Toya, are you forgetting something?
Forget what?
That I have 'walk on air'.

　I can't fly, but I can walk a few dozen meters above the water.

　Considering the width of the river, I can manage to maintain it for about 10 seconds, and even if I fail, it's not too difficult because I only get wet a little.

"No!　Then, I'll join you...
"Oh, I can't do that. You're too heavy.

　With Toya on your back, you will almost certainly not be able to maintain altitude.

　If I'm lucky, I might make it to the other side without getting too wet, but since Toya is already half naked and I've already put on the Resist Cold, I'll just let her cry alone.

I'll go on ahead then. Oh, I'll take your stuff. No, no, no. No need to thank me.

Wait, wait, wait!

　I quickly carry Toya's luggage, which she seems to be trying to say something about, and I start running to the fire with the Extinguish Fire.

　I'm sure you'll be able to see that I'm not the only one who has a problem with this.

That's not fair, Nao!
"Hahaha, it's called efficiency, Toya!

　In fact, it is much better for my magical power to cross the river unscathed and let Toya dry off than for me to cross the river with Resist Cold and Breath Water on myself and let both of us dry off.

　I'm not trying to be mean to Toya.
　...... I don't deny that I don't want to get wet, but...

I'm not denying that I don't want to get wet.　It's not that I don't want to get wet.

　It's not that I don't want to get wet.
　Of course, I had already used the "Walk on Air" technique.
　But the surface tension of the water, buoyancy, or mass...
　But the surface tension of the water, or buoyancy, or mass, or whatever, makes it much easier than walking on air, and I finish crossing the river in just a few seconds.
　Then I turn around and shout.

"Toya!　Before one foot sinks, put the other foot in front of it!


"You can't do this, a**h*le!　You can't!

　I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I think it's a good idea.

　I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how to get the best out of it. ...... No, I'm not saying you can, but you're making a lot of progress, right?
　I'm not sure what to make of that.

　By the way, although he is gurgling, he is breathing underwater, so there is no need to worry about drowning.

　After a long wait, a soaked Toya came up from the river.

　Thanks to the magic, she doesn't look cold, but she is waving her ears and tail uncomfortably to blow away the water.

"d*mn, I'm wet again. You don't have to carry me on your back, you can just give me a 'walk on air' .......

"I'm sorry, I'm not strong enough.

　I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure it's a good idea.

"Oh, no, I don't blame you if you can't do it. ......
I didn't want to tire you out.
You can't do that?
Lie, lie. I could if I put my mind to it, but that's just not realistic.

　It's a magic I haven't fully mastered yet, and I can barely use it on myself.
　It's impossible to cast it consistently on others.

　Besides, it's too dangerous to go into the forest for the first time if you've lost your magic power.

As long as you don't mind falling on the way, then what's the point?
That's true, but I don't understand .......
I'll dry your clothes, please.

　I'm not cold from the magic, so I tossed Toya a towel and took her clothes to dry off instead.

He throws Toya a towel, takes her clothes, and dries her off. ...... Phew, that's refreshing.

You'll be wet again when we get back, though. "You'll be wet again when we get back, Toya.

"You're right. I just remembered, Nao, didn't you say before that you could now use the Walk on Water feature?　Was that a lie?　Was it just me being vain, Nao?



Why should I look good for you? I can use it. I can use it. ......

　The "Walk on Water" spell that Toya mentioned is literally a spell that allows you to walk on water.

　But this is really only a "walk on water" spell.
　If you put your hands on the water, you will sink, and if you fall on your buttocks, your buttocks will sink into the water.
　And yet, your feet do not sink.
　To put it simply, you are hanging upside down in the water.

　I was practicing this magic in the bathroom, but once I fell, I couldn't get myself up and panicked.

　If I lifted the spell, I could stand up normally, but I couldn't think that much because of the suddenness.
　If I had been practicing by myself, I might have been seriously injured.

And it's like walking on a soft mat. Even a bathtub can make you fall if you lose your balance, but a river with currents and waves is too dangerous. It may change when you get better at it. ....... Do you want to try it on the way back?

　I added, "It might be dangerous," but Toya quickly shook his head.

No thanks. Let's practice in the summer when we have some leisure time. We'll be diving in the springs anyway. I give up. Or will Nao dive for us?

"...... will take care of the auxiliary magic and drying the clothes.

Huh. No, well, that's fine if you want to be safe. ...... Hmm?　No, wait.

　I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but it's a good idea.

You've got teleportation!　You could have crossed without getting wet!

"...... Oh, by the way...

　I clap my hands in response to Toya's sharp point.


　I used to think that rivers were meant to be crossed, but now I had transfer magic.

　Lately, I had only been using transfer points to transfer, but if I could see my destination, it would not be too difficult to transfer with Toya.

I didn't need to get wet!
"Oh, sorry, sorry. I'm sorry, I totally forgot.

　When you transfer a long distance, the magic power consumption is so large that you need to rest for a while, so transferring right there was completely out of your mind.

　So, transference magic can be used in situations like this.

"Pull yourself together, wizard.

"No, I've always thought of it as something for dungeons and combat. I'll be more careful next time. --But you can point it out to me, too.　You know how to use magic, right?

　Toya can't use magic, but she can read grimoires.
　I know that she has read every grimoire in her possession.

I know I've read every grimoire in my possession. I didn't think of that either. ...... Oh well. Just know that you won't get wet on the way home. So, let's go, shall we?

　I nodded to Toya, who stumbled over her words and laughed, and we walked into the forest together.


　The forest on the west side of the Petras River was a bit brighter than the forest north of Laffan, with wider spacing between the trees.

　It was a peaceful environment where we could have come for a picnic if the situation was not so bad.
　But we couldn't afford to enjoy it right now.

　Ketra had told us that there was a spring in this forest, but we didn't know where it was.

　The only way to find it was to walk around the forest by ourselves.

　It would have been more efficient if the two of us had split up to look for it, but considering the danger, we should probably avoid that.

　There is no strong sign of demons near the entrance, but that doesn't mean the same is true for the whole area.

　They spent a whole day wandering around the forest, looking for anything they could find.
　By mid-afternoon the next day, we had finally found the spring we were looking for.

　Surrounded by trees and hidden, the spring was small, less than ten meters in diameter.

　It was not far from the river, but the trees prevented us from seeing it from a distance, making it quite difficult to recognize.

　If it were not for this situation, it would have been a nice spring that would have tugged at our heartstrings, but in this case, we hoped it would have been easy to find.



　Because of this, we had no time to savor our pleasure and immediately began to look into the spring. .......

"I don't see any .......
Oh. There's no point in diving down there.

　The water was so clear and the surface so calm that it was easy to see to the bottom just by looking from above.

　The obtuseness of the red flowers made it quite conspicuous, so there was no way I could have missed it.

　Moreover, since even the deepest part seemed to be only about a meter deep, there was no need to dive down to check.

I'm glad I didn't get wet, but I'm not happy about this. What should we do, ......?

　The forest here is a large one, extending further west into uncharted territory, so the possibility of finding a new spring if we continue our search is not insignificant.

　But .......

No, we should follow Haruka and the others. The odds are too low.

　The probability here is not "the probability of finding it", but "the probability of arriving in time".
　It took us more than a day to find a spring that we knew was there.
　How long would it take us to find a spring that we didn't know existed if we just searched in the dark?
　Considering Al's physical strength, it would be a very bad bet.

　If that's the case, it would make more sense to help Haruka and her team, who have a strong ally in Diora.

"I see. I have no objection either. Then let's hurry.
Ah. I hope I can catch up with them. ......

　If Haruka and the others are in the forest, it'll be difficult to find them.
　I want to catch up with them in the town of Rafan if possible.
　We turned on our heels and immediately started moving as fast as we could.