We found two people collapsed by the shore.
Xellos has close-cropped hair that’s like a mixture of scarlet and black, and gives off a rough feeling.
And the woman with pale blue hair that’s wavy around her shoulders is Merlin.
They sit up, and look pretty languid.
“You can have this if you want.”
I give both hot water, and Xellos stares at it like he’s suspicious.
Merlin on the other hand immediately takes it and drinks it.
“Hey Merlin! Do you understand what’s going on!? That could be poison!”
“It’s all right, there is nothing weird here. It’s plain hot water.”
She sighs pretty sensually, matching that voluptuous body.
If she’s over fifty, it’s an understatement to say she aged well.
Xellos is looking this way with clear doubt in his eyes, but he must be pretty thirsty.
He gulps, and then makes up his mind and touches the glass with his lips.
Once he takes a sip, he can’t stop and drinks the whole thing, and then gives me the glass back.
“…Can I get another one?”
“Sure.”
We get them more hot water, and it looks like they’re finally calming down.
“Well then, should we introduce ourselves first? Reina told me about you, but…”
“Sure, but first…”
Merlin suddenly lowers her head.
“…! Hey, Merlin!?”
“You saved us, didn’t you? First, let me thank you.”
“Sure, but it was actually Reina who saved you.”
“I see… Thank you Reina.”
“…Yes.”
I heard from Reina that they didn’t really have a good relationship, but she seems friendlier than I expected.
The guy on the other hand has an unpleasant look on his face.
Judging by how he’s been since he woke up, I think it’s safe to assume he’s not really the friendly type.
I didn’t save him to hear him thank me or anything, but I guess he figures this will advance things, because he slowly walks over to me and lowers his head too.
“…I owe you for saving me.”
“Don’t mention it.”
He might not be so bad.
And after they raise their heads, they properly introduce themselves.
“I’m the sixth seat of the seven great mages, Extinguishing Fire Xellos Grinder.”
“I’m the fifth seat of the seven great mages, Holy Water Merlin Marine. “
They mentioned the seven great magic in their introductions like it was natural. Is that because it’s a point of pride for them?
I don’t know anything about how great they are other than what Reina told me, so it’s kind of awkward how much they emphasize it, but how well.
Anyway, Reina is the seventh seat, so their ranks are above hers. And I also learned that Xellos’ specialty is fire, and Merlin’s water.
Reina told me she doesn’t really have a type of magic that she’s bad at, and she can use all sorts of spells, but I wonder if she doesn’t have a specialty.
“I’m Arata. I wandered onto this island about a month ago, and I’ve been living here ever since. I guess Reina doesn’t need an introduction, right?”
“Yes… I really didn’t think she was alive.”
Xellos is looking at her like he’s seeing a ghost.
I guess people in the continent are assuming she’s dead.
I guess it’s fine since she intends to live on this island too, but won’t that be a problem if that ever changes?
Then again, in this fantasy world, Reina can probably live wherever she wants, even if she’s not registered anywhere.
“So Arata… What is this island…?”
Asks Merlin fearfully, and I don’t know how to respond. I really don’t think she’s going to accept it even if I explain it.
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but I’ll let Reina answer them. You can probably trust her more than a stranger like me.”
After all, this island is where myth is reality. I’m sure they won’t believe some guy they’ve never seen before, but a fellow member of the seven great mages should be able to explain better.
“I’m going for a walk around here, so can you handle that?”
“Yes. Although I don’t think they will believe me.”
Reina smiles a little awkwardly, definitively thinking that she wouldn’t believe it either if their positions were reversed.
“Then I’ll let you handle the rest.”
I say before I leave the tent.
I’m sure it’s easier for them to talk to her since they know each other, and my presence would just make them nervous.
“Well then, what now?”
I told Reina I was going out for a walk, but I’ve been walking to the coast since this morning. Honestly, walking around here alone is boring.
“Oh well, I’ll go look for vegetables and fruit we can use for dinner.”
We have plenty of emperor boar meat, but the rest of the ingredients are mostly coming from Reina’s stock.
We’ve formed a friendly relationship with the divine beast people’s village, so we’ve been getting things from them too, but that also means Reina has been sharing her things too, and they can’t last forever.
I remember Elga telling me about edible things around this area.
I wish I could tell what’s what, but unfortunately Reina can’t use Appraisal magic, so I can’t learn it either.
“Hum… We don’t need these mushrooms.”
I eliminate those dangerous mushrooms that increase libido before Reina ends up picking them by mistake.
Elga says that they’re good, at least as far as taste goes, but they would put Reina in danger, so let’s not mess with them.
“…Hn?”
I suddenly hear a familiar sound coming from the sky.
I look up and see a big dragon flapping her wings and then descending straight this way, so I open my arms and wait.
The dragon then starts shining, turns into a beautiful black-haired girl, and dives into my chest.
“Darling! I have come!”
“Oops. Have you been doing well? I guess that’s a silly thing to ask you.”
“Mufufu! I am always well!”
Tiltue answers with a happy tone while pressing her head into my chest.
This sort of thing used to leave me bewildered, but I’m pretty used to it now. Now I’m just happy about this straight display of affection and think it’s cute.
I still can’t shake the image of a large dog when she acts like this, but that also staves off any weird thoughts I might have, so it’s fine.
“Mumumu?”
Is something on her mind? She starts sniffing me, and it tickles.
“Darling, I’m sensing a smell I don’t recognize mixed in there. Did anything happen?”
“You’re pretty sharp. That’s our descendant of an ancient dragon.”
“Of course! My ancestor is the great divine dragon Bahamut, the strongest of all the dragons!”
I say as I pull her away, and she brags and sniffs while happily smiling.
Her black side ponytail shakes like a tail. It’s kind of funny how it matches her emotions.
“By the way, you aren’t with Reina today?”
“I’m not. Actually…”
I tell Tiltue what happened today, and she seems a little surprised.
I think that’s a little odd, so I ask her about it, and she tells me it’s pretty rare for anyone to come to this island.
It was unprecedented before Reina and I got here, and now there are even more humans here. That’s something that has never happened in the long history of this island.
“Did something happen to the barrier around this island?”
This divine island Arcadia was created by god to lock divine beasts, that are too powerful. If there really is something wrong with it, I doubt anyone can fix it.
“Is that bad?”
“Hm… Now that I think about it, probably not. I’m not interested in the outside world anyway.”
“Of course.”
All the divine beasts like Luna, Elga, and the ancient dragon Tiltue are all good people once you actually talk to them.
Even Gaius the Behemoth, who looked dangerous at first, is actually not a bad guy. He’s just like a kid.
So I’m sure nothing bad will happen even if there’s something wrong with the barrier. And in the unlikely event that something leaves this island and starts rampaging in the outside world, I just have to stop it.
I’m sure the power given to me by god can handle it.
“Well, there’s no point in thinking about the barrier, and I should probably go back. Do you want to have dinner with us?”
“An invitation from my darling! Of course! And I request meat!”
“Hahaha, let’s ask Reina.”
She gets on my back, and I carry her to the tent.
And it looks like they just got done talking, because they’re leaving the tent.
“Ah, are you done?”
“Yes, it’s you… Well, I mean…!?”
“What!?”
The moment they turn their eyes this way, they look shocked like they’re seeing something unbelievable, and take some distance before getting ready for battle like a switch inside them just turned on.
Xellos creates fire in his hand, and Merlin water, and they’re both glaring this way like they’re seeing a monster.
“…Why?”
It all happens so suddenly, that I don’t really know what to do, and can only look at them with a perplexed expression.
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