Chapter 105: The Continent of Beastmen

Even after looking through the adventurer’s guide, I couldn’t find a single word about ships that fly in the sky.

Books easily found in the market didn’t mention such ships either.

It was the moment a secret of this world, known only to wizards, was revealed.

“Hey!”

I was admiring the massive ship when a woman on the deck looked down at me and waved.

“It’s almost departure time! If you dawdle like that, you’ll have to take the next one, you know?”

What the woman said was true.

As if the departure preparations were in their final stages, the wizards around the pier were moving busily, heading towards the large ship.

I waved lightly at the woman and approached the ship.

There were no procedures to go through to board.

The wizards standing at the entrance writing documents were only checking the number of people boarding the ship.

It was only natural that quite a few wizards recognized me, since I had made it to the finals of the competition.

Jealousy and envy, as well as goodwill and admiration. A complex mix of gazes followed me from behind.

Nightmare and I boarded the deck, where a wizard handed me a numbered ticket and a small key.

“This is the room and numbered ticket for your use while on the airship.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Have a good trip.”

The wizard who handed me the numbered ticket bowed and approached another wizard.

He gave the same things to the other wizards as he had given to me.

[315]

I checked the number on the ticket and put it in my pocket.

The deck of the airship, a ship that flew in the sky, was quite spacious.

The wizards freely roamed the deck of the airship.

I was also walking around the deck, looking around.

A cool breeze seemed to blow from the far end of the deck, and then a woman came running as if flying.

Her robe and cool sky-blue hair billowed in the wind. Moving as if one with the wind, she landed lightly in front of me.

“Hi!”

Was she imitating the movements of the elves?

The mana flowing from her body created wind, making her look as if she was riding the wind like the elves. Of course, she was human.

Judging by the blue color of her robe, she was a wizard belonging to the Blue Tower. I waved lightly at the woman.

“Hello.”

“You’re Evening Star… right?”

Only wizards would be able to say such an embarrassing nickname to someone’s face without a second thought. I nodded slightly.

“I knew it! You’re different from when I saw you from afar. Ah, I meant you’re cuter.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Do you have company?”

“No.”

“Oh, really? Then, would you like to hang out with me? I’m alone too.”

I briefly considered the woman’s offer. It was a new encounter that came like the wind.

She didn’t seem to have any bad intentions, so it wouldn’t be bad to spend time together while traveling on the airship.

I got off Nightmare’s back and held out my hand to the woman.

“I’m Seris, from the Evening Tower.”

“I’m Wendy. As you can see, I’m from the Blue Tower!”

It was a smile as refreshing as the wind.

Wendy and I walked around the deck, having various conversations.

Most of the conversations started from her questions, though.

In the middle of it, I began to feel a huge surge of mana beneath my feet.

Wendy, who was walking with me, also seemed to sense the phenomenon and looked around.

“Looks like we’re about to depart.”

“This airship?”

“Yeah.”

The moment Wendy finished speaking, the sails, which had seemed like decorations, unfurled, and the airship began to move.

A tremendous amount of mana began to push the airship forward.

“Wow…”

Nightmare and I approached the railing of the deck.

The large airship was cutting through the pure white clouds, heading towards the blue sky.

It felt like crossing a sea made of clouds. I could feel the cool breeze and see the blue sea and small landmasses spread out beneath the clouds.

Neigh-

Nightmare, also excited by the unfamiliar sight, wagged its tail wildly. The tail, swung like a whip, created a small breeze.

“How is it? Amazing, right?”

“Wendy, you seem to have a lot of experience riding airships.”

“Yeah, it’s the best place to feel the wind.”

Wendy smiled slightly and spread her arms wide. Her blue robe rippled in the cool breeze.

From the airship, you could see everything on the ground. The Karma Empire and the Green Pole of the Wilds, as well as the Magic Tower and the Abel Kingdom, where my hometown was located, and the continent called Monster Island.

The land, dyed black and isolated, was clearly the world of the dead called Grimshade Kingdom.

The airship passed through all of that and flew into the sky where the blue sea stretched out.

The sea, which seemed to stretch out endlessly, was connected to the blue sky, making it impossible to distinguish between the sky and the ground.

Just as pure white clouds floated in the blue sky, a hazy cloud began to form over the sea.

The entire sea was covered in thick fog, and we had arrived at Blue Veil.

Soon, the secrets of a world I didn’t know would unfold. I swallowed dryly and hugged Nightmare’s neck.

Neigh-

The end of the sea and the fog covering it appeared.

Like the end of the world I had seen while adventuring, this place was also cut off as if disconnected by something.

Seawater flowed down through the severed path. Towards the blue sky, the end of which could not be seen.

“Wendy.”

“Yeah?”

“What’s under that sky?”

“Who knows…? No one knows.”

“Can’t we go down there using this airship?”

“We can go down, but there hasn’t been an airship that could come back up.”

“What happened?”

“If someone went down and came back, we could ask what happened… But no one has ever come back. So no one knows.”

At Wendy’s words, I looked at another sky unfolding under the sea. The airship indifferently passed by the sight.

The landmass that had been spread out under the sky was no longer visible.

The sea, which had been spread out like the sky, was also not visible.

Only the blue sky existed in all directions.

It felt as if I had been dropped into a blue space with nothing in it.

Nevertheless, the airship continued to move forward. Continuing towards the end of the sky.

“Shall we go inside soon?”

“I want to look around a little more.”

“You won’t see anything for quite a while? It’s better to go inside and unpack.”

“Ah.”

I nodded at Wendy’s words.

I had been so engrossed in the amazing sight that I had never seen before that I had been standing here for hours with my bag on.

As Wendy said, I headed inside.

There was no separate stable prepared on the airship. So I had to share a room with Nightmare.

I took out a fluffy blanket from the drawer and spread it on the floor.

I was preparing a place for Nightmare to sleep.

He gave me a look that said he wanted to sleep with me on my bed, but that was realistically impossible.

If Nightmare got on the bed, the bed would definitely be smashed to pieces. Nightmare was that heavy.

“You stay here.”

Neigh-

Nightmare lay down on the blanket I had spread out on the floor with a sulky expression.

My body felt much lighter after putting down the heavy luggage.

I hadn’t worn the full plate armor and had stuffed it all into my bag, so it felt quite heavy.

I lightly picked up only one sword and went outside.

Nightmare cried sadly from behind, but I couldn’t walk around the airship with such a large horse.

If it was a small dog, maybe.

There were still many wizards walking around on the deck. It seemed like they had come to feel the cool liberation and pleasant breeze coming from all directions.

Wendy was practicing magic alone.

She was simultaneously enveloping the wind she had summoned and the wind blowing from nature, and using it to attempt flight.

Although she swayed unsteadily, Wendy was able to successfully float in the air.

But she probably wasn’t using such magic just to float in the air.

I approached Wendy.

“Ah, you’re here. Was the room okay?”

Wendy landed on the ground as I approached and asked lightly. I nodded and asked her.

“You were imitating the movements of the elves, right?”

“Huh…? How did you know?”

“It just felt similar.”

“Hmm, you’re right. I wanted to recreate the magic of the elves that appeared in the stories…”

Wendy trailed off and summoned the wind again. She began to ride on the light wind she had created.

Mana was being released from her entire body.

Wendy was using that method to maintain her balance in the air. It would be a very difficult method.

There were too many moments to be careful of, and if she made even a slight mistake, her body would definitely start spinning in the air.

Mana emission using the entire body, not just a part of the body. It’s a very interesting method.

I started to summon the wind using mana, following Wendy’s example.

It started with a gentle breeze under my feet.

The moment I stepped onto the faint wind that had been created, a small wind spirit that had been circling around me wrapped around my body.

Whoosh-!

An unexpected storm erupted. The spirit, which had absorbed the wind created by magic, couldn’t control its power and spewed out a rough wind.

“E, eek!”

“Gasp…!”

Wendy and I were caught in the storm and soared onto the deck.

The vision was dizzyingly tangled in the spinning body.

Wendy and I, who had been blown away like that, fell onto the large sail spread out in the center of the ship.

“Whew…”

I stroked my surprised chest.

I almost got blown out of the airship with Wendy.

Wendy also seemed to know that fact and let out a trembling sigh with a pale expression.

“W, what was that just now…? The wind suddenly got stronger…”

Wendy mumbled and looked at me.

Since I was the only one next to her, it was clear that she was naturally suspecting me.

I smiled awkwardly and avoided Wendy’s gaze.

Wendy, who had come down from the sail, stopped practicing magic for fear of being blown away again.

The sun set and night came.

The moment the twinkling stars appeared in the pitch-black night sky, a new sea and a vast continent unfolded below the sky.