by Ennki Hakari
I made my way to the first floor, where we had a table reserved. Moments later, Ariane appeared with Ponta held tightly to her chest, followed shortly by Chiyome. Behind them was Goemon, who’d apparently come back some time earlier.
“Kyii!”
As soon as everyone sat down, Ponta mewed and began waving its tail about excitedly as it looked up at me.
“No need to get yourself all worked up, Ponta. I made some for you, too.”
I set a dish with arrabbiata specially prepared for Ponta down in front of it.
I’d left the onion and red nail out of my furry companion’s food, but judging by the way it ravenously lapped at the dish, I probably could have left the onion in.
After distributing plates to everyone else, I held my breath for the moment of truth.
Ariane was the first one to try the dish. The moment she slid the sauce-covered pasta past her lips, her eyes went wide, and she brought her hand to her mouth.
“It’s…amazing! I can’t believe that a buffoon like you could make this, Arc.”
In spite of the personal attack, I was pleased. She began slurping up the pasta at a steady pace. I gathered that Ariane wasn’t so good at cooking herself, but that was hardly a bad thing. It was more important for her to focus on her swordsmanship. Then again, her mother Glenys was excellent both on the battlefield and in the kitchen.
To be fair, there was a difference of quite a few years, not to mention experience, between mother and daughter, so it’d be an uphill climb for her to get there.
I felt a tingle run up my spine. I turned around to look for the source, but there was nothing. Just my imagination.
Both Chiyome and Goemon were also a bit taken aback at the intense sensation upon their first taste, but they, too, quickly began slurping it up.
“This is really good, Arc! It has a nice, spicy burn to it!”
Chiyome offered up her honest feedback, though Goemon apparently would have preferred something with a little more bite.
“Yes, with a little more spice, I think it would have quite the impact.”
Impact? Just what was he hoping for the chili pepper to do?
After taking in their feedback, I finally tried my own dish.
This was the first time I’d cooked anything since coming here. Back in my world, I used to cook pretty much every day, so it felt good to get back into it.
The soft, delicate pasta was really good. The flour I’d used was for making bread, so the pasta was squishier than it normally should be, but it was still good, and the acidity of the tomato was a perfect match for the spiciness of the chili pepper.
I was pleased to find that the degree of heat from the red nail was similar to the chili peppers I was used to. Maybe a little spicier, if anything.
While I was preparing the dish, Ariane had looked at me like I was crazy when she saw me throw away the pepper’s seeds. After paying so much money for them, it must have seemed like a waste. When she asked, I explained that the majority of the chili pepper’s spice was concentrated in the seeds and stringy innards, so putting them into a dish was risky.
To get my point across, I gave her some of the insides to taste. Her eyes immediately began tearing up, and she glared at me.
However, now that she’d had a chance to eat the arrabbiata, Ariane said she’d like to see the red nail become more common in Canada as well. All in all, it seemed like my dish had earned a passing mark.
The only thing I wanted to change was the cooking temperature. No matter how strong I was physically, it wasn’t easy to hold a frying pan in the same place for a long period of time.
According to Ariane, the elves had a type of magical cooking device that would allow them to adjust the strength of a flame, like a stovetop. That would solve that problem. However, despite this item having been thought up quite a long time ago, it apparently still hadn’t gained widespread use, due to the fact that it used powdered mana, a fuel source far more expensive than simple wood.
Even so, the idea of being able to adjust the heat of a flame was incredibly appealing to me. When I got back, I wanted to look into purchasing one of these cooking devices for the ruined shrine that would become my home.
Besides, if I were only using it for myself, I could easily teleport back to the underground cavern and pick up rune stones whenever I wanted. It’d probably be easier than chopping wood.
While I was busy calculating the costs of outfitting my future kitchen, Ariane interrupted my thoughts to discuss our next plan of action.
In two days’ time, we’d be heading to Fernandes to find the tiger clan.
I wondered if I’d meet anyone that happened to bring some red nail with them.
***
Two days later, I found myself standing in a long line, looking at the backs of all the people in front of me.
We were in the yard in front of the entrance to the teleportation shrine, at the center of the port town of Plymouth.
It had been two days since we first came here, and now we were about to use the teleportation pad to transport us to Fernandes.
We handed over the wooden tags—our travel vouchers—and made our way up the stairs to have our bags inspected before boarding the teleportation pad.
I held my waterskin and helmet under my arm to prepare for the inspection, taking occasional sips of the magical spring water as we waited in line.
Between me, an elf fully outfitted in armor, the dark elf Ariane, Chiyome and Goemon, and the little spirit animal Ponta, we must have made quite a travel party. The other people in line were constantly glancing over at us.
Once our turn came up, we were asked a few simple questions then ushered inside the sanctuary.
Given the sanctuary’s spires and complex design, I was surprised to find that the inner hall was relatively simple in construction, looking like a large box with domes sticking out of the ceiling.
The walls were all decorated with intricate mosaics of wildlife.
“This is pretty impressive.”
The hall itself looked like a brilliant combination of technology and art. I felt like a tourist doing a bit of sightseeing.
In the center of the room were four obelisks. Each had a square platform that looked like an altar, with a set of stairs leading up to it.
Nicely dressed people stood on the altars with their bags, chatting away as they waited their turn to board the teleportation pads.
Considering the incredibly high cost to use the pads, I figured they were a luxury reserved for the affluent.
All eyes were on us as we made our way up the stairs toward the altar at the center of the sanctuary hall. A bell rang, and everyone went quiet.
A staff member announced the next departure: “All passengers going to the border town of Fernandes, please make your way to the central teleportation pad. We will begin shortly.”
People began murmuring among themselves as the bell gave one final ring, and a large rune on the floor of the altar lit up, filling the room with a harsh, bright light, causing me to squint. Just like with the teleportation pads in the elven villages, I felt like I was hovering in the air for a moment, then everything around me was consumed in light, and I found myself in a completely different location.
This new sanctuary was similar in size to the one we’d just been in, though the decorations were much simpler. Apparently, we’d teleported just fine.
Chiyome ran her gaze across the new room and muttered under her breath. “I know I’ve said it before, but traveling long distances in a matter of moments is nothing short of miraculous.”
I had to agree.
“The only limitation is that the more people and objects you teleport, the more powdered mana you consume. Back in the villages, the teleportation pads are restricted to five people at once. In that regard, at least, Arc’s teleportation magic is far more impressive.” Ariane turned her gaze to my waterskin, which I had just refilled that morning. The exercise served as proof that I could use Transport Ga
te to teleport between continents.
The two continents were separated by a day’s journey, or at least, a day’s journey on an elven ship. I figured the distance was somewhere around several hundred kilometers. Being able to teleport across continents suggested that I possessed an immense amount of power. However, I could feel teleporting such a vast distance consume a lot more of my magic. Back in the game, it cost a fixed amount of magic to teleport between any two locations, but here, it seemed like the farther I teleported, the more of my magic it consumed. In that regard, my teleportation magic wasn’t much different from the sanctuaries’ teleportation pads.
“Well, at least it’s going to be easier to move between the continents. No sense in worrying about the little things.” I laughed at Ariane’s comment, avoiding her gaze as I joined the crowd heading down the stairs.
“Thanks for delivering that dried kraken meat to the village, Arc.” When I was discussing my plans to teleport back, Chiyome had asked me to deliver her half of the meat to the hideaway village in the mountains.
I responded to her comment with a simple shake of my head. It was really no big deal.
Fortunately for me, Transport Gate made traveling between continents incredibly easy. The added trip between the elven village and Chiyome’s home was no extra effort at all.
I hefted my bag over my shoulder. “It was nice to lighten our load a bit.”
With that, we made our way through the sanctuary door, where we underwent another simple inspection before being sent off through the exit in the outer wall. Once outside, we were greeted by a large open square similar to the one we found in Plymouth.
However, the scene beyond the square was completely different from the city we’d left behind.
Unlike the bustling merchant town of Plymouth, where shopkeepers hawked their wares to a constant stream of customers in practically every direction, the buildings here were of a much simpler construction. Off in the distance, I could see a large wall surrounding the whole town. Given that Fernandes was a border town, I assumed the wall had been constructed against something on the other side.
I looked around. The streets were filled with all sorts of people, from everyday townsfolk, to ruffians getting up to trouble, to soldiers trying to keep the peace.
“I guess we should ask around and see where we might find the tiger clan.” I pulled my helmet back onto my head, adjusted it, and glanced back at Ariane and Chiyome. They both nodded in agreement.
Chiyome held our furry companion close to her chest, its legs dangling in the air. Ponta sniffed about curiously as it tried to get a sense for this new town. This was likely due to the fact that Plymouth had been filled with the scent of the sea, whereas now we were much further inland.
I glanced around for someone to ask and approached a man running a stall in the town square. He looked annoyed even before I had a chance to open my mouth.
“Excuse me, sir, I was wondering if you happened to know where we could find members of the tiger clan?”
I pulled a gold coin out of my leather pouch. The man’s eyes lit up immediately.
“Ahh, the tiger clan, yah? Haven’t really seen ’em around lately…”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
This wasn’t useful information, so I closed my fist around the coin and began turning away. A deep wrinkle formed in the man’s forehead as he hurriedly continued on.
“Ah, wait, that’s right! I remember hearing that the owner of the stable near the southern wall recently picked up one of the tiger clans’ mounts.”
“Is that so?”
We were looking for the tiger clan, not their horses. I readjusted my grip, letting some of the gold coin show through my fingers.
The man looked over at Ariane, standing guard nearby, and nodded to himself as if something had just fallen into place.
“I can’t see your face with all your armor, but are you by any chance an elf, kind sir? If so, I suppose it makes sense that you wouldn’t know about all this. You see, the tiger clan ride about on huge two-legged dragons known as driftpus. They receive their mounts the day they become adults and ride them for the rest of their lives. You can imagine how rare it is to lose one. It’s a fate worse than death.”
I was starting to get a better picture of the whole situation. “I see… So they would definitely come looking for a lost mount then?”
“That’s right. I hear the stable owner has been dealing with tiger clan mounts rather frequently these days, so he may know more about their situation. Really, believe me!”
I nodded to the man and, with a flick of my finger, sent the coin flipping through the air into his hand.
I turned to Ariane. She seemed none too pleased.
“Don’t you think you overpaid just a bit for that information?”
“We all value information differently. Besides, I’m willing to consider it a necessary expenditure.”
She slumped her shoulders dramatically at this.
According to the man, the tiger clan hadn’t been seen around these parts in some time. I still wasn’t sure what the cause of all this was, but talking to the stable owner about it seemed like the best plan of action.
Worst case scenario, if I wasn’t able to get in touch with the tiger clan here in town, then I could try to meet them in their own domain, off in the Kuwana Prairie.
“Well, I guess we’re off to look for the stable near the southern wall?”
I shifted by bag and began heading toward our next objective.
Chiyome called out to me. “Uh, Arc? South is that way…”
“Kyii!”
Ariane shot me a cold stare.
I turned on my heel and began heading in the direction Chiyome had indicated.
Hey, anyone can get lost in a new town. It happens.
***
I was surprised to find that the wall didn’t stretch all the way around the town. In the distance, I could see a gap to the northwest. I remembered hearing that Fernandes was built next to a river, so I could only assume the gap was where the wall butted up against it. This landmark made it easy to keep myself oriented.
After making our way through the dense crowds, and stopping at a few shops along the way, we found ourselves at the southern gate. Next to the gate lay several fields closed off by wooden fences. Inside these areas, I spotted several of the large bird-like creatures as well as the horse-sized mountain goats I’d first seen back in Plymouth.
Hands on her hips, Ariane scanned the surrounding area. “Huh, so it looks like there are actually quite a few stables near the wall…”
Ponta mewed excitedly from where it dangled in Chiyome’s arms. “Kyii!”
Chiyome gestured toward a large animal enclosed in a small yard. “I think that’s the one we’re looking for, no?”
I looked where she was pointing. Two large animals sat alone in the corner of a grazing field, segregated from all the other birds and mountain goats.
They looked like gigantic reptiles. More specifically, they looked incredibly similar to the illustrations of triceratops I remembered seeing in the dinosaur encyclopedias I’d read endlessly as a kid.
They were a little over four meters from snout to tail and were quite tall, even while lying on the ground. Their bodies were protected with a layer of reddish-brown scales, and they had two large, white horns rising out of the tops of their heads. Unlike their dinosaur counterparts, however, they each had a thick band of white hair that ran down the middle of their backs to the ends of their tails.
But the biggest difference between these massive creatures and the triceratops I was familiar with was that they had six legs.
In stark contrast with their rather intimidating appearance, these dinosaur-like lizards were just lazing about, calmly munching on grass. One let out a massive yawn before rolling over onto its back.
“Are those the mounts?”
I made my way toward the fenced-off yard.
These looked nothing like any animal I’d
seen in Fobnach so far, so it seemed a fair guess that these strange creatures were the mounts ridden by the tiger clan.
An older man with long rabbit ears called out to us as we approached.
“Well, hello there! Are you looking to buy a mount? Excuse my ignorance, but you don’t happen to be guards from the capital, do you?”
Upon catching sight of my armor, the man bowed and took on a more polite tone of voice.
“We’re from the Great Canada Forest, up on the northern continent. We’re just browsing around.”
Ariane looked a bit surprised at my self-introduction, but said nothing.
“You don’t say! It’s quite rare to see elves around these parts. If it’s a mount you’re looking for, I’d recommend the driorgle for their speed alone. How about it?”
The rabbit-eared man gestured toward several of the large, two-legged birds and shot me a sly smile.
Apparently, we’d found the owner of these stables.
I put my hand up to stop his sales pitch and turned the topic back to our objective: finding the tiger clan.
“I heard talk that there was a man out here selling tiger clan mounts, so I came looking for him. Do you know who I’m speaking of?”
“I believe I do. May I inquire what business you have with him?” The merchant eyed me with suspicion.
I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s a personal matter. You see, I was hoping to get the tiger clan to sell me some of their red nails. According to a shopkeeper, there’s a man out here who found some of their mounts and might know more about what’s become of the tiger clan.”
This was enough to satisfy the merchant’s concerns. He smiled broadly and nodded.
“Is that all? Those red nails sure are useful for blinding beasts. I see, I see. Well, actually, I was the one who found those mounts, the driftpus, over there.”
The man leaned back against the fence and turned his gaze toward the six-legged dinosaur creatures. He let out a sigh. Before I could say anything, he let out a dry laugh, deep wrinkles creasing his forehead.