It was apparently raining in the wilderness, a rare occurrence. The students working on the refurbishment on the heavy cruiser had returned to their bases, except for a few who were working on the ship. Many of the students looked bored, except for the fish-dwelling siblings, who were literally frolicking around like fish in water.
　According to the documents Serena had left behind, there was a strong possibility of an underground water source in the vicinity of this dungeon. It was speculated that the day after it rained, a canal would be created in the dungeon, which might lead to a hidden room that they shouldn't normally be in, in some cases. Whether or not the search party incorporating the Uozumi siblings would be held again tomorrow was a questionable matter.

　Kunihiro Ryuzaki had been spending some spare time in the operations room for some time now.

　Although there are still many matters of concern, such as the red winged demon, the awkward atmosphere within the class, which had been the most painful for him, is easing, which is good news for Ryuzaki. However, behind that, there are students who were kidnapped by the enemy, so we can't be happy about it.
　It's a good thing that Koganei, at least, is safe.

　Ryuuzaki suddenly remembered the existence of the heavy cruiser's logbook, which had been left on the office desk.
　It was that thing that Kyousuke and the others had brought with them. I had forgotten all about it, thinking I would read it when I settled down.
　One of the important clues related to the original world. However, it's not so important and valuable now that we know that Tripper is in Serena's hometown.

　Ryuzaki opens his journal. Although it's in the same Japanese language, it's in a style from seventy years ago. In addition, it's a great, masterful handwriting, so it's actually difficult to read.
　After flipping through the pages for a while, it was clear that the handwriting had changed during the process. This one was a little easier to read.

"Well, what, what...

　In it, there is an entry to the effect that the senior officer in command of the heavy cruiser is missing and that he will keep a logbook in his place. Probably that captain that Kyousuke and others reported to me.

''.........''

　There is no description of the crew turning into monsters or anything like that. However, the story clearly describes how the crew is being attacked by sandworms, goblins, and otherworldly creatures, and how they are being worn out day by day. It's not a great piece of writing, but the unhurried reporting feels more like something real, because it's not something that happens to anyone else.
　The despair of not knowing if you can return to your world.
　The crew is wearing down and diminishing in number by the day.

　Finally, it was even mentioned that some of the junior officers rioted and were forced to shoot to kill in order to maintain order on the ship.

'We could have been like this too, if we had made a mistake...'

　A creeping sensation crawled down Ryuzaki's spine.

　The purge to maintain order had changed the atmosphere on the ship. For the worse, of course.
　Those who stand against the Captain will be killed. Such a perception was becoming prevalent. The atmosphere of depression stagnated, leading to a sense of entrapment. Those who flirt with the Captain, those who keep their distance, those who snitch on those they don't like as a sign of betrayal. It varies.

　One day, the captain and his crew decide to leave the heavy cruiser and head east. As experts in naval warfare, they lacked the expertise in so-called land expeditions, but they still decided that they would only dry up if they stayed here. Their manpower had been reduced to half of what it had been in the beginning.
　Apparently the logbook was carried neatly with them on their journey, describing only the desperation and frustration of the first, second, and third days as they grew in desperation and frustration. Still, one day on the fourth day, they apparently discovered a man-made structure, a wall-like structure. It's Serena's country. Ryuzaki thought. They had reached it, too.

　But if that was the case, why was the Captain rotting away in that heavy cruiser? He even went to the trouble of bringing back the logbook of the voyage.

　The answer was on the next page.
　As it turns out, the soldiers of the former Japanese Navy who had transitioned to this world did not receive a generous reception from the locals of the time. As they approached the city walls and waved their hands, they were baptized with a cold baptism of arrows.
　They had no language and no way to prove that they were not hostile. Furthermore, it was decisive that a soldier in a state of panic had fired his rifle. He shot and killed one of the soldiers who was shooting arrows from the top of the ramparts, and the captains were considered to be the complete enemy.

　The captains fled for their lives back to the heavy cruiser, but they knew from the wounds they received that their own lives were not long in coming.
　The page ends a few more days later.

''.........''

　Ryuzaki closed the book with an indescribable feeling.

　There were currently trippers living in Serena's country. In other words, there are humans who are fortunate enough to not be considered enemies in that country and have succeeded in receiving generous blessings. However, with just one misstep, the kind of thing described in this journal could naturally happen.
　It's a good thing that I was reminded of the dangers of contact between different cultures.

　Will Kyousuke and the others do well? It is natural to feel that they will be fine. The fact that they are able to make contact with Serena peacefully is the best gospel of all.

　But just when I thought that, the coffin placed in the corner of the operations room suddenly made a rattling sound.

'Whoa.'

　I can't help but think.
　Harao (Pharaoh). Harao Maki's coffin. It's quite unusual to wake up spontaneously.

''Uh........''

　The lid of the coffin opens and Harao slowly raises his body from inside.

'Good morning, Harao.'
Uh...., good morning. You are the one who disturbed my sleep...
You woke up on your own today.
Aye, it was.... "I am the one who prevents me from sleeping...

　It's surprising that this man, Harao, has been like this since he was human. His family was the wealthiest in town, his grandfather was a city councillor, his uncle on his father's side was the director of the city hospital, and his uncle on his mother's side was a member of the Diet. He was a member of the parliament on my mother's side of the family. It was a tricky situation. This has been feared since the days of humans as the "curse of Harao".
　Well, he's a good guy at heart.

　In Ryuzaki's opinion, about 90% of the people who have lived on Earth are good guys with roots.

　But still, Harao is a good guy with a good root.

"Ho, Ryuzaki, the book you have in your possession, this is the record of the black history that has risen from its 200-year sleep.
Two hundred years?

　Ryuzaki made a dubious face as he held the voyage logbook in his hand.

'It's a wartime logbook, isn't it seventy or eighty years old, or something like that?'
"Two hundred years... My eye that sees through time will never fail...
I wonder if time passes differently here and there...

　Harao's "eye for time" is not a joke. Ryuzaki keeps a coffin in the operations room because he values Harao's ability to see the past and the future. Not to mention dating, he can see into the past and future to some extent. It is not accurate enough to be called a future vision or a prediction, and it is only changed by what Harao calls 'a small discrepancy in the deterministic factors', but it is still useful in setting guidelines.

'I go to sleep again..... Let no one disturb Harao's sleep....

　

''Oh, you're going to bed. Goodnight.'

　By the time Ryuzaki says it, I can hear him snoring from inside.

　But two hundred years? If that much time has passed, I guess there are no more people who remember the crew of the heavy cruiser directly. I suppose.
　But it's easier to do that. It's not a good idea to drag the unfortunate accident described in this logbook to the negotiating table this time. However, when things are settled, I would like to bury their souls in the same Japanese hands.

Ryuzaki-kun, are you there!

　This time, there was a banging on the door of the operations room. This voice is Sakuma. It's rare for her to shout so loudly.

''I'm here, what's going on?''
Oh, my God!　I mean, it's awesome!

　Saying that, Sakuma's chest jumped into the operations room, and it was indeed very hard and soooo violent.
　However, the experienced Ryuzaki never looks at his precious classmate with a yokozima eye.

So, what's so hard and amazing?
I found some amazing stuff in the basement of the 15th floor...
It's amazing...

　From the way Sakuma talks, I know it doesn't seem so bad. So, will it be useful?

'All right. I'll go see.
''Yeah, maybe it's better to have Kurumori-kun take a look at it...''

　So, is it something that could possibly be used for parts for a heavy cruiser?
　In some cases, we may be able to complete the refurbishment earlier than planned. Ryuzaki left the operations room as Sakuma led him out.




''Utsurogi-kun, what should I do...''

　That's what the giant water manjuu lying in front of me said.

　The name of this water manjuu is called Himemizu Rin. She is the proud and energetic idol of Kamiyo High School's 2nd year class 4. She's a bit small in stature, but she's an ace sprinter, boiling with more tension than her body can handle, and she's the fastest sprinter in the prefecture to beat the 100 meters. She's a sunny girl with dazzling, healthy legs reminiscent of Thomson Gazelle, but right now she's a giant water bun.
　It's reminiscent of Koshu's famous Shingen rice cake. It's like a delicious treat with black honey and yellow powder.

"What should I do? What should I do?
"I'm not qualified to be a track and field team if I've gained this much weight.... I wanted to lose a little more body fat before this summer's competition...
I wonder if that's the problem.

　It's not fat to begin with, but a literal blister. This.

　Apparently, Rin, who was standing on sentry duty, took in that rainwater into her body while she was receiving the roaring rain, and she gradually grew to a huge size. As the volume increases, so does the part of the body that catches the water, so the rate of expansion is truly accelerating.
　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what to do about it, but you can't do anything about it.

''It's pretty messed up, isn't it?''

　Ei said in the lantern as he woke up.

''What the hell... wow!　Huge!
"Mmmm, is it time for me to take over.....　Huge!

　Hakuba and Serena also wake up one after the other.

''Ah, Serena!　Just in time!　Hey, what is that?　What the hell?　What is this?
Uh, I'm not sure.
'Wow!　My last hope is busted!

　Himemizu Rin screamed as she was still receiving the rain and expanding. Serena rubbed her sleepy eyes as she continued.

''Waterslime does indeed have an ecology of taking in liquid from the outside and growing by separating the body's wastes from the old parts. It's like a crustacean molting. But to grow so infinitely large...''
'Himesui eats so often that it's like there's something wrong with her satiety center, so maybe that's why.
I see.
Not really.

　Rin protests with her usual tap-tap-tap-tap shaking, but for a man of this size, she's also very destructive.

"What are we going to do!　I'm such a big girl now.　It's a girl power crisis!
'I mean, if Serena's words are correct, you can excrete the amount you take in neatly, can't you?
Defecate!　Put it another way!
Then we'll separate them.
I might be playing for the ages.

　Certainly, exposing the spectacle of spitting out the water that has been taken into her body to the public (though there are four of them) is an act that Rin feels quite resistant to. However, once they've grown this big, it's unlikely that they'll be able to imitate it by avoiding the public eye.
　I'm not sure what to do, but when I was mumbling about what to do, Ei said this to me.

''Himemizu, if you can manipulate the density of the body, wouldn't you be able to compress the body while retaining its mass?''
Mmm....

　Rin said, bouncing up and down with a tap.

'Sure, you could do it. It's like retracting your stomach...'
'That's how it felt to do it...'

　Rin said, 'Hey! And when she got into it, her body seemed to shrink a bit. She continued to gung-ho her spirits and did her best to shrink her body. Rin's body, which had been swollen to the size of a small lake, gradually and gradually shrank to its normal size.
　Rin returned to her original size and took shelter under the hood so she wouldn't get any more water on her. They all applauded, 'Oh.

''Oh no, thank you for your concern...''
'Well, that's the state of the water in which it's compressed to a high density, so I think we'd better get the extra water out later...'

　Ei said, and then turned further to Kyousuke and told him.

''Kyousuke, there was an empty water bottle in the wagon, wasn't there? Can you try shoving that into the princess water for a moment?
'Run into it!'
Yeah, okay. Ei.
'Don't you understand?　Think about what you say!

　Kyousuke retrieved an empty water bottle from the carriage and moved closer to Rin. Rin retreated slightly, as if trying to drip cold sweat from her entire body.
　For some reason, Serena is covering her face with her hands.

''Sorry princess water, it won't hurt you.''
Geez!

　Thus, the empty water bottle was twisted into Rin's body, but right after that, the water bottle that was plunged into it crumpled up.

''Whoa........''

　As expected, Kyousuke is surprised and withdraws his hand.

''I knew it,''

　Ei nodded.

''The current body of Princess Water is in a state of dense water compression. The water pressure is extremely high, like the deep sea, so to speak. If it's at least a metal water bottle, the water pressure can flatten it out. If I merge with Kyousuke in the current state, it might put a strain on him as well.
Is that all you got to say for sticking a water bottle in a girl's body?

　I spit out the floppy water bottle and let out a dignified, whimsical voice.

"If you can shoot out compressed water, it could be used like a water cutter. Depending on how you use it, it could be a pretty powerful ability.
Hmm, well, I won't know that until I get rid of the "defecation" in my mind...

　The rainfall was slowly weakening as new abilities of Himemizu Rin were being discovered. The sun had already set and the stars were peeking through the clouds, but it was agreed that we should proceed a little further while we still had the chance, and we all headed further east from the rocky area.
　In addition, there is not much water available in this wilderness. We have enough drinking water to meet our needs, but since we've gone to the trouble of storing water in our bodies, we decided to have Rin travel in a more compressed state in case of emergencies.

''What kind of play is it already, making someone else drink the water stored in your body...''

　Rin's muttering pretended that no one in the room could hear it.




　Then, roughly five days later.

　The hard treatment of Rin continued. According to Serena's statement, the water slime has an ecology that 'takes in liquid from the outside and expels the waste products together outside'. As long as this statement is believed, it is also possible to remove impurities from the liquid and filter the water into a clean state.
　And it actually did.
　The rainwater that Rin has stored in her body is now being served to her party members as "Surarin's Delicious Water", after her life force (I won't call it a physiological phenomenon) removes all the microscopic dust and microbes from the water. It's a terrible story.

"I'll spend the rest of my life as a water tank...

　Rin (named Compression Foam by Ei), who was still densely compressed with water, said this with a blatantly depressed look.

''Well, well, well, Princess Water. Don't be so depressed.''
No, I'm depressed...
I'm just trying to be helpful.

　When Kyousuke tries to soothe her by saying that, Rin turns around and bites him (metaphorically).

'Not good!　It's not good!　Imagine, Mr. Utsurogi, for a moment.　Mr. Utsurogi's daughter!　I don't care if she's your sister, your girlfriend, or your wife!　Oh, but I'd like her if I could!
Oh, oh. She?
Oh, no. No, no, just keep it to your daughter or sister. My daughter or sister is going to offer her bodily fluids to someone else!　You don't like it.　I don't like it!　You don't like that!　I might not be able to marry anymore...!
Uh, yeah, I'm sorry...
Don't apologize!

　She had been called a triangular corner for a long time, but apparently it was quite heavy to carry even the nickname of a water tank. If anything, the water tank seems to be a more admirable artifact than the triangular corner, but I certainly don't want to use my own bodily fluids as someone else's drinking water.
　According to Serena's words, the liquid that the slime has temporarily taken into its body is only the stored water and not the slime's own bodily fluids, but even so, it's still disgusting because it's like spitting out the water in your mouth.

"Ugh, it's disgusting.... That's sloppy handling.........

　At last, I was in tears.

　Rin and Kyousuke were now standing in the shadow of the rocky area that they were approaching for the umpteenth time, keeping watch over their luggage. It has been five full days since they headed east. It's about time that Serena's country comes into view. Serena, Ei, and Hakuba are lightening up and going to search a little further.

''I'm a girl too, but...''
'Yeah, right. Even Himemizu is a girl, right?
"Utsurogi-kun.... Aren't you just going along for the ride?
What?

　I didn't have any eyes on Rin's body at all, but I still felt like I got some kind of cold stare from her.

'What part of me right now do you call me a girl!　Oh, I'm sorry, this question is so annoying!
Uh, yeah, I'm talking about the soft part, the...
Ho!　Well, okay!　Thank you!

　While not seeming somewhat unconvinced, Rin said that and got into a slightly better mood.

''No, well, it's fine........ After living as a slime for a month already, you'll lose your confidence on a regular basis.''
As a girl?
Well, I'm not all girly to begin with, you know?

　Princess Water Rin. Despite her name, she doesn't look like a princess, nor is she particularly dignified. Her adorable appearance and sociable personality made her the top of her class caste, but she certainly didn't have a "girlish" personality. When you talk to her like this, she has a wide range of interests that allows her to talk about comics and video games with the boys, and she can also handle down-to-earth stories without being blatantly obvious.
　That's why, well, there were some heartless rumors started by girls who didn't think well of her.

　However, if you ask me if such Rin is not girly, I think that's a no.

Well, I think she's a proper girl when she's troubled like that.
''Huh. I see........
'I think I'll decide not to drink any more of the princess water if I really don't want to. Are you unhappy?
Hmm. I don't know what to do. For now, I've cleared up some of my dissatisfaction with the current situation by talking to Utsurogi-kun.
Well....

　The conversation was cut off there. Once the conversation stopped, it was a bit awkward.

'I thought, "Well, if this is going to be a new strength for you, Utsurogi-kun, that's good, too.
Me?
Yeah. Because you have to thank the Red Wing Demon exactly for that, right?

　Maybe it's because it's Rin who was once knocked out by that demon's hand, but the tone is somewhat strong.
　Rin seemed to be on a quest for power for the past few days. Even before the engagement with the Red Winged Demon, there was a section where she had felt it even before the battle with the Red Winged Demon. But it wasn't since that loss that the tendency had become more pronounced. She might think that she was the cause of Full Cross's defeat.

'But how can you use that power to your advantage?
Ummm, for example...
Such as?
Give them some good water to drink.
Yes.
I will convert him.
.........
Yes, I'm sorry!

　Rin was completely back to her former form. Kyousuke himself knew that it was not a good idea to put too many roots in the ground.

'Utsurogi-san!　Lynn!

　Just then, Serena, who was straddling a white horse, came back with a wave of her hand. Kyousuke also stood up and held up one hand.

''Oh, how did it go?''
'Yeah, we're out of this rocky area and a little further on, we see a long wall at the edge of the horizon.
It's like the Great Wall of China.

　Hakuba and Ei explain it to me verbally. So it's finally happening. It seems that we've arrived at it.
　It's been five days since we left the base, so it's almost exactly what we planned. By the time we return, the heavy cruiser should be almost finished refurbishing itself. However, the only thing I was still worried about was whether the red-winged devil would attack the base in the meantime. I would like to get cooperation as quickly as possible and return in a hurry.

　For now, after this, they would approach the city walls and attempt to talk to the humans. Before that, they decided that they would have to eat first, so they spread out the preserved food on the wagon.

'You can't fight a battle if you're hungry, you know!
It's not a good idea to start a war...

　While dodging those words, Kyousuke looks at Serena.

''You said you could be diplomatic material, right?''

　A part of his body made contact with Kyousuke, and Rin spoke to him through consciousness alone. Kyousuke nodded.

　In other words, she's an existence of high status in her own right. If Serena can use her position well and stand on our side, we can get a handle on the negotiations. At least that's about the only chance Kyousuke and the others have right now.
　Probably in a few hours, they would be in contact with the humans. Kyousuke gulped down the smoked meat.

　The smoked meat flopped down from his throat, and Rin caught it and snatched it up secretly.