Pre-Bath – Prologue

Our horse-drawn wagon rattled as it ran along the tranquil mountain road. It had been about half a month since we’d departed from the kingdom of volcanoes and blacksmiths, Hephaestus, and we were now crossing into a peninsula in the southeastern part of the continent.

Southern-looking trees swayed in the wind under a bright blue sky. It was the height of summer, but the air wasn’t moist and humid like it was in Japan. Thanks to the shade of trees along this mountain road, I hardly felt any humidity at all.

As we walked down the tree-lined path, I almost felt like it had been a blessing for me to be summoned to this world. I enjoyed my hot baths, but I couldn’t stand humidity.

“Sniff sniff... the scent of the ocean has gotten stronger.” Roni, the lycaon girl walking beside me, twitched her nose.

“Now that you mention it, I can smell it too... you have a sharp nose.”

I could barely detect the salty air mixed among the scent of greenery. I wouldn’t have noticed at all had she not brought it up. Though that was no surprise from a lycaon, a wolf-type demi-human.

“Good job, Roni.”

“Eheheh...”

I pet her head, which made her face melt into a smile and her custard cream-colored tail wag back and forth. She looked more like a puppy than a wolf like this.

This continent had two peninsulas to the south on both the east and west ends. The eastern one was a small peninsula called the Talon Peninsula, while the western one drew an arc covering the southern bay, called the Dragon’s Tail Peninsula. Its tip almost reached the Talon Peninsula. The southern bay that was surrounded by these two peninsulas had a relatively calm sea and was dotted with towns rich in resources.

The Talon Peninsula was right past this mountain. Located there was the nation of merchants and the sea, Neptune.

“I can just slightly sense the power of Sister Water,” Rakti said from the driver’s seat. She looked like a petite maid at first glance, but she was actually the youngest of the six goddesses, the Goddess of Darkness. Because of that, she was able to detect the powers of her sisters. She could also tell how powerful the faith was in each of the goddesses in a region.

“It’s only slight because the Goddess of Light has the biggest following here, right?”

“There’s a big temple for the Goddess of Light in Neptunopolis up ahead.”

Clena and Rium offered their explanations from inside the carriage.

The nation was right by the bay, but apparently the Goddess of Water had died down in popularity. Athena had also once boasted the head temple of the Goddess of Wind, but the temple there now was a mere shell of its former self, and the real one had been driven out of the country long ago. I had mainly come to Neptune to receive the blessing of the Goddess of Water in addition to my blessings of Light, Earth, Darkness, and Fire, but it might not be so straightforward.

“Do you sense something, meow?”

“I can’t sense anything, meow!”

The three cat-faced ketolts who had been resting inside the carriage—Pardoe, Shakova, and Crissa—clustered up and peeked their heads out from beside the driver’s seat.

“What are you all doing...? You’re being a nuisance to Rakti!!” Mark, Shakova’s son, called them out as he walked behind the carriage.

“I’m sorry, Marky...”

“Oh no, not you, Crissa...”

However, the only one who apologized to him was Crissa, Pardoe’s daughter. She was apparently considered a beauty among the ketolts, and her remorseful expression must have done a number on him.

I couldn’t see him from here, but Crissa had a clear view of his flustered face. The two fathers also shrunk back inside the carriage, grinning mischievously.

Crissa and Mark were childhood friends and had a sibling-like relationship, so it must have been tough for Mark, being a young man in love.

“Oh, Touya. We can see Neptunopolis from here.”

Clena’s voice made me look forward, and between the green of the trees and grass and the blue of the ocean, I was struck with another brilliant blue sight. I inadvertently stopped in my tracks, taking in the overwhelming view before me.

The vivid blue drew a sharp contrast to the forest’s green. That was my first impression.

The cityscape was all light blue, as if it were an ocean. Pearl white ornaments that looked like seashells decorated the buildings, while a light sand color accented the bottoms of each.

At harmony with the sea; living with the sea. This was Neptunopolis.

The city was built along a coastline that looked almost as if a giant had formed it by playing with the sand, and the blue made it seem like it was inside the ocean. If so, then it’d be a real-life ryuuguujou, an underwater palace.

Clena could tell what I was thinking, forming a teasing smile as she inched closer to me. “You thought it was underwater at first, right? I thought so too.”

“Yeah... why is it all that color?”

“No special reason... the buildings are made from hydran stones, which can be gathered around here,” Rium, who was clinging to Clena’s waist, answered my question. Hydran stones were a type of rock colored light blue like the ocean, and were apparently a popular building material in this region.

“The city is booming with trade. You can take a ship up north and easily trade over there, too. There are a lot of wealthy people here, and plenty of auctions too. If we want to sell off the treasures we found in Hadesopolis, this would be the place to do it.”

I see. The treasures were doing nothing more than taking up cargo space right now. We wanted to keep some of them, but we could sell the rest and collect a decent sum of cash.

“So I wanted to head right on over... but will you be okay?” I asked Rulitora, who had been silent until now.

“...I’ll manage. The ocean air is unpleasant for me, but I should get used to it soon...” he replied lethargically from the front of the carriage.

Sand lizardmen had sharp noses as well, but they didn’t like the smell of the sea. That must have been the reason why he had been so silent.

There was nothing we could do about it, though. He just had to get used to it as soon as he could. I gave Rulitora words of encouragement, then set off for the city.

The blue port city that smelled of the sea, Neptunopolis. Merchants from all across the continent gathered here, and it would also be the stage of our next adventure.