After that, I went downstairs holding Rize tightly.
Landing as safely as possible.
I bent my legs to reduce the impact as much as possible, and I checked Rize just in case, but fortunately, no one was hurt.
After carrying Rize on his back, he ran through the forest with Douglas, who came down behind him.
“QQ! thank you!”
In the meantime, Rize did not forget to say hello to the wyvern.
The smoke grew thicker the further we went, and a acrid, rotting smell gradually filled our nostrils.
“Is this the smell of sulfur?”
Douglas frowned and sniffed, and I immediately regretted not covering Rize’s mouth.
As I kept going, remembering the information about the monster ahead of me, the forest ended and a small village appeared.
“Everyone come out! We must evacuate far away!”
Scarlett and Irina, who went there first, were evacuating people.
He must have made a decision after realizing that the monster approaching this way was unusual.
In the end, it was a good decision.
If you do something wrong, this town will not leave a trace.
I put Rize down on my back, lowered my head, and looked straight into my eyes as I spoke.
“Rize, I will tell you in advance. This time is very dangerous.”
“I’m here?”
“Okay, stay calm while evacuating Irina and the villagers. is it a promise? Understand?”
Kindly, Rize immediately nodded and crossed her little finger with me.
After entrusting Rize to Irina, she led Douglas and Scarlett to the source of the smoke.
The smell got so thick that we all had to wear mouth coverings.
and after a while
“Huh, that’s great.”
“Is this a monster?!”
A small living volcano has emerged.