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At Mount Guren, Where the Beloved Child Plays - Episode 4
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Chloe: Oh, you’re right! There’s a little one over there trying to hide behind the boulders, but it left its tail sticking out.
Cain: Oh, hey… That’s some kind of field mouse that just darted across.
Akira: And over on that tree — look, there's a flock of pure white birds!
Murr: They’re thriving out here~! What’s more, every last one of them are creatures never before seen in any other country!
Mithra: Most of them are small and bony. Surely there are larger ones out there.
Rustica: Mithra, do you prefer large animals?
Mithra: Yes. We’re going to have a barbecue, no?
We’ll capture those creatures and add them to our menu. After all, the fresher the meat, the better it tastes.
Akira & Chloe: What, nooo!
Rustica: Fufu. Oh, Mithra. I see you’re hungry.
Cain: If that’s the case, then let’s get the show on the road and start up that barbecue!
We’ve brought all the necessary ingredients with us, but maybe if we did some scavenging around here, we could get ourselves some fruit and fish to eat. I’ll go do just that.
Murr: No time like the present! Let’s go explore!
Owen: I’m going to go look for someplace cooler. That heat that keeps sweeping through this area is making me melt
Mithra: But the heat is why we’re here. Kenja sama, you’re coming with me…
Snow: Well, let’s see…
From the sidelines, Oz and Snow looked at the group of wizards that were gradually becoming more excited at the prospect of exploring their new surroundings.
With Mithra still grabbing my hand, we both turned around to look at the two of them.
Akira: Oz, Snow, may I ask if anything’s amiss?
Snow: No, it’s just that the atmosphere here has completely changed.
We haven’t figured out all the finer details yet… But once upon a time, this place was the territory of one particular magical creature.
Murr: That must be the djalgr, an extremely rare and vicious species.
Murr leapt down from his tree and landed lightly on his feet. The squirrel-like critter from before was still sitting on his shoulder.
I repeated to myself the curious word he’d uttered while Murr looked up at the majestic faraway mountainside.
Akira: Djalgr……
Oz: It’s a prehistoric magical creature. It keeps a nest near the volcanic crater, but it will venture down the mountain to hunt.
It consumes any and all plants and animals that it comes across while it roams. It’s because of the djalgr that this land was once barren. It’s a fiend that poses a danger to the land itself.
Mithra: … By any chance, does this creature you speak of have large, swirled horns?
With a build so gigantic you have to look up to meet its eye, and it has jagged wings too……
Snow: If memory serves, it did look something like that, yes… Have you seen one before too?
Mithra: I have. In fact, I’ve fought one before.
Akira: You have?!
Mithra: I told you about it, didn’t I? It was that time when Tiletta brought me here for magic training or something.
She told me to go find some peachy magical creature and then defeat it.
Oz: What was ‘peachy’…
Akira: T-That doesn’t sound like a creature you should just walk up and pick fights with on a whim though…
Snow: Indeed. Well, that’s Tiletta for you though.
To begin with, the djalgr were rare and few in number. They cannibalised each other as well, so the entire species has long since gone extinct.
The state of the land itself is proof that the djalgr are gone. If those twisted creatures had continued to pervade this land, we would not be able to have this lovely scenery before us.
Murr: Aww, but I still wanna meet one!
But in the end, it’s undeniable that this land could only flourish and return to its natural balance because the djalgr went extinct.
No matter how devastated a land might be, surely someday that land will be able to flourish again.
Murr crouched down and brushed his fingertips against soft blades of grass.
The critter upon his shoulder hopped off from its perch and scampered away. Murr’s eyes - sharp, intellectual - trailed after the creature’s movements.
Murr: The djalgr may be no more, but this land still faces an onslaught from numerous volcanic eruptions.
So mighty a land, with such vigour, as it endures through death and rebirth with boundless energy. The untold stories of these life and death cycles alone are worthy of research!
Exploration is sure to pay off in spades~! And so! I must be on my way!
Oz: That man is like an animal too…
Snow: He’s just frolicking around. Let’s just leave him be for the time being.
Mithra: Kenja sama. We should get going too.
Suddenly, Mithra wrapped his arm around my waist.
Effortlessly, he lifted me up and tucked me under his arm.
Akira: (squawks) …… Where are we going?
Mithra: You, have you forgotten why we came here? We’re going to go be reborn.
As he calmly informed me of this, I was abruptly reminded of Mithra’s wild escapades in this land.
I immediately turned pale.
Akira: Don’t tell me, you’re… we’re… going to do that whole ‘get up close to the volcanic crater and then dive deep into the sea thing’ right now…?
Mithra: Oh, good. You do remember after all.
There’s smaller craters midway up the mountain. We’ll head to one of those to start things off for now.
Akira: I— That’s—!
That’s magma and the seas of the North. I’m sorry to say this, but that’s going to be way too much for a human like me to bear……
Oz: « voxnox »
Oz: I’ve cast protective magic onto you. It will protect you from harm. To some degree.
Akira: (Noooo—! It’s like he’s telling me to go on a rollercoaster, and it’ll be fine because there’s no way I’m going to get hurled off that ride…!)
[ Snow smiles. ]
Snow: Mithra, don’t overdo it, alright? Oh, and Kenja: don’t let go of Sacrificium.
Sacrificium: !
Mithra: « arsim »
[ Door sfx ]
Akira: AAAAAH~~~~!?
[ Akira screams as she’s yanked into Mithra’s door. ]
[ Meanwhile… ]
Chloe: Alrighty, let’s get the barbecue going!
We’ve got a real lavish array of ingredients here~!
Rustica: It’ll certainly be a treat to sink our teeth into. Oz sama, thank you very much for locating the perfect slab of lava stone for our purposes.
According to Murr, grilling meat on lava stone makes it all the more succulent.
Oz: It’s no trouble. I’ve heated it up with magic. Will this be sufficient?
Chloe: It’s perfect! It’s burning bright red! Let’s all be careful not to burn ourselves.
Okay, the meat’s already been cut, so that’s ready to go. While I wait for the others to come back, I’ll get the veggies sorted…
We’ll need time to ensure the potatoes are cooked all the way through, so Oz sama, Rustica, would you please help me with them?
Rustica: Gladly. I’ll roast them with passion.
Chloe: Thanks! Keep a close eye on ’em so they don’t get burnt, alright?
Rustica: But of course. Now, let’s put the grill mesh over the lava stone…
Oz sama, would you please put the potatoes onto the grill?
Oz: Understood.
Oz: ………
Rustica: Wonderful. The potato landed squarely in the middle of the mesh.
I wonder, did you perhaps alter the angle of our dear spud’s flight once you saw it in motion?
Oz: It was mere coincidence…
Rustica: Fufu. Oh, the smell of roasting potato skin is scrumptious.
Now, I shall add a sprinkling of salt to our potato. I shall do so from above, so that it may scatter and coat it wholly and evenly.
Chloe: Aww~! Those two look right at home at the grill!
Okay, I’m gonna work on the rest of these veggies!
I’ll peel this one, cut that one……
— Hey, is it just me, or does anyone else smell something burning?
Oz: The potato is burning.
Rustica: Ooh, it’s donned a jet-black jacket.
Chloe: No way?! Weren’t you two keeping an eye on the potato?
Oz: I have been watching it. The potato has been burning.
Rustica: I wonder if the temperature’s too high?
Chloe: Oh…… Come to think of it, cooking with a lava stone must be different from using a normal fire. Let’s be more careful with the second one. Here, let’s try again.
Rustica: What shall we do with the charred potato? It’s more or less charcoal at this point.
Oz: … We shall give it to Mithra.
[ Owen CG ]
Owen: Fufu… Do you want this? Do you?
Too bad, no can do. I’m not giving you any. It’s all mine.
Cain: Hey, that stuff’s what those animals here eat, right? Don’t go taking away all of their food… Hmm?
Did you hear that? It sounded like Akira’s wailing.
Owen: Didn’t Mithra haul her off somewhere? Well, as long as they’re together, she won’t die.
Look, over there, that’s them, partway up the mountainside. They’re mere specks though.
Cain: Oh, you’re right… All the smoke and ash has cast a veil around them, but I can see Akira’s putting up quite the fight.
Cain: HEEEEEEY! AKIRA~! MITHRA~!
Cain: Well, guess they can’t hear us from so far away. …… Urghh!?
Owen: Ahaha, you tripped.
You couldn’t even spot a pebble that size in your path? Have you even got anything in your eye sockets, or do you just have holes for eyes?
Cain: I couldn’t have seen it since I was looking elsewhere. If you can tell that I’m about to trip on something, I’d appreciate it if you gave me a heads up.
And, just now, you said that I have holes for eyes? Just so you realise, you’re talking about your own eyeball there.
Owen: Huh? What.
Cain: I mean, one of your eyeballs is sitting in my eye socket right now. Against my will, I might add.
Owen: It’s not like I always meddle with eyeballs. It’s your own fault for not seeing where you step.
Anyway, we’re supposed to go look for stuff to add to the barbecue, right? How about you get on with that?
Cain: Aren’t you foraging too?
Owen: All I need are marshmallows and pancakes.
Cain: I should think it’s best to add a little more meat and greens to your diet too… Huh? Something’s lurking in the rocks.
[ Cain CG ]
Cain: It’s a bear cub. There’s two of them and they’re grooming each other’s fur. They seem to be friends, how cute!
Owen: ………
Hey, Knight sama. Guess what, I found another cute thing too.
Cain: What is?
Owen: Look up.
Cain: ‘Up’…
[ Slither sfx ]
Cain: Aaarrrgh! SNAKE!
Owen: Ahaha. See? Isn’t it cute?
Murr: This black stone here is a variant of flame ore… Once polished, it’ll have a similar lustre to the coinage currently in circulation, but the colouration of the underside is far more complex.
So astonishing an ecosystem! Everywhere I look, the natural vegetation thrives untouched by civilization. Behold these ore deposits, their quality is unparallelled…
Ooh, there’s a butterfly wing sealed within this chunk of amber. I wonder if this butterfly is native to Northern Country?
Snow: Murr.
Murr: Hn? No, that’s not right. The structure of this wing resembles that of migrating species.
Could it be that there is a species of butterfly that migrates across entire mountain ranges? With the ecological data available, we can extrapolate further details about the volcanic eruption that occurred when this butterfly was alive.
Present publications state that Mount Guren last erupted around two to three hundred years ago. With my paleontological findings so far, it should be possible to provide a more exact estimate.
But what of the mechanism that causes the eruptions and the internal structure of the volcano? This requires further study…
Snow: Earth to Murr~! Do you not hear me?!
Murr: Hang on. I’m busy.
Snow: So you do hear me… It’s not a bad thing to be passionate about extracting samples, but how about we take a break?
You’ve been mumbling to yourself while crawling about all over the ground for ages now.
Murr: A break? But there’s a mountain of treasures as far as my eye can see! Everything here is a rare find, or even an impossible find!
All these things have stories to tell about how they came to be, whence and whyfor! This one right here, look, this is—
Snow: I know, I know. My goodness, it’s like you’ve reverted back to being a child, chattering around so excitedly that I can barely get a word in.
Snow: Anyway, I have come up with a good idea.
Listen now, Murr! I’d like to make use of your knowledge, so tell me what’s the best thing I could bring back to White chan as a souvenir!
Murr: Oookay!
This is what is colloquially known as a starhold crystal. It’s a type of clear quartz that, when you hold it up to the night sky, will display inclusions that glitter like stars.
Snow: Oho, I see.
Murr: And this round stone here has been described as the first rays of dawn over the country of frost. It boasts a pale colouration and can only be found in Northern Country.
Look, when you hold it up to the light, it shows off a beautiful gradient that’s just like the sky at daybreak!
Snow: Ooh, it does indeed. I think this is the one!
Looking at you today, you’re just a young man filled with unbridled curiosity. It’s much more adorable than how you are normally, and I say that as an expert in being adorable.
Murr: Meee-ow, I hear a compliment!
Murr: Heeey, Snow. Can I ask you a question too?
Snow: What is it?
Murr: Do you think White would be happy if I told him that his souvenir from Snow was picked out by me?
Snow: ………
Murr: Ah, on the value of things — normally an object’s value is determined by who its owners were and are, how it came to be, and also what the world thinks of it. That is how value is created and appraised, at a world standard.
But that is strictly a science, and when it comes to society at large—
Snow: Hmph, that’s enough from you! I take back what I said about you being adorable: you’re not adorable at all~!
next episode →
Chloe: Oh, you’re right! There’s a little one over there trying to hide behind the boulders, but it left its tail sticking out.
Cain: Oh, hey… That’s some kind of field mouse that just darted across.
Akira: And over on that tree — look, there's a flock of pure white birds!
Murr: They’re thriving out here~! What’s more, every last one of them are creatures never before seen in any other country!
Mithra: Most of them are small and bony. Surely there are larger ones out there.
Rustica: Mithra, do you prefer large animals?
Mithra: Yes. We’re going to have a barbecue, no?
We’ll capture those creatures and add them to our menu. After all, the fresher the meat, the better it tastes.
Akira & Chloe: What, nooo!
Rustica: Fufu. Oh, Mithra. I see you’re hungry.
Cain: If that’s the case, then let’s get the show on the road and start up that barbecue!
We’ve brought all the necessary ingredients with us, but maybe if we did some scavenging around here, we could get ourselves some fruit and fish to eat. I’ll go do just that.
Murr: No time like the present! Let’s go explore!
Owen: I’m going to go look for someplace cooler. That heat that keeps sweeping through this area is making me melt
Mithra: But the heat is why we’re here. Kenja sama, you’re coming with me…
Snow: Well, let’s see…
From the sidelines, Oz and Snow looked at the group of wizards that were gradually becoming more excited at the prospect of exploring their new surroundings.
With Mithra still grabbing my hand, we both turned around to look at the two of them.
Akira: Oz, Snow, may I ask if anything’s amiss?
Snow: No, it’s just that the atmosphere here has completely changed.
We haven’t figured out all the finer details yet… But once upon a time, this place was the territory of one particular magical creature.
Murr: That must be the djalgr, an extremely rare and vicious species.
Murr leapt down from his tree and landed lightly on his feet. The squirrel-like critter from before was still sitting on his shoulder.
I repeated to myself the curious word he’d uttered while Murr looked up at the majestic faraway mountainside.
Akira: Djalgr……
Oz: It’s a prehistoric magical creature. It keeps a nest near the volcanic crater, but it will venture down the mountain to hunt.
It consumes any and all plants and animals that it comes across while it roams. It’s because of the djalgr that this land was once barren. It’s a fiend that poses a danger to the land itself.
Mithra: … By any chance, does this creature you speak of have large, swirled horns?
With a build so gigantic you have to look up to meet its eye, and it has jagged wings too……
Snow: If memory serves, it did look something like that, yes… Have you seen one before too?
Mithra: I have. In fact, I’ve fought one before.
Akira: You have?!
Mithra: I told you about it, didn’t I? It was that time when Tiletta brought me here for magic training or something.
She told me to go find some peachy magical creature and then defeat it.
Oz: What was ‘peachy’…
Akira: T-That doesn’t sound like a creature you should just walk up and pick fights with on a whim though…
Snow: Indeed. Well, that’s Tiletta for you though.
To begin with, the djalgr were rare and few in number. They cannibalised each other as well, so the entire species has long since gone extinct.
The state of the land itself is proof that the djalgr are gone. If those twisted creatures had continued to pervade this land, we would not be able to have this lovely scenery before us.
Murr: Aww, but I still wanna meet one!
But in the end, it’s undeniable that this land could only flourish and return to its natural balance because the djalgr went extinct.
No matter how devastated a land might be, surely someday that land will be able to flourish again.
Murr crouched down and brushed his fingertips against soft blades of grass.
The critter upon his shoulder hopped off from its perch and scampered away. Murr’s eyes - sharp, intellectual - trailed after the creature’s movements.
Murr: The djalgr may be no more, but this land still faces an onslaught from numerous volcanic eruptions.
So mighty a land, with such vigour, as it endures through death and rebirth with boundless energy. The untold stories of these life and death cycles alone are worthy of research!
Exploration is sure to pay off in spades~! And so! I must be on my way!
Oz: That man is like an animal too…
Snow: He’s just frolicking around. Let’s just leave him be for the time being.
Mithra: Kenja sama. We should get going too.
Suddenly, Mithra wrapped his arm around my waist.
Effortlessly, he lifted me up and tucked me under his arm.
Akira: (squawks) …… Where are we going?
Mithra: You, have you forgotten why we came here? We’re going to go be reborn.
As he calmly informed me of this, I was abruptly reminded of Mithra’s wild escapades in this land.
I immediately turned pale.
Akira: Don’t tell me, you’re… we’re… going to do that whole ‘get up close to the volcanic crater and then dive deep into the sea thing’ right now…?
Mithra: Oh, good. You do remember after all.
There’s smaller craters midway up the mountain. We’ll head to one of those to start things off for now.
Akira: I— That’s—!
That’s magma and the seas of the North. I’m sorry to say this, but that’s going to be way too much for a human like me to bear……
Oz: « voxnox »
Oz: I’ve cast protective magic onto you. It will protect you from harm. To some degree.
Akira: (Noooo—! It’s like he’s telling me to go on a rollercoaster, and it’ll be fine because there’s no way I’m going to get hurled off that ride…!)
[ Snow smiles. ]
Snow: Mithra, don’t overdo it, alright? Oh, and Kenja: don’t let go of Sacrificium.
Sacrificium: !
Mithra: « arsim »
[ Door sfx ]
Akira: AAAAAH~~~~!?
[ Akira screams as she’s yanked into Mithra’s door. ]
[ Meanwhile… ]
Chloe: Alrighty, let’s get the barbecue going!
We’ve got a real lavish array of ingredients here~!
Rustica: It’ll certainly be a treat to sink our teeth into. Oz sama, thank you very much for locating the perfect slab of lava stone for our purposes.
According to Murr, grilling meat on lava stone makes it all the more succulent.
Oz: It’s no trouble. I’ve heated it up with magic. Will this be sufficient?
Chloe: It’s perfect! It’s burning bright red! Let’s all be careful not to burn ourselves.
Okay, the meat’s already been cut, so that’s ready to go. While I wait for the others to come back, I’ll get the veggies sorted…
We’ll need time to ensure the potatoes are cooked all the way through, so Oz sama, Rustica, would you please help me with them?
Rustica: Gladly. I’ll roast them with passion.
Chloe: Thanks! Keep a close eye on ’em so they don’t get burnt, alright?
Rustica: But of course. Now, let’s put the grill mesh over the lava stone…
Oz sama, would you please put the potatoes onto the grill?
Oz: Understood.
Oz: ………
Rustica: Wonderful. The potato landed squarely in the middle of the mesh.
I wonder, did you perhaps alter the angle of our dear spud’s flight once you saw it in motion?
Oz: It was mere coincidence…
Rustica: Fufu. Oh, the smell of roasting potato skin is scrumptious.
Now, I shall add a sprinkling of salt to our potato. I shall do so from above, so that it may scatter and coat it wholly and evenly.
Chloe: Aww~! Those two look right at home at the grill!
Okay, I’m gonna work on the rest of these veggies!
I’ll peel this one, cut that one……
— Hey, is it just me, or does anyone else smell something burning?
Oz: The potato is burning.
Rustica: Ooh, it’s donned a jet-black jacket.
Chloe: No way?! Weren’t you two keeping an eye on the potato?
Oz: I have been watching it. The potato has been burning.
Rustica: I wonder if the temperature’s too high?
Chloe: Oh…… Come to think of it, cooking with a lava stone must be different from using a normal fire. Let’s be more careful with the second one. Here, let’s try again.
Rustica: What shall we do with the charred potato? It’s more or less charcoal at this point.
Oz: … We shall give it to Mithra.
[ Owen CG ]
Owen: Fufu… Do you want this? Do you?
Too bad, no can do. I’m not giving you any. It’s all mine.
Cain: Hey, that stuff’s what those animals here eat, right? Don’t go taking away all of their food… Hmm?
Did you hear that? It sounded like Akira’s wailing.
Owen: Didn’t Mithra haul her off somewhere? Well, as long as they’re together, she won’t die.
Look, over there, that’s them, partway up the mountainside. They’re mere specks though.
Cain: Oh, you’re right… All the smoke and ash has cast a veil around them, but I can see Akira’s putting up quite the fight.
Cain: HEEEEEEY! AKIRA~! MITHRA~!
Cain: Well, guess they can’t hear us from so far away. …… Urghh!?
Owen: Ahaha, you tripped.
You couldn’t even spot a pebble that size in your path? Have you even got anything in your eye sockets, or do you just have holes for eyes?
Cain: I couldn’t have seen it since I was looking elsewhere. If you can tell that I’m about to trip on something, I’d appreciate it if you gave me a heads up.
And, just now, you said that I have holes for eyes? Just so you realise, you’re talking about your own eyeball there.
Owen: Huh? What.
Cain: I mean, one of your eyeballs is sitting in my eye socket right now. Against my will, I might add.
Owen: It’s not like I always meddle with eyeballs. It’s your own fault for not seeing where you step.
Anyway, we’re supposed to go look for stuff to add to the barbecue, right? How about you get on with that?
Cain: Aren’t you foraging too?
Owen: All I need are marshmallows and pancakes.
Cain: I should think it’s best to add a little more meat and greens to your diet too… Huh? Something’s lurking in the rocks.
[ Cain CG ]
Cain: It’s a bear cub. There’s two of them and they’re grooming each other’s fur. They seem to be friends, how cute!
Owen: ………
Hey, Knight sama. Guess what, I found another cute thing too.
Cain: What is?
Owen: Look up.
Cain: ‘Up’…
[ Slither sfx ]
Cain: Aaarrrgh! SNAKE!
Owen: Ahaha. See? Isn’t it cute?
Murr: This black stone here is a variant of flame ore… Once polished, it’ll have a similar lustre to the coinage currently in circulation, but the colouration of the underside is far more complex.
So astonishing an ecosystem! Everywhere I look, the natural vegetation thrives untouched by civilization. Behold these ore deposits, their quality is unparallelled…
Ooh, there’s a butterfly wing sealed within this chunk of amber. I wonder if this butterfly is native to Northern Country?
Snow: Murr.
Murr: Hn? No, that’s not right. The structure of this wing resembles that of migrating species.
Could it be that there is a species of butterfly that migrates across entire mountain ranges? With the ecological data available, we can extrapolate further details about the volcanic eruption that occurred when this butterfly was alive.
Present publications state that Mount Guren last erupted around two to three hundred years ago. With my paleontological findings so far, it should be possible to provide a more exact estimate.
But what of the mechanism that causes the eruptions and the internal structure of the volcano? This requires further study…
Snow: Earth to Murr~! Do you not hear me?!
Murr: Hang on. I’m busy.
Snow: So you do hear me… It’s not a bad thing to be passionate about extracting samples, but how about we take a break?
You’ve been mumbling to yourself while crawling about all over the ground for ages now.
Murr: A break? But there’s a mountain of treasures as far as my eye can see! Everything here is a rare find, or even an impossible find!
All these things have stories to tell about how they came to be, whence and whyfor! This one right here, look, this is—
Snow: I know, I know. My goodness, it’s like you’ve reverted back to being a child, chattering around so excitedly that I can barely get a word in.
Snow: Anyway, I have come up with a good idea.
Listen now, Murr! I’d like to make use of your knowledge, so tell me what’s the best thing I could bring back to White chan as a souvenir!
Murr: Oookay!
This is what is colloquially known as a starhold crystal. It’s a type of clear quartz that, when you hold it up to the night sky, will display inclusions that glitter like stars.
Snow: Oho, I see.
Murr: And this round stone here has been described as the first rays of dawn over the country of frost. It boasts a pale colouration and can only be found in Northern Country.
Look, when you hold it up to the light, it shows off a beautiful gradient that’s just like the sky at daybreak!
Snow: Ooh, it does indeed. I think this is the one!
Looking at you today, you’re just a young man filled with unbridled curiosity. It’s much more adorable than how you are normally, and I say that as an expert in being adorable.
Murr: Meee-ow, I hear a compliment!
Murr: Heeey, Snow. Can I ask you a question too?
Snow: What is it?
Murr: Do you think White would be happy if I told him that his souvenir from Snow was picked out by me?
Snow: ………
Murr: Ah, on the value of things — normally an object’s value is determined by who its owners were and are, how it came to be, and also what the world thinks of it. That is how value is created and appraised, at a world standard.
But that is strictly a science, and when it comes to society at large—
Snow: Hmph, that’s enough from you! I take back what I said about you being adorable: you’re not adorable at all~!
next episode →