Chapter 474: At Coupu (2/2)

＊　　　＊　　　＊

The next morning, the 25th of July, the party left Hourai Island at 7:20 AM just as planned.

Stearleana had prepared some bread to take with her as a souvenir, and had Selene carry it for her. Of course, it was a fluffy bread made with yeast. And she had used other ingredients as well.

Furthermore, everyone was wearing a ring, which was also a Magic Tool that was able to unleash a weight-reducing spell, similar to Jin’s bracelet. Laojun had managed to produce them in a rush.

The Falcon 1, which they had already dispatched the day before, landed safely on the sandy shore. Then, Jin and the others used its Warp Gate to reach the west coast of Coupu.

The local time was 3 AM. Since it was summer, it wasn’t cold, but it was so dark that it was impossible to do anything outside.

The party considered activating the Falcon 1’s invisibility barrier and simply taking a nap inside. But then, thinking that would make it pointless to have arrived at such a weird time, they decided to walk leisurely towards Coupu.

Reiko and the other automata and golems were fine walking in the dark, so Jin and the others decided to walk hand in hand each with their own attendant. That way, they wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught in the sand and tripping over.

While resting at times, after walking for about two hours, dawn came, and they were able to see the town of Coupu together with the sunrise. The weather was a little cloudy.

“The west side is a shallow sandy beach, so it is not suitable for fishing. There are many rocky shores on the east side, so there should be fishermen’s boats there.”

While listening to Stearleana’s explanation, Jin remembered about Marcia, the shipbuilder he met in Potlock, back in the Elias Kingdom.

He nostalgically remembered how she would go fishing early in the morning in order to earn money to cover both her living and boat expenses.

“We’ve finally arrived. Well done, everyone.”

When Stearleana’s voice brought Jin back to the present, he realized that he wasn’t standing on sand, but on solid ground.

“My acquaintance’s house is a little farther ahead.”

With Stearleana leading the way, the party entered the town of Coupu.

There were many stone houses that looked a little like the ones in Potlock. Jin wondered if this was some kind of countermeasure against the sea breeze.

“These building stones… They’re not oya tuff stone, but sandstone? But sandstone crumbles easily…?”

Sandstone is a building stone created by piling up sand, and it is easy to process because it has coarse particles and is soft, but it also weathers down easily. However, it’s very good at preserving indoor temperature.

On Earth, the city of Florence, in Italy, is famous for having most of its old townscape made out of sandston, which still stands to this day.

Jin thought that they would come crumbling down easily, but as he laid his hand over a wall, he found it to be surprisingly firm.

“Ah, a ‘Toughen’ spell has been applied to these.”

Jin was quickly convinced by Stearleana’s explanation.

“Here we are. I wonder if she’s already up.”

The time was 5:30 AM at the time.

It was a house in an alley just off the main street. It was just as big as a typical house for the common folk of Coupu. It had two floors, and seemed to have about 5 rooms, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen.

For a knocker, a wooden board is hung at the entrance, which would be hit with a small mallet to notify the visitor.

The board made a dry sound when Stearleana hit it with the mallet. The door was opened shortly after.

“Long time no see, Vi.”

“Ah, Stearly! What a pleasant surprise! It truly has been a long time! What are you up to today?”

She was a woman that looked a bit like Stearleana but also seemed slightly older than her. She had bright platinum blonde hair that looked a bit like grey hair, and dark brown eyes. She was a little shorter than Jin.

“I’ve come to show some friends around. Sorry to show up so early, though…”

“Don’t worry about it! I’m glad you brought friends, Stearly. Welcome to Coupu, everyone! Come on in!”

The woman Stearleana had called Vi invited Jin and the others into her house.

There was a nice smell in the air. It seemed that she was in the middle of preparing breakfast.

“Everyone, this is Vivian. She’s a childhood friend of mine.”

When Stearleana tried to start to introduce her friend, Vivian quickly interrupted her.

“Wait a moment. Let me finish getting things ready. Umm… What to do? I can manage with this much soup, but I don’t have enough bread…”

“Ah, I’ve brought some bread as a present.”

“Really? That’s great! Well then, please take a seat, I’ll be with you all shortly.”

In Vivian’s kitchen, there was a table so big that everyone could take a seat and there would still be room for more people.

Stearleana took the bread that she had given to Selene for holding and cut it into pieces for everyone.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Vivian laid a large pot of soup on the table.

“Oh?”

Jin was a little surprised to see the soup.

That red color, that unique scent…

No matter how he looked at it, it was tomato soup.