Isekai Yururi Kikou ~Raising Children While Being an Adventurer~-Novel



I am Leviathan, the ruler of the seas. I am also a servant of the Water God.

I spend my time drifting in the seas and doing as I please.

One day, I received a call from one of my compatriots.

(Can you hear me?)ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Novᴇ(l)Fɪre.net

(Umu, I hear you. This voice, is this Chief-dono?)

The one who contacted me was Chief-dono, a retainer of Water God-sama like me, and the leader of several retainers.

(I need you to protect human children.)

Human children? Me?

(Protection? Who are these children?)

(They are the children of Water God-sama.)

(What! Water God-sama's children!)

I was surprised that Water God-sama had children. I had never heard of such a story before.

… N? Wait a minute, by protection, she means…?

Chief-dono had indeed meant that. Does that mean his children are on the surface world?

(Why are his children on the surface world?)

(They are children born of a human.)

(!?)

My goodness! Children born of a human!!

(They have properly inherited Water God-sama's powers.)

(Then, why wouldn't Water God-sama take them in himself?)

(Unfortunately, Water God-sama is currently absent…)

Absent…

I hate to say it, but Water God-sama is fond of women. I am sure that even now, he is out hanging with them.

(As you know, it's impossible for me to drag him out. However, the current living situation of the children is not very good. That is why I want to do something about is as quickly as possible.)

Indeed, it might be dangerous to leave the children of a God in the world of people. However…—

(… Do I simply take them away?)

(If possible, I would like you to raise them, too.)

I have no children of my own, so I don't know anything about raising children. That is mainly because my race doesn't raise our children. The children grow up on their own.

(If you leave a human child unattended, they will die. The need to eat as well.)

Umu…

(Ahh, food? I just have to feed them, I get it. There are numerous monsters around the seas, so I just have to get some for them, right?)

(Human children cannot eat monsters raw. Besides, they are still babies, so they cannot eat monsters to begin with.)

Then, just how do children like that eat?...… Isn't this impossible task for me? Wouldn't my care make their living situation even worse? It pains me to say this, but… I have no choice but to refuse.

◇　◇　◇

One day, I suddenly felt a strange presence, so I decided to go to the source.

There, I found a retainer of the Wind God. Moreover, he was accompanied by the children of Water God-sama, whom Chief-dono had mentioned a short while ago.

It was good of me to refuse to be their protector. An excellent choice.

(It's also by fate that we have met here. If you are in trouble, I will lend you my help.)

After a short conversation, it seemed that the one who belonged to the Wind was still young, so I decided to help him if he was in trouble, and we decided to sign a temporary contract.

I have never signed a contract before, even a temporary one, but… it will be a good experience.

◇　◇　◇

… That reminds me, I wonder how Takumi and those children are doing?

Suddenly I remembered Takumi, Wind God-sama's retainer that I contracted with a while ago.

I haven't heard from him since I told him via Telepathy that I was leaving the vicinity of the sea. I began to wonder if he was well… and for some reason I became restless.

I immediately tried to trace the magic power that resided in the scales I had given to Takumi. Unfortunately, it was not by the sea. I thought I would never see him again, but then I remembered a certain skill.

(Muh?)

Recalling that I acquired a skill called Humanification, I gave it a try immediately, but it was quite difficult to use.

"Have I succeeded?—… Muh?"

I succeeded in humanizing! I thought, but within a few minutes, I reverted to my original form.

I thought I could go see him once he was in human form, but… it didn't seem to be that easy.

I was thinking of inviting Takumi to come here, but the reverse summoning can only be done by a contractor, so I would have to separate him from the children. I don't like the idea of separating Takumi from the children, so I'm going to give up that idea for now.

"… Have I gotten used to it a little better?"

For a while, I kept on intensively using the Humanization skill to increase my proficiency.

At first, I thought about giving up Humanization early and contacting Takumi via Telepathy, but then I thought it would be more fun to master Humanization, go see Takumi without telling him, and surprise him.

"Great, now it should be all right to go see him."

It had been a long time since I had practiced like that, but with a goal in mind, I really enjoyed the practicing, and after a while, I was able to Humanize myself for a few days without fail. There shouldn't be a problem meeting Takumi now.

"Muh? But first, I have to get some clothes somewhere."

However, before going to meet him, I need to complete some preparations first. Human beings are not supposed to go out naked!

Well, what should I do? I might be able to talk to the mermaids of the Blue Waters Palace, who are related to Takumi and the kids, so I'll go there first.

"It suits you well."

"Umu, thanks for the help. I can finally go see Takumi."

I paid a visit to the Blue Waters Palace right away.

The people of the palace were surprised to see me in my original form at first, but when I told them that I was an acquaintance of Takumi's, they seemed convinced. And since mermaid clothes would be conspicuous in a city of humans, they have ingeniously dressed me in human-style clothing.

With this, I was ready to go.

"I am so jealous of you~ I also want to see Takumi-sama again. When you see him, please tell him to come visit us as well."

"Umu, I will convey him your words."

The mermaids only interact with a limited number of humans. And they don't try to get involved much, even with those few.

However, Takumi is different. Even I can tell that they like him here. I am the same, I bet Takumi has that something that attracts others to him.

"I'm much obliged. I will bring you something to express my gratitude next time."

"Please don't mind it."

"I cannot do that. Let me come up with something."

We were able to make a connection thanks to Takumi, and I may be in their care again, after all. I shall make sure to take care of the people here from now on.