Seawater Is Salty

"Got everything?"

"I've checked. We're all set, Master."

"We're heading out before dawn. Leaving this early feels special!"

"I'm sleepy…"

About three days had passed since they returned to the shop. With that much time, most of the accumulated odd jobs had been taken care of.

Yohane verified the inventory, decided the rest could be left to the staff, and entrusted the shop to his employees once more.

He'd had Azu and the others take on some easy extermination quests in between to earn a bit of pocket money.

In practice, safe hunting was efficient and profitable.

It was true that dangerous hunts yielded greater rewards.

But high-risk, high-reward always catches up to you eventually.

Injuries, or envy from others over your success, and so on.

Safe hunting didn't carry those risks.

You could roughly calculate the returns in advance, and fatigue was minimal.

In the end, it was more profitable.

The ideal would be turning high-reward work into low-risk work, but they were still far from that.

So he had Azu and the others take on easy jobs, making sure they didn't get hurt.

He told them the money would go toward the vacation, which kept their motivation up.

Yohane wanted to make the vacation a lavish one since it was a special occasion, but spending too much out of pocket would inevitably tighten his purse strings.

This approach was the result of balancing those considerations.

And so, they were finally off to the sea.

The sea they were heading to was commonly known as the Red Sea within the kingdom.

The name supposedly came from the abundance of red fish caught there, though that was just one theory.

The currents were calm, seafood plentiful, and the scenery beautiful.

It was said that many conflicts had erupted over this sea in the past.

Now the kingdom had firmly established control, earning revenue through tourism.

As such, regular carriages ran from the capital to the Red Sea.

The roads were well-maintained, and foot traffic was heavy.

Since they had their own carriage, there was no reason to cram into one of those crowded scheduled services.

That would be far more exhausting than driving themselves.

Even though they were heading to the sea, the road had its dangers, so they'd brought weapons aboard the carriage as well.

"Riding in a packed carriage to the sea has its own charm though, don't you think?"

"Then go by yourself."

"It's no fun alone… I mean it'd be great with the four of us."

"I don't mind either way. If anything, I'd rather travel in comfort."

"Well, we can stretch our legs at least."

As she said that, Azu stretched out her legs in the cargo bed.

With the usual seating space free, it felt open and spacious.

This time they were just traveling. The cargo bed was nearly empty to keep their travel speed up.

Azu and the others had their personal bags, but it wasn't much.

"I guess you're right. More people would make it cramped."

"Exactly. They pack people in to the limit, which slows the whole thing down."

Yohane recalled his previous experience.

The sea itself had been nice, but the journey there had been nothing but misery.

Now, though, they could travel in their own carriage.

That alone made buying it worthwhile.

"I've never swam before. Will I be okay?"

When Azu asked with a worried look, Alexia turned around and answered.

"You have a Water Elemental dwelling within you, so if anything, you're the one with the least to worry about. No matter how rough the sea gets, the water around you would stay calm."

"Oh, so that's what she can do…"

Azu touched her right eye with her right hand.

The Water Elemental appeared and circled around Azu as if to confirm what Alexia had said.

"I've swam in rivers before, but if anything happens, maybe I'll have Azu-chan save me."

"Hopefully it won't come to that, but understood."

"Sea monsters are scarce this time of year, so I don't think you need to worry too much."

Yohane joined the conversation while flipping through a guidebook.

"Could I see that too?"

"Here. I've already read it, so pass it around."

"Thanks. Though, aren't you the one looking forward to this the most?"

"Am I?"

He said that as he handed the guidebook to Alexia, but there was no mistaking his good mood. He'd been humming a tune and was visibly cheerful.

Seeing Yohane like that, Azu couldn't help but smile.

The journey was uneventful, with no monster attacks, and Alexia's magic helped them cover a great deal of distance quickly.

The trip from Kassad to the Red Sea normally took about a day and a half by regular carriage with an overnight camp, but the horizon came into view before sundown.

"Is that the sea?!"

Azu leaned forward onto the driver's seat in her excitement to get a better look.

Yohane lent her a hand, and she hopped up to sit beside him.

"That's right. Pretty vast, isn't it?"

"Yes. The blue water stretching out endlessly… it's beautiful."

"By the way, don't drink the seawater."

Yohane told Azu with a sly grin.

"Why not? I wasn't planning to drink raw water since it upsets your stomach, but still."

"Fair point. You do know about that sort of thing. The answer is it's salty. The sea has salt dissolved in it, and just a lick will give you a salty taste."

"… Master. You're teasing me, aren't you? There's no way that much water could have enough salt dissolved in it to actually taste salty."

"Oh? Bold claim. Then if it turns out to be true, how about you eat a shaved ice in one go?"

"I don't know what shaved ice is, but fine. Just because I'm ignorant about some things doesn't mean you can fool me every time."

The moment Azu scooped up seawater with her hands and put it in her mouth upon arriving at the shore—

She looked at Yohane with an indescribable expression.

Seawater dribbled ungracefully from the corner of her mouth.

Elza and Alexia were already struggling to hold back their laughter, and Yohane had already purchased a shaved ice from a beach house that was about to close for the day.

True to her word, Azu ate the shaved ice in one go and ended up clutching her head.