Ch.209Chapter 209 – The Scent of Kin (1)

It had been about two days since we started traveling with Perry’s guidance.

During that time, our relationship, which had been slightly awkward after meeting again after so long, had now become comfortable enough that we could speak to each other without excessive formality.

Thanks to that, even during rest periods, we could enjoy a peaceful journey without having to be overly conscious of each other.

And finally, we arrived at our destination.

Looking at the mountainous region before us, Perry spoke.

“According to the map, it should be here…”

Hearing Perry’s words, I looked around.

Rocks and more rocks, sand and mountains, trees.

“…Are you sure this is the right place?”

“Well, you weren’t drunk at the time, so it should be… should be correct…”

Perry’s voice gradually grew quieter.

It seemed even he was losing confidence.

“…Perhaps there might be some kind of marker or something…?”

“No. You didn’t mention anything like that.”

Perry replied weakly.

“So we have to search this entire mountain…”

I’d heard it would be difficult, but this seems even harder than I expected.

However, sitting in the driver’s seat discussing it all day wouldn’t get us anywhere.

I quickly relayed the situation to those inside the carriage, and shortly after, everyone came out.

“So, somewhere around here is where the dwarves live together?”

“If Perry is correct.”

At my words, Perry turned his head away and cleared his throat awkwardly.

After a moment, Beatrice carefully offered a suggestion.

“For now, should I try a detection spell? With that, I could at least find empty spaces.”

“Please do.”

At my request, Beatrice nodded and closed her eyes.

A moment later, she shook her head.

“…There doesn’t seem to be anything nearby. But there’s another problem.”

“Another problem?”

“There must be some mineral that doesn’t conduct magic well, because parts of my detection spell are bouncing back.”

At Beatrice’s words, I looked at the mountain again.

A mineral that doesn’t conduct magic well.

I thought they might have taken measures to avoid detection spells, or built their village in an area rich with such minerals.

If they’ve restricted the entrance and built an underground village, it would indeed be difficult to find.

‘It might be better to look with our eyes first.’

I can’t expect much, but rather than searching every inch from the bottom of the mountain, it would be better to identify suspicious points from above.

We don’t even need to climb all the way to the top; going halfway up should give us a decent view of the surroundings.

Having made my decision, I spoke.

“Let’s go up the mountain. We might spot some suspicious area.”

“Ah, so it comes to this after all.”

Beatrice replied and began stretching. The others also seemed to think there was no better option, as several of them started warming up.

Except for one person.

“Chris? Something to say?”

I asked, noticing her staring at a specific point with a puzzled expression.

But as soon as I asked, she suddenly spoke.

“Let’s go that way.”

“Huh?”

I asked, surprised by her abrupt suggestion pointing in a specific direction.

“Why that way?”

“I don’t know why, but I feel like we should go that way.”

The others seemed slightly taken aback by Chris’s words.

After a brief moment, Beatrice quickly asked me a question.

“What do you want to do? It might not be a bad idea to check it out before climbing the mountain.”

“It doesn’t seem like she’s suggesting we go very far…”

At Sera and Beatrice’s words, I looked at Eve.

Seeing her nod slightly, I said:

“Alright, let’s go check it out.”

“…Aren’t you all a bit too easily swayed?”

Asam remarked with slight disbelief, but 5 out of our 8 members had already decided to go.

Even though Asam was a witch, she couldn’t overcome the principle of majority rule, so she sighed and began to follow.

And not long after, we saw a strangely familiar sight.

“…A backpack is walking.”

We saw a massive backpack that looked like it could easily outweigh a decent-sized boulder.

Beneath it, two small legs were visible.

The scene was so familiar that I immediately looked at Sera.

And Sera smiled, placing her hand on my shoulder.

“Mr. Kay, there’s really no need to look at me right now, is there?”

“……”

I subtly shifted my gaze.

“It walks well.”

Beatrice muttered, watching the backpack navigate through the rocky terrain with ease.

Like the walking backpack we’d seen before, its movements were unhindered.

Like someone we know, is it incredibly strong?

“Mr. Kay?”

The hand on my shoulder pressed down slightly.

I should start wondering if Sera can read my thoughts now.

“Judging by the thickness of the legs, it looks like a child.”

“What do you want to do?”

Eve asked.

But the decision had already been made, so I answered immediately.

“We follow it.”

Of course, we could call out and make it stop, but unfortunately, the distance was too great for our voices to reach. Moreover, due to the massive backpack, the other party probably couldn’t see us.

So we had to follow before losing sight of it.

Everyone silently began following the backpack.

Due to its short legs, the backpack’s pace wasn’t very fast, and soon we were able to catch up without much difficulty.

“Excuse me! Just a moment!”

When I called out, the backpack stopped in its tracks.

“Wait! We’d like to ask for directions!”

The backpack seemed to hesitate for a moment.

And the next instant, it began to turn around…

Only to turn back and start running away.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Stop talking nonsense and chase it!”

Beatrice immediately began leaping into the air using her chains, and though slower than her, I also started sprinting across the ground.

Seeing Eina running alongside me, I said:

“Beatrice and I will go ahead!”

“Okay! Got it!”

I watched as she kicked off a rock to return to the others, then continued chasing the backpack.

After a while, the backpack seemed to realize it couldn’t outrun Beatrice and me with speed alone, so it started heading toward an area with many obstacles.

Especially toward a densely wooded area, clearly intending to prevent Beatrice from pursuing from the sky.

“Argh, really!”

Eventually, Beatrice came down from the sky and began running alongside me.

And I quickly started shouting:

“Wait! We won’t hurt you! Please stop!”

Though I shouted to reassure it, the backpack showed no intention of stopping.

But it’s a heavy backpack.

It’s the worst condition for gaining speed.

It’s just choosing rough terrain to slow Beatrice and me down, but if we chase for just a few more minutes, we’ll definitely catch it.

Just as I thought that, the backpack began flying toward us.

“What?!”

Beatrice let out a surprised voice, clearly not expecting the heavy backpack to be thrown.

I quickly grabbed her head and ducked.

-BOOM!!

The backpack narrowly passed over our heads, and soon began rolling behind us with a heavy thud.

“Damn, throwing a backpack?”

Beatrice shouted with a slightly angry voice.

And then she asked in confusion:

“Wait, what about the owner?”

“That’s…”

I quickly looked ahead.

However, the owner of the problematic backpack was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did they go…”

Beatrice and I began searching the surroundings urgently.

After a few minutes of searching, we heard footsteps approaching from behind.

“Huff… huff… I… finally…”

Chris was panting heavily, having apparently run hard to catch up with us.

And far behind her, the rest of our companions could be seen walking slowly.

‘So only Chris ran after us.’

Honestly, looking at the distance from the others, it might have been better for her to just walk.

Seeing how exhausted she was, I quickly handed her my water flask. After gulping down some water, Chris spoke:

“Huff… did you catch them?”

“No, we lost them.”

We lost sight of them in the moment our attention was diverted by the backpack.

Hearing this, Chris carefully said:

“Time-wise, they can’t have gone far from this area.”

As she spoke, Chris held up her staff and moved forward.

Looking down, we could see the backpack approaching.

“Sera, isn’t that heavy?”

“Ah, it’s, it’s actually quite light, really!! It just looks bulky! Just bulky!”

Sera shouted defensively, but the wide-mouthed expressions of Asam and Perry behind her made her claim completely unconvincing.

As the rest of our companions arrived, Eve immediately spoke:

“I see you couldn’t catch them.”

“We lost them because of that backpack.”

As I pointed to the backpack, Sera nodded and put it down.

-BOOM!

“…Just bulky, you say?”

“…Yes. Just bulky. Just bulky.”

Sera averted her gaze as she made her excuse.

“The things inside are, well, daily necessities.”

“Daily necessities?”

“Yes. Things like cloth, medicines, things that would be difficult to make without a specialist.”

Daily necessities, huh.

So, that person was returning after obtaining these items from somewhere?

‘And this much of it.’

I don’t know how many days’ worth it is, but the quantity is certainly not small.

Sera might carry it easily, but a normal person would need to transport it with a cart in multiple trips.

But now is not the time to be commenting on the backpack.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“For now, let’s look around and see if we can figure out where they went…”

I was about to say “let’s search,” when:

“I found it! It’s here!”

Chris’s voice rang out, and when I quickly looked over, she was pointing at a rock.

As our attention focused on her, she quickly touched a part of the rock with her staff, and soon the rock began to split slightly.

And a moment later, small stairs appeared between the rocks.

This was not a naturally formed place.

“…Could this be…”

Could this be the destination we’ve been looking for?

“Let’s go in.”

Chris said with a smile.

+

The stairs were longer than I had imagined.

Moreover, the walls were extremely narrow.

Just as I was seriously wondering when they would end, the end of the stairs came into view, with a reddish light flowing in.

We descended the stairs and headed inside.

“…It’s hot?!”

Chris exclaimed in slight surprise.

Actually, rather than hot, it would be more accurate to say it was warm, but compared to outside, the temperature was high enough to feel hot.

After looking around for a moment, Perry quietly said:

“Those are houses, aren’t they?”

Looking where Perry was pointing, we could see structures that appeared to be built by stacking stones.

With windows and doors, they certainly looked like houses.

Several similar buildings could be seen behind them.

“It seems we’ve arrived at the right place after all.”

Beatrice said quietly.

But that raised another question.

“Where are the dwarves…?”

Just as Asam raised this question:

“Duck!”

Eve suddenly pushed Asam back.

“Huh, what…?”

-SWISH!!

Something flew through the air with a cutting sound.

Quickly turning my gaze, I saw what looked like an arrow embedded in the spot where Asam’s foot had been.

And looking in the direction the arrow had come from, I saw a dwarf holding what appeared to be a crossbow.

Soon Asam’s expression turned pale, and I could see Eina and Beatrice getting into combat stances.

“Don’t kill them! Just subdue them!”

“Yes!”

As Eina and Beatrice nodded and entered combat, I quickly gave the next instruction:

“Eve! Chris! Protect the others!”

“Yes!”

“Kay, on your right above!”

At Eve’s warning, I quickly turned my gaze, and immediately understood what she was warning about.

The moment I turned, a large hammer appeared.

‘They tried to ambush us but got caught.’

Eve must have glimpsed a bit of the immediate future.

After dodging the hammer that was swung belatedly in apparent surprise, I reached out and grabbed it.

Then, using my knee to lift the hammer, a dwarf with a bushy beard came up with it.

“Wh-what?!”

The dwarf dropped the hammer in panic, and I quickly pulled it up into my hand.

Then I threw the heavy hammer behind me, grabbed the dwarf who was trying to flee, and lifted him up.

“Hey, this bastard is manhandling our kin!”

“Let him go!”

Immediately, dwarves wielding pickaxes and shovels began rushing from both sides.

I quickly threw the dwarf I was holding toward the one with the shovel, grabbed the swinging pickaxe, broke it with my hand, and threw the blade part behind me.

The next moment, I pulled the broken pickaxe handle from the opponent’s hand.

‘Good.’

With this, I shouldn’t cause serious injuries.

Gripping the handle like a sword, I kicked away a shovel and swung at the dwarves.

“Ugh?!”

“Oh no! I’m going to die!!”

Soon the dwarves began falling one after another, screaming.

“Someone help me…!”

“Ow! This woman’s fists are hot…!!”

“Urgh!”

Hearing groans from behind, I glanced back to see Beatrice knocking dwarves down with her fists.

Behind her, Eina was also disarming opponents and neutralizing them.

“…These bastards are strong!”

“Behind! Target their backs!”

Soon some dwarves changed their strategy and tried to circle around to target our companions in the rear.

As they all raised their weapons, Eve shouted:

“Light!”

“Holy Light!”

Immediately, light burst forth from Chris’s clasped hands.

The power was minimal, just enough to dazzle the eyes.

“Argh!! My eyes!!!”

However, since it was sudden and the dwarves had no means to protect their eyes, they dropped their weapons in pain.

Eve quickly rushed in and began striking the backs of their heads to knock them down.

The number of ambushing dwarves gradually decreased.

‘At this rate, we should be able to subdue them all.’

Fortunately, the enemy seemed unfamiliar with fighting.

And suddenly, a voice came from behind:

“Found an opening!!”

A girl appeared, seemingly bursting from the ground.

She was holding a hammer so massive it was a wonder how she had concealed it.

Looking at where the hammer was headed, I shouted:

“Sera!!”

Sera seemed to be staring blankly at the weapon, perhaps caught off guard.

I was about to throw my weapon to save her.

Praying I wouldn’t be too late, I threw the weapon.

Sera reached out and grabbed the weapon.

“Huh?”

The hammer’s handle was caught in mid-air.

The girl made a surprised sound.

“Huh?”

Even Sera seemed surprised, standing still while holding the weapon.

The next moment, the girl’s eyes widened as if realizing something.

And then she was sent flying as she was hit by the handle I had thrown.

“Aaaaah!!”

The girl flew away with a scream.

Sera, who had been holding the hammer in a daze, finally seemed to come to her senses and lifted it, shouting:

“What should I do with this?!”

“Just put it down!”

Sera obediently put the hammer down.

The next moment, I saw the girl who had been sent flying getting back up.

‘I should knock her out.’

Most of the dwarves had been subdued anyway.

Just as I was about to step in front of Sera:

“Wait!”

The girl suddenly shouted loudly, pointing at Sera.

“Wait! Wait, just stay there!”

“What?”

While Sera was unable to respond properly to the sudden action, the girl had already approached her.

“Stay still.”

“Huh? Oh, okay…”

Perhaps overwhelmed by the atmosphere, Sera was blankly following the girl’s instructions.

And the next moment:

The girl brought her nose close to Sera and began sniffing.

“Wh-what?!”

Ignoring Sera’s confusion, the girl continued making sniffing sounds.

By now, the fighting sounds around us had ceased, and I was certain that even the dwarves who hadn’t been knocked down were all looking in that direction.

“…There’s no doubt.”

The girl said quietly.

“It’s the smell of kin!”

“What?!”

Sera’s eyes widened in shock.