Ch.394Let it Snow

The camping caravan party led by Seti returned three days later in the morning.

It happened right after Jessica and I had received a clean bill of health during our morning rounds.

At first, I thought they might have retreated hastily due to some problem during their treasure hunting at Ogre Hill, but…

“Ta-da!”

“Is this for real?”

The camping caravan parked proudly outside the city walls and boxes filled with gold and silver treasures showed that this expedition had ended successfully.

Both Jessica and I couldn’t hide our surprise, but our curiosity was much greater than our amazement.

“How did you get back so soon? It’s over 400km from Paracelsus Workshop to here.”

During the past few days while we were bedridden with colds, Jessica and I received updates on Seti’s team’s activities every night through the Rings of Fate.

On the first day, they discovered gold pieces dropped on the road and began investigating.

On the second day, they defeated goblins and ogres, discovered the Bandit King’s hideout, completed their investigation, and moved to Hopmill Farm.

On the third day, yesterday, they arrived at Paracelsus Workshop, received and inspected the caravan, finished shopping, planned to rest well overnight, and depart early in the morning.

No matter how fast the camping caravan could move, it couldn’t possibly cover over 400km in just 4-5 hours…

“Hehe~ Actually, you see~?”

After thoroughly enjoying our confused expressions, Mina explained the secret behind their lightning-fast return operation.

It seems that after defeating the Poison Demon Lord, they gained the ability to adjust the size of gates opened with the “Book of Adventure.”

Additionally, they discovered that the “departure point” of a gate doesn’t reset when connecting between locations registered in the Book of Adventure.

Thanks to this, Seti’s group departed from Paracelsus Workshop, went to a suitably remote location, moved to Anastasia’s Tower,

connected that gate to the Third Eye Tribe’s island and moved once more,

then returned in one go to their initial departure point—”the forest near the planned site of the 8th Western City.”

“So you can pass through gates with the entire caravan now… that’s good news.”

“Indeed. We can feel safe even if we need to evacuate urgently during western exploration.”

“Of course, there’s still a chance of being spotted even in remote areas, so basically it would be better to use the Sphinx Mine’s treasure vault.”

The treasure vault beneath Sphinx Mine is scheduled to undergo extensive remodeling to serve as a supply base and stronghold for western exploration.

No matter how much food we can store in the “Box of Stopped Time,”

or how we can produce emergency protein drink-type rations once a day with the “Cup of Glory,”

or purify black mana without barrier towers using the “Purifier,”

we can’t predict what might happen during long-distance travel, including the breakdown or theft of the aforementioned items.

In such cases, opening a gate to retreat to the treasure vault and using the newly expanded external passage would allow us to exit the mine without exposure to the high-concentration black mana emitted by the Black Maro.

Afterward, we could return to this city for supplies and black mana purification, and ultimately, we plan to equip the treasure vault with Purifier No. 2 and supplies to solve problems on the spot.

However, this plan was based on the premise that the camping caravan couldn’t pass through gates, so we had to consider either having Ancestor guard the caravan until we finished our business, or in the worst case, abandoning the caravan and starting over with preparations from the city…

That problem has been solved now that the gate size can be expanded to allow the entire camping caravan to pass through.

Moreover, if we can return to a location closer to the city than Sphinx Mine, we can quickly complete an evacuation even in time-sensitive situations like when someone gets stabbed by a dark blade.

“Anyway, now that Will and Jessica are healthy again, should we start planning our next adventure?”

“Hmm~ I agree with planning, but I think we should stay in the city for about ten days to rest.”

“Ah… that’s right. It’s almost the end of the year.”

Everyone nodded at Iris’s words.

I too had heard about Grantis’s year-end scenery from Jessica during my hospitalization, so I understood why we needed a rest period.

And the reason for that just started falling from the sky.

“Ah, it’s snowing.”

“Two days earlier than last year? It might stop right after the new year.”

“That cannot be guaranteed. I’ve heard that in the past, snow has fallen continuously for 8 or 9 days.”

The year-end scenery in Grantis is always pure white.

This is because snow that starts falling before the end of the year continues for about a week.

The starting date varies each year, but the four-day period from December 29-30 to January 1-2 of the following year is always included in the snowfall period.

This almost magical rule has never failed once in the 100-year history of the pioneers, and the natives give the same answer when asked.

“Another interesting thing is that even though it snows for days, it never becomes problematic heavy snowfall. No matter how much accumulates, it’s only between ankle and knee-deep?”

“So much for the law of conservation of mass…”

Of course, just because the snow doesn’t pile up much doesn’t mean it’s suitable for traveling by carriage.

In fact, there have been many cases of people underestimating this “safe snowfall,” going far away at the end of the year, slipping and getting seriously injured, or suffering from colds or hypothermia due to the lower temperatures.

When I actually caught a snowflake in my palm, it felt much colder than snow on Earth.

“Then what about the adventurers who left for the central region?”

“They’re probably staying in Westend Seventh or Moon Lake for the year-end celebrations. Large cities often have night markets or festivals to liven up the year-end atmosphere.”

“Are there no such things in this city?”

“Since it’s not yet completed, neither the commercial district nor residential environment is properly established.”

“That’s a shame.”

Here at the planned site of the 8th Western City, which is still under construction, only the main facilities for adventurers’ activities and a very small number of commercial facilities are available.

There isn’t enough commercial foundation or population to hold large-scale festivals.

Moreover, with most adventurers who were responsible for the city’s vitality having departed for the central region, the year-end at the planned site of the 8th Western City is bound to have a quiet and lonely atmosphere.

That’s what I thought, but—

“That would be too boring! Let’s create at least some year-end festival atmosphere.”

“How?”

“Hehe~ Ta-da~”

What Mina pulled out was a device with fireworks attached to the end of a long stick.

“Planning to do fireworks?”

“I’m not sure how well they’ll show up while it’s snowing, but having something like this should liven up the atmosphere a bit, right?”

“That’s a good idea. Of course, we’ll need permission from the authorities.”

While listening to this conversation, something suddenly occurred to me.

“Fireworks are good, but I have another suggestion.”

Something that would be perfect for creating a year-end atmosphere.

~~~ Planned Site of the 8th Western City, Pioneer Project Branch Office ~~~

“Haaaaah~~”

“…Why are you suddenly sighing like that?”

A veteran clerk asks in a reproachful tone to the new employee who is looking out the window and heaving a long sigh.

“How can I not sigh? It’s the year-end season, but the streets, the guild, and the Pioneer Project building are all empty… What kind of year-end scenery is this for the western frontier?”

“It can’t be helped. All the adventurers have flocked to the central swamplands because of the tower discovered there.”

“That’s exactly it.”

The new employee looked with suspicious eyes at the newspaper clipping “Great Sage’s Tower Discovered!” hanging on the office wall.

“It’s Jessica Walter’s party again… that woman. Don’t you think it’s strange, senior? No matter how skilled or lucky an adventurer is, their activity record over the past year isn’t normal.”

“You mean how a D-rank mage with no notable achievements until last year and some rookies who had just received their Frontier Licenses have shown remarkable activity in less than a year?”

“Y-yes, exactly!”

The new employee, who was about to launch into a tirade, became embarrassed and couldn’t continue when his senior colleague preempted what he was going to say.

The veteran clerk let out a snicker as he observed the rookie’s expression.

“It would be a miscalculation to think that senior staff would miss something that a newcomer like you could notice. The higher-ups already have some analysis results on this matter.”

“Analysis results?”

“The key figure in that party is not the leader Jessica Walter, but a drifter named William J. Kim, who is unofficially suspected of possessing powerful skills. In fact, the period when Jessica Walter’s activities began to stand out coincides closely with William J. Kim’s license registration date.”

Behind their achievements, William J. Kim’s skills or talents likely account for a large share.

If Jessica Walter, as the discoverer, had early insight into his talents and recruited him, that too could be considered a talent in the name of discernment.

Of course, Jessica Walter herself has already proven her talent by acquiring Gold Casting, so her previously poor performance was likely due to being underestimated as a Codex Mage.

That was the assessment from the upper echelons of the New Continent Pioneer Project Headquarters, but—

“Could there be some dishonorable circumstances behind this?”

“What are you saying… Have you also been taken in by those rumors circulating lately? That they’re colluding with intelligent monsters to deceive the New Continent Pioneer Project Headquarters?”

Such rumors had been circulating for some time.

The achievements shown by Jessica Walter’s party over the past year cannot be explained by luck or skill alone.

Even giving them the benefit of the doubt, it’s inconceivable that so many secrets remained hidden in the already thoroughly explored central and eastern regions, and that they found them almost exclusively.

There could be only one reason—someone in the background was providing them with special confidential information, and Jessica Walter’s group’s activities were intentionally orchestrated by this “background” figure.

“Even if they are indeed receiving information about ruins or Great Sage artifacts from someone, there’s no problem. They haven’t dealt in prohibited smuggled goods, harmed legal citizens, or caused financial damage to the western cities.”

“That may be true so far, but…”

“Don’t get caught up in useless rumors and get back to work. We need to deal with the aftermath of the large quantities of materials and firewood that were ordered for the year-end festival but are now just sitting unused.”

With those words, a stack of documents thick enough to fill several encyclopedias was placed on the new employee’s desk.

Though it was an incomplete city, they had ambitiously prepared a bonfire festival to create a year-end atmosphere.

Just as the supplies for this began to arrive, a major upheaval occurred in the central swamplands, causing all the adventurers who should have been the stars of the festival to leave, and leaving behind tens of thousands of gold worth of materials that had become dead stock in the warehouse.

There would be no avoiding overtime until this situation was resolved.

“Arrrgh… Jessica Walter… William J. Kim… this is all because of you two…”

The new employee began his battle with the paperwork while directing his deep resentment toward Will’s group.