The next morning, we ate breakfast at the inn and then returned to our room in order to decide what we would do next.
“I have bought more than enough food. But perhaps some bread could be added to our stock.”
“Alright, we’ll go back in the afternoon and see if they do takeouts.”
Like that, our meeting started off with talks related to her appetite.
“We have three destinations. The forest that is south of here. The island to the west. And the country to the north. Once that is done, we can head to the final destination, the misty hills.”
Daniela said as she pointed at the map on the table with her pointer. When did she buy that?
“…Uh, just a moment Daniela. Would you do me a favor?”
“What?”
“This really doesn’t mean anything, but could you put the appraisal glasses on?”
“…? Well, why not?”
I loved Daniela, because she would listen to my meaningless requests.
“Hmm. Hmm. Yes, it looks really good on you!”
“I have not seen you smile so broadly in a long time. Well, at least you still look cute.”
It was the final form of Master Daniela.
“Now, to continue. We should decide the order in which we take them on.”
“Hmm… I have a question, Master Daniela.”
“What is it, young Asagi?”
I raised my hand and Daniela thrust the pointer at me.
“About the Alexia mountain ranges, is there a different route we could take to avoid Alessa?”
“There is. If you have the strength, you could just go over the mountain. Before Alessa was built, people had to pass the mountain by using a very old route.”
“An old route… And where is it?”
“Towards the west and south of Alessa. There are actually a number of them if you look hard enough. So it should not be a problem.”
I see… In that case, we could go to the south forest first, and to the west island before crossing the mountains to the north.
I suggested this to Daniela. She slapped the pointer into her hand and considered it.
“Hmm, I am not too sure, considering the season. It will be cold for quite a while, but I would not want to be near the forest once the snow starts to melt.”
“What do you mean?”
“From what I understand, the animal-type monsters hibernate during the winter. And they will come out of their nests once the snow melts. And the forest is full of such nests.”
So that was why there were no animals. Animals hibernated in the winter.
Any animals who hadn’t gone into hibernation were quickly hunted down by the goblins.
“We did not do much searching when we were in the northern forest either.”
“Now that I think about it… I was just using a lot of Presence Detection.”
“If we go to the south now, it is unlikely that we will reach it before the snow melts, unless we are very lucky.”
“I see. So we should avoid going there until the next icesnow season?”
I didn’t like the idea of waiting for a whole year.
“That too is a ridiculous idea… However, we should prioritize safety. Unless you want to brave the danger and go through the sea of trees?”
“I think we should.”
“Well, I thought you would… And you are probably right. It will be dangerous, but we should be able to handle it.”
“We should just get it all over with quickly. South, west, north. In that order.”
It was decided then. We continued to plan our journey after that. We would leave through the west gate of the city and go back down the road we had come. Our first destination would be the trading city of Usk. The town where Bacon lived.
There, we would hire a boat and go downriver to the south. This would make things a lot easier for us. And from the next port, we would enter the forest, find the facility, and achieve our goal. After that, we would continue on to the west. We would try to find another boat or I’d use Legs of the God Wolf to cross the sea and reach the island. I had a feeling we’d have an easier time finding the facility there, then we would in the forest.
Once all that was finished, we would cross the Alexia mountain range. We could also go by sea, but that would mean returning to the port to hire a boat. It would also be unwise to use Legs of the God Wolf at that point.
After that, we would continue to go up north on foot. We just needed to reach this Erediares country, the rest should be easy. After all, we’d have a populated area to make our base.
Once we had visited all the locations and accepted the key from the Karma, who would no doubt have heard about what we were doing, we would go down south to the misty hills. Though, I had no idea how an ancient elven facility could be hidden there… But we’d just have to go and search for it.
“Phew… I suppose that’s it.”
“The rest will have to be decided once we arrive.”
I had it all written down in a book that I stored away in my bag. Then I stretched my aching limbs while moving around the room. The clock showed that it was about midday. We had been talking all morning, but the passage of time seemed unusually fast. I suppose it showed how focused we were.
“I’m getting hungry.”
“Aye. We should go to that place, just as we planned.”
“Yeah. Just as we planned.”
Everything was according to plan.
□ □ □ □
And so we returned and filled our bellies once again. The bread really was delicious. Not only that, but they were quite accomodating with our request for a takeout. Our constant harping about how delicious the food was got the attention of the baker. We elaborated and then made the request, which was promptly granted. It was all according to plan. Well, not really.
“I am stuffed…”
“You sure ate a lot today…”
“It is near impossible to eat modestly with this food.”
“I hear you.”
It was as if your hands had a will of their own. The bread and soup were a particularly strong combination.
After that, we went around browsing, also known as being a nuisance, in different stores. It was mostly just to walk around and aid our digestion. As I had done enough of this yesterday with Lemon, I was sure to browse different stores this time.
“By the way…”
“Hmm?”
“What about that weapon?”
“Ahh…”
Daniela was talking about the Queen’s Knight Goblin sword. That huge, plain greatsword. He had said something about a queen giving it to him, but there had been no goblin queen in Estarosta. So I didn’t really know where it actually came from.
I had broken it with my Velnoir. Still, I had decided to keep it in order to remember him.
“I don’t think I will have it fixed. I’m keeping it as a reminder.”
“I see… If that is what you intend, then I have nothing to say about it.”
“Yeah.”
I killed him. And I didn’t think I was wrong in any way. But I didn’t think I should forget it.
It wasn’t the first time I killed a human. I had done it the first time to save Marie Elle. And then I did it many times after that. My emotions never died, and I often felt like vomiting after I did it. But I could control myself now. I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing.
Regardless, I would have to continue doing it.
“I think I want to keep that sword as it is. Like it will prevent me from being able to kill without feeling anything.”
“…I doubt you would become like that, Asagi. I would know.”
“Thanks, Daniela.”
I squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. There was overwhelming affection in her touch, and I was so happy that I laughed out loud.
□ □ □ □
I had thought about doing more shopping, but Daniela quickly reminded me that we had already finished preparing for the journey. It was true. I think that somewhere deep inside, I didn’t really want to leave. But I realized it now.
“That’s too bad…”
“Yes… But we cannot stay here forever. We have to move on. And we do not have much time.”
The snow would melt in a month and the warmer season would come.
“…Alright. I guess I should say my goodbyes then.”
“I will go with you.”
“Sorry. I know you don’t care about that.”
“It is fine. We meet, say farewell, and one day, reunite. Has it not always been that way?”
I nodded silently. It had happened many times already. That being said, there had not been a whole lot of reunions yet. But perhaps those were waiting for us in our future.
The next morning, we ate breakfast at the inn and then returned to our room in order to decide what we would do next.
“I have bought more than enough food. But perhaps some bread could be added to our stock.”
“Alright, we’ll go back in the afternoon and see if they do takeouts.”
Like that, our meeting started off with talks related to her appetite.
“We have three destinations. The forest that is south of here. The island to the west. And the country to the north. Once that is done, we can head to the final destination, the misty hills.”
Daniela said as she pointed at the map on the table with her pointer. When did she buy that?
“…Uh, just a moment Daniela. Would you do me a favor?”
“What?”
“This really doesn’t mean anything, but could you put the appraisal glasses on?”
“…? Well, why not?”
I loved Daniela, because she would listen to my meaningless requests.
“Hmm. Hmm. Yes, it looks really good on you!”
“I have not seen you smile so broadly in a long time. Well, at least you still look cute.”
It was the final form of Master Daniela.
“Now, to continue. We should decide the order in which we take them on.”
“Hmm… I have a question, Master Daniela.”
“What is it, young Asagi?”
I raised my hand and Daniela thrust the pointer at me.
“About the Alexia mountain ranges, is there a different route we could take to avoid Alessa?”
“There is. If you have the strength, you could just go over the mountain. Before Alessa was built, people had to pass the mountain by using a very old route.”
“An old route… And where is it?”
“Towards the west and south of Alessa. There are actually a number of them if you look hard enough. So it should not be a problem.”
I see… In that case, we could go to the south forest first, and to the west island before crossing the mountains to the north.
I suggested this to Daniela. She slapped the pointer into her hand and considered it.
“Hmm, I am not too sure, considering the season. It will be cold for quite a while, but I would not want to be near the forest once the snow starts to melt.”
“What do you mean?”
“From what I understand, the animal-type monsters hibernate during the winter. And they will come out of their nests once the snow melts. And the forest is full of such nests.”
So that was why there were no animals. Animals hibernated in the winter.
Any animals who hadn’t gone into hibernation were quickly hunted down by the goblins.
“We did not do much searching when we were in the northern forest either.”
“Now that I think about it… I was just using a lot of Presence Detection.”
“If we go to the south now, it is unlikely that we will reach it before the snow melts, unless we are very lucky.”
“I see. So we should avoid going there until the next icesnow season?”
I didn’t like the idea of waiting for a whole year.
“That too is a ridiculous idea… However, we should prioritize safety. Unless you want to brave the danger and go through the sea of trees?”
“I think we should.”
“Well, I thought you would… And you are probably right. It will be dangerous, but we should be able to handle it.”
“We should just get it all over with quickly. South, west, north. In that order.”
It was decided then. We continued to plan our journey after that. We would leave through the west gate of the city and go back down the road we had come. Our first destination would be the trading city of Usk. The town where Bacon lived.
There, we would hire a boat and go downriver to the south. This would make things a lot easier for us. And from the next port, we would enter the forest, find the facility, and achieve our goal. After that, we would continue on to the west. We would try to find another boat or I’d use Legs of the God Wolf to cross the sea and reach the island. I had a feeling we’d have an easier time finding the facility there, then we would in the forest.
Once all that was finished, we would cross the Alexia mountain range. We could also go by sea, but that would mean returning to the port to hire a boat. It would also be unwise to use Legs of the God Wolf at that point.
After that, we would continue to go up north on foot. We just needed to reach this Erediares country, the rest should be easy. After all, we’d have a populated area to make our base.
Once we had visited all the locations and accepted the key from the Karma, who would no doubt have heard about what we were doing, we would go down south to the misty hills. Though, I had no idea how an ancient elven facility could be hidden there… But we’d just have to go and search for it.
“Phew… I suppose that’s it.”
“The rest will have to be decided once we arrive.”
I had it all written down in a book that I stored away in my bag. Then I stretched my aching limbs while moving around the room. The clock showed that it was about midday. We had been talking all morning, but the passage of time seemed unusually fast. I suppose it showed how focused we were.
“I’m getting hungry.”
“Aye. We should go to that place, just as we planned.”
“Yeah. Just as we planned.”
Everything was according to plan.
□ □ □ □
And so we returned and filled our bellies once again. The bread really was delicious. Not only that, but they were quite accomodating with our request for a takeout. Our constant harping about how delicious the food was got the attention of the baker. We elaborated and then made the request, which was promptly granted. It was all according to plan. Well, not really.
“I am stuffed…”
“You sure ate a lot today…”
“It is near impossible to eat modestly with this food.”
“I hear you.”
It was as if your hands had a will of their own. The bread and soup were a particularly strong combination.
After that, we went around browsing, also known as being a nuisance, in different stores. It was mostly just to walk around and aid our digestion. As I had done enough of this yesterday with Lemon, I was sure to browse different stores this time.
“By the way…”
“Hmm?”
“What about that weapon?”
“Ahh…”
Daniela was talking about the Queen’s Knight Goblin sword. That huge, plain greatsword. He had said something about a queen giving it to him, but there had been no goblin queen in Estarosta. So I didn’t really know where it actually came from.
I had broken it with my Velnoir. Still, I had decided to keep it in order to remember him.
“I don’t think I will have it fixed. I’m keeping it as a reminder.”
“I see… If that is what you intend, then I have nothing to say about it.”
“Yeah.”
I killed him. And I didn’t think I was wrong in any way. But I didn’t think I should forget it.
It wasn’t the first time I killed a human. I had done it the first time to save Marie Elle. And then I did it many times after that. My emotions never died, and I often felt like vomiting after I did it. But I could control myself now. I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing.
Regardless, I would have to continue doing it.
“I think I want to keep that sword as it is. Like it will prevent me from being able to kill without feeling anything.”
“…I doubt you would become like that, Asagi. I would know.”
“Thanks, Daniela.”
I squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. There was overwhelming affection in her touch, and I was so happy that I laughed out loud.
□ □ □ □
I had thought about doing more shopping, but Daniela quickly reminded me that we had already finished preparing for the journey. It was true. I think that somewhere deep inside, I didn’t really want to leave. But I realized it now.
“That’s too bad…”
“Yes… But we cannot stay here forever. We have to move on. And we do not have much time.”
The snow would melt in a month and the warmer season would come.
“…Alright. I guess I should say my goodbyes then.”
“I will go with you.”
“Sorry. I know you don’t care about that.”
“It is fine. We meet, say farewell, and one day, reunite. Has it not always been that way?”
I nodded silently. It had happened many times already. That being said, there had not been a whole lot of reunions yet. But perhaps those were waiting for us in our future.
