Chapter 257: Solitary ind discovered


    Having confirmed that there was no continent or ind to the east of the Demon Continent, we headed southward and cruised.


    We estimate surveying the surroundings of the Demon Continent to take three days. On the first day of our trip, we spent the night suspended in the air with a barrier up, then we resumed our exploration at the break of dawn.


    Staying 300m afloat and stationary requires some magic power, but if the members aboard replenish it in their spare time, there’s no issue.


    「Let’s sweep the east side for the old Sydnia and explore a little further?」


    「Indeed. It might be enjoyable to go around the world slowly after resolving that mess.」


    Midway through moving from the east side of the Demon Continent to the South, I surveyed the surroundings from the cockpit as Sophia and I chatted to kill time.


    「The sparkling sea is pretty.」


    「The fish are jumping nya!」


    Akane and Lulu-chan also seemed to be having fun gazing out the small round port light.


    The Ouranos’ body lookedpact from the outside, but the space inboard was expanded, so it isn’t cramped even with the entire party participating. The private rooms are fully equipped with shower and toilets, and in themon room, there are sofas with enough space for everyone to rx.


    「Uh, I think those are too big to call “fish”, Lulu.」


    「There’s more to eat if it’s big nya.」


    From 300m high, fish could clearly be seen jumping on the surface of the sea. Lulu-chan reaction waspletely unexpected to Akane who was surprised at being able to imagine the size of those giant fish.


    「We will ask Master (Husband) next time, it might be fun to fish with everyone.」


    「Marnie-san! I want to fish nya!」


    Theke around the base was just made, so nothing was living in it yet. Fish-lover Lulu-chan seemed to think that it was really disappointing not being able to eat fish there.


    The Ouranos’ steering has now switched to autopilot. Even though I said autopilot, it only has a built in golem that follow simple instructions, such as to maintain the specified altitude and speed, and fly towards the destination without hindrance. Because of that, Laeva and I don’t have to keep staying in the cockpit.


    While taking turns to search for a continent or ind, we ate, rested, and sometimes slept as we made our way to the south of the Demon Continent by flying over the south sea.


    In the end, we didn’t discover an ind or continent that stood out within the range of 700km out from the south of the Demon Continent.


    Then, as the third day of our nned exploration period wasing to an end, we discovered it 700km away from the west of the Demon Continent.


    「?! Takumi-sama! I found the silhouette of an ind!」


    Laeva, who was sitting in the copilot seat, shouted out that she found the silhouette of an ind far away.


    We who were rxing on the sofa rushed to look at the direction she pointed towards, and there it was, around 100km away. I reckon it’s over 800km from the Demon Continent.


    I instructed Laeva to drop the speed of the Ouranos.


    「Laeva, slow it down.」


    「It looks more like an ind than a continent.」


    「Could it be an uninhabited ind?」


    「An uninhabited ind nya?」


    「It means it’s an ind no one lives in.」


    The discovered silhouette was a somewhatrge ind. My intuition told me that it was the size of Shikoku[1]. If it’s an ind of that size, it has food and water, and if it had little threat of monsters, it would not be strange for people to inhabit it.


    As we got closer to its silhouette, we were able to see a panoramic view of the ind.


    「Could it be a volcanic ind? It has quite a high mountain.」


    「The foot of the mountain has a dense jungle too.」


    「Does it have a warm climate? Or, could it be the tropics?」


    From the Ouranos that slowed down, the ind we saw had a mountain 5000m above sea level enshrined in the middle of it, and at its base grew a dense jungle. We also confirmed there were several rivers.


    「There’s not much t ground. Could there be people living there?」


    「I believe it is possible, with exception to the Human race.」


    We did ap around the ind with Ouranos on stealth mode, researching the size and terrain of the ind, and searching for traces of inhabitation.


    Based on my magic perception, the jungle also had monster nests, but not all of it was. It might be hard for the monsters there to cross the ocean over to the Demon Continent or anywhere else.


    「It does not look to be as harsh as the Demon Continent, though it might be difficult to cross the ocean over to the Demon Continent or anywhere else. 」


    「You’re right. There are manyrge aquatic monsters, after all.」


    That means it’s highly likely it’s an uninhabited ind. Just when I thought so and wondered if this was a fool’s errand, Maria pointed her finger and shouted.


    「Takumi-sama! Please look over there!」


    「……are those caves?」


    On the slope of the mountain at the center, it looked like there were several holes in the treeless rockface.


    「Laeva, move the Ouranos to a distance where we can check those holes.」


    「Understood!」


    Was it a den of monsters? Or traces of people? The Ouranos dropped in speed and drew closer.


    ***


    <strong>Footnotes:</strong>


    1. Shikoku is the smallest of Japan’s 4 main inds. It is 18,800 km2 in size.