We all filed outside together. Anthems, who didn't have a house to stay in and had been stuck camping outdoors the whole time—though he was used to it by now—joined up, and we headed toward the planned hot spring excavation site with Citry leading the way.
Tino watched me with a somewhat uneasy expression.
This time around, Tino was the only one who wasn't a member of the Mourning Specters, but she'd tagged along with the Party numerous times before. We were all familiar faces.
"S-So, um… Mastaa… how do you go about digging a hot spring?"
"What are you talking about, Tino? Obviously you dig with a shovel."
"…Eh? B-But, Luke big brother—what if we don't hit hot water? Besides, how many meters do we even need to dig…?"
Without a shred of hesitation, Luke declared boldly in response to Tino's perfectly reasonable questions.
"Simple—you just keep digging until it comes out! That's what training is! All things in this world connect to the way of the sword. Which means digging holes connects to the way of the sword too! Right, Kly?"
"Mm-hmm, sure thing."
You can seriously get stronger doing anything, can't you. It's beyond me.
There was no point trying to stop him even with a sword in hand, so I'd long since given up on curbing his growth.
He was apparently treated as a bit of a joke these days, but even so, he always seemed to be having fun—and that was just the kind of man Luke Saikol was.
Lucia, having finally calmed down after venting her frustrations on Kly's plushie, cleared her throat and spoke.
"Still, I'm relieved our vacation spot turned out to be a hot spring instead of the ocean."
"Hm? Why's that?"
The ocean, huh… the ocean is nice too. I was in a hot spring mood this time around, but I love ocean bathing just as much.
I wouldn't actually swim, but just standing in the sea breeze and soaking up the sun went a long way toward relieving everyday stress.
All right—next trip, we're going to the ocean.
Lucia furrowed her brow and pressed her fingers to her forehead with a deep sigh.
"At the ocean… anything could show up. At least a hot spring location is somewhat manageable."
"…Big sister Lucia. There was a dragon here too, you know."
"I would've preferred the ocean. Oh right, Kly—next time I'm looking for a swordsman with eight arms! You've got to find me one!"
This world was packed with danger everywhere you looked. Honestly, just strolling around dessert shops in the Imperial Capital seemed like the safest option.
And somehow, I'd gotten roped into a request. As usual, I just said whatever came to mind.
"How about fighting four swordsmen at once?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"That'd add up to eight arms."
A swordsman with eight arms? That'd basically be a Monster.
Luke was silent for a while, thinking it over, then clapped his hands together.
"……………That's genius! Let's do that from now on. I was actually worried about what to come up with after eight—this way, we can go as far as we want!"
"Mm-hmm, sure thing."
Riesz, perched on Anthems's shoulder, was giving me an exasperated look, but lately I'd been rather curious to see just how far Luke could actually take this.
Following Citry's guidance, we arrived at a vacant lot at the edge of town—a roughly hundred-meter-square stretch of empty land. No buildings, nothing at all.
All that was there was uneven ground covered in grass and stones. Citry clasped her hands together in her usual manner and beamed.
"As part of the payment for the Golem, I was given this land! None of us had a hideout, so the timing worked out perfectly."
"A hideout… What are you going to do with an empty plot like this?"
Lucia gazed at the land with a look of utter despair.
It was at the edge of town, and the location was inconvenient to boot. Our hometown was the Imperial Capital, to begin with—building a house here would cost a fortune.
But right now, the entire Party was assembled. It felt like we could do anything.
I snapped my fingers.
"All right, Lucia! Hot spring! Make it happen!"
"Huh?!"
"And Lucia, don't forget the waterfall!"
"…………"
Lucia was an incredible mage. Citry was nearly as versatile, but her magic made most things possible without any tedious preparation.
In general, she'd say she couldn't do something if you asked on the spot, but give her a bit of time and she'd somehow have it done. That was just how she was.
I looked at her with expectant eyes, and Lucia scowled back.
"Oh, and I'd also like you to produce an inn while you're at it. Big enough for Anthems to fit inside comfortably."
"Right—rapids and a whirlpool too! Just at the far end would be fine—"
"I want a sauna! A really hot one! It doubles as heat-resistance training, so it's a win-win!"
"Lucia, don't worry. I've got plenty of potions prepared."
"S-So… I was hoping you could make one of Mastaa's plushies…"
"…………What exactly do you think a Mage is?"
I truly believed Lucia could do it. Next time I wrote a grimoire, I'd fill it with everyday convenience magic. People would probably complain, though.
That was when Anthems, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up for the first time in a while.
A deep voice resonated from within his Treasure Weapon helm.
"I appreciate it, but there's no need. Sleeping outdoors is fine, and I don't need to use the hot spring either. I'm used to it."
Unlike his younger sister Riesz or Citry, Anthems was a man of few words. He was the oldest among us childhood friends and had always been someone you could rely on.
If I hadn't been roped into being the leader, he probably would have ended up in that role instead. He was the most upstanding person in the Party, popular even in the Imperial Capital—the church he was affiliated with had been rebuilt to accommodate him.
But the thing was, Anthems had a tendency to put himself last. Averaging him out with Riesz might produce a balanced person.
The reason he'd become such a towering figure was to protect all of us. Even if he said he was fine with it, the rest of us weren't.
Luke shrugged as if to say "what can you do," then thumped his leg armor.
"Come on, Anthems. Look at this place. It's only four meters wide—there's plenty of room! Think about it calmly—this is about a hundred meters across, so, let's see… we can fit up to twenty-five people."
I had no idea what he was talking about, as usual, but he had a point. I chimed in with my own brand of casual nonsense.
"Exactly, it's fine. If we run out of space, we'll just have Lucia warp it with magic. Easy, easy."
"Hey! Would you stop spouting random things? …Well, producing an inn is one thing, but I suppose digging a hole is manageable… Don't worry about it, Anthems. I'll make sure the lazy leader here puts in some work."
"Anthems big brother, I'll do whatever I can too!"
"…………I'm sorry for the trouble."
Anthems lowered his head, swallowed up inside his enormous helm.
I had caused Anthems far more trouble than he'd ever caused me. Digging a hot spring was nothing.
Come on—hurry up and dig! This was the time to put those absurd physical abilities to good use! It had to be way easier than fighting Monsters.
Riesz hopped lightly off Anthems's shoulder, and Luke rolled up his sleeves.
"Leader, you can't just dig the hole and call it done, you know? You have to figure out how to actually pump the water up…"
"Hm… then couldn't we use that thing? You know, that magic you showed me ages ago—the one that creates a fountain."
The magic that spouts water from the ground. I'd asked Lucia to show me that because I wanted to know how far magic could go.
For the record, I remembered getting an earful about it at the time. Some things never change…
Lucia made a face as if the memory alone was painful.
"…………After that, I ended up using that magic to blow up a castle."
"…………Just adjust the output carefully. I'm sure it'll work out somehow… It always does, one way or another."
"That's because I've been making it work out, not because it works itself out. *Sigh*…"
"In any case, let's leave the major construction to Lucia, and we'll handle the smaller details. Worst case, we just need it to last a few days. After that, we can hand it off to contractors and take our time fixing it properly."
As always, Citry managed to wrap everything up neatly. With Lucia and the others having been away so long, this scene felt quite nostalgic.
I usually just sat around doing nothing, but today I felt like pitching in.
I jogged across Citry's land and stopped near the center.
"All right, Lucia. Let's try digging around here for starters!"
"More random—"
"It's fine, Lucia. She said any spot in this area should hit hot water. Besides, if it doesn't work, we just keep trying until we find the right spot!"
Persuaded by Citry, Lucia approached me with a thoroughly unhappy expression. Full-on rebellious phase.
She took a deep breath, widened her eyes, and whispered an incantation.
Her long black hair drifted upward as if caught in a breeze, even though there was none. I lacked the ability to perceive magic, so I couldn't see it, but right now Lucia was undoubtedly unleashing an enormous amount of mana and weaving together a spell.
The spot I'd indicated creaked and groaned, and a black hole roughly a meter wide opened in the ground. No matter how many times I saw it, magic truly was wondrous.
I watched with bated breath, waiting for hot water to burst forth. But no matter how long I waited, nothing came.
"………? Huh? Where's the hot spring?"
"………I dug about two thousand meters, but didn't hit any water source. Looks like it was a dud after all."
What do you mean "after all"! I thought any spot would work—that was a total letdown.
Well, I could just point to a different location, but my luck really was terrible. Citry was smiling awkwardly too.
I was about to shift my gaze away from the hole to look for a new spot when, without warning, a pitch-black hand reached up from inside the hole and grabbed the ground.
My heart nearly stopped on the spot. But in that same instant, Lucia had already kicked the hand without the slightest hesitation.
A clawed, eerily human-like hand tore free from the ground and vanished silently into the hole.
…………What… was that just now?
"Geez! This is exactly why I can't trust the leader! I'm sealing it up, okay? Alright?"
"Wait, Lucia! Is it a mole-person? It's gotta be a mole-person, right!? I'm going in!"
"Hold on, Lucia! That's such a waste—I want to see what's in there! Come on, T, let's go!"
Riesz and Luke tossed their shovels aside and rushed to the edge of the hole.
I just wished we could all hurry up and enjoy the hot spring together.