Chapter 100. A Keepsake
"So, you found it first, huh?"
"You knew about it? That place?"
To ask about the cave with that door, I’m now talking alone with my father, Aslad.
So, is that place not really a secret, then?
If it were a place no one was supposed to know about, he would’ve said so from the start, and it’d be much harder to find.
Though the original location was already pretty well-hidden.
"Yeah. That place is said to have been created by the first Demon King and the hero of that era. Why they made it, or what lies beyond that door, hasn’t been passed down. Even the staff of this mansion and that Sea Dragon’s true duty is to guard that place. I don’t plan to do anything to Tina and the others just because they found it, but make sure you warn them not to talk about it."
"Got it. So, is there any other information about that place?"
"Hmm… Not really. That place has been passed down through the Elmborne Demon King lineage, but that’s all we know. Nothing else. There’s no way to investigate it, either."
"No way to investigate?"
"Only oral traditions exist about that place. No records, nothing. And besides, destroying the door or the cave itself is impossible. Some kind of power affects the entire cave. The only way to investigate what’s beyond that door… is through the proper method—gathering all three crests there."
I see.
So, as things stand, there’s nothing we can do about that place.
And someday, I’ll probably go there with her.
"Understood. Well then, wanna eat the shellfish we caught together?"
"Sure. Let’s have some."
It should be about time for lunch.
Let’s head to the dining hall.
"Ah, here they come."
"How’d it go, Onii-chan?"
"Yeah, I’ll tell you later."
Lunch was already prepared in the dining hall.
Today’s menu included the shellfish we’d gathered.
Plus, the fish Grandpa, Gaul, and the others had caught since morning.
I’d imagined fish from the southern seas to be colorful, but none of these were particularly vibrant.
They just looked delicious.
"Huh? The ones we caught the most of aren’t here?"
"Ah, those shellfish?"
Shakti, who was serving, explained.
"Those aren’t really good for eating… They don’t taste great. You can eat them, but…"
"Well, damn…"
They looked like regular shellfish, so I assumed they’d be fine. Guess I was too naive.
And we’d caught so many of them, too.
"Don’t worry. Ai and I got plenty of others."
"Yeah, we’ve got lots, so it’s fine, Onii-chan!"
Ai and Yu’s haul was impressive—they even had turban shells and abalone.
I wonder if you could find those in modern-day Okinawa.
The seafood lunch seemed to be a hit.
Everyone was eating happily.
"What should we do this afternoon? Swim?"
"Hmm~ I’m kinda bored of just swimming. Isn’t there somewhere we can dive from?"
"Is there, Shakti?"
"A place to dive from… Hmm, not really."
"Then how about flying up and jumping down? You can use flight magic, right?"
"Oh, yeah. A bit plain, but I guess that’s all we’ve got."
"Hey, Jun-sama. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask."
"What is it, Sebast?"
"Why do you use flight magic to fly? Not just you—Yuu-sama and Ai-sama, too."
""""Uh…""""
"You’re a fallen angel, and Ai-sama is too, while Yuu-sama’s a succubus. You’ve got wings, so you could fly without magic, right? But you always use magic. Why?"
"Now that you mention it, that’s true. You always fly with magic, my lord."
"It is strange, now that you say it…"
What do I say? How do I explain this?
Sure, we have wings.
Wings we can summon and retract at will—though I have no idea how that works anatomically.
But we were ordinary humans in our past lives.
To us, it just feels like having wings attached to a human body.
But does having wings mean you can automatically fly?
Birds don’t need to be taught—they fly by instinct.
Insects, too.
But we don’t have that instinct.
We can fly with practice, but magic is way faster.
"It’s part of our magic training."
"We have to use magic as much as possible to improve. Plus, flying with magic is faster."
"Yeah, that’s pretty much it."
Nice save! You two!
"I see."
Phew. Seems they bought it.
If all three of us couldn’t fly with our own wings, it’d raise suspicions.
If the truth got out, we’d have to explain things they’d never even understand.
"So, Jun-sama and Ai-sama are fallen angels? I hear that’s an incredibly rare race."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess so. Shakti, you’re a demon, right?"
Better steer the conversation elsewhere.
"Yes, I’m a succubus."
"Oh-ho, a succubus, huh?"
Noella’s eyes practically glittered.
Now that I think about it, there are a lot of succubus women around me.
"Did someone teach you how to use your succubus powers?"
"Yes, my grandmother. She’s a succubus, too."
Grandmother… so, Hoffman-san’s wife?
One of the maids nodded slightly.
That must be Shakti’s grandmother.
Lunch ended.
As we sipped tea afterward, Shakti brought over the shellfish I’d gathered.
"Jun-sama, what should we do with these?"
"Hmm… what to do…"
If we’re not eating them, maybe we should release them.
"Black-winged clams, huh? They’re in Darmdatt’s waters too, but they’re not tasty."
"Black-winged clams?"
"Yeah. ‘Black butterfly clams.’ When you open them, the inside looks like a black butterfly, so that’s what they’re called."
Wait, that sounds familiar.
In Japan, they were called Kurocho-gai…
The clams that produce black pearls.
"Maybe… just maybe…"
"Maybe what?"
I started opening the clams to check.
Even if I was wrong, I’d take responsibility and eat them.
"What’re you doing, Onii-chan?"
"You’re still planning to eat those? They said they don’t taste good."
"Nah, if my guess is wrong—no, if we’re unlucky—we’ll just have to eat them. But if we’re lucky…"
This might turn into a great keepsake from this trip.
And it seemed luck was on my side.
After checking about a third of the clams, I found it.
"Ah! There! A black pearl!"
""""Whoa!""""
The so-called "black-winged clams" in this world were definitely the same as the "Kurocho-gai" from Japan.
I’d heard that finding a natural pearl in one out of ten thousand clams was considered lucky.
We must’ve hit the jackpot this time.
"That’s really a pearl?!"
"No doubt. Appraisal says it’s a black pearl."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. These clams can produce pearls too?!"
"You didn’t know, Gaul-sama?"
"Nah. If anything, how’d you know?"
Oops.
Crap. I can’t say it’s knowledge from my past life. Gotta play dumb.
"I just knew some clams produce pearls. Thought I’d check."
"That so? Still, damn, you’re lucky—this one’s huge. Hey, let’s check the rest!"
Did that work?
But I guess pearls aren’t common knowledge here?
Probably because sea monsters make natural pearls rare.
After checking the remaining clams, we didn’t find a second pearl. Guess it really was that rare.
Still, we got a great keepsake out of it.