episode_0032

The new accommodation is a 5-story hotel located in the commercial district of the new city.

I plan to stay in Franca for a while, make long-term travel plans, and carry out occasional requests to become fully accustomed to the life of an adventurer.

So, instead of going to a luxury hotel that costs from a few thousand to tens of thousands of lagirs per night, I decided to go to a hotel that charges 9,000 lagirs with a 10% discount for a month-long stay.

Of course, I have no intention of completing the entire month, and when the time comes, I will leave Franca without any regrets.

The room we are using is the biggest and best room in this hotel.

Because it was on the top floor, there was a lot of sunlight and a clear view of the sky.

The hotel will take care of all the chores, so Laura won’t have to get her hands wet at all.

After finding a place to stay, I immediately went out with Laura and bought winter clothes and other items needed for the request.

Then, we stayed at the hotel for a day, checked whether there were any problems with the room, left the hotel early in the morning, watched the sunrise, and looked for a coachman to take us.

Thankfully, there was a coachman who happened to be passing by and gave us a ride for free.

The unpaved road outside the city walls was frozen solid in many places due to the bitterly cold weather, but thanks to the skill of the driver, we were able to safely reach the start of the mountain.

We did not forget to thank the coachman for his kindness.

‘If we meet again someday, I should at least buy him a meal. But it looks like there’s quite a lot of snow on the mountain.’

I looked up at a snow-covered mountain that looked quite high.

There wasn’t much snow at the bottom, but it looked like there was quite a lot of snow from the halfway point.

However, I am not too worried because Laura has extensive winter hiking experience.

“Rebecca, always watch your step. Don’t blindly trust the temperature control function of magic armor, and tell me right away if you feel unwell.”

“Okay.”

“Then I’ll leave.”

I followed Laura, who was leading the way, and began to climb the deserted mountain.

In this world, mountains and forests are very dangerous places, so I was completely wary of my surroundings.

Because the mountain was so quiet, I was startled by the mere sound of a rabbit running.

I hope I quickly gain the skill to track not only people but also animals and demons.

Since Laura is a former bounty hunter, she gained the human tracking skill through a bondage quest, so if I purchase a slave who was a hunter and adventurer and do the bondage quest, I will definitely be able to obtain the skills I want.

Next time I buy a slave, I think I should research these things in advance and then choose carefully.

‘I was really lucky when I bought Laura. It was as if I had been given a tutorial character. But Laura is really good at finding her way even without a map window.’

As I climbed, I often opened the map window to check the route, and Laura almost followed that route.

There were a few question marks around me, but today was a day I couldn’t turn my attention to, so I decided to make plans for next time.

If this were a real game, I would have looked all over the question mark area before doing the quest.

However, because it is reality, I have come to overlook things that are not important, regardless of whether I have regrets or not.

‘There may be some benefit in checking all question mark areas, but there is no need to invest time in something that is not certain. Ah, there’s quite a lot of snow now.’

The gentle slope was maintained from the beginning of the mountain to the halfway point, so it wasn’t difficult at all.

But from now on, there is so much snow that you will have to wear snowshoes to go there.

I wore snowshoes and had a hiking stick in my hand, but I fell every now and then and buried my face in the snow.

On the other hand, Laura was probably a snow leopard, so the snow field was her own world.

He never fell or stumbled, and he even took the time to help me up every time I fell.

Moreover, if the path seemed unclear, they would immediately climb a tree and look around, and if a cliff appeared, they would climb up the wall first and then lower the rope down.

When I was climbing the rope while whining, they cheered me on to cheer me up or came back down and pushed me.

I was almost embarrassed because I kept getting help, but Laura always smiled instead of showing any displeasure.

It can’t be like this. Measures are needed.

“Laura, next time you have time, will you teach me tree climbing and rock climbing?”

“Of course! I will do my best to teach you. And then we took a little rest.”

“Already? I’m fine.”

“I think I should take a break beforehand because the road looks like it will get rougher in the future.”

“Then let’s take a break.”

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll collect firewood.”

I roughly cleared the snow from a nearby rock and sat down.

If I hadn’t had winter clothes and magic armor, I would have been suffering from the extreme cold by now.

At first, I thought that there would be no need for winter clothing if it had a body temperature maintenance function.

However, according to Laura, the body temperature maintenance function deteriorates in harsh weather, so winter clothing is essential for winter mountaineering.

I usually wore light clothes, but suddenly having to wear thick and uncomfortable clothes was quite a hassle, but now I am satisfied.

“Rebecca, please wait a little longer.”

“There’s no need to rush, so take your time.”

Laura, who had gathered firewood sooner than expected, skillfully cleared away the snow and started a fire.

Since making fire can be said to be an essential virtue for adventurers, I need to learn this from Laura as well.

“Laura, teach me how to make a fire.”

“Rebecca’s enthusiasm for learning is amazing today. I’m glad you trust me.”

“It would be embarrassing for you if you went somewhere and heard that you were a poor adventurer who couldn’t even make a fire.”

“Then I will teach you not to listen to such things.”

Laura put a pot on the campfire, put snow in it, boiled water, and taught me how to make a fire, step by step, from the basics.

I felt proud of learning and putting into practice what I vaguely knew.

It wasn’t long before I successfully lit the campfire using flint.

I’m still not good at getting dry firewood or handling kindling, but from now on, I just need to gradually gain experience.

“Next time, I will teach you how to light a fire when you don’t have flint. Have some coffee here.”

“Thank you. Hmm… it smells good. As expected, the coffee you make is the best.”

“I can’t even drink coffee. Hehehe.”

“I’m good at eating, but I can’t cook.”

“Rebecca!”

“Puhup! It’s a joke. You’re so cute even when you’re upset.”

I loved Laura’s reaction so much that I couldn’t bear it.

Since this was a mountain, I ended up patting her head. If it had been a hotel, I would have taken her straight to bed.

“Rebecca is sometimes mischievous like boys.”

“Really? I’m not sure.”

“I think he must have been a man in his past life, judging by his usual tone and behavior, other than when playing around.”

I almost spit out my coffee for a moment, but I managed to swallow it and squeak.

Why does this happen so often when I drink coffee in front of Laura?

Laura may be saying this lightly, but from my perspective, it hit the nail on the head.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. But you don’t like me being like a man?”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant. Rather, I think it has a unique charm. This may be one of the reasons why I love her so much even though she is the same woman as me.”

“Thank you for liking my immature side too. And thanks to you, I feel like I have energy after drinking something warm.”

“Warm drinks are good because they recharge your morale and replenish moisture. Let’s rest a little longer and then leave right away. The sun sets faster in the mountains.”

As Laura suggested, we sat and chatted for a while longer and then got up as soon as our mugs were empty.

Laura extinguished the campfire with the remaining water, scattered the charred firewood with her feet, and covered it with snow to erase the traces.

‘I need to see things like that and learn from them. Phew, then let’s start again.’

I followed Laura, who was leading again, and took a lighter step.

The mountain we were climbing got steeper and steeper, so it was definitely not an easy place for a novice hiker like me.

As the snowfall, which had previously been a lot, increased, Laura’s movements also slowed down.

If I were attacked by an enemy in this condition, I would not be able to properly evade or respond.

I’m glad that the magic armor works well against demons and wild beasts, even if it doesn’t work against humans.

Yesterday I bought several pieces of magic armor of A-grade quality.

It is said to be able to withstand one hit even if the ogre swings the club with all its might, so its performance must be solid.

I wore two bracelets and a necklace instead of the ones I was previously using, and I bought two new bracelets and a choker for Laura.

I decided to do this after hearing advice from many people that 3 would be the most efficient and that anything more would be wasteful.

We walked quietly down the street, but eventually I couldn’t bear the boredom and spoke to Laura.

“Laura, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. If magic armor were distributed to everyone, wouldn’t the number of people killed by demons be drastically reduced?”

“I don’t know about people like Rebecca or me who can use magic, but for most people who can’t use magic, magic weapons and magic armor have no meaning.”

“So that means all adventurers are people who can use magical power?”

“That’s right. Sometimes, there are people who apply to become adventurers even if they cannot use magical power, but because the performance of existing armor is much lower than that of magic armor, they quickly die or get injured and retire.”

Adventurers are more unusual people than I thought.

Adventurers are not people who simply make a living through requests, but because they can use magical power, they can make money through such dangerous work.

“But it seems like everyone in the gang uses magic guns. Why is that?”

“Angel’s magic formula, which is still widely used today, has a structure that humans cannot understand, so we have no choice but to use it as is, but human magic formula was developed and a magic gun was made based on it, so anyone can use it.”

“I see. It would be nice to apply human magic techniques to magic armor.”

“It is said that in the 30 years since it was developed, there has not been a single successful case, except for the magic gun. That’s why they say the invention of the magic gun was just luck.”

This seems like it happened because I chose a fantasy world with guns.

So then, what on earth is wrong with angel magic techniques that make magic armor so ambiguous?

“Laura, is it because of the angel’s magic spell that the magic armor is a little strange?”

“As I said before, I have no choice but to use the angel’s magic techniques as is. So, problems arise when mixing various magic techniques to achieve the desired function. Even if you want to improve your magic armor, it gets worse every time you touch the completed magic formula, so there is no way to do it anymore.”

Now I understand why magic armor is strange.

It was nothing special, but I felt refreshed inside.

I think I can accept this as I will continue to do so without complaint from now on.

“On the other hand, magic armor has no problems at all, like a miracle. So people think it is a blessing from the Creator God, and when the magic armor is completed, priests bless it.”

“That’s really amazing. Even if it were me, I would consider it a blessing. But is it because I talk a lot? I’m a little tired.”

“Then, let’s just go up there and rest.”

Laura took me up to the only flat place while the slopes were steep on all sides.

I sat down on the floor and checked the map window. I had walked quite a bit from where I first rested.

At this rate, we might be able to finish reconnaissance within today.

“Rebecca, it’s coffee.”

“Thank you.”

Laura lit a bonfire and made coffee for me again.

It’s really trustworthy to see him accomplish anything without any signs of fatigue.

I’ll have to give you a reward when I get back.

As I drank my coffee, I looked up at the old fortress at the top of the mountain.

But suddenly, I was surprised to see something like smoke rising.

There must be something in the fortress.

“Laura! Over there!”

“Rebecca, did you see the performance too?”

“Yes. Is it a demon? It’s not a person, right?”

“Probably a beast or bird of prey tribe. The rest cannot live in such a cold place.”

“The birds of prey…”

The Birds of Prey are demons that have the head and legs of a bird of prey attached to the body of a human male and are covered in feathers.

The arms look like wings at first glance, but they have hands that move in a human-like fashion and are covered in scales like the legs.

Although it cannot fly, it has limited gliding capabilities with its wing-like arms and tail feathers, so it prefers to live at high altitudes.

Although they are weaker than the beasts of a similar style, they are more intelligent and have much better eyesight, making them more dangerous.

“If a real bird of prey is occupying the area, let’s finish the job before nightfall or return right away.”

“Yes, Rebecca. I think the same way.”

Among birds of prey, owls and those with owl heads have excellent night vision and move very quietly, so it is best to avoid them at night.

“Just in case, let’s turn off the lights and hide.”

After receiving your instructions, Laura hurriedly put out the bonfire and cleaned up after herself.

Meanwhile, I observed the fort from hiding behind a bush, being careful not to reflect the sunlight on the telescope lens.

At first, it only looked like cold rocks, but the heads of large birds of prey were visible above the fortress, and there were also rare ones gliding around near the fortress.

Fortunately, even with their excellent eyesight, they were unaware of the bonfire we had lit.

“Laura, there are quite a few birds of prey in the fortress. Scouting up close seems dangerous, so I think it would be better to scout from the opposite peak overlooking the fortress. First of all, it’s already past 2pm today, so let’s go back to the accommodation and aim to climb that peak tomorrow.”

Laura nodded silently at the policy I had decided, packed her luggage, and prepared to descend the mountain.

Although the time invested is a waste, I think there is no need to go to the extent of putting your life on the line.

We went down the same way we came up and took a passing carriage to Franca.