Published: August 10, 2026
After being rocked by the carriage for half a day, we thanked the driver from the Kohana family who had taken us as far as the foothills of the Ikari Mountain Range, and then we began climbing the mountain.
Near the base, there was still a path that clearly showed people had traveled it before. Snow had not yet piled up, and there was no sign of demonic beasts. Led by Morganaite, who claimed to have memorized the map, Amelia walked in the middle and I brought up the rear.
"Akira, what do you think of that monster in the photo?"
"Who knows. It was blurry, so I couldn't really make it out. I'm not good at thinking about that sort of thing either. But—"
"But?"
"No, I was just wondering where that monster even came from."
"From where?"
If Lord Lattice Nail's words were correct, then all the demonic beasts that existed back then were sealed into the labyrinths of each continent by the demon king, who had once fallen in love with a hero. If that was the case, then the demonic beasts that exist on the surface now are either new beasts created by the gods or offspring of beasts born later; in other words, they are not the same beings that existed back then.
I doubted the demon king, who hated other races so much, would create a demonic beast that could be defeated by a Human race adventurer. So it probably required a fair amount of resources to create one. That meant the demonic beasts that exist now were likely created by the gods, but even so, weren't they far too lenient?
According to the myths I had heard from Commander saran, Aitel became angry at humans who kept fighting each other, split the continent into four, and created demonic beasts as divine punishment. But I still didn't really understand what Aitel wanted. Did he want humanity to survive, or did he want to wipe them out? Which was it?
"The Kohana family's conclusion was that it was probably a stray that fled after losing a territorial dispute. The Border Mountain Range surrounding Yamato Country is especially rugged, and even the local people only go as far as a little way past the foothills. Especially around the Ikari Mountain Range we're heading to now, there are many places that have never been explored by anyone before, so if we can at least determine where it originally lived during this extermination mission, that would be ideal. ...A demonic beast that killed three of the Kohana family's skilled men would be too much even for an ordinary silver rank adventurer. And yet they're bringing the request to a child from another world, not even someone with a title. That just shows how badly the war has stretched them thin, doesn't it?"
That wasn't what I had been thinking about, but it was still interesting, so I looked up at Morganaite.
"So the border on this side isn't clearly decided?"
I had heard that the border between Yamato Country and the Kingdom of Reytis was marked by the river flowing between the Border Mountain Range, but if this area was unexplored, then maybe there weren't any such agreements here either.
From the looks of it, it wasn't as if only the Wendes side of the mountains had gentle slopes either.
"That's right. Officially, the boundary is supposed to be the summit of each mountain, but unlike on the Kingdom of Reytis side, there are no clear landmarks."
"No wonder they haven't been fighting over it all this time."
Amelia murmured that in admiration.
Borders are often the source of conflict. If they aren't clearly defined, they can develop into territorial disputes.
"Well, the Kingdom of Wendes is a small nation with only about one-third the land of Yamato Country and one-sixth that of the Kingdom of Reytis. No matter how much it's a country of mercenaries, it can't beat either of those two in terms of national power. And Yamato Country is allied with us elf race. If war would only guarantee defeat, then maintaining the status quo is probably the wisest choice."
"The alliance with the Tsukimi Family also serves as a deterrent to neighboring countries. It's working properly, then."