Chapter 17
The Mountainous
Region
Translator : PolterGlast
To sense the distant
presence, I close my eyes and concentrate.
"Ginia, can you
be quiet for just a moment?"
"Huh? Did you
sense something?"
"Yeah. I think
there's a human presence deep in the mountainous region."
"Oh, a human
presence? Are they not adventurers?"
When I raised my index
finger to Ginia, who continued to talk, she cutely covered her own mouth with
both hands.
I've just been
reminded of how wonderful it is to have someone to talk to, so I don't want to
be rude, but ensuring our safety is the top priority.
It's quite far, making
it difficult to sense their presence, but I read the flow of the wind and
search for the faint human presence I detected.
.........I found it,
but yeah, this isn't normal.
"They're a
massive distance away from here, but there are several dozen people moving
together in a group. They can't possibly be adventurers, right?"
"Several dozen?
Not just a dozen or so?"
"I think there
are at least forty. If there are more further in, maybe as many as sixty."
"They're
definitely not adventurers! But is it even possible for such a large group of
people to be in a place like this?"
"Normally, it's
impossible, which is why I think it's suspicious."
"Hmm.... I've
never heard of any villages in this mountainous region. If I had to guess...
could it be the [Unbearable God Cult]?"
Ginia voiced the same
thought that had faintly crossed my mind.
But according to the
receptionist, the [Unbearable God Cult] was sighted south of Biodasdal, the
complete opposite direction from where we are now.
It's possible the
[Unbearable God Cult] spread false information to create a diversion, but
there's one other thing that's bothering me.
And that is—the
presence I sensed is far too weak.
"That was the
first thing I thought of too, but isn't the [Unbearable God Cult] supposed to
be a militant group of bandits? For that to be the case, their presence seems
way too weak."
"What? So there's
a chance they're just people in trouble?"
"I think that's
more likely. We can either turn back and report to the Adventurer's Guild, or
we can go help them ourselves. You can decide, Ginia."
"What!? I get to
decide!! Hmm... It would take over an hour to get back to town, and most of the
adventurers are out subjugating the [Unbearable God Cult] so there aren't many
left. Should we... go help them?"
"If that's what
you've decided, I have no objections. While I was sensing for their presence, I
also scouted the whole area. There don't seem to be any particularly strong
monsters in this mountain region, so I think just going to check it out will be
easy."
"If it's that
easy, you should have said so sooner! ...Wait, you scouted the whole area 'on
the side'? Is that even possible!?"
"It's not that
difficult. You'll be able to do it too with practice, Ginia."
"Ehh.... I don't
think I could do that even if I had my whole life!"
Setting aside Ginia,
who was surprised by the strange detail, now that we've decided to go, let's
head to where the people are gathered.
If we find a Sword
Hawk on the way, we'll hunt it and try to complete the quest at the same time.
Now that we know there
are no monsters to be wary of, I guess I'll guide Ginia in combat like
yesterday as we head over.
The monsters that
appeared in the mountainous region were mostly undead types.
However, they were all
low-level undead like zombies, skeletons, and wights. There weren't even any
monsters that used magic.
Being a mountainous
region, the path was steep, but that also meant good visibility, so Ginia was
able to defeat them on her own.
So far, only a Bone
Knight seemed a little troublesome, so I took care of that one by sending a
slash flying, but Ginia has defeated all the other monsters.
"There's a wight
coming from the left. You know its movement patterns by now, right?"
"Yes. The wight
attacks twice in a row, then repositions itself—that's it, right!"
"Yeah. It has a
clear opening, so bait its consecutive attacks and then defeat it."
"Got it! When I
move according to your instructions, Graham-san, the world looks different.
It's really fun!"
Ginia replied
cheerfully and then charged at the wight without even readying her dagger.
She baited an attack
with no guard, and easily dodged the wight's attack as it took the bait.
In just the last day
or two, she seems to have completely learned how to use her eyes, and now she
appears to be focused on how to dodge enemy attacks at the last possible
second.
I'd prefer her to
dodge with more of a margin, but given the opponent, even if she took a hit, it
wouldn't be a fatal injury at this point.
Being too
overprotective will hinder her growth, so for now, I'm just watching and
letting Ginia do as she pleases.
"--Oops, you
attacked twice in a row. Once you do that, it's over for you!"
Saying that, she
closed the distance with dance-like footwork and slashed the wight's magic core
with her dagger.
The wight, its power
source gone, collapsed weakly. After confirming this, Ginia turned around and
gave me a peace sign.
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