Skeleton Knight in Another World Vol. 5
Page 2
My mutterings were drowned out by the sound of the wind rustling the leaves above.
***
Two days passed.
Without any other pressing duties, I spent the time using spring water to return to my elven form and practicing with Ariane. I trained with her in the mornings and afternoons, and used the remaining daylight hours to practice swordsmanship and help out in the fields, to get to know the village better.
Without any distractions like TV, games, or the internet, I spent a lot more time outdoors. All told, it led to a lot of rewarding experiences. Put another way, the days would have been pretty boring if I’d just sat around doing nothing all day.
That night, after I’d taken a bath and headed up to the second-floor dining room for dinner, Glenys told me that I’d finally gotten the go-ahead for my trip.
“I was just contacted by Landfrea Village. They’ve granted you permission, Arc.”
I rushed toward Glenys, excited to hear the news. “Ooh, really? When is the trading vessel leaving port?”
Glenys put her hand out for me to slow down. “Calm yourself, Arc. They have some terms to sort out, so it’s not like they’ll be leaving right away.”
Given that this was a trading vessel used by both the elves and the mountain people who inhabited their own kingdom on the southern continent, I’d figured there might be some conditions to be met, and possibly money to be paid, in order for me to join the voyage.
I regained my composure. “What do you mean by ‘terms’?”
“The village elder from Landfrea would like to speak with the two of you.”
Ariane was the first to reply. “Wait, me, too?”
Glenys nodded. “That’s right. The village elder said that he would like you to discuss the terms with his older brother directly.”
Ariane and I exchanged puzzled glances at this.
Glenys made it sound like Ariane and I had actually met this man at some point, though, judging by the look on Ariane’s face, she was just as confused as I was as to who he might be.
“I’m afraid I don’t know the village elder of Landfrea, nor do I know his brother,” Ariane said.
I was thinking about the elves I’d met outside the village when one face suddenly sprang to mind. Ariane seemed to have reached the same conclusion as me, and shot me a wide-eyed look. We spoke at the same time.
“Sir Carcy?!”
“Carcy?”
Carcy Held, the peculiar elf researcher we’d met back in Branbayna in the Rhoden Kingdom, spent his days living among the humans and conducting research on the monsters in the surrounding region. Glenys smiled broadly at our response. She looked at me intently, as if prompting me to figure out what these terms might be.
“Hmm. I don’t see any problem in meeting with him.” I cast a sidelong glance toward Ariane, who seemed to agree.
Glenys smiled and clapped her hands together. “Glad to hear it. Ariane, I’d like you to accompany Arc on the journey. I’ve already obtained permission from the central council.”
Ariane responded with an exasperated look. “Wait a minute. I’m supposed to be going to Fobnach!”
“Be that as it may, unfortunately, Arc still isn’t an official member of any village. I used your grandfather’s influence to convince the high elders to agree. So…”
Glenys looked over at me before leaning in and whispering something to Ariane. Ariane’s face flushed a deep crimson, and her mother gave a sly smile. I felt bad about all the work Glenys had done to help me out with my admittedly selfish request, but at the moment, I was more curious about Ariane’s strange expression.
“What is it, Ariane?”
Ariane glared at me before turning her attention back to her mother and letting out a groan.
“Kyii?” Ponta looked up curiously at Ariane from where it stood at her feet.
“It…it’s nothing, okay? Fine, whatever, I’ll go.” She let out a heavy sigh of defeat.
Glenys continued to smile as she made her next suggestion. “Also, I was thinking you could invite Chiyome along on your trip. She’s one of the mountain people, after all!” She looked just like a mom telling you to invite the neighbor kid to come out and play.
Thinking about it, though, it was only natural to invite Chiyome to a country ruled by people just like her. Chiyome was a cat girl and one of the mountain people—known disparagingly as “beast people” to the humans—who lived here on the northern continent. Her clan was devoted to freeing and protecting their comrades who’d been enslaved by humans. A man known as Hanzo had been brought to this world much like myself, and had founded this clan of ninja many generations ago.
Chiyome was one of the six most powerful fighters of the group known as the Jinshin clan. We’d grown close after working together several times, such as in her operation to free a group of slaves back in the capital of the Rhoden Kingdom.
“I agreed to join your village in order to secure a spot on the trading vessel, so what does that mean for Chiyome? Also, she has many duties to her clan, so I wonder how easily she could leave them to come on a voyage like this.”
Glenys seemed oblivious to my concerns. “Well, the vessel’s heading to the land ruled by Chiyome’s people, no? Mountain people join the elves on trading vessels all the time, and even come into our towns. Besides, no matter how well-informed Chiyome and her clan might be when it comes to the lands of the northern continent, I think it would be good for her to get a look at the Great Fobnach Kingdom.”
After mulling this over, I glanced at Ariane.
She returned my gaze. “With your teleportation abilities, we shouldn’t have much difficulty traveling about. Besides, I don’t see the harm in inviting our new friend.”
“All right then, we’ll make our way to Chiyome’s hideout tomorrow.”
“Kyii! Kyiii!”
With that matter settled, and our plans for the following day set, Ponta began to whimper as it nudged at its bowl, urging us to get on with dinner.
***
The following day, Ariane and I sparred again in the morning, ate breakfast, and then departed the village. Well, “depart” probably wasn’t the right word for it. Since I was using my long-distance teleportation spell, Transport Gate, it would probably make more sense to say that we disappeared from the village.
The next moment, we were standing amidst the Calcut Mountains that spread along the northern lands of the Rhoden Kingdom, looking down from the high ground at a camp nestled in one of the valleys. This camp, built deep within the mountains where monsters roamed free, was one of the mountain people’s hideaways, and also the home base of the Jinshin clan.
The village was surrounded by two walls—the outer one made of wooden stakes and the inner one made of stone—to fend off any would-be intruders. It looked more like a fortress than a mountain village. The drawbridge at the gate was firmly shut. Two guards stood watch at either side of the entrance, their eyes scanning the surroundings for any movement.
Considering I’d already been in the village and remembered what it looked like, I could have easily used Transport Gate to teleport inside, but I figured it was better to be well-mannered, so Ariane and I decided to approach from the outside.
The mountain people were all physically strong, with enhanced hearing and vision. On top of that, my exquisite silver armor and black cloak made me stick out like a sore thumb. No sooner had I started approaching the village than the guards noticed me, and one of them ducked inside to make a report.
Ariane glanced up at me and muttered under her breath. “Well, that certainly didn’t take long.” My rather showy display seemed to have left quite the impression on the people of the village.
I waved to the remaining guard once we reached the village gate. Rather than arming himself, he nonchalantly greeted us.
“What’s your business?”
“We would like to request an audience with Chiyome.”
He opened up the gate and ushered us inside.
Out of the throng, a muscular cat person emerged. Standing around 180 centimeters tall, and with white cat ears growing out of his head, the man looked like something of a hermit due to his bushy eyebrows and long beard. However, his piercing gaze and ramrod-straight posture belied his true age.
“Arc, Ariane…what brings you all the way out here into the depths of our mountains?”
The cat man, the twenty-second descendant of Hanzo and the current master of the Jinshin clan, smiled and bowed his head slightly in our direction.
I bowed my head in return before cutting straight to the purpose of our visit. “We’re here to speak with Chiyome.”
As if on cue, a short cat girl appeared at Hanzo’s side and looked up at Ariane and me. “Arc! Ariane! What would you like to speak with me about?”
The young girl kept her black hair neatly trimmed and had azure eyes that seemed almost transparent. She looked just like a stereotypical ninja, dressed head to toe in black, gauntlets on her arms, shin guards on her legs, and a short sword at her waist.
“Oh! Hi, Chiyome.”
The ninja girl bowed almost imperceptibly at my greeting.
“Well, you see, we’re going to take an elven trading vessel down to the southern continent and Glenys thought it would be a good idea to invite you along. There’s a massive kingdom down there run by the mountain people, so we thought it would be a nice opportunity for you to take a look at it. What do you think?”
“The…the southern continent?” Chiyome’s azure eyes shimmered at my proposal. She turned to look at Hanzo.
Hanzo looked almost grandfatherly as his lips curled up into a gentle smile. “If it’s Sasuke you’re worried about, don’t. Tsubone will take care of everything.”
As if in response to this, a woman suddenly stepped forward. “That’s right. Just leave everything to me and go explore the world for a bit. While you’re at it, go ahead and take that buffoon Goemon with you.”
Though garbed in the same ninja attire as Chiyome, the woman’s slender legs were on full display, as was her ample bosom, propped up by her crossed arms. She cast a sidelong look at me with her almond-shaped eyes before shooting me a flirtatious grin.
“Oh, Tsubone. You’re back already?”
This woman—Tsubone, according to Hanzo—bowed lightly in our direction before stepping behind Chiyome, wrapping her arms around the small girl and rubbing her cheek against Chiyome’s head. Chiyome seemed to find this ticklish and tried to push the taller woman away. Judging by her long black hair, this new cat girl, Tsubone, looked as if she could be Chiyome’s sister.
Hanzo finally spoke up. “What do you have to report, Tsubone?”
Tsubone looked down at the younger girl held tightly to her bosom. She shook her head. “Things are a little rough out in Nohzan from what I’m hearing, but I plan on heading there next. I’m sure it’ll be good to get a look at the southern continent, but I’m going to be worried about my little Chiyome off on her own. If we send that big, stupid brute along, he should at be able to shield her, right?”
Tsubone was evidently trying to steer the conversation away from the dark subject matter and back toward the trip to the southern continent. Even though she spoke rather poorly of Goemon, it was clear from her tone that this was just friendly banter.
She must have had a lot of faith in him if she was willing to entrust him with Chiyome’s safety.
Hanzo nodded. “I agree. This is a great opportunity for the young one to open her eyes to the world. Go off on this adventure and serve as an inspiration for the children of the village. After all, there’s nothing greater than showing them that there are many routes for them to travel. Arc, I’m sorry to ask this of you, but I would like to have Goemon accompany you as well.”
Goemon was currently off at the peninsula, building the new camp. I would have to use my teleportation magic to make my way over to him, though this would hardly be any trouble at all.
I nodded, then turned to look at Ariane. She nodded as well.
“I’ll put in a good word with Mother. Besides, we both already know him, so I don’t see it being much of a problem.”
Hanzo seemed pleased with our response. He turned his gaze to Chiyome, as if to place emphasis on the fact that this was all her choice to make.
Chiyome nodded to Hanzo and then turned toward me and bowed her head low. “I would be honored to accompany you on the journey.”
A smile broke out on Ariane’s face. “It’ll be good to have you along again, Chiyome.”
It seemed like these two had formed quite the friendship over the seven days I was unconscious by the spring at the base of the Lord Crown. Chiyome, who rarely wavered from her usual cool demeanor, smiled back at Ariane, and her tail began to wag excitedly.
Even though this all left me feeling more than a bit excluded, I was glad to finally have our party settled so we could make our way to the southern continent.
“As soon as we pick up Goemon, the four of us can take off on our next adventure.”
No sooner had I said this than Ponta suddenly started batting at my helmet from atop my head, making mewing sounds. Apparently, the cottontail fox was offended that it hadn’t been counted as a member of our party.
“Sorry, sorry! And you, too, Ponta.”
“Kyii!”
I petted the long, fluffy tail that swished about under my chin as my mind wandered toward what kind of world awaited us off in the vast continent to the south.
***
Early the next day, we teleported back to Chiyome’s village to pick her up before teleporting to the construction site at the peninsula to explain the situation to Goemon. We then teleported with him back to Lalatoya.
Today was the day that we would finally head toward Landfrea, the elven village where the ship that would take us to the southern continent was currently docked. We had each finished our travel arrangements the evening before and were carrying all the supplies we would need on our backs, which didn’t amount to much. Ariane, an elven soldier, was used to camping for multiple nights on end in the monster-infested woods of the Great Canada Forest, while the two ninjas, Chiyome and Goemon, were quite used to roaming freely throughout the entire northern continent.
Chiyome was wearing her usual ninja garb, while Goemon left his upper body bare, exposing his well-toned muscles for all to see, wearing nothing but twin gauntlets on his arms and the bag on his back. We looked like a band of traveling fighters. I hoped this wouldn’t cause any problems on our trip.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Yes.”
“Ready.”
“…”
“Kyiiii!”
While Chiyome and I responded in the affirmative, Goemon simply nodded his head solemnly and flexed his massive pectoral muscles in reply. Ponta, who had been waiting impatiently at our feet, spun around in a circle and mewed.
“Well then, let’s head to the village’s teleportation shrine. Follow me.”
With that, Ariane began leading the way toward one of the massive trees at the center of the village. Chiyome and Goemon followed after her in silence.
As I watched the three walk away, something occurred to me. “I know it’s a little late to bring this up, Ariane, but is it okay to take Chiyome and Goemon to this elven shrine?”
The eleven teleportation shrine was supposed to be kept secret from all outsiders—especially humans. That said, Chiyome and Goemon already knew that I—ostensibly one of the elves—could use teleportation magic on my own, so it was probably a little too late to worry about this.
Ariane put her finger to her chin a
nd tilted her head to the side. “We’ve already gotten permission to bring them. Besides, the Great Fobnach Kingdom also has teleportation shrines…or at least, that’s what I’ve been told.”
Chiyome, usually known for her cool demeanor, joined me in letting out a loud gasp of surprise at this news. “This teleportation shrine, does it work the same as Arc’s ability? Do you mean to say that there are places in the elven villages, and even in the country ruled by our fellow comrades, that allow for this kind of travel?”
Chiyome put to words exactly what I’d been thinking. The humans up here on the northern continent didn’t have access to anything like these teleportation shrines. It would undoubtedly trigger a transportation revolution if they did. But instead, the shrines were kept secret from the humans. I’d thought they were strictly an elven secret, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
“The teleportation shrines were an invention of our founding elder, Evanjulin. He created several in the Fobnach Kingdom once we opened up trade negotiations with them.”
Apparently, the elves in the Great Canada Forest had been carrying out trade with the Great Fobnach Kingdom ever since it was first founded. As Ariane spoke, a question came to mind. “But we’re traveling down to the southern continent by ship, aren’t we? Are there no teleportation shrines connecting the continents?”
The look on Ariane’s face was one of pure exasperation. “Sure, there were good relations and trade between our peoples from the very beginning, but at the end of the day, we are still separate countries. It’d be a horrible idea to have linked shrines where just about anyone could come and go as they please.”
She was right. I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment to try to take some of the heat off of me. “I see your point.”
No matter how good the relationship was between Canada and Fobnach, they were still independent kingdoms. If they did have any sort of facilities that allowed them to travel back and forth instantaneously, one of them could easily send an entire military force right into the other’s backyard. Besides, since the teleportation shrines were a technology developed by the elves, it only made sense that their use and implementation would be more concentrated in Canada than Fobnach.