novelInterworldly Exchange
| ← Ch.341 | Ch.343 → |
Naofumi: "Now then, I've got things I have to do too."
We want to make the battles of the wave as short as we can.
Because of Tact, the time between Waves has decreased, and I don't know how to reset it.
... No one knows just how many waves we'll have to survive before an end is in sight.
For the next few days, we all put our best efforts towards raising our levels and preparing for the wave with our parties.
Because we are able to utilize all the enhancement methods, despite the fact that all the hunting grounds had a huge level spike, we reach a state where could manage somehow.
Well, the problem is... the civilians.
After exiting the castle, even the mob Balloons are over Level 40... My peddling has also become quite a trial.
Normal people won't just get away with a few injuries. Even veteran adventurers are struggling.
Our saving grace is that the amount of EXP received upon their defeat is massive.
And so, a long line forms outside the Dragon Hourglass every day.
At night, I receive a report at the castle and find myself overcome with emotion.
Naofumi: "Balloons... how nostalgic."
Trash: "Iwatani-dono... I humbly apologize for my actions at that time."
Naofumi: "I have no intentions of forgiving you, but don't mind it for now. So even the Balloons are Level 40... how troublesome. That place is swarming with Balloons."
Trash: "What?"
Trash tilts his head to one side.
What's with that? It's as if I said something strange.
I mean, aren't they plentiful around here?
I have a feeling it was quite a while ago, but I spent a whole two weeks out there.
There's no way I'm wrong.
Trash: "Even now, the Balloons that populate the Castle Town's Plains are reported to be quite low in numbers."
Naofumi: "What are you talking about? I set those plains as my base and camped out every night. Whenever I woke up in the morning, my entire body was covered with Balloons biting at me."
Trash: "That's strange..."
Trash inclines his head once more.
Did I really say something that strange?
I thought their encounter rate would just be high around the starting town, but perhaps I was thinking of this as a Net Game.
Firo: "What's wrong~?"
Firo barges into the conversation.
Naofumi: "No, well, I've just been told that the plains surrounding the city don't contain very many Balloons."
Firo: "Yeah, there aren't too many. So?"
... Yes?
Even Firo concurs with Trash.
Firo: "Now that I think about it, whenever I'm with master, I see a lot more monsters."
Naofumi: "... Is that true?"
I turn my eyes to Raphtalia.
I mean, she did spend a long time training in the mountains, so she should be knowledgeable about it.
Raphtalia: "Yes. We encounter them quite frequently when we're around Naofumi-sama. Now that I think about it, it's actually quite rare to encounter that many monsters on the highways."
What is this?
I have an exceedingly bad premonition.
Naofumi: "But didn't Firo encounter loads of monsters when she went to level up the villagers?"
Firo: "Firo goes to places where a lot of them live. But, I think I would be able to find more if Master was there."
Well, she does run through the mountains, and she does go through their natural habitats... Was encountering so many monsters while peddling due to my own bad luck?
No, my sales and threats turned out to be quite effective at that time.
Raphtalia: "How about we go and test it out?"
Naofumi: "I don't really want to..."
Stuff like that should be fate and luck. It must be a coincidence.
Is what I keep telling myself.
If the entire world doesn't begin raising its average level, even living will soon become difficult.
The reason monsters don't appear on the highway is because Humans are just that troublesome of an existence to them.
But now, even those roads experience frequent attacks.
That's the current state of affairs, apparently.
We suppressed Zeltburg's wave, and overcame another one from yet another country.
By the way, we've been able to handle these waves without too much of a problem.
I was a tad bit disappointed.
It's true that the monsters have become visibly stronger, but with all the Heroes working together, it was surprisingly easy to bring them to an end.
Nothing special to speak of... it was easier than the first wave we faced.
It's as if it's become just another job.
I was waiting for whoever was naming themselves as God to do some form of divine intervention, but nothing happened.
Glass went back to her side once and returned yesterday to give a report.
As the Heroes on that side cannot muster enough power to fight, their situation is taking a turn for the worst.
Because we're quickly dealing with it over here, the casualties from the wave are... well, they're few in number, but there's still a substantial amount of damage being caused.
Glass's world's vassals are being pressured into strenuous battles.
They were lamenting that it would all come to an end soon.
The fact that the war with Faubley was completely over and the fact that Faubley had declared its defeat are ringing around the world.
The end result is that Melromark became recognized as the world's greatest Superpower.
The true identity of the wave seems to have become known throughout our neighboring countries.
There was also an investigation conducted to see just how much assimilation had come about as a result of the wave worldwide.
Apparently, around half of Melromark's land had been assimilated.
The races of Glass's world seem to be... accepting the situation.
Because of the differences in language and writing, there's still some disorder, but as the Heroes are standing beside them, we're facilitating them in deepening their understanding with one another.
For that, today we ended up in a meeting with the representative of Glass's vanishing world.
Naofumi: "Hey, Glass."
Glass: "What is it?"
Naofumi: "What sort of races does your world have?"
Glass: "Meaning?"
Naofumi: "Well... are there Humans like me, and is there anything different between them and the people of this world?"
Honestly, I'm thinking Glass is of a different race than the people of this world.
In truth, her body occasionally becomes somewhat transparent, so I don't think she's quite human.
If I were to give it a name, I guess it would be 'half-spirit. '
There may be some ancient legend about a country where humans and ghosts lived alongside one another or something like that.
Glass: "Now that I think about it, I never spoke about it, did I? Yes. My world also contains Humans. And I am a Spirit... A race called the Soul People."
Naofumi: "Spirit?"
Glass: "Yes, unlike humans, we can get stronger through Status Magic."
Naofumi: "I'll ask for argument's sake, but what do you mean?"
Glass: "First, to put it simply... the Vitality, Magic, and Spirit Power that exist in humans exist in us as one Stat. We also don't have levels."
Spirit Power?
I don't really get it, but it may be a term for EP and SP.
Naofumi: "No Level? Then how do you get stronger?"
Glass: "Soul People measure their strength in something called Energy. That constitutes our Vitality, Magic, Spirit, and Level."
Naofumi: "... Then when you use magic, you use up just as much Stamina and Vitality as you do MP... You mean?"
Glass: "Something like that. It also influences our Attack and Defense. If there's too little energy, we will get weaker."
I see.
That's why when we first fought her, we were able to defeat her after she had dealt with the other Heroes.
Or else, there would be no way we would be able to beat the enemy who made a fool out of Ren.
Naofumi: "By defeating monsters, does something change?"
Glass: "When we defeat monsters, the Energy of the Land stored inside them... in Human terms, I guess it would be EXP, is absorbed into us as Energy. Well, if we use too much, we can go into negative Energy point values."
Naofumi: "That sounds like quite a troublesome race."
Glass: "It's not too bad. It automatically recovers itself every minute, you know."
Naofumi: "Then with time, does your 'Level' rise as well?"
Glass: "For that, I would have to increase the maximum capacity. The amount gained when defeating a monster is able to exceed the maximum capacity I can reach by automatic recovery."
Naofumi: "Fumu, what happens if you use recovery magic?"
If Energy is what's being restored, then the Shield sounds useful for a race like that.
We could gather healers from around the globe and supercharge people of Glass's race.
Glass: "Human Magic cannot heal us. Though, we can receive energy from others of our Clan."
Naofumi: "I see... Then..."
Well, it doesn't look like it'll work out that well.
I take out Spirit Water from the Shield and toss it at Glass.
Naofumi: "This water restores something called SP in this world. What happens when you drink it?"
Glass: "I wonder. Let's test it."
Glass begins drinking down the liquid.
Glass: "... My energy increased by quite a high amount. This is quite a convenient drink."
Naofumi: "I see."
Mass producing Spirit Water is difficult, but it seems that it can strengthen Glass.
I'll have all the Heroes start making some later.
Glass: "In exchange, this is a gem from my world. Please accept it."
This time, Glass takes out a red crystal and hands it to me.
Naofumi: "What is this?"
Glass: "It's called a Crystal of the Earth in my world. It's known to recover Magic. Try gripping it tightly."
As I was told, I squeeze the gem in my hand.
'You have accessed the Dragon Pulse! You have gained 3000 EXP!'
A window like the one that appears after defeating a monster floats before me.
3000... I guess it's not a number to be laughed at.
Naofumi: "I got a bit of EXP."
Glass: "It seems that different tools have different purposes across worlds. To put it bluntly, that drink from before was truly splendid."
Naofumi: "If I can get EXP just by gripping a Gem, then I'm fine with trading."
... It isn't foreign exchange, but through otherworldly exchange, we can get some items we both want. It may be necessary to overcome the wave.
In this world, it was a simple SP recovery item, but in Glass's World, it lets her acquire Energy.
In Glass's World, it was just a magic recovery item, but here, it can give you EXP.
I'll have to have the Old Man analyze it, but I feel that a wide range of possibilities sleep within these gems.
Naofumi: "Okay, I understand what Spirits are. Are Spirits and Humans all that inhabit your world?"
Glass: "No, there are also the People of Crystal, a race of people with gems at their cores called the Jewels."
Naofumi: "What sort of race is that?"
I've played some games with similar races in them.
They had a setting where they were targeted and hunted by people for the rare gems that made them.
From what Glass's saying, they have equal citizenship, but I wonder.
Glass: "If I had to say... certain gems that collected power gained their own will and wished to be human. As they're a bit hard to label as Human, they received some discrimination in the past."
Naofumi: "Hmm... Spirits too?"
Glass: "Yes... in the past, Humans labelled Spirits as Ghosts lingering in the world. There were times when people called to purge them."
Naofumi: "And you're not?"
I feel that Spirits and Ghosts are quite the same.
Souls and Crystals, they have quite a spiritual feel surrounding them.
Glass: "Spirits are not left by Human souls. We may have similar natures, but we are fundamentally different."
Naofumi: "I see."
Glass: "Returning to topic, Jewels eat gems, and based on the minerals they eat, they can change the abilities they possess. Their status magic is the same as Humans, though."
Naofumi: "I see... Hmm? How do they reproduce? I don't know their body structure, but..."
Glass: "They can spontaneously generate from nature, but they can propagate just like humans, you know?"
Stones multiply... I can't imagine that at all.
Glass: "There are some coming in the meeting, so confirm it for yourself."
Naofumi: "I got it. Spirits and Jewels."
Glass: "Also, there's some of the race that also exist in this world, Demi-Humans, though they're quite scarce."
Naofumi: "Fumu."
By the way, the Demi-Humans Glass was talking about were Elves and Dwarfs.
Since the ones I know of all have fluffy animal ears, it's rare to see a human subspecies.
Would the past me have been overly excited over this?
| ← Ch. 341 | Ch. 343 → |