When I say "boat," I don't mean the banana boat I once shared with Kuro and Sieg-san. This was just a standard rubber boat, though it was styled with a cute, leisure-focused aesthetic.
It was quite large—spacious enough that even if I stretched out and lay down, there was still plenty of room. One of the best things about a Magic Box was that I could store items like this while they were already inflated, allowing us to play with them the moment they were taken out. Of course, that only worked if you had the capacity to spare... but since my Magic Box was roughly the size of a large island, I had room and then some. I could easily fit a whole house in there if I wanted to. I usually didn't, as it would be a hassle to take back out, but come to think of it, I still had the one I used when I went fishing with Anima. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I really did have a house inside.
"I’m looking forward to just drifting and relaxing on this, but maybe I should tether it somewhere with a rope so we don't get swept out to sea."
"In that case, please leave it to me!"
Since it was such a large boat, I wanted to try lying down, but there was always the risk of the current carrying us away. I mean, even if we did drift, I could just return us with teleportation magic, so it wasn't a real problem. Still, it was better to avoid trouble whenever possible.
I started looking for a rope, but Anima stepped forward and asked for the task. I had no reason to refuse, so I stepped aside. She pointed her hand toward the shore and manifested a magic circle.
A translucent, stake-like object shot from her palm and drove itself into the sand. Then, a matching translucent chain extended toward the rubber boat, seemingly anchoring it to the stake. A moment later, both the stake and the chain vanished as if they had never existed.
"...Um, what was that?"
"It’s a spell that restricts an object's range of movement. As long as the effect persists, the rubber boat will be unable to move beyond a fixed distance from that spot on the beach."
"I see. That's a very impressive spell."
"Oh, no... it’s just an introduction to barrier magic. It’s easily nullified by anyone with a decent amount of magic power, and considering the effect only lasts about a day, the magic power consumption is quite high. It’s not particularly practical—just a convenience for specific situations."
Being able to keep an object within a specific range for a full day sounded pretty useful to me. But if Anima, who was a Count-class demon, considered the consumption "high," it was likely a very inefficient spell.
I checked to see if she was overexerting herself, but she seemed perfectly fine. When I thought about it, even teleportation magic—which was said to be one of the most taxing spells—could be used indefinitely by someone of her caliber. "High consumption" was probably just a relative term compared to more efficient spells.
...Then again, if I tried to use it, I'd likely run out of magic power in the blink of an eye. I was definitely a little jealous of people with massive mana pools.
"Well, this means we can enjoy ourselves without any worries. Thanks, Anima."
"It is my greatest pleasure to be of service to you, Master!"
"Shall we get on, then?"
"Yes! I'll hold it steady for you. Please, after you."
"Pardon me... Whoa, it’s a bit rocky. But it feels pretty stable."
"It is a sturdy piece of equipment, after all. Now, I shall join you..."
The large boat felt very secure. Even with both of us on board, there was plenty of space. It might be a bit of a squeeze if we both tried to lie down side-by-side, but if we sat facing each other, it was perfect.
"Anima, how far can we actually go with this magic?"
"I’ve set the range quite wide, so we can go out a fair distance. The main benefit, however, is that I can sense the center point of the magic—the spot on the beach. Even if we go too far offshore, I’ll always know exactly which way is back."
"That's a relief."
"Though, at the distance we can reach with these oars, we’ll never lose sight of the shore anyway..."
In short, as long as Anima was with me, there was no chance of us becoming castaways. Besides, we had teleportation magic if anything happened, and inside my Magic Box, I had... I had...
"...Master?"
"Now that I think about it, I've never actually used that latest model magic-powered cruise ship I got as a commemorative gift from the Six Kings Festival..."
"Oh, right! Kuromueina-dono's gift... But isn't that far too enormous for just two people?"
"Yeah, you're right. I'd probably need to organize something like a shipboard party to have a reason to use it. Well, for now, let's just stick to rowing this boat and relaxing."
"Yes!"
Being by the ocean had reminded me of the ship sitting in my Magic Box, untouched since the day I received it. As Anima pointed out, it was gargantuan—the size of a luxury cruise ship. It wasn't the kind of thing you brought out for a casual day at the beach; I really wouldn't have a use for it unless I was planning a long-distance voyage.
Still, it felt like a waste to never use it. I'd have to think of a way to put it to good use eventually.
Serious-senpai: "I forgot he even had that..."
Machina: "Senpai, senpai! Next, I want you to turn into carbonated popping candy. I’m going to crush you into tiny pieces and eat you with chocolate."
Serious-senpai: "You want me to be popping candy?! That stuff requires special pressurized equipment to make; you can't just whip it up normally! More importantly, there's no way I can just choose to become candy on command!"
Machina: "Don't worry. You'll become popping candy just fine. Because 'I decided so'!"
Serious-senpai: "Hey, you omniscient and omnipotent brat... If you want it that badly, just manifest some and eat it instead of putting me through this..."
Machina: "That's one thing, this is another... Serious-senpai, I want to... eat you."
Serious-senpai: "I never thought I'd hear that line used literally instead of sexually... Is this girl completely insane, declaring she's going to crush me and eat me right to my face?... Oh, wait, she's always been insane..."