Looming Dark Clouds (2)

When you can gauge the direction, that is, when you don’t make a separate mark to gauge the direction you’ve been going so far.

Such cases occur surprisingly often.

Yona and Alec were in that situation now.

Coming straight from the Medial Plains, with Lake Cantasia as the border, from there on it’s the Viridia Plains.

To the eye, it all looks like the same plain, but once you pass Lake Cantasia, from there it’s the Viridia Plains.

The problem is that it all looks the same to the eye.

“It’s that way.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Yona nodded while looking straight at Alec.

Only after waking up and looking around did they both realize they hadn’t marked the direction before going to sleep, and because of that, their sense of direction had become a bit twisted.

Looking around, there are no mountains visible in this vast plain, so wherever you look, it all looks the same.

Because of this, a situation arises where here seems like there, there seems like here, and over there also seems like here, but Yona was boldly speaking while pointing her finger in the direction her gaze was fixed on.

“Alright. Then let’s set off.”

Alec followed Yona’s words without further ado.

In situations like this, Yona’s intuition was frighteningly accurate.

According to Yona, it’s an intuition she calls her crisis detection ability, and it’s so accurate that it has never been wrong so far.

Slinging on their backpacks, the two looked up at the sky as they started walking.

“…It looks like it’s going to rain, doesn’t it?”

Alec also nodded at Yona’s words.

The sky was completely hazy.

The sun should be up there, but the dark clouds blocking it were hazy and looked ready to pour rain at any moment.

“Ah, damn…”

Alec frowned as he looked up at the sky.

Before starting their journey, he remembered that there was a general store in the mage community selling well-oiled raincoats.

Yona had said they should buy them, saying they weren’t commonly sold so they should get them, but Alec had talked her out of it.

Thinking about it now, they really should have bought them, and Alec was regretting having needlessly talked Yona out of it.

“Here, baldy. Take this.”

A neatly folded bundle of clothes was thrust in front of Alec with a thud.

“Oh, this…?”

When Alec took it and unfolded it, it was a raincoat.

It was made of thick brown cloth heavily soaked in oil, to the point where oil slightly rubbed off on the hands.

Seeing that no more oil comes off even when touched, it must be a high-quality item made by drying well in the sun after soaking in oil.

“See, baldy? I told you to listen to me.”

Alec stared blankly at Yona, who was grinning and showing her teeth.

He had definitely talked her out of buying this, saying not to buy it, so he didn’t know when she had bought it.

“While you were picking out field rations, I quickly paid for it. My shoulders were aching, so it seemed like it would rain soon anyway. Good thing I bought it, heh.”

Seeing Yona laughing like a mischievous child, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Alright, alright, let’s hurry up and go anyway. No matter how well-made it is, it won’t help if we get soaked in heavy rain.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Alec and Yona hurried along, packing the raincoat into his bag.

Their current destination is Cantatien.

It’s a village on the way to Lizard Den, and also a village where they’ll stop for a mid-point check.

As Alec’s newly fitted greaves leave footprints, Yona’s leather shoes—this time properly equipped with heels—follow those marks.

The two hurried along like that, following the path that curved around the lakeshore.

Whack!

The hammer smashed down on the wild orc’s head.

As soon as the hammer was pulled out of the skull, blood sprayed, but in the pouring rain, those blood streaks disappeared without a trace.

With the dull sound of bones cracking, the wild orc’s eyes rolled back and it collapsed, and Alec then pushed away another orc charging from the side with his shield.

He struck the orc’s head again with his hammer as it was slightly lifted into the air, pushed back by the shield and unable to overcome its own momentum.

Yona quickly pulled away the ankle of the orc that died instantly, clearing the corpse, and in the meantime, Alec blocked incoming arrows with his shield.

“I guess that only applied to the Medial Plains.”

Wooarrrgh!

Unable to contain its rage at seeing so many of its kin die, an exceptionally large wild orc among them roared while swinging its club.

Even that roar mixed with the sound of rain seems ridiculous.

“I guess so.”

Yona agreed with Alec’s words while roughly wiping away the rainwater flowing down her face with the back of her hand.

It seems that the area where monsters don’t appear that Kaiyak mentioned was limited to just the Medial Plains.

Alec said so, and Yona thought so too.

Yona looked around while agreeing with Alec’s words.

The orcs that had numbered well over ten were now reduced to less than half, and at a glance, there seemed to be about four left.

Due to the falling rain, she couldn’t see clearly, but that number was probably correct.

Four wild orcs.

It’s not a particularly burdensome number, but one of them is that large orc, so it’s a bit concerning.

Still, with the two of them, they could manage.

Alec was moving much better than before, and he was moving nimbly according to what Yona told him with her wider field of vision, so the burden was much less.

【Why don’t you borrow my power, wench? I could deal with these creatures not even worth calling vermin in an instant.】

If only it weren’t for this damned voice buzzing in her head, it would have been perfect.

The owner of that voice was someone Yona knew well.

As such, Yona ignored that voice again and again, moving thoroughly to support Alec.

‘Shut up. We’re more than enough to handle this much without your power. I haven’t fallen so low as to reach out to a demon like you.’

【Is that so.】

She knew her battlefield well.

She also knew her role well.

She knew what Alec had to do,

And she knew what she had to do.

Yona wasn’t stupid enough to fall for Berbaria’s temptation and go beyond that.

Intentionally ignoring that voice, she moved thoroughly to support Alec, who was facing the enemy with his back against a rock deliberately for her safety.

Alec blocked all the dangers flying towards her.

Yona healed all the small wounds that occurred in the process.

Trusting each other, they finally moved in perfect harmony, becoming each other’s shadows.

Even with the rain pouring down like this, the two moved in perfect coordination—

“Yona, are you alright?”

She saw Alec turn his head slightly, wearing the raincoat.

Yona noticed a wound she hadn’t seen before and hurriedly healed Alec’s injury.

“Nothing’s wrong, right?”

Only then did Alec turn his gaze back to the front and grip his hammer again.

Yona bit her lip hard.

‘Shut up, you snake. Before I commit suicide.’

【Huh, what a foul-mouthed wench. If you were to commit suicide, would that man keep his sanity?】

‘He’s not so weak-minded. Don’t bring him up trying to shake me.’

【What nonsense you speak. Well, let’s see how long those words of yours last.】

Berbaria’s low laughter was heard.

Yona gripped Alec’s shoulder again.

In the meantime, the orcs were dealt with one by one, and finally only the large orc that seemed to be the leader remained.

Although it had been screaming in rage as if about to charge at any moment, it wasn’t enough anger to actually make it rush in, so only after all its subordinates had fallen dead did it start swinging its club as if it was finally its turn.

Being just a dull wild orc despite its large size, the orc charged forward with its club, leading with its bulk.

“Yona, it’s coming.”

As soon as Alec’s words fell, Yona took her hand off his shoulder and stepped back a couple of paces to the side.

Alec intends to receive the orc’s charge head-on, and the impact of that collision would be fully transmitted to Yona behind Alec, so moving like this is the proper way.

Alec firmly planted his greave heel on the ground and lowered his center of gravity.

Right after he blocked with his shield at a slight angle, the orc’s charge came straight in from its shoulder to the shield.

Boom!

Alec’s greave slid back one step.

If he had held the shield straight up to receive it, he would have been pushed back a lot, but thanks to Alec holding the shield at an angle, it wasn’t a direct collision.

As the orc’s shoulder slid along the shield surface and suddenly shot upwards, the orc couldn’t overcome its own speed and ended up in a position where its whole body was riding on top of the shield.

“Heave-ho!”

Alec, timing it well, lifted the shield and flipped it to the other side.

The orc, whose momentum hadn’t yet fully subsided, was practically placed on the shield and landed head-first on the ground on the opposite side.

Although it landed head-first, the orc wasn’t dead yet.

The hammer that had already dealt with so many orcs had its head glistening with blood, and Alec adjusted his grip on the hammer to avoid slipping on the blood flowing down the handle.

“Yona, don’t come close. Blood will splatter.”

Alec grinned towards Yona.

It meant he was that relaxed, but Yona found that smile somehow strange, so she could only awkwardly smile back.

In this way, only after repelling monsters a couple more times did the two enter an area where Cantatien could be seen in the distance.

Although Cantatien had looked like just a small village on the map, seeing it like this, it appeared to be quite a large town with even city walls, perhaps a bit smaller than Evian.

“So that’s Cantatien. We came in the right direction.”

“I told you I was right.”

“That’s true. Our Yona’s words have never been wrong.”

“…Ugh.”

Yona’s face scrunched up.

‘What’s wrong with this guy?’

Since a few days ago, that is, around the time they left the mage community, Alec had been showing increased familiarity, which was bewildering for Yona.

“Come on, let’s hurry.”

“Oh, okay.”

Even so, Yona suddenly realized that her hand was held in Alec’s.

This too had been happening since they left the mage community.

Thinking that holding hands was okay, she had just left it be, and before she knew it, they naturally ended up holding hands while walking when nothing particular was happening.

It’s a bit late to say not to hold hands now, so she’s leaving it be, but it feels a bit strange somehow.

“Welcome, is it the two of you?”

“Yes.”

As Alec and Yona approached the entrance, two men who looked like guards appeared.

They seemed a bit too low-grade to be called guards, wearing leather armor that was undoubtedly roughly handmade, and they were probably members of a self-defense force.

“We’re adventurers. This is my wife.”

Alec now pretends to be a married couple quite naturally.

Yona, who had a dumbfounded expression, quickly composed herself and smiled brightly at the self-defense force member.

“Adventurers and sa… no, excuse me. You’re a healer couple, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What brings you to Cantatien?”

“We’re on our way to Lizard Den, and stopped here to rest as it’s the midpoint.”

“I see, well then, you’ve come at a good time.”

“Pardon?”

They couldn’t understand why he suddenly said they’d come at a good time.

As both Alec and Yona wore strange expressions, the self-defense force member burst into laughter and said:

“Cantatien’s festival is coming up soon. It starts the day after tomorrow. It’s a festival that happens every winter, and everyone’s really looking forward to it.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Well, it’s not like they’re in a particularly hurry on this journey.

Alec thought it was a good opportunity.

He wasn’t sure if Yona would think the same, but Alec thought it was a good thing anyway.