Shinka no Mi

Chapter 184: Drifter

“Now then, can we return to the inn soon?”

After playing to our heart’s content in the sea, I suggested that to everyone.

“That’s right. I played a lot today, and I was getting tired!”

“Well. In normal battle, you also moved the parts of your body that didn’t move much, and if you’re not good at it, you will have muscle pain tomorrow, right?”

“Then, why don’t I massage Al’s body when we return to the inn?”

“Eh? Saria, you can do that?”

“Yup! Leave it to me!”

Towards Al, Saria pounded her chest.

It’s been less recent for Saria to do anything, but as expected, she has ridiculous specs.

She can do housework and everything perfectly.

Moreover, it’s even more surprising because she was a gorilla before she turned into a human.

When I was surprised at the high specs of Saria, Olga-chan suddenly pulled the hem of my pants.

“……Seiichi-oniichan”

“Nn? What’s wrong?”

“…… Something is coming”

“Eh?”

When I turned my gaze towards the point where Olga-chan was pointing, it certainly looks like something was drifting as if it had been washed up.

I can’t see it well from here, but what is it?

“Just in case, I want to confirm it. If it was a person, that’s bothering.”

That said, it’s about the person who was drifting ――――

“It’s a persoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!?”

The one who was washed up on the sandy beach was, one person …… a man? Female? I mean, it was an androgynous-like person.

However, what attracts me more than that was the clothes the person is wearing.

What the person is wearing was…… a hakama* and haori* like such, and she/he was dressed as if she/he had jumped out of a Japanese historical drama. Anyway, there is something like a katana on the waist. (TN: hakama* and haori* = https://matcha-jp.com/en/2648, also gender is unknown)

I mean ……!

“Whawhawhawhat should I do!? This is, a person!? It’s a person!?”

“Calm down stupid! First of all, you should confirm his/her consciousness, right? Besides, you can check him/her with recovery magic!”

“Huh!? Certainly!?”

I lost my mind to the drowned corpse who was drifting, but I immediately regained my mind, and I activated the highest-level magic of light attribute, the 『Healing of the Virgin Lady』, which is the most effective recovery magic.

As it is, the light is sucked into the body of the person who was lying down in front of me.

Then, a change came to the person who was lying down.

“Uh……”

“It’s alive!”

“I guess. He/she isn’t hurt now with Seiichi’s magic, but as I observe her/him, he/she is still weak, so…… at once, we should take her back to our inn. We can take care of her/him until after she/he wakes up.”

“Understood.”

When I held the fallen person in my arms, we hurried back to the inn.

◇◆◇

We arrived safely at the inn, but immediately after arriving at the inn, the person I was carrying woke up.

“Nn……? Thi,this place…… is……”

“Ah…… Are you okay?”

“Tsu!?”

The moment I called out, the person I was holding reached for the katana that was attached on his/her waist, and pulled it out.

“Hah!”

“Seiichi!?”

Al raises his voice in response to his/her sudden attack, but……

“Wha!?”

Surprisingly, before the katana touched me, it bent so much that I couldn’t tell what was going on, and it became like a kind of sculpture of contemporary art.

Looking at the sword, the person who pulled out the katana opened his/her eyes wide, and Al let out a sigh in astonishment.

“…… No, I don’t know what’s going on. What and how can a weapon be shaped like that?”

“Come now?”

“Why don’t you know?”

I’m sorry, I don’t understand even if you say that.

Even when I fought the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire before I left the Barbador Magic Academy, their weapons and armors gradually fell apart just like this one.

If it’s worse, he/she may hurt himself or her/his body may break……

But I want you to believe me. I didn’t do anything from my side……!

With that in my mind, the person who pulled out the sword slipped out of my arm, and showed vigilance.

“You guys …… who are you!?”

“No, that’s my line……”

“Tsu!? Wha,what, is that figure! Shameless!”

When I was puzzled by the person wearing a hakama who was being vigilant, I noticed what we looked like right now, and she turned her face red and pointed at me.

“What …… it’s a swimsuit, though ……?”

“Swimsuit ……? What an incomprehensible thing! Is there a guy who loiters around shirtless! The girls there too, wha,what is with their appearance!? Outrageous, outrageous!”

I’m not sure, but apparently for the person in front of me, it seems that it’s her first time seeing a swimsuit.

Certainly, it looks like underwear just by looking at it. Well, I don’t really feel it unless I’m told with that.

Such a thing doesn’t matter, but let’s move on with the talk.

“Why don’t you calm down and listen to me? We just carried you because you were lying down on the beach.”

“I was lying down ……? No, wait. I* was ……!? ” (TN: She was actually referring to herself as sessha. And, also I was hoping she was a girl so it’s a ‘she’ now hehehe~)

When I suddenly thought that she fell silent, the face of the person in front of me turned pale, and tried to run out suddenly.

“Mu-sama ……! Ku!?”

“Oops……”

“Hey!?”

However, even though her wounds were healed by magic, her strength haven’t recovered, but I was able to hug her on the spot where she was about to fall.

“Ge,get away from me, your rude! You…… it’s impolite of you not to know Mamorigami Yaiba!”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know you……”

“What did you say!?” (TN: The name sounds boyish, so I’ll revert to “he” now)

The person wearing a hakama in my words ……. Mamorigami-san opened his eyes wide. I’m sorry, I really don’t know you.

For the time being, I thought that maybe I was the only who didn’t know him, so I asked everyone.

“Do you know him?”

“I don’t know!”

“I also don’t know him.”

“…… Don’t know.”

“M,me too……”

“I have no interest!”

About one person had an obvious answer, but anyway, no one here knew about Mamorigami -san.

However, it seemed to be quite shocking for Mamorigami -san, and he collapsed from his knees.

“I,if you don’t know me then……? Yamato was such a person to be feared, this me is……?”

“By the way, that Yamato? I also don’t know him…… “

“……”

Mamorigami-san fell silent for a while, probably because of my words that’s terrible.

Mamorigami-san opens his mouth as he watches while worrying about the situation.

“…… I want to ask a question. This place, where?”

“This place, is it? This is the port city of the Kingdom of Welmburg, Southern, we’re in the Black-tailed Gull inn.”

“Welmburg Kingdom …… in a foreign country ……!? Ho,how come ……”

“Uhmm……?”

“…… I’m sorry, I lost my composure.”

Then, Mamorigami-san stood up calmly, perhaps because his confusion had settled down, and bowed his head.

“……It appears that you have helped me. Even if it was a misunderstanding, I pointed my katana at my benefactor, I’m sorry.”

“N, no. If there was a stranger near you suddenly, you’ll be wary, and …… besides, it’s my fault, I guess? I don’t know if it was like such, but I made your sword become like that……”

“Ah……”

Mamorigami-san stared at the katana in his hand, perhaps remembering it due to my words.

Al pokes my side in the appearance of such Mamorigami-san.

“…… Oi, Seiichi. You can do something somehow.”

“Eeh!? Even if I was told to somehow …… I don’t even know how ……”

“No, no matter how you look at it, that katana? Wait that weapon, didn’t it seem like it was reluctant to attack you?”

“The sword hates me!?”

What the, weapons hate me.

…… No, it’s too late. I was a man who was being avoided by the sea.

When it comes to that, did it become like that itself in order to not really attack me?

The,then…… will it return if I forgive it?

“Etto … you can turn back, I guess?”

It was at that moment when I called out so.

The katana, which was bent so complicatedly, returned to its original form in an instant.

“Wha!?”

“Eh, seriously”

“…… I didn’t think that it would really turn back.”

“Oi!”

Al said to me that I could do it, but there was no reaction from her!

Mamorigami-san, who was staring at the katana again, wields the sword several times on the spot.

His swordsmanship is very beautiful, and I knew that Mamorigami-san was strong even from an amateur’s point of view.

After swinging the katana to a certain extent, as if its inspection is over, he puts it in its sheath and bows her head again.

“I’m indebted. Originally speaking, it was the result of me jumping to wrong conclusions, but …… you restored my weapon back.”

“That’s …… I’m glad I was able to restore it.”

“…… I didn’t give my name yet. I call myself Mamorigami Yaiba. The 18th generation of the Mamorigami family who serves the Yamato family for generations degozaru.”

Amazing, he said degozaru!

I was deeply impressed by his wordings, but the more I looked at Mamorigami-san, the more I felt that he was a kind of person who’ll jump out of a historical drama.

Indigo blue hair tied together with long eyes.

It’s really like a samurai getup.

What do I say, he seems to be in the Shinsengumi*. He’s a handsome guy. No, his face has no connection with it, right ……?

His tone feels like an overseas person who admires samurai, but it suits him very well.

We also briefly introduced ourselves because Mamorigami-san named himself, but Mamorigami-san has an apologetic look on his face.

“If it’s true, I would like to repay you guys, but I have to return. Therefore, I would like to give my gratitude on some other time.”

“That’s fine, but…… are you okay?”

“What, no matter how I see it, I was full of confidence in my own arms. …… It was my blunder at that time, but now, I’m okay.”

Mamorigami-san stares somewhere far away.

I’m not sure what happened, but it doesn’t seem to be a topic we can step into.

“Etto…… you said you’d be back, but do you know its location?”

When I asked him that, Mamorigami-san frowned, and looked greatly embarrassed.

“That’s…… I didn’t expect to come to a foreign country, so I have no clue. The only thing I know, is that my country is just across the sea ……”

“Sea? What is the name of your country?”

When Al asked, as if she had noticed something, Mamorigami-san shook his head.

“My country doesn’t have a name. That’s because, it’s still in a state of struggling for a small territory …… Come to think of it, I’ve only once heard how my country is called by the outside world. I’m sure it was…… the eastern country, degozaro.”

“!”

“I see.”

Al sighed at Mamorigami-san’s words.

Rather than that, the eastern country …… it was a mysterious country where I often heard only its name, but I didn’t understand the actual situation in there.

Certainly, from the appearance of Mamorigami-san and the atmosphere of his name, I wonder if that’s true? I was predicting it, but it was properly told that I was right.

“That why, my apologies, but I have to leave this place right away. In my country, the one I serve is waiting for me.”

“Is that so……”

“It seems that there’s a lot of circumstances, and it’s no use for us to forcibly keep you here. This place is our home land, and there’s nothing we can do.”

As Al says, we’re here in Southern for sightseeing, so we can’t help very much.

Then, Saria raises her hand.

“Yes! Then, why don’t we ask about a ship in the guild?”

“Eh?”

“Mamorigami-san came from the other side of the sea, right? Then, I don’t think you can go home without a ship!”

“Well.”

“If there’s something we could help, isn’t it like to ask where a ship is?”

As Saria says, it looks like we can do that.

Fortunately, we came to this place earlier, so we know a little about the land, and the location of the guild branch perfectly.

“For that reason, we would like to assist you with the information to a ship, but ……”

“Tha,that’s right! I’m grateful that you were just helping me, but …… I can’t give you something in return……”

“Now now, if you have to hurry home, then come and go obediently here with us.”

It seems that he was thinking about something with Al’s words, and Mamorigami-san nodded with a hesitating look.

“…… I’m indebted. By all means, I beg you.”

―――― While caring for Mamorigami-san, who hasn’t returned to his normal condition yet, we moved to the Guild Branch of Southern.