Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

Satou here. When I think of a beach, I picture a seaside house. If you’re going to play at the beach, grilled squid, corn on the cob, curry with no ingredients, and soggy ramen are must-haves. To make that happen, I first need to find some corn.

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We departed from off the coast of Count Kirik’s Domain and by the second day reached the waters near the trading city of Tartumina. If we docked there directly, we’d have to keep the ship anchored in the harbor, so last night we landed on a deserted beach and switched to a horse-drawn carriage.

The horses seemed happy to be back on solid ground after a long time.

Perhaps because there are many monsters around here, there are no human settlements nearby. But there’s a desolate highway just beyond a mountain, so I plan to use that route to head from the trading city toward the labyrinth city’s main road.

“Master, marching at night is dangerous. I request a training exercise on the beach.”

“Fireworks~?”

“Fireworks are best! The shuwa sound is nice, but the crackling ones are better!”

“Hmm.”

The training Nana mentioned referred to fireworks.

It might attract monsters’ attention, but if they come close, we can just wipe them out.

I cast the requested “Fireworks Illusion” spell on the short staffs I had given everyone.

“Kururun~”

“Pretty.”

Tama and Mia twirled around on the beach holding sparklers in both hands.

“Watch carefully!”

“Okay!”

Arisa and Lulu were playing a game where they used fireworks to write letters in the dark. The afterimage apparently made the letters visible. I thought they’d write things like ‘I love you’ or ‘LOVE,’ but Nana kept writing bizarre messages like ‘When’s the date?’—a little too out there. I wish she would learn from Lulu’s normal ‘I love you’ messages.

“I want a chick firework.”

Nana?

“I want a chick firework.”

She said it twice. She must really want a chick. I had no clue what that firework would look like, so I made the short staff produce a sparkly chick-shaped firework. It wasn’t a preset pattern, so it took time to prepare, but I worked hard to satisfy expressionless Nana, whose eyes showed excitement.

“It’s a wonderful chick. Master, it disappears if you touch it.”

“It’s an illusion.”

Touching it right away—what a handful. If it weren’t light magic, she’d probably have burned herself. I cast the same spell on the short staff again and warned her not to touch it.

I enjoyed some simple sparklers with Liza.

“They are nice.”

“Yes, indeed.”

I cast sparklers on Arisa and the others who had gathered without us noticing.

Unsightly monsters approached from the sea and forest, but before they got within Tama’s detection range, I repelled them with “Remote Stun Bullets.” In games, monsters would attack precisely, but their sensing abilities here aren’t that sharp. After a few hits to their noses with the stun bullets, they seemed either creeped out or cautious and retreated to the sea and forest.

The next morning, unable to resist the lure of the beautiful beach, we enjoyed a swim. We weren’t in a rush, but if we stayed longer, we’d be camping for days. So we wrapped it up by noon and resumed our journey.

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“What’s with this carriage? No jolts—it feels weird.”

Complaining even without jolts? What a pain.

This carriage isn’t a covered wagon like before but a small box carriage you’d ride in town. Not only does the undercarriage have self-propulsion, but the bottom of the passenger section is equipped with a thin aerodynamic engine. Its output is low, so at maximum power it can only fly a few meters off the ground briefly. Still, maintaining about 10 centimeters of constant levitation absorbs shocks perfectly. The undercarriage remains on the ground, so from the outside it looks like a normal carriage.

The passenger car and driver’s platform are fully separated, so every two hours we rotate the people in these seats. Now, Tama is with Lulu as the coachman, and Nana and Liza are fully armed, riding alongside.