Hot Spring Tour – Autumn Leaves
“Between that mountain and that mountain. That is where the Jideruru Valley begins.”
Metto, the short, muscular man said as he pointed from between the trees. He looked like a shaved dwarf, but moved with agility through the forest.
I could see scattered trees with red leaves on the mountains. So at higher altitudes, the trees shed their leaves during winter.
Red leaves, hot spring. The atmosphere couldn’t be better.
But as I was quite tired from my travels, I rested in Nindor village for one day first.
And so it was on the following morning that we walked out here. There was still some time before midday. It felt like it was about three hours. And there was still some distance left to reach the valley. And you could not use a horse. But if two ogres attacked a village, it would be certain destruction. So as a threat, it was far too close.
“There are much fewer monsters from this point on. Though, it’s so dangerous that we’ve all avoided going in. You better take the lead now.”
“Fine. You can guide me from behind.”
The thin man, Urzon, retreated to the back. The chief said he was skilled with a bow. But that had yet to be proven. Even if you had the right level or status, you had to shoot quite a lot to raise your level. And you just had to look at a person to see if they trained a lot.
His right arms did seem slightly larger than his left. But that was not out of place within the village. It was not enough to make me think he would be reliable.
The forest was very quiet. I couldn’t only hear the wind and birds.
“There are more rabbits now.”
“And deer. They’re eating the young leaves.”
Apparently, the hunters could see the differences in the forest. As this was ogre territory, other monsters avoided it. However, it seemed like beasts and animals took their place.
While ogres would eat them too, there were only two of them. So it was probably less dangerous than when there were more monsters.
“There is some water up ahead. We can rest there and eat.”
Metto suggested after we had traveled a little farther. It seemed a little early, but I didn’t argue. After all, I had no idea when we would get another chance to rest.
He then led us to a crack in a boulder when water was streaming out. I scooped some up with my hands and drank.
It was good.
Almost a little sweet. And so I kept drinking. It was so much better than the water I made with magic.
That water was very plain. It was useful, and I could not live without it at this point, but I didn’t prefer it in any way.
The other two filled their bottles. I didn’t carry one with me. Just a cup. And so I felt a little jealous.
We then sat down and chewed on whatever food we had brought. As we could not start a fire here, there would be no cooking.
“This sure is stale.”
“It can’t be helped. Don’t complain.”
While the two grumbled, the food really wasn’t that bad. It was dried potatoes and some kind of red fruit from the village. The potatoes weren’t completely dry, and had a soft texture. And the fruit was thankfully sweet.
Along with the delicious water, I was satisfied. But I suppose they were residents here, and were bored of it.
“Shh!”
Metto suddenly raised a finger to his lips while we ate.
No matter where you went, that gesture meant the same thing.
A moment later, I understood. There was a tapping noise in the distance. The sounds of footsteps.
“It’s a deer. It’s being chased by something.”
Urzon said as he squinted into the forest.
“What should we do?”
“There’s nothing we can do but wait.”
They nodded with nervous expressions. If it was being chased by the ogre, then we had to wait and watch. It was too dangerous to intercept it now. We had to move carefully.
The three of us crouched low and watched from behind the bushes.
“Piiii!”
There was a high-pitched cry that grew weaker. It suggested that it had been taken down. However, there were still other footsteps that were coming closer.
Eventually we saw a herd of gray colored deer pass by.
“Did you see that?”
“I did. One had an arrow in it.”
I had never heard of an ogre using a bow. And it had been a normal size arrow.
“Perhaps it wasn’t an ogre.”
“Let’s go and see.”
We nodded to each other. There was no point in staying here now. We left our things near the water, and moved through the trees with weapons in hand.
From tree to tree, bush to bush. Concealing ourselves while getting closer to where the sounds had come from.
The other two were used to this kind of thing, as they were hunters. But my half-plate mail was making noise. It was made by elves, and quieter than most armor. But the sounds still echoed in this quiet forest.
“Can’t you do something about that?”
“No.”
Metto complained. And he grimaced every time I made a noise. But there was no helping it.
“Gya-gya! Garrr!”
“Gugaraaa!”
But I soon heard noises that drowned out all others. Was this…goblins? Urzon pointed up ahead. I crawled forward and peered through the leaves. Yes, there were a number of goblins surrounding the fallen deer.
“Gugyagya!”
They were clearly in a good mood now. And showed no signs of knowing we were there. One was about to skin the deer with a knife.
As far as their number…about eight. And there were two large ones. Hobgoblins. One was an archer. Damn it.
As for the others, there was another goblin with a bow, and one with a staff. How troublesome.
“Now what?”
“This is perfect. We’ll watch.”
Perhaps this was a chance. I had never heard of monsters that obeyed order from other monsters. These goblins must have drifted in from some other place. A group with no permanent settlement.
Otherwise, they would not have entered an ogres territory like this. Either they went in while chasing their prey, or they had been tempted by such a rich hunting ground.
But as someone who knew, it looked like they were dancing on a minefield. We might be able to use them to lure out the ogres.
On the other hand, if the goblins spotted us, it would result in a clamorous battle. They even had a magician. And then we would be joining them in that minefield.
Regardless, the situation was dangerous. Taking any action would be ill advised now. And so we stayed there and waited quietly.
Thanks for the chapter.