Chapter 12: The statue of the Creator God and Return Stone?

  "Hmm..."

  ?

  I pyed with the Return Stone in front of the statue of the Creator God, racking my brains to see if there was any way to improve it.

  There is a distance limit when creating a Return Stone. This makes difficult to easily return to base. However, I will leave aside the opinion that just being able to use it to return home at command is already convenient enough.

  I always remove the creator god's statue except in pces I specifically want to keep a record of, but I do that to avoid the penalty of having a statue destroyed. And just because I removed it doesn't mean I can just make another statue nearby to get a new return stone. Experiments have shown that it takes about five days to create another return stone at that location.

  Based on this, I suspect that the Creator God's Statue is just a reference marker, and the actual mark or something acting like one is on the nd itself.

  I was thinking that if I could remove that mark or narrow the range, the distance limit on creating return stones would disappear, but... I have no idea how to do that and I'm at a loss.

  ?

  That said, there are some small improvements that I've made.

  Until now, when making a Return Stone I had to combine it with a magic stone that contained the magic power of the person I wanted to use the Return Stone, but now I can just turn the magic stone that contains the magic power directly into a Return Stone. It's a small step, but that saves me some time and I'm happy about it.

  I tried this method before but it didn't work, so I wonder if it's because my skill level has increased, or because everyone else's skill level has increased? ... Uru still can't infuse her magic power into magic stones, so I still can't make hers. I guess having too much power can be a problem. I hope she works hard to control it.

  But speaking of skill levels, Fricka, who prays every day when she's not traveling, still can't make a Return Stone, so I guess it's a miko-limited item.

  ?

  "Hello, Rion. You are diligent, aren't you?"

  ?

  "... Oh, Creator God-sama? Hello."

  ?

  It seems the Creator God had arrived while I was thinking about this and that. I was a bit surprised that there was no sparkly effects this time.

  But it's perfect, I thought I'd take this opportunity to ask the creator god about it.

  ?

  "Creation God-sama, is there a way to remove the restrictions on creating Return Stones? Especially the distance."

  ?

  The Creator God gave a wry smile at my sudden question.

  ?

  "Originally that statue is meant to collect prayers and make it easier for them to reach me, and serve as a ndmark for me to descend, it's not meant to be used in that way."

  ?

  "S-sorry?"

  ?

  I imagined the Creator God descending alone on the statue I had built solely for the purpose of creating the Return Stone, and that image made me feel a little sorry for it.

  But that's that, this is this.

  It's a convenient item that I can't help but use. Knowing I can quickly return home if something happens gives me peace of mind, and I'd rather be settled in a base than live an unstable life on the road.

  ?

  “Fufu, I’m not bming you. Do what’s best for you… That being said, it’s difficult to eliminate distance problem.”

  ?

  According to the Creator God's expnation, just as I had predicted, the marks are carved into the earth, and if they are too close to each other, they will interfere with each other... Or so I was told.

  So, what about being able to narrow the range of the marks or remove them? She said that in the former case they would no longer be strong enough to function as marks, and in the tter case they might have a negative impact on the nd.

  Hmm... If the tter is not possible, but what about the former?

  ?

  "So, even if it doesn't serve as a ndmark for the Creator God, if it serves as a ndmark for my Return Stone, will that solve the problem...?"

  ?

  "I see... That's true."

  ?

  I had no idea how to make it a reality, but Creator God gave a vague reply to the idea that I muttered aloud.

  Well, right, the statue was originally meant to gather prayers, so it does seem contradictory to make a statue that the Creator God can't detect. Couldn't I just make it into a different form of statue...?

  ?

  "Even so, none of the past miko have been able to solve this problem. There may not be many residents now, but if the vilges are close together, wouldn't it be inconvenient to be unable to move between them?"

  ?

  "In the first pce, only Rion can make one."

  ?

  "...... Huh?"

  ?

  No one else can make one but me?

  It's not a miko-limited item... but a me-limited...?

  ?

  As I stared at the Creator God in shock at the unexpected turn of events, she let out a small "Opps." and looked away.

  ... Was that a truth that would be inconvenient for me to find out!?

  ?

  "N-no, that's not the case."

  ?

  Having guessed what I was thinking the Creator God denies it, but if that's the case, why is she panicking so much...

  I stared at her and asked, "What do you mean?" She sighed in resignation and answered.

  ?

  "Rion's body was prepared by me... And since my power has a rge influence on you, you were able to create one."

  ?

  Hmm...?

  I understand the logic, but... It feels like her answer is slightly off. There must be some other reason why she is hesitant to say.

  ... Well, I'll stop pursuing this. She will probably will warn me if there is any problem with me creating and using Return Stones. If that isn't the case, then there's no problem.

  ?

  "... Ah, I almost forgot about my work. Rion, there is a miko in where you are heading to."

  ?

  "Huh?"

  ?

  It was an obvious change of topic, but the content was such that it was impossible to miss.

  ?

  "It's a vilge called Airo, in a rge oasis. I've told the miko who lives there that Rion may visit soon, so please cooperate if anything happens."

  ?

  "I-I see... Huh, where is that vilge located?"

  ?

  The Creator God looked slightly upwards, trying to remember its retive position.

  ?

  "It's about ten to twelve days east from the statue that Rion just recently erected. If it's a human's foot, it might take longer..."

  ?

  It's true that it might be difficult for the creator god who descends from the sky to calcute how many days it would take to get there on foot. It seems that she can tell in which direction and how far it is from the statue, so I guess I can just ask again if I get lost.

  ?

  And with that, the Creator God left.

  She ran away... As expected, I don't think it was that, she's just really busy, I think. Even so, she still pops in to check on me every now and then, so I should be grateful.

  ... Or rather, I'm sorry for bothering her with my unexpected questions.

  ?

  ?

  ?

  For the rest of the day, Uru looked at me an exasperated look and asked, "Aren't you going to rest...?" but I continued to work hard at making things.

  Well, I mean, I've gone to the trouble of getting my hands on these ores, so even if I decided to leave making items for another time, I wanted to at least smelt them into ingots, right?

  After all, it's essential to replenish consumables like food, right?

  ?

  "And most importantly, the Jizu feather! A precious, high-grade material! It's frustrating that I can't use it at all with my current skill level, so I want to level up my skill quickly!"

  ?

  "... I see."

  ?

  I thought that Uru would look off into the distance as usual when I expined my feelings, but today she seemed a bit restless. What is it?

  ?

  "Um... Rion, do you want my scales?"

  ?

  "What? I have lots of them."

  ?

  "... What did you say...?"

  ?

  ... Ah, my mouth slipped.

  Uru looked at me with the same puzzled expression I had looked at the Creator God earlier, so I had no choice but to confess.

  ?

  "Um... Sometimes I find them on the ground... So I just..."

  ?

  "..."

  ?

  In fact, just like Zephyr's scales, Uru also sheds her scales. I can't process these yet, but they are a valuable material, so it is in my nature as a miko to pick them up...

  From my perspective, they are just materials... But I'm sure Uru wouldn't feel good about her scales being treated like materials, and from her perspective, it might be like someone picking up her shed hair.

  Yeah, that's really gross! I'm sorry!!

  ?

  "... S-Should I get rid of them...?"

  ?

  "... No, I don't mind if you keep them."

  ?

  I asked timidly, and was relieved to see that she didn't look at me with any disdain or disgust.

  ?

  "... You're welcome to use my scales, but... Don't make anything weird with them, ok...?"

  ?

  "... I-I'll keep that in mind."

  ?

  However, it seems I still disappointed her a little, she sounded dejected while giving me a warning.

  ... Let's make Uru's favorite food tonight...

  ?

  ?

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  xxxxx

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  ■Uru's Scales

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  Although their original power has been lost, they are still hard and serve as an impenetrable armor and a weapon that can shatter anything.

  ?

  They have extremely high resistance to both physical and magical attacks, making them extremely difficult to handle.

  (There is a missing piece of information, but Rion will never notice that fact.)