Ch.303Swimsuit episode!

Regional investigation activities, lifting Calliope’s curse, and investigating the truth about the Third Eye tribe.

After successfully completing all these tasks, we purified the black magical energy at the Wellord Mine.

We had planned to meet Anastasia to discuss the details of this incident, but there was only a sign in front of the dream villa saying, “I shall be away on personal business for a while.”

With no sign of Anastasia and the front door locked, we had no choice but to give up.

After purifying the black magical energy and completing repairs on the revolver and large-caliber pistol, we headed straight to Moon Lake through the morning rain.

We visited the clinic to treat the scars on our arms and faces caused by the wolfsbane explosion, submitted the regional investigation report to the Adventurer’s Guild, and then visited Gerald’s mansion to check on Calliope.

By the time we returned from the Third Eye tribe’s island, Calliope had completely recovered her health.

Our request to create a dark sword was accepted without much difficulty, as it was part of the contract conditions with Gerald, who had saved her life and become her master.

When asked how long it would take, Calliope answered, “3-4 days to make a new one, 5 minutes if there’s an already used dark sword.” Fortunately, we had a dark sword that had been used by a dark elf attacker, so Calliope was able to simply reapply the magical formula.

However, the formula application had to be performed outside the range of the grand barrier, which made us somewhat tense… but thankfully, Calliope didn’t cause any life-threatening accidents.

With this, we successfully obtained a sample of the dark sword.

Now all that remained was to analyze the magical formula of this dark sword to improve the bio-converter and find a way to return Iris to her elven body…

“Unfortunately, I think both tasks will have to be put on hold for now.”

That was the conclusion Jessica reached after carefully examining the dark sword with the fragment of omniscience.

“Why? Was there a problem with the dark sword Calliope made?”

“No, Phyllis. There was nothing wrong with the dark sword, and I’ve finished analyzing the magical formula applied to it. Designing the counter-spell will be a bit challenging, but… the real problem is that there’s no way to verify the safety of the completed counter-spell.”

“Safety?”

Hearing such words from Jessica, who had never failed at magic before, Seti tilted her head in confusion.

“The counter-spell we’ll create will inevitably include many magical elements extracted from the dark sword—elements originating from the dark elven magical system. I can’t be certain whether they’ll function properly when handled by a human like me.”

“What happens if it doesn’t function properly?”

“That’s difficult to predict. But we’re talking about magic complex and dangerous enough to change someone’s race. If it doesn’t work properly, the person subjected to the magic would probably…”

The rest didn’t need to be said—we could all imagine.

Before even considering the chances of survival, we’d have to worry whether the person would remain in human form at all.

We couldn’t possibly use such a dangerous spell on Iris without proper testing.

“So first, I want to create a counter-spell for the bio-converter to test whether dark elf Iris can adapt to a mana absorption formula calibrated for elves. If it succeeds, the safety of the counter-spell for race transformation will be verified. And if it fails, the bio-converter will bear the side effects, not Iris.”

“So in the worst case, the converter breaks down but Iris won’t have any problems.”

“Exactly. That’s why we’ll have to postpone designing the counter-spell until we meet up with the dwarves of Grandorn Zwei and return to Technopolis.”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Jessica’s explanation.

We were scheduled to meet the dwarves of Grandorn Zwei again after August 24th, a month after our previous investigation.

Today is August 12th, so we still have about two weeks. Until then, we’ll probably earn money through Adventurer’s Guild requests or explore around Westend Sevens.

~~~ Two days later, at a luxury hotel in Moon Lake ~~~

“Swimsuits complete~!”

“Ohhh~”

“Making swimsuits from arachne fabric… we must be the only ones indulging in such luxury.”

It’s already the third day since completing the dark sword.

We were enjoying a late summer vacation at a luxury hotel by Moon Lake.

Huh? Weren’t we supposed to be earning money or adventuring around Westend Sevens?

Of course, that was the plan.

If only it weren’t for the intense heat that had been raging since we escaped from the Third Eye tribe’s dungeon.

While Grantis generally has distinct seasons with relatively mild temperature changes in summer and winter, the heat wave that arrives between July and August and lasts about ten days is so severe that even dwarves, who are accustomed to the heat of furnaces, avoid going outside.

This year’s heat wave started around August 10th, somewhat later than average. On the 11th, when we were moving from Wellord Mine to Moon Lake, it rained heavily in the morning, so we managed without much trouble…

But from the 12th, when the weather cleared up, we couldn’t bring ourselves to travel in the metal carriage.

‘Honestly, it’s much more bearable than summer weather in Pohang, but… Grantis doesn’t have air conditioning.’

We could probably endure carriage travel during the heat wave using Jessica’s Diamond Dust, but why put ourselves through unnecessary hardship when we’re neither short on money nor pressed for time?

For that reason, we plan to enjoy our vacation at Moon Lake until August 20th, when the heat wave is expected to end.

“By the way, I didn’t know Mina had a talent for making clothes.”

“Hehe~ I’ve been getting special training from Iris recently. With such good materials available, I wanted to try creating clothing-type magical tools.”

“I see. Iris is certainly skilled not only in cooking but also in sewing and embroidery.”

“Phil, as I’ve said many times, it’s not that I’m skilled, it’s that you’re quite…”

“Ahem! Will, it’ll take us some time to change into our swimsuits, so why don’t you change first and find us a good spot?”

Phyllis cut off whatever Iris was about to say.

For the sake of Phyllis’s honor, I decided to comply with her request.

After changing into my swimsuit and heading to the lakeshore, I found that quite a few people had already claimed spots and were enjoying their vacations.

Moon Lake’s adjacent Moonlight Lake is a special lake where no monsters dwell and is considered sacred by the Silver Wolf tribe who were the original inhabitants.

I wondered if swimming and similar activities would be allowed in such a place.

The answer was, of course, YES.

The Silver Wolf tribe themselves, being a race with abundant body hair that makes them susceptible to heat, often enjoy water activities by the lakeshore at the foot of Wolfenbrid during summer.

On the other hand, most of the pioneers residing in Moon Lake preferred to set up spots by the lakeshore to rest, with relatively few people actually entering the water.

‘I didn’t expect that less than 1 in 10 people would know how to swim… but I suppose that’s natural in Grantis.’

Moon Lake is a western city that was completed less than 10 years ago.

The only other western city with such abundant water resources nearby is Riverside, the Fourth Western City, and even there, people regularly check whether dangerous monsters approach the river near the city.

Unless it’s a survival skill, it’s unlikely that swimming as a leisure activity would be widespread among the general population.

For this reason, during this vacation period, I, who am accustomed to swimming from years of living by the sea, plan to teach swimming to the female members of our party.

“Will~”

“Ah, you’re here… Whoa!?”

Turning around at the sound of Seti’s voice, I saw five figures approaching from a distance.

Jessica was wearing a red bikini adorned with lace and a glamorous pareo skirt.

Seti was showing off her athletic physique in a blue high-leg one-piece with a daring cutout at the midriff.

Mina emphasized a simple yet cute look with a pink one-piece swimsuit with lace around the chest area.

Phyllis and Iris’s swimsuits, perhaps in consideration of their inability to expose their legs, consisted of sporty halter-neck tops and rashguard-style long pants.

For fair-skinned Phyllis, black with white stripes; for dark-skinned Iris, white with black stripes.

The two slender figures with their contrasting black and white stood out in a different way from Jessica.

“Um… how do I look? It’s my first time wearing a swimsuit, so I’m a bit embarrassed.”

“All five of you look amazing! It makes me think coming to Grantis was definitely the right choice.”

Not satisfied with merely committing the swimsuit-clad images of these five beauties to memory, I took several photos with the lakeshore as a backdrop before finally starting the swimming lessons that were our original purpose.

The students were Jessica, Mina, Phyllis, and Iris.

I asked Seti, who already knew how to swim, to act as an assistant instructor.

The person who became accustomed to swimming the fastest was Phyllis.

Next were Jessica and Mina, who picked up the techniques at a similar pace, and Iris…

“Glub glub”

“Ah, she sank again.”

“Iriiiiis!”

She was giving me an even deeper sense of despair than when I taught her how to shoot recently.

This lady really is hopeless when it comes to physical activities…