Page 169

(Walson)

Inside the wooden cabin, there was nothing except for a fireplace.

The crackling of firewood sparked and flickered, illuminating the room.

"...Alice, draw a card," Grace raised the deck of playing cards in her hand.

"Okay, okay... Oh, I just happened to get a pair of threes," Alice casually picked up a playing card and placed down the three of hearts and three of spades.

"It's my turn! It's my turn... Ah, I have a pair of fives," little Tanaya, wrapped in a blanket, exclaimed happily, then turned around and held her cards up high.

"It's Sister Risha's turn!"

"...It's another joker!" Then came the wailing voice of Derisha.

"Risha got another joker," Barella, who was watching the game from the side, blinked and looked at Derisha as if she were some rare creature.

"Barella, what should we do now?"

"Don't call me that!"

Watching the four of them playing a game of drawing joker cards in a circle, I couldn't help but feel speechless.

...As the saying goes, "The luck of a soldier is bad from ancient times." In the game of drawing joker cards, Derisha had already ended up with a loving relationship between two joker cards in seven consecutive rounds. But did you think it was only that? Wrong!

Before Tanaya joined in, I watched them play poker, and in ten rounds, Derisha either got bullied by Grace or Alice or was collectively bullied... In other words, Derisha had lost seventeen rounds in a row.

Losing seventeen rounds in a row was no longer a matter of not being good at cards! Just now, Grace secretly helped Derisha using her magic, and yet, the princess still lost miserably due to various circumstances (although the others didn't notice Grace help). It was just too mysterious.

"I lost all my clothes... all my money..." The current Derisha had lost everything except her underwear and her pants. I really felt that if we continued playing, a rather exciting situation was imminent.

...I'm definitely not waiting to watch that situation happen in excitement, not at all, anyone who said otherwise is a liar!

"Oh well, don't worry, Risha. I'll buy your pants for five gold coins," Alice said with a smile, taking out a pouch of money.

Oi! There are children here!

"Okay! I'll sell them!"

Oi! You shouldn't agree to that! Does your past time being a broke princess really turn you into the kind of girl who would do anything for money!?

Pervert! There are perverts here! There are two perverts here!

Thinking of the underage audience, I forcibly suppressed the pain in my heart... No, I walked into a small room on the west side of the cabin resolutely, and Barella obediently followed me.

*Sight* What a pity... No, it's definitely not because Grace's glare was painful that I left! It's because it's bad for a man to be in the presence of a half naked girl!

*Cough cough*. Moving on, let me explain what happened after the attack.

First, the aftermath of Lori's attack.

After the others woke up, I conveyed the general situation to them... Grace, Derisha, and Barella initially had more intense reactions, but now, the one having adjustment issues is Melon, but I'll talk about that later.

Based on the clues we currently have, although I understand some things, the mystery has deepened.

The culprit who caused the withering event is someone else, not "Lori Aivett" who attacked us earlier. Although it's impossible to rule out the possibility that she's lying, I chose to believe her.

However, from what she said, it seems we need to be cautious of a girl with white eyes...

Could there be another monster reincarnated as a girl? Perhaps?

An Ender Dragon girl?

If that's true, I don't know whether to be excited or to be scared, but, from what Lori said, it seems I need to be scared of them.

Now, about this cabin.

The place we are currently in is a small village, about a day's distance from where we were attacked by Lori in the wilderness.

This place is very close to Derisha's hometown and is where we came to rest under Derisha's guidance.

The houses in the village are very simple, with no mounds, no livestock, and no residents... that being said, this is not an abandoned village.

According to what Derisha said, every spring, a large number of [Desert Valley Sandworms] appear on this wasteland, and the stomachs of these magical beasts often contain rare ores. Therefore, there is a hunting frenzy every spring, and this temporary village is prepared for hunters and adventurers during that time.

And we have Waspn here for almost a week.

Although that battle was just a misunderstanding, it still caused us significant losses... the first carriage of the [Dog House[ suffered considerable damage, and the second carriage had to be completely rebuilt.

The most unfortunate part is that the second carriage was used as a warehouse, where I stored my enchanted books and potions. The enchanted books only suffered a few losses, but the potion box was blown to pieces, and the potions were all spilled. Everything was lost.

As for the [MPOH (β)], we were relatively lucky. With the [Brewing Stand] undamaged, we were able to produce them quickly using [Bone Meal]. However, it wasn't as fortunate for the [Milk Potion]—we only have six bottles left in total among all of us. We need to use them cautiously just in case.

...This made us, who have Waspn eating [Elvenised] ingredients for two months, complain endlessly. The saying "going from luxury to frugality is difficult" is something I fully understand now, and I also feel that our past extravagance was really something.

Off-topic, the repair of the [Dog House[ was completed the day before yesterday. The reason we are still staying here is related to our equipment.

"Yo-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho—yo-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho-ho—" I hummed the tune, busy with what was in my hands.

"What are you singing? It's quite rare for me to hear you sing a song," Barella asked.

"It's 'Binks' Sake,' a song from the One Piece anime... Do you understand any of this? Hey, how does it feel? Is it too tight?" Right now, I'm helping Barella put on her new equipment, well, it's still in the prototype stage,

"No, I think it's just right," Barella touched the straps and turned to look in the mirror.

That's a piece resembling a chestplate, and there's a flat protrusion on the back.

Its appearance is very similar to a backpack, but the shell is entirely made of metal, and its interior is powered by [Redstone]. However, for ease of operation, I have also added some magic stone mechanisms.

This time, I used not ordinary [Redstone] but [Compressed Redstone], synthesized from multiple [Redstone]s. Compared to regular [Redstone], it can output a more concentrated [Redstone] signal, and it's connected to the propellers with twenty small circuits.

These circuits all have simple switches, and the opening and closing of the switches are controlled by magic... In simple terms, the propellers' speed can be adjusted in twenty levels, with all switches open reaching maximum speed, and vice versa.

Huh? Jetpack? This is not that tasteless thing!

The inspiration for this brainstorming equipment comes from American superhero movies in my past life, the guy who held two guns and flapped two steel wings on his back!

"Hmm? What's this button..." Barella curiously pressed a small button on the left side of the chestplate, and with a snap, two large brown objects popped out.

The wings that come out from her back are clearly defined, and they're even translucent, as for what the wings are made of, do you all still remember my first expedition with Melon and Grace? Yes! It's the wings of the [Gigantic Wasp Queen]!

I'm sorry, I didn't have time to make those super cool movable bird wings for now, so I'm using this as a substitute.

Let's call it the [Wing of The Wasp] for now?

"Wow!?! What an amazing feeling..." Barella herself seemed to have no complaints.

"Alright, now put this on." I took out a safety helmet from the [Inventory] and casually put it on Barella's head.

"Hmm? Is this a helmet? It's a bit light."

Seeing Barella's appearance, I couldn't help but want to laugh. She looks like a crooked Buzz Lightyear from the story Toy Story... I mean, to put it directly, She looked more like a fly. It seems that insect wings weren't such a good idea.

"Senior!" Just then, Tanaya walked in. "Sister Risha is out of clothes, and Sister Grace asked me to remind you not to go out."

"...?" I was instantly speechless. Am I really that untrustworthy in their eyes!?

And... What kind of princess loses all her clothes and pants due to a card game penalty!?

I can imagine her father, the king, crying in the bathroom should he know of this.

"Chuckle." Barella couldn't help but laugh.

What are you laughing at, you annoying keg!

"Come on, Tanaya, I'll let you see the mixed application of [Redstone] and Magic Stone technology." I reached out to invite Tanaya.

She's very interested in [Redstone], of course, she happily ran over. Ah, little Loris are really great... ahem.

"Now, Barella, I need to tell you that if anything unexpected happens during the test, just press the biggest red button on your chest."

The function of that red button is not only to forcibly stop the [Redstone] power output but also to deploy a parachute.

"Oh, okay, got it." Barella nodded.

Wait for it, you just mocked me, and you'll face karma immediately.

"Now, input a bit of magic into this chestplate, just a little bit."

"Okay, then..." The next moment, Barella disappeared.

Wood chips flew down from above, and Tanaya and I both raised our heads. The beautiful night sky shone through the large hole in the ceiling, reflecting in our eyes.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa——!!!!!"

Huh, how weird, I seem to hear a feminine cry out in the sky.

Must be my illusion

Still, the night sky tonight is really beautiful.