In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 4 Read online

  Chapter I: The Encounter in the Desert

  “I’ve found it! It’s in the Rabbi Desert, southeast of the Sandora Kingdom!” We were all calmly eating our breakfast when suddenly the door burst open. Leen and Paula barged their way in, spouting a bunch of gibberish. Leen had a smile plastered to her face, one that was practically screaming “I did it!”

  “Beneath the sand! Stone pillars! Just like the Ruins of Nirya! It seems there are six ancient stone pillars with spellstones embedded in them. It’s just buried beneath the sand!”

  “Mmngh... that’s nice, I guess.” I replied while chowing down on my toast as Lapis poured me a fresh cup of juice. Breakfast gives you your daily burst of energy. It would be foolish to not eat it properly. Honestly, I didn’t really have time to listen to her ramblings during my morning routine.

  “...Sexy underwear.”

  “Fine, fine. Tell me about the Rabbi Desert.”

  Tsk... she remembers, then. She had made me promise, or rather... threatened me into promising her some skimpy underwear if I refused to search for Babylon with her.

  The mood in the room had taken a sudden shift when she brought it up, so I found it prudent not to indulge her. I had no choice but to grin and bear it.

  “Far south of Mismede, through the Sea of Trees, you’ll find the Burning Kingdom of Sandora. The Rabbi Desert is just south-east of that place.”

  “First the depths of the coastline, and now a blazing desert... Does the good doctor have it in for me?” She could see the future, so I was wondering if she was peeking in on me right at this moment. I shot an irritated glare upward, just in case.

  Then again, it’s been thousands of years... The landscape probably changed a lot, huh? I mean, she couldn’t really be that malicious, right? That was what I wanted to think, at least. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d be laughing at me if she was watching this unfold.

  “So we should head there, then?”

  “That’s right. We’ll go uncover more relics from a bygone age. I hope we find the library this time.” Leen was absolutely up and ready to get at it. I, on the other hand, didn’t really care all that much. I gave a reluctant, cursory glance toward Cesca.

  “What’s wrong, Master?”

  “Well, I’m just wondering if there’ll be another one of you thrown into the mix if we do go...”

  “A whole new realm of debauchery will open then, Master.”

  “That’s enough out of you.” She’s such a pain in the ass...

  I wondered what to do. My initial thought was just to leave it. After all, I’d already come this far without looking for them.

  But at the same time, I had made a promise to Leen, and the doctor had made a rather cryptic speech about the Phrase annihilating civilization, so there was that whole thing too.

  It was entirely possible that I’d need the power of Babylon to help me in some kind of catastrophic event. I definitely didn’t want to be caught with my pants down if that time ever came.

  “Alright, let’s do it. Cesca, prepare the garden.”

  “Yes, master.” Leen and Paula rejoiced, and everyone else stood up with smiles on their faces. They headed out the door, presumably to their own bedrooms.

  I suddenly remembered the houses that I had teleported from Reflet. They should’ve still been aboard the garden. I figured they’d have made for a nice holiday home, after I fixed it all up of course. They were pretty sizable too, so there’d be no worries about space.

  Okay, I’ll start fixing that place up while we ride over to the desert.

  We started riding the garden in Belfast, then headed as quickly as we could south of Mismede, toward the Burning Kingdom of Sandora.

  I figured that the speed of the garden was about on par with a commercial plane. Well, that was mostly a guess on my part. I’d never actually been on a plane in my life. Not that I had a fear of heights or anything like that, I’d simply never had the opportunity.

  “It will take about four hours until we reach our destination.” I couldn’t judge whether that was fast or not, but it was still a lot quicker than I had expected. Therefore, I decided to get to fixing up the vacant homes immediately.

  The houses had been moved to the corner of the garden. I opened up the door to the largest of the two, then stepped inside. Hm, it’s not bad at all. Guess cleaning the interior up will be enough for the time being.

  “I’ll handle everything upstairs,” Elze said, sounding almost excited.

  “Then I’ll take care of the kitchen and the dining room.”

  “I will take care of the living room, I will!”

  “Then I’ll be in charge of the landing and corridors. Touya, please handle the lighting and areas that require running water,” Yumina calmly decided.

  Wait, water... What do I do about the water? Wait, there’s a waterway running through the garden, right? Maybe I can make use of that.

  I headed toward the central control monolith and asked Cesca if she knew anything about where the water in the garden came from. As it happened, she did. The water was produced by an Artifact that the doctor had created a long time ago.

  I was shown to a fountain that produced a seemingly infinite supply of water that flowed down the canal waterway and spread all across the garden. At the end, the water was then cleansed of any impurities it may have picked up, and looped back around to the fountain.

  “Does the water last forever?”

  “No, there’s still evaporation, condensation, and such. But even if water escapes, the source will always produce a level amount.” Then it should be fine to draw water from here.

  “Can you drink it?”

  “Yes, it’s safe for human consumption.”

  Good, there’s no problem, then. I used the same method that I used back at the Silver Moon, installing a short pipe in the waterway. I decided to install the drainage pipe at the end of the canal. That was where the water was purest, after all.

  I went to see Linze, who was cleaning the kitchen, and used [Modeling] to create a sink while I was there. I made the sink out of mithril, so it shined with a lovely glow. Then, I installed a faucet that was connected to the primary water source with [Gate]. After that, I set the drainpipe to flow back into the canal as well.

  I turned the handle on the tap, watching on as water flowed out. Great, it works after all. Linze was surprised at first, but pretty quickly came to terms with the concept of turning a faucet on and off.

  After that, I made a toilet. A proper flushing one, as well. I definitely couldn’t afford to cut corners there. I didn’t connect the toilet drain to our canal, that would’ve been nasty. Instead, I connected it to the sewer at home.

  After that, I made a bath in the same way. I also made a shower. All-in-all, I was pretty satisfied.

  After finishing up all that work, I figured I’d set up the lighting. A few [Light Orb] enchantments seemed good enough, as they’d continue to light the place up for a few hours so long as they were topped up by magical power every so often. [Light Orb] was not a spell that drained much magic, so it was fine by me.

  After I was finished, I looked around and noticed that I hadn’t seen Leen or Paula anywhere for a while. After searching around a bit, I found them both. Sango, Kokuyou, Kohaku, and Cesca as well. They were crowded around the central monolith, watching something it was projecting.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I’ve noticed something troublesome. Escapees, perhaps... We’re near the Burning Kingdom, but this is still the harsh desert. There shouldn’t be people braving these wastes.” The projected screen showed the surface below. There were several f
eeble-looking people down there, walking unsteadily with a camel in tow. What little they wore was ragged and tattered, offering little protection against the blazing sun. There seemed to be about ten of them, but they certainly weren’t carrying enough provisions for that many people.

  “If they’re in trouble, we should help them, right”

  “Are you sure? What if you compromise us by revealing Babylon’s existence? They may be criminals, or brigands. It’s out of the ordinary to travel these sands on foot, you know? It’s a more nuanced call to make than simply helping them out of the goodness of your heart.”

  I see... That definitely is troublesome. Well, Yumina’s Mystic Eyes can determine whether or not they’re good people. But I’m not sure what I’d do if there was only one bad person amongst them... Leave them in the desert, maybe?

  “Let’s save them. We can always just use a [Gate] to send them to Belfast or Mismede, that way we won’t compromise the garden.” Still, I was unsure how to make contact without freaking them out. Just appearing before them through a portal of light wouldn’t really be good.

  “You may want to speed up your deliberation process.”

  “Why?” Cesca pointed at the screen, which was now showing the group under attack by a large monster.

  What the hell is that?! Is that a bug?! A big worm?! Its long body ended in a face that was practically all mouth, and the maw inside was lined with serrated teeth.

  “It’s a Sandcrawler. A magical beast that burrows beneath the desert, eating its prey along with the sand.” Leen muttered a brief explanation, her eyes fixed on the monitor. Three of the survivors had swords and axes, but their situation didn’t seem all that great. They didn’t seem especially skilled, and they didn’t have any magic users either. In moments flat, their camel was devoured, along with their supplies. They would surely be next on the menu.

  “I’m going!” As I spoke, I conjured up a portal of light and made it to the ground.

  I emerged from a portal in the air above the Sandcrawler, raining down bullets upon it with Brunhild. They weren’t ordinary bullets, either. They were my detonating bullets, freshly enchanted with [Explosion]. The Sandcrawler contorted in pain, bodily fluids spewing from its wounds.

  As I landed on the hot sand, I raised my right arm and recited the chant that Linze had taught me.

  “Come forth, Water! Feel My Blade, Both Cold and Clear: [Aqua Cutter]!” I shot off a pressurized blast of water toward what I assumed was the sandcrawler’s neck. It was split cleanly on impact. Oh gross, I definitely overdid it.

  White-green fluids oozed from the gaping wound and slowly pooled on the sand below. Still, it didn’t seem to die instantly, and spent a short time writhing and squirming before finally falling still.

  That is absolutely disgusting. I remembered reading that eels could survive without their heads, but the image was far more grotesque than I had thought. I made a mental note to burn the next Sandcrawler I met.

  I gave a disgusted look at the corpse while I holstered Brunhild. Before long, one of the survivors came over to me. They held a longsword and wore a hood, so I couldn’t see their face. It appeared to be a girl, though.

  “...Who are you?”

  “I’m Mochizuki Touya. I didn’t expect to encounter anyone out here in the desert, but I couldn’t stand by when I saw you were in danger.”

  “We’re in your debt. We would’ve died without your interference. My name is Rebecca, I’m an adventurer.” She took off her hood, exposing her face to the sun. She had tanned brown skin and ashen, shoulder-length hair.

  “Honestly, that was amazing. To take down such a beast like it was nothing...” An axe-wielding man approached from behind Rebecca. He, too, removed his hood. He was a tall, sturdy man with a small beard. There was a boy who seemed to be a bit younger than me standing next to him, panting heavily and attempting to carry a sword.

  Even at a glance, I could tell a weapon like that didn’t suit him. The blade was far too big for him.

  As I was pondering, he threw the sword to the side and got down on his knees at my feet.

  “Uh-Uhm, sir! Y-You used water magic before, didn’t you?! C-Can you please use it to make some water? Please!” I was taken aback by the sudden request, but I quickly understood the situation. These people were seriously dehydrated.

  Their camel must’ve held the last of their water reserves. Traveling across the desert now would surely be suicide for them.

  “Sorry for his behavior, but we do desperately need some water. We have no money right now, but we’d be indebted to you... If you could find it in your heart, that is...” Rebecca cut in on my thinking time. Guess I was taking too long to reply.

  “No, that won’t be a problem at all. I was just thinking about what kind of container I should make for it, that’s all.”

  “Hm?” I took out a small lump of iron with [Storage], then made a large bowl out of it with [Modeling]. I then used Water magic to fill it up with water. I knew that the desert heat would cause the water to warm or even boil, so I called forth several lumps of ice to counteract that.

  “Ooh!” Hearing the sound of trickling water, the others came shuffling over as I used the rest of the iron to make cups for everyone.

  It was clear as day from the way they desperately scrambled to fill their cups, as well as the way they gulped it down. They must have been parched.

  After a while, something strange occurred to me. There were ten survivors, all-in-all. Aside from the boy and the man, every one of them was female.

  Excluding Rebecca, all of the women had something in common. They all wore thick, black collars tightly bound around their necks. I wondered...

  Rebecca noticed my staring, and opened her mouth to speak. Her tone was grave.

  “It’s what you think. These girls are all slaves. We stole them all from a group of slavers...” I began wondering if Leen had been right. I might’ve just helped a group of thieves.

  ◇　◇　◇

  They called it a “Submission Collar.” Apparently it was a single Artifact in the old days, but the great sorcerers of Sandora successfully created a mass-produced version hundreds of years ago.

  Originally, it was used to enslave ferocious beasts that couldn’t be tamed, but over time it came to be used to enslave people as well.

  It started more innocently, being used to bind criminals into labor and servitude. But eventually slavery became the norm, and it wasn’t just the guilty who were forced into it. Those who had the collar clasped around their necks lost everything, becoming commodities themselves as a result.

  In that country, slavery was legal, and those in heavy debt could be taken as well as criminals. But naturally that led to a new kind of crime as well.

  Slaving merchants would ally themselves with brigands, conspiring to raid settlement for money, merchandise, and young women. The brigands would take whatever spoils they wanted, and the slavers got fresh new stock on the black market.

  After all, once the submission collar was around your neck, your free life was forfeit. You’d be registered with the merchant’s guild and formally recognized as a commodity. It seemed that the girls here, Rebecca excluded, were all in that category.

  The slavers had hired a female swordsman, a male axeman, and a young boy to help escort their product. These hires were named Rebecca, Logan, and Will. Apparently, the three were completely unaware that the goods they’d be escorting were people. They had listened to the slaves and heard their tragic story, so they chose to take up arms against the merchants in the name of justice. However, just as they made this decision, the slavers were attacked by brigands and killed fairly easily.

  Apparently they died rather unceremoniously, so it was all a little anticlimactic. Still, for those to have conspired with brigands to then be killed by them... Easy to think it was karma at work.

  Rebecca and the others dispatched the bandits, and then decided they would escort the slave girls out of the country. If they went
back to the guild, the girls would simply be transferred to a new master, after all. But traveling through the desert was the only way they could escape the country beyond the public eye. So they tried that, but got caught in a sandstorm, and the rest was history...

  “So that’s the story, eh?”

  “Yep, that’s about the whole thing.”

  I see... Seems they had some bad company... Human trafficking, huh. So that exists in this world too, then.

  Apparently the Burning Kingdom of Sandora didn’t have much interaction with other nations, and preferred to preserve its own culture. That made sense to me. It was beyond even Mismede, past a great sea of trees and a desert so boiling hot that even a rock on the ground could scald you.

  “So, about this submission collar...” From what I was told, the collar would wrack the slave’s body with pain and give them a horrific death if they tried too hard to remove it. That was goddamn messed up. The person designated as master by the collar could no longer be refused or attacked, either.

  All their master would have to do is think “come back to me” and the slave would have no choice but to return. If they did not, agony would rip through their bodies.

  Only the designated master could remove the collar, too. But these girls were enslaved to the merchant who had died in the brigand attack. In other words, they couldn’t have their collars removed at all. If they returned to the merchant’s guild, they’d simply be sold off to a new master. They wouldn’t ever taste freedom unless that master decided to let them go.

  An idea suddenly formed in my mind, but I wasn’t sure if it would work...

  I thought about trying to use [Apport], but I wasn’t certain about the size.

  Women’s necks were slender, though... It was just a matter of whether or not I could squeeze one in my hand. I grabbed my own neck with both of my hands to get a feel for it. I figured it’d be fine, since my neck was definitely thicker than a woman’s. Plus, if it didn’t work, nothing would happen, so there was no harm in trying.

  “I might have a way to get those collars off.”

  “What?”

  “You serious?!” Will’s reaction was considerably more excited than Rebecca’s. He stared at me, eyes wide with hope and wonder.