It’s been two weeks since I learned how Reina really feels, and I feel like we’ve gotten a little closer.
Not that it matters that much.
We don’t have a special relationship or anything, and we are still just friends with some distance between us, but I think that’s good.
What did actually change in these past two weeks, is that our area of activity has grown larger. We only looked for food in the area around the tent, but now we’ve been having more opportunities to visit the divine beast people’s village.
We still have plenty of emperor boar meat, so we’ve been trading it for all sorts of flavorings.
According to Reina, they don’t taste the same as the ones in the continent, but she can use them for cooking anyway, so we’ve been getting more and more.
“The divine beast people’s village feels like a remote village, but their lives are actually very rich.”
“Yes. Not that I’d really know.”
In my previous world, science was advanced enough to remove a lot of inconveniences. Those inconveniences really make me feel like this is a different world, and I like it.
I’m sure the life they lead would be tough for an average Japanese person, but still, I think their hearts are much fuller and richer.
“Was everyone really that stuffed with problems where you come from?”
“Not really everyone. We didn’t have wars or monsters, so it was peaceful, but… I feel like things were too convenient for us, to the point where it was hard to relax.”
I’ve told Reina before that I met god and was brought to this world, but I never really used to talk about my old world. But now I talk about it normally.
I’m sure that’s because we know more about each other now.
“What was that thing, a phone? That thing that lets people talk to other people far away sounds pretty handy.”
“Too handy. It’s actually a problem, because you never really get peace of mind.”
“Fufu, I can see that.”
As we chat, we head to the coast where we first met, to further expand our area of activity.
We’ve been picking edible vegetables in the forest, and hunting monsters that appear sometimes, but we’ve never really had the opportunity to eat fish.
We could probably fish in the river too, but for the sake of variation too, we decided to find a way to fish in the ocean. But when we do reach the coast…
“…Are those people?”
“…!?”
We find two people that seem to have drifted ashore.
We rush towards them, and see a man and a woman that are unconscious and seem to have almost drowned.
It’s just like when I was reincarnated in this world.
This is bad. I check their breathing, and it looks like neither one is breathing.
I need to do artificial respiration or their lives might be in danger.
“Reina, I’ll take the guy, so take care of her!”
“…Yes!”
Reina seems hesitant for some reason, but I don’t have time to think about it, and start artificial respiration on the guy right away.
I touch his lips with mine and send air to his lungs. Then I press his chest, and repeat.
I was unsure when I did it with Reina, but a successful experience is a confidence booster, and this time it goes pretty smoothly.
“Gaha!”
“All right!”
It works, and the guy starts breathing again. There’s no sign that his consciousness is coming back, but at least we got through the most dangerous part.
I was too concentrated on what I was doing to pay attention to Reina, but when I turn her way…
“Lightning!”
“Ahh… Ahh…”
“All right, that seems good… Again…”
She’s striking the unconscious woman with lightning magic.
And she’s fully ready to finish her off with another attack.
“Wai!? Reina!? What are you doing!?”
“Eh? I’m reviving her?”
“That’s not reviving someone, that’s delivering the killing blow!”
“Ahh… Ahh…”
The woman’s body twitches, and she falls limp.
I hear some moans here and there, but it’s like her instincts are trying to keep her alive.
“Arata, when a mage is unconscious, you revive them with lightning magic. It doesn’t have a high success rate, but that’s common knowledge.”
“Really… No no no!”
I don’t know what’s common knowledge in this world, so I almost accepted it, but I shake my head.
If that was true, no one could ever pass out. The moment they did, one of their friends would kill them.
“Forget it. It’s almost done, so stand back.”
“No, I’m saying that’s…”
“Here it goes.”
“…!?”
Reina doesn’t give me time to stop her, before the palm of her hand starts sparking, she puts it close to the woman’s heart, and the woman’s body starts twitching again.
It sounds kind of cute when I put it like that, but it’s actually pretty gruesome.
“Ahh… Ahh… Ah!?”
She lets out one groan louder than the rest as her body bounces up and down, and then stops completely.
“…She’s dead.”
“She is not!”
No she is. But just before I can actually say that, water comes out of the woman’s mouth.
And then she starts choking, even though she’s still unconscious.
I guess she’s fully breathing again.
“Fufun. See?”
Reina boasts, and I don’t even know what face to make.
I thought there was no way this could be right, but it actually did revive her. The best I can come up with is a nod.
“Well, I would have been happy with her just dying like that.”
“Hn? Do you know her?”
“Yes. It’s someone I really didn’t want to see.”
She says, looking troubled.
In any case, we can’t leave them out here unconscious, so Reina and I go back to the tent, get cloths to wrap around them instead of their wet clothes, and I carry them back to the tent.
It’s just about lunch time too, so Reina decides to start preparing lunch.
We’re eating a simple soup and bread today, probably because a lot happened.
Still, like magic, even that tastes great just because Reina made it.
“…Aren’t you going to ask?”
“If you want to talk, I’ll listen. But if you don’t, I won’t ask.”
“I see.”
Then there’s silence for a while, until words pop out of Reina’s mouth.
“Those two… Are also part of the seven great mages.”
“…Eh?”
“They are the sixth seat, Extinguishing Fire Xellos Grinder, and the fifth seat, Holy Water Merlin Marine. They are both sorcerers of rank above mine,”
And then she tells me about their background.
They are all part of the seven great mages, but unlike Reina, who is known as the youngest ever, they’ve had that title for over twenty years. And they have the power to match.
“They don’t look that old.”
“Mages can control their magic energy and use it to maintain their youth. These two must be over fifty years old.”
“…Really?”
They both look to be in their early twenties. This is more magical than any magic I’ve seen so far.
And then Reina continues.
Being the youngest ever, and a newbie to boot, means the others weren’t very welcoming.
Apparently there isn’t a lot of camaraderie between the seven great mages to begin with, and they’re all trying to go up the ladder as mages.
That means Reina was never very involved with them, and finds them somewhat hard to deal with.
“I see.”
“That said, I wouldn’t have to think about that if I was stronger.”
She says in a self-deprecating way, and without her usual shine.
That kind of bothers me.
Maybe this is selfish on my part, but I like Reina to be a strong person at her core.
“But that doesn’t really matter anymore, does it?”
“Eh…?”
I want to make her feel better, so those words come out of my mouth.
She raises her head and looks at me with a puzzled look on her face.
“I mean, no one on this island knows what the seven great mages are. Here, you’re ‘just’ Reina.”
“Ah… You’re right.”
She understands what I mean, and her face becomes bright again.
“That’s true. That title doesn’t exist on this island. Not to mention that being the strongest in the continent doesn’t mean anything here.”
Says Reina.
“It really is an outrageous island.”
“Starting with you.”
She says in a mocking tone, meaning she’s probably feeling better.
I really like her better this way.
“Uu…”
“Ah…”
And then, as we are about to talk about what to do next, we hear low groans from the tent.
It looks like they’re waking up.
I look at Reina, and she nods strongly, so I head to the tent.
Those other two seem cautious, like they don’t understand what happened. They’re looking this way with bewilderment on their faces.
And they’re even more surprised when they see Reina entering the tent behind me.
“Reina?”
“Aren’t you… Dead…?”
“It’s been a while, Xellos and Merlin.”
As I hear Reina greet them with a slightly rough voice, I think about what we should do next. But thinking about it won’t solve anything now, so I’ll just see how things naturally progress.
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