But it's amazing. This water polo. We won't even have to go down to the river.

It's nice to see the water flowing slowly in the water polo. It's really like a river and it's nice and cold.

　Thor and Asmo, clad in water polo, are talking as they walk by the river.

　The silhouette is amazing, probably because it is covered from the chest to the thighs by the water polo.

　If I were to compare it to a creature with arms and legs growing out of a ball, I'd say it's a creature with arms and legs growing out of a ball. The more I look at it, the more it looks like a strange creature.

　The first time Thor and Asmo saw me, they both looked at me delicately.

　But Asmo is the only one who looks the same silhouette as usual. Is it because of his chubby body shape?

What's going on, Al?

　I guess he noticed that I was staring at him, and Asmo turns around.

''Well no, I just thought Asmo didn't look out of place wearing a water ball.

Does that mean my belly is bulging like a water ball?

'Hahahahahaha!　I ain't wrong!

　Hearing Asmo's words while exuding anger, Thor claps his hands and laughs.

　Asmo, perhaps not liking Thor's attitude, makes a miffed expression.

　Then, nose-to-nose, he approaches Thor and begins to smack the water ball that Thor is wearing with his hand.

　The water from the water ball that is clothed in Thor makes the ground emptily wet.

'Hey!　You stop it!　You're going to drain my water polo!　If you're in the mood, we'll do it too!

　Thor noticed that his water ball was diminishing, so he began to bash Asmo's water ball with a bash to reduce Asmo's water in defeat.

　Each time the two of them exploded with slaps and chops, the water in each other's water poles was decreasing.

　Hey, haven't you forgotten that I'm the one who maintains the water polo?

　I can make sure that the two of you don't lose any water polo when you get beaten up if you want to, but I don't think I'm going to devote any effort to these ugly altercations. Fight to your heart's content now.

　But is it because he looks like a mascot character?　

　The ugly conflict between Thor and Asmo looks somewhat cute. It's a strange thing, isn't it?

　As I'm looking on, somewhat smiling, Thor, who was hitting the water polo, suddenly kicks out.

'Eat it!'

'Ah!　Thor, you threw sand on it!

'Hehehe!　That's the end of your water polo. I hope you're clad in dirty, sandy water!

Pfft.

'Whoa!　Unbelievable!　He spit on my water polo!

'Hahaha!　You can keep wearing my saliva-laced water ball.

"Seriously, it's dirty!　Hey, how do we get these off?　I don't want to keep wearing a mixture of Asmo's spit or anything!

　I take back my previous statement. I knew these guys' conflict was ugly.

　Thanks to the water polo, it looks pretty on the outside, but these guys' hearts seem to be as dirty as dirty water polo.



　◆



　Perhaps it was because of Thor and Asmo's lame fight that the water polo got dirty.

　With sand and spit. You wouldn't want to wear a water polo with such a mixture of things, no matter how much.

　Sure enough, Thor and Asmo demanded that I replace the water polo.

'Next time you get dirty again, I won't make a water polo, okay?

Hey!

　Do we really know?　The two of them have a feeling that they're going to try again, given their antics.

'Do you really know what you're doing?　If we didn't have water polo, we'd have to walk down the street in the heat of hell again, all sweaty, right?

"'I'm sorry!　I won't do it again!

　I guess I remember how hard it was to get here, but Thor and Asmo huff and pause uprightly to reply.

　I nodded that this would be good, and I let them both wear water polo again.

''Yes, now show me where the slime is, then.

All right. All we have to do now, though, is walk by the river.

'The slime around here tends to be near the river.

　I say that and follow them as they begin to walk.

　The individuals around here seem to live near the river. I wonder if they are still active around places with lots of food?　And the river attracts all sorts of creatures.

　But slime is an omnivore that eats everything, so it's hard to say that. Each creature that lives in rivers, mountains and plains is different, and slime may have its own food preferences.

　Thinking about this, I look for the slime.

　As we walked, we looked for the slime, but it was hard to find it.

　From the way Thor and Asmo talked about it, it seemed like we could find it if we walked enough, but what happened?　

　Could it be that you are buying time with a single-minded desire to skip work for a long time?

Hey, Thor. There's no slime?

'Huh?　Why aren't you here?　I should be able to walk around here and find one or two of them easily.

It's weird that he's always there.

　However, looking at Thor and Asmo, they didn't seem to be thinking about such things. They seemed to be looking for the slime normally.

　I showed them around, but there was no slime at all, and they seemed a bit impatient.

'He's not where he usually is. I wonder what's going on?''

It's funny, isn't it?

　While I'm talking to them, Thor and Asmo are looking for the slime.

　Asmo is checking the bushes in the blind spot, but there is no slime there either.

　The two of them nodded their heads in agreement.

　I searched for a while like that, but I couldn't find a single slime.

It's a pain in the ass, but let's go back to the forest on the other side. I think we can find them there.

'Yes. I can't seem to find them here.

　That's the other side of the river we're on. If it weren't for Thor and Asmo, I wouldn't hesitate to use the transition.

　As I'm thinking about this, Thor scratches his head and says, a little apologetically, "I'm sorry.

'Al, I'm sorry, can I go back?'

I'll be in the woods on the other side from here.

Uh-huh. Fine, but...

Yeah?　Okay, but what?　Are you in trouble for time?

'There's something weird about Thor and Asmo asking others like that.

I'll fix it.　

　When Thor and Asmo come out poorly, it's usually when they're thinking about locks. You can't blame them for thinking that.

　Thor and Asmo yell at each other, then turn their backs and start walking down the road to the village.

　That would be a "follow me" thing to do.

　I figured it out and laughed a bit as I followed Thor and Asmo.

　We are going to go through the forest on the other side of the river via the village of Coriat to look for the slime.

　Of course, we didn't neglect to look for the slime on our way to the village. There could be slime in the ditches and plains of the fields.

　We walk down the road, keeping our eyes peeled for them.

　The sun is getting stronger in the afternoon, but it's cooler than ever, thanks to our water polo shirt. It's a far cry from when we first set out for the river.

　Thor and Asmo also feel the gratitude of this, and they mutter in admiration.

You can see once again how great this water polo is. It's cool to walk down the street in the f*cking heat.

I feel like I've been in the river forever.

　Asmo is exactly right. We're walking in the hot sun, but we feel like we're in a river. The sun is hot, but we can protect ourselves sufficiently from it by pouring water on our heads.

　If you want to protect yourself completely, you can wrap some cloth around your head or wear a hat.

'Oh, it's Master Alfried and the kids - but what are they wearing?

　The villagers working in the fields seem to have noticed us.

　They look as if they've seen some curious creature.

'Hm?　What's wrong with those three?

'No, there's some kind of round water on it...'

It's true. There's some round water on there. What's going on?

　The villagers are tilting their heads to see if they don't understand how this magic works.

　I'm just floating a water ball and controlling it.

　Despite the odd looks we get, we walk through the Koliat village.

　However, Thor and Asmo suddenly veered off the path and started to proceed to the grass path.

''Huh?　Where are you going?　This is the way to the woods on the other side, right?

　I asked in wonder, while Thor and Asmo looked at me.

You might see me and Asmo's mom down that way, right?

You don't know what they'll say if they find you, so you have to bypass them.

　Ah, it's true that if you go straight down this road, you'll find the fields of the Thor and Asmo families.

　I don't know if Murat-san and Dorothea-san will be working in the fields all the time, but the odds are good that they'll meet.

　I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who would like to know what's going on.

　They've both done some shady things. They won't bring you back, but if you meet them, you'll be in trouble.

'All right. Then let's go around.

　I can relate to those circumstances very well, so I nod my head honestly.

　I often try to avoid Elinora's sister, too. But I always manage to catch her with my mysterious sensing ability, though.