In this era, the skies did not belong to humanity.
They belonged to demons.
For demons, flying was as natural as eating or drinking.
It was practically instinctive.
Humans, however, had no flying magic.
Airships and hot-air balloons didn’t exist in this world either.
As a result, demons held complete control over the skies, while humanity was forced to travel across the ground.
Yakumo had already seen many demons flying overhead during his journey.
Most were above Level 50.
They weren’t opponents that a Level 31 little Cleric like him could handle.
Worse still, demons often traveled in groups of around three.
That made them even more dangerous.
Because of that, Yakumo usually flew close to the ground to increase his travel speed.
Whenever he passed through another village, he would check whether there were any commissions available.
Monster-hunting quests generally rewarded significantly more system experience.
[Yakumo: The advantage demons have over humans is ridiculous. And I’m already traveling south!]
[Shu: At times like these, you must be especially careful not to become impatient. The fact that you can see their… what did you call it? Their levels? That means the gap between you and them is already measurable.]
[Furina: Exactly! You said you can learn other kinds of magic too, right? And lots of things can become skills for you. That means your potential is much greater than theirs!]
[Eriri: …Both of you are comforting him, so now I don’t even know whether I should say anything… Fine. Since your side looks so dangerous, I’ll graciously spare you this once. It’s only because you look pathetic! It’s definitely not because I’m softhearted!]
Yes, yes…
Tsundere.
As his level increased, Yakumo also unlocked a game-streaming function.
Its equivalent in the chat group was naturally group livestreaming.
The function wasn’t exclusive to Yakumo, either.
Everyone in the group could stream.
Once it became available, each member excitedly took turns starting broadcasts.
That finally confirmed beyond all doubt that none of them were secretly people from the same world pretending otherwise.
Shu’s world was especially shocking.
The sight of mobile cities practically blew the minds of the other two members.
[Yakumo: I’m not discouraged. I just have no idea where I’m supposed to go next. I still haven’t figured out what world I transmigrated into, let alone what my objective is supposed to be.]
[Yakumo: At this rate, maybe I’ll just randomly join some Hero party and head north to fight the Demon King…]
[Eriri: It’s really that difficult to identify the world?!]
[Yakumo: Here’s an example. Suppose I transmigrated into your world, Eriri, but I appeared somewhere in China. Unless I traveled to Japan, happened to visit your city, and saw Toyogasaki Academy, there’d be no way for me to confirm it was your world.] Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
[Yakumo: That’s different from Fufu and Sister Shu’s worlds. Games usually establish a large-scale setting. Isekai-style games especially tend to give their continent or world a distinctive name, which makes identification much easier.]
[Furina: That’s true. Teyvat on my side and Terra on Miss Shu’s side both have very distinctive names.]
[Yakumo: Exactly. And my world is dangerous enough already. Since I still don’t know whether the group can safely send you back afterward, I don’t dare invite any of you over to visit yet. For now, I’ll just have to take things one step at a time.]
Yakumo landed on the ground.
He’d already spent the entire morning traveling, and he was getting hungry.
He decided to find somewhere to cook lunch.
During his journey, he’d also been looking for magic that Eriri and the others might be able to learn.
Unfortunately, he still hadn’t found anything.
Magic was something far beyond the reach of ordinary people.
If someone wanted to study magic, they had to travel to a major city.
That had become Yakumo’s short-term goal as well.
Besides searching for magic, he had purchased cookware and stored it inside his inventory for use during meals.
Shu had supplied him with plenty of rice.
Perhaps the rock-hard bread Yakumo had sent her that first time had left Shu convinced that he was constantly on the verge of starvation.
Every so often, she would ask whether he still had enough rice and vegetables.
If he didn’t, she sent him more.
In return, she had also obtained the complete story of her own future from Yakumo and learned what her younger brother Ji eventually intended to do.
The final result might have been good.
But as far as the process was concerned…
She still wanted to plant Ji in the ground and let him grow again for another year.
At first, Yakumo had privately sent Shu the information about her future.
Only after receiving her permission did he make it available to the rest of the group.
Likewise, he’d privately sent Eriri the Saekano light novels and anime.
Eriri had never made those public.
After finishing them, she’d cried in her room for an entire night.
Her mother, Sayuri Sawamura, had been so frightened that she thought something terrible had happened to Eriri.
She stayed with her and comforted her all night.
Yakumo washed the rice as usual and set it to steam.
Then he pulled the remaining meat and vegetables from his inventory.
After silently thanking Shu for her generosity, he began preparing today’s lunch.
[Yakumo: Anyone else planning to eat lunch? I can make some extra while I’m at it.]
A separate Life Skill tab had appeared for cooking.
MapleStory didn’t originally have anything like that.
Then again, this was a “private server.”
Nothing was particularly surprising anymore.
[Furina: Um… I-I’d like a serving…]
[Shu: Thank you, Little Yakumo, but I have already eaten. I am preparing to go check the fields again shortly.]
[Eriri: It’s already afternoon on my side and I’m in class. I’ll treat you to Western food next time.]
[Furina: Huh? Then maybe… maybe I’ll pass too.]
[Yakumo: One serving for Fufu. Give me a minute. It’ll be ready soon. You don’t need to be polite with me, Fufu. We’re group members, and we’re friends. Friends don’t need to be so reserved with each other.]
[Yakumo: Huh? Someone’s coming.]
Yakumo had only just finished cutting the vegetables when he noticed someone walking out of the forest.
“Oh? Now this is rather unexpected.”
The newcomer was a tall man with two thin mustaches above his lips.
He looked to be somewhere in his thirties.
The hair over his forehead hung past his eyes and had all been combed toward the right.
He wore a long cloak that almost reached his ankles.
Two swords appeared to be hidden beneath it.
Yakumo could see their hilts protruding from under the cloak.
“There was nothing like this in the future I saw. So an unexpected event is occurring here?”
“And you’re cooking in a place like this.”
“Should I call you courageous…”
“Or strong?”
The mustached man rubbed his chin thoughtfully before introducing himself.
“I am the Hero of the South. I came here looking for the great elven mage Frieren.”
“Do you happen to know where she is?”
“Who?”
Yakumo froze.
He could have sworn he’d just heard an extremely familiar name.
“Frieren… Have so few people heard of her these days?”
The Hero of the South tilted his head.
“Even though I’ve seen that you’ll eventually travel together with her.”
Yakumo immediately opened the system browser and frantically searched several keywords.
[Yakumo: I think I finally know which world I’m in.]