Ch.76Return to the Beginning (1)

“Huh? Hero! Where are you going?!”

When Alreina ran out of the room, Kareni chased after her.

Only the lazy Amila stretched out her hand and pulled the bread basket that Kareni had brought under the blanket.

Running to the square, Alreina discovered people gathered in front of the bulletin board.

Getting closer, she saw that what people were looking at was exactly the poster Kareni had mentioned earlier.

An old rich man named Hans Wunder was gathering brave souls to explore the uncharted southern territories on his behalf.

The meeting point was the Starting City at the southeastern edge of the Tanyashan Kingdom.

Strange. It was definitely the Starting Village when she first set out on her adventure…

But it’s unlikely that there would be another place with such a unique name.

Perhaps the village had developed and been upgraded to a city.

But no matter how she thought about it, that place didn’t have the conditions for such development.

Anyway, that wasn’t important right now.

Could Jack be involved in this Hans Wunder’s proxy adventure?

No way…

Jack is a potion shop owner. Such dangerous adventures would be too much for him.

But moments later, Alreina anxiously flipped through her strategy guide.

The uncharted southern territories. Did I miss something?

But that couldn’t be. Alreina had read the strategy guide thousands of times.

There wasn’t a single line about the uncharted southern territories in the guide.

Even in the beginning, Jack had written that she should focus on adventures in the north and west, not the south and east.

Then that probably has nothing to do with Jack…

“What’s wrong, Hero?” Kareni asked, finally catching up and panting.

Alreina shook her head. “Nothing. I just wanted to see for myself.”

Just as she was turning away from the bulletin board, Alreina suddenly asked as if something had occurred to her.

“By the way, I just realized that mages can communicate over long distances, right?”

“Yes, they can.”

“Then could I ask you for a favor?”

“Um… are you asking for long-distance communication…?”

“Could you do it?”

“Hmm…”

Apprentice mage Kareni scratched her head with a troubled expression.

“I’ll try… But where to?”

“Starting Village.”

“That’s too far! It’s impossible for an apprentice like me!”

The range of long-distance communication is proportional to magical power. Apprentice mage Kareni could at best maintain communication between three party members at some distance.

Alreina wanted to check if Jack was participating in the adventure by contacting the Starting City, but she had to put that on hold for now.

As Kareni said, the distance from here to the Starting City was so enormous that it would be difficult for anyone but a highly skilled mage.

“Let’s go back…”

Alreina returned to the inn with Kareni.

The entire way back, Alreina had to endure an inexplicable feeling of anxiety.

* * * * *

“Hmm. Hmmmmmm.”

Amila, lying down in the cargo area of the carriage, kept making strange noises while looking at Alreina.

Kareni was on pins and needles, telling her not to tease the Hero, but Alreina herself was just staring blankly outside.

“Hey, Alreina. Do you have something on your mind?”

Alreina slowly turned her head at Amila’s question.

“No, I don’t.”

“Judging by your expression, that doesn’t seem true at all. It looks like something serious.”

“There’s nothing like that.”

Alreina turned her head back toward the window.

Amila stretched out her foot and nudged Alreina’s foot.

“What’s going on? Did something happen to that Jack person?”

“N-no…”

When Alreina stammered, Amila glanced at Kareni.

“I don’t know anything.”

Kareni shook her head, not wanting to speak out of turn about something that wasn’t her business.

“Alreina. Alreina. Alreina.”

Amila persistently bothered Alreina until she finally had to tell them about what happened earlier.

“Oh, so that’s what happened? Hmm, the uncharted southern territories…”

“Come to think of it, Sister Amila, you’re from the central region, right? Do you know anything about the south?”

When Kareni asked, Amila shrugged.

“I don’t know either. I’ve never had any reason to go to the south, so I’ve never even thought about visiting.”

“Me neither. I realize I’ve never thought about the south in my entire life. If it weren’t for that bulletin board notice today, I probably would have lived my whole life as if it didn’t exist.”

“That’s a good way to put it. As if it doesn’t exist. Right. The south really does seem like a place that doesn’t exist.”

Listening to her companions’ conversation, Alreina suddenly felt strange.

“A place that doesn’t exist?”

“Yeah. A place that doesn’t exist.”

Amila raised her upper body slightly as she spoke.

“Has anyone ever been curious about the southern continent? It’s always blank on maps, but it’s not like the freezing far north—you could walk there if you wanted to, right?”

“That’s true.”

“Isn’t it strange? The northwest is bursting at the seams, but nobody cares about the south. Logically, everyone should be eager to develop the south.”

Amila’s observation was spot on, and it made Alreina think deeply.

That’s right. The south has always been that kind of place. Unless you deliberately try to think about it, it’s as if it never existed and nobody knows about it.

Even though the bottom of every map we see is completely empty, we never felt anything strange about it.

The uncharted southern territories that no one has ever been curious about.

Jack, who knows everything that will happen in the future.

The Ark’s words that even gods cannot foresee the future.

The daughter of the Witch of Sighs who said this world is a grand theater stage.

And suddenly, an adventure to the south starting from the Starting City where Jack is.

There seems to be… some kind of connection…

Pieces of a broken vessel that look similar. If assembled somehow, they might form a complete vessel again.

But… something important is missing. The problem is I have no idea what it is.

Is there anyone I could ask?

Jack would know everything, but would he actually answer?

After quietly contemplating, Alreina turned to her companions.

“I’m sorry, but should we change our journey?”

“What? You want to change the plan?! Really?!”

Amila sat up in surprise.

For adventurers, changing plans is a very trivial matter, but there’s a reason for Amila’s reaction.

Until now, Alreina had never done this.

Because she has that mysterious strategy guide that tells her everything.

So this time too, they were following the exact path suggested by the strategy guide after the Demon Army incident, hitching a ride on a carriage.

But suddenly she wants to change the plan? Not follow the strategy guide?

Not following the strategy guide that she reveres more than gods.

Amila realized that Alreina was truly serious.

“If that’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll do. Right, Kareni?”

“Y-yes. That’s right. Do whatever you want, Hero.”

Kareni was just as frightened as Amila was worried.

Until now, they had resolved all dangerous situations without a single error under the Hero’s guidance, but suddenly the Hero wanted to change plans.

This really must be something serious…

“So where are you thinking of going?”

Alreina remained silent for a very long time after Amila’s question.

Amila, tired of waiting for an answer, lay back down, and Kareni also relaxed a bit, leaning against the backrest, when Alreina finally spoke.

“To the Doomsday Site.”

“Eek?!” “Are you crazy?!”

Kareni and Amila were shocked beyond belief.

“You’re joking, right? Why on earth would we go to a place like that?!”

“That’s right, Hero. I understand you’re worried about Jack, but that place has nothing to do with him…”

“I’ll go alone if I have to.”

At Alreina’s declaration, her companions looked at each other, speechless.

“Are… you really going to go alone?”

“Yes.”

Amila irritably messed up her hair as if truly troubled, then said:

“Then I’ll go too. You can’t go alone.”

“Gasp! Sister Amila! Really?!”

“Yes, Kareni. My mental defense will definitely be needed there. You can back out now.”

“Oh no, how could you say that… Are you saying you don’t need me anymore…?”

Kareni looked back and forth between Alreina and Amila, her eyes welling up as if she might cry at any moment.

“I’ll go too! I may be an apprentice, but a mage is still a mage!”

Both of them owed their lives to Alreina.

Kareni was an apprentice mage who excelled at just one spell, and Amila was an abnormally specialized holy priest focused solely on mental defense.

If it weren’t for Alreina, they would have been living ordinary lives with no connection to things like the Demon Army.

And having fought together and grown close, they couldn’t let Alreina go to such a place alone.

Looking at her companions who insisted on coming along, Alreina smiled faintly.

“Thank you both.”

And so Alreina’s party headed for the Doomsday Site.

If Jack had known this, he would have been furious and told her to stop this madness and follow the strategy guide, but Jack wasn’t here now.

* * * * *

“Hmm, that’s strange…”

Leaning against the southern tower’s railing, he muttered to himself.

It had been over a week since the expedition team departed, but there had been no contact.

Blanchard should have opened a dimensional gate for resupply or something, but why hadn’t she?

Had something happened?