Chapter 105 :

Chapter 105 - Welcome

The road from Lucha to Limis was not complicated, but it was a journey that required crossing several mountains.

For Lia, who was not used to riding horses, it was a rather rough journey, but what made things difficult for us was not her riding skill or the rugged road.

“Are you wasting time again? How many times must I tell you that we are busy?”

While Lia, Ratel, and I were looking around the shops after stopping by a slightly large village, we turned our heads at the stiff voice that poured cold water over us and glared at the root cause making our journey miserable.

The scrawny, small-framed guide scanned the inside of the shop with eyes full of dissatisfaction.

“….We said we would look around by ourselves, so why did he follow us?”

Lia muttered in dissatisfaction.

“Shall we secretly shake him off?”

Jing also asked me while making no effort to hide that he disliked the man.

That was how sharp-tongued the scrawny man assigned to us as a guide by Lucha’s temple was, just as sharp as his pointed face.

And though he did not know it, he had avoided death quite a few times during this journey.

-Aren’t you supposed to be the winners of the Lucha tournament? Why are you so slow?

-What are you doing right now? Surely you are not thinking of running away, are you?

-All you have to do is follow me, so why are you talking so much?

The last remark was usually criticism directed at Jing.

Every time Jing, unable to trust his guidance, checked with me whether this path was really the right one, he reacted irritably.

And at the end, he always glared at me.

Among us, the only one he did not get annoyed with was Ratel.

No, to be precise, the only one he had gotten annoyed with just once was Ratel.

What was it again?

Was it that his expression was irreverent despite going to Limis thanks to the others?

He probably intended to provoke Ratel’s pride since Ratel had not played an active role in the Lucha tournament, but there was no way the most monstrous one among us would be hurt by something like that.

However, Ratel showed the sincerity of joining Jing and Lia’s training during break time the next day.

And that day, Ratel also showed the trick of punching a hole in the ground with his fist.

That was the last time the guide got annoyed with Ratel.

He must have instinctively understood Ratel’s silent warning that the next thing to have a hole punched through it would be his body.

However, the man’s irritation toward us, who did not express our displeasure as clearly as Ratel, remained unchanged.

The man rushed us so much that, thanks to him, Lia’s previously clumsy riding skill improved greatly.

Meanwhile, Jing seemed to have gained a few more wrinkles from stopping Ratel from cutting off the man’s neck.

“I can also make sure he can never follow us again.”

This time too, as if he had decided to squeeze Jing’s fragile heart and then release it, Ratel spoke while threateningly fiddling with the hilt of his sword.

“When Ratel says it, it doesn’t sound like a joke.”

Lia said with a hearty laugh.

Jing, who knew that Ratel’s suggestion was a sincere one of high purity, could only smile awkwardly.

“What useless chatter are you having again?”

The man, whose hearing was not very good but whose intuition was quick, sharply snapped at us.

Because this time, Ratel’s patience was truly on the verge of running out, I quickly opened my mouth.

“That ornament shop over there looks interesting.”

The place I pointed at with my finger was, to be honest, a shop that was hard to describe as interesting even as a joke.

The grotesque atmosphere created by all kinds of taxidermied animals and monsters filling the dark shop did not seem easy for people to approach.

However, for that very reason, the effect was excellent.

Because the guide’s face, which had unconsciously turned in the direction my finger was pointing, turned pale.

“What tremendous taste.”

Ratel, who looked in the direction I pointed along with the others, muttered.

I knew it was not a compliment, but I ignored him and stepped into the shop.

As soon as I entered, the smell of chemicals filling the shop stabbed my nose.

The next thing that greeted us was the taxidermied head of an orc attached to the shop’s ceiling.

The shopkeeper, who had been sitting in one corner of the shop and working on taxidermying a bird, glanced at us as we entered.

However, perhaps deciding that we were not people who would buy taxidermy, he lowered his eyes again and began focusing on his work.

Just as I expected, the guide could not follow us inside and only hovered outside the shop.

Lia, who had finally entered a shop where she could look around comfortably, opened her mouth as she looked at the orc head hanging from the ceiling.

Among the taxidermied small animals scattered throughout the shop, that was the only thing giving off a fierce atmosphere, and it contributed the most to forming the overall grotesque mood of the shop.

“….Do you think that’s real?”

When Lia asked me, Jing approached us and carefully examined the taxidermied orc head.

Inside the orc’s gaping mouth, enormous molars flashed threateningly.

“Well….I cannot be certain.”

However, as if he could not say for sure, Jing trailed off.

“Of course it’s real. That’s a truly precious thing.”

The shopkeeper, who had been quietly making taxidermy, got worked up and interrupted.

It seemed to be an item he took considerable pride in.

“That’s taxidermy made from the head of an orc leader. I bought it with money I saved for decades.”

The man, who loved his occupation, proudly added.

It was unfortunate.

I did not know for sure, but it was certain that he had been overcharged for that item.

“Oh dear…”

Jing must have had the same thought, because he let out a small, pitying sigh.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Lia carefully asked while watching the shopkeeper’s mood.

“Usually, when someone says it is the head of a leader, ten times out of ten, it is fake. The real thing is about one in a thousand.”

Jing answered in a voice lowered as much as possible so the shopkeeper could not hear.

“What? Why?”

“Because obtaining the head of a leader requires more than a single guild. That is how enormous the price is. No matter how much money he saved for decades, it is not something one could afford while running a small shop like this.”

“Gasp, then what should that mister do?”

Lia looked at the shopkeeper in surprise.

“What do you mean, what should he do? We should just leave him be.”

Even at my answer, Lia could not let go of her lingering concern.

“Still, shouldn’t we tell him so he can complain to the person who sold it to him?”

“It will be useless. If someone committed that large of a scam, the person who sold it must have already taken the money and run. Unless he had an exceptionally bold liver, he would have flown away long ago.”

Even if we did tell him the truth, there was a high chance it would take time for the shopkeeper to accept it.

He might even get angry at us, saying we were lying.

“It is best to bury the cruel truth and let him live in a happy lie.”

At my answer, Lia made a groaning sound and nodded her head.

After giving up on telling the shopkeeper the truth, Lia and Jing began walking around and looking through the shop without the guide’s nagging for the first time in a while.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper was someone who took more pride in his hobby than in money, so he looked quite satisfied simply from Lia walking around the shop and continuously exclaiming in admiration.

After confirming that the two were finally catching their breath, I passed the time by looking up at the fake orc taxidermy in the middle of the shop.

“So, what is the real reason you brought us here?”

Ratel, who had approached silently at some point, asked in a flat voice.

“If we go a little farther after leaving this village, a forest will appear.”

At this point, it was only natural for him to ask about the intention behind my actions, so I answered obediently.

“Even if that man suddenly changes his mind, just let it be. Don’t go on about killing him or not killing him again.”

“Is that all?”

Perhaps my warning was more bland than he had expected, because Ratel asked.

“There is more, but this is all I’ll teach you right now.”

I briefly cast my gaze toward Lia, who was excitedly looking around the shop.

It seemed better to talk about the rest when I was certain Lia could not hear.

At the very least, it was not something to speak of lightly.

“Because that is also a truth better buried than revealed?”

Ratel asked, noticing the direction of my gaze.

Thinking that he was a guy who subtly did not miss out on conversations, I shook my head.

“No, because this is a truth that requires mental preparation.”

Leaving him frowning because he did not understand my words, I continued speaking.

“And for the sake of extending Jing’s lifespan, we need to catch our breath too. It seems his white hairs have increased because he keeps worrying you might kill the guide.”

After giving him a small scolding, I raised my head again and looked at the fake orc attached to the ceiling.

Although it was an imitation, the fact that it was so elaborate it was hard to distinguish from the real thing was reason enough to appreciate it.

“It will soon grow dark, so let us rest up ahead today.”

Not long after we left the village and entered the forest, just as I had expected, the guide slowed his horse and spoke.

“Soon grow dark? Do you perhaps have poor eyesight?”

Jing, who had endured the man’s unreasonable rushing until now, frowned without realizing it and showed concern for the man’s eye health.

His gaze turned toward the sun high in the sky.

Far from the day growing dark, the sun had not even passed its highest point yet.

The guide frowned as if Jing’s concern displeased him.

“If you do not know how quickly the sun sets in the mountains, then stay quiet. There is a cabin up ahead, so we will spend the night there before leaving.”

Jing, who must have crossed mountains at least a hundred times more than the guide, let out a hollow laugh, but the man was stubborn.

“….I can’t hit him just once, can I?”

He glared at the back of the guide’s head as he went ahead and quietly sought my opinion.

Looking at him as he grew more like Ratel by the day, I shook my head.

“Just leave him be. The cabin that man is talking about is the last place where we can catch our breath.”

At my answer, Jing drove his horse without saying another word.

Wishing to escape his uncomfortable obedience as soon as possible, I led my horse forward, and in the distance, something blue began to come into view.

“….My goodness.”

Lia, who had also discovered the magnificent sight ahead, let out a small exclamation.

A river so enormous that it was hard to believe it was deep in the mountains had appeared.

It was a picturesque landscape.

Beside the sparkling river stood a single cabin, and we could tell that it was the lodging place the guide had mentioned.

Even Jing, whose reaction had been relatively mild, opened his mouth at the scale of the river, which felt more real the closer we approached.

“To think there is such a large river in the mountains, how surprising.”

Of course it was.

Because that was not something formed naturally.

I looked at the small island floating alone around the middle of the distant river.

What was hidden inside that also was not something formed naturally.

“Squeak.”

While I had been lost in thought for a moment, I came to my senses at the cry El made from inside my clothes and pressed my chest with my hand.

The creature, who had been hiding as if dead whenever possible because it did not want to be noticed by Ratel, had suddenly made a sound.

Sure enough, Ratel, who had monster-like hearing, turned back and looked at me.

“What was that just now?”

“What was what?”

When I feigned ignorance, Ratel narrowed his eyes.

He silently glared at me, but I actively used my thick face and played innocent.

Fortunately, there was one person who broke Ratel’s quiet pressure.

Before we had even arrived, the door of the cabin swung open forcefully.

“Everyone!! I have been waiting!! You truly came well!”

At the appearance of a man welcoming us so intensely that it seemed excessive, the incident of El’s cry could be quietly buried.

Bang.