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Chapter 87 - Resupply in Anutawa
🕑 Added 2017-12-21 11:54:17 +0000 UTC "[Where's Tokomaha?]" Korenga asks in the morning, after everyone - including my children and Tahiri - assembled on the bridge of the Chaos Carrier. I call it a bridge, but there are no instruments or a steering wheel. Instead, there is a table and chairs, making this more of a communal room where people can gather for meals."[She's still resting.]" I reply quickly and curtly. She didn't get much sleep last night, after all. Tahiri gives me a knowing grin, but I don't react to it and turn to Mereana, to change the topic. "[So, can you tell the way from here?]"
The red-haired woman in question is standing a few steps away from the window that reaches all the way to the ground, and looking over the landscape. Since it's bright outside now, she seems to have an easier time finding the way.
"[Over there, that is Anutawa!]" Pointing ahead of us towards the valley between two small mountains, Mereana suddenly exclaims. I stare into the distance but can't really make out what she means. She's quite observant, because she immediately explains her finding to everyone, when we show non-understanding. "[These two are the twin mountains of Erua, and where they meet stands the city of Anutawa. Normally it would have taken two days from Uarapo, but this... sky ship? It carried us so far overnight.]"
In other words, by following the path she pointed out last night, we were able to cover a distance of a two days' march in one night. It would have been much faster, if not for the fact that I didn't go at full speed so I wouldn't lose sight of the road below me. Oh, and because I was focused on Tokomaha, so I didn't fully concentrate on steering, either.
"[Beyond the pass lie the Nukumania plains. At the far end of those plains is Kairaki.]" There's a hint of pride in Mereana's voice as she explains this to us. It's just like a native tour guide doing their job for the first time and being enthusiastic about showing off their country and its great sights to foreigners.
"[Then we'll stock up on food and water in Anutawa, before crossing those plains in one go.]" I still have a lot of capacity left over, so I can easily take on quite a bit of weight. I just want to get this journey over with quickly, before we encounter any more of the God King's henchmen, who stand in our way. First Rapania, then Felgar, and then the escalation that was Roamukao. If we have to fight all the time along the way and face enemies like that last one again, I'll keep losing mass. And when I lose mass, I either need to spend time to gather it again, or make do with less.
I'll do what I did in the Mineva Republic, and buy up a lot of food to regain at least some mass. Though in this case, I don't have much money to work with. After all, the person who has been paying for everything is Mereana, and she didn't have that much in the first place. I should have ransacked Rapania's castle; I'm sure she must have had a treasure room or something of sorts where she stored her funds.
Well, no point in regretting it now. The previous times when I got money, I was lucky that it was dropped by the small fry I killed, as if this was a game. But obviously, those were humans, not animals. If only this was actually a game, in which monsters in the wild dropped gold, and also respawned after a while. A day of farming in a lucrative area could result in pretty big riches, then. Especially since I'm so efficient at it.
I begin to induce a descent by slowly letting out the hot air in the giant balloon. We can't fly over the city, or we'll cause a panic. After all, the Chaos Carrier does look organic, so people could mistake it for a giant monster that's about to sow destruction.
"[We'll walk the rest of the way to Anutawa.]" I announce to everyone as I use the eyes I created on the exterior of the airship to scan for any open area where I could land. They understand my intentions for doing this, but there's something I do need to tell them explicitly. "[Pack up everything that belongs to you properly and keep them on you. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that they won't disappear into my body forever.]"
The city of Anutawa is similar in size to Manoa, where we faced Rapania. But unlike the latter, this one is filled with more life and vibrant colors. It's clear that the people here live in peace and don't know about the monumental battle in Uarapo, fought between us and Roamukao. I guess even with the saying that news travel fast, there's no way they travel that fast. And considering we contained the Ashlings, they didn't get to spread across the lands for all to notice.
We split up to procure the supplies. Awhina and Mereana are going with my children to get the foodstuffs, while Tokomaha, Korenga and I were tasked with getting water. But considering I can just create it using magic, we basically just go to find large barrels to fill them with water later. I could always store it inside my body and let it run out of faucets I create in the Chaos Carrier, but I can't guarantee that it's potable. My body does exude corruption, and it might cause the microorganism in the water to mutate into some new forms of diseases for all I know.
Tahiri obviously wouldn't let herself get roped into doing any menial labor such as carrying things, so she told me that she would go back to Aoranam village to get some Oripiaw. Considering we traveled for ten days now, it's a wonder that she could hold out with the little she had for so long.
If I had the Senka Navigation System to guide me, I'm sure I could make it back to Aoranam in under an hour while flying in Chaos Warhead mode. After all, the last time I used it for traveling I easily surpassed the speed of sound, which is over a thousand kilometers per hour or something like that; and I doubt we got that far in these last ten days. Since Tahiri can turn herself into lightning - just like Zenlith - she should be able to travel even faster than I can.
"[Hm, there's a nice smell.]" Korenga suddenly remarks and sniffs the air. Somehow I'm not surprised that she would be the first to deviate from the task, and in such a manner, too.
"[You're right.]" Tokomaha follows her example and begins to look around. With her nose raised like that and sniffing all over the place, she resembles a cute little animal and I consciously hold myself back from petting her. Although I'm sure she'd make a bad attempt at trying to be tsundere about it, which makes this decision much harder.
I reproduce Vularen nostrils and a whole array of smells assault my senses immediately. Maybe I shouldn't have gone overboard, and instead I use Hestia's template to make a more normal nose.
I get what they're referring to. It smells like really delicious food, of the kind that Ruiha would cook all the time. I haven't had many opportunities to taste the local cuisines, what with our group having to fight in Manoa without spare time left for sightseeing. And Uarapo was abandoned when we got there, got completely burned down by Felgar, and was then buried under lava from Roamukao's eruption.
But Mereana gave us just enough money to buy a large barrel of water. There surely isn't any left over to pay for three meals - especially meals that would satisfy Korenga or me. Once again, I suppress the building regret from remembering that I should have searched Rapania's castle for some loot.
"[We don't have money to spare on that.]" Heavy-hearted, I say to my two companions, who look at me with their own variations of pouts. Don't look at me like that, I want to try the local cuisine, too...
There's no way around this. I'll have to either find a job and make a small fortune quickly, or find a place where shady people - preferably slave traders - gather, and employ some self-defense. And since the former option is highly unlikely, I'll have to try and opt for the latter. Knowing Korenga's sense of justice, she'd certainly go along with busting slavers, but stealing their money would most likely be a no go.
Argh, this is too hard. Why can't there be a sudden invasion from an enemy army which we could go and stop? I'd be able to get a lot of mass that way and they would even honor me as the hero who saved the city. I mean, if I were to go around killing people normally, I'd be labeled a mass murderer after all.
Hm, did I just realize a fundamental hypocrisy of society? Kill a hundred people during peacetime and you're condemned as a psychopathic murderer. Kill a hundred people on the enemy side during wartime and you're revered as a hero.
I sigh and look down at the small leather bag Mereana gave me. Inside it are a few crude-looking silver coins. This nation seem to be on a much more primitive technological level compared to the Kingdom of Lares or the Mineva Republic. They are even behind the Khurut Sultanate in their minting techniques. If only I still had some of those gold coins from the sultanate, I'm sure they'd fetch quite a bit just by being actually made of gold.
When I think about gold, I'm reminded of Aurelia. I wonder where she ended up when she was somehow taken out from inside me by Mithra, who teleported me away to this country. I'm sure she's lonely right now, and a hint of excitement wells up when I reminisce about her delicious golden thighs.
Wait, gold...
I slap my forehead audibly and the people around me stare in surprise. Ignoring them, I spin around to Korenga and Tokomaha. They both have their heads tilted in different directions as they look at me dubiously.
"[Come with me.]" I grab the two goddesses' hands and pull them along. Korenga's huge hand somehow gives me a sense of security, while the warmth of Tokomaha's delicate one makes me remember the things I did to her only last night.
I shake my head of those thoughts so that I don't forget the idea I came up with.
"[Here.]" When we find an alleyway a distance from the bustling streets, I let go and turn around.
"[H-huh? I-in front of her?]" Tokomaha stares at me in shock and takes a step back, then points at Korenga.
"[... what are you thinking about, huh?]" Raising an eyebrow at the tiny goddess, I ask, knowing exactly what she's thinking about.
"[N-nothing! It's not like I was thinking that you wanted to do it with- hah?!]" She slaps her hands in front of her mouth to stop herself from revealing everything - although it's too late. Is she an idiot? I thought only little children and comical figures in fiction slip up like that. Well, she is something of a child when it comes to interpersonal relationships, I suppose, considering she most likely spent all her life in the wilderness surrounded only by animals.
"[Look at this.]" Ignoring her slip up, I pick up a pebble and put it in my palm.
Korenga and Tokomaha stare at me with skeptical expressions, but fix their eyes on the pebble. I'm sure they're both wondering what I'm trying to pull here. Maybe one of them even thought far enough ahead to consider the possibility that I want to perform street magic to make some quick money. My convenient body would surely aid me in doing that.
But I close my eyes and concentrate on the feeling of the pebble in my hand. Recalling my training, I picture its shape, weight and consistency in my mind and overlay it with something else.
Gold.
When I open my eyes and look, the pebble has turned into a gold nugget of the same shape and size. Its weight has noticeably increased, though. Basically, I just ignored the laws of physics, and turned one chemical into another seemingly without requiring any energy. With just a thought, I performed on the surface of my palm what would have taken a nuclear furnace in my previous life.
"[Woah!]" Korenga exclaims and begins clapping. Wait, does she actually think that was a performance?
"[How did you do that?]" Tokomaha stares at the gold nugget in disbelief. Huh? You, of all people, shouldn't be surprised at changing things into other things. You use dirt and leaves to create practically perfect physical clones of yourself!
"[It's magic I learned from someone a while back.]" I'll leave it at that. "[In either case, we can buy a lot of things with this now.]" Looking down at the ground, I find several more pebbles and get to work.
"[This is some great food!]" Korenga and Tokomaha say at almost the same time while stuffing their faces. I guess they haven't eaten anything cooked at a proper establishment in a long time - although I feel that the latter might actually have never eaten any prepared meals before meeting us and only ever grilled stuff over open campfires.
I have to say, it is indeed some great food. The dishes are quite different from the ones traditionally cooked in Aoranam village. There are no fish in these, since it's rather far from the sea, instead using meats from animals I've never tasted before. And unlike the age-old cliché of saying that everything unidentifiable tastes like chicken, these have very distinctive and unique flavors I can't even begin to describe.
I do feel bad that we're eating on our own without inviting the others, though.
In either case, now that the money problem has been solved, I can go to the market and stock up on matter again. Having a proper meal is just to satisfy my curiosity and to give the two goddesses something to be happy about.
Tokomaha apparently didn't learn to eat with cutlery and is grabbing the contents from the wooden plates with her hands. In Aoranam, people normally eat with their hands, except for certain dishes that are hard to grasp. But inland, it seems to be the norm to eat using something I can only identify as a mix between a spoon and a fork, as well as a sharp knife used to cut the meat.
"[Bring more!]" The moment the food runs out, Korenga waves over the waiter and orders more as if it's the most natural thing to do. If I hadn't remembered the gold transmutation magic, I wouldn't be alright with her doing it. But now we have plenty of money and don't have to worry about the bill.
Speaking of money, we found a place where we could exchange gold for coins, since I'm sure stores don't take unverified gold nuggets as payment, when there's an official currency in this nation. Considering I have no idea about the value of gold here, I agreed to whatever offer the store made. I'm sure we were ripped off, but I don't really care when I basically have an endless supply of it.
Never mind that doing too much of this will eventually cause gold to drop in value. But it's not like I care about such things.
"[Those three must be travelers who are new around here.]" I hear a man's voice from the table behind me speaking in a hushed tone. Creating an eye on my palm, I lower my hand under the table and use it to spy on him.
Unexpectedly, he seems like a normal person, and there's a woman sitting next to him. I thought that he was a ruffian whispering to his cohorts about shaking us down and trying to steal our money in an alley somewhere, after we leave. I guess I'm being too paranoid about my surroundings. They've already returned to eating their own meal without paying us any more attention.
Looking outside the window, I realize that the time for us to meet back up with Awhina and the others is approaching. We decided to finish up our business before the sun reaches its zenith and go for lunch together, before departing this city again. But on our group's end, we haven't even bought barrels, yet. And when I turn around, a new round of food is being brought to our table. Shaking my head at the sight, I smile wryly and sigh in resignation.
"[You two wait here. I'll go get our task done and meet up with the others, then we'll come back here together.]" I turn from Tokomaha to Korenga. "[Don't leave this place.]"
"[Why would I want to leave? The food and drink here are great!]" Responding in a loud and overbearing voice that booms through the restaurant and bleeding out onto the streets, I can see people turning their heads outside to look at what's going on in here. That's one way to attract new customers, that's for sure.
"[I'll leave the money with you, Tokomaha.]" Turning to the petite goddess, because I consider her to be the more sensible of these two, I hand her the heavy leather pouch, now filled to the brim with silver coins. Those are only about a third of all the money we got from selling a handful of gold nuggets, but it should be more than enough to cover the meal. I'm going to use the rest to buy the barrels we need, as well as to stock up on mass at the marketplace while none of the others are around to see it.
"[Hokay.]" She replies with a full mouth, before swallowing it all down in one big gulp. I expected her to choke there, but it seems she can take things down her throat pretty w-
"[Slow down a bit.]" I reprimand her while picking a crumb of food from her cheek.
Apparently she didn't hear my words because she immediately grabs my wrist and licks my finger clean. The gesture shouldn't mean much normally, but for some reason it stirs something within me.
I think I know what I'll be doing with her next time.
"[Alright, I'm off.]" Standing up from the table, I wave over the waiter. "[I'll be back in a bit, so keep the food coming.]" Then, to make triply sure, I turn to the two goddesses one last time. "[Stay here until I return.]"
"[I know I know.]" Tokomaha shoos me away with one hand, while grabbing something looking like a grilled drumstick. She begins to bite down on it messily and I shake my head with a sigh.
With a bad feeling about this in my heart, I leave the establishment.
