CHAPTER 76: CHAPTER 76

The voyage to Cal Mira went relatively smoothly, aside from a brief storm at night. I spent the time in peace — Sadeena practically never left the room, chatting with Raphtalia day and night. Poor Naofumi, cursed with a sense of tact, had to spend most of his time outside the cabin assigned to him.

I even kept him company a bit the next day until we reached the shore. From time to time, sea creatures seemed to decide it was absolutely necessary to leap out of the water and attack the ship’s crew. Most of the time, Filo would swiftly disable and dispatch the deranged fish, but when I was on deck, Night sometimes lent her a hand. And now and then, as practice, Mia would cut down the fish that sprang from the sea.

Thanks to these "guests," I managed to acquire a handful of sea-themed skills: Swimming, Underwater Breathing, Fighting on Deck, Naval Battle, and a few others. I even managed to level some of them up right away.

Atla, surprisingly, didn’t cause too much trouble either. From what I gathered in the short time I’d been around her, the farther she was from me, the more pushy and determined she became to close that distance. But since I didn’t stop her from staying nearby — in fact, I let her do pretty much whatever she wanted — the only mild irritation was her brother. Even their squabbles I’d stopped taking seriously; they felt more like everyday comedy skits than anything else.

"Ugh... is this hell finally over..."

"Land..."

The moment we docked, the trio of Heroes practically dove to kiss the ground. Ah, right — I’d hardly seen them since we’d set sail. Looked like seasickness had knocked them flat. I wondered if Raphtalia still suffered from it too, or if she’d gotten used to it by now.

"Yeah, looks like they got tossed around pretty badly. But you, Nott, holding up fine? Same with the Shield kiddo," L’Arc said. He and Therese looked completely unaffected, as if the storm had never happened.

"Yeah."

"Don’t call me that," Naofumi muttered, though it seemed he’d finally given up trying to get L’Arc to stop calling him "kiddo."

"Oh, come on. You’re younger than me, you’re a guy, and you’ve got a shield. What’s wrong with that?" L’Arc asked, his face a picture of innocence.

"Ohh..." With a suffering groan, Naofumi pressed a hand to his forehead and said nothing more.

"By the way, what are you planning to do on the island?"

While I watched the Heroes sprawled out on the ground with mild curiosity, L’Arc came closer, casually tossing out his question.

"Leveling up, of course," Naofumi answered first, while I was still mulling things over.

If I thought about it... I didn’t exactly need to grind levels. The Cal Mira Archipelago wasn’t unique or irreplaceable. And level-wise, I was already far ahead of the other Heroes. Sure, I wasn’t certain I was ready to take on a certain ancient turtle and the spiteful wielder of a Vassal Weapon from another world just yet... but my chances weren’t bad. Especially since, unlike the canon Naofumi, I had knowledge of every detail of the events to come.

So...

"I plan to relax," I said with a grin, admiring the staggering Heroes.

"Huh?"

"I’m level ninety-five, Naofumi." Turning halfway toward him, I shared my smile — and this time, he didn’t even flinch. "Did you know Cal Mira’s also famous as a resort island? There are plenty of places to unwind — but that’s not the point!" Spinning fully around, I put on a face of eager anticipation.

"Oh no..."

"What?"

L’Arc, of course, had no idea what I was talking about. But Naofumi’s face screamed such a clear, doomed expression of ’Not this again’ that I just couldn’t stop myself.

"O-o-oh, my pure-hearted friend, this land holds something that no self-respecting isekai story can go without!"

"Ise...kai? Wait, hold on — who are you calling pure-hearted?!"

"Hot springs, my friend! An onsen!" Of course, I had no intention of listening to him.

"Hot springs? And what do they have to do with anything?" Naofumi asked blankly. But L’Arc...

"Ooh. Forgive me, L’Arcberg, I’ve underestimated you greatly." In an instant, my expression hardened to pure seriousness — only to meet the same grave look mirrored back at me in L’Arc’s eyes.

"Don’t worry, Nott. I may have called you kiddo before, but now I see what you’re truly made of."

"So then..."

"So then..."

"Let’s do it!" we shouted in unison, sealing the pact with a brotherly slap of our palms.

"I feel like I’m witnessing something completely stupid and absurd..."

"So, brother, you’re really not planning to grind levels at all? Sure, you can enjoy a resort anytime, but the Activation event only comes once every ten years."

"Brother?" Poor Naofumi — it was painful just watching him.

"Of course not. I might not gain much myself, but my companions can’t afford to pass up such an opportunity."

"To spend time with Nott-sama... ah, I think I’m starting to understand what happiness really is." I probably didn’t need to clarify whose line that was anymore.

"Oho-ho, could it be that Nott-chan plans to stop exploiting his poor older sister? You’re planning to handle the leveling of your hare— oh, I mean, your party, yourself?"

Perverted orca... she wasn’t even pretending that slip was accidental.

"I did promise you I wouldn’t leave you alone with a certain siscon again."

"Hey!"

"Ooh... I can hardly wait."

Only, from the way she said it, it was obvious everyone’s thoughts went far from leveling... Yeah.

"Then it’s settled. We’re setting out. I declare the filler arc officially open!"

...

On the main island, we were met by — who would’ve thought — an actual guide. But let’s not rush. Strictly speaking, it was more accurate to call this place the Cal Mira Archipelago, since it wasn’t one big island but a cluster of islands of various sizes.

The Activation event itself was a period during which monsters started developing at an abnormally fast rate, forcing the residents to call for help from Melromarc’s mainland. But for the mainlanders, this was nothing but a blessing. There were plenty of monsters, which meant plenty of materials, and on top of that, they gave far more experience than their land-based relatives.

The local lord, Count Habenburg — whose name, for some reason, made me think of dark, heavy ale — briefly told us the history of the archipelago. The locals believed the first settlers of the islands were four strange beasts known as Pekkul, Usauni, Risuka, and Inult. From what I understood, those names came from the fact that when Heroes of past generations arrived on these islands, they named the monsters after animals from their own worlds — penguin, rabbit, squirrel, and dog.

Odd, but it never really mattered to me before.

These beasts were carved together into a totem pole, all four depicted side by side. But what caught my attention wasn’t the pole itself — it was the plaque set directly beneath it.

"This, honorable Heroes, is a message left by the Heroes of the past. There’s a legend that they left it for the Heroes of future generations."

"Nonsense. I can’t read a word of it," Itsuki spoke up first, quickly seconded by Motoyasu and Ren. But as for me and Naofumi...

"That’s clever."

"Hm?" Naofumi, studying the text intently, lifted his eyes toward me.

"The inscription follows the rules of this world’s language, and it’s written with its characters, but only Heroes can actually read it. Anyone else, even if they could make sense of the symbols, wouldn’t gain anything from it."

"What’s that supposed to mean? You’re saying you can read it?" Motoyasu puffed himself up.

"Yeah. And so can our Shield Guy, apparently."

"Right. They’re magic scripts. I studied magic from texts like these."

Same for me. Magic in this world is learned either through ready-made templates stored in special artifact crystals — which let you instantly learn the spell they contain — or through the long and grueling process of mastering the raw magical script yourself.

But the scripts are designed in such a way that, for example, someone attuned to Fire magic would never be able to understand symbols written for Water, Air, Ice, and so on. Or, even if they could understand them, they’d still never be able to master them.

"Hah. Come on, just admit it — what skill did you use to learn how to read it?"

For a second, I really wanted to smash Itsuki right in his smug face, but I held myself back. Not yet. Not the right time...

Ignoring the idiots, I crouched down beside Naofumi to study the plaque. It didn’t take long. But what it turned out to be in the end...

[Attempted external interference

Forced evolution of skill initiated

Denied.

Segmentation of skill Life Absorption

Skill acquired: Svelgnir]

A string of such messages scrolled through my mind, and yet any attempts to summon an explanation for the new skill brought nothing.

Though the fact that I’d gained a skill at all was just as shocking. As far as I knew, that plaque really had been left by the Heroes of the past — the Legendary Heroes. And the information carved into it was meant only for the Four Legendary Heroes native to this world. Which meant that, technically, I shouldn’t have gotten anything from it whatsoever. And yet... I did.

So then, did that mean the plaque wasn’t left by the Heroes after all? And what was written there wasn’t an actual ready-made spell or skill, but more like... a trigger? Something that stirred the Hero’s inner power, forcing it to boil up and manifest as something new, something dormant until then as potential?

I had no idea. But it was damn interesting.

"You get something?" Naofumi asked me in the meantime.

"You could say that. I just haven’t quite figured out what yet."

"I see. I learned a new spell — Zweit Aura."

While I was lost deep in my own thoughts, he even had the time to test the spell on Filo. Another strange thing — why specifically Zweit-level? Somehow I doubted the past Heroes would’ve bothered carving something unfinished into the plaque. Something not fully developed. Not even reaching Dritt level. Which only reinforced my theory about it being a matter of awakening potential. Right now, Naofumi might simply be incapable of grasping anything beyond Zweit level.

"Damn it. How unfair, keeping everything for yourselves," Itsuki sneered, looking at us with the sulky face of a child who’d been denied candy.

But I no longer cared about him. From the moment I read that plaque all the way until we arrived at the inn — where rooms had already been prepared for us — my mind was consumed by theories. Theories about the new Skill, and about the plaque itself.

I’d always preferred not to dwell on it too much, but... there had to be someone behind all this, right? Some higher entities who created this world’s system? Someone pulling the strings behind the Waves? Players standing on opposite sides of a chessboard — attackers and defenders.

Maybe it was about time I started taking all this more seriously...

Then again, no. First came hot springs, drinks, a beach episode, meeting the lovely Glass — and then the gods and global crises.

The most important thing was knowing how to set your priorities straight.