Chapter 515 - Ninth Story: Toward the Peak of the Central Mountain Range
I came to the Northern Fortress of the Flatlands for the first time in a while.
Previously, when we were fighting the battle against Orcs, the buildings and fences for the settlement had only just been completed, and it was a huge fuss with about several hundred Orcs attacking. Now, it's a grand structure with sturdy stone walls, and even towers equipped with Anti-Air Ballistae and catapults. To be honest, it might be the sturdiest in southern Sertoria.
Originally, it was built to prevent Orcs from invading the Flatlands, but a sort of tacit non-aggression pact was formed with the Orcs, and they stopped attacking. This was triggered by the destruction of the Demon Lord's army remnants that had been lording it over the area after fleeing from the Northeastern Forest, when there were only stray Orcs.
After that, while securing stone materials, defeating the Demon Lord, and as the mopping-up operation in the Northeastern Forest proceeded, we completely seized the region connecting Northern Nakanohara and the Northeastern Forest by making a secret pact with the Demon Race leading the Demon Lord's army remnants. By completely blocking the communication route with the Northeastern Forest at Little Serena's forest, the complete isolation of the Demon Realm has progressed. Now it has become a base for the Light Infantry Corps and the Goblin scout unit departing for the exploration of the Demon Realm.
Since then, there seems to be no particular movement from the stray Orcs, and the Flatlands is peace itself. The magnificent fortress built at the pass is a waste of resources, but it's better not to have a place to be active.
When we arrived at that peaceful fortress, the Goblin scout unit and Paratroop Jaegers welcomed us. After being shown to the garrison commander's room and drinks were distributed, a map of the area around the peak of the Central Mountain Range was spread on the table even though Henry-sama and the others didn't say anything. This fortress will be the main camp. If anything happens at the midway base, a request for rescue must be sent. It seems everything has been communicated, and we had a simple meeting with the familiar garrison commander, vice-commander, the Goblin scout unit, and the Alraune interpreter.
"The magic beasts confirmed in places lower than the midway part of the southern slope of the Central Mountain Range include eagles and owls among the flying individuals. There are Wyverns, but only a few individuals have been confirmed in the central part, and they are rarely seen at the eastern and western ends. However, it's better to be on guard. Among those prowling the ground, there are bears, Chat-Palu... wildcats. Also, wolves, foxes, snakes, spiders, and bees. All of them are considerably larger compared to the individuals seen around here. Their bones are also hard, and silver or white silver weapons are necessary to stand against them. Occasionally, there seem to be Fenrirs, so caution is required. Orcs and Ogres are only at the foot."
Eagles and owls were things I heard of for the first time. I've fought wildcats before, but I didn't think they were in northern Nakanohara. Moreover, they seem quite large. As expected, the Demon Realm is different. However, they are all D-rank. In other words, they can be completely prevented if there's a barrier.
"The problem is the places higher in altitude than the midway part, where there are Wyrms. As you know, they form groups of multiple individuals, so it's quite dangerous."
C-rank, huh. It'll be troublesome if we're found while moving.
"Um. If we go higher up, there are even stronger ones."
It was Violet. Come to think of it, she must have lived in the Demon Realm until she was scouted by the Demon Lord.
"What is there?"
"What was it? That? It looks like a snake with small wings. The length is, well, about twice a human's."
"With that size, wouldn't it be an Amphiptere?"
"I bet it is."
"I didn't know they were in our country."
"They've been around for quite a while."
"There are no records of subjugation, let alone records of having fought them. According to eyewitness records, they seem to dislike conflict and fled immediately."
According to Violet, they are considerably strong. However, they have a very cautious or rather cowardly personality, and they apparently often get startled and flee at slight noises or the opponent's intimidation. Naturally, they are good at hiding themselves, and they aren't easily found.
"Since no particular damage has been caused, and as long as we don't do something like attacking their nest ourselves, they probably won't attack. I think it's fine to leave them alone, but are they that strong?"
If they were strong, they should attack without question. Most snakes are like that.
"They're strong. Probably, no magic works on them."
That's amazing. If even Holy doesn't work, they might not be magic beasts.
Eleanor-sama's right eyebrow twitched. If magic doesn't work, Eleanor-sama can't defeat them.
"Because they're incredibly fast and their scales are hard, you see, no attack hits them properly and they're deflected."
So even physical attacks are no good. Aren't they the strongest?
This time, Henry-sama's right eyebrow twitched. As the former strongest warrior in history, he must be interested.
"If they don't attack from their side, let's leave them be."
It was Alex. If we don't change the subject soon, it'll be trouble if the former heroes get fired up.
Once the meeting was over, it was finally time to depart. Today's goal is creating the midway base. Seen off by everyone at the fortress, we departed in a concealed bowl.
It's been a while since I went over the pass. When we flew higher than the mountains in front of us, the Central Mountain Range covered in snow came into view on the left. Previously, because the purpose was to scout below, we were only flying in low places and couldn't see it.
The mountain peak aside, below that is covered in clouds in places. In other words, it's raining on that mountainside. The place to make the midway point is apparently where trees are growing abundantly. Since the bowl can be covered, the journey is fine, but the secret base making at the site became work in the rain.
That said, people skilled in magic are gathered there. While the Elf Prince disguised the surrounding scenery with camouflage from the gap of the covered bowl, Alex used Curve and very easily carved a hole into a large rock protruding from the slope. The hole was about the size that a human could crawl through, and because it was carved diagonally upward from the ground level where there was an incline, rain wouldn't blow inside. Naturally, the inside of the carved hole couldn't be seen, but when he manipulated his outstretched right hand, chunks of carved rock came out one after another.
"Why not use such a magnificent Curve for mining in the mines?"
A descendant of the race that once dug too many holes with magic and caused the great magic eruption incident was asking. But anyone would think so. Dwarves in the mines dig out ore by hand-carving using large chisels and hammers.
"What I'm doing now is just digging a hole. Mining ore, you see, is delicate. It's something done while confirming the presence or absence of ore, the possibility of cave-ins, and the situation beyond the rock face through the sensation transmitted to your hands and what you see with your eyes."
"Hmm. Is that so?"
I didn't say anything because of the past results, but he must not really understand, just like me. However, I heard that accidents that could be called accidents don't happen in mines managed by Dwarves. There must be something only the great spirits of the mines understand.
While Alex dug the rock, Eleanor-sama and Wilson-san carried it between the shrubs. In that way, the rock excavation work to create the midway base proceeded. Before long, when Alex crawled into the hole holding one of the Fireflies I produced, chunks of carved stone came rolling out. Apparently, he's continuing the work inside. Occasionally, small ones came out with a clatter, so it seems he's doing quite detailed work.
Just as I was worried that there would be no more place to put the excavated rocks, Alex came out of the hole and was beckoning. Apparently, it's finished.
When we crawled up one by one...
"This is quite magnificent. Rather than a base, it's a stone room. We can already live here."
It was just as Eleanor-sama said.
When you crawl up the entrance hole, it becomes a room, but there's still room even with the six participants of this time in it at once. As proof, there are several square stone blocks on the floor; the largest is a table, and the long ones beside it are instead of benches. The room is octagonal, and six of those sides are carved out in rectangles at the height of a chair, which would be instead of beds. Even if you sit, you don't need to duck your head, and if you spread furs, you can lie down and sleep just like that. Among the remaining two sides, one has a square hole dug like a fireplace, and one is the entrance. Each side has a hole for lighting, and light is leaking through. If we cover it with a wooden board brought on the medium-sized bowl... or rather, since moss is attached, it looks like part of the ground from the outside... it should be fine even if it rains. Moreover, cleverly, the water that flows in is designed to gather in one place through grooves carved into the wall, so it can also be drinking water. With the Elf Prince's camouflage, it won't be easily discovered by its appearance, so it's perfect for lurking for a long period.
"It might be good to assign Curve users to the Paratroop Jaegers as well. Even if they can't do this much, they might be able to make slightly more comfortable hideouts."
I don't know how much time it would take if humans tried to do this much.
After everyone carried in food and such, we took a break. It's already lunchtime. I released one Fire Ball into the fireplace and made dried meat stew as usual. Until it boiled, we had a meeting.
"This place is protected by Elf magic, so it should be safe. We've brought a simple magic circle, so it also connects with the Paratroop Jaeger fortress."
"How far is it from here?"
"It's about half a station stop in a straight line. We'll go by bowl, but since we plan to fly slowly, we should reach the range where magic is applied in about two hours."
It's easy since we go by bowl. However, we don't know what's waiting.
"In the assumption it's the wind attribute, a Tempest might suddenly fly at us. Let's be careful not to be blown away."
If it's wind magic, it's the Elf. Let's have him do his best.
Since it's dangerous to move in an unknown place at night, we decided to explore the area around the midway base and the route to the target while there was daylight. According to advance information, we should be fine as long as we're careful of the unknown snakes and Wyrms. We crawled out of the base and decided to proceed in a small concealed bowl.
According to Eleanor-sama's story, if we climb a bit more, trees don't grow. Once we go up that far and move horizontally along the slope, we'll apparently approach the exploration point. The place we're aiming for is a depression between mountain peaks, and there's apparently a pond of a certain size. Moreover, despite being at a high altitude, it apparently doesn't freeze even in midwinter. It's likely for drinking water. Since Dragonewts also drink water, it becomes the most suspicious place in a sense. According to Eleanor-sama's story, such ponds holding snowmelt water are apparently here and there, and there's always a pond in places where magic is applied.
Even though it's May, it's a place where snow remains on the peak. It's sufficiently cold. If the sun wasn't out, it would probably be freezing.
Green grass grows around the rugged rocks on the mountainside, but no birds are flying, and there are no signs of animals. What on earth do Dragonewts eat to live? The eloped couple we met the other day were eating things other races normally eat. In fact, after receiving the Gnome's backing, they were talking about going hunting with other Beastmen.
"Food isn't obtainable in a place like this, right? Where do they get it?"
I found myself asking. Even if there's a pond, it's closed off by snow and ice in winter. There wouldn't be fish. There's no sign of agriculture, and I can't believe Dragonewts, who are larger than Edward-sama, can survive.
"We don't know about that. Likely, they go hunting midway down the mountain."
"This place is also covered in snow during winter, right?"
"Likely. At least, as far as we can see from below, it was covered in snow."
How were they living?
"There's no doubt it's covered in snow and ice. You can tell by looking at the types of plants. I think this area isn't covered by disguise magic, but only plants that grow in zones covered by snow in winter can be seen."
It was the Elf Prince. As expected of the great spirit of the forest, he's also knowledgeable about plants.
"If only those kinds of plants are growing, as Jeanne says, there's practically nothing edible. However, the Dragonewt we met the other day didn't seem particularly troubled for food. As you know, those lot fly freely in the sky. Surely they must be descending below the midway part to procure food."
Indeed, he didn't have a hungry look. While traveling through various countries, I had opportunities to pass by settlements of poor people. There, everyone was uniformly thin. The Dragonewt... especially the male, was a warrior with well-developed muscles.
Wait a minute.
"Um, excuse me, can I say something?"
I asked Eleanor-sama.
"What is it?"
"Could it be that the Dragonewt Village is underground?"
"Underground?"
"Yes."
"Why do you think so? The Dragonewt we met the other day said the village was in the heights, didn't he?"
"Yes. Therefore, it's underground in the high mountains."
In short, it's the same as us now. They live by making dwellings underground. While Dragonewts skilled in wind magic are one thing, there are also Dragonewts skilled in earth magic. Surely they must be making dwellings with techniques on par with Alex. And they might be storing food they caught outside. If they descend to the foot, it's abundant. Moreover, Dragonewts are super powerful. They can get as much as they want.
"Do you remember the Gnome's words? The Gnome certainly said Dragonewts shouldn't be able to live in perennial snow, so they must have migrated. And that in the distant ancient times, this area including the plains was covered in ice and snow, but the Dragonewts were prospering in it. Doesn't this contradict itself?"
Why would a race that prospered in a land where not only the mountain peaks but even the plains were covered in ice and snow not be able to live in perennial snow? If the village is on the surface, they should be fine. At that time, I was surprised that even the plains were frozen so I missed it, but wasn't that what we really had to be careful about?
"I see. Now that you mention it, that's true."
When Henry-sama said so, everyone started saying this and that all at once. The bowl also stopped once and landed in the shadow of a rock.
"It seems better to start over once. What do you think? Elf."
"Yeah, I'm of the same mind. Let's return to the midway base and reconsider how to reach the Dragonewt Village if it's underground."
Alex and the Elf Prince said so, and the retreat was decided.