Volume 1 Chapter 19 Crossing the Mountain
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It’s been a month since we left the village. The caravan is moving south across the grasslands, but there’s no real road anymore. We have a professional navigator who can tell our location using the mountains and Akari, so we hardly ever get lost.
We know where the water sources are along the route to the royal capital, and we have set camping spots for each day. The caravan has a dedicated cook and healer, so there’s not much for me and Puruun to do. However, we have to wash our own clothes, so I asked Puruun to help wash Ms. Sharlin’s things.
”Isn’t washing supposed to be the assistant’s job?”
Puruun complains with a laugh, but she understands that I feel awkward washing Ms. Sharlin’s underwear.
So, I focused on keeping watch at night and writing in the journal.
I practiced sword fighting with Ms. Sharlin every night before bed, and I really enjoyed it. I felt bad getting paid for it. Puruun also trained with hier sword nearby, and Ms. Sharlin taught both of us a lot.
”Here comes the first big challenge,” Ms. Sharlin says.
We see a huge mountain range ahead. It’s called the Castell Mountains, and crossing them is supposed to be tough.
There’s no proper path, and every year, the caravan has to clear away annoying trees to make it passable. The speed of the caravan slows down when we cross the mountains, making us easy targets for bandits.
”Well, since I got hired, we’ve only been attacked once.”
Ms. Sharlin says proudly.
That means the bandits probably learned their lesson after the first attack.
”But can bandits really survive out here in such a remote place?”
”It’s more like they have nowhere else to go. The government doesn’t control the mountains. People who lose their jobs in the royal capital or commit crimes run away here. Of course, the Border Defense Force takes care of the worst offenders.”
Haha, if they attack the caravan and get beaten back, it’s definitely not worth it.
Finally, the caravan enters the mountain path, and everything seems fine until we start going downhill when suddenly, something happens.
”Stop! Stop!” A voice from the front wagon shouts for an emergency stop.
I was about to check what was going on when Ms. Sharlin stopped me.
”Yuuta, don’t let your guard down. This is the most dangerous time.”
Puruun and I grabbed our swords, got off the wagon, and focused on observing our surroundings.
Luckily, it wasn’t a bandit attack, but the road ahead had collapsed.
”It was fine on the way here…” Mr. Agohige looks confused.
The dwarves traveling with us quickly started fixing the broken road, but we had to spend the night here. So, both Puruun and I were put on guard duty under Ms. Sharlin’s command, and Puruun was happy to hear we’d get extra pay for it.
”This is the worst place to be. A wagon could easily fall into the valley here.”
The caravan was lined up along the slope, and if we were attacked from above, we could easily roll down.
”Sir Jin, I’d like to scout the mountain while there’s still light. If the bandits are preparing for a night attack, we need to be ready.”
Ms. Sharlin asked Mr. Agohige for permission and took some of the Defense Force members with her to scout ahead. I was told to come along, but I couldn’t let Puruun experience real combat for the first time, so she stayed with the wagon.
Ms. Sharlin climbed the slope at an incredible speed, and the rest of us struggled to keep up. Soon, we reached the highest point in the area.
”For now, it doesn’t look like they’re setting any traps. But with the way the wagon is, even a small group could take one or 2. Luckily, the view is good here. We’ll keep watch until sunset.”
So, we ended up pairing up to scout the area, and I followed Ms. Sharlin down the other side of the ridge.
We walked for about ten minutes. I suddenly felt something strange and stopped.
”Wow, Yuuta. Impressive. You noticed it too. There’s something behind that rock.”
”Is it a beast?”
”Not sure. But I’ve never seen a beast that feels this scared… Hey, you over there! You know you don’t stand a chance! Just give up already!”
Ms. Sharlin shouted loudly. After confirming there was no response, she quickly moved closer to the rock, but then something happened.
A man with a weapon jumped down from a tree next to the rock, aiming for Ms. Sharlin.
”Ms. Sharlin, look out!”
It seemed like Ms. Sharlin had already noticed before I shouted. She slashed at the man, and he was cut in half.
”Ahhhhh!” A scream rang out, and a dark figure tried to escape from behind the rock, but Ms. Sharlin quickly took that one down too.
”Ms. Sharlin, are you okay?”
I rushed over to her.
”I’m fine. But don’t let your guard down. There might be more than just 2!”
Hearing that, I quickly looked around, but there was no more strange presence.
”Still, what was that? They didn’t feel like typical bandits…”
I cautiously approached the bodies of the bandits that Ms. Sharlin had taken down.
”Eh? Aaaaaahhh!”
”What’s wrong, Yuuta? Don’t freak out over a dead bandit!”
”No, Ms. Sharlin… these people are human… a man and a woman.”
I took a deep breath and examined the bodies. There was no doubt about it.
These people were human. They were probably Westerners.
The man who attacked from the tree was wearing something like a military uniform, with a US Army tag on it. The person behind the rock was… probably related to this man. She was wearing a business suit, something you’d see in our world.
”Humans are rare, but I warned them, and they attacked first. It can’t be helped.”
Ms. Sharlin spoke to me apologetically.
But… I felt a chill.
What if these two were like me and Ms. Akari, accidentally brought here and facing this without understanding anything…
Thinking that made my stomach turn, and I ended up throwing up right there.
”Yuuta…?” Ms. Sharlin looked at me with concern, and I shared my thoughts with her.
”…Yeah. The difference in strength was huge from the start. If I had handled it a bit better, maybe these two wouldn’t have died. But, Yuuta. I hate to say it, but these two were just unlucky. And… you and Ms. Akari were lucky. That’s all.”
That was true. Me and Ms. Akari could have easily ended up in the belly of that wolf.
The man had a military ID on him.
”Gregory Anderson… born in 1995…”
I tucked the ID into my pocket, thinking that if I ever got back to my world, I’d want to return it to his family. Unfortunately, the woman didn’t have anything that showed her identity.
And Mr. Gregory was holding a military knife, about 20 centimeters long. It was probably made of some special ceramic alloy, which would be an incredible out-of-place artifact in this world.
”That’s a cool knife,” Ms. Sharlin seemed to understand too.
”What should we do with it?”
”Yuuta. This is from your world, and you know what it is and how to use it, right? Then you should keep it. And if you get back to your world, give it to the family along with that military ID.”
”Yeah… I’ll do that.”
I had no idea what their relationship was, but the man had risked his life to protect her. They must have been close. Thinking that, I buried them together right there and stacked a bigger stone as a marker.
After that, we met up with the other scouting team, and since there didn’t seem to be any more bandit threats, we headed back to the caravan.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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