– Adventurer Life Day 74 (Thu) – Early Morning – Goldew Town – East Cliffs – Watering Place
The sun begins to rise from the horizon of Goldew.
At the same time, the residents from Goldew town gradually began to bustle.
Some of them go to the waterfall where there is a moderate amount of water to collect from the east side of the cliff.
(If we don’t hurry there today, it might get pretty crowded.)
One of those hurrying there was a female adventurer, Fira, who had just settled in the town plains.
She missed bathing yesterday and the day before that, because she had to hunt for longer periods than usual with her party.
Thanks to the mild dry winds blowing from the south, even with the relatively crisp climate of Goldew, it would be awkward to skip out on any bathing opportunities.
It’s not like she would get kicked out of the inn for her hygiene, but there’s a guy in her party she’s been interested in.
She had been trying her best to keep her distance when hunting together.
Then again, there’s a possibility he already noticed and had not said anything…
While sighing to herself, she approaches the watering place.
It’ll be easy to get to this place during the early mornings and evenings.
At other times, there will be many by-passers passing through here, and it’s a little too shameful bathing during then.
(… Then again, even in the early morning, there’s still a number of people here already.)
The watering place may not be completely visible to the people from the main street, but she still quickly tries to strategize in her head the optimal way to finish washing here as quickly as possible.
However, once she arrived there, that plan was completely blown away.
(Wha… what is this?)
There’s a high wooden fence surrounding the side where it was designated for women.
It’s also really solid, with no gaps in between, apart from a small gap from below where the water could freely pass through.
“Eh… Erm….?”
Looking for the entrance, she found it from the edge of the cliff wall.
It was facing at a discreet place, and there’s two doors which makes it difficult to see inside.
This is probably the first time Fira had seen something well-built for something like a watering place.
It’s because the chief of the town wouldn’t put the investment in it since the development of the other town was already being made.
But maybe he had a change of heart…
“… Mm, oh well.”
But there’s no use thinking about it now.
Since her earlier problem has already been solved with this, she’ll just consider this as a lucky moment.
– Adventurer Life Day 74 (Thu) – Morning – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Forest Zone
Standing in front of our base, next to the caravan, Benedetta walks back here from the watering place.
“I’m back. The fence from that watering place seems to be doing fine.”
“That’s good. How about that water tap?”
“There seems to be a number of people who uses it. I think there was a line forming by the time I left there.”
“That’s good. I guess that means I don’t have to do any more then.”
I suppose it was worth sneaking around at night, building those fences up.
If I was caught hanging around by the women’s area, there might be some misunderstandings I won’t be able to explain properly. Even though it’s just a waterfall with no one around.
All I did there was install some wooden walls along the water.
We still had quite a number of wood left even after giving some to the guild, so I used them to make the blindfold layered fences at our base, and brought them there with Centurion’s team to make it up all at once.
The only work I did there other than that was digging holes for the fences using Ingot, then cover it back up with Modelling. There were some rocks I had to cut to slot the fences into too.
It should be really dark outside, so I don’t think there could be anyone who’s able to see what we were doing anyways.
With everything planned out, it was all done in just 15 minutes.
In addition, that ‘water tap’ mentioned earlier, is just a funnel and a short pipe at the waterfall.
It’s just there to make collecting water easier than it has to be.
Even if it breaks, I don’t think many people would care too much.
Hearing about Benedetta’s report, it seems like there’s a number of people who do use it. Even though it hardly took much effort at all.
“Alright, let’s head out hunting now. Is everyone ready?”
“Yes!”
“I’ll PREPARE the CARAVAN.”
“I’m ready as always.”
Just as we had done before, we head to the forest on top of the cliff.
– Adventurer Life Day 74 (Thu) – Afternoon – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Forest Zone
Hunting went by smoothly until the caravan was full up while cutting down trees.
While I was thinking of getting everyone together, Centurion made a sudden notice.
(MASTER! The PATH has been OPENED!)
(… What do you mean?)
… Opened… what’s that mean?
This place is only 6km away from Goldew, and up ahead should still be forests and mountains…
Wondering what he meant, I try to visually share with one of Centurion’s team.
(Ooh!?)
(How should we MAKE the PATH from HERE?)
Once I saw the situation, I understood what he meant when he said ‘opened’.
A huge lake… the calm water spreads out all around.
Arriving where Centurion was a while later… I climbed onto a large rock for a better view.
This rock is really big, almost the size of a two-story house. It reminded me of the ones back at Comnes’ Beginners’ Rock Field.
I climbed it by making dents around my hands on my way up using Ingot, then I started making some sort of steps once it slopes down.
My field of view is covered by the green forest, and the picture of the sky reflected on the lake. The surrounding rocks also creates this surreal atmosphere.
Maybe it’s because I’ve always been walking around the towns and cities do I feel like this.
The lake seems to extend to the north east direction. As for how far it goes I’m not sure, since the surroundings become more hazier the farther the distance..
There’s a considerable space between here and the opposite shore.
To the north, there is another huge mountain, with moss covering the rocky walls.
The southern shore of the lake we reached seems to be shallow, and if we head further to the water source, the water is probably at ankle depth.
There are lots of fallen trees, dead leaves and overgrown weeds surrounding us in the forest.
On the other hand, the eastern and northern shores were rocky, and the terrain seems to be something where we can ride our caravan through. Though, it would still be quite a bumpy ride.
“It seems to be difficult to take the road heading west.”
“Looks like it… The terrain there is a little too harsh.”
“I wonder if fixing the road a bit would help… though that would probably be difficult.”
It was obvious at a glance that the road heading west is going to be extremely difficult.
There’s going to have to be a bridge crossing the large river. Then after that, the rocks will have to be cleared out too…
Even if we do make it there, it’s not like we’ll be heading off very far either.
“MASTER, this route here seems to continue on.”
Centurion, who had volunteered to scout out the eastward direction, came back.
“Alright then. We’ll take a quick look over there, then come back to town. We still have a lot of time.”
“UNDERSTOOD.”
Looking around, it doesn’t seem like anyone has come here recently.
Travelling alongside the lake, it feels like we’re exploring like real adventurers!
– Adventurer Life Day 74 (Thu) – Evening – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Road
… We returned back to the cliffside just above the town after travelling for over an hour from that lake shore.
Seeing trees throughout the day, it was a little relieving once the space opens up again and seeing the town after some time.
Goldew looks lively today seeing the bustle from here.
However, since we’re quite a distance from the town, the people there could only be seen as dots.
— I continued looking at the scenery while walking, but then I noticed something strange.
Seeing a change in my expression, Phillips asks.
“Lord. Is something the matter?”
“I don’t know if it’s just me, but could you hear some voices about?”
“No… I don’t hear anything particular… What about you two?”
“Huh…? Voices?”
“I don’t HEAR anything STRANGE. Which DIRECTION?”
“… I think there.”
I pointed away from the cliff from where we are at.
From the looks of things, it still seems to be from the east side of town.
The area around there tends to be the place where others could also hunt monsters, but we didn’t intend to hunt here at all.
The cliffs are high and the view overlooks the entirety of Goldew very easily.
(I’m sure it is in that direction.)
From the eastern forest, adventurers and normal townsfolk began to start appearing.
However, there’s an unusual amount of them, and they seem to be watching for something.
After a while of searching, the other members of the party notices it as well.
“Over THERE? It LOOKS like SOMETHING is happening.”
“Do you think it has something to do with an Elite monster appearing?”
“….”
The same with that crowd of people we also stared into the forest….
And then, there was something I noticed first.
“…. Around that forest… There’s something like a big monster?”
“Hm!? I can see the trees shaking!”
From the way the trees sway, it definitely doesn’t look like it was from the wind.
Not to mention, if there is something that is causing that, then it’s heading towards the town at a considerable speed.
(If it really is a monster, then it surely must be an Elite then… But was there something that could do damage to that extent?)
There were many trees falling from the violent shaking.
“Something’s coming out!”
Phillips shouts, and a few trees fell behind the adventurer who had been running away from whatever was inside the forest!
Immediately after that, a monster appears from within the forest…
“Wha– What is with that size!?”
I shout out unintentionally.
Brown furred torso, snake-like head, thorny horns… It’s terribly huge, but there’s no doubt. It’s a demon horn!
“Lord…? Is that an Elite?”
“… It’s going to have to be!”
I couldn’t answer Phillips’ question with certainty… after all, even amongst Elites, this one is even more unusual than that.
(An elephant… no, this one’s clearly way bigger…)
The demon horns were originally large to begin with, their largest size was comparable to a very large horse.
However, this thing here seems to be the size of an elephant, with the snake head added on top from that. It’s physique also seems to be much bulkier, not even matching its size.
The Elites we have been encountering so far also had their size increased by double, just like that harpy at that forest.
This demon horn has the addition of a much stronger physique however.
Another thing that’s strange is that it seems to be acting alone, which is unusual for an Elite.
(What do we do…)
Luckily, among those that are running away, there’s a number of them that have been riding, and can be seen from the town plains.
Well at this rate the giant demon horn is going to attack the town.
… Though, I quite doubt the guards in town would have the power to stop it immediately.
I’m sure the monster would thrash a good portion of the town before it’s stopped.
With that in mind, I made my decision.
“You reckon we can stop that?”
— That was a genuine question.
It’s not like I doubt whether we have the power to stop that thing, but the giant demon horn, which has been chasing the fleeing people, is quite a distance away from the cliffs.
It’s too far to reach with projectiles, and even with the effect of ‘Haste’, it’ll be impossible to reach there in time.
The cliff is about 40m high.
If I were to drop a skeleton from here, it would break. There’s a limit on the distance I could summon skeletons from their coins too, so throwing the coin there isn’t possible.
“Nemo! I can reach there!”
“…”
I know what Benedetta will say, but I wanted to reject it immediately.
If she were to ride on her wooden horse, she may be able to get down from the cliff and reach there in time, compared with us.
She explained afterwards that she could draw its attention, and give the townspeople some time to escape.
Though it is just a little slower than the usual demon horn, that doesn’t make it any slow at all.
Without the accompanying skeletons however, there’s too much risk involved on her end.
I know this might be the only option, but surely there’s another way that I am missing…
Pressed for time, she rushed on ahead, at the same time, I started to rack my brain for another solution, until something called out.
(Please lend me your power. In exchange, I can lend you mine.)
“Who was that!?”
Suddenly, everyone around me looked at me in surprise on why I shouted all of a sudden.
Seeing that, even though that voice was loud and clear to me, I can understand at least that what I heard was something through telepathy.
(Now is not the time for hesitation! The situation is dire right now!)
“If that’s the case, then how do I go about this?”
(I wish for you to lend me your warrior.)
“…”
I was worried for a moment, but I felt a strong confidence from his voice…
Perhaps I should just follow my intuition.
“Alright.”
I replied back, and had the iron skeleton next to me come over.
“!?”
The skeleton walked towards the cliff like it was sleepwalking… and pulled itself up into the air!
“It junped down!?”
When I immediately looked down, I saw the skeleton kicking depressions off from the cliff and moving alongside it, slowing its momentum on a near vertical cliff!
“MASTER! That was-!”
“Hm!?”
From where Centurion points, there was a sword stuck into the rock wall, and that skeleton seemed to be aiming for that sword.
The skeleton kicked the wall much harder and jumped for its handle.
At that moment, as if the sword was engulfed in a black flame for an instant, the rust had been removed right from the sword!
(It was the same with Phillips!)
At that moment, mana was snatched away from my body.
From the same time as that sword was drawn, the skeleton’s transformation began.
Taking the sword with it, it continues on down the cliff, with parts of its black armor peeling off.
A moment later, it reached onto the ground from below…
The skeletons body, finally visible, was now completely changed from what it had originally appeared.
His back was a bit stretched, his bones were tough, and black flames blew off over his shoulders and upper arms — A very different look from the other skeletons.
However, it has its similarities with Phillips, where you could feel its power from its presence alone.
“I am the knight of Rhodias! I have returned to fight against evil once again!”
After proclaiming his speech to no one else in particular, Sir Gawain started running full speed in the direction of the demon horn…
– Adventurer Life Day 74 (Thu) – Early Morning – Goldew Town – East Cliffs – Watering Place
The sun begins to rise from the horizon of Goldew.
At the same time, the residents from Goldew town gradually began to bustle.
Some of them go to the waterfall where there is a moderate amount of water to collect from the east side of the cliff.
(If we don’t hurry there today, it might get pretty crowded.)
One of those hurrying there was a female adventurer, Fira, who had just settled in the town plains.
She missed bathing yesterday and the day before that, because she had to hunt for longer periods than usual with her party.
Thanks to the mild dry winds blowing from the south, even with the relatively crisp climate of Goldew, it would be awkward to skip out on any bathing opportunities.
It’s not like she would get kicked out of the inn for her hygiene, but there’s a guy in her party she’s been interested in.
She had been trying her best to keep her distance when hunting together.
Then again, there’s a possibility he already noticed and had not said anything…
While sighing to herself, she approaches the watering place.
It’ll be easy to get to this place during the early mornings and evenings.
At other times, there will be many by-passers passing through here, and it’s a little too shameful bathing during then.
(… Then again, even in the early morning, there’s still a number of people here already.)
The watering place may not be completely visible to the people from the main street, but she still quickly tries to strategize in her head the optimal way to finish washing here as quickly as possible.
However, once she arrived there, that plan was completely blown away.
(Wha… what is this?)
There’s a high wooden fence surrounding the side where it was designated for women.
It’s also really solid, with no gaps in between, apart from a small gap from below where the water could freely pass through.
“Eh… Erm….?”
Looking for the entrance, she found it from the edge of the cliff wall.
It was facing at a discreet place, and there’s two doors which makes it difficult to see inside.
This is probably the first time Fira had seen something well-built for something like a watering place.
It’s because the chief of the town wouldn’t put the investment in it since the development of the other town was already being made.
But maybe he had a change of heart…
“… Mm, oh well.”
But there’s no use thinking about it now.
Since her earlier problem has already been solved with this, she’ll just consider this as a lucky moment.
– Adventurer Life Day 74 (Thu) – Morning – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Forest Zone
Standing in front of our base, next to the caravan, Benedetta walks back here from the watering place.
“I’m back. The fence from that watering place seems to be doing fine.”
“That’s good. How about that water tap?”
“There seems to be a number of people who uses it. I think there was a line forming by the time I left there.”
“That’s good. I guess that means I don’t have to do any more then.”
I suppose it was worth sneaking around at night, building those fences up.
If I was caught hanging around by the women’s area, there might be some misunderstandings I won’t be able to explain properly. Even though it’s just a waterfall with no one around.
All I did there was install some wooden walls along the water.
We still had quite a number of wood left even after giving some to the guild, so I used them to make the blindfold layered fences at our base, and brought them there with Centurion’s team to make it up all at once.
The only work I did there other than that was digging holes for the fences using Ingot, then cover it back up with Modelling. There were some rocks I had to cut to slot the fences into too.
It should be really dark outside, so I don’t think there could be anyone who’s able to see what we were doing anyways.
With everything planned out, it was all done in just 15 minutes.
In addition, that ‘water tap’ mentioned earlier, is just a funnel and a short pipe at the waterfall.
It’s just there to make collecting water easier than it has to be.
Even if it breaks, I don’t think many people would care too much.
Hearing about Benedetta’s report, it seems like there’s a number of people who do use it. Even though it hardly took much effort at all.
“Alright, let’s head out hunting now. Is everyone ready?”
“Yes!”
“I’ll PREPARE the CARAVAN.”
“I’m ready as always.”
Just as we had done before, we head to the forest on top of the cliff.
– Adventurer Life Day 74 (Thu) – Afternoon – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Forest Zone
Hunting went by smoothly until the caravan was full up while cutting down trees.
While I was thinking of getting everyone together, Centurion made a sudden notice.
(MASTER! The PATH has been OPENED!)
(… What do you mean?)
… Opened… what’s that mean?
This place is only 6km away from Goldew, and up ahead should still be forests and mountains…
Wondering what he meant, I try to visually share with one of Centurion’s team.
(Ooh!?)
(How should we MAKE the PATH from HERE?)
Once I saw the situation, I understood what he meant when he said ‘opened’.
A huge lake… the calm water spreads out all around.
Arriving where Centurion was a while later… I climbed onto a large rock for a better view.
This rock is really big, almost the size of a two-story house. It reminded me of the ones back at Comnes’ Beginners’ Rock Field.
I climbed it by making dents around my hands on my way up using Ingot, then I started making some sort of steps once it slopes down.
My field of view is covered by the green forest, and the picture of the sky reflected on the lake. The surrounding rocks also creates this surreal atmosphere.
Maybe it’s because I’ve always been walking around the towns and cities do I feel like this.
The lake seems to extend to the north east direction. As for how far it goes I’m not sure, since the surroundings become more hazier the farther the distance..
There’s a considerable space between here and the opposite shore.
To the north, there is another huge mountain, with moss covering the rocky walls.
The southern shore of the lake we reached seems to be shallow, and if we head further to the water source, the water is probably at ankle depth.
There are lots of fallen trees, dead leaves and overgrown weeds surrounding us in the forest.
On the other hand, the eastern and northern shores were rocky, and the terrain seems to be something where we can ride our caravan through. Though, it would still be quite a bumpy ride.
“It seems to be difficult to take the road heading west.”
“Looks like it… The terrain there is a little too harsh.”
“I wonder if fixing the road a bit would help… though that would probably be difficult.”
It was obvious at a glance that the road heading west is going to be extremely difficult.
There’s going to have to be a bridge crossing the large river. Then after that, the rocks will have to be cleared out too…
Even if we do make it there, it’s not like we’ll be heading off very far either.
“MASTER, this route here seems to continue on.”
Centurion, who had volunteered to scout out the eastward direction, came back.
“Alright then. We’ll take a quick look over there, then come back to town. We still have a lot of time.”
“UNDERSTOOD.”
Looking around, it doesn’t seem like anyone has come here recently.
Travelling alongside the lake, it feels like we’re exploring like real adventurers!
– Adventurer Life Day 74 (Thu) – Evening – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Road
… We returned back to the cliffside just above the town after travelling for over an hour from that lake shore.
Seeing trees throughout the day, it was a little relieving once the space opens up again and seeing the town after some time.
Goldew looks lively today seeing the bustle from here.
However, since we’re quite a distance from the town, the people there could only be seen as dots.
— I continued looking at the scenery while walking, but then I noticed something strange.
Seeing a change in my expression, Phillips asks.
“Lord. Is something the matter?”
“I don’t know if it’s just me, but could you hear some voices about?”
“No… I don’t hear anything particular… What about you two?”
“Huh…? Voices?”
“I don’t HEAR anything STRANGE. Which DIRECTION?”
“… I think there.”
I pointed away from the cliff from where we are at.
From the looks of things, it still seems to be from the east side of town.
The area around there tends to be the place where others could also hunt monsters, but we didn’t intend to hunt here at all.
The cliffs are high and the view overlooks the entirety of Goldew very easily.
(I’m sure it is in that direction.)
From the eastern forest, adventurers and normal townsfolk began to start appearing.
However, there’s an unusual amount of them, and they seem to be watching for something.
After a while of searching, the other members of the party notices it as well.
“Over THERE? It LOOKS like SOMETHING is happening.”
“Do you think it has something to do with an Elite monster appearing?”
“….”
The same with that crowd of people we also stared into the forest….
And then, there was something I noticed first.
“…. Around that forest… There’s something like a big monster?”
“Hm!? I can see the trees shaking!”
From the way the trees sway, it definitely doesn’t look like it was from the wind.
Not to mention, if there is something that is causing that, then it’s heading towards the town at a considerable speed.
(If it really is a monster, then it surely must be an Elite then… But was there something that could do damage to that extent?)
There were many trees falling from the violent shaking.
“Something’s coming out!”
Phillips shouts, and a few trees fell behind the adventurer who had been running away from whatever was inside the forest!
Immediately after that, a monster appears from within the forest…
“Wha– What is with that size!?”
I shout out unintentionally.
Brown furred torso, snake-like head, thorny horns… It’s terribly huge, but there’s no doubt. It’s a demon horn!
“Lord…? Is that an Elite?”
“… It’s going to have to be!”
I couldn’t answer Phillips’ question with certainty… after all, even amongst Elites, this one is even more unusual than that.
(An elephant… no, this one’s clearly way bigger…)
The demon horns were originally large to begin with, their largest size was comparable to a very large horse.
However, this thing here seems to be the size of an elephant, with the snake head added on top from that. It’s physique also seems to be much bulkier, not even matching its size.
The Elites we have been encountering so far also had their size increased by double, just like that harpy at that forest.
This demon horn has the addition of a much stronger physique however.
Another thing that’s strange is that it seems to be acting alone, which is unusual for an Elite.
(What do we do…)
Luckily, among those that are running away, there’s a number of them that have been riding, and can be seen from the town plains.
Well at this rate the giant demon horn is going to attack the town.
… Though, I quite doubt the guards in town would have the power to stop it immediately.
I’m sure the monster would thrash a good portion of the town before it’s stopped.
With that in mind, I made my decision.
“You reckon we can stop that?”
— That was a genuine question.
It’s not like I doubt whether we have the power to stop that thing, but the giant demon horn, which has been chasing the fleeing people, is quite a distance away from the cliffs.
It’s too far to reach with projectiles, and even with the effect of ‘Haste’, it’ll be impossible to reach there in time.
The cliff is about 40m high.
If I were to drop a skeleton from here, it would break. There’s a limit on the distance I could summon skeletons from their coins too, so throwing the coin there isn’t possible.
“Nemo! I can reach there!”
“…”
I know what Benedetta will say, but I wanted to reject it immediately.
If she were to ride on her wooden horse, she may be able to get down from the cliff and reach there in time, compared with us.
She explained afterwards that she could draw its attention, and give the townspeople some time to escape.
Though it is just a little slower than the usual demon horn, that doesn’t make it any slow at all.
Without the accompanying skeletons however, there’s too much risk involved on her end.
I know this might be the only option, but surely there’s another way that I am missing…
Pressed for time, she rushed on ahead, at the same time, I started to rack my brain for another solution, until something called out.
(Please lend me your power. In exchange, I can lend you mine.)
“Who was that!?”
Suddenly, everyone around me looked at me in surprise on why I shouted all of a sudden.
Seeing that, even though that voice was loud and clear to me, I can understand at least that what I heard was something through telepathy.
(Now is not the time for hesitation! The situation is dire right now!)
“If that’s the case, then how do I go about this?”
(I wish for you to lend me your warrior.)
“…”
I was worried for a moment, but I felt a strong confidence from his voice…
Perhaps I should just follow my intuition.
“Alright.”
I replied back, and had the iron skeleton next to me come over.
“!?”
The skeleton walked towards the cliff like it was sleepwalking… and pulled itself up into the air!
“It junped down!?”
When I immediately looked down, I saw the skeleton kicking depressions off from the cliff and moving alongside it, slowing its momentum on a near vertical cliff!
“MASTER! That was-!”
“Hm!?”
From where Centurion points, there was a sword stuck into the rock wall, and that skeleton seemed to be aiming for that sword.
The skeleton kicked the wall much harder and jumped for its handle.
At that moment, as if the sword was engulfed in a black flame for an instant, the rust had been removed right from the sword!
(It was the same with Phillips!)
At that moment, mana was snatched away from my body.
From the same time as that sword was drawn, the skeleton’s transformation began.
Taking the sword with it, it continues on down the cliff, with parts of its black armor peeling off.
A moment later, it reached onto the ground from below…
The skeletons body, finally visible, was now completely changed from what it had originally appeared.
His back was a bit stretched, his bones were tough, and black flames blew off over his shoulders and upper arms — A very different look from the other skeletons.
However, it has its similarities with Phillips, where you could feel its power from its presence alone.
“I am the knight of Rhodias! I have returned to fight against evil once again!”
After proclaiming his speech to no one else in particular, Sir Gawain started running full speed in the direction of the demon horn…
