The Long Way

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The mountains in the distance were covered in white.

Crossing the winding mountain pass and through the valley.

Several forests later, I saw a town road built to avoid the wetlands. I could feel the temperature dropping a little as we continued uphill. Here, there were blue flowers in bloom, as if they were rushed by the season.

The second day after I left the last village…

“It’s too far!!”

My voice echoed through the moors. Pretty blue flowers? Monsters will notice me? Who cares!

Sometimes, you just wanted to shout. Today marked one whole week since I left Deroslo. I was told that I could reach it in one week, but even though the sun was starting to set, there were no signs of a village appearing.

Yes, camping outside. Once again.

Everything had been good until the last village. There were settlements here and there, and sometimes I was able to sleep with a roof over my head. I could buy some food. And sometimes, I would share stories of my Adventurers for a drink.
Talking about old travels in front of flickering flames, while children watched with eager eyes, even as their parents scolded them for staying up late.
When I left in the morning, they would wave their hands and tell me to visit on my way back. It made me think that traveling alone was not so bad.

But…

Two days had now passed. I was trudging through nature without meeting a single soul. I was starting to really want some change. However, the only thing I saw was a few monsters.
Had there been branching paths along the way, I might have wondered if I had taken a wrong turn. But it was just one road the whole time.
Besides, the village was supposed to be marked by a giant boulder that anyone could see.

…Only, I saw no such thing?

The first thing I would ask when I met them was why they thought to live in such a remote place as this.
But as much as I wanted to complain, Mulze was the only one that would listen to me.

“Buurrr.”

But horses were good at ignoring you.

“Hah…”

I sighed and looked for a good camping spot. I didn’t want to move away from the main road, but the moors tended to have monsters, and it was not a good place to spend the night.
I quickened my pace, and then found a clearing a short distance away. Not only was the grass shorter, but there were also traces of someone having camped here before.

While I was thankful for it, it was also proof that the village was still far away. There would be no need to camp if the village was close.
I gathered some old tree branches and made a fire and boiled water. Then I swung Mine Breaker in order to cut down the surrounding bushes.

There was no need to do it with a sword, I had been sitting on a horse for so long that I wanted to move.

When the hot water was ready, I added some salt and dried meat and vegetables to make a simple soup. It tasted rather good.

However, I was also bored of eating it.

That being said, I did not feel like eating the kobolds or giant spiders I had killed along the way here.
But as I bit into the black bread and drank my soup, I started to wonder if the spider legs weren’t that bad.

After dinner, I made the fire as small as possible. I had the Nightvision skill, which meant I didn’t need as much light. Without being able to loosen my armor, I held Mine Breaker in my hands and closed my eyes.
I could not fall into a deep sleep, but I had to rest if I wanted to be able to move. And so while listening to the wind and grass, I searched for nearby presences.

This was the second night like this, and it was starting to weigh on me. Will I be able to reach it tomorrow? What if I had somehow missed a branching path? When alone in the dark, such doubts came to me. Still, if there was a path, then it had to lead somewhere. I had to believe it.

As I breathed there quietly, I heard Mulze move in the back. And then there was rustling in the bushes. It was a good thing I had stacked the grass up into piles.

I turned my head just as a large spider was climbing up it. The purple patterns on its back made me think it was a poison spider. But there were so many types that it was difficult to tell.
I charged Mine Breaker with energy, and it glowed faintly. The spider then stopped, as if cautious. And like that, we stared at each other for a moment.

I thought that it would charge, but then it turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

After that, I was sure of it. There was no way I was eating such a thing. I closed my eyes again and sunk into the shadows.

It was around half-way through the night. A strange sound made me open my eyes. The direction of the wind had changed, causing the light of the fire to flicker. It was probably going to rain.

I closed my bag and pulled my hood down. Moments later, drops of rain began to fall.
The water sizzled in the fire. The sounds of rain hitting my hood echoed in my ears. Still, I did not sense any monsters. Well, it was not harder for both sides to detect each other.

If only there was a place that would give me cover. But it was best to not move around like this at night. All I could do was keep my hands inside my cape and wait for the rain to stop.

The autumn cold chilled me to my bones. Mulze was also lying down and looked miserable. I heard a low cry in the distance. It sounded like a frog monster.
I prayed that it would not come close to us.

Who knows if the prayer was heard, but by the time the sky grew pale again, the rain had weakened. And when the sun rose, it looked like we would have a clear blue sky.

“Well, let’s go then.”

I stood up and the water poured off of my cape. I took the black bread out of my back and saddled Mulze.
As the ground was wet, there would be no hot breakfast today. Mulze shuddered when I climbed onto his back. He seemed anxious to move and warm up.

“Hyah!”

I signaled and put the bread in my mouth. Thankfully, I was not late for school, nor was I turning a corner where I would crash into a girl. So I could chew on the hard bread without fear.

The muddy ground made things difficult. But I could tell by the ruts that carriages sometimes passed through. Even though I had not seen any in the past few days.

As for monsters, there weren’t many compared to Suelbur. You would be fine as long as you were prepared.

Surely the ogres wouldn’t appear on the road? They were supposed to be in the Jideruru valley, but it wasn’t like monsters just stayed in one spot and waited. It was possible I could encounter one before reaching Nindor Village.

And so I remained cautious and moved slowly.

Mulze was not happy about it, and so I patted him consolingly as we continued down the road. Just before midday, I saw something rush out of the groves up ahead. A humanoid silhouette that was over two meters tall. An ogre!?

My hand immediately went to the sword on my back as I jumped out of the saddle. However, my prosthetic leg slipped on the wet ground, and I lost my balance.

“Tsk.”

I was at a disadvantage now. My hand touched the ground, and I avoided falling over. Then I looked up and saw my target. It was looking at me too. The bulging stomach, short legs and…

“Fuga!”

It’s just an orc!

It ran at me as if it had found its prey. While I was a little disappointed, it was still a monster. And I had to keep my guard up. Besides, it was meat. Maybe it could be my lunch.

I cut off the arm that came swinging, and lowered it on its way back to hack off the legs. The orc fell to the ground, and I plunged my blade into its back. It shuddered and then went still.

Without taking too much time, I took what I could eat and left the rest to the slimes. It might end up feeding other monsters, but I was in a hurry.

The sun was now high in the sky, but I still saw no signs of the village. As I was getting hungry, I stopped in a random clearing and cooked the meat and ate it. It was the first fresh food I had eaten in days. But the only thing on my mind was…

“Why is it so far away!!”

That was all.

Next Chapter

Ossan Boukensha no Jimichi na Isekai Tabi