Kays Translations

Chapter 31: Heading for the Silver Mountains

“But, boy, that still does not mean you should be the one to go.”

“Yes. He is right,” Lessard agreed.

Lessard could not bring himself to approve. Ren had already helped House Clausel many times, and the thought of relying on him yet again weighed heavily on him.

Ren, however, had a clear reason for believing he should join the rescue. His Wooden Magic Sword granted him Nature Magic.

(My Nature Magic should be useful even in the Baldor Mountains during winter.)

His swordsmanship and physical strength would also be valuable.

Ren knew Weiss would be the strongest choice, but Weiss needed to remain at the manor beside Lessard and Licia. After what had happened during Yelquq’s attack, Ren could not imagine choosing otherwise.

The problem was that Ren had never explained Magic Sword Summoning to anyone.

Licia had witnessed it because circumstances had left him no choice. Even so, because Ren had never volunteered the details, she had refrained from questioning him and had not told Lessard.

Why had he kept his power secret? When he was very young, he had simply avoided carelessly talking about it while remembering the game’s story. More recently, however, he had deliberately kept it hidden for self-protection.

A special power was most useful when others did not know its nature or limitations.

“I am Roy Ashton’s son. Even though I have not yet inherited the household, I cannot stand by and do nothing as the son of a knight.”

Ren put his feelings into the words, though he knew they might not be enough to persuade Lessard.

The strength in his eyes reminded Lessard of the trouble in spring—of the moment Ren had spoken up to defend Licia when Viscount Given cornered her with his accusations.

Lessard lowered his gaze. He considered the matter for more than ten seconds before releasing a short breath.

“Weiss. When Ren still lived in the village, Roy told you that the boy possessed a skill, did he not?”

“Yes, my lord. There is no mistake.”

“Then this is what he is trying to say. Ren believes that skill will be useful in this rescue. He became unusually emotional because he could not explain it openly.”

Ren was startled that Lessard had seen through him, but he desperately concealed the reaction.

Lessard noticed his attempt to appear calm and chose not to expose it. Instead, he respected Ren’s intentions.

“You truly are intelligent, Ren. Explaining one’s strength is often the same as revealing one’s weakness. Licia’s position as the White Saint is different, but for most people there is little advantage in publicizing the details of a skill.”

“Lord Lessard…”

“You need not tell me. Keep the nature of your skill to yourself.”

Even without knowing the details, Lessard was now convinced that Ren’s hidden ability would be useful. Ren had declared with complete confidence that he should go, and he was doing so for House Clausel.

“Weiss, give Ren the magic tools stored in the warehouse. Any of them. As long as they will not hinder him, let him take everything he may need.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Weiss answered with remarkable enthusiasm and hurried from the office.

Left behind, Ren looked at Lessard.

“Is that really all right?”

“Of course. And when you return, you will accept a reward. I will not permit you to refuse.”

“Understood. Then I will make every effort to return as soon as possible.”

“See that you do.”

Lessard then firmly ordered Ren not to push himself beyond reason.

With permission granted, Ren left the office and headed toward the old manor to prepare for the journey.

“Ren.”

Licia called to him just after he entered the passage leading from the main residence toward the old manor.

“You were awake?”

“Of course I was. I am part of House Clausel. I have responsibilities just as Father does.”

“When you put it that way, I suppose you do.”

“So, what are you planning?”

In truth, Ren had intended to leave without telling her. He did not want to worry her, and if she had been asleep, waking her merely to announce his departure had seemed cruel.

Licia had already guessed his intentions.

“You weren’t planning to do something without telling me, were you?”

“…Of course not.”

“Is that so?”

Ren knew she had seen through him. His shameless denial only made Licia release a very long sigh.

“Why are you trying to deceive me?”

“I’m not deceiving you…”

“That is a lie. You know I have already noticed that you are hiding something, and you are still trying to avoid admitting it.”

There was no longer any point in concealing the truth.

“I was going to leave quietly because I knew you would worry.”

“If you are going to say something that foolish, then remember this from now on.”

Licia stepped closer and took Ren’s hand.

White light flowed from her palm and surrounded his body.

“I would be far more worried if you disappeared without telling me.”

Vitality spread through Ren, washing away his fatigue and filling his limbs with strength.

“Was that Sacred Magic?”

“Yes. But do not misunderstand. It does not mean you may overexert yourself. I only used enough to ease your fatigue and make your body a little lighter, so you will be less likely to get hurt.”

It was not a lasting enhancement. The effect merely refreshed his body and helped him move more easily. It was so slight that it would fade only a few hours after he left Clausel, long before he reached the Baldor Mountains.

“I told Weiss I wanted to go too, but he rejected the idea immediately.”

That explained how she had learned what was happening.

“Of course he did,” Ren said with a helpless smile.

“I have no choice, then. I will wait here for you.”

“Hearing you say that makes me feel as though I can work even harder.”

“Then promise me one thing.”

Licia tightened her grip on his hand. As her fingers pressed against his, Ren almost felt that her emotions were being conveyed through the contact.

She looked up at him with such desperate intensity that he forgot to breathe.

“Promise me that you will absolutely, without fail, return safely.”

Licia clearly had not accepted that she could not accompany him. She understood the reasons, but her feelings refused to agree.

Ren painfully understood that both the Sacred Magic and the promise were her way of enduring that fear.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

A winter march made up of House Clausel’s knights and a large party of adventurers was reassuring enough that monsters posed little concern.

Even so, the snow made the journey to the Baldor Mountains take several days longer than usual.

(…We really came.)

Silver-white peaks towered before Ren.

When he had last seen them, only patches of snow had remained. Now the mountains were completely covered in white. Their sharp slopes still resembled polished blades, but the violence of nature surrounding them had increased beyond comparison.

The scene was entirely different from the one Ren had witnessed while fleeing with Licia. It possessed a majesty worthy of the final stage of Legend of the Seven Heroes I.

“This snowfall is extraordinary,” one of the Clausel knights said.

The villages they had visited along the way had also suffered heavily, but the Baldor Mountains were in a category of their own.

“It is. The trouble is that I cannot even tell where we are supposed to walk.”

The group had stopped before the route normally used by adventurers entering the mountains.

(In the game, we came here during summer. It never looked like this.)

The snowfall had exceeded every expectation. Nothing resembling a road remained, and the surrounding drifts were taller than a grown man.

Meidas, the male wolfman accompanying them, studied the buried path.

“We could melt the snow with magic tools or drive it aside with wind, but…”

“Wouldn’t that risk causing an avalanche?” Ren asked.

“Exactly, Hero. If we disturbed this much snow carelessly, we might bring the entire slope down on ourselves. We will have to find a route around the deepest drifts. Unless someone suddenly grows wings like a harpy, there is no easy solution.”

There was no purpose in wishing for what they did not have.

Ren exchanged a look with the knights and nodded.

“Adventurers,” one knight announced, “we propose establishing a base camp before advancing.”

“I agree,” Meidas said. “We should prepare a secure base and then revise our route.”

“Then we depart tomorrow. It is already past noon. By the time the camp is ready, night will have fallen.”

Some knights and adventurers were visibly frustrated by the decision.

The group had seen a signal fire rising from the old fort halfway up the mountains the previous day, confirming that the stranded people were still alive. Everyone wanted to reach them as soon as possible.

Yet they could not afford to become victims themselves. The decision was sensible, but it did little to calm their nerves.

(Still…)

Ren had begun to wonder about something.

Several adventurers were supposed to be guarding the merchant. Kai had told him as much when he first delivered the designated request.

Could severe snow alone truly have trapped all of them?

Unlike people in Ren’s former world, experienced adventurers possessed exceptional physical ability. If the local monsters were not especially strong, it seemed strange that professionals would be driven into complete helplessness.

“Excuse me,” Ren said to one of the knights. “I understand that the snow is terrible, but would it normally be enough to immobilize experienced adventurers?”

“That is difficult to judge. With equipment made from monster materials and suitable magic tools, descending should still be possible. This party, however, also has someone they must escort.”

The knight paused before continuing.

“Even then, I would not call it impossible. Anyone planning to cross the Baldor Mountains in winter should have hired adventurers with considerable experience.”

“So it would not be strange if they could descend on their own?”

“Correct. They may simply have judged that waiting for rescue was safer than taking unnecessary risks. Another possibility is that someone was injured badly enough that the entire group could no longer move.”

That would certainly justify raising a signal fire.

“In any event,” the knight concluded, “we must reach them quickly.”

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