A Quiet, Uneventful Day By The Lake

Bella and I made our way through the forest, with Isha and Torii riding on Bella’s back.

Normally, only Bella and I went into the forest to hunt, but today Isha and Torii had said they wanted to gather medicinal herbs.

So I decided to give them the day off from sorcery training and put my mapmaking on hold as well, and we all went out into the forest together.

The timing was perfect.

Even if it was for their safety, taking refuge somewhere far from civilization and remaining cooped up at our base all the time would surely wear on them, so they probably needed a change of pace.

The terrain around here was far too rugged for ordinary humans to traverse, so Isha and Torii were currently riding on Bella’s back.

But if we went a little farther, we would reach a fairly large lake, and they should be able to walk around safely there.

They could probably gather medicinal herbs as well, and a forest lake was the perfect place for a picnic with a packed lunch.

“Wow, amazing!”

When we emerged from the dense brush and trees, we stepped into an open area—the shore of the lake.

As sunlight glittered across the water, a delighted cry escaped Isha’s lips.

She looked at me pleadingly, and although I gave her a wry smile, I nodded once.

Isha’s face lit up with a radiant smile, and she jumped down from Bella’s back and ran toward the lake.

Seeing her daughter do that, Torii hurried after her.

To be fair, all sorts of animals came to this lake to drink, and although the water was clear, there was no guarantee that nothing dangerous lurked beneath the surface.

Still, as long as either Bella or I was nearby, we could handle most things.

Suddenly, something splashed up near the middle of the lake.

At a glance, it looked like an ordinary fish.

…But just how many meters long was that thing?

It was a gigantic fish that looked capable of swallowing a human whole, especially someone as small as Isha.

Isha and Torii, who had been heading toward the lake, hurriedly came running back.

Apparently, the giant fish had frightened them.

But there was nothing to worry about.

“If it’s intelligent, it won’t attack while Bella’s nearby, and if it’s stupid, there’s no way it can exploit an opening in Bella’s guard. So as long as you don’t wander too far away, you can relax and have fun.”

There was an enormous gulf in ability between Bella, a high-ranking magical beast and Cerberus, and ordinary creatures.

Her physical abilities, senses, and intelligence were all far beyond what any ordinary opponent could hope to match.

If something wanted to fight Bella on equal footing when she excelled at both offense and defense, it would need to be an enemy on the level of a dragon.

But setting that aside, that giant fish was pretty incredible.

They said large fish tended to have a blander flavor, but I remembered hearing that tuna, for example, could become incredibly expensive when they grew large.

Maybe I should try catching it.

Isha and Torii said they would play by the water for a while before gathering herbs, so I left them in Bella’s care, took off my shoes, and began walking across the surface of the lake.

It was not some special technique where I had to move my left foot before my right one sank; I was simply using my usual spiritual-particle manipulation to keep my feet from sinking into the water.

My destination was the small island in the center of the lake.

A little island sitting right in the middle of a lake naturally stirred my urge to explore.

If that giant fish from earlier tried to swallow me whole along the way, I intended to capture it instead.

My walk toward the central island went smoothly… so smoothly, in fact, that I was a little disappointed.

From time to time, I sensed something watching me cautiously from a distance, but nothing attacked.

When I poked the surface of the lake with a fingertip and created ripples to lure it closer, the presence instead fled as fast as it could.

I thought it was being a little too cowardly.

Still, aside from being unable to catch the giant fish, I had nothing to complain about.

The sunlight was strong, but the air close to the surface of the lake was cool and pleasant.

As a devil, I could endure extreme cold or scorching heat without difficulty, but because I still had memories of being human, I naturally preferred environments that humans found comfortable.

The glittering surface of the lake also looked mysterious—yes, strange as it might sound coming from me, it genuinely felt mystical.

And when I finally reached the small island, I found an old, tiny shrine and a statue.

They had unmistakably been made by someone’s hands, which surprised me a little.

This lake was far from any human settlement, and it was not a place ordinary people could reach.

Or perhaps people had once lived somewhere nearby?

Or maybe there had been intelligent beings here other than humans.

When I thought of people who might live deep within a forest, elves came to mind.

Come to think of it, although I had never encountered any in my previous world, I had heard that other races did exist there.

If so, there was every possibility that other races existed in this world as well.

…But if they did, the Church would probably oppress them or hunt them down cruelly, so maybe I would rather they did not exist.

I had no desire to witness any more needless tragedies.

In any case, there was no doubt that it had been a very long time since anyone visited this little island.

I raised a hand toward the shrine and statue and, out of respect for whoever had come before me, began cleaning away the grime with Water Magic and Sterilization Magic.

My impression of this world’s god—the god worshiped by that Church—was abysmal, but whatever was enshrined here was a different matter.

If it was something that someone, somewhere, had once cherished, then I wanted to show it respect.

Though I did feel a little sorry for the being enshrined here that its first visitor in such a long time happened to be a devil.

If people ever came to live around this area again someday, I hoped the shrine would be discovered once more.

After finishing cleaning the shrine and statue, I turned around and saw Isha waving both arms energetically from the far side of the lake.

Ah, it was almost lunchtime already.

I had walked to the island, but it would have been rude to take my time returning and make them wait.

Manipulating spiritual particles, I formed wings on my back and soared into the sky.

We ate lunch, relaxed by the lakeside until the sky turned crimson, and then returned to our base.

Nothing in particular had happened that day, but it had given my mind all the rest it needed.

The next time we felt like taking a break, we could all come here together again.

It was precisely because there were days when we stopped moving forward and sat down to rest that we could keep going without collapsing.