041-060 · 043-ch37

Chapter 37: Fantasy Really Is Something to Admire

After my comment, the number of questions asking how to fight, how to battle strong enemies, and the like increased all at once.

As a result, I ended up having to explain fighting forms, patterns, and movements while on the move.

I could've just ignored them, but since I'd stirred things up myself, I decided to humor them a bit.

Because of that, I ended up giving various combat lectures in front of the drone until it was time to sleep.

But since those were tied to the travel schedule starting the next day, I refused all of them and simply continued walking with single-minded determination.

Along the way, Robo would get bored and run off to catch prey, and at night I'd be the one to process it. But we had established a perfect routine: traveling during daylight, then setting up camp and chatting during the stream after sunset.

Thanks to that, I was rarely asked to talk excessively during the day, and I'd come to enjoy the brief time spent talking with viewers after lighting the campfire and eating dinner before going to sleep.

>>Speaking of which, why'd you charge 1 billion to save those two?

>>True, if it's John Doe, he could probably earn that easily on his own

>>1 billion is such an awkwardly huge amount, I can't wrap my head around it

>>Lots of pro athletes get that much normally, though

"I was first testing their resolve with that. 'This is what it means to be saved by me. You're taking that much value from my time.' As for the amount, honestly, it was arbitrary. I set it high enough that guilds or individuals would hesitate to request anything from me, yet low enough that they could barely manage to pay it back eventually. Maybe I should've explained that better to them."

At the time, I hadn't thought deeply and just set that amount, but I probably should've bothered to explain it to them like I just did.

No, but I was completely the victim there... Yeah, that amount was probably fair after all.

"Yeah, it was fair. I was the one who got troubled, after all."

>>What just happened in that split second?

>>His thought process shifted so suddenly, it's scary

>>He was just saying 'I should've explained better' but now he's saying 'that was fine'

>>Are you actually planning to collect 1 billion from each of them?

"Of course I'm gonna collect it. It's legitimate compensation. Rather, if I didn't collect it, that'd be disrespectful to them working hard for it. Though I haven't thought about how to spend it."

I really haven't thought about it.

What do I do with 1 billion?

Buy some spacious land on the surface and build a mansion?

Then make the grounds huge so I don't have to interact with other people.

Or maybe invest that 1 billion in a school that properly trains explorers.

Not just giving them dungeon experience as if it were some game like now.

>>Good magic tools, you get those yourself, right?

>>Powerful potions! You pick those up yourself

>>He's seriously a dungeon frontline old man who has nothing to buy with big money, so he's troubled

>>Why not commission weapons from a famous surface craftsman? Depends on materials but the price could be sky-high

"Hm, that's a great idea. Ah, no, wait..."

Can that person even use magic power? No, they can't.

Even among explorers, those who can properly use it are rare.

But to make good weapons, you need to be able to use magic power or they won't work in dungeons.

As I thought that far, I had a flash of inspiration.

If that's the case, I should just teach them myself.

"Yeah, I'll look for an amazing weapon smith next time I go to the surface. Ah, I'll find one myself, so I don't need any 'This person is recommended!' right now."

>>Yoshida Takitsu is recommended! Sorry, you said you don't need that

>>If you want to know when you're on the surface, just ask on stream and we'll answer

>>There should be one person who's a Living National Treasure making weapons for explorers

>>Apparently there's no limit on the number of swords they make for explorers, so it's easy to commission

>>He said that stuff isn't needed right now

Well, once a topic comes up, that's what streaming with lots of viewers is like—comments just keep flowing even if I try to stop them.

"Alright, goodnight for tonight. See you tomorrow."

>>Goodnight~

>>See you tomorrow

>>Sleeping stream starting now?

>>The drone moves away a bit so it can't pick up sleeping sounds, as usual

---

After continuing to walk on foot for about a week.

>>Getting tired of the same scenery

>>No, it's changed quite a bit from the first day

>>Even so, it's getting boring. Aerial footage gets boring after like 10 minutes

>>You have no patience

>>Isn't there anything interesting?

>>The lush green area was more fun

Even when I went to the World Tree before, I only walked for two days.

Compared to that, I've been walking for a much longer period now, so the number of people watching the stream has dropped considerably.

Well, unless you're the type who really loves nature and walking through it like me, watching the same unchanging scenery would get boring.

However, saying it's unchanging is a lie.

Around the fourth day of the journey, the ground and vegetation changed dramatically.

What had been lush greenery gradually became less green, replaced by brown and orange earth with exposed sand and rocky ground.

We had entered the wasteland area.

And though I was getting various complaints, there was a reason I kept walking this way.

"Wait just a bit longer and you'll see something good."

>>You've been saying that for a day now

>>I'm already bored

>>Rather than nature, show us monster battles

>>Right?

The viewers were full of dissatisfaction.

By the way, this is just a waypoint, and the good thing I'm about to show them is just something we'll pass by—it's not the destination itself.

As I thought that, when the sun was reaching its zenith, I finally looked down from atop a small rocky hill at what I wanted to show them.

"How about it, amazing, right?"

While looking at the scene spreading before me, I showed it to the drone.

>>It's huge...

>>So vast

>>As far as the eye can see is sand-colored

>>This is what you wanted to show us?

"No, it's not the desert itself. Deserts exist on Earth too, right?"

>>That's true

>>It lacks fantasy elements

>>Is there something else?

Affirmation came back from the comment section at my words.

Certainly, a great desert is an amazing sight for Japanese people, but these days you can see such things on TV or streaming sites.

And of course, what I wanted to show wasn't just that.

Before my eyes stretched a sea of sand continuing far into the distance.

Though it looked almost flat, the sand composing it was, in truth, moving greatly as a whole due to some force.

You could probably see the dune parts moving like waves here and there.

>>Wait, isn't that moving?

>>Moving... the sand is flowing?

>>What is that, the dunes are moving like waves

>>Quicksand? But I've never seen it on that scale

Exactly like a sea, the writhing sand.

That was this place I had come to show on stream.

And precisely because it's such a place, creatures that don't exist in reality also live here.

Or so I thought.

"Well, guess it won't go that smoothly."

Unfortunately, it seems nothing is showing itself within visible range today.

Well, though the desert spreads far into the distance, and I'm standing atop a small rocky hill, the range I can see is still limited.

"There was actually something even more amazing, but—"

The moment I said that, I saw sand breath erupting vigorously from beyond a distant dune.

The instant I confirmed that, I grabbed the drone and flew into the sky using magic on myself.

>>What happened, what happened!?

>>Grabbing the drone suddenly again

>>You don't normally grab and move those things

>>John's movements are too fast for the drone to keep up, so it can't be helped

"I saw it—!"

I raised the corners of my mouth at what I could barely see far beyond the dune.

"Is it showing on stream?"

>>There's something like a rock mass beyond the dune

>>It's far so I can barely see, but I can tell something's there

>>What, is that moving?

Immediately after, a great mountain rumbled.

The multiple creatures that had been swimming peacefully through the sea of sand twisted their bodies and made a great leap, perhaps to shake off the small animals clinging to them.

The sight was similar to what dolphins or orcas sometimes show, but the scale was completely different.

Multiple massive bodies jumping with such force that faint vibrations reached here from far away.

When I saw it from much closer before, I was overwhelmed by its power.

Being big and numerous is cool just by itself.

"It was a bit far. If it were closer, it'd be scary-cool."

Size-wise, over 50 meters but under 80 meters.

Whale-like creatures of that size dancing in the air together.

The power of that sight needs no explanation.

>>It's far and looks small, but isn't that huge?

>>Can't grasp the sense of distance...

>>John, get closer and show us! We want to see that kind of thing!

>>That's the fantasy stuff we want!

>>A sea of sand alone is already making me go 'guhhh,' but creatures swimming in it? What?

It seems some of the viewers understood how amazing what I showed them was.

Then I'm glad.

Also, the drone camera has pretty good performance.

I thought it wouldn't be able to capture anything from that far away.

But too bad.

Seeing that ends here for now.

"I'll show you that again some other time. If I can ever make a ship capable of crossing this flowing sand sea, that's when we'll go see it."

>>Ship, a ship!?

>>Completing one by yourself is something that never gets finished

>>John, don't you have other things you want to do?

>>I've prepared myself for the fact that it won't be completed anyway

"If you want to see it, you should come yourselves and see it with your own eyes. Right?"

>>When you put it that way...

>>Guaaaah! I'm going to the dungeon!

>>By the time I get there, I'll probably be an old man

>>Unless the path ahead gets cleared and streamlined, it's tough at the current pace

>>But I want to see that! I want to see fantasy!

"Well, that depends on your efforts. I'll stop by on the way back too, so if you're lucky then."

Saying that, I turned my back on the great desert and descended the small hill.

This was just something I found along the way that I came to see, not this expedition's destination.

Originally, this adventure had no destination—I had decided to just keep walking and explore anything that caught my interest—but I had known about this desert's existence beforehand.

So it doesn't qualify as a target for this adventure.

"Well then, let's continue the journey."

Therefore, the journey still continues.