NOVEL WEB Chapter 101 - Mii-chan Makes Friends with a Beautiful Cat Family
101 Mii-chan Makes Friends with a Beautiful Cat Family
Let’s start the detailed explanation.
We’ll travel to the Ivory Labyrinth on horseback, a plan already arranged by the guild master. Upon arrival at the labyrinth, we’ll rendezvous with knights from the Third Knight Order. The goal is to spend five days mapping out the goblin distribution and locating their headquarters. If nothing is found within that time, we’ll withdraw. My mapping skill will be useful here, as I can create maps just by walking around.
We’ll depart early tomorrow morning, so I reminded everyone to make sure they’re fully prepared.
“Aren’t you expecting any fights with the goblins?”
“The objective is reconnaissance, so we want to avoid combat as much as possible. We don’t want the goblins to become aware of us.”
“What if you find their headquarters?”
“Once we’ve gathered enough information, we’ll pull out.”
“What if they spot you instead?”
“We’ll retreat. Our mission is strictly reconnaissance.”
“And about the knights going with you—are you in command?”
“Of course. I won’t let them act independently. The Knight Commander has already agreed to this.”
Since there were no more questions, I concluded the meeting. The guild master will be distributing the payment for this request to everyone later.
As for us, let’s get some lunch.
“Mii~”
When we head down to the tavern, I find Perro, Sera, and Lu-kun surrounded by heaps of food, looking utterly satisfied. What’s going on here?
Apparently, the hunters who watched the battle at the training grounds earlier treated them to the meal. Well, that’s one meal saved. Lucky us.
I bring out some cat food and mineral water for Mii-chan and the beautiful cat family. As for me, I order lunch.
“Nya~on?”
“Myu~?”
“Go ahead, dig in.”
“Mii~”
Mii-chan and the others start eating happily. Fel-mama seems to be doing much better now, and Pal-chan, having weaned off milk, is enjoying the cat food as well. Grow up strong and healthy, little one.
“Mii~”
Today’s lunch is a sandwich with a large piece of meat tucked inside. The meat is flavored with ketchup, and there are slices of onion that complement the bread nicely. It’s a hearty and substantial meal.
It seems to be a hit with the hunters as well, and the guild’s ladies are buying sandwiches to eat somewhere else. Perhaps they’re a bit shy about opening their mouths wide to eat in front of others.
In the afternoon, there’s a lecture on air skills. Since we still have some time, I think I’ll take a nap in a sunny spot at the training grounds. It looks like the beautiful cat family will be joining us.
I spread a mat out in a sunny spot, and soon enough, Mii-chan started grooming Pal-chan, while Fel-mama began grooming Mii-chan. It’s such a peaceful and heartwarming scene, with everyone getting along so well.
I lie down beside them for a nap.
“Hey, Nero, it’s time.”
I’m awakened by the guild master’s voice. Looking around, I see that Perro, Sera, and Lu-kun have also dozed off. I carefully get up so as not to wake them and head over to the training grounds.
There, ten male and female hunters are gathered, along with the guild master, Pamir, and three others who seem to be instructors.
After introducing myself, I ask the ten hunters, “Do any of you possess air skills?”
They all nod. However, it seems no one here has air manipulation skills. Apparently, as one’s proficiency increases, these manipulation skills can evolve into higher-level skills.
I then ask each person to demonstrate their most powerful air skill. Most of them can only produce a slightly stronger breeze.
It seems they watched the battle earlier at the training grounds, and when I mention that I used an air skill to send the tiger beastkin woman flying, they all get excited and crowd around me, making it impossible to move. The guild master’s scolding quickly settles them down.
I decide to start with a theoretical explanation. Using a tube that Zelgad-san gave me, I demonstrate by sticking the tube into a piece of daikon radish sliced an inch thick. I then cap the tube with a piece of daikon and insert a stick wrapped with a water-dampened cloth into the other end of the tube. With a push, the daikon cap is sent flying.
Pop!
As the daikon that was blocking the tube shot out, it brought back memories of playing with a toy air cannon as a child.
Using this, I taught them about air compression in a practical way, having them try it out to get a feel for it. For those who still didn’t quite understand, I demonstrated by pushing the stick through the tube without blocking the end, showing how the air was pushed out. Then, I had them block the end with their hand and push the stick to feel the air compress.
After that, it was time for them to put it into practice. I set up three candles on a table, lighting them, and asked them to use air pressure to extinguish the middle candle from a distance.
If they just generated a gust of wind, it would blow out all the candles, but if they properly compressed the air and aimed it at a single point, only the middle candle would be extinguished. I demonstrated with the toy air cannon, and sure enough, the middle candle went out.
They practiced this until everyone could do it. It took about an hour, so it seems that the guild master was right when he said this was a group of talented individuals.
Once they reached this point, it was just a matter of continued practice. To help them visualize the concept, I let each of them experience the “air cannon” themselves. They all did quite well.
Next, we moved on to an advanced lesson.
I gathered everyone around the candles again and placed a glass over a lit candle. As expected, the flame went out.
But there was no reaction from the group… Huh?
I asked if they found it strange, and they explained that when exploring caves or mines, they often carry lit candles. If the flame goes out, it’s common knowledge that the air is gone, indicating a dangerous situation. It’s not that the air disappears, but rather that there’s nothing left to fuel the fire.
I gave them a brief explanation about how it’s not the air itself that’s disappearing but rather the oxygen being consumed by the flame. Then, we repeated the experiment. This time, I asked them to use their air skills to maintain the oxygen inside the glass. The flame continued to burn, but this was quite challenging. They had to imagine breaking down carbon dioxide, which wasn’t easy for them.
Even though it was difficult, it was an important step in mastering their air skills.
The difficulty in breaking down carbon dioxide likely stems from my lack of specific knowledge in the process, so I’m forcing it through sheer willpower. Photosynthesis really is amazing.
Everyone was clearly astonished by the demonstration. It was gratifying to see that the effort was worthwhile. With their interest piqued, I shifted to a simpler experiment.
Next, we focused on gathering oxygen around the candle flame to increase its intensity. This experiment was easier, as it only required them to visualize drawing in an invisible substance that fuels the fire from the surrounding area.
I had the ten of them imagine collecting this unseen element from around them to feed the flame. Since they had just witnessed me do it, they managed to grasp the concept fairly quickly.
Building on this, I demonstrated collecting hydrogen. I asked everyone to step back, then concentrated on gathering hydrogen around the flame.
With a loud “boom!” the flame was snuffed out. They were all startled by the sound. This wasn’t from creating hydrogen, but merely collecting what was present, so that was likely the limit.
I then explained the difference between gathering and creating. Atmospheric manipulation skills allow one to control what is already present, whereas atmospheric skills might allow the creation of something that isn’t naturally there. Understanding this requires flexible thinking, which is why I believe there’s a need to study these skills academically.
It would be beneficial if everyone had at least an elementary level of science education, but that’s not something that can happen overnight. Still, I hope this serves as a first step in that direction.
I sincerely hope that both the guild and the country work towards creating an environment where citizens can receive basic education.
Even if it’s flawed, the education system in Japan was indeed remarkable.