The route over the Kitrus Mountain Range was rugged.
In order to reduce the difference in elevation between the road, the road meanders around the mountain.
Nevertheless, in some places, the elevation gradient became too large and we had to dismount and push the car with magic power, the cars horsepower insufficient.
The only positive is that the roads are wide, likely a remnant of the period of war between the Empire and the Alliance.
The early parts of the road were blocked by fallen trees and countless landslides created fragments in the road.
If we walked on foot, we could, at worst, go through the mountain range at the mercy of our bodies, but that’s not possible with the car.
It would be nice if there was a detour, but if there was such a convenient option, it would not be a hardship.
On the other hand, it’s also hard to get rid of the car. Not only because it’s borrowed, but some of us will have to hide in the car again after the mountain range.
If this was from my previous world, we might have no choice but to turn back.
Today, we were taking a break in the mountain road for the first time since we entered it.
There are trees lying on the slope, which seemed to have fallen together when the road collapsed; they are rotten and hollowed out, mossy on the surface, with poisonous mushrooms growing from within.
It must have fallen long-time ago and not been repaired.
Since few people use this road, it makes sense they wouldn’t waste effort on this road’s maintenance.
To travel on this road, we need to do minimal repairs.
“Lily, I’m done checking the front,” Silane, who had wandered to the end of the path, came back briskly.
After heading down the mountain road, she once again donned the armor of the Alliance Knights and, with a dignified expression, stopped at the other side of the fragmented road.
“There is no sign of people. We can go at any time.”
I haven’t seen anyone on this road, but it is by no means an unused road.
In other words, we had to be careful when passing through so we wouldn’t worry about other people.
Hearing Silane’s words, Lily, who had been on one knee and looking at the fragmented road, stoop up. “Okay. I’ll go then.”
Lily stretched her right hand forward.
At her fingertips, a yellow magic circle unfolded.
Earth magic, second tier. This is one of the two attributes Lily attained from consuming a large number of monsters at Fortress Tilia.
Dirt rose in a heap, filling in where the road was cut off by a landslide.
By repeating this several times, Lily astutely buried the ground that had been gouged out.
The Earth magic that Lily learned is very useful in these situations.
Up to this point, Lily has been practicing her new magic by moving trees out of the way and making simple repairs to potholes in the road.
However, there is one problem.
Lily’s repairs on the road, though helpful, are not technically advanced work.
Only extremely skilled individuals, or magicians who specialize in civil engineering work, will be able to dexterously handle earthen magic for these purposes.
In the army, for example, there are specialized magicians who are part of a team of operatives.
In Lily’s case, she can use magic to raise the soil and fill in the broken road surface, but she can’t make the ground as level, or hard, as it was originally.
It’s not possible to run a car that’s supposed to operate on flat ground on uneven ground. And, if we force the car, the car may be damaged.
But, we’re a team.
If one person’s strength isn’t enough, others will lend a helping hand until it is.
Thanks to Lily, the road is open. There are no trees or obstructions and there is much needed footing.
It’s just not suitable for car travel.
“Okay, Gerbera. The rest is up to you.”
“Hmm,” Gerbera nodded and slowly crouched down, stretching her eight legs out to secure footing.
Both arms stretched out to the car and grabbed the protective board attached to the front of the mudguard.
The car screeched as Gerbera lifted the vehicle.
The sound of the car creaking under its own weight proved that the solidly built car is as heavy as it looks, even with Rose’s reinforcements.
I remembered a picture I saw in an illustrated book when I was a child that showed how an ant could lift something that weighed many times that of its own body.
In front of me, Gerbera picked up the car and walked forward with cautious steps, testing the ground.
Gerbera’s multiple legs remained stable on bumpy ground.
The car was carried in an unusually smooth horizontal movement with minimal up and down movement.
Gerbera’s physical abilities and incomparably superior to those of humans.
She also has a great sense of balance.
With the number of times she’s done it, she’s gotten better and better at hauling the car and there’s no hint of danger.
“Carrying around a vehicle is a bit of backwards looking, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. I suppose it might be,” Katō chuckled, in response to my statement.
Rose, who had been watching the situation, called out to Gerbera, “Gerbera, it leans slightly to the right. Take care of yourself.”
“Oh, okay. However, Rose’s work has added to it, it will not break.”
“Yeah. It’s true that it’s not a very risky task unless you aren’t careful. But if it makes it less of a burden, then it’s quite beneficial.”
“Hmmm. That too,” Gerbera laughed and nodded at Rose’s advice from beneath the hood.
I’ve noticed recently those two personalities are at odds; Gerbera is carefree and outspoken, and Rose is methodical and serious. But, surprisingly, they have good chemistry.
Gerbera, who had suddenly laughed, dexterously prevented the car from moving around too much looked up.
“I’ll be careful. Kei’s up there.”
“I trust you, Gerbera,” A girl’s childishly bright voice replied from inside the car.
“What about the view from up there?”
“It’s kind of weird but refreshing.”
“It is good thou are having fun.”
Kei had remained in the car when Gerbera had lifted it and was watching from there.
Their conversation adds a sudden charm. Their cheerful atmosphere is contagious as we watch them with interest.
At this point, we are able to have this pleasant atmosphere, but when we first started on the road, we were struggling with the bad road quality and the journey was difficult.
To be honest, having traveled mainly through the Sea of Trees, I was a bit naïve to the mountainous terrain.
On this poorly maintained mountain road, we ended up having Gerbera tow the car most of the way.
In the beginning, she was able to carry it, but the shaking was so severe that no one would be able to stay in the car.
When it came to walking on foot, the steep path was surprisingly draining for all of us.
At least, since coming to this world, I’ve learned to use magic; Kei is a young apprentice Knight. Katō, the physically weakest among us, was even picked up by Rose at some points.
At some parts in the trail, we were stranded for hours trying to clear the road enough to bring the car through.
The car turned over at one point and the wheel broke off. We spent half a day to fix it.
The monsters we occasionally encounter, in addition to the threat of an assault on the road itself, require the vehicle be in good condition.
Since we were not in a hurry, we were moving slowly and before we knew it, nearly ten days had passed.
If the village head of the pioneer village is right, we should be coming upon the tributary of the Alaria river, inside the Kettles.
It seems the trip is finally halfway through.
We have gotten used to the trouble on the mountain roads, and it’s expected that the second half will go a little faster.
We were able to replenish at the last pioneer village, so we still have plenty of food.
It looks like we will be able to go through the rest of the mountain range without any problems.
At least, that’s what I thought.
It wasn’t until the next day that I realized I was wrong.
The route over the Kitrus Mountain Range was rugged.
In order to reduce the difference in elevation between the road, the road meanders around the mountain.
Nevertheless, in some places, the elevation gradient became too large and we had to dismount and push the car with magic power, the cars horsepower insufficient.
The only positive is that the roads are wide, likely a remnant of the period of war between the Empire and the Alliance.
The early parts of the road were blocked by fallen trees and countless landslides created fragments in the road.
If we walked on foot, we could, at worst, go through the mountain range at the mercy of our bodies, but that’s not possible with the car.
It would be nice if there was a detour, but if there was such a convenient option, it would not be a hardship.
On the other hand, it’s also hard to get rid of the car. Not only because it’s borrowed, but some of us will have to hide in the car again after the mountain range.
If this was from my previous world, we might have no choice but to turn back.
Today, we were taking a break in the mountain road for the first time since we entered it.
There are trees lying on the slope, which seemed to have fallen together when the road collapsed; they are rotten and hollowed out, mossy on the surface, with poisonous mushrooms growing from within.
It must have fallen long-time ago and not been repaired.
Since few people use this road, it makes sense they wouldn’t waste effort on this road’s maintenance.
To travel on this road, we need to do minimal repairs.
“Lily, I’m done checking the front,” Silane, who had wandered to the end of the path, came back briskly.
After heading down the mountain road, she once again donned the armor of the Alliance Knights and, with a dignified expression, stopped at the other side of the fragmented road.
“There is no sign of people. We can go at any time.”
I haven’t seen anyone on this road, but it is by no means an unused road.
In other words, we had to be careful when passing through so we wouldn’t worry about other people.
Hearing Silane’s words, Lily, who had been on one knee and looking at the fragmented road, stoop up. “Okay. I’ll go then.”
Lily stretched her right hand forward.
At her fingertips, a yellow magic circle unfolded.
Earth magic, second tier. This is one of the two attributes Lily attained from consuming a large number of monsters at Fortress Tilia.
Dirt rose in a heap, filling in where the road was cut off by a landslide.
By repeating this several times, Lily astutely buried the ground that had been gouged out.
The Earth magic that Lily learned is very useful in these situations.
Up to this point, Lily has been practicing her new magic by moving trees out of the way and making simple repairs to potholes in the road.
However, there is one problem.
Lily’s repairs on the road, though helpful, are not technically advanced work.
Only extremely skilled individuals, or magicians who specialize in civil engineering work, will be able to dexterously handle earthen magic for these purposes.
In the army, for example, there are specialized magicians who are part of a team of operatives.
In Lily’s case, she can use magic to raise the soil and fill in the broken road surface, but she can’t make the ground as level, or hard, as it was originally.
It’s not possible to run a car that’s supposed to operate on flat ground on uneven ground. And, if we force the car, the car may be damaged.
But, we’re a team.
If one person’s strength isn’t enough, others will lend a helping hand until it is.
Thanks to Lily, the road is open. There are no trees or obstructions and there is much needed footing.
It’s just not suitable for car travel.
“Okay, Gerbera. The rest is up to you.”
“Hmm,” Gerbera nodded and slowly crouched down, stretching her eight legs out to secure footing.
Both arms stretched out to the car and grabbed the protective board attached to the front of the mudguard.
The car screeched as Gerbera lifted the vehicle.
The sound of the car creaking under its own weight proved that the solidly built car is as heavy as it looks, even with Rose’s reinforcements.
I remembered a picture I saw in an illustrated book when I was a child that showed how an ant could lift something that weighed many times that of its own body.
In front of me, Gerbera picked up the car and walked forward with cautious steps, testing the ground.
Gerbera’s multiple legs remained stable on bumpy ground.
The car was carried in an unusually smooth horizontal movement with minimal up and down movement.
Gerbera’s physical abilities and incomparably superior to those of humans.
She also has a great sense of balance.
With the number of times she’s done it, she’s gotten better and better at hauling the car and there’s no hint of danger.
“Carrying around a vehicle is a bit of backwards looking, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. I suppose it might be,” Katō chuckled, in response to my statement.
Rose, who had been watching the situation, called out to Gerbera, “Gerbera, it leans slightly to the right. Take care of yourself.”
“Oh, okay. However, Rose’s work has added to it, it will not break.”
“Yeah. It’s true that it’s not a very risky task unless you aren’t careful. But if it makes it less of a burden, then it’s quite beneficial.”
“Hmmm. That too,” Gerbera laughed and nodded at Rose’s advice from beneath the hood.
I’ve noticed recently those two personalities are at odds; Gerbera is carefree and outspoken, and Rose is methodical and serious. But, surprisingly, they have good chemistry.
Gerbera, who had suddenly laughed, dexterously prevented the car from moving around too much looked up.
“I’ll be careful. Kei’s up there.”
“I trust you, Gerbera,” A girl’s childishly bright voice replied from inside the car.
“What about the view from up there?”
“It’s kind of weird but refreshing.”
“It is good thou are having fun.”
Kei had remained in the car when Gerbera had lifted it and was watching from there.
Their conversation adds a sudden charm. Their cheerful atmosphere is contagious as we watch them with interest.
At this point, we are able to have this pleasant atmosphere, but when we first started on the road, we were struggling with the bad road quality and the journey was difficult.
To be honest, having traveled mainly through the Sea of Trees, I was a bit naïve to the mountainous terrain.
On this poorly maintained mountain road, we ended up having Gerbera tow the car most of the way.
In the beginning, she was able to carry it, but the shaking was so severe that no one would be able to stay in the car.
When it came to walking on foot, the steep path was surprisingly draining for all of us.
At least, since coming to this world, I’ve learned to use magic; Kei is a young apprentice Knight. Katō, the physically weakest among us, was even picked up by Rose at some points.
At some parts in the trail, we were stranded for hours trying to clear the road enough to bring the car through.
The car turned over at one point and the wheel broke off. We spent half a day to fix it.
The monsters we occasionally encounter, in addition to the threat of an assault on the road itself, require the vehicle be in good condition.
Since we were not in a hurry, we were moving slowly and before we knew it, nearly ten days had passed.
If the village head of the pioneer village is right, we should be coming upon the tributary of the Alaria river, inside the Kettles.
It seems the trip is finally halfway through.
We have gotten used to the trouble on the mountain roads, and it’s expected that the second half will go a little faster.
We were able to replenish at the last pioneer village, so we still have plenty of food.
It looks like we will be able to go through the rest of the mountain range without any problems.
At least, that’s what I thought.
It wasn’t until the next day that I realized I was wrong.
