Ch.397Changing World

A week had passed since the new year began.

The snow that had piled up everywhere had melted enough for people and carriages to pass through,

and the planned site for the 8th Western City had finally been freed from the encirclement of snow golems.

“Extra! Extra!!”

Meanwhile, three surprising pieces of news had been causing a stir in the pioneer community since the beginning of the year.

First, exchanges with the dwarven new city ‘Technopolis’ had begun.

They had initiated contact with the pioneer society about a month ago, and it seems various behind-the-scenes negotiations took place while we were attacking the Great Sage’s Magic Tower.

Although the interior of Technopolis remains off-limits to other races, they announced plans to establish a separate trading post on the surface to continue commerce with the pioneers.

Second, Grantis’s first steam locomotive had been completed.

The steam locomotive and railway construction project, led by Director Geronimo, had achieved significant results after months of research, and successfully completed test operations on a demonstration railway installed near Mothertown.

Starting next week, construction will begin in earnest on a freight transport route connecting Mothertown with the Sundown Mine to the north and Maxwell Logging Camp to the south.

Of course, since monster countermeasures are essential for extending the railway to the western cities, they also announced that submitting useful materials, magical tools, or artifacts would be recognized with triple license merit.

Finally, third.

Information about the Great Sage’s Magic Tower had begun to be officially disclosed to the pioneer society.

It was revealed that a massive ley line exists beneath the Magic Tower, and consequently, plans to build a maximum-scale new city using the magic core discovered during the previous dungeon overflow are being considered.

However, it’s still a distant prospect before a final decision, as they need to investigate the post-transformation rocky terrain’s ecology, water sources, and other residential environment factors, as well as the potential impact on surrounding cities like Atelier.

Meanwhile, with this information disclosure, our party’s stock reached an all-time high.

As the first discoverers of the Magic Tower left by the legendary Great Sage Deidric Asmad,

and as heroes who transformed the central swamplands—the greatest obstacle to western expansion—into traversable land,

the five of us—myself, Jessica, Seti, Mina, and Phyllis—finally reached A-rank, the ultimate destination of the Frontier License.

Anastasia was also promoted to B-rank in one leap, and Iris received a special residence permit allowing her to freely enter and exit cities without accompaniment.

Of course, she would rarely have reason to wander around alone, so this was more of a symbolic gesture showing that the pioneer society had accepted her…

Anyway, we couldn’t let such good news pass without celebration.

Yesterday, after sending letters to our respective families, we held a celebration party with Jessica’s parents.

And the very next day, January 7th – Day of Light.

“Shall we depart then?”

“Oh~”

We set off in our camping carriage for our first adventure of the new year.

Direction: southwest. Destination: unknown.

The goal itself was to go as far as possible without overdoing it and then return.

“But why southwest specifically?”

“We’ve already gone far enough west and northwest. The dungeon to the southwest was only 50km away.”

“Ah, you mean the place we went to investigate with the Four Sisters.”

A peculiar dungeon that only women could enter.

There, we obtained Ambrosia, a mysterious elixir that could restore Iris to an elf.

Although there were some unfortunate incidents along the way, like me drinking a gender-change potion and turning into a woman, or being courted by a unicorn.

“Come to think of it, that dungeon didn’t have a boss room.”

“That’s right. The unicorn couldn’t possibly have been the dungeon boss… Could there have been a hidden passage?”

“Curious enough to go back? We could extract gender-change potions from the Cup of Glory.”

“…No. Unless we team up with the Four Sisters again, the risk is too high for just us.”

I agree with Jessica’s opinion.

No matter how much Iris’s combat power has increased, those golems in the dungeon were formidable opponents,

and even if there is a hidden passage, we might have to split the team again.

There’s no reason to take risks when we have no particular business there.

“Let’s stick with the original plan and aim for the 200km point. We’ll decide what to do next based on Purifier’s condition.”

“OK.”

“I hope we make some meaningful discoveries this time too.”

And so our camping carriage began moving toward the distant southwest.

The ground was still muddy from unmelted snow, and the wheels would easily slip on steep slopes.

Naturally, none of us had any experience driving a carriage on such terrain…

*Thud*

“Oops, again.”

Incidents of carriage wheels getting stuck in holes or crevices hidden under the snow kept occurring.

Fortunately, our carriage was pulled by an 8-horsepower monster automaton, and if necessary, we could switch to rough terrain mode to lift the body…

*Clank, squelch, squelch*

We somehow managed to avoid situations where the carriage would overturn or become immobilized.

The problem was that this made our route unnecessarily winding and significantly reduced our speed.

As a result, by dusk, the carriage had only traveled about 70km.

“This is as far as we go today.”

“Ugh~ Even with a camping carriage, there’s not much we can do when the road is such a mess.”

“Still, this is moving quite fast. Imagine if we were traveling on foot.”

“What a dreadful thought. Who could walk through this mud?”

That would be the default for adventurers though…

Well, I can understand Anastasia’s perspective too.

If suffering can be avoided, it’s best to avoid it as much as possible.

“Since everyone worked hard, how about a special menu for dinner tonight?”

“Special menu?”

“What is it, what is it?”

“Hehehe… just wait and see.”

I took out a large pot and ingredients from the “Box of Stopped Time.”

Meat, onions, garlic, cabbage, lettuce, several other vegetables, and various mushrooms.

Concentrated broth and seasoning sauce extracted beforehand from the Cup of Glory.

And when I added something resembling glass noodles made from potato starch…

*Bubble bubble…*

“Ooh~”

“I thought it was stew, but it’s a bit different?”

It’s a completed bulgogi mushroom hot pot that makes your mouth water just from the smell.

It would have been even better with rice, but unfortunately, I haven’t seen rice in Grantis yet.

“When the meat is cooked just right, everyone can serve themselves in small bowls.”

“Thank you for the meal~!”

“Mmm… warm soup on a cold day seeps deep into your bones…”

“Anastasia, you just sounded like an old man.”

“What did you say…”

If anything, our party’s greatest advantage seems to be our luxurious meals.

As I was thinking this while eagerly sharing the hot pot,

“Ex… excuse me…”

“!?”

Suddenly a strange voice was heard, and an elf boy in shabby clothes appeared about 5 meters away.

Actually… it might be a flat-chested girl,

but what’s important is that neither Phyllis nor even Seti noticed the elf child’s approach.

“Who are you? Don’t come any closer and answer.”

“Eh, I, um, well…”

Seti put down her empty bowl with lightning speed and threatened with her spear.

The elf child, feeling a threat to their life, tried to answer Seti’s question, but,

*Grooowl~ Rumble rumble…*

“……”

“……”

When a pitiful hunger sound loud enough to drown out even the bubbling hot pot echoed through the campsite,

we all could guess why this shabby elf had approached us.

“Ugh… I haven’t eaten for three days, so could you spare a little of your food…?”

During our wide-area survey southwest of the planned 8th Western City site,

our first discovery was an elf child suffering from hunger.

~~~ A little while later ~~~

“Ahhhh~ I’m going to live~”

“…Such a small body but eats so much.”

“I feel like I’ve witnessed one of the mysteries of the human body…”

After devouring five servings of hot pot as we replenished the broth and ingredients, the elf child, now with a bulging stomach, struggled to stand up and bowed politely.

“Thank you so much. I almost starved to death.”

“I’m glad you’re full, but… could you introduce yourself?”

“Oh, yes! My name is Connie Travers, I’m an elf as you can see, and I work as a guardian at the Lemon Tree Sanctuary!”

Lemon Tree Sanctuary…

We’ve rarely encountered elves near the planned site for the 8th Western City, but judging by how this child isn’t surprised to see me or Jessica, they must belong to a tribe somewhat familiar with pioneers.

As I was processing this, Phyllis tilted her head and raised a question.

“This might be rude, but you seem… quite young for a guardian.”

“Well, I’m only 14 years old.”

“Hmm? Is there no age restriction for becoming a guardian in your sanctuary?”

“Were there originally age restrictions?”

“Of course. The guardian corps’ mission is to protect the sanctuary and its residents. Isn’t it backward to have children protecting adults?”

Now that I hear it, that makes sense.

No matter how talented, entrusting national defense to child soldiers is insane.

This suggests that the Lemon Tree Sanctuary might be in such a precarious situation that they need to send children to the military.

And my suspicion turned into certainty with Connie’s next answer.

“We have no choice. The adults in our village don’t do anything except farming.”

“They don’t do anything?”

“Yes. They just sleep all day, drink tea while reading books, or make flower arrangements. The guardian corps outpost has been empty since I was born.”

“Then the guardians currently serving at the sanctuary are…?”

“Four of us, including me and my friends.”

“That can’t be…”

An elven village where security is entrusted to just four children while the adults do nothing.

It seems we’re about to peer into yet another abyss of elven society.