Al, is it like that?

Yeah, yeah. Something like that.

　Asmo waded through the water, kicking dexterously as he made his way through the water.

　I showed him a sample and he seemed to get the hang of it within a few minutes.

　On the contrary, the other guy.........

'Whoa!　Sinking!　Ugh, ha, my nose is watering........!

　It hadn't gone more than a few meters before it sank.

'Oh, Al!　Give me a board!　Drowning!

Yes.

　Thor is about to drown on his own, so I throw the board over to him.

　He managed to use his arms and legs to move around and lean against the board, and then he said, "I don't think he's going to learn to swim at all.

Thor never learned to swim, did he? Asmo can swim like that,

　I pointed to Asmo, who had mastered the art of breaststroke and was swimming smoothly. Now he can do the breaststroke like a doggy paddle, being able to keep his face in the water all the time.

'How come that fat guy can float and I, who's light, can sink?

　Asmo must have heard Thor's blabbering, because Asmo turns around and comes over to us.

'It doesn't matter how heavy or light you are when you can swim!

'Wow!　Don't try to take away the board because of the wow!　I can't swim yet!

　You're right, Asmo has proven brilliantly that the difference in weight doesn't matter. However, I can say that it's because Asmo was originally an athletic guy.

'd*mn it, why am I sinking?'

'It's because my limbs are disjointed and my ability to scratch and kick water is weak,'

　Besides, they are trying to take in too much air, or they are trying to raise their bodies too much. It's only natural that you would sink.

I get it. You just need to wade harder and kick it!

　I give him some advice, and Thor dives down again to try the breaststroke, but he's still disjointed and can't catch his breath with a bang.

　But his arms and legs are still disjointed, and he sinks to the bottom before he's gone more than a few meters, unable to catch his breath.

　It's like watching a frog that can't swim very well.

'Hey, Al!　Help!

　As I watched from a distance with that thought, I saw Thor struggle to get help. It can't be helped, so I use my psychic to hand him the board.

''Buh-ha!　I can only go a little further.

'You won't learn to do it that quickly. You just have to practice until you get the hang of it.

Well, I'm an athletic guy and it didn't take long!

　As I'm comforting Thor like that, Asmo is agitated as he swims leisurely away in front of me.

　His words and expression are still hateful. Even though I know the words weren't directed at me, I'm getting a little annoyed.

'd*mn it!　I'm going to learn to swim for sure!

　Thor shouts that and starts to dive into the water again.

　I'm going to be the one who assists him not to drown, so I'll have to take care of him all the time.

　For now, I'll have him learn the breaststroke and also the standing stroke to prevent himself from drowning.



　◆.



　I patiently followed Thor's practice for a while.

'I got it!　We got it, Al!　I could swim to the middle of the pool!

　It wasn't quite from one end to the other, but finally Thor was able to swim to the middle of the pool consistently.

'It's true. He couldn't even go three meters, which is an improvement from the beginning.

'Haha!　Don't tell me that's a long time ago.

　It's not even an hour ago that I was talking about the old days. Well, for someone who has learned to swim somewhat better, the days when he couldn't swim at all and was an abomination are a bit of black history.

　Even now, though, Thor's swimming is somewhat awkward and dangerous to watch. Well, he's learned to do the standing stroke and simple flapping now, so I don't think he'll drown so easily. The only thing left to do now is to fine-tune and learn them by myself.

'Oh!　There's a big puddle of something!

'Hmm, I guess they made it out of magic from the presence of Master Alfried.

　Now that Thor's instruction was over, we were about to take a short break when Roomba and Gates came in from downstream of the river.

'Hey, Al. What are you doing?

We used to magically create a wide river or something like that to play in and cool off in.

Oh, that's great. This one doesn't have any rocks. It's bigger.

Can we come in?

Yeah, sure.

　I nod and Roomba and Gates take off their clothes in a flash.

　If it's a kid, but when it's two muscular old men, the disgustingness jumps many times over.

''Oooh, let's go in then.''

Oh!

　They walk up to each other without hiding their crotch at all. Their imposing steps make me feel that they are two warriors of the past.

''........Wow. That Rumba guy, he's a monster.

I've never seen anything like it.

　Thor and Asmo are fighting in fear that they've seen Rumba's crotch.

　I know this because I even took a bath with them when I was in Kagura.

　I don't want to look at it too seriously and give an explanation, but let's just say that Lumumba's crotch is also Lumumba-sized.

'Pfft, on the contrary, what's Gates'? "Puh-leeze, what's Gates'? Isn't it bent like a chin?

'Don't laugh at people's crotches and chins!　That's rude!

　Gates jumps over to us, probably because he heard Thor make a fool of himself.

'Whoa!　My jaw is flying!　Run!

　Chin is a terrible thing. I've played with Gates' jaw too, but I've never said anything that direct.

　At any rate, I leave to avoid getting involved, and Gates lands in the water where we were.

　Huh?　Speaking of which, I wonder if Gates can swim?　This place is quite deep, unlike a normal river... well, if you're an adventurer, you should at least master swimming...

'Whoa, whoa, whoa!　What the hell is this?　Bad girl, your foot!　It's not going to get you anywhere!

　He wasn't there. Gates, with his face - or rather, his chin - out of the water, struggled to move his limbs with a bashfulness.

"Hahaha, what's up with that old man Gates? You're a former adventurer and you can't swim!

　Thor laughs, pointing at Gates, laughing at himself, even though he couldn't swim an hour ago.

'Bo, just because you're an adventurer doesn't mean you can swim!　I avoid dangerous places in the water--Abobo, help me with that.

'What?　But that old man Gates attacked me, right?　If I saved you and you get attacked, you're out of luck.

I won't attack you!　I won't attack you.　Dabobobobob!

It's no wonder!

　Thor lets Gates draw out the word that he won't attack you and then hands you the board.

　You're a demon.

　Ah, yes. Gates didn't make it, so Roomba is drowning as well.

'Ah, I knew it would feel good to be in the water.

　I hurriedly turned back to Roomba and saw him swimming in front of me, leisurely shoveling his dog.

'Huh?　Can the Rumba swim?

　I'm not sure if you can classify a dog paddle as being able to swim, but the Roomba is actually able to move around without sinking like this.

Oh, I learned to do that while playing in a big river while I was traveling.　I mean, you were swimming in Kagura when you were catching eels.

　I remember when Roomba said that.

　That's right. As I recall, Kojiro and I were swimming down the river in a swift manner, catching eels with our bare hands.

That's right. I see. You must have traveled a lot and learned to do this.

Well. Besides, we've been asked to take out the demons that live in the rivers and oceans, and if you can't swim, it's too much trouble.

　Huh?　Gates said something like you should avoid such places.

　When we heard Rumba's words, we turned our jittery gaze to Gates.

'Could it be, Gates. Did you make an excuse because you want to hide the fact that you are Kanazuchi?

You're pathetic!

No, no!　It was never an excuse!　To begin with, the terrain and the strength of the demons in the sea and rivers are a cut above the ground when you ask to take them down in the first place!　No one but adventurers with the strength of a rumba would go near it, or take the request.
I don't even have to be able to swim from!

　Gates rushes to defend himself when Asmo and Thor tell him.

'Is it true?　Rumba?

That's true. I'm sure you'll find it difficult to deal with the demons when they are in the water, because it's hard for us to move around. You have to be able to coordinate well with other people like the silver wind to defeat the demons in the sea and rivers.

　I ask, and Roomba states this while floating on his back with a puka-puka.

　Despite his appearance, what he says seems serious.

'So old man Gates can't swim because he's weak?

Oh, I just couldn't swim because I didn't have to.

　Thor's mindless words cause Gates to look like he's on the verge of throwing up blood.

"Don't do it, Thor. Compared to the monster Roomba, I feel sorry for Gates.

Because that means you too, right?　You wizard crier.

　I followed Gates, and for some reason, a disapproving voice flew in from Roomba.

　I've never really made a wizard cry, have I?

　Oh well. Let's enjoy the pool instead of all that right now.

　Watching Rumba float around made me want to do it too.

　I stop standing and fall backwards, relaxing.

　I spread my arms and legs out as if to bang, and in a huff I was able to float on my back.

　It was comfortable to just let the water flow through me, not against its power.

　I didn't feel tired anywhere. My whole body is wrapped up in the water and it feels good.

　I float on the water, looking out at the clear blue sky and white clouds.

'Dwaah!　Don't scare me, Al!　I thought you had a drowned body.

A drowning body is a terrible thing.

'No, but it was a bit scary to watch you floating around with those dead eyes next to you.

　I poke around and even Roomba, who is floating next to me, says something like that.

　Aside from Thor, Roomba says exactly what he sees, which is sad because he understands it to be true.

　Was my image floating in the water that drowned-like?

'But it looks kind of pleasant!　I could try that too!

Me too.

If I could just float, I could do it too.

　Then Thor, Asmo and Gates start imitating me and Roomba.

"Oh, this feels so good.

Oh, wait, why?　We're going down!　I mean, old Gates, don't hook up with me because it's disgusting!

'It can't be helped. You have to catch something or you'll drown.

　Like me and Roomba, Asmo seems to have been able to float beautifully because he's been able to spread his arms and legs and balance himself well.

'How can this hungry guy float and we sink?

　Thor blurts out, tapping hatefully on Asmo's swollen white belly.

　'Maybe there's actually a blob of air in there that makes it buoyant,' he says.

'If you spread your arms and legs and stick your belly out a bit, it's easier to float.

Really?

　As I advise them, Thor and Gates, who has been leaning against it, start to try it.

　Thor and Gates are floating on the surface with their arms and legs spread.

Oh, I'm floating!　This one's easy because I don't even have to swim!

It's like sleeping in a bed of water.

　Apparently they were able to float safely.

'Oh, that feels so good,'

Yeah.

　You don't have to swim in a large pool, especially in a large pool, just float. That's fine.

　Watching the flowing white clouds and relaxing in the cool water.

　This is a natural way to cool off without having to use ice magic every day. It's the first time in a long time that I've realized that.

Natural coolness isn't a bad thing, is it?