Chapter 219 – We Arrived in the Vader Territory!

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“Well, let’s continue on our way to Vader then.”

After getting up the next morning in the Fateshia Valley cave, we ate breakfast and then left.

We parted ways with Mappa and Number 15, and continued through the Fateshia Valley towards the Vader territories.

“Another hell worm!”

After walking for some time, a hell worm appeared once again.

However, it was no threat to us. And so we defeated them while steadily making our way through the valley. Eventually, bat and snake monsters started to attack us as well. But they too went down without much effort.

And once the sun started to set, I would dig a cave, and we would stay the night there, along with Mappa and Number 15, who would appear later… Such days continued.

And then when one week had passed, the path between the valley began to widen.

“We should reach the end of the valley soon… Is that…”

What appeared in front of us was a high, stone wall that had been built to block the valley.

There was a banner emblazoned with a dragon. This must be a Vader fortress then.

“What an amazing wall… Was it built to keep the Sylphium people out?”

Fule asked. But Rienna shook her head.

“Surely it is to stop those monsters that we have been fighting.”
“Ah. It’s easy to forget, but I suppose those are actually dangerous monsters.”

Fule then turned to me.

“What should we do, Lord Heal?”
“We have too little information to turn back now.”
“In that case..”

Rienna looked towards the cliffside of the valley.

I stretched out my hand to my pickaxe.

“We’ll just dig around it then.”

We nodded at each other, and then walked towards the wall of the cliff. As there was a perfect hollowed out area that blocked us from view of the fortress, I decided to dig there.

Of course, this was very different from just digging a small cave. And so by the time I dug deep enough that we were close to the fortress, the sun had already set.

The only reason that I knew about that, was because Mappa came to see us.

“Hell worm again… Well, it’s surprisingly good, so I don’t mind.”

As Fule said, we had been eating hell worms for days now.

That being said, Rienna used her various cooking equipment and condiments to make different dishes, which kept us from getting bored.

“Tomorrow, we’ll be on the other side of the wall. There will surely be a Vader city there as well. So we must all be careful.”
“Yes.”

The next day, we continued to dig our way through the cliffs.

And then we came out into a bright area.

“Woah…”

A vast field sprawled out before us. There were some trees scattered about, but it was mostly grass and bushes that grew.

Far in the distance, I could see villages and herds of livestock.
Fule also looked around and said,

“It’s like grazing lands that continue on forever.”
“I heard that they burn down forests in order to drive away the Sylphium people. I suppose it is because they have no need for forests.”

Rienna said as she looked around.

“Well, it helps us that there is a clear view. And so we can decide on which town to go to. However, we should avoid going anywhere too crowded for now.”
“In that case, why not a nearby settlement? Or we could question someone we meet on the road, while posing as merchants?”
“Indeed… Mappa has even prepared a bag.”

Last night, Mappa had swiftly crafted some carpentry tools, which he put inside of a bag. It would help to make us look like merchants.

Fule muttered while holding a hemp sack.

“Perhaps we could sell some hell worm fangs.”
“Aye. In any case, we must avoid attracting suspicion.”

We all nodded to each other, and then decided to head towards the closest settlement.

I had Mappa and Number 15 block the entrance of the tunnel, and so they would wait there for some time. While we were gone, they would focus on mining in the area.

After walking for some time, we saw a figure up ahead.

We did not hide ourselves, and approached the person boldly.

The person was humanoid and carried firewood on their back. However, as we got closer, I noticed something.

While the person was humanoid, they were not human, nor were they Vader. It was a girl with gray hair and dog or cat-like ears. She would probably be about ten years old if she was human.

While passing us by, the girl stared at us curiously and said,

“How rare for a human to be here.”

I could understand her, thanks to the translation stone.

In order to avoid suspicion, I stopped and answered her.

“We are merchants from Amolis. Would you care to buy something?”

The girl stopped as well and replied.

“People from Amolis sure like to sell things. I see them all of the time. But you are rather inept for being from Amolis. In spite of having a magic tool that allows you to understand others.”

I saw Fule scowl at her words, and so I answered frantically.

“We-well, we have started recently. In other words… You are saying that this isn’t a good place for business?”
“Yes. The only people who live here are those whose homelands were conquered by the Vaders, and were forced to move here.”
“I see…”

I had heard that Vader was conquering other countries. Even among human countries, they would sometimes force residents to move from the land after defeating them.

Rienna opened her mouth.

“I suppose firewood sells well in a place like this.
“Yes, because there aren’t many trees… Also, pickaxes and farming tools should sell a little. We have to pay the land tax no matter what, so there is a demand for tools.”

The girl said as she looked at the pickaxe on my back.

“Ah. We also happen to sell carpentry tools. Do you know of a good town where we could sell them?”
“In that case, you could come with me to Langs? While you will have to pay to set up shop, a lot of settlers gather there, and you’ll have a decent chance of selling something.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course, not. I am going there anyway, to sell some firewood.”

Answered the girl.

It did not look like she was trying to fool us…

I turned to Fule, and she stared at the girl and answered.

“Well, why not? We should go at least once.”

If there were residents from other conquered people gathering there, that meant there could be other races than the one this girl belonged to. That was more convenient than going to a town where there were only Vader people.

“Alright. We will go with you then. Uh…”
“Shia.”
“Shia. I am Heal. This is Rienna and Fule. Nice to meet you.”

Shia did not answer, but continued to walk down the road.

It was not paved with stone, but was just well-trodden, hardened dirt. While it was dry right now, it would be terrible to walk on if it rained.

Just then, Shia’s ears pricked up.

She then turned her eyes towards the field, and her face turned pale.

“This is bad!”
“Bad? Ah.”

When I turned towards the field, I saw some bushes swaying.

And I detected magic energy…

“So-sorry!”

Shia then started to run away.

As for Rienna, she calmly looked towards the bushes and said,

“It must be a monster.”
“Aye. If it comes… No.”

The monster was not targeting us, but was moving towards the running Shia.

“It is after Shia!”
“Leave it to me!”

Fule said, and then she used fire magic to defeat the scorpion monster that was about to jump onto Shia.

As for Shia, she had fallen to the ground.

“Ah…ah…”

Fule stretched out her hand to the scared girl.

“Don’t worry, we are strong. Just don’t go too far away again.”
“Uh, yes… I’m sorry for running away.”

Of course, we wouldn’t ask such a small child to stay and fight.

And so I helped Shia pick up the firewood that she had dropped, and said,

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, were you injured?”
“No. Thank you…”

Shia said as she accepted the firewood.

“Everyone here is so focused on their own survival…so I didn’t think that you would help me.”

Shia’s clothes and shoes were in tatters. And she was very thin. Clearly, she lived in a harsh environment.

And while we could help Shia, it would be difficult to do the same with the others. Still, there must be something that we could do…

I hoped that we could learn more about the situation in Vader, once we reached Langs.

“Don’t worry about it… More importantly, let me take the firewood. I will carry it for you until we reach Langs.”
“But…”
“It’s fine. Alright, now you can guide us there.”
“Uh, okay.”

And so we continued on our way to the town of Langs.

Next Chapter

The Cave King will live a Paradise Life -Becoming the strongest with the mining skill?-