Right now, I’m in an excellent mood.
Even though we’re heading toward a terrifying enemy, the Earth Dragon, I can’t help but feel cheerful.
「Haaahhh…」
I’ve been gazing dreamily at the magic tool Eliodart gave me.
Despite its rugged design, the retro, solid feel of its black metal exterior is simply irresistible.
As expected of Eliodart, he even poured aesthetic sense into this masterpiece.
「Hey, my lord. You’re staring at that thing so dreamily it’s getting a little creepy, you know…」
「My bad… but still, haaahh… it’s just so good. I love it…」
I almost want to rub my cheek against it.
I don’t even mind passing through the bug zone anymore.
No, actually, being able to ignore the bugs entirely is thanks to this magic tool.
That alone makes it priceless!
「Master! We’re about to leave the bug zonessu! Once we pick up Aina and Shiro, we can reach the Transfer town by the end of the day!」
「Got it!」
Apparently, horses can’t cross the desert.
So, we’ll have to switch to a special type of transport at a town along the way.
When I hear “desert”, I think of camels… yeah, surely it’s camels, right?
Nope. Totally wrong.
It was a small dinosaur pulling a sled-like cart.
They call it a ‘Desert Parasaur’.
It looks a lot like that friendly herbivorous dinosaur that’s always getting chased by Tyrannosaurs in movies, two-legged, with a cute crest jutting from the back of its head. Definitely not a scary one.
And it’s surprisingly affectionate. When I reached out to pat its head, it licked me and even rubbed its cheek against mine.
Not fluffy, its skin feels like cool reptile scales, but it’s oddly soothing in its own way.
But that’s where the comfort ends.
From here on out, it’s nothing but sand, sand, and more sand.
Which naturally means…
「It’s so hot… I’m gonna die…」
The sun blazes overhead, and though we’re shaded by the wagon’s canopy, it barely helps, hot, hot, hot…
「Lord, pathetic…」
「You can’t blame me for this heat… But seriously, Shiro, how are you fine with all that fur and those ears?」
I’m down to my undershirt, my belly exposed, still drenched in sweat, while Shiro looks as composed as ever.
Renge’s probably used to the heat since she’s from this region, and Aina doesn’t seem bothered either, she’s running alongside us in full armor, scanning the surroundings.
「I’ve got resistance. And the Elduke Forest was worse, humid and suffocating. Compared to that, this dry heat’s nothing.」
「You say that, but you can’t stand hot baths.」
「Heat resistance doesn’t work on baths. It’s… mysterious.」
That really is strange. I wonder if that resistance only applies to environmental or magical effects.
Still, to say this heat feels comfortable… Shiro must have grown up in an incredibly harsh forest.
A tropical jungle, maybe? Alright then. From now on, I’ll make sure you always have a comfortable life, food, shelter, everything.
「Master, it’s a bit cooler over here. Please, come closer to me.」
「Really!? I’m coming right away!」
Just as she said, when I moved near Wendy, the air felt cooler and pleasantly refreshing.
I wondered why it was only cool around her, until I noticed a faint bluish aura of magic power flowing from her.
「I’m not very good at controlling the intensity of my magic… but I can at least channel some water magic power. How is it?」
「Ahh… yeah, that feels great. So, it’s water magic power, huh? I see now.」
Now that I think about it, the ‘Magic Ball’ I created earlier with fire magic power gave off warmth.
Which means…
I immediately deployed ‘Invisible Jail’ in a thin, board-like form to enclose the wagon, then channeled water magic power into several ‘Magic Balls.’
Using minimal magic power, I created softball-sized balls, one after another, until they began overlapping and filling the space.
「Fufufufu… this thing’s already proving useful!」
As the number of water magic power spheres increased, the air around us cooled little by little, until the temperature reached a perfectly comfortable level.
「AAhhhh… this is so nice. It’s so much easier to breathe…」
It looked kind of like one of those kiddie ball pits, though the balls only reached about ankle height.
The air was crisp and cool, and the spheres had a pleasant, springy texture.
Since I’d used ‘Invisible Jail’ as a thin barrier, they couldn’t roll out, meaning it was safe to lie or jump onto them.
「Muu… I was hoping to help Master cool down by letting you hold me instead…」
「Sorry, Wendy. I just can’t bring myself to hug anyone while I’m drenched in sweat.」
「That in itself would be… ah, never mind. Wow, this really is pleasantly cool.」
Yeah, no. Not the right time for that.
There’s a time and place for everything, and sticky sweat definitely isn’t ideal for hugging.
Anyway, I’ll wipe myself down first before diving in!
「Lord, this is fun!」
「Hey, no fair, Shiro! Let me in too!」
Shiro had already sprawled out across the orbs, bouncing gently atop them.
Amazing, it’s like a soft, watery trampoline.
I tried it too, but for some reason, I didn’t bounce as much as I expected.
Hmm. Maybe I should try making a few bigger ones.
This time, I poured magic power into it until it grew to about the size of a balance ball.
It didn’t consume much magic power, and since the magic power directly expanded into form, there was no waste. This spell was really efficient.
And with that, it was complete.
「Ooooh… it really looks just like a balance ball…」
The texture was slightly different from the simple ‘Magic Balls’ I made before, its rebound was stronger, more like rubber.
In feel, size, and elasticity, it was identical to a real balance ball.
Apparently, the softness and resistance could be influenced by my mental image to some extent.
「A balance ball, you say?」
「Yeah, that’s right. You sit on it like this, let go of your hands, and try to balance. You can also bounce while sitting. It was a popular fitness trend in my old world.」
「Fitness… I’m not exactly overweight, but may I try it for a bit?」
「Sure, sure. I’ll make another one for you.」
After creating one for Wendy, I noticed Shiro staring intently, so I made one for her too.
Before long, the three of us were surrounded by small magic power orbs, playing together on our large balance ball-sized ones.
「Hmm. Easy.」
As expected of Shiro.
Standing on one leg atop the ball, she didn’t even wobble.
In fact, she effortlessly performed flips, handstands, and single-handed poses that even a professional performer would struggle to pull off.
「This is fun.」
Then, after releasing her hands and bouncing with her body, she grabbed the ball again, went into a handstand, and kept hopping while upside down.
Yeah… I’m not even going to comment anymore.
She really can do anything, our all-purpose Shiro.
「Nngh… ngh… It’s true, this could be… quite an intense workout… Ngh… it really uses your stamina… I might actually lose weight…!」
「O-oh… yeah…!」
Wendy sat on her balance ball and bounced rhythmically, ‘pon, pon’, her magic power orb moving in sync with her body.
As I watched, my own body unconsciously started bouncing in time with her.
Balance balls are great.
What amazing elasticity!
The fiery joy of bouncing on a balance ball in a cool, refreshing atmosphere, what bliss!
They feel good to touch, keep the air pleasant, and are fun to watch, what a marvelous creation, Eliodart!
「Master! If you keep bouncing like that, the wagon’s shaking and the Dessert Parasaur’s having trouble walking straight!」
「Ah, sorry! I forgot to put ‘Invisible Jail’ under the floor too!」
Renge, the only one who knew the route, was handling the reins, but I had completely forgotten about the Desert Parasauro and made the whole thing shake like crazy.
Meanwhile, Aina and Sorte were running alongside us, keeping watch on the surroundings.
Aina had said something fiery like “Running on sand makes for great training!” but it was way too hot, so I opted out immediately.
「Shiro, let’s switch soon… wait, what is this situation…」
Sorte came around to the back of the wagon, wiping sweat from her forehead, and looked at the scene with a dumbfounded expression.
Well, yeah. If she found Wendy lying on her back on a large, light-blue magic power sphere, balancing herself while surrounded by a sea of smaller floating spheres, that would definitely be a sight to question.
「Hmm, I wanted to play a little longer, but fine. I’ll go.」
Apparently Shiro and Sorte were switching places, so I dispelled the ‘Invisible Jail’.
A few magic power spheres rolled off, but Shiro and Sorte quickly scooped them up and tossed them back inside.
「Whoa, it’s so cool in here.」
「Heh-heh, nice, right?」
「Yeah, it’s boiling outside, so this helps a lot… ahh, I’m exhausted…」
Sorte flopped onto the magic power spheres, lying flat on her back, so I fanned her face lightly with my hand.
「Ahh… that feels good…」
Apparently, Sorte wasn’t as resistant to heat as Shiro, Aina, or Renge.
Her cheeks were a little flushed. She still handled it better than me, of course, but it was surprising.
「Still… this feels amazing. And also…」
While lying down, Sorte grabbed one of the magic power spheres and started squeezing it in her hands.
Its shape warped far from a perfect sphere, but once she released it, it instantly bounced back into form.
「…Hey, could you make one that’s a little softer?」
「Hmm, I think I can. Let’s try.」
Soft… and cool…
While keeping my focus on its softness, I carefully shaped it with water-element magic power.
It was harder than expected to maintain both aspects at once, but I managed.
「Is this size okay?」
「No, a little… there! That’s perfect!」
Slowly channeling magic power to match her request, I created a sphere about the size of a small watermelon.
Then, for some reason, she asked for another one. I made it, and she immediately snatched both from my hands.
…Hey, I didn’t even get to test the texture yet.
Sorte turned her back to me and started fiddling with something.
Ah… yeah. The wagon wasn’t that big, so there was no hiding what she was doing.
It was totally obvious.
Well… I guess that was bound to happen. I actually expected Shiro to be the one to try it first when I made all those bouncy spheres earlier.
But no… it’s Sorte.
「Hmm… they won’t pop, right…? Just a little more… adjusting the size of my gear… there! Got it!」
「…Sorte.」
「Eh, Kyaaaaaaah!!」
When I gently placed my hand on her shoulder, Sorte flinched and jumped back in panic.
The sudden movement sent several small magic power spheres floating into the air, scattering like bubbles and briefly obscuring my vision, but even through the haze, my gaze was fixed on one point.
「It’s not what it looks like! I, I was just curious how it might look if I ‘grew’ more, that’s all!」
「……」
Sorte’s chest was… unnaturally inflated.
Every time she moved, it wobbled awkwardly, like it was trying a bit too hard to convince me.
「S-see? Nobody knows what the future holds, not even the goddess herself! So maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance I could end up like this, right? So, I just wanted to ‘experience’ it a little…」
「Sorte……」
「Don’t look at me like that! That ‘poor child’ look! It’s just a harmless test! I’m allowed to dream, aren’t I!?」
「In my old world’s language, the word for ‘dream’ uses the same characters as the word ‘ephemeral’.」
「What kind of cruel world does that!? Who writes something so mean!?」
Yeah… I kind of agree with her.
But still… this is just ‘wrong’.
Not because I can see the faint glow of blue magic power peeking through her clothes, no, it’s deeper than that.
It just doesn’t ‘fit’ her.
“Busty Sorte” feels so fundamentally wrong that reality itself seems to reject it.
She doesn’t even qualify as a “loli with big boobs”.
Besides, she’s already past her growth years, isn’t she?
「Face it, Sorte… let’s accept reality and live on with dignity.」
「No! I refuse! I’m still growing! And if I’m supposed to live positively, then at least let me ‘have’ my hopes!」
「I like your small chest too, you know.」
「That’s… kind of nice to hear, but I’m not falling for it! You said ‘too’! Which means before that you wanted to say, ‘I like big ones, but…’ right!?」
She was completely stubborn now, refusing to remove her fake, magic power-filled bust.
What should I even do with her…?
Maybe the best approach is to just let her have her fun until she gets bored.
「My liege, could you release the ‘Invisible Jail’ for a moment?」
「Hm? Oh, sure.」
I heard Aina’s voice from outside, so I dispelled the barrier.
「Phew… Seems Shiro can handle it alone, so I’ll take a short break.」
「Aina…」
Despite the wagon still moving, Aina grabbed the edge and climbed aboard with ease.
Her eyes immediately went to the floor, rather than Sorte’s chest, and her lips curved into a small smile as she pressed her foot down experimentally.
「This is amazing. It’s cool, and it feels great on my tired body. Also… Wendy? What’s going on with you?」
「Fuh… nnh… I-I’m balancing right now… ah, wait, whoa whoa whoa, !」
Wendy had been keeping her balance the entire time, but perhaps her focus finally slipped, because with a soft ‘thump’, she lost it and fell straight into the pile of small magic power spheres.
「Hm? Is this… another new game?」
As Wendy stood back up and began balancing again, Aina slowly sat down and began removing her armor.
A wave of heat, almost visible, rose up from the layer beneath.
And then,
「Ah……」
A small sound escaped Sorte’s lips.
It was clear what had caught her attention.
Aina’s undershirt was completely soaked through, clinging tightly to her body and leaving ‘nothing’ to the imagination.
Though they had surely seen each other countless times before, the contrast in this sweltering desert, under this lighting, was… undeniable.
Sorte’s eyes were fixed on the unmistakable, natural outline of Aina’s ‘real’ chest.
And then,
「Phew… at this temperature, I’ll probably catch a cold like this. I should change into something dry… my liege, um… I’m drenched in sweat, so please try not to stare too much, alright?」
Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t even the one staring the most intently.
Sorte’s gaze was locked on Aina, completely unblinking.
I couldn’t help glancing between them, unsure which of the two to even focus on anymore.
「Hmm… ngh… wait, ugh, come on…」
Aina struggled to peel off her soaked shirt, the damp fabric refusing to let go.
Each motion she made caused a natural, effortless bounce that seemed to hammer home the cruel reality of ‘the real thing.’
And every time Aina moved, Sorte’s expression darkened further, her eyes darting between Aina and her own chest, color draining from her face as though life itself were leaving her.
「…………」
At last, Sorte’s shoulders drooped.
With a quiet, defeated expression, she reached up and gently removed the magic power spheres she had stuffed into her clothes.
Her face looked so fragile, so close to breaking, that I couldn’t stop myself from moving.
Without thinking, I stepped forward and pulled her into a firm embrace, holding her tight.
If there was any mercy in the world…
I could only hope that no one else had seen what just happened.
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