Editing Leviathan:Volume 5 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===

It was the second day of the America expedition.

Yesterday, Hal and his friends had left the grand mansion in the Salem countryside around evening time then drove to their hotel in Boston City, thus giving themselves a good rest after the lengthy traveling.

Deciding it would be a good idea to go sightseeing in leisure the next day, the group made their way to the seaside early in the day.

Boston was the state capital of Massachusetts, a port city with a long history dating back to the British colonial era.

Hal and friends embarked on a staple of sightseeing in this ancient city, a whale watching cruise. It was a gigantic tourist ship with a capacity of over two hundred passengers.

"But yesterday, I was honestly surprised."

Drinking iced coffee from a paper cup, Orihime grumbled.

She had just bought it from a vendor on the ship. The group had out to the deck. Although there was no air-conditioning, the sea breeze's refreshing coolness served as a substitute. The sight of splashing waves was dazzling.

"Although they were a group of friendly old ladies, the atmosphere there was too unique... Don't tell me you took us there without telling us because you wanted to surprise us?"

"Hahahahaha, don't be upset."

"We believed that things would go well even without explaining beforehand, given your communication skills, Orihime-san and Hazumi-san. As expected of you two, you were able to play along with us flawlessly."

Seeing Hal dismiss his friends' misgivings with a laugh, Asya provided additional explanation.

Hal thought back to the "tea party" the day before.


Led by a middle-aged butler, the group arrived at the tearoom in the house.

There were seven or eight old ladies chatting happily away while savoring black tea or coffee in leisure. The refreshments on the table included muffins, scones, kidney pie, raspberry pie, etc. As a side note, all of them were hand made.

"Dear Grandmas, allow me to introduce these two ''magi'' from Tokyo New Town."

Asya extended her hand towards Orihime and Hazumi to introduce them first.

"Oh my, is that so?" "Visitors from such a faraway land." "Wow, you are still so young." "Would you like some delicious snacks? Please help yourselves."

Smiling cordially, they greeted the guests from Tokyo and even called the youngest, Hazumi, over to their side and handed muffins and scones to her one after another.

Meanwhile, Hal the interpreter was completely ignored.

As a dragonslaying rune holder, Haruga Haruomi's fame had risen like a helicopter within SAURU.

However, the Grandmas were completely uninterested in news of that sort. Without showing any surprise or reaction at the sight of Hal, they probably pegged him as merely "the one looking after the girls from Tokyo."

The Grandmas enjoyed their tea and conversed as they pleased.

Soon, they started sharing their "insight as witches" with the girls from Tokyo New Town.

"We witches" "must conceal our true identities." "As ''serpent'' users, you must take particular care." "Enough people have suffered at the hands of trumped up charges." "Yes, the populace can sometimes turn into demons even more terrifying than dragons."

In a laid back tone paired with the style of gentle old ladies, they murmured about the distrust of mankind.

Hal and Asya translated every sentence while Orihime and Hazumi listened quietly with slightly troubled smiles.

Regarding the fearsome ferocity of dragonkind, what the Grandmas had to say was&mdash;

"Although the serpents and the little magi girls are working very hard&mdash;" "they are still no match" "against the dragons." "We witches of old" "are able to read the flow of the future." "Darkness lies ahead."

Despite a tone that was not somber, they spoke after one another to predict a bleak future.

The conversation kept continuing with such topics to accompany the tea. Orihime and Hazumi maintained their lovely smiles while concurring repeatedly as many as a hundred times.

In the end, the tea party dragged on from noon all the way until 4pm.

It was all because the Grandmas talked nonstop.

As a side note, while Hal was calmly focused on interpreting, Asya spent the whole time quietly munching on pie and muffins except when helping Hal out every now and then...


"If the girls contracted with leviathans are magi, then those old ladies would be sorceresses."

The whale watching cruise sailed smoothly.

After Asya spoke on the deck, enjoying the sea breeze, Hal added an explanation.

"If you trace back the foundation SAURU's magical knowledge back to the source, most of it was provided by the Grandmas. Due to this, their word is quite influential."

"Although only about twenty of them are still alive, the Grandmas live quietly, gathered together in places like Salem and Budapest. It is also their wish that information about witches and leviathans be kept out of public knowledge."

As a side note, for unknown reasons, the Grandmas chose to live secluded in cities with a history of witch persecution.

It was probably meant as a lesson to junior witches to never forget the mistakes of the past, but&mdash;

Asya sighed lightly.

"Those with special powers should keep the truth hidden. This is to prevent the tragedies and persecutions of the past from repeating... Sigh, I understand there are advantages to doing things this way, but it's too conservative. There are many aspects that make it unsuitable for the twenty-first century..."

"Partly because of the presence of dragonkind, definitely, but it's also because they're not part of the gaming generation."

Seeing Hal remark poignantly, Orihime asked, "Is there a relationship between gaming and witches?"

"Well, I believe that the popularization of home consoles and the resulting spread of RPG knowledge has made the concept of 'magic' permeate greatly through ordinary society."

"In recent years, the term MP has entered common usage in many countries."

"When explaining the usage restriction on pseudo-divinity, people get it straight away when you say 'out of magic points.'"

"Nowadays, even if a young thirteen-year-old witch were to start a home delivery service, people will only watch over her with gentle eyes."

Hal and Asya explained in alternation to the baffled Orihime. Hearing this, the well-bred Japanese young lady could not help but smile wryly. Then she suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, where did Hazumi run off to?"

At that moment, Hal noticed it too. There were no signs of Hazumi on the deck.

The youngest of the group, the middle school student, not only had a reliable personality but was also resourceful. However, this was still her first time traveling abroad, no matter what. Worried, Hal, Asya and Orihime looked inside the ship.

Then they immediately found Hazumi.

Since this was a large ship, the interior was very spacious, even enough to hold a basketball match.

There were sofas placed next to the windows on the left and right so that tourists could enjoy the sea view in leisure. Hazumi was standing before one of these sofas.

However, a haughty prepubescent girl, dressed in a scarlet kimono, was sitting in the sofa.

Hinokagutsuchi indeed. She had apparently materialized without them noticing. Facing the proud former dragon queen, Hazumi handed over a paper cup filled with some kind of beverage.

"...I-I bought you the orange juice you wanted!"

"Mm-hmm, thank you. As a reward, I permit you to sit next to me."

"Y-Yes. Uh... Umm, excuse me."

Hazumi sat down on the sofa rather apprehensively.

Since a young girl in a kimono was too conspicuous a sight, the surrounding passengers' gazes gathered upon them. However, Hinokagutsuchi sipped her juice through a straw, completely unfazed by those gazes. She must have ordered Hazumi to buy it for her as an errand.

Hal and company walked over to the girl and the ghost in their party.

"You sure know how to enjoy yourself..."

"Nonsense. I am simply taking a break. Besides, ultimately&mdash;"

Hinokagutsuchi replied instantly to Hal's opening line with a tone of derision.

"This is a journey specifically by ship to watch whales, isn't it? Be that as it may, aren't the little serpents summoned frequently by you even more exotic creatures?"

"Summoning magically crafted creatures and observing wildlife have completely different meanings."

"Is that so? True, ancient humans would regard gigantic beasts as 'substitutes for gods' and decide on their own to establish worship."

"That's right. Besides, speaking of whales, they were considered 'sea gods' in standing by Japanese people in the past."

Hal nodded in agreement with what Hinokagutsuchi said.

Ever since antiquity, humans had treated animals as divine messengers or even worshiped them as deities themselves.

In the present day, the precepts of Hinduism still promote cattle as sacred beasts and extend preferential treatment to them. Totem worship where wild animals were worshiped as tribal ancestors or guardian deities existed all over the world. Even in Japan, there were shrines that regarded animals&mdash;birds, monkeys, boards, wolves, snakes, etc&mdash;as divine messengers.

In Japan, the whale was not only a hunted prey but also a sacred beast at the same time.

"Speaking of which, this has bothered me for a while now."

Asya interjected.

"The True Genbu-Ou that showed up at Tokyo New Town a little while ago... I remember it being mentioned as a composite creature similar to leviathans, right? In other words, are our 'serpents' able to acquire 'goddess power' like True Genbu-Ou?"

"It is not impossible&mdash;Or rather, I should say it is 'theoretically possible.'"

Hinokagutsuchi kept the straw in her mouth while answering.

After moistening her throat with the juice, she tossed the empty cup to one side. Hazumi hastily reached out to catch it.

"Having become a great expert on the path of unorthodoxy, Solomon took the creatures originally regarded as 'substitutes for gods,' processed them using synthesis magic, enlarged their bodies, and modified their savage nature, thus making them reborn as 'imitation dragons.' Hence, that was how your serpents arose."

With the obedient Hazumi waiting on her like a maidservant, Hinokagutsuchi seemed to be in a good mood.

Hal did not know if that was the reason, but she was now talking freely about topics she used to refrain from giving details.

"Consequently, what you lot need to do is reawaken the sacred visage that dwells in the depths of serpent souls to begin with&mdash;"

"Specifically, how do we do that?"

Hinokagutsuchi scoffed "hmph" at Asya's question.

"Do not bother asking clever little questions of that sort. There is no such technique."

"No such technique!?"

"I have mentioned this before. Despite being fakes, they are ultimately connected to the lineage of the gods. Trying to exert wanton control over them would be an act of disrespect. The likes of you ought to respect human bounds and go no further than to offer sincere prayers. Should your prayer reach the goddess within the serpent, naturally, she would grant you an act of charity or two."

"..."

"Well, out of you lot, the one who is capable of accomplishing this&mdash;"

Having said that, Hinokagutsuchi suddenly vanished.

An instant before disappearing, she had glanced at the girl beside her. This was probably not coincidence. After all, Hazumi always listened to Hinokagutsuchi's every word attentively with a serious expression.

&mdash;At that moment, an announcement was broadcast in English.

"Oh, I think it's saying that whales can be seen port side."

"Really!?"

Hazumi's eyes glowed after she heard Hal's report. The sofa they were at right now happened to be port side. The group all focused their attention and looked out the window.

Stretching endlessly outside the sightseeing ship was the view of Massachusetts Bay's blue waves.

Soon after, Hal and the girls witnessed a gigantic black body surrounded by flowing seawater. It was probably fourteen or fifteen meters high, reaching the same standards as leviathans.

"Hazumi! Go outside and look through a telescope!"

"Yes, Nee-sama!"

Orihime suggested in excitement and her younger cousin replied immediately.