Published: July 5, 2025
From January 10th to 16th, I will be posting for seven consecutive nights!
I hope you enjoy reading it.
"It’s definitely a wasteland, but there is a road here."
"That means people are coming and going."
"There must be merchant caravans. That means the economy is developing. Which means..."
"There are delicious foods!"
Both Ryo and Abel love delicious food.
Now, after leaving the Village of Bondrin where they defeated the salamander, they have passed through two other villages of similar size.
The mountains that tower to the north are now quite far away.
To the south, the mountains are not visible.
As a landscape, it can no longer be called a 'corridor.'
"But there’s nothing about this area in Abel's knowledge, right?"
"Yeah, I don’t know. Originally, the small nations to the east of the alliance are highly volatile."
"Volatile?"
"They are born, perish, merge, and split apart."
"What a transient existence..."
Ryo gently shakes his head at Abel's explanation.
The group continues along the highway for a while.
Though it’s not a full merchant caravan, they have begun to see freight carts.
"There are more merchants besides us now. This is a sight we haven’t seen in the previous villages."
"It is indeed a sight we haven’t seen, but... we are not merchants."
Abel corrects himself with a sigh.
However, he understands.
If he looks behind him at the two of them and their two beloved horses, there might be people who recognize them as 'merchants.'
Yes, what follows them are ice carts... ten of them.
By the time they pass through the 'corridor,' half of the food in those carts has already found its way into their bellies.
"The fact that we are seeing freight carts means that it seems likely we will reach a large city before we eat up all the supplies in the carts."
"Weren’t the supplies in the carts meant for Andalusia and Feiwan as Ryo said?"
"Y-yes, but... in an emergency, we had no choice but to eat! It couldn’t be helped!"
Indeed, while passing through the 'corridor,' there were hardly any monsters or even animals in the wasteland.
The few villages they stopped at were built around places where water sprang up, like oases, and the inhabitants were focused on food production.
Thus, Ryo and Abel resorted to the food in the carts...
"I did say we should stop."
"Yeah, it was Ryo who took the initiative to eat, saying it’s okay, it’s okay."
"B-but it does seem like we will make it to the city!"
"Right, that's good."
Ryo, who is pouting in a manner that perfectly fits the onomatopoeia "pun pun," and Abel, who shrugs his shoulders.
It was in the afternoon when an unusual... or rather, majestic sight appeared before the group traveling along the highway.
"That... is a rocky mountain, right?"
"Yeah. There’s even a lookout point, but... it’s a kind of fortress."
What entered Ryo and Abel’s eyes was a fortified town with several rocky mountains and lookout points constructed upon them.
"It seems like the road continues down below the rocky mountain... but there seems to be something like a gate."
"Ah, there is. There are guards... well, their clothing is all different, but they are definitely there. Everything is different from the villages we have passed through so far."
"A town with military power..."
"What do we do? Should we enter the town as we are? Or do we decide to refrain from entering? Somehow, it feels suspicious."
"Suspicious?"
"Yeah."
Abel nods.
Even while they have this conversation, the group continues to approach the rocky mountain.
There are lookout points built near the top of the rocky mountain, and along the way, they can see those wielding bows and arrows watching the highway.
And around the gate, there are those carrying spears.
In the Village of Bondrin, the villagers had spears that looked like sharpened tree branches, but these are completely different...
"They have proper weapons."
"Yeah. Moreover, I get the feeling that they are quite tense."
"Is that so? Isn’t this how towns supervise?"
In response to Abel's words, Ryo tilts his head.
They are keeping watch to prevent suspicious individuals from entering the town.