Translator: Cialaxis
Editor: Havion

Sorry for the delay, we"ll try to get back on track this week.
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[Varius, in the middle of this bad weather, you are surprisingly able to proceed without getting lost.] (Caucasus)

[It"s pretty easy actually…… Here, 3 years ago, we made this thing didn"t we? Based on where this needle is pointing, we would be able to figure out which direction we should head to] (Varius)

Disregarding the heavy rain, providing a pleasant temperature and humidity — the inside of the Nimbus Cloud"s shield.

I pointed towards the compa.s.s held in my left hand  as I answered Caucasus" query.

How nostalgic.

Thinking back, I didn"t have enough mana to use alchemy magic at the time, so I had Caucasus and Beelzebub lend me their mana to make a needle and coil.

To magnetise the needle, a high voltage needed to be applied to the coil with the needle placed in it but…I really worked hard using that magic.

I purposely used the defibrillation magic without chanting, expending a large amount of mana for a long period of time in order to achieve that high a voltage.

I am now able to cast lightning magic used by Heroes with ease though…having to exert so much effort in casting lifestyle magic, good times.

While I was thinking about such a thing, the Nimbus Cloud continued to speed through the sky. If all goes well, we"ll arrive in about 3 hours but…during this time, not doing anything is pretty boring.

Using storage magic, I took out a self-made Game of Life and the accompanying dice.

[Caucasus, Beelzabub……wanna play the Game of Life together?] (Varius)

[Oh, we doin" that? Yay!] (Beelzebub)

[There is no helping it. In any case, there is nothing to do…this me shall accompany Varius in his game.] (Caucasus)

Thanks to my sporting tamed monsters, we pa.s.sed the time without feeling bored.

[Eating Wyvern"s meat has resulted in food poisoning, return to square one…ahhh dammit! This is a s.h.i.tty game! Seriously a s.h.i.tty game!] (Beelzebub)

Beelzebub started acting up.

…Sorry.

After all, this isn"t the commercial version of the game but a self-made one.

The game balance can be a bit weird here and there…but I would like for it to be treated as part of its charm.

In this manner, we peacefully engrossed ourselves in the game…however, a carriage on the highway beneath us suddenly caught my eye.

On a whim, I reduced the speed of the Nimbus Cloud to observe the carriage.

[Varius, what are you looking at?] (Caucasus)

[Yeah…about that carriage, doesn"t it look like it"s stalled?] (Varius)

That"s right.

It"s probably due to that deep puddle of water, causing half of the carriage"s rear wheel to sink into it, making it unable to move.

[……Is it about the vehicle of those humans?] (Caucasus)

[That"s right. See there, they are unable to take the wheel out of that puddle right?] (Varius)

[Definitely…… Oi, Beelzebub, what are you doing, nonchalantly moving the pieces when none of us are looking?] (Caucasus)

[…Keh, got found out, huh] (Beelzebub)

It seems that while Causasus and I were looking at the carriage, Beelzebub recklessly tried to cheat.

Caucasus found out, he got  rebuked instead.

…..Putting that aside, I guess we"ll lend that carriage a hand.

 [Caucasus, you are able to lift the carriage up, right?] (Varius)

[That goes without saying. Something like that, these horns can easily lift it up.] (Caucasus)

[……How reliable.] (Varius)

Reducing our alt.i.tude, we head towards the carriage to help out.

[Yo] (Varius)

I increased the mana flowing into the Nimbus Cloud to increase the radius of the weather shield, protecting the carriage — along with the coachman — from the rain.

After that, just when Caucasus was about to clamp onto the carriage with its horns…

[You people! Who are you!] (Coachman)

The coachman drew his sword and approached us.

Well, this is to be expected.

From the coachman"s perspective, this is a situation where [Monsters have approached from the sky, attempting to take the carriage].

It can"t be helped that he is on guard.

[Ah, it"s fine. These guys are my tamed monsters. Your carriage seemed to have stalled, so we came to help] (Varius)

[Tamed monster? No matter how I look at it, you seem to be a Sage though. Also, I"ve never heard of a Tamer capable of taming a Giant Stag Caucasus [1].

It doesn"t look like the coachman intend to lower his guard.

Ah,I see. I dyed my hair after all.

Well…I seem to have dug myself a fresh grave.

That was what I thought, however…

[Well, isn"t it fine? It"s true that a complete stranger has appeared, but he is saying that he has come to help. We won"t make any progress at this rate anyway…why not try trusting him?] (Man)

The man who came out of the carriage admonished the coachman.

He then looked at my tamed monsters and I, and spoke.

[Fumu…… A Giant Stag Caucasus and a Beelzebub, huh. That calm demeanor despite being surrounded by some pretty strong monsters, seems like they really are your tamed monsters.] (Man)

[Hahaha, what a critical a.n.a.lysis.] (Varius)

[It is just such an irregular situation that I could come up with no other conclusion. That goes for the mysterious cloud you are riding as well.] (Man)

The man gave a wry smile.

[This a tool capable of flying through the sky, called a Nimbus Cloud.] (Varius)

[The sky…no, it"s fine. I"ll give up trying to understand.] (man)

……..Oops, this is not the time for idle banter.

We came to pull the carriage out after all.

[Ah, my Caucasus will start moving the carriage, so please move away a little.] (Varius)

[Aah……my bad. I was in the way, huh?] (Man)

After confirming that the man had moved to a safe location, I gave Caucasus the signal.

Right after that…..Caucasus firmly gripped the carriage with its three prided horns, and lifted it up without any difficulty.

Caucasus then move the carriage a few meters away, and placed the carriage back onto the ground. This time, the carriage did not sink into the ground, be it the front or back wheels.

The rescue was a success.

[I believe that the carriage will be able to move again with this.] (Varius)

[……You have my thanks. Although it pains me that this is the best I could give as thanks, please accept it.] (Man)

Saying that, the man took a single gold coin out of the carriage.

Although I didn"t feel like I did anything to warrant such a reward…since the man might be the type who hates owing people favours, guess I"ll just accept it.

As we continued our exchange, Caucasus returned to the top of the Nimbus Cloud.

[Well then, we will take our leave now.] (Varius)

[I see. It would be nice if fate allows us to meet again.] (Man)

We exchanged farewells, and I raised the Nimbus Cloud"s alt.i.tude.

In this kind of rain, it would have been fine to accompany the man to his destination if we had time to spare, however…the test is tomorrow after all.

Since there was nothing we could do about that, it"s time to resume our journey.

[It really flew…..all right, I"ll give up on thinking after all.]

The man looked like he muttered something, but I couldn"t make out what he said.

There wasn"t anything eventful after that, and we finally arrived in the town where the Elite Academy is in.

By then, the rain has subsided to a drizzle, to the point where we aren"t troubled by it.

Since I was starving, I got off the Nimbus Cloud for a while and entered one of the shops for a late lunch.

After that, I got back onto the Nimbus Cloud and flew over to Elite Academy"s airs.p.a.ce.

Regarding exams, it"s important to conduct a preliminary inspection of the venue before the actual event after all.

The structure of the buildings, the cla.s.srooms which would be used for the exams, as well as the training ground"s location, I hammered all these information into my head.

After about an hour, I have roughly gotten an understanding of the general layout, what"s left would be touring the town I"m in for the first time.

Well…I just dropped by the weapons as well as jewelry stores, and although I didn"t buy anything…seeing so many new things made the time spent quite fulfilling.

After that, I stopped by a restaurant again, for dinner this time.

I took a look outside once my stomach has been adequately filled, and saw that the day has completely turned to night.

……..Though it"s a little early, guess I"ll turn in for the day.

I laid down on the Nimbus Cloud with my tamed monsters.

This sure is a comfortable place to sleep.

With an appropriately low resistance, it fits the entire body such that it stays in a completely relaxed posture. 

Probably due to everything that has happened today, my consciousness left me the moment I laid down.

[1]: Recall that Caucasus" species name is “Caucasus Ookuwagata” where Ookuwagata means “Giant Stag”