Ch.165The Road to Maximus Gorge (4)

“Why is there a stone here?”

“Why it’s here doesn’t matter.”

“Then what does matter?”

“That we need to clear it away.”

“…”

The banter between the adventurers standing before me ended briefly.

As they said, enormous stones blocked our path.

Fallen rocks standing firmly in the way of our journey.

Judging by their size and weight, they didn’t seem to have been placed there by someone, but it was impossible to tell where these strange boulders had rolled down from.

“Hey, Sir Knight. You’re not just going to stand there watching, are you?”

“Of course not. I’ll help too.”

“Then come over here and lend us your strength.”

I dismounted and approached the largest boulder.

Several strong men were already pushing against the rock, and I loosened my shoulders before drawing upon my aura and joining them in pushing the boulder.

Gulp! Gulp!

“Push!”

Creeeeak!

“Harder!”

Thud! Rumble…!

Crash!

“Whew!”

“It’s over!”

Today is the last day of the second week.

I wonder if clearing a path suddenly blocked by fallen rocks was mentioned in the request, but there’s a high probability it was.

No merchant leader would expect only protection from adventurers.

But the boulder was so heavy that such thoughts didn’t even cross my mind.

Even with aura flowing through my entire body, the weight was far from easy to manage, and it ultimately took several more aura users gathering together to remove the house-sized boulder from the path.

Squelch! Squelch!

“Damn it! The wheel is stuck!”

“Get down! We’ll try to pull it out!”

After clearing the boulder, the caravan could move again, but only briefly.

The path suddenly turned into a mud pit, causing the heavily loaded wagons to get stuck. We spent the entire morning sweating to pull the carts and extract the wheels. Only by afternoon could we finally have lunch on dry ground free of boulders.

“Whew. That was tough. What’s with those rocks appearing out of nowhere.”

“And that mud pit too. Are you very tired?”

“No… just a bit fatigued.”

I took off my clothes and wiped the sweat running down my back with my hand.

My hand was soaked. When was the last time I sweated this much?

Certainly not within this year.

“You should relax. I’ll wipe it for you.”

As I was scratching my back alone, my wife, who had been watching, began wiping my back sweat with her chest instead of a towel, causing other adventurers to look on with envious expressions.

Some female adventurers glared at us with expressions that said, “That woman is setting women’s rights back,” but what could I do?

Even if you combined all those women’s breasts, they wouldn’t match my wife’s.

“That’s enough now. Let’s eat.”

“Ah… yes.”

Though I was somewhat disappointed to lose the 36.5-degree sensation on my back, I was a reasonable man.

Food is more important than breasts… isn’t that just “common sense”?

Soon, a campfire was lit, and the water in the pot began to bubble and boil.

“By the way, how did such large stones suddenly appear? And that mud pit too—could it be the influence of sorcery or magic?”

“Hmm. Probably not. The stones likely rolled down from a nearby hill as the ground thawed, and the softened ground is also due to the frozen earth beginning to melt.”

“Huh… like a snowman melting?”

“You could say that. Winter is ending, and spring is beginning, after all.”

Spring, huh…

Partciphal generally had a cold climate, and I don’t recall my coastal hometown being particularly warm either.

The difference was perhaps just going from deadly cold to bearable cold?

Still, I could sense the changing seasons by the shifting prices and varieties of vegetables and fruits at the market.

Since setting out on this adventure, I hadn’t really noticed such changes, as I only bought grains, vegetables, and meat.

“Come to think of it, adventurers don’t seem to buy much fruit.”

“That’s true.”

There are several reasons for this.

First, regardless of whether one has a spatial storage like mine, fruits are inherently bulky.

Even setting aside weight, bulky items mean you can carry less in the same space.

And unlike meat or grain that can be processed in various ways, fruits—mostly round or flat—take up unnecessary space in square-shaped backpacks.

Grains can be compressed into rectangular shapes, and meat can be folded and cut into cube forms.

But fruits can’t be handled that way, and even if they could, their shelf life would be drastically reduced.

Second, they hinder stealth.

Most fruits release juice and often require peeling.

Naturally, leaving these remains attracts insects or causes rot, and even burying or burning them leaves traces.

This is a fatal disadvantage compared to grains or meat that can be swallowed whole even if they don’t taste good.

Considering that animals and monsters instinctively seek out the sweetness of fruit, biting into an apple at a campsite might attract a wolf pack—an unacceptable risk for adventurers.

And third, fruits can be foraged during adventures.

Like wild herbs, fruits don’t only grow in orchards.

As soon as you enter a forest, you’re surrounded by trees and plants, and picking a luscious fruit doesn’t bring druids charging at you in anger.

When you’re stepping on ferns and wild apples catch your eye, why would you think of buying fruit?

Above all, for adventurers with stimulated palates, plain fruit is too bland.

They’d rather eat jam or spreads loaded with sugar.

Thinking about it this way, I could understand why fruits were overlooked on adventures.

“What are you thinking about so intently?”

“Just about fruit.”

“I thought… Well, the stew is ready, so have some.”

“Oh… sure.”

*

The next morning.

We would reach Maximus Gorge by today at the earliest, or by tomorrow dawn at the latest.

Though not yet visible, the increasingly rugged terrain and rising elevation confirmed we were nearing our destination.

“I can’t believe I’ve already visited all these famous places on the Miriam continent.”

“Hahaha… time flies, doesn’t it?”

“We’ve come a long way from Faerun… truly… back then, I never thought I’d make it all the way to Miriam…”

Honestly, back then my only goal was to become an adventurer.

Because living as an adventurer was better than living on the streets.

But look at me now—receiving the Sun’s message, recognized as a Sun Knight, wearing sacred relics that others would die for.

If I went back and told my past self, “I’ve become this amazing person,” my past self would probably retort, “Bullshit. You’re making up stories to steal my organs,” and stab me in the face.

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just reminiscing about the past.”

“Past memories… don’t say such things around an old man. Even my twenties feel like yesterday.”

“Haha.”

Will I become like that when I’m old?

Will I become a neighborhood grandfather who considers his youthful, energetic days as “just yesterday,” dozing off in a rocking chair by the fireplace, occasionally giving pocket money and snacks to visiting grandchildren?

Probably not.

From the moment I became aware of my existence in this world, I instinctively knew I wouldn’t die in bed.

“Well… we still have a long way to go. We’ve only conquered two out of thirteen so far.”

“Conquered… that’s quite an expression, but given your backing, I can’t just laugh it off.”

“Hehe…”

I laughed like that while looking down at the gradually splitting earth from atop my horse.

The road began to wind like a river to avoid the cracks, and the long caravan procession was heading toward the city of Maximus Gorge, which was slowly coming into view.

“This reminds me of playing train when I was little.”

“Train?”

“Yes. Lining up in a row and moving like a centipede.”

“Oho…”

Though I’d never seen such a game in Partciphal, I could roughly imagine how it was played.

It seemed like it would look quite funny, and the thought of my wife playing like that as a child made me laugh involuntarily.

“Kuhehe…”

“Why are you suddenly laughing?”

“Just… picturing it.”

I said that while pinching my wife’s cheek.

Her cheese-like cheeks stretched like a rubber ball.

These cheeks were valuable enough to build a small castle in the Yolk Lands if sold.

“Why doesn’t the world just end? That bastard Nariakira Saburo is working too hard.”

“I wish Saburo would get squeezed by Maria all day.”

And behind us, the elf twins with their flat, unimpressive cheeks were casting unholy curses.