Water Magician

Chapter 26: Slow Life Crisis

Since the decisive battle with One Eye and the encounter with Ruwin … about 20 years had passed by Ryo’s experience.

And a crisis came knocking on Ryo’s slow life.

That day, Ryo was heading to the sea.

He wanted to procure salt and try grilled saltwater fish for the first time in a long time.

He hadn’t met the Kraken since that time he dived into the sea and was about to be killed by it.

Well, that said, he had only been to the sea a couple of times a year …

After all, the memory of almost dying several times in the sea might have unconsciously influenced Ryo.

Despite being a Water Attribute Magician, the sea was his weakness …

“No, the sea is not my weakness. The Kraken is my weakness! I’ve already eaten that shrimp!”

Yes, the shrimp that caused Ryo to faint the first time he dived into the sea. He had defeated it and ate it.

He also examined the structure of its one large arm closely.

The most surprising part was that despite emitting such powerful bubbles, it was not a monster but a normal shrimp.

He noticed that it was an enlarged version of the snapping shrimp found in the sea near Japan because it reminded him of a video he saw.

By engaging its overgrown claw, it would generate bubbles and the bursting of the bubbles would generate a shockwave.

It was a phenomenon called bubble burst or cavitation that would generate plasma and could reach extreme temperatures of 4400^oC.

The snapping shrimp in the sea near Japan grows to about 5c in length but it is capable of generating plasma at that size.

The three states of matter, solid, liquid, and gas … and the fourth state called plasma.

The power of nature is terrifying because it can generate that with just the shape of a claw.

By eating such a shrimp, that fear was overcome!

However … he was still a long way from overcoming the fear of the Kraken.

Now then, the sight that Ryo saw of the sea … was messy.

In contrast to the usual beautiful white sandy beach and the blue horizon beyond, there were things that weren’t natural and definitely manmade on the beach … and yes, it was strewn about …

It was as if a ship had wrecked and the debris had washed up on the shore.

And people were lying among the wreckage.

Three people?

It was the first time in 20 years (Ryo’s body clock) since transporting from Earth to『Phi』that he met humans.

Ryo carefully approached and placed his hand on the nape of the neck to check for a pulse.

Two of them had already passed away.

The remaining one, in his mid-20s, had dull red hair, a solid physique, and held a sword in his left hand that gave a sense of presence.

It was clear that he was a man who lived by the sword.

“Leaving him here would probably be bad for my mental health.”

Ryo had terrible thoughts.

“<Wagon>”

A cart made of ice with a total length of about 2 meters was created.

It could be called a self-propelled wagon as it could follow just simple movements behind Ryo.

Originally, it was conceived because he used to generate an Ice Bahn and slide his luggage over it but it became troublesome and would be too difficult to carry if he hunted too much prey in one go.

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He actually wanted to make something like a golem that could walk on two legs. It would be able to move on any rough terrain.

But he couldn’t get a golem to work after many tries and even now after 20 years, it still did not work.

For the time being, because he travels multiple times a year to and from this beach, he had built a cobblestone road. With that foundation laid, the <Wagon> could move sufficiently well.

He loaded the still-living man who appeared to be a swordsman and the items around him onto the wagon.

“Salt … I guess I can come back later for it.”

However, Ryo noticed it when he was loading him.

There was a fairly deep cut on the swordsman’s left arm and blood was gushing out.

“Crimson blood … seems that his artery was cut. At this rate, he’ll die of blood loss … yeah.”

He looked around for something that could be used.

The basics of stopping blood flow was by compression.

Just pressing down on the bleeding point with a cloth or something is effective but … the items that drifted onto the beach were dirty and he worried about infectious diseases.

But other than that … there was no cloth or thread around.

“There’s no helping it.”

Ryo muttered as he pressed down onto the sleeve of the swordsman’s clothes that was above the cut and started compression.

“60% of an adult’s body is made of water. Two-thirds of it is in cells and the remaining one-third is interstitial fluid and blood. That means that I, a Water Attribute Magician, can manipulate human blood too …”

Ryo imagined it.

Within the swordsman’s arm in front of him.

He felt that he could see the inside of the swordsman’s arm through his hand … probably he saw it through the water in both their bodies …

At the very least, he was able to form an image.

He tried concentrating on the blood vessels.

“Found the source of bleeding!”

Around the ruptured blood vessel, he coated the outside with a film of water. When doing so, he took special care to … carefully … not crush the blood vessels.

“I did it!”

In Ryo’s image, the bleeding from the blood vessel stopped but the only way to see if it had actually stopped bleeding was to remove the hand that was applying pressure.

He slowly released his hand and watched.

Blood … did not ooze out!

“Phew. I somehow did it.”

Then, Ryo slowly returned home with the wagon containing the swordsman.

Abel woke up.

He looked around.

“I was saved …?”

His limbs were free. He wasn’t even chained.

The pendant that he always had on him was still there.

His trusty sword and leather armor were leaning right next to his bed.

His arms and legs could move without problem.

Clothes … he still had his pants on but he wasn’t wearing his shirt.

There was a deep wound on his left arm but it wasn’t bleeding.

His condition was generally good.

He didn’t seem to have been enslaved to anyone.

Abel got out of bed, stood up, and put on his sword on his waist.

“A private house … but it’s too big for one. Is it the village mayor’s house?”

He passed through the living room, opened the door, and went outside.

The sun was shining brightly and there was a large garden.

“It’s not … a village? Where am I?”

“Ah, you’re awake. I’m glad I helped you.”

Abel turned around in shock. He didn’t sense any presence.

But he was more surprised by the appearance of the man who called out to him.

He was one head shorter than Abel. In his late teens, with black hair, and dark skin probably tanned by the sun.

But above all, the only things he had on were sandals and a loincloth … and that was made by some tanned leather. He wasn’t wearing anything that could be called 『clothes』.

(Even slum kids would wear something a little more decent … no, that’s not the first thing I should say.)

“I am Abel. I believe you saved me. You have my thanks.”

Abel said and bowed.

“Ah, don’t mention it. I just carried you home after I found you washed up from the sea. But I was only able to help Abel-san, the other people had, unfortunately …”

“Ah, the others were washed up too? Don’t worry, they were smugglers.”

“Smugglers?”

Ryo, who couldn’t grasp the situation well, tilted his head.

(If they were smugglers … then Abel-san who was washed up along with them is … what? A smuggler too? No, if he was a smuggler, he wouldn’t bother mentioning it. He talks with a blunt tone but he doesn’t look like a bad person. A blunt tone … oh, I can understand his language. I don’t think it is Japanese but I can understand it for some reason … I don’t know why but as expected of Michael (pseudonym), a capable man.)

“For now, have some food. Abel-san’s clothes are being dried here. I believe it is already dry. Oh, right, my name is Ryo. A pleasure to meet you.”

His lifesaver named Ryo was strange in many ways.

First, food. There was no bread.

But he had 『rice』.

It was a grain produced only in the southern part of the central countries and Abel had eaten it before.

It was combined with various spices … how could he put it, he recalled that such combinations were usually exquisite.

The spiced roast meat that Ryo gave him was surprisingly delicious.

The combination of firmed rice clumps 『onigiri』 and roast meat felt even more delicious than the combination of bread and meat.

The clothes that Ryo wore, or rather his loincloth, was made of tanned boar skin.

He apparently tanned it personally.

There certainly were traces of hardship.

But what surprised him the most was that he had no other clothes.

“You have no other clothes …?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t get my hands on cloth or thread so I couldn’t make any.”

“No no, even if you can’t make it, you can always buy …”

Abel regretted it after saying that.

Naturally, he couldn’t buy what he needed because he didn’t have money.

Those were words of insult toward his lifesaver.

“Putting aside a town, not a single person lives around here.”

The answer was beyond Abel’s imagination.

Upon further asking, he found out that this place was called 『Rondo Forest』 and that no one else lived around this area.

“Rondo Forest? Sorry, but I have never heard of this place. When I was on the boat, I heard them saying that they were being swept south …”

“Ah, that’s right. In the first place, what happened on the ship that Abel-san was on?”

Abel talked briefly about what happened on the ship.

It departed from port earlier than planned. Because of that, Abel couldn’t get off.

They encountered a storm when out at sea and the mast and rudder were destroyed and at that point, they had been swept considerably south.

And unfortunately, two days later, they were struck by another storm and were swept even further south.

And in the end, the ship was destroyed by the Kraken.

“Kraken!”

Chills ran through Ryo’s body.

“I’m surprised you survived …”

“Well, I guess I was lucky. After all, the others died, right?”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Abel also wondered about Ryo’s weapons.

He had two knives on his left and right waist.

Even if he was armed with a knife, he had too little armor.

Just a loincloth was …

He knew that knife users or scouts prefer lighter equipment but that was too light.

He said that there were no cities around and no one lived here.

But the exquisite roast meat was a slice of rabbit-type meat.

Ryo probably hunted it.

In other words, he should be able to fight quite well. Otherwise, he would not be able to live in a land where there is a Kraken offshore.

“The roast meat just now was excellent. Did Ryo hunt that?”

He was curious but he hesitated from asking directly.

He decided to ask in a roundabout manner.

“Yes. I often hunt them in the forest to the east from here. It is the thigh meat of the Lesser Rabbit.”

“Um … is Ryo a knife user? I think it is quite difficult to hunt a Lesser Rabbit with a knife.”

Abel was not really good at asking in a roundabout manner. In the end, he just asked directly …

“Ah, I am a Water Attribute Magician. This knife can be said to be for self-defense or dismantling …”

Ryo answered a little shyly.

Magic users make up about 20% of the entire 『Phi』 population.

The remaining 80% can’t use magic.

Ryo, who remembered what Michael (pseudonym) said, felt bashful.

He expected reactions such as ‘Oh, you can use magic, amazing.’ or ‘So you are a chosen one.’ or ‘I yearn for that ability’.

But …

“Magic huh? Only half of the people can use it even in the central countries. Incidentally, I can’t use it.”

“Half …”

(Michael … you said 20%! This is different!)

Ryo was depressed and displayed a ‘What a shock!’ expression from graphic novels.

“Hn? Ryo, what’s wrong?”

“N-no, it’s nothing …”