The surface of the reservoir was a sheet of glass, devoid of even a single ripple.
I leaped toward it.
Since I was jumping from the top of the tower, the drop to the water’s surface must have been around ten meters.
……
As my fall began, my thoughts accelerated.
How did it come to this?
Where exactly had things gone wrong?
I tried to reconstruct the events in my mind.
Before I knew it, the tower had been moved from the edge of the reservoir to the very middle of it. The High Elves had beamed at me with smiles that boasted of how hard they had worked.
For some reason, the schedule had been altered so that I was expected to dive into the water from the top of the tower. The Civil Official Girls had looked at me with expressions that said they had spent countless hours scouring ancient books for research.
It seemed I was supposed to jump toward the reservoir from a board that extended about a meter out from the tower’s peak. The rope connected to the belt around my ankles had been swapped for Zabuton's Thread, which was securely fastened to the end of the board.
In other words, this was a bungee jump.
Zabuton had gestured to me, emphasizing that because the thread was elastic, I wouldn't suffer any impact from the tension. I appreciated the thought. However, I had my doubts about the length being exactly ten meters.
It was elastic, wasn't it? That meant it wouldn't actually start pulling back until after I hit the water, right?
What happened to you, Zabuton? You were supposed to be on my side!
Ah, the surface was getting close.
Supposedly, when the God of Magic descended to the earth in the distant past, he had fallen into a pond. At that time, he had reportedly struck the surface with a resounding smack.
A belly flop, in other words.
The village expected me to recreate that moment, but I had flatly refused to perform a belly flop after a ten-meter drop. Therefore, the moment I jumped from the tower, I snapped into a shock-absorbing posture with my legs together, my arms crossed over my chest, and my chin tucked in.
Tucking my chin was also a precaution to ensure Zabuton’s thread didn't get caught around my neck.
Ah, I see. Since it would be dangerous if the thread tangled in mid-air, they had given the length some extra leeway.
……
If that was the case, I wondered if the thread even served a purpose at all—but I decided not to let it bother me.
My feet hit the water.
The impact was lighter than I had anticipated. I submerged feet-first, sinking until my entire head was underwater. Given the season, the water should have been freezing, but the Pond Turtles had used magic to warm the water in the vicinity of my predicted splashdown.
The temperature wasn't an issue, but I had plummeted much deeper than I expected. The surface felt miles away. However, my natural buoyancy soon pushed me back up.
Wait.
I was moving too fast. It wasn't Zabuton's Thread pulling me; it felt as though a current of water was physically hoisting me up.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, I was launched from the surface into the air.
I was likely in a rather awkward posture, but the spectators gathered around the reservoir let out a thunderous cheer. After I plunged back into the water a second time, the current caught me again, tossing me high above the surface once more.
Another massive cheer erupted. I even found enough composure to wave to the crowd.
But wait a minute.
This height was lower than the tower, but definitely higher than the previous bounce. I had a sinking feeling that if this continued, I’d eventually be thrown higher than the tower itself. No, that was a certainty. I could see that the board extending from the peak had been retracted so I wouldn't collide with it on the way up.
I see. I was going to be tossed higher than the tower. Nobody told me about this.
The Pond Turtles were the ones manipulating the currents to fling me from the water. They had formed a perfect, evenly spaced circle around the point where I fell. I suspected the reason I was being launched so high was simply that they were overflowing with enthusiasm.
At least, I wanted to believe that was the reason. It wasn't because they disliked me, right?
My body reached a point higher than the tower. The fact that it didn't hurt when I hit the water was also likely thanks to the Pond Turtles. I was grateful for that, but I really wished they wouldn't throw me so high. It wasn't as if I was particularly comfortable with heights. To be honest, high places were terrifying.
True, I had acted tough before climbing the tower, claiming that ten meters was nothing. But that was only because the children were watching. I felt the Pond Turtles really needed to learn to read the room.
Well, even though I had grumbled until I reached the top, once I stood on that board, a part of me had felt a spark of excitement. It reminded me of those high-diving segments from a certain TV show. I should probably reflect on that. I had forgotten that those segments were eventually canceled because someone got injured.
High diving was dangerous. I couldn't afford to forget that.
I was just about to signal the Pond Turtles to wrap things up when I noticed something strange about the crowd. Everyone was looking up, but they weren't looking at me.
Was there someone else up here?
The moment the thought occurred to me, something grabbed me.
What?
I twisted my neck to look up and saw a massive bird. It was pitch-black, with a wingspan that had to be at least ten meters wide. Despite its size, it looked unmistakably like a crow.
The crow clutched me and attempted to soar higher into the sky. This was bad. I was being kidnapped!
Just as panic began to set in, the bird’s ascent halted with a violent jolt. The reason was simple: Zabuton’s thread was still tied to me. Having climbed to the top of the tower, Zabuton was now hauling on the thread connected to my ankle belt.
Oh!
However, I realized the flaw in this plan—the tension was going to wreck my ankle and the area where the crow was clutching me. Zabuton noticed this immediately and let out some slack. The crow resumed its ascent, looking quite triumphant.
This was truly bad. Was I going to be carried off and eaten? I could probably take the crow down with my Universal Farming Tool, but then I’d be left plummeting from a lethal height. Should I take the risk and trust that one of the Angel Race would catch me?
While I was agonizing over the decision, I was carried higher and higher. Then, I felt a strange weight on my ankle.
Hm?
One of Zabuton’s children was there. It seemed it had scurried up the thread to reach me.
The spiderling quickly lashed a different thread around the crow's leg and then signaled by tugging on the line. The crow’s ascent stopped instantly. It was being dragged downward with incredible force. In a contest of pure strength, Zabuton was the overwhelming victor.
The ground rushed up to meet us. My only worry now was whether the crow would drop me, but I knew I shouldn't dwell on such negative thoughts.
Suddenly, I was released into the air. The spiderling remained clinging to the crow's leg, which was a relief.
The one who caught me wasn't an Angel, but another massive bird I had never seen before—a pure white Giant Swan. It held me gently in its beak. Since it didn't hurt, it didn't seem to be trying to eat me.
I was about to offer my thanks when the swan suddenly banked and headed East.
Wait, what? Did I just trade a crow for a swan?
No sooner had I thought that than a jet-black swan—a Giant Black Swan, perhaps?—appeared and attacked the white one. Once again, I was tossed into the air. I seemed to be doing nothing but falling today.
The next thing to catch me was a giant... peacock? I was fairly sure it was a peacock, but it was doing its best to show it was no ordinary bird. It was actually carrying a sun disk on its back. If I looked closely, the design of every single feather was incredibly intricate and divine.
I wondered if this Giant Peacock was my savior.
Apparently not. It turned its course toward the North.
Another of Zabuton’s children appeared on my leg. I gave it a silent nod of encouragement.
It had been a harrowing ordeal.
Once I was finally safe on the ground, I looked over to see the Giant Crow and the Giant Peacock bound tightly in Zabuton's Thread. The Giant Swan and the Giant Black Swan were there too, though they weren't tied up. All four birds appeared to be acquaintances of Zabuton, so I decided to leave them to her.
The Eagle seemed to know them as well and was currently squawking some sort of lecture at them. Good, give them a piece of your mind. I wanted to complain too, but I had responsibilities to attend to.
My jump from the tower had only been a pre-parade performance. The main event was about to begin.
But first, a bath. Between getting soaked and being dragged through the freezing upper atmosphere, I was chilled to the bone. I had to make sure I didn't catch a cold.