Vending Machine - 145 - Great Fire (Patreon)

There was no time for a leisurely soak. The women all rushed out of the bath to hastily dry off and put on their clothes. Ramis and the rest of the ladies did not have time for their bath, but that’s not the point right now.

The red flame in the distance had expanded to a sea of fire, to the point that the lower half of vision was now flaming red and yellow. A quick look around showed that the tree that burned the most intensely was the Elderwood.

"What on earth is going on?"

After putting her clothes back on, Ramis picked me up by the straps and carried me outside where the men were waiting for their turn in the bath. Everyone was staring at the flames in a daze.

“What the heck is going on, Kurokuro!” Director Bear loomed over the Director of Darkness.

“I wish I knew the answer to that but… it looks like someone had set fire to the Elderwood, the Floor Master,” said the Director of Darkness.

Well, that certainly seems to be the most logical answer.

“Shall we put off with the interrogation? Surely breaking out of the current status quo is more important,” Grandpa smacked them on their butts with his fan, causing the two to straighten their backs. That's right, the fire was quickly gaining on us, panicking can wait.

"Right. Big Eaters, return to the village as fast as you can. Tell everyone to evacuate to the Clearflow Lake Floor!"

Just before the Big Eaters sprinted off, Hyurumi yelled, "If the Floor Master has been defeated, the residents who have been turned into trees would have recovered too! We're counting on you to help them get off this floor. The teleportation circle is set to activate when someone touches it and says 'teleport'!"

All four creatures raised their paws in acknowledgement of the order. If anyone could reach the village faster than the flames, it would be them. We have no choice but to believe in them now.

Besides, it’s not like we have the luxury of sparing any thoughts of what others are going through.

Right now, the fire was spreading too rapidly. Sounds of trees bursting into flames could be heard all around us. The heat was also rising, I could see it from the sweat on Ramis’ forehead.

“We have to confirm whether the Elderwood has really been defeated! Otherwise, the people who had been turned into trees will be burned alive!” yelled Director Bear.

I had been about to suggest escaping, but Director Bear was right. It was true that the Elderwood was on fire, but whether or not it had been defeated remains to be seen. If we fail to defeat it, people who have transformed into trees will not return to normal.

Does that mean we have to stand here until we are sure that the Elderwood has been destroyed? The situation had just become even more critical.

"Ramis, Shimera, Yumite, pull or cut down the trees around us! Kikoyu, take care of the fallen trees as quickly as possible. We must keep the fire as far away from us as we can!”

"Yes!" Ramis actually saluted. [1]

"Hmm, understood," said the more sedate Shimera.[2]

"I can't let these promising youngsters be burnt to death now, can I?"

"Yes, I shall do my best," said Kikoyu. [1]

While everyone was frantically trying to prevent the fire from reaching us, Hyurumi raised a hand over her eyes and frowned at the flames.

“There is a fairly strong headwind from the source of the flames, making the fire spread even faster. At this rate, there is no way to stop the entire forest from burning up…”

I vaguely heard her mutter, but I was not really listening [1] as I frantically sprayed water around as much as I could, hoping that it would stop the fire from reaching us. Surely this is not the time to calmly analyze everything? We need to do something or we’ll all be burned to death.

The trees around us were being taken down at a tremendous speed, however, [1] considering the tsunami of flame crashing towards us, I doubt we could actually secure enough space to survive.

[1] Hyurumi was still muttering to herself, “I guess we have no choice if we want to survive. Hey Hakkon, I have a favour to ask.”

“W-welcome”

I could not help but stammer from such a serious look at close range. Does Hyurumi really have some secret plan or trick to get us out of here? If so, I shall spare no effort in helping out.

"Hakkon, you can turn into a machine that produces highly flammable oil, right?"

"Ye-es"

"Transform into that. Scatter as much oil as you can on the other side of the forest”

Eh? You want me to spread kerosene over trees? [1] In the middle of a forest fire? Moreover, on the opposite side of the advancing flames? Wouldn’t we be surrounded by fire at this rate?!

"I have a plan, trust me, Hakkon. I'm begging you," she begged, pressing her forehead against my metal body.

Seeing her like that, I have no choice but to trust her. Alright, Hyurumi. We're in deep trouble anyway. So, let’s just give it a shot!

"Welcome"

"Thank you for believing in me, Hakkon," Hyurumi hugged me with a happy smile.

If the plan is from Hyurumi, it should be fine. We have built up a relationship where we have absolute trust for each other. I should say that I have no choice but to trust in her.

I transformed into the <Kerosene Dispenser> form that you may see at gas stations and began to spray kerosene downwind with all my might. Thanks to my increased Strength, it reached quite far and the leaves and branches of trees to the [1] left and right of the path we had made earlier were quickly soaked with the highly flammable kerosene.

"Right, that’s perfect, Hakkon."

Hyurumi pulled out two torches from the backpack left in the cart and struck one on the ground, [1] igniting it. Then, she dramatically swung back her arm.

She, she intends to throw the torch at the trees!

Wait, if she does that…

Oh! I finally understood her intention. [1a] I had seen this before, in television programmes about fire-fighting. For someone like Hyurumi who had probably never even seen fires of this scale in her life, how intelligent she must be to think of this method under such pressure?

"What are you thinking!? If you set fire to this side as well, we'll be surrounded by flames and left to die!" Director Bear roared as he ran up to us. Just as he was about to grab Hyurumi, I deflected him with <Barrier>.

“What the hell, Hakkon! Surely you must understand the situation!!”

“Ha-ve pl-an”

“No wo-rry”

“Go-od”

As always, I am limited by my syllable count.

Still, despite my lack of words, the message appeared to have gone through. Anger faded from Director Bear’s face and he turned to Hyurumi with a calmer face. Everyone else was still frantically working, pulling up trees and getting rid of the logs that could be more fuel for the fire. However, I could still feel their attention on us.

Since this involves everyone, I transformed into an older model karaoke machine that would amplify your voice once you inserted a hundred yen coin. This conveniently makes this machine fall under the category of vending machine.

It is rare to see this type of karaoke machine nowadays. The younger generations who sang at karaoke boxes would find it hard to believe that we used to put a hundred yen coin each time we wanted to sing a song.

In fact, I was surprised to see it myself for the first time at a friend’s house. They used to run a snack bar in my neighbourhood, so I can’t speak for other people.

Anyway, this is not the time to reminisce about the past. Once I transformed into a <Karaoke Machine>, I used <Telekinesis> to bring the mike over to Hyurumi.

“If we set the fire behind us first, it will continue to burn downwind towards the village. The trees here catch fire easily and burn up quickly, which means by the time to fire from the front arrives, the trees behind us would have been burned out. This means we won’t be surrounded by fire!”

Everyone looked like they understood Hyurumi’s explanation. Ramis has a puzzled look on her expression, but still has absolute trust in her friend. Someone would have to explain it to her better later.

However, the problem with this strategy is that fire would reach the village, which was downwind of us, much faster than before. We have created a chance for ourselves to survive, but put the villagers at greater risk.

We could only put our hopes on the Big Eaters for now. Hopefully, they will make it in time and evacuate everyone else quickly.

“I see, apologies for jumping to conclusion,” said Director Bear.

"No, this is still a gamble. If the wind happens to change direction, we would be surrounded by flames, increasing our chances of dying. However, I have been checking the wind for a while now and found that it only blows in one direction on this floor. [1] It was possibly meant to spread the Elderwood’s pollen better. No matter what, it’s not a bad bet,” said Hyurumi with a grin.

Wow, how incredibly cool. Regardless of what she’s really feeling inside, I’m truly impressed by that confident smile under such dire circumstances.

Well, now that she had shown off like that, I have no choice but to match the vibe as well. I transformed back to the <Hot Spring Vending Machine> and [1] continued spraying hot water at the nearby trees at maximum capacity.

“Hakkon is really thoughtful, aren’t you? As expected, you’re someone who understands me well,” Hyurumi hit me lightly with her fist. There was a carefully joyful expression on her face. She looked like she would burst into tears at any moment, but out of joy, not sorrow.

[Gumihou: Okay, I studied a little about forest fires just to understand enough so that I could show Hyurumi’s strategy more clearly.]

[1] Adjusted/edit some small details

[1a] Give a little detail on why he understands her intention instead of just ‘I understand!!’