Water Magician-Chapter 625: Return to Kwebasa

Editor: Tseirp

“Kwebasa, I have returned!”

It is said that a water-attribute magician standing at the bow of the tenth public vessel shouted this when the enormous bridge of the autonomous city Kwebasa came into view.

The Kingdom swordsman standing beside him shook his head, not understanding.

“It’s probably one of those usual, ‘iconic development’ lines anyway.”

He muttered.

There are many inconsistent versions, but hasn’t it always been said like that?

If you care about it, you lose.

“If we sink about six to eight ships, we’ll surely be called the ‘Nightmare of Kwebasa’.”

“You mean enemy ships, right? If you sink our allies, you’ll get in trouble.”

“Of course! They’d call it a nightmare too… but from the allies’ point of view.”

In Ryo’s mind, he apparently wants to sink many enemy ships and, inspiring awe, be dubbed something like ‘the Nightmare of ___.’

“We’re not at war right now, so that’s impossible.”

Abel’s reply was appropriately casual as ever.

But then he seemed to remember something.

“Hey, Ryo—you sank about five ships once when we went from the Komakyuta Principality to the Suje Kingdom, didn’t you?”

“Oh, that happened, didn’t it?”

Lord Protector Kabui Somar had come aboard the Rainshooter to bring Princess Iliaja, who had taken refuge in the Komakyuta Principality, back.

On the return trip to the Suje Kingdom, the Rainshooter was attacked.

“Wasn’t that by the Duchy of Atinjo’s Gawor vessels or something?”

“That’s it.”

Abel affirmed the answer Ryo remembered.

“No, that won’t do.”

“Why not?”

“That incident should be recorded as the Rainshooter’s glory. As the queen of the ship’s legend. It would be gauche for my name to appear in it.”

“Is—Is that so…?”

Ryo nodded vigorously.

Seeing that, Abel gave a small shake of his head.

People’s sensibilities are hard to understand.

“Amazing—we arrived four days early!”

“The winds were favorable.”

When Ryo said this happily, Captain La Wu of the tenth ship laughed and replied.

Those four days would be precious to Ryo.

Because…

“We’ll have time to tour Kwebasa again!”

“Isn’t that ‘tour’ really just ‘eat around’?”

“W-well, in a broad sense it’s the same thing.”

Abel said with a sidelong glance while Ryo protested.

If they had arrived on schedule, the conference would have started the next day, and they’d have been busy the whole time…

So it’s a fact that they gained free time.

Of course, they were here for the conference, not for sightseeing!

The Darwei delegation arrived at the Free Port of Kwebasa and began disembarking.

“The port is really large.”

“You can disembark all ten public vessels at once.”

As Ryo and Abel prepared to disembark, Captain La Wu called to them from behind.

“Please follow the people ahead to the inn. Rooms have been prepared for both of you at the same inn.”

“Thank you!”

With that, Ryo and Abel stepped off the ship.

Though both had a fair amount of luggage this time, everything would be unloaded from the public vessel and carried to the inn for them.

So, as usual, they were almost empty-handed.

They followed the Darwei delegation to the inn.

They arrived quickly;

It was apparently very close to the freeport.

A two-story wooden building, the inn’s frontage facing the main street must have measured a hundred meters or so — a large inn indeed.

With two hundred members of the Darwei delegation staying there, its size was not surprising… yet the inn looked familiar.

“Huh? Didn’t we stay here before…?”

“We did stay here.”

“I think it was called the Freedom’s Breeze Inn…”

The inn had a splendid yet elegant entrance, and the staff’s manners were impeccable.

Undoubtedly one of Kwebasa’s top inns.

“The food was delicious too.”

“Right. It was Chef Susie of the Lone Dark, right? She said they often brought them here. The inn’s reputation for great food goes way back.”

Then Ryo remembered something.

“Wait, wasn’t this inn backed by the Suje Kingdom capital?”

“Yes, that was mentioned.”

“This conference will have a Suje delegation too, right? Won’t they be staying here?”

“Now that you mention it. If there’s an inn with national capital investment, it’s natural they’d stay there.”

Neither Ryo nor Abel could answer that,

So they asked someone who might know.

The inn staff’s service was flawless.

Even with two hundred sudden guests, they handled everything with hardly any stress.

A staff member approached them.

To guide them to their rooms and hand them keys.

After giving their names, the two asked their question.

“Will the Suje Kingdom delegation not be staying at this inn?”

“No, they won’t. The Suje delegation is scheduled to stay at the newly built ‘Freedom Breeze Inn — Annex’ facing the plaza.”

“An annex!”

“A newly built annex? I see.”

Ryo and Abel were surprised at the staff’s answer.

They had not expected a new annex to have been built.

“The national-level economy seems to be functioning properly.”

“Leaving Darwei aside, perhaps the Duchy of Atinjo decided to hold this conference here to show the surrounding island and southern continental states that Kwebasa would be fine even if Atinjo annexed them.” ȐΑΝȏ𝐛Ëš

“I see. A showpiece on the national stage. That sounds plausible.”

Abel’s conjecture earned Ryo’s nod.

Such publicity stunts are common even on Earth.

Summits, the Olympics, world expos… selecting host cities is diplomacy.

“One day our Knightley Kingdom should host something in the east as well…”

“Right. Maybe in the east or the north.”

“We mustn’t sweep up all the gathered Empire and Union leaders who showed up like sitting ducks!”

“No, absolutely not; that’d be terrible.”

Acts that breach trust are bad.

The room assigned to the two of them, as before, was the finest suite.

Apparently, the top-level rooms were for Prince Ryun and Princess Shio Fen, the deputy minister representing the Ministry of Rites, and Ryo and Abel.

“Is it really all right to receive such lavish treatment?”

“Why not? Darwei decided it, didn’t they?”

Ryo reacted with a citizen’s astonishment, while Abel accepted it with a kingly nonchalance.

Perhaps that difference came from experience.

“Still, it’s the same room we stayed in last time, right?”

“So the Suje Kingdom treated us as honored guests back then as well.”

They had been honored guests of Queen Iliaja.

In one way or another, the two often ended up staying in high-class lodgings.

“Abel, if you keep staying in luxury inns you might forget the heart of an adventurer!”

“Huh?”

“We’re adventurers. The basics are sleeping out under the stars, taking turns to stand watch, and trembling through the night, fearing monster attacks.”

“That’s generally true.”

“I think you’ve been doing that less lately.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because you’re being spoiled!”

Ryo pointed at Abel emphatically.

“Is that so, I’m being spoiled?”

“Yes, you are.”

“All right then, Ryo, show me an example.”

“Huh?”

“Camp out, stand watch, and tremble at monster attacks. I’ll sleep here in the inn while you do it.”

“That’s unfair!”

“Show me the unspoilable adventurer.”

“I want to be spoiled!”

“…How candid.”

What a flip of the hand.

They put the luggage brought from the ship in their room and went down to the first floor.

“We’ve gained four days of freedom.”

“Well, that’s true… but first, lunch.”

It was just about noon.

“By the way, Kwebasa has a lot of delicious restaurants, right?”

Ryo said happily.

“That’s right. What do you want to do? How about ‘Happy Eats’ for old time’s sake?”

Abel’s suggestion went down smoothly.

At first, Ryo smiled…

But when he fully realized what Abel had proposed, his expression changed drastically.

It was the face of someone seeing something terrifying.

“What? Did I say something weird?”

“No… Abel, you remember what kind of place ‘Happy Eats’ is, right? You’re suggesting that knowing full well…?”

“We ate there the first lunch when we arrived in Kwebasa, didn’t we?”

“Yes. And the second day for lunch as well. Both times we were utterly overwhelmed.”

“Overwhelmed…? Well, yes, we did eat so much we couldn’t move.”

Ryo said in despair; Abel answered with a wry smile.

Yeah— they had eaten too well, ordered too much, and afterward couldn’t move.

They remembered waiting in a teahouse facing the square for their stomachs to recover.

“Recklessness spelled A-b-e-l…”

“I don’t get that.”

“To want to go again to such a terrifying place…”

“You don’t want to go, Ryo?”

“…I do want to go.”

“All right, let’s go then.”

Despite the warnings, delicious food is justice.

Almost no one can resist that temptation.

At least not here.

It’s okay!

Just don’t be careless.

Just be mindful not to overeat.

It’s not that ‘Happy Eats’ is evil.

It’s not that Abel is bad, nor is Ryo bad.

No one’s to blame.

It’s only carelessness that’s wrong.

So, don’t be careless!

With that, the two entered ‘Happy Eats’.

After finishing their meal, they came out.

“We were careless…”

“That was reckless…”

Yes, the two had overeaten.

Yes, the two had eaten too much.

Yes, the two had… after all, overeaten.

The terror of delicious food.

Delicious food is justice.

Delicious food is also violence.

Even those who resolve not to be careless are felled by that violence.

Oh, dreadful thing, thy name is deliciousness.

Ryo, who can defeat Akumas and subdue Djinns, is powerless before good food.

Abel, who commands the people and enjoys overwhelming, fervent support, is powerless before good food.

The two, in a pitiable state, entered the cafe of the ‘Freedom Breeze Inn’ to rest their stomachs.

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