I knew it when I looked at it from afar too, but now that Iām actually climbing the mountain, I really feel how tough it is.
Someone in the inn where we stayed in the border city called it a natural fortress, and thatās exactly what it is.
The flat road stops at the foot of the mountain, just like we were told when we heard it was impossible to keep going by wagon, and what follows is something with bad footing that can barely be called a road.
The road is also barely wide enough for people to be able to pass by each other. There arenāt any railings either, so if you misstep, youāre slipping off this incline. Itās steep too, so there are a lot of spots where Iām pretty sure someone would get hurt pretty badly if they fell.
And despite all that, people do come and go through this path, so there are a few spots along the way where we can rest.
Theyāre pretty cramped for groups of people that want to take a break, so I think itād be impossible to send an army through here.
Humanity, I guess? Anyway, they stopped fighting to join forces against the demon king, but this place might be the real reason why they stuck with it.
Ah, but I think there are other, easier routes, so that might not be it.
āItās hard to breathe.ā
Says Mia while crouching.
As we get higher, our breaths get whiter, and we start to feel cold.
Thatās mitigated to a certain extent, because we knew we were going to the Dragon Kingdom, gathered information, and prepared ourselves for it, but we still tremble when the wind blows.
Weāre equipped against the cold, but itās still cold.
āMaster, I want something hot.ā
Even Hikari, who usually hangs in there and doesnāt complain, is like this. You donāt just feel like eating, do you?
We advance until we find a place where we can take shelter, and I give hot soup to everyone.
When weāre all close like this I can use magic to protect us from the cold, but doing it over a larger area would drain my MP, and Iād have to move it as we moved too, so itād be pretty hard to control.
Everyone takes the bowls like theyāre accepting something important, and drinks the soup with happy expressions. Seeing those happy faces makes me stop moving without even thinking.
āMaster? Whatās wrong?ā
āNothing. Do you want more?ā
āYes.ā
Even if it feels out of place, I canāt tell her that this soft atmosphere is making me feel happy.
This environment is harsh, but itās still more relaxing than the brutal mood in the dungeon.
Although that might change as we advance.
āIs that tree over there the marker we were told about?ā
The tree Rurika is talking about has a distorted shape and feels eerie.
The weather is clear, but thereās a dark atmosphere around that spot and that spot alone.
We were told that once we pass that tree, the road gets less steep and wider, and apparently itās about halfway through the mountain.
Also, if we stray a little from the road, there are a lot of trees growing from the mountain surface, and many different kinds of beings live there, including monsters and people.
I hear thereās even a small settlement in a forest far away from the road.
Map doesnāt show me anything, so at the very least, these monsters and people arenāt within its range.
We also need to be careful about bandits. And although I havenāt heard anything about monsters attacking, there have been reports of sightings.
There really isnāt a whole lot of information, because not a lot of people go to the Dragon Kingdom to begin with.
Apparently these two countries established a relationship hundreds of years ago, but at some point they stopped proactively working on maintaining relations, and they slowly fell apart until we get to present time.
Still, merchants do travel there, after the precious items that can only be found in the Dragon Kingdom.
Thereās also a trial thatās said to grant new powers if you complete it. Adventurers travel there because of it, but who knows if itās real.
āThe more I hear about it, the less likely it seems that they took slaves there.ā
Would slavers really go out of their way to take slaves over there?
Even if they went through another route, the elevation alone means theyād still need to be prepared to face the cold, and those preparations would be costly.
āThatās true. But there are rumors that the Dragon Kingdom was harboring slavesā¦ā
But they didnāt go there to check because they werenāt sure if it was true, and the path to the Dragon Kingdom is so harsh.
Thereās also the fact that this all started with the war against the empire, so it stood to reason that the people they were looking for were taken to the empire. That was the case with Sera too.
āWasnāt it hard with just the two of you anyway?ā
I ask, and they say that they didnāt have that tough of a time looking for their friends in the beginning. But when they went to the Kingdom of Elesya and failed to find them there, and the same happened after they went around a few towns in the Beast Kingdom, they started to feel pretty anxious.
āWe were grasping at straws, so we came running when we got that letter.ā
How many times have I heard Rurika complain about her struggles? Sheās not even drunk, is she?
Sera and Chris are smiling awkwardly, but sheās probably just talking away her worries.
If Eris isnāt there⦠That thought probably crosses her mind all the time.
āWell then, ready to keep going?ā
The sun is still high in the sky, and if weāre going to camp, it should be in a place thatās a bit better suited for us to protect ourselves against the rain and wind. Of course, walking around in the dark is dangerous, so weāre stopping before it gets too dark.
I have magic items with a night vision effect that I bought for the dungeon, so itās not like we canāt walk in the dark at all, but it still makes our vision worse. Not to mention that it gets colder at night.
And thereās the fact that weāre not used to walking on a mountain path.
The circumstances dictate that we canāt go at a leisurely pace, but we also canāt rush because we might fall, so in the end we have to be careful about our footing as we advance.