The Water Magician

As they reached an altitude of around three thousand meters, the attacks from the wyverns ceased.

In their place, the cold pressed in.

However, thanks to Abel's cloak and Ryo's robe, the two suffered little damage as they reached the ridge and finally caught sight of the land on the northern side of the mountain range.

They had reached a lower ridge among the chain, and it was exactly the fifth day since they hunted the first two wyverns.

"We somehow made it to the ridge," Ryo said.

"Yeah, maybe because it's clear, the view is great," Abel replied.

As Abel pointed out, it was indeed a kind of spectacular view.

Just a little upward, there was a clear blue sky.

Looking back, the green of the land met the blue of the sky at the horizon.

In the midst of this, something moved at the right edge of their vision.

When Ryo looked that way, he saw a woman with her upper body bare… flying.

But her arms were transformed into wings.

And her legs looked like those of an eagle or hawk.

"Abel… a strange woman is coming," Ryo stated.

"Huh?"

As Ryo pointed to the right, Abel turned to look as well.

"That’s a harpy…"

Yes, what was approaching them was not a woman, but a legitimate monster known as a harpy.

And this harpy was coming with a flock...

"Ryo, we need to hurry down the northern slope!"

"Got it!"

The two quickly began to descend.

However, there was too much of a speed difference between the humans heading down the slope and the harpies flying in the air.

They were caught up to almost immediately.

"[Ice Wall 2]"

An ice wall was generated above Ryo and Abel's heads to prevent the harpies from grabbing them with their feet.

"Abel, do harpies not drop good magic stones?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah. They have stupid strength, fly in the air, and are incredibly annoying, yet they only drop worthless magic stones. So, it's better to just escape and not engage."

"I see, now I understand why you wanted to avoid fighting, Abel."

Ignoring fatigue and pace, they continued down the slope, and by the evening, they managed to descend to an altitude where the harpies were no longer pursuing them.

"For now, let's rest around that tree," Ryo suggested.

Even the two, known for their boundless stamina, would get quite tired after running without rest and continuing to descend the slope.

"Well, we should be able to get down the mountain by tomorrow… but the direction is..."

"That's right. We need to head to a nearby town or village to find out where we are."

"Yeah. It would be fine if we were still in the Naitorei Kingdom, but there’s a chance we might not be."

"Don't tell me we ended up in the Debuhi Empire!"

Ryo said with an extremely displeased expression.

"No, the Empire is further north than the kingdom, so that won't happen."

When Abel said that, Ryo felt relieved and took a drink of water.

"That's good to know."

"Why do you dislike the Empire so much…"

"Abel, don't misunderstand. I don't hate the Empire itself. What I dislike is the 'name of the Empire'!"

"Oh, yeah, that's right…"

Abel looked at Ryo with the eyes of someone who felt sorry for him.

"Anyway, once we get down the mountain tomorrow, let's head north. Even if there aren’t any towns or villages, there should be a highway, and if we hit the highway, we can at least find a town or village in one direction or the other."

After deciding on the broad course of action for the next day, the two took turns resting.

The next day.

Early in the morning, the two had completely descended the mountain.

They checked the horizon on the way down, but there were no towns in sight.

Thus, as planned, they decided to continue north until they reached the highway. During this time, they encountered no monsters at all.

"Abel, you look bored," Ryo noted.

"Well, I haven't seen any monsters at all. It’s completely different from beyond the mountains."

"That's how it should be. This is the abnormal situation."

"No, I think that's wrong…"

Abel shook his head slightly in negation.

"Just a step forward and wyverns would attack, and in the distance, you could see a behir, while if you let your guard down, a griffin would swoop down right in front of you."