TEOCH 66

Damian’s upper body was hidden by the thick tree branches and couldn’t be seen properly. Only his two feet on Rikiel’s shoulders and his two legs held by Rikiel’s hands were barely visible.

For a long while, a rustling sound came from the tree where Damian’s upper body was buried, and then a large, ripe fruit fell down. Tristan, who was waiting below, caught it safely and put it into his backpack.

“Keep it up, Damian! If we gather just three or four more, the backpack should be full!”

“I-is that really true? What a relief! I was just about to say I’ve picked almost all the fruit that was growing here…”

“Then shall we move a little to the right?”

“Ah, no! Please don’t move, Sir Rikiel!”

“Why not? Isn’t it fine as long as I hold you properly?”

“Uh, well, even if you’re holding me well, I’m the problem!”

Balancing on someone else’s shoulders was by no means an easy task, and Damian, who already had a poor sense of balance, didn’t seem very happy with the current situation. I couldn’t be sure, but by now, Damian was probably struggling to gather fruit while firmly grasping a tree branch with one hand.

“If it’s really too hard for you, shall I go up instead?”

“Even so, I can’t ask someone with an injured arm to do something like that… Ah, I missed it! I could reach it if I just stretched my hand out a little more!”

“Is it because you’re not high enough? In that case… Heave-ho.”

“D-don’t do that!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Rikiel lifted Damian’s ankles high up, and Damian let out a shrill scream in terror. It was quite funny that a person who had somehow endured it when his own arm was blown off was frightened by something like this, but Damian himself seemed genuinely scared, thrashing about in the tree. The sound of rustling leaves was quite loud.

“Isn’t he heavy, Rikiel?”

“This much isn’t heavy at all. Did you grab the fruit, Damian?”

“Y-you’re too much…”

Even while supporting a grown man’s weight with both arms, Rikiel looked up as if it were nothing, and before long, a large fruit fell from the tree. With an amused smile, Tristan put the fruit into his backpack, offering only some vague encouragement like, ‘I think we only need three more now.’

Rehas and I, who had been collecting sap all this time, snickered as we glanced at the scene.

“Hmm, what if he falls doing that?”

“He’s holding onto a branch anyway, so he should be fine. Sir Rikiel is also strong enough to handle that much weight without any problem.”

Rehas grinned and nodded. The three of them seemed to be exploring smoothly enough, and if they gathered enough fruit to fill Tristan’s backpack, we wouldn’t have to worry about food for a while. Of course, we would get hungry faster than when eating roasted monster meat, but since we wouldn’t be fighting for the time being anyway, it wouldn’t be a big issue.

‘We’ve collected a good amount of sap, too.’

I set the full bowl of sap on the ground and tied the lid on tightly. While those guys were gathering fruit, Rehas and I had already collected four bowls of sap. Maybe it was a good thing we came back. When we returned to the island and looked around, there was a surprising amount of sap that we had missed and failed to collect.

If we collect all the sap, our overall strength will be considerably enhanced. With that thought, I was taking out a new bowl when Rehas’s relaxed voice came from my side.

“You seem to be feeling better, too. Your expression has relaxed a lot.”

“Pardon? Well, we’ve escaped the immediate danger for now. Of course, we mustn’t let our guard down, but there’s no need to needlessly waste our energy, is there?”

Rehas was scanning my face with a look of curiosity. I wanted to ask what my expression had been like before, but thinking about it, my expression had never been particularly bright to begin with, so I could only shrug lightly. Instead, I casually threw a question his way.

“You’re the one whose expression has brightened up a lot. On the ‘Volcanic Island,’ your face looked unusually unwell, unlike your usual self.”

“I couldn’t help it. One can’t be cheerful all the time in a situation like that, can they? That friend over there who’s always wearing a dazed expression is the strange one.”

Looking at Damian, who was still grunting and struggling in the tree, Rehas gave a bitter smile. Rehas’s gaze was as gentle as a father looking at his child; it seemed that carrying him around all the time had made him grow quite fond of him. I don’t know Rehas’s exact age, but from his perspective, wouldn’t Damian seem to be about the age of a son?

‘Come to think of it, did he have children? A moment ago he said something like he hadn’t even carried his dead daughter this much…’

Now that I thought about it, I still didn’t know much about him. It had already been over a month since we started spending time together… Since he was originally a relaxed and friendly person, there were no problems living together, but not knowing anything about the other person’s past or personal story was a truly strange thing for me.

Damian and Rikiel were people I had adventured with hundreds of times, and even Tristan, who had just joined this time, was someone I had met and spoken with countless times. Of course, after entering the second playthrough, unfamiliar aspects had gradually increased… But in Rehas’s case, there was no accumulated information at all, making it difficult to even predict how he would act.

For instance, I had no idea why he was looking at me right now with such a subtle smile.

“Wh-what is it?”

“Hmm? What is what?”

“You’re looking at me with a very strange expression right now.”

“Me? No, I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular.”

No matter how I look at it, that is not the face of someone thinking of nothing! A moment ago, when he was looking at Damian, his eyes were at least those of someone looking at a young man, but the way he was looking at me now was exactly like someone looking at a small child. It was clear he didn’t have any malicious intent, but it felt very strange.

Wait, don’t tell me… In his eyes, do I look even more like a child than Damian?

“Is that really true?”

“Hmm, of course. Watching you makes me feel like I’m seeing my daughter’s childhood, so it makes me want to take care of you more. I’m not thinking anything strange at all.”

“Childhood, you say. Come to think of it, how old is your daughter?”

“She died when she was about seven, I think? It was 13 years ago, so if she had lived until now, she would have been the exact same age as Damian.”

“I’ve said something rude. I don’t know what happened at such a young age, but… Wait, that’s not it. So you’re saying that in your eyes, I look like a seven-year-old!”

“Tsk, you caught me.”

I stared at Rehas, who said that while chuckling, with a dumbfounded look. No, in terms of age, I’m way older than him! The thought of being treated like a child by someone who probably hadn’t even lived a tenth—no, a twentieth—of the years I have felt quite unpleasant. What’s more, the even stranger part was…

“It’s a joke, a joke. It’s just an expression.”

“…Hmph hmph.”

It was the fact that if I started complaining now, I would probably be treated like a child again. Rehas currently had an expression that suggested he would patiently accept whatever I said, so it was clear that making a clumsy protest would only be counterproductive.

It seemed I wouldn’t even get my investment back by speaking up right now, so instead of saying anything more, I could only let out a light, dry cough. I was looking for any way to change the subject when Damian, who was busy rummaging through the fruits, called out to me.

“Mr. Rohan, there’s a strange fruit here! What should I do?”

Thinking it was perfect timing, I got up from my spot. As Rehas and I approached the tree, a brightly glowing fruit dropped from above my head. Realizing what it was, I hurriedly picked up the fruit and dug into it with a dagger. Rehas, who had followed me, opened his mouth as he saw the bright light seeping out from inside.

“I don’t know what it is, but it looks amazing. Is it a dangerous item?”

“Yes, this is, if I had to say, more beneficial to us than dangerous. Would you like to see?”

With a grin, I pulled out the ‘jewel’ embedded in the center of the fruit. It was an unexpected stroke of luck.

Inside the fruit was an amber stone the size of a peach pit. It was a rare occurrence that you might encounter only once or twice in a thousand playthroughs, but when foraging on the ‘Island of Trees,’ you sometimes find fruits that hold jewels instead of seeds.

When I first saw one, I worried, ‘Could this be some kind of trap?’ and couldn’t bring myself to touch it easily, but in reality, this jewel wasn’t dangerous at all. In fact, it would be more accurate to say it would be helpful to us.

“Mr. Rohan, this is…?”

“It’s a similar item to the ‘Confusion’ jewel you used before. Would you like to take a look?”

Damian, having gotten down from Rikiel’s shoulders, examined the amber with wide eyes. I inwardly anticipated what kind of magic might be imbued in that jewel and waited for Damian’s answer.

Jewels obtained from tree fruits are generally sturdy and long-lasting, so they are worth looking forward to. The magic that can be obtained from that jewel is more or less set. Things like ‘Stealth,’ or ‘Clairvoyance,’ or ‘Memory Wipe,’ or if not even that…

“Huh? This is quite a strange magic.”

“Strange?”

“Yes. Two types of magic are fused into one, and it’s structured so that you can’t activate one magic without activating the other. Normally, fusion magic isn’t structured this way… It’s a really peculiar format.”

“I think I know what it is. ‘Battle Preparation’?”

“Is that its name? Hmm, it’s certainly a magic that strengthens our power, so expressing it as battle preparation doesn’t seem awkward.”

Realizing the identity of the magic, I grinned and took the jewel from Damian. ‘Battle Preparation’ was a pretty decent jewel among those you could get from tree fruits.

When you think about it, it simply enhances our physical strength and endurance dramatically, but because it’s such a simple magic, the mana consumed is low and the number of uses is high.

Whereas something like ‘Confusion’ could be deployed on a large scale but could only be used 30 times at most, this magic boasts a whopping 300 uses. This could be considered the highest number of uses among jewels.

However, the other magic fused with ‘Strength Enhancement’ is a bit tricky.

“Hmm, what kind of magic is it?”

“Well… this ‘Battle Preparation’ magic has ‘Anesthesia’ magic mixed in with ‘Strength Enhancement.’ The anesthesia isn’t strong enough to affect the brain and cause fainting; it’s just to the point where you barely feel any pain.”

“You don’t feel pain? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Umm, it’s not quite that simple of a problem. Not feeling pain is basically the same as having your senses dulled. If we couldn’t feel pain at all, a situation could occur where we wouldn’t even notice our arm being torn off or our spine being broken.”

“That’s not a very good thing. Not knowing what’s happening to your own body during a battle.”

I silently nodded in agreement with Rikiel’s words. Indeed, ‘Anesthesia’ magic wasn’t something to be used thoughtlessly. Of course, I had grown quite accustomed to fighting in an anesthetized state, so I could proceed with battles without issue, but if someone who isn’t sufficiently used to it were to use ‘Anesthesia’ at its maximum level, it could become quite dangerous.

Even without being attacked and wounded by an enemy, if you overexert your body with strength beyond what it can handle, accidents like dislocated joints or torn muscles happen quite frequently. Furthermore, considering the accompanying ‘Strength Enhancement’ magic, the probability of an accident occurring increases dramatically.

The biggest drawback of this jewel was that the more you strengthened your body, the stronger the anesthesia magic was forced to become. You need to strengthen your body to fight, but in the very act of strengthening your body, the risk increases due to the anesthesia magic. It was a contradiction you couldn’t laugh at.

Well, of course, it wasn’t as if there were no ways to overcome such a contradiction.

“Still, reducing pain isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s actually quite a good magic for you in particular, Damian.”

“Pardon? For me? Right, anesthesia magic would certainly be quite useful for me too.”

“There’s that, but I’m talking about strength enhancement. It will help you run for longer.”

Damian nodded as if he understood. For Damian, not just ‘Anesthesia’ but also ‘Strength Enhancement’ would likely be quite useful.

With his normal stamina, he’s someone who would be panting after running for just five minutes, but this would allow him to run at a similar speed to us, which could be useful in that Rehas wouldn’t have to carry Damian like when we escaped the ‘Volcanic Island.’ Of course, if Damian himself doesn’t exercise properly, he won’t see that much of an effect…

“Also, if you use a small amount of mana to lightly enhance your strength, the effect of the anesthesia won’t be that great. Even if there are side effects, they can be overcome through training.”

“True, with consistent training, one could move without problems even in an anesthetized state. And since your movements wouldn’t be slowed by the pain of wounds, you could move more swiftly during battle.”

Rikiel nodded as if he agreed with my words. We’ll have to train here for the next few weeks anyway, so if we combine physical training with adaptation training for the anesthetized state, we should be able to see some decent results. The jewel has plenty of uses anyway, so it should be fine to use about 10 to 20 charges for training…

“It’s not bad! Though I am a little worried.”

“Tell me about it. I’m a little worried too, but it’s still a really good magic for us.”

“Just a moment. Your Majesty, why are you staring at my face while saying that?”

“Hmm? Did I do that? It must be your imagination. It’s just that when you mentioned anesthesia magic, you kept weighing on my mind…”

“So it wasn’t my imagination after all. You too, Damian. Why are you looking at me with those eyes…”

“Me? I was just looking because I wanted to see Mr. Rohan’s face! You look healthy today, too!”

Looking at the brightly smiling Tristan and Damian, I just let out a dry cough for no reason. It seems they’re acting like this because they’re worried I might abuse the anesthesia magic…

It was absurd, but because of what I’d done in the past, I couldn’t really say anything. But what kind of image do these people have of me? Surely they don’t think I’m addicted to self-harm, do they?

“I’m just kidding, Mr. Rohan! Just because I’m worried about you doesn’t mean I won’t cast the anesthesia magic on you! Ah, or perhaps you prefer not having the anesthesia magic cast on you…?”

“It would be better if I just didn’t say anything.”

With nothing left to say, I could only give a bitter smile. I didn’t know how on earth they came to think of me that way, but it seemed it would be quite difficult to change their minds for the time being. In the end, I had to finish our exploration while trying my best to ignore the faces of my companions, who were wearing subtle smiles.