Chapter One Hundred and Nine: Out Of One Crisis And Into Another!?
The road is smoother than I expected. It feels like we are following a path created by wheel tracks. There isn’t much shaking, and the tires aren’t getting caught… It is a very stable journey! The sky visible through the windshield is beautifully clear, with a striking contrast against the white clouds. A refreshing breeze comes through the slightly open window. Ah! It’s truly perfect weather for a drive!
Ahead, as indicated by the navigation, a fairly tall mountain loomed. White smoke is billowing from its peak. That’s probably the Melnoa Volcano I’ve heard about.
“The smoke is thinner than I expected. When I heard ‘volcano’, I thought it would be more… billowing.”
“Yes. It erupted a long time ago… Now it is… rather calm.”
“Ah, I see. I wondered if the road might be all bumpy from lava flows!”
There’s no sulfuric smell in the air coming through the window, and the scenery doesn’t look devastated by lava or volcanic ash… From what Ms. Aria is saying, it seems the volcano erupted long enough ago for the vegetation to recover fully, and now it just emits some smoke.
It’s probably like a low-activity volcano?
I can see the volcano, but it’s still too far to spot the town at its base.
You’d think I would have noticed such a tall mountain when I first came to this world, but I guess I was too confused to really take it in.
“…By the way… are you going to stew the mad otter…?”
“I have onions and potatoes, so I thought I’d cook it all together. Ms. Aria, do you prefer sweet seasonings? Or salty?”
“Hmm…! That’s a tough choice…!”
As I drove Campy towards the smoke-spewing mountain, Ms. Aria tilted her head, holding Gomamiso.
I have onions and potatoes, so I thought making it like a meat and potato stew might go well with rice.
From what I glimpsed through the gaps in the wooden sheets, the meat seemed to have a layer of fat on top of the red meat. Mad otters probably have plenty of fat to keep their body temperature in the water.
That meat should go well with either sweet or salty seasonings, right?
When I asked Ms. Aria, she seemed troubled by the choice…
I get it… It’s hard to choose… Both sound delicious!
“…Rin… can you stop the car up ahead?”
“? I can, but is something wrong?”
“…Feels like there might be something…”
“Huh?”
Ms. Aria, who had been pondering with a furrowed brow, suddenly looked straight ahead with a serious expression. Seeing her intense look, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for details.
I slowly applied the brakes, bringing the Camping Car to a stop.
Before I knew it, Mr. Ville, Mr. Xenon, and Mr. Ed, who should have been in the living area, had somehow made their way to the border between the driver’s seat and the cabin… near the flip-up counter.
“Rin. Open the door, please.”
“O-Okay… Is it alright if I stay inside the car?”
“It’s not that strong an opponent, so I think you’ll be fine. But we can’t leave it alone, it’ll be trouble!”
‘I shall protect you, don’t worry!’
I must have looked pretty anxious. Mr. Ed smiled and waved at me, but having grown up far from the world of battles and adventures, I can’t help but worry…
Gomamiso softly nuzzled against my feet as I unconsciously clenched my hands tightly in tension. It puffed out its chest proudly and patted the back of my foot with its paw.
…Yes, that’s right. You protected me earlier too!
As I finally let out the breath I’d been holding, Mr. Xenon stood before me with a gentle smile, staff in hand.
“Rin. After we get out, it would be helpful if you could back the car up a bit.”
“Understood. I guess a wider workspace, or rather, battlefield, would be better, right?”
“…More like, we don’t want this car getting dirty either. Well then, we’re counting on you!”
“Dirty…? Eh, what’s going to happen?!”
Leaving me with some mystery, they got out. Once everyone had moved a bit away from the vehicle, I put the Camping Car in reverse.
…Oh, amazing! The nav screen begin to transmit the image from the rearview camera! I hadn’t noticed because I never needed to reverse before!
I must have been about 10 meters away when suddenly a cloud of dust rose from the area where we were heading.
…No, rather than dust, it is more like the ground exploded, or… Something seemed to have burst up from beneath the ground, scattering soil. The airborne dirt rained down around the area with a pattering sound. Fortunately, or perhaps due to good preparation… thanks to the magic barrier Mr. Ed had cast, everyone seemed safe from the falling dirt. Thanks to following Mr. Xenon’s advice to back up, the Camping Car also avoided the sudden rain of soil.
I-I see… so this is what he meant by getting dirty…!
As the literal "dirt shower" subsided, a dull-colored front paw with sharp claws appeared on the edge of the hole that had opened in the ground. Something is wriggling its way out from the bottom of the hole.
It raises its eyeless head, twitching its pointed snout.
“Just as we thought! It’s a steel mole!”
“NGYUUUuuuaaaAAAuuUUUUAaaaaaa!!!!”
Mr. Ville’s voice as he readied his sword and the high-pitched, eerie roar squeezed from deep in the creature’s throat echoed under the blue sky.
No comments:
Post a Comment