episode_0021

“Look at the pink fur! They’re exactly like real cotton candy?!”

The sheep were leisurely strolling across the crater plain.

Next to a spot where white steam was rising, they were munching on something among themselves…

“Hey, are those guys… eating rocks right now?”

Mom, they’re eating rocks. If sheep eat rocks, isn’t that not vegetarian?

But seeing them eat rocks is also vague to call it carnivorous…

Don’t? Know? It feels like my brain is becoming derpy in real time.

“That’s correct, Yuan. It’s silicon crystal formed in the ore layer within the magma.”

Arte nodded and added the explanation.

“Strictly speaking, it’s a silicon crystal body containing a trace amount of mana. In other words, it’s a substitute for plants.”

“Sheep eating rocks is strange. I’m even more curious about the taste!”

“They’re cute… I want to raise one. Can we adopt one?”

“We don’t even have space to raise one, Ellis. But I wonder if it really tastes like cotton candy?”

At those words, the three of them looked at me simultaneously.

Lilien, proposing with a bright smile.

“Tasting is, as expected, Yuan’s job, right?”

“I’m not the royal food taster. Tell Arte to do it.”

“Heh heh, let’s decide who will taste it later. For now~ shall we go collect a piece of sheep’s wool?”

Lilien rotated her shoulders a couple of times with familiar movements.

The moment Lilien, who smiled brightly and relaxed her shoulders, slowly drew her swordㅡ

Rumble rumble rumble…!

“…Huh?”

For some reason, the fluffy cotton candy sheep herd in the crater suddenly reacted.

As if they had received a single signal, they began to move in a fixed direction.

“Huh? What are they… lining up? Like, they’re trying to enter somewhere?”

As Ellis said, the sheep were astonishingly orderly.

Soon, they lined up towards the edge of the crater, and then began moving in a line, one by one.

“Their behavior pattern is unique. Rather than simple migratory behavior…”

Arte’s eyes sparkled as she expanded her field of vision.

“Fixed intervals. Regular movement. This is group behavior. The destination is, the bottom of the crater?”

“Wait a minute, isn’t something weird? They’re all going towards the lava…”

The moment I started to feel something was strange—

“Ahhh… This is troublesome~ It seems, it’s started.”

Lilien was the only one showing a different reaction.

A scene of her lightly furrowing her brow and letting out a hollow laugh.

“Huh? Lilien, you said ‘it might start soon’ when we were climbing the mountain earlier too. What?”

Before I could ask, Ellis blurted in.

“That’s right! Baphomet, that Yubaha granny, she told us the location, but not the ecology! As expected, living for over two thousand years, she’s clearly got dementia!”

“Shall we talk while running for now? If we don’t go now, we won’t catch up!”

At those words, we hurriedly gathered our things and ran towards the crater where the sheep were lined up.

“Phew! We finally caught up! We’re not too late, right?”

As I thrashed about and rubbed my eyes, Lilien explained the situation.

“These sheep are friends who move up and down according to the special climate of the volcano. To be precise, they periodically commute between the upper part of the crater and the lower part of the volcano.”

“Are they perhaps rotating while waiting for their food to regrow?”

“There’s that too~”

Lilien pointed downwards with her finger.

“Now is exactly, the molting season. In other words, today is the state where the taste of this cotton candy fur is most maximized.”

“Then we came at an amazing timing?!”

“That’s right, Ellis! The problem is…”

Shwoosh—!!

“Whoaaa?! What is that!”

Before she could finish speaking, the sheep in line started jumping towards the bottom of the crater!

“Jump? No, wait, what?! This is data not found anywhere in the database!”

It was really like that.

The sheep placed their feet on the basalt rocks around the crater,

And then began to slide down along the flow of lava as if riding a slide.

“What kind of sheep is this! What kind of sheep rides a slide on lava!”

The herd of sheep sliding down rhythmically on top of the burning lava.

The sight of the fluffy pink fur, like cotton candy, bouncing with elasticity as if dancing was…

Hmm, it feels like common sense is collapsing in real time.

Is this an isekai? Am I standing upside down?

“I’m not dreaming right now, am I?”

“I’m not sure, but you probably are, Yuan~”

Lilien, who was laughing optimistically with her sword slung over her shoulder.

“From now on, speed is important. We have to catch up to those friends, come what may.”

“Okay. It’s crazy but I understand. Catch up to the sliding sheep and collect the fur, right?”

“That’s correct~”

“But how do we catch up? By using Ellis’s spatial leap like before? Or with Arte’s flight ability?”

When I asked cautiously, Lilien calmly waved her hand.

“Huh? Yuan, what are you asking something so obvious? Ellis, come down with Yuan~”

“Alright~! I was waiting for this!”

As if excited, Ellis chuckled as she approached and held out her hand.

“Yuan, you have to hold my hand tightly?”

“Why are you saying words that sound like a threat while laughing?!”

“Heh heh, never mind that. Hurry~”

“Feeling uneasy though…”

Well, it’s not like I can back down now.

I sighed deeply and took Ellis’s hand.

Vroooom—!

Space twisted.

For a moment, the scenery before my eyes violently churned.

The next moment, the sight unfolded before my eyes was…

“???Hey, what is this… Hey, are you crazy!”

The scenery unfolded before my eyes was a boiling sea of lava.

Small pieces of lava and basalt rock irregularly bouncing on top of it.

And, even the sight of the sheep ahead, riding on the basalt and sliding down.

That’s right.

I was directly summoned onto that basalt floating on the lava.

“Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey!!”

“Ahahahaha! This is funnnn!!”

Ellis was screaming joyfully next to me, and I was screaming next to her.

It was enough to be called a perfect contrast.

“What is this! Why teleport me without telling me!”

“Surprise~! Adventures originally start like this, Yuan~”

“What kind of adventure is this! It’s a dog’s death plunging into lava!”

Even though I spewed out all sorts of complaints, the ground under my feet was still boiling lava.

Suddenly, I ended up riding a magma slide, sliding together with the sheep.

No, what kind of amusement ride did I end up on after coming to collect cotton candy fur!

Thanks to the steep slope, I could feel the speed increasing more and more.

The sliding piece of basalt is racing down the wet road like a roller coaster!

“Ughhh…!”

The scream that naturally came out of my mouth just wouldn’t stop.

But perhaps the fortunate thing was that Ellis, who was tightly holding my hand, was balancing the rock with magic.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t scary.

Thrill? That sort of thing flew beyond Mars a long time ago.

Right now, my vision is genuinely about to blur.

Meanwhile, I heard something bouncing lightly from the opposite side.

The person who was enjoying the sliding far ahead of us.

“Yahoo~ Are you having fun, Yuan?”

It was Lilien who appeared, her pure white hair fluttering.

“I’m not just having fun, I’m practically dying of enjoyment!!!”

“Hehe~ That’s good, Yuan. We’ll set the stage for you. Can you catch the sheep for us?”

“Should I trust people again?”

“Oh come on~ You’re playing hard to get~ Then, we’ll be counting on you~♡”

As if she didn’t need my answer, Lilien laughed lightly and ran forward again.

Seriously, the Knight is going at her own pace even on lava…

“You’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you, Yuan?”

Ellis, smiling while tightly holding my hand.

Her two eyes sparkled with mischief and trust.

“As if I could refuse in the first place~”

At those words, I also laughed hollowly and gripped her hand tighter.

Yeah, maybe it was fate to be like this since I joined this party anyway.

Meanwhile, Lilien was rapidly breaking through the sliding sheep herd, bouncing lightly between the basalt rocks.

“Arte? Shall we go for that sheep? It looks very plump, so the cotton candy’s density will probably be the best~”

“Alright. Catching just one will probably have less impact on the ecosystem than catching all of them.”

Then, suddenly, Ms. Arte took out a bazooka from her shoulder and loaded it.

“You’re not seriously going to shoot that now, are you?”

And she really shot it.

Boom!!!

The shell exploded on the lava, in front of the sheep.

With that impact, the pink cotton candy sheep screamed “Baaaaa?!” and was launched into the air.

At that moment—

“Alright, alright, Yuan. Ready~?”

“Wait, gently… Whoooooaaaaaaaa?!”

Lilien picked me up like a shot put, and completely threw me into the sky.

“I told you to use your blinker!”

I, who instantly soared into the sky.

While screaming, I hugged the cotton candy sheep floating in mid-air.

“Waahh?! Ughhh!! Huh?”

And at that moment, a magic circle unfolded in mid-air.

Ellis’s spatial leap magic.

It emitted light and simultaneously enveloped me and the sheep—

Shoom!

“That was perfect teamwork! Come here~ Come here~♡”

Lilien, who arrived before me, rubbed herself against the sheep in joy.

The sheep, with a blank expression as if it had fainted, still seemed unaware of what situation this was.

“But, aren’t we still, still in the middle of lava sliding?”

“Right? This method was the fastest in the first place, you know?”

“I saw earlier from mid-air, there was a vertical drop section that looked like a lava waterfall?”

At my words, Lilien and Ellis just smiled brightly.and didn’t answer.

“You guys, surely—”

At that moment,

Crash—!!

The basalt fell from the waterfall, making us all enter a vertical drop.

My life sure is something…

“It’s truly… a killing day…”

“Alright, Yuan. This is the most delicious inner fur. No dust~ It’s refined cotton candy, you know.”

What Lilien handed me with a bright smile was a piece of fluff boasting unbelievable fluffiness and a flower-petal-like pink color.

Although I was still half out of my mind from the aftereffects of the lava sliding, I just took a bite of it.

Fluffy—

“…?!”

The moment I put it in my mouth, a soft and sweet sensation spread, like a cloud melting on my tongue.

“…It’s sweet.”

Yeah, that’s all.

It’s so sweet I can’t even speak.

“It’s so sweet I could get diabetes. But, it’s also delicious. What is this.”

While doing so, my sight suddenly turned forward.

At this moment, they had faces slightly covered in volcanic ash, and the edges of their clothes were singed and blackened in places.

But despite that, as if nothing was wrong,

No, rather, they were seen savoring the pink sheep’s wool bite by bite, like the happiest people in the world.

Ellis, savoring the fur eagerly with both hands, her eyes sparkling.

Arte, contrary to her expressionless face, was wearing a melting impression.

Lastly, Lilien slightly extended a piece of fur towards me, and as always, she was smiling like sunshine.

Seeing that sight, I chuckled unconsciously.

“Yeah, it’s sweet. This sheep’s wool too. And being with you guys right now is also too sweet.”

So, for just today, it’s probably okay to be completely immersed in this sweetness.

[Eyecatch!]

Today’s Food—Cotton Candy Sheep’s Fur

Very special sheep living on a volcano!

A fluffy monster with magical fur that endures flames.

When the molting season comes, it comes up to the crater and slides on the lava, starting a ‘sweet shedding’.

The fur during this season is fluffy like clouds, tastes sweeter than cotton candy, and even has high sugar content, making it usable as a dessert substitute!

Surprisingly, besides pink, there are also said to be light green or yellow sheep?

How about you too take a mouthful filled with sweetness?

*The fur of this creature disappears when it comes into contact with water.

Be careful not to wash it trying to eat it, like some raccoon somewhere, and end up losing the food.