Chapter 308: Return to the Foothills
“Zzz… Zzz…”
“…It’s morning.”
Rest and Yuri had successfully hunted a wyvern, but as the sun had already set, they decided to camp for the night. They hadn’t brought a tent; rather, their guide, Libery, had carried it for them. Rest and Yuri only had the bare essentials: food and water for themselves.
Using magic once more, Rest created a dome resembling an igloo, and they nestled together inside to sleep. The mountain nights were cold, but with just enough fire magic to keep from suffocating, and with the warm body of Yuri acting as a hot water bottle, they managed to avoid freezing.
“Mmm… I can’t eat anymore…”
“Stop with the cliché sleep talk… I can’t move.”
Yuri clung to Rest, wrapping herself around him like a plush toy. The soft, squishy sensation pressed against him was more uncomfortable than pleasant, akin to being caught in a joint lock.
“Yuri, Yuri! Wake up! It’s morning!”
“Mmm…”
“It’s time for breakfast! Morning meal!”
“Breakfast!?”
At the mention of “breakfast,” Yuri sprang up, easily roused by the thought of food.
“Good morning… If you’re awake, can you let me go?”
“Huh? Oh, right. You were warm, Rest.”
“Thank you for that.”
“By the way, there was something hard sticking to my… well, you know? It felt different from bone, but what was that…?”
“Forget it!”
It was a natural male physiological response. Rest’s face turned crimson as he shouted.
“More importantly… let’s hurry up and have breakfast! Once that’s done, we’ll head down the mountain immediately!”
He declared with a frown. If they dawdled, they might encounter another wyvern. If they were found carrying the corpse of a comrade, they would surely be attacked by the entire pack, and that would be a hassle.
(While it might be easy to retaliate, even if I take down several, I can’t bring them back…)
“Breakfast can be something simple, right? After we eat, we’ll pack up and leave.”
Stepping out of the dome they had used as a bed, Rest noticed a similar mound of earth nearby. Digging it up, he found the corpse of the wyvern. He had buried it to prevent other monsters from stealing their prey.
“Looks like this one is safe too. Just to be sure, I’ll cast Ice Magic on it again.”
After properly taking measures against decay, they had their breakfast and prepared to leave. Rest and Yuri worked together to transport the wyvern. Carrying the five-ton beast was no easy task, but Rest was an excellent magician, and Yuri possessed unknown monstrous strength. Rest used the Floating spell to levitate the wyvern, tying a rope to it for Yuri to pull.
“Come on, come on!”
“Are you okay? Do you want to take a break?”
“I’m fine. What about you? Using magic continuously isn’t a problem?”
“I’m good… It seems like we’ll be able to return faster than we came.”
With the route already established, their descent was swift. They encountered monsters a few times along the way, but they were all weak enough to be taken down with a single spell from Rest. Perhaps due to yesterday’s events, there were no wyverns flying around today.
“Rest, I can see the foothills!”
“Yeah… it turned out to be more challenging than I expected. Just as expected of sub-dragons.”
While a couple of them would have been manageable, dealing with a pack in the same area was troublesome.
“With this, we should be able to manage the main meat dish…”
“Do we need any other ingredients?”
“Hmm, the Rosemary Marquis House is probably gathering various things, so it’s not absolutely necessary… but it would be nice to have fish dishes, alcohol, and some vegetable appetizers too.”
There was no need to gather a full course like in some gourmet manga, but since they had the time, they wanted to collect some rare delicacies.
“Got it… Oh, I can see the village!”
The village at the foot of the mountain came into view. It seemed they had managed to descend safely.
“Well then… let’s stop by the village, grab a bite to eat, and then head home…”
“Dear traveler, may your soul find peace as it ascends to the heavens…”
“May it ascend to the heavens…”
“……Huh?”
Upon returning to the village, Rest noticed something was off. The villagers had gathered in the square, fervently praying for something.
“May those who lost their lives in the mountains find salvation… May climbers Rest and Yuri’s souls find eternal rest…”
“May they find eternal rest…”
It seemed a funeral was taking place in the village. At the altar set up in the square stood figures resembling scarecrows, likely representing the indigenous religion of the land.
“Could it be… our funeral?”
“Ugh… I’m so sorry. If only I had stopped this from happening…”
Rest’s face twisted in horror. It seemed that in this village, when someone died in the mountains, they held a ceremony to send them off in this manner. Libery was among the mourners, tears glistening in her eyes as she offered her prayers. Unsure of what to do, Rest and Yuri decided they couldn’t just stand by.
“Um, well… we’re alive!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
As soon as the villagers saw their faces, a scream erupted from the crowd. They looked as if they had seen ghosts, and chaos ensued as they began to panic.