Atop a Tree That Reaches the Clouds (1)

Oh, Forestfolk-sama! Please, I beg you, don't fall!!!

I could hear the captain's worried voice from below the mast.

I had insisted on being allowed to climb up, but perhaps I had caused trouble.

But the wind atop the tallest mast of a ship sailing across the sea was so strong and invigorating that it made my heart soar.

Ah, now that I think about it, this is my first time aboard a ship at sea.

Looking down at the ship from above, I could clearly see what a broad, massive vessel it was.

A ship this large certainly couldn't enter a river.

The submerged part I couldn't see from above—the draft—must be deep as well.

Suddenly, a particularly powerful gust of wind blew.

It was strong enough that I thought an ordinary human might be swept away before they could react.

But I was a High Elf, so I only had to say that falling would be dangerous, and the wind wouldn't push me around.

Though my hair and cloak were blown about by the wind, the fact that my body remained unmoved must surely be a strange sensation from a human's perspective.

In my previous life, of which only hazy memories remain, I should have been human, but by now the sensations of a High Elf had become entirely natural to me.

But the culture of Fusang, the country I was heading toward, was remarkably close to that preserved in my memories of my previous life.

I wondered what I would see there, and what I would feel.

I was truly looking forward to it.

Below the mast, the captain was looking up at me as though he had given up, yet he still looked unable to stop worrying.

In fact, even if I happened to slip and fall by some one-in-ten-thousand chance, I could use levitation magic, but... well, that wasn't really the point.

It was about time I went back down.

Since this ship had been arranged for me as a favor, it wouldn't do to cause too much trouble and leave them with a bad impression.

Before climbing down, I looked straight ahead once more.

Fusang, my destination, was still nowhere in sight.

Going east through Yellow Ancient Province brought me to Azure Sea Province.

Continuing farther east through Azure Sea Province brought me to a large port.

At that port, I boarded a ship bound for Fusang, the island nation in the eastern sea.

The ship had been arranged by Ryusui Teikun, the emperor of the Yellow Ancient Empire, through Chouja Kou, the provincial king of Azure Sea Province.

Even so, I didn't board this ship until a full year after my final conversation with the Golden Dragon.

You see, it took me that long to process the scales the Golden Dragon had given me before he went to sleep.

Scales that couldn't be melted, crushed, or cut couldn't be the finest material unless I knew how to process them.

For example, they say diamonds were worth much less before the techniques for cutting and polishing them had advanced.

Even after borrowing the immortals' wisdom, I learned that they had apparently never received scales from the Golden Dragon before, so they could only scratch their heads in confusion.

Well, I tried all sorts of things, but I never figured out how much heat would be needed to melt them or how much force to apply to crush them, and I ended up spending a great deal of time on it.

Besides, the Golden Dragon's scales were far too large and conspicuous to carry around without processing them.

In the end, I solved it through sheer brute force: Byakubyo Rokun used a magic talisman to drastically reduce the scales' durability temporarily, and I cut them into small pieces with my magic sword.

Even then, judging by the resistance I felt, I had only just managed it.

During that trial and error, I discovered that the Golden Dragon's scales produced a powerful force when rubbed against mithril.

This was a truly interesting property. The force was similar to what had filled the space where the Golden Dragon slept, and part of it could even be used as magical power.

In other words, with mithril, Golden Dragon scales, and faerie silver to serve as a conduit for magical power, it should be possible to create a powerful magic item that anyone could use.

Of course, leaving faerie silver aside, both mithril and Golden Dragon scales were normally impossible to obtain.

The materials were far too precious, making a powerful magic item usable by anyone rather impractical.

I had a mithril bracelet and Golden Dragon scales, but magical power that wasn't mine and that I couldn't control was too dangerous to use casually in magic.

I had sewn the scales I cut into the lining of my cloak to make armor, while I put the rest in my backpack.

I'm sure I'll think of a good use for them someday.

I also had Peaches of Immortality stuffed into my backpack, so... perhaps my backpack currently contained the world's most valuable contents.

Of course, no one would ever guess it.

In the end, I decided to leave Saia in Yellow Ancient Province.

He had a mate, offspring, and a fortunate home, and I was too emotionally attached to Saia to take him along merely because his legs would make travel more convenient.

That might not be the proper attitude toward a horse, but I had known Saia since he was born, so I sometimes thought of him as a friend, or even as my child.

When Saia saw me set out and tried to follow me as though it were only natural, I nearly burst into tears.

Even so, I had decided to leave him behind.

That meant my journey through Fusang, which was about to begin, would once again be a solitary one.

Perhaps I felt a little lonely because I had particularly enjoyed traveling, swaying on Saia's back, all the way from the grasslands through the Yellow Ancient Empire, then through White River and Black Snow Provinces to Yellow Ancient Province.