Chapter 36 Cleaning and swimming at the sea
It was noon; The sun was shining directly overhead.
Four days left until the festival ends.
I was at the bay near the port city, sweating in the heat. I got the permission just this morning.
The bay was surrounded on three sides with cliffs, which made it look like a ‘C’ from above. There was a cut-in towards the south, connecting the sea with the bay. It was wide enough for one ship to go through. But the inner area was quite vast. Just the white sands in the bay would be 100 meters around the arc.
White, sandy bay with a clear blue sky. As it was a bay, the waves were calm and one could see all the way to the bottom of the sea.
But with sharp beams shining every time, blue or red blood got spilled.
Riding on a small boat, with my trunks on, I used clairvoyance to recognize all the monsters in the area and swung my long sword. Blood splattered around.
Celica was also riding with me, wearing a red bikini.
I swung the sword like a fan. The colour of the sea was starting to change.
I kept on slicing down creatures resembling frogs, snakes and fishes with horns.
“Gueeeee!” “Shaabyaaaa!” “Gooppoo!”
As I kept slicing monsters down one after the other, an iguana-man like creature appeared on the surface of the sea with a lance on his hands.
But his eyes were wide open with shock.
“Wha-what are you…!?”
“Well, even if you ask me that… I am the manager of this area. I command you to be gone from this place immediately.”
“Don’t make me laugh! A puny human! I will kill yo—- ubeeaa!”
A blade of wind, made by a casual horizontal swing of my blade, cut off the Iguana-man’s head.
“You are in the way.”
As I did that, Iguana-men kept appearing one after the other and surrounded the boat.
“How dare you do that to my broth—-gyyah!” “What are you doi— nngaaa!”
“Save m— guhhaaa!” “Wait, let’s talk abo—– uwaaaa!”
They started to talk but I could not bother listening.
They will probably just try to go for the kill using that chance.
After all, I can listen to their conversations underwater with multi-ears.
I carried on cleaning the place up efficiently.
The bay air was filled with the monsters’ shrieks.
I had also activated truth sight so when I came across some rare monster meat or material, I sent them to the city.
Lapisia caught them with her superhuman strength and handed them over to Minya, who was waiting beside her.
Wagging her cat-tail and cat-ears, she kept on dismantling them with her two-handed knife technique.
Lapisia looked really cute in the school swimsuit.
Minya was wearing a black bikini which went really well with her adorable cat-ears.
In about two hours, I cleared the bay of the monsters.
As one would expect, I did get somewhat exhausted and wiped the sweat of my forehead with the back of my hand.
“Fuu. Well, that is the end of that.”
“Th-that was amazing, Keika-sama…. To think you would be able to defeat all these monsters”
“It was a relief that they were all pretty weak.”
“No.. I am pretty sure there should have been Gold Vipers or Sea Lizard men over here…”
“Is that so? I do not recall any of that. Ah, oops.”
I clicked my tongue.
Before I realized the ‘Crest of Hero’ was flickering.
When I checked it, words started popping up.
Member ‘Celica’s level has increased by one.
Member ‘Celica’s level has increased by one.
Member ‘Celica’s level has increased by one.
New skill acquired.
Celica’s level had gone up by three.
Skill
Gale sting: A fierce wind which stings. Ranged attack.
Celica tilted her head.
“Is something the matter?”
“I had quite the experience amount piled up so I was thinking of assigning an occupation to Minya. You leveled up 3 times. And also learned a skill called gale sting”
“Wow! —- Like this?”
Celica took a stance with her narrow blade at her waist. And launches an intense thrust with magic.
Baanng!
The magical wind hardened and flew off 20 meters ahead.
It’s that, you know, Hadoken.
Celica put her hand to her chest and said,
“It is a wonderful ability. Thank you very much, Keika-sama”
I also learned a few.
New skill acquired.
New skill acquired.
New hero skill acquired.
Skill
Cure: Heals allies.
Illusion: Makes the body distorted to make it difficult to attack
Hero Skill
Magnus Wave: Fires a wave of light to neglect any sort of effect. When used on enemies, it negates power-up effects. When used on allies, it negates power decline effects.
“It seems that I am also learning skills properly. Feels good. Let’s head back.”
“Yes, Keika-sama.”
“—-Oii, Ieturia, you too”
Ieturia swam back from the entrance of the sea.
Pulling the boat, she said,
“As expected of Keika-sama. I thought it would take a few days but..”
“I don’t have much time. Need to finish these fast. After resting, can you keep a look out inside the bay so that monsters do not come in?”
“Of course.”
I wore my jacket and rested a bit on top of the white sand, using the a big umbrella as a beach parasol. After taking the monsters apart, I had them carried to Driad’s subordinates.
I drank the tea from the flask Celica had brought.
“What will you do now?”
“Swim, of course.”
“Eh…. in this sea?”
The blue sea which was clean, had become dirtied with the blood from the monsters.
I stood up after finishing my tea.
“I will do this —– the undulating water, return to the large sea! Explosive wave current!”
All the water which had gathered inside the bay had flowed outside and clean water came in instead.
And immediately the bay had returned to its clean, blue state.
Celica and Ieturia just stared in wonder, at a loss for words.
“Now, Lapisia, it’s time to practice swimming—- you all, too, swim!” I said to Lapisia and the others.
“Yayy, the sea!”
Lapisia ran off to the sea. Her blue twin-tails were fluttering behind her.
I grabbed her hand and went even deeper into the sea.
There, her legs were not able to reach the bottom. She gripped my hand tight, looking anxious.
“I-I am scared.”
“Keep your body flat and horizontal. Bring up your waist and try to float.”
“Li-like this?”
As her waist had started to float, her face was going under. I let go of one hand and placed my hand on her stomach and tried to lift her up a few times.
“Try flapping your legs.”
“Like this?”
The water splashed.
The weight I felt on my hand slowly decreased.
“Oh, that is good…..”
Lapisia started shining for a second there, but the shine disappeared as she started advancing forward.
“I-I am scared.”
Hmm, I guess it is no good if you do it all at once.
“Stop. Hold on to me.”
“Got it.”
Her slim limbs held onto me tightly. Even inside the water, I could feel her high body temperature.
She held on to me with her whole body, so it was hard returning to shore.
“I will think about it a little. You can go play with Minya.”
“Yes~ Minya! Let’s play.”
She went off to the water’s edge where Minya was playing.
Hmm, it is pretty difficult to think.
I went close to Celica, who was sitting underneath the umbrella.
She was sitting while grasping her knees. Her folded up slim legs looked beautiful.
As I sat beside her, I said with a sigh,
“Teaching how to swim is hard, huh?”
“I was watching but, how about letting her get used to the water first?”
“Get used to the water?”
“When I was learning how to swim in the river, I used to put my head into the water and practiced opening my eyes at first.”
Celica explained with gestures. Her acting was so childish and cute. Her long blonde hair flowed behind her in the wind.
“I see. Those who are afraid of the water need to start from there then.”
“It seems like you like the water so you probably skipped that phase.”
“Fumu. Then, Celica, could you please teach Lapisia?”
“Yes, got it….. or so I would like to say but…. is it okay if I do it a little later?”
Celica cowered uneasily, hugging herself.
It was worrying so I put my hand on her shoulder, looking into her face, I asked,
“Are you okay? Want to rest a little?”
“No.. it is just that….”
“If you are not feeling good, please say so. I would be troubled if you fall ill. I need you to be by my side, after all.”
I got even closer and hugger her.
Putting her face to my chest, she said,
“I am sorry, Keika-sama. I was being selfish. Even though you were doing it for a good cause, to feel embarrassed being looked at, I cannot be behaving like a child, can I?”
“Being looked at?”
“Yes… I do not know where they heard of it but, people from the town are already here, looking…”
“Wha! Already?! I surely thought it would take at least a few days for the rumour to spread!”
I immediately checked the surroundings with true sight. In the forest nearby and beside the roads, there are about ten people. All the way from young to old.
—— That was a happy miscalculation.
“What shall we do, Keika-sama?”
“You are good at doing calligraphy, aren’t you, Celica? Are they beautiful?”
“Well, more or less. There were framed a few times as well.”
“Okay~ Then, spread my shirt and write something for me. Paint is in the bag.”
“Wh-what shall I write?”
“Of course, ‘Hero Keika’s Beach’!”
I said with a smile.
“Oh, my!”
Celica held her hand on her lips and looked at me amazed.
I got into the forest and cut two straight tree and returned to Celica.
I placed the trees making a cross and attached the shirt with the letters written in it.
—— Signboard complete.
“Oops. Also write under that ‘Peeking forbidden; Will be seen as a monster – from the Hero’ and ‘Swimsuit available for swimming; To purchase. please check Madam’s store in the street’.”
“Understood.”
Celica added the last bit with her brush.
Carrying the signboard on my back, I called out to everyone near the white beach in order.
There were young men and women inside the forest.
“So that is the thing. Please stop peeking.”
“Hero Keika’s Beach?! Ah, sorry, I did not know it was reserved. I just heard the hero and his party were here.”
“Sorry. I was just planning to go to the beach after the hero left.”
The two looked apologetic.
“Ah, please read carefully. It is not that it is reserved. As long as you have swimwear, you can swim here.”
“Swimwear? What’s that?”
“You know Madam’s store at the back street? They are selling it there. The men’s one is what I am wearing and the womens one is what the girls there are wearing. These help you swim better.”
“I see. Specialized clothing for swimming. … Got it. I will buy one and come back.”
said the man.
“They are very cute… although a bit embarrassing..” said the woman while looking at the beach.”
“You will probably look great in it”
“Oh, my! Darling!”
They started flirting so Keika decided to step away.
The next person was an old woman. She was looking at the beach from the roadside.
“I am sorry, granny but….”
I showed her the signboard. She understood.
“Sorry for peeking. When there weren’t as many monsters now, I also used to swim here. I just felt nostalgic looking at you people.”
“So that is how it is… Would you like to just float in the water then?”
“At my age, I cannot possibly move with the heavy wet clothes.”
said the old woman with a sigh.
I told her with shining eyes,
“What are you talking about? At these times, you wear swimsuits! They do not get heavier when wet, they are a special kind of clothing for swimming. They are being sold at Madam’s store at the back street. They are my, the hero’s, invention.”
Well, that is wrong technically but I guess it would be easier to just say that in this world.
The old woman’s eyes sparkled.
“To think such convenient clothing existed. As expected of the hero!”
“And besides, even if you drown here, that girl—- Ieturia, a messenger of God is watching so it will be fine”
“I do not quite understand but that is wonderful. I guess I will try it out a bit.”
“Yes, please enjoy yourself at Hero Keika’s Beach!”
I saw her off.
After that, I went to the others peeking and sold my name and the swimsuits.
At the end, I put the signboard at the entrance of the bay.
The shirt which has ‘Hero Keika’s Beach’ written on it fluttered in the wind.
“Good grief.”
In this heat, I worked up a sweat going around and giving fervent speeches.
“I guess I will go swim again.”
Then a group of people came as a crowd from the city. At least 20 people. More than I had turned away.
Young men and women were leading the pack.
“Ah, hero. I bought it at once.”
“It would be embarrassing alone but with everyone, I feel confident.”
They were already wearing the swimsuits.
— It is pretty close to the city so I guess that will be how it turns out.
“I see. That’s nice.”
Along the way to the bay, the people were expressing their gratitude.
“To think we would be able to swim here again”
“This swimsuit is wonderful”
“Thank you for taking this place back from the monsters”
“Hero Keika is a guardian deity of memories”
—— That is a pretty nice name, Guardian deity of Memories.
It is not inferior to ‘Guardian of the Sea, Lazan’.
Yes.
I stopped thinking about remaking Lazan’s name and started to think about leaving my name elsewhere.
As I heard the unanimous praise from countless people coming from the town, I thought I had succeeded in my aim.
Not thinking the people of the town liked to swim was a happy miscalculation—- No, with this heat, I guess it is pretty natural for them to want to swim.
I answered them cheerfully.
“Please do some light warm-up exercises before you get in to not cramp your feet.”
“”Yes, hero!””
Along with all the people praising me, I returned to the bay.
Chapter 36 Cleaning and swimming at the sea
It was noon; The sun was shining directly overhead.
Four days left until the festival ends.
I was at the bay near the port city, sweating in the heat. I got the permission just this morning.
The bay was surrounded on three sides with cliffs, which made it look like a ‘C’ from above. There was a cut-in towards the south, connecting the sea with the bay. It was wide enough for one ship to go through. But the inner area was quite vast. Just the white sands in the bay would be 100 meters around the arc.
White, sandy bay with a clear blue sky. As it was a bay, the waves were calm and one could see all the way to the bottom of the sea.
But with sharp beams shining every time, blue or red blood got spilled.
Riding on a small boat, with my trunks on, I used clairvoyance to recognize all the monsters in the area and swung my long sword. Blood splattered around.
Celica was also riding with me, wearing a red bikini.
I swung the sword like a fan. The colour of the sea was starting to change.
I kept on slicing down creatures resembling frogs, snakes and fishes with horns.
“Gueeeee!” “Shaabyaaaa!” “Gooppoo!”
As I kept slicing monsters down one after the other, an iguana-man like creature appeared on the surface of the sea with a lance on his hands.
But his eyes were wide open with shock.
“Wha-what are you…!?”
“Well, even if you ask me that… I am the manager of this area. I command you to be gone from this place immediately.”
“Don’t make me laugh! A puny human! I will kill yo—- ubeeaa!”
A blade of wind, made by a casual horizontal swing of my blade, cut off the Iguana-man’s head.
“You are in the way.”
As I did that, Iguana-men kept appearing one after the other and surrounded the boat.
“How dare you do that to my broth—-gyyah!” “What are you doi— nngaaa!”
“Save m— guhhaaa!” “Wait, let’s talk abo—– uwaaaa!”
They started to talk but I could not bother listening.
They will probably just try to go for the kill using that chance.
After all, I can listen to their conversations underwater with multi-ears.
I carried on cleaning the place up efficiently.
The bay air was filled with the monsters’ shrieks.
I had also activated truth sight so when I came across some rare monster meat or material, I sent them to the city.
Lapisia caught them with her superhuman strength and handed them over to Minya, who was waiting beside her.
Wagging her cat-tail and cat-ears, she kept on dismantling them with her two-handed knife technique.
Lapisia looked really cute in the school swimsuit.
Minya was wearing a black bikini which went really well with her adorable cat-ears.
In about two hours, I cleared the bay of the monsters.
As one would expect, I did get somewhat exhausted and wiped the sweat of my forehead with the back of my hand.
“Fuu. Well, that is the end of that.”
“Th-that was amazing, Keika-sama…. To think you would be able to defeat all these monsters”
“It was a relief that they were all pretty weak.”
“No.. I am pretty sure there should have been Gold Vipers or Sea Lizard men over here…”
“Is that so? I do not recall any of that. Ah, oops.”
I clicked my tongue.
Before I realized the ‘Crest of Hero’ was flickering.
When I checked it, words started popping up.
Member ‘Celica’s level has increased by one.
Member ‘Celica’s level has increased by one.
Member ‘Celica’s level has increased by one.
New skill acquired.
Celica’s level had gone up by three.
Skill
Gale sting: A fierce wind which stings. Ranged attack.
Celica tilted her head.
“Is something the matter?”
“I had quite the experience amount piled up so I was thinking of assigning an occupation to Minya. You leveled up 3 times. And also learned a skill called gale sting”
“Wow! —- Like this?”
Celica took a stance with her narrow blade at her waist. And launches an intense thrust with magic.
Baanng!
The magical wind hardened and flew off 20 meters ahead.
It’s that, you know, Hadoken.
Celica put her hand to her chest and said,
“It is a wonderful ability. Thank you very much, Keika-sama”
I also learned a few.
New skill acquired.
New skill acquired.
New hero skill acquired.
Skill
Cure: Heals allies.
Illusion: Makes the body distorted to make it difficult to attack
Hero Skill
Magnus Wave: Fires a wave of light to neglect any sort of effect. When used on enemies, it negates power-up effects. When used on allies, it negates power decline effects.
“It seems that I am also learning skills properly. Feels good. Let’s head back.”
“Yes, Keika-sama.”
“—-Oii, Ieturia, you too”
Ieturia swam back from the entrance of the sea.
Pulling the boat, she said,
“As expected of Keika-sama. I thought it would take a few days but..”
“I don’t have much time. Need to finish these fast. After resting, can you keep a look out inside the bay so that monsters do not come in?”
“Of course.”
I wore my jacket and rested a bit on top of the white sand, using the a big umbrella as a beach parasol. After taking the monsters apart, I had them carried to Driad’s subordinates.
I drank the tea from the flask Celica had brought.
“What will you do now?”
“Swim, of course.”
“Eh…. in this sea?”
The blue sea which was clean, had become dirtied with the blood from the monsters.
I stood up after finishing my tea.
“I will do this —– the undulating water, return to the large sea! Explosive wave current!”
All the water which had gathered inside the bay had flowed outside and clean water came in instead.
And immediately the bay had returned to its clean, blue state.
Celica and Ieturia just stared in wonder, at a loss for words.
“Now, Lapisia, it’s time to practice swimming—- you all, too, swim!” I said to Lapisia and the others.
“Yayy, the sea!”
Lapisia ran off to the sea. Her blue twin-tails were fluttering behind her.
I grabbed her hand and went even deeper into the sea.
There, her legs were not able to reach the bottom. She gripped my hand tight, looking anxious.
“I-I am scared.”
“Keep your body flat and horizontal. Bring up your waist and try to float.”
“Li-like this?”
As her waist had started to float, her face was going under. I let go of one hand and placed my hand on her stomach and tried to lift her up a few times.
“Try flapping your legs.”
“Like this?”
The water splashed.
The weight I felt on my hand slowly decreased.
“Oh, that is good…..”
Lapisia started shining for a second there, but the shine disappeared as she started advancing forward.
“I-I am scared.”
Hmm, I guess it is no good if you do it all at once.
“Stop. Hold on to me.”
“Got it.”
Her slim limbs held onto me tightly. Even inside the water, I could feel her high body temperature.
She held on to me with her whole body, so it was hard returning to shore.
“I will think about it a little. You can go play with Minya.”
“Yes~ Minya! Let’s play.”
She went off to the water’s edge where Minya was playing.
Hmm, it is pretty difficult to think.
I went close to Celica, who was sitting underneath the umbrella.
She was sitting while grasping her knees. Her folded up slim legs looked beautiful.
As I sat beside her, I said with a sigh,
“Teaching how to swim is hard, huh?”
“I was watching but, how about letting her get used to the water first?”
“Get used to the water?”
“When I was learning how to swim in the river, I used to put my head into the water and practiced opening my eyes at first.”
Celica explained with gestures. Her acting was so childish and cute. Her long blonde hair flowed behind her in the wind.
“I see. Those who are afraid of the water need to start from there then.”
“It seems like you like the water so you probably skipped that phase.”
“Fumu. Then, Celica, could you please teach Lapisia?”
“Yes, got it….. or so I would like to say but…. is it okay if I do it a little later?”
Celica cowered uneasily, hugging herself.
It was worrying so I put my hand on her shoulder, looking into her face, I asked,
“Are you okay? Want to rest a little?”
“No.. it is just that….”
“If you are not feeling good, please say so. I would be troubled if you fall ill. I need you to be by my side, after all.”
I got even closer and hugger her.
Putting her face to my chest, she said,
“I am sorry, Keika-sama. I was being selfish. Even though you were doing it for a good cause, to feel embarrassed being looked at, I cannot be behaving like a child, can I?”
“Being looked at?”
“Yes… I do not know where they heard of it but, people from the town are already here, looking…”
“Wha! Already?! I surely thought it would take at least a few days for the rumour to spread!”
I immediately checked the surroundings with true sight. In the forest nearby and beside the roads, there are about ten people. All the way from young to old.
—— That was a happy miscalculation.
“What shall we do, Keika-sama?”
“You are good at doing calligraphy, aren’t you, Celica? Are they beautiful?”
“Well, more or less. There were framed a few times as well.”
“Okay~ Then, spread my shirt and write something for me. Paint is in the bag.”
“Wh-what shall I write?”
“Of course, ‘Hero Keika’s Beach’!”
I said with a smile.
“Oh, my!”
Celica held her hand on her lips and looked at me amazed.
I got into the forest and cut two straight tree and returned to Celica.
I placed the trees making a cross and attached the shirt with the letters written in it.
—— Signboard complete.
“Oops. Also write under that ‘Peeking forbidden; Will be seen as a monster – from the Hero’ and ‘Swimsuit available for swimming; To purchase. please check Madam’s store in the street’.”
“Understood.”
Celica added the last bit with her brush.
Carrying the signboard on my back, I called out to everyone near the white beach in order.
There were young men and women inside the forest.
“So that is the thing. Please stop peeking.”
“Hero Keika’s Beach?! Ah, sorry, I did not know it was reserved. I just heard the hero and his party were here.”
“Sorry. I was just planning to go to the beach after the hero left.”
The two looked apologetic.
“Ah, please read carefully. It is not that it is reserved. As long as you have swimwear, you can swim here.”
“Swimwear? What’s that?”
“You know Madam’s store at the back street? They are selling it there. The men’s one is what I am wearing and the womens one is what the girls there are wearing. These help you swim better.”
“I see. Specialized clothing for swimming. … Got it. I will buy one and come back.”
said the man.
“They are very cute… although a bit embarrassing..” said the woman while looking at the beach.”
“You will probably look great in it”
“Oh, my! Darling!”
They started flirting so Keika decided to step away.
The next person was an old woman. She was looking at the beach from the roadside.
“I am sorry, granny but….”
I showed her the signboard. She understood.
“Sorry for peeking. When there weren’t as many monsters now, I also used to swim here. I just felt nostalgic looking at you people.”
“So that is how it is… Would you like to just float in the water then?”
“At my age, I cannot possibly move with the heavy wet clothes.”
said the old woman with a sigh.
I told her with shining eyes,
“What are you talking about? At these times, you wear swimsuits! They do not get heavier when wet, they are a special kind of clothing for swimming. They are being sold at Madam’s store at the back street. They are my, the hero’s, invention.”
Well, that is wrong technically but I guess it would be easier to just say that in this world.
The old woman’s eyes sparkled.
“To think such convenient clothing existed. As expected of the hero!”
“And besides, even if you drown here, that girl—- Ieturia, a messenger of God is watching so it will be fine”
“I do not quite understand but that is wonderful. I guess I will try it out a bit.”
“Yes, please enjoy yourself at Hero Keika’s Beach!”
I saw her off.
After that, I went to the others peeking and sold my name and the swimsuits.
At the end, I put the signboard at the entrance of the bay.
The shirt which has ‘Hero Keika’s Beach’ written on it fluttered in the wind.
“Good grief.”
In this heat, I worked up a sweat going around and giving fervent speeches.
“I guess I will go swim again.”
Then a group of people came as a crowd from the city. At least 20 people. More than I had turned away.
Young men and women were leading the pack.
“Ah, hero. I bought it at once.”
“It would be embarrassing alone but with everyone, I feel confident.”
They were already wearing the swimsuits.
— It is pretty close to the city so I guess that will be how it turns out.
“I see. That’s nice.”
Along the way to the bay, the people were expressing their gratitude.
“To think we would be able to swim here again”
“This swimsuit is wonderful”
“Thank you for taking this place back from the monsters”
“Hero Keika is a guardian deity of memories”
—— That is a pretty nice name, Guardian deity of Memories.
It is not inferior to ‘Guardian of the Sea, Lazan’.
Yes.
I stopped thinking about remaking Lazan’s name and started to think about leaving my name elsewhere.
As I heard the unanimous praise from countless people coming from the town, I thought I had succeeded in my aim.
Not thinking the people of the town liked to swim was a happy miscalculation—- No, with this heat, I guess it is pretty natural for them to want to swim.
I answered them cheerfully.
“Please do some light warm-up exercises before you get in to not cramp your feet.”
“”Yes, hero!””
Along with all the people praising me, I returned to the bay.
