Chapter 156: 156

Chapter 156

 

In order to get to Klitz Point before heading towards Als Point, we had to choose between traveling through some rough terrain or along an already paved road.

If we went through unexplored areas, there was a possibility that we might make a new discovery, but our pace would be rather slow, and we would have to go through dangerous areas.

If we took the established roads, we would arrive at our goal the quickest, but we would have little to gain from that journey.

“Since Miss Relya is with us, it would be better to take the easier path.”

Taking the poor stamina of wizards like Eleris into consideration, Ellen seemed to have decided to take the established roads. 

“Ah, I’m fine, really…”

Of course, it was pretty pointless for her to worry about Eleris’s stamina. I didn’t know how strong vampires were, but she was probably even stronger than Ellen at that moment.

 

Now that I thought about it, although her specialty was magic, was Eleris also capable of close-quarter combat? I had never asked her.

“The exploration of this area is almost finished anyway, so we wouldn’t gain much even if we went through the rough terrain. So let’s just go.”

“Ah, yes… Thank you for your consideration.”

Eleris smiled.

She probably felt pain because of the sun, but it seemed like Eleris was pretty good at acting as if everything was fine.

We took the paved road south of St. Point.

“It’s none of my business, but those wagons probably won’t be able to drive easily on this road.”

“I suppose so.”

The road wasn’t very wide, and south of St. Point were some hills and mountains as well, although they weren’t very high. They would have to travel uphill and downhill multiple times.

I thought it would be pretty hard for a convoy with so many wagons to easily travel along that path.

Of course, we didn’t have any wagons or carriages with us, so we just had to walk. Ellen and I wouldn’t have any problems with that physically, and Eleris didn’t really need Ellen’s consideration either.

Of course, I didn’t feel completely comfortable because I was wearing armor, although it wasn’t a full set, and I even had a backpack on my back.

It was also summer.

“…It’s hot.”

After walking for some time, I said such. I then understood Ellen’s words that we would probably have died from the heat if we had taken a whole set of armor with us.

Of course, it was still more comfortable than the island survival mission we went through before. That place had incredibly high humidity on top of high temperatures, so it felt almost suffocating.

Although it was pretty hot there, the humidity wasn’t as high.

Ellen’s situation seemed to be a bit different. Although she didn’t look that tired, she still seemed to feel hot.

“Yeah, it’s hot.”

Eleris looked at Ellen and me, told us to stop for a second, and cast a spell on us after chanting for a bit. 

“Oh.”

“It feels cool.”

With a cool sensation spreading throughout my body, I could feel the heat leaving my body.

“This is a low-ranking spell called Chilling Touch.”

Although it would last for some time, Eleris smiled and said that she would recast it if necessary.

“…Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Small things like this are what low-ranking wizards are for.” 

Ellen expressed her gratitude quite sincerely. However, Eleris just answered by humbling herself.

Also…

Both supernatural powers and combat talents were nothing like magic.

Its acquisition conditions were the highest, but in the end, magic was still the best! Even low-ranked magic was incredibly convenient depending on how one used it.

With the refreshing feeling of air conditioning on our bodies, we continued walking down the road.

The area wasn’t dangerous, so it was no different from hiking on a slightly uncomfortable trail.

Eleris picked up her pace a little, ending up walking next to Ellen, who was walking in front of her.

“By the way, what kind of relationship do you two have? Is it… like that?”

What?!

Why was she asking something like that all of a sudden?!

Looking at Eleris’ expression, I could see that she had trouble hiding her own curiosity. I immediately answered.

“We’re friends. Friends.”

That’s what I said. My eyes conveyed something different, however.

‘Why are you asking something like that?!’

‘Because it’s interesting!’

Eleris couldn’t hide her glee at the situation.

Don’t make a face like a mother curious about her son’s relationship with a female friend!

I thought she was going along with my setting. Was she curious about what kind of person Ellen was?

“Yes, we’re friends.”

Ellen looked at me as she spat out this answer at Eleris’s question.

“So you two are close enough to journey together, right?”

Eleris, who seemed to be saying whatever came to her mind, didn’t stop with her first question. 

“Yes. I think so.”

Ellen answered that question while looking ahead that time.

Phew, that was making me feel touched for no apparent reason.

* * *

After walking for a while, at around noon we took a break under the shade of some trees near the road and ate lunch. I didn’t bring any tools for cooking with me, so all we ate was preserved food.

I ate some beef jerky and biscuits. Eleris also nibbled on a biscuit. I didn’t know what it tasted like to her, but she still ate it. It also didn’t seem like she was forcing herself to eat it.

Ellen was still staring at Eleris, who was eating and drinking some water.

“Miss Relya, you don’t seem to sweat at all.”

Ellen’s sudden words made a chill run down my spine.

What was that? Did she know? Did she think that something was weird about that?

Certainly, Eleris, whose physical condition should be worse than ours, was completely sweat-free.

“I keep using Chilling Touch on my body. I also usually don’t sweat that much.”

As if Eleris had already prepared for the situation, lies were easily coming out of her mouth. After she cast her spell on us, we didn’t really sweat that much either, so Ellen simply nodded her head at that.

She didn’t seem to be suspicious of her. She simply asked because she was curious. Ellen didn’t eat as much as usual because she wanted to ration the food. Of course, it wasn’t really delicious enough to make one want to eat more of it.

“…It probably is usually like this, but there sure aren’t any people here.”

Ellen murmured softly as she looked from one end of the road to the other as far as she could see.

“It’s a road one usually wouldn’t have to use, except for a few people.”

“I guess so…”

Although it was a road, it was only used by adventurers. It was probably quite natural that there were no passersby around. 

Eleris tilted her head.

“By the way, the Adventurers Guild sure is amazing. I can’t believe they keep on building and maintaining these small towns and even rebuild them once they get destroyed.”

Eleris seemed to greatly admire the power of the Adventurers Guild. Ellen replied to her words.

“The Adventurers Guild is an organization run by the Empire.”

“Aah… Is that so?”

That was why that Adventurers Guild officer was able to speak the way he did yesterday.

“The Empire only supports its foundation; the exploration and pioneering are carried out by those individuals called adventurers. Both risks and rewards are very much individual matters.”

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The Empire granted them financial support. However, the individuals called adventurers actually took on the risk to step into those kinds of danger zones on their own two feet. The territory in the Darklands secured that way would become a new village depending on necessity.

It seemed that one could also purchase powerful magical artifacts from the Guild as well.

Anyway, the original backer is the Empire, while the Adventurers Guild was like a subcontractor, and that subcontractor’s subcontractor would be the adventurers.

“Let’s get going.”

We would reach our next destination, Klitz Point, if we continued to walk all day.

“…The sky has suddenly become really cloudy.”

Eleris looked up at the sky and uttered those concerned words.

Eventually, after we set off again, it began raining an hour later.

 

* * *

 

-Shaaaaaa…

It wasn’t just raining; it was raining quite heavily. The three of us continued walking, wearing raincoats we had prepared in advance. The road became very muddy as it wasn’t a very well-paved road to begin with.

 

-Rumble…

“Uhm…”

Eleris continued to let out such noises as we walked, perhaps because of the bad weather.

“Uuhmm…”

No, it didn’t seem like it was simply because of the bad weather.

“What’s the matter?”

As Eleris kept acting like that, Ellen asked if something had happened.

“N-no, I was just wondering if the convoy’s departure would be delayed because of this weather.”

She seemed to think that the massive convoy wouldn’t be able to cross those muddy roads.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with you, so why do you care about that?”

“Ah…Tha-that’s true, but…”

Eleris scratched her cheek, a vague expression on her face at my words.

“If the supplies arrive late at those three isolated bases in the south… It might be quite troublesome for them.”

It seemed like she was worried about those other people because they might not get the supplies in time. The roads would be muddy as long as it rained, and the convoy might get delayed.

It seemed that she thought that the people and adventurers in those isolated bases might travel too far south and possibly die.

“For how long have they been isolated?”

“Uhm… As far as I know, for more than ten days.”

We would take one day to walk to Klitz Point.

To the next base, Als Point, we would take three days.

Additionally, the branches Als 1, 2, and 3 were located in places that would take four days to get to.

In other words, it was quite obvious that they suffered from a major food shortage. If the convoy didn’t reach them very soon, adventurers might end up dying, and not because of monsters.

It was just a concern, but something like a large-scale famine might really occur, as Eleris feared.

“That’s strange.”

Ellen, who had been listening to our conversation as we walked through the rain, tilted her head.

“If their supply road collapsed, wouldn’t it be better for them to go back to Klitz Point instead of just sitting there isolated from other bases…?”

It took at least seven days to get back to Klitz Point after passing the completely collapsed Als Point from the front lines. However, given that no information on the situation had been reported, it seemed that no adventurer ever went back to Klitz Point.

“Maybe there are some circumstances that prevent them from returning… At least, I hope it’s just that.”

Judging from Eleris’s words, it seemed that she wasn’t able to confirm Als Point’s situation beforehand.

The people on the frontlines located in Als Point one, two, and three were isolated.

They would have no other choice but to return to Klitz Point.

However, the adventurers that went to investigate the situation of Als Point hadn’t returned yet.

I didn’t know they ran into some kind of trouble or if they were just delayed.

Anyway, I could only speculate that the cause for Als Point’s collapse was at the heart of all those problems.

 

* * *

 

It was a day’s walk to Klitz Point.

However, the sudden downpour delayed our journey, so we weren’t able to reach Klitz Point’s vicinity until long after the sun set. In the darkness, we had to move carefully, step by step, relying on Eleris’s light magic.

“I think it’s over there.”

-Shaaaaa…

Standing on a hillside, I could see a dim light shining in the rain. Ellen pointed to that place.

“Fuck, I can’t wait to get some rest.”

Although I was wearing a raincoat, it had been raining for a very long time, so my shoes seemed to be full of water.

Ellen and I were exhausted from walking in the rain for such a long time.

We were getting closer and closer to Klitz Point. Its size should be similar or smaller to St. Point. As we got closer to our destination, we naturally increased our pace.

As we were walking towards that dim light, I felt like a ship that had finally found a lighthouse after having drifted astray.

However, Ellen, who had been walking before us, suddenly stopped us.

“Kill the light.”

“What? Ah… Yes!“

At Ellen’s sudden command, Eleris seemed puzzled at first but did as she was told and canceled her light magic.

It seemed that she noticed something strange, so I talked to her in a subdued voice.

“Did you notice something?”

At my question, Ellen continued to stare at that light through the rain.

 

“Why is there just a single light?”

“…What?”

A single light?

Ellen seemed to have noticed an abnormality I hadn’t even thought of.

“Klitz Point is about the same size as St. Point. However, this is just too different from the scenery we saw there yesterday.”

Prompted by Ellen’s words, I remembered the night view of St. Point I had seen the day prior.

It wasn’t anything to call home about, one couldn’t even call it night view, but one could still see light coming from multiple buildings. Looking at it from afar made one feel like looking at a village.

However, we could only see one faint light shimmering through the rain at that moment.

Strictly speaking, it shouldn’t be just one.

It seemed like only one building was lit up. The many other buildings that should be engulfed in darkness were out of our sight.

Even if it was an inn that had its light turned on, there should be several, so it was weird that just a single one was lit up. 

Even though it was night, not everyone would sleep at that hour.

“I think there’s a problem.”

The incident that had occurred at Als Point might have spread to Klitz Point.

“Let’s take a different route.”

We decided to leave the road we were on, with our breaths held, and approach Klitz Point from a different direction.

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