Black Cat Chapter 23: On the Carriage Road
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The next morning, I
went to the village chief’s house feeling like I hadn’t slept enough, even
though I had had a good night’s sleep, I was immediately attacked by Mr. Zeol.
“What’s the matter, Nyango? You look very sleepy. Were you so
excited about going to the city that you couldn’t sleep at night?” (Zeol)
“No, I can’t practice today, so I worked too hard yesterday to make
up for it…” (Nyango)
“Oh, I’m impressed with that, but if you don’t take care of your
physical condition at the time of a request, you won’t be able to become a
full-fledged adventurer.” (Zeol)
“Yes, I will be careful…” (Nyango)
“Keep your strength up and get yourself back on track.” (Zeol)
“Ah, yes, I understand.” (Nyango)
I told him that I had
done too much staff practice, but I couldn’t tell him that I had eaten a
goblin’s heart and was feeling high and excited.
Fortunately or
unfortunately, I did not lose consciousness after that.
However, even though
I remained conscious, I was not in a state that could be called normal.
My body was filled
with magic elements, and I was on the verge of a violent outburst, a state
similar to excessive doping or drug abuse.
Even with a
combination of large-scale void attribute magic and body enhancement magic,
there was still too much magic element, and when I burped, I felt as if I was
about to vomit magic element.
Feeling like I could
do anything, I made a slide down the mountain to foot.
Don’t ask me why I
did that.
I can only answer
that I had temporarily lost my mind.
Along the slope of
the mountain, I rode a sled made with void magic down a slide made with void
attribute magic.
Both the slide and
the sled were fast, fast because I imagined them to be slippery with little
frictional resistance.
If it had not been
made in the shape of a tube, like a bobsled course, I would have gone off the
course and blown up.
I think the speed was
more than 60 km/h.
Even though the slide
was built, it was not large enough to connect from the mountain to the foot of
the mountain, so it was connected to the other slides along the way, but if it
was not connected in time, I would be thrown off.
If I had hit a
standing tree at high speed, I might have died.
It was good that I
had safely slid down to the foot of the mountain, but I felt unsatisfied, so I
even used body enhancement magic to run back up to the mountainside, and then
slid down to the foot of the mountain again.
And I ran back three
times.
And on the third run,
I had a different way of descending in my mind.
Using [Step], I
climbed to about 10 meters above the top of the tree, where I used my void magic
to create a hang glider.
Let me tell you, I
never tried to hang gliding in my previous life.
I only have knowledge
of hang gliding from what I have seen on TV and the Internet.
Strong fabric wings are
strung on a kite-like frame, a triangular control bar, and a harness to suspend
the body.
Based on my vague
knowledge, I carried a hang glider made with void attribute magic on my
shoulder and used steps to run up in the air.
“Thiissss iiiiis soooo fuuuuun!!!” (Nyango)
I want to hit him, I
want to hit the me of yesterday.
Even paper planes
need to be balanced to fly, but when it comes down to it, I made a hang glider,
and even ride it myself… What an idiot!
I was dizzy and
exhausted, but I flew safely to the foot of the mountain because I happened to
be on the updraft and miraculously kept my balance.
I would politely
refuse to hang glide, even if I was asked to do it again.
After descending to
the foot of the mountain by hang-gliding, I was about to climb up the mountain
again when I ran out of magic elements from the goblin’s heart.
I was almost crushed
by the fatigue that attacked me as soon as I arrived, but somehow, I managed to
reach home, but I ended up sleeping like mud without eating dinner until
morning.
When I woke up this
morning, I found that the prone mushrooms had broken into a soggy mess in the
basket and were in no condition to be sold.
After such a rampage,
I was seriously lucky that the goblin’s magic stone, which I had thrown into
the back basket, was still there and not lost.
While waiting for the
village chief to come out, I leaned against the carriage and tried to recover
my physical condition by using body enhancement magic, but actually, I have
been feeling uncomfortable since this morning.
I thought I was
circulating the same amount of magic element as usual, but it was somehow out
of balance.
Until yesterday, I
had to push magic elements into every corner of my body in order to circulate
them, but this morning, however, the magic elements are entering my body
smoothly.
Body enhancement magic
is magic that sends magic elements into the blood vessels to activate, but the
thickness of the blood vessels cannot change overnight, and if it did, my blood
pressure would drop.
The amount of magic
elements in my body increased rapidly after eating the goblin’s heart, no doubt
the cause, but the body enhancement magic is working properly, although it
feels strange.
If I get used to this
state, I may be able to instantly apply body enhancement magic only to the
areas where I want to use it.
By the time the
village chief came out of the house, I was feeling better, but when I saw
Miguel dressed up for going out, I felt sick.
“Zeol and Nyango, please take care of us today.” (Village
Chief)
“Grandpa, why are you taking Nyango?” (Miguel)
“Because Zeol recommended him to me.” (Village Chief)
“This guy is useless.” (Miguel)
The village head
pushed Miguel, who continued to complain, into the carriage, and Mr. Zeol and I
sat down on the driver’s stand.
“Village chief, let’s go! Nyango, if it’s cold, wrap yourself in
the blanket over there.” (Zeol)
“I’m prepared for the cold, I’ll be fine.” (Nyango)
The effect of eating
the goblin’s heart also affected the void magic.
The range of air solidification
increased by about fifty percent overnight.
The strength has not
yet been verified, but it seems to have increased considerably.
Perhaps because my original
magic index was low, so the effect of eating the goblin’s heart was
significant.
As a countermeasure
against the cold, I use my enhanced void attribute magic to cover my body with
an elastic layer of air.
In my imagination, it
is like having an air cushion wrapped around my body.
There is also a layer
of air under the thighs and buttocks sitting on the coachman’s seat, which
prevents cold air from being transmitted and also serves as a cushion.
It’s warm, and this
way my buttocks don’t get sore.
Mr. Zeol drove the
carriage carefully even after leaving the village.
At this time of year,
there are deep ruts on the road surface due to people who force the carriage to
drive through muddy roads caused by melting snow.
If the carriage gets
stuck in a deep rut without slowing down, it will not only suffer a severe
bump, but in the worst-case scenario, the carriage may even flip over.
Mr. Zeol observed the
terrain and the dryness of the road and skillfully maneuvered his horse to
avoid getting stuck in dangerous ruts, but even with such caution, the carriage
still shook greatly from time to time.
Even so, his buttocks
do not ache and he does not feel cold, as if he were wearing some kind of
winter clothing with void magic.
However, if I dozed
off and lost consciousness, the warm clothes would disappear as well, so I had
to fight against sleepiness on the way.
Before noon, we
arrived at the neighboring village of Kidai.
The destination was
the house of the village chief of Kidai, who was going to accompany us to the
town of Ibouro.
For the village chief
of Kidai, he would not have to provide a wagon and escort, and for the chief of
Atsuka, he would only have to pay half the cost of a stable and manger.
For the chief of a
mountain village that is not very wealthy, it seems that pragmatism is more
important than vanity.
While the chief of Atsuka
and Miguel went to do their business, the horses in the carriage were replaced.
The horses that had
pulled the carriage up to this point were left with them, and they were to be
replaced on the return trip.
“To make one horse pull a long distance, you need to take a lot of rest.
If we switch horses here, we can save time for breaks.” (Zeol)
“That’s how they do it with the horse-drawn carriages, isn’t it?”
(Nyango)
“Yes, they keep the horses at the village station house and swap them
out when the next carriage arrives. If you are going to live as an adventurer,
you should at least learn how to handle horses so that you can take on a wider
range of requests.” (Zol)
“I see. …But won’t the horses pick on me since I’m a catkin?” (Nyango)
“It’s true that some horses have a proud attitude, but I just need
to let them know that you are stronger than them without hurting them.”
(Zeol)
“Let them know I am stronger than them without hurting them…?” (Nyango)
“Hahahaha, that thing is spirited, very spirited!” (Zeol)
“Haa…” (Nyango)
I’m sure that Mr. Zeol,
the burly tiger man, could bring a horse to its knees with his spirit, but if
you ask me if I could do the same thing, I’d have to say no. If I could do it,
I’d have to use void magic.
The only thing I
could do would be to use void magic to restrain them so that they can’t move.
The village chief and
Miguel returned with the village chief of Kidai and a girl who seemed to be a
relative of his.
The girl, who is a
bearkin like Kidai’s village chief, is apparently younger than I am and will be
undergoing a “Nest Leaving Ceremony” this year.
The girl, who looks
like she’s wearing a bear-ear headband, is quite cute and has a promising
future, but a bearkin and a catkin don’t match each other.
Even at this point,
the girl is about a head taller than me, and the older she gets, the wider the
gap becomes.
And being a relative
of the village chief, a mere villager would have no chance against her.
But there is one man
with a connection, Miguel.
He is probably
acquainted with the girl.
His tone is casual,
but his tail is wagging energetically, so you can tell he has ulterior motives.
The girl’s name was
Olivier, and when I greeted her with Mr. Zeol, she gazed at my face with
curiosity.
Perhaps she was
curious about my grizzly scar and blinded eye.
The sky darkened
around the time we left the village of Kidai, and about an hour away from the
town of Ibouro, rain began to fall in drops.
“Damn, we’re almost there, but this looks like it’s going to come
down a little harder.” (Zeol)
Mr. Zeol looked to
the west, where thick black clouds were spreading across the sky.
“Nyango, I’m getting a little wet. —What the hell is this!”
(Zeol)
“I don’t want to get wet.” (Nyango)
I used void magic to
create a roof over the coachman’s seat.
I ate the heart of
the goblin, and now I have a larger area of solid air, I can cover the above
the horses as well.
“This guy is a big deal. I didn’t know there was such a use for void
magic…” (Zeol)
“The void attribute is super convenient, but why is it called an attribute
of nothing?” (Nyango)
“I don’t know… But it’s probably because the percentage of people
who are given it in the first place is small and no one has ever used it the
way you have.” (Zeol)
I can use it in a
variety of ways and fight goblins and kobolds, even if I am a small catkin.
If it is a person
with a good physique and high magic index, there must be many more ways to
utilize it.
Yet, the fact that
there are no users of void magic is probably due to the public’s strong belief
that it is an attribute of nothingness.
If this is the case, it
might not be a bad idea to make a name for yourself as the world’s first user
of void magic.
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