Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 304: The Two Left Behind:
The wyvern had appeared — and their guide, Ribery, was gone.
Rest stood stunned for a while, but… he couldn’t afford to remain frozen. After a few moments, he rebooted his thoughts.
“…Well, I guess now that we’ve come this far, we don’t really need a guide anymore. Yeah.”
They had already reached the middle of the mountain and had a decent grasp of the terrain.
It would take time, but as long as they advanced carefully with a safety margin in mind, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.
“Let’s be extra cautious from here on. If I even sense a hint of danger, we’ll turn back.”
“Yeah, I’m fine with that. Still… that wyvern sure was big.”
Yuri nodded, her brows lowering slightly.
“It’s a shame we let that wyvern get away. If we’d taken it down then and there, we could’ve gone home with our prize.”
“Yeah… exactly.”
They had prioritized defense when the wyvern appeared out of nowhere.
If they had defeated that wyvern in the moment, they could have gone home with a valuable haul.
“Well, what’s done is done… I’ll focus on [Presence Detection] from here.”
Rest sharpened his focus, expanding the range of his [Presence Detection].
Ten meters. Twenty. Thirty. As the radius grew, multiple presences flooded into his mind.
But the wider the range, the more strain it put on his brain — no matter how much magical energy he had, it didn’t ease mental fatigue.
He didn’t want to widen the range too much, but considering the speed the wyvern had shown, it was safer to keep it broad.
(There are lots of wild animal signatures too… Let’s filter out anything with low magic power. Focus only on the strong presences…)
Rest trimmed away unnecessary information and honed in on only what mattered.
Reducing the mental load, he finally let out a small breath of relief.
“Alright… let’s move.”
“Yeah, let’s—… Wait, Rest, why are you waddling like that?”
As the two resumed their climb, Yuri looked at Rest with puzzlement due to his strangely slow, tottering walk.
“It can’t be helped. I’m using so much focus to scan for monsters that I don’t have enough attention left to watch my footing.”
It was a classic case of cognitive overload.
He was focusing so much on detecting threats that the simple act of walking was suffering. On level ground it wouldn’t be a problem, but this uneven terrain made it risky. One wrong step and he could tumble down the mountainside.
“Ah, I get it now. That makes sense.”
Yuri nodded in understanding, clapping her hands together.
Then, without warning, she pulled Rest in close and scooped him up into a bridal carry.
“In that case, I’ll carry you! Leave it to me!”
“I appreciate it… but couldn’t you pick a less embarrassing way to do it?”
It wasn’t the first time this had happened, but it was still a bit humiliating to be carried like this by a smaller, more petite girl.
“Alright, here we go! Just relax and trust me like you’re on a leaky boat!”
“No, I can’t relax on a— Whoa!?”
“Alright, charge—!”
Yuri took off running, still holding Rest.
She sprinted up the mountain slope at terrifying speed, rapidly gaining altitude.
“Hey, slow down— AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?”
It felt like riding a roller coaster, the speed and wind pressure made Rest scream involuntarily.
But Yuri didn’t slow down in the slightest. She dashed up the slope at breakneck pace, as if she weren’t even carrying someone.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?”
Still, Rest silently praised himself for not disabling [Presence Detection] during all of that.
Even with a few skirmishes against monsters along the way, Rest and Yuri eventually managed to reach close to the summit.