Chapter 11. Summer and the Sea (8)

“Ah, wait. Before that.”

Before riding the hoverbike, Ria said that to me and picked up her camera.

“We have to leave our phones behind anyway, right? Let’s take a picture before that.”

“We already took one?”

In the changing room, no less.

Thinking about it again, the problem isn’t just wearing a veil on my head. The biggest problem was that we took that photo in the changing room.

No, in the name of heaven, in a place where people change clothes.

Of course, she wouldn’t have taken pictures of me changing.

Ria is a person who knows her boundaries. Especially since I even said ‘I trust you,’ she wouldn’t do anything that would betray that trust.

“Eh, it’s different taking pictures outside, though. Come on, come on.”

Ria said that and took out the veil from the small bag she brought.

“…”

I covered my face.

“…You don’t like it?”

Ria’s voice was heard. Unlike her usual self, her voice sounded a little lacking in confidence.

When I looked up, Ria was looking at me with her eyes slightly raised, her head tilted down. Her eyes were lowered, and she looked a little flustered.

“I’m not fooled.”

“Heh, you’ve grown, though.”

“…”

“But you like it, right? It’s a memory. A memory that we were once nuns.”

Hearing Ria’s words, I blinked.

“Once?”

“Why? Didn’t you say you were quitting?”

Hmm.

Right. I haven’t given up.

However, not giving up and objectively assessing the situation are completely different things. Objectively speaking, I was actually the person with the highest chance of becoming a Saint among all the Saint candidates.

“It’s normal for high school students to take pictures in their school uniforms.”

“I was wondering what it would be like to take pictures in our nun’s habits normally.”

“You can’t bring your phone into the church.”

I was speechless at that statement.

“I thought of it and wanted to take a picture, is that not allowed?”

Ria put on that ‘wet puppy’ expression again.

To be honest, even though I knew Ria was deliberately making that expression, my heart was slightly moved.

Yes, it’s a memory, isn’t it?

Photos and videos are the only ways to remember our past selves. If you say ‘let’s take it later,’ people usually forget and miss the timing.

I looked around.

There was no one around us. Perhaps they thought they had enjoyed it enough yesterday.

“Okay.”

I finally gave a sigh-filled answer.

Ria smiled brightly and placed the veil on my head. Then she put a veil on her own head and stuck close to my side.

I know we have to do that to take a picture with the sea as a background. However, I can’t help but feel embarrassed.

…

Lately, physical contact seems to be increasing a bit. Is it a sign that we’ve become closer?

It’s not that I dislike it, but I can’t help but feel my mind getting complicated.

Anyway, that’s why pretty girls are like this.

I thought as I looked at the front camera of the smartphone Ria was holding towards us.

The photo turned out very well.

Although some parts were changed in various ways, anyway.

*

Still, maybe it’s because it’s the second time.

As I gritted my teeth and raised my head, the sea breeze felt refreshing.

The motorcycle was still floating higher than I expected, and the sea churning below was a little scary.

When we went out to ride the motorcycle, I thought everyone had had enough of it yesterday, but as soon as we started, the kids also followed us and came out to ride.

Ironically, the person riding behind Lee Si-yoon was neither Gloria nor Han Yu-ri.

It seemed that one of the two had argued fiercely about riding, and in the end, Dabi took the spot behind Lee Si-yoon.

There was a way to not let anyone ride at all, but Lee Si-yoon and Han Yu-ri were too kind to leave anyone alone.

Perhaps she was conscious that Dabi couldn’t enjoy it yesterday?

I would have been willing to give up my spot so Dabi could ride-

“…Huh?”

However, my carefree thought was blown away by the sound Ria made.

The mana-powered motorcycle itself didn’t make much noise. But because of the wind noise right next to my ears, the surrounding sounds weren’t very loud.

“…”

Ria looked at a certain spot for a moment,

“Hey, Anna.”

“Yes?”

“You know what that Dabi girl said last night.”

“Yes.”

The incident where we searched the building thoroughly after waking up at dawn.

Nothing happened in the middle of the night. If it had, the guards would have immediately woken us up and evacuated us.

“I think that was real.”

“What?”

But before Ria could answer, she abruptly turned the motorcycle sideways.

I looked at where Ria’s gaze was last directed.

The sea was boiling.

If not, someone had installed a giant oxygen generator in the sea-

Or, something enormous was breathing inside it.

“Hold on tight.”

Ria said that and turned the motorcycle again.

I heard a sound like something exploding. It sounded like the sound of waves being recorded, compressed to an immense volume, and played back.

Stretching above it was-

“An octopus?”

It was a giant octopus leg. Its thickness was greater than that of an oak tree that had grown for decades.

Ah, looking again, it wasn’t just giant legs like that. Below it, there were many thinner, smaller tentacles. Although they were ‘small,’ they were still thicker than my waist.

“…The rustling sound!”

“Yeah, I think she was talking about that.”

Ria’s voice was strange.

Although she was speaking loudly enough to be heard over the wind, her voice itself was calm, perhaps to prevent me from being startled.

“Ha, really, who would have thought-“

Whoosh!

One of those tentacles flew towards us like a whip.

It seemed the tentacles had no limit to their length.

Well, that’s probably why it could sneak in.

Wait, but something this enormous entered, and no one noticed-

“…My goodness.”

I think I have to retract the statement that the length had no limit.

If it had no limit, that tentacle couldn’t have been pulled from below and flown towards us.

Do you know what a tentacle that looks like an octopus leg looks like if it doesn’t have an octopus head attached to the end? It looks like a worm with suckers. Both ends are somewhat pointed.

And not just one…!

It was truly, incredibly disgusting.

Reflexively, I reached out one hand and poured holy power towards it.

“Oh.”

The tentacle convulsed and fell into the sea.

As I relaxed a little, I was horrified to see it resurface.

“…So, it’s a creature that uses mana. And it knows how to hide.”

Good. The second question is answered. Now I know why the staff, who used mana-detecting devices, didn’t know about this.

If it’s hiding deep in the sea- and if each of those tentacles is a separate individual, it would be difficult to notice those lying flat on the bottom or hiding in the sand.

Is it because of me?

I pondered for a very brief moment.

But I quickly shook my head and erased the thought.

For now, I need to focus on the present.

I can’t die while on vacation, can I?

Moreover, if I’m going to die, I’d prefer it to be a memorable situation where I charge at a Demon King that is generally impossible to kill, rather than dying to a tentacle monster.

It’s not like some erotic novel.

Click.

As I reached out my hand towards the next batch of tentacles and shot holy power, I heard a sound from the motorcycle.

Motorcycles without wheels have a wide space in the front.

For some reason, Ria was holding a sword drawn from there.

Swoosh.

After slicing a few tentacles that didn’t fall from the holy power, Ria looked at me, who was glaring, and asked.

“Huh? Why?”

“Were you prepared in advance?”

“Huh? No, it’s not like that. This is a Hunter Association motorcycle, you know?”

“…So?”

“Of course, it comes with emergency weapons. You might drop the weapon you’re holding. If you feel around the back, there’s a pistol too. Though there are no spare magazines.”

“You should have told me that sooner!”

At my exclamation, Ria looked back at me and smiled.

With one hand, I tightly hugged Ria’s waist and lowered my hand to touch the seat where I was sitting. As Ria said, I felt a strange sensation right within reach.

When I pressed it-

Click.

It opened smoothly, like a drawer opening from inside.

Right, most hunters work in pairs. It’s not strange for there to be an extra weapon in the back seat.

Still, you should have told me sooner…!

I drew out a pistol that felt slightly heavier than usual.

Ria’s words, “There’s only one magazine,” were correct. It was probably prepared as an emergency measure, without considering reloading.

However, that single magazine was quite large. A round, large magazine was attached to the bottom of the pistol, making it a bit cumbersome. But for now, this was better.

I carefully released my hand from Ria’s waist and squeezed my thighs tightly. My legs touched Ria’s hips a little, but it couldn’t be helped now.

Click.

As trained, I checked the gun and then hugged Ria’s waist again with one arm.

And,

“…Huh?”

As I infused Ria’s body with holy power, Ria said, looking a bit flustered.

“It’s an emergency situation, isn’t it?”

I said, aiming the gun at the enemy.

“Is this enough?”

“…”

Ria remained silent for a moment,

“It’s enough.”

She replied.

Although she didn’t look at me, I could almost see Ria’s confident smile.