Water Magician

Vol 3. Chapter 699: Bonus Part: Ryo and Abel’s Journey Home (27)

0699 In the Frontier I

“It certainly is a wasteland, but there’s a road.”

“Meaning people come and go along it.”

“There must be merchant caravans and things like that. Which means the economy is developed. Which means...”

“There’s good food.”

Both Ryo and Abel loved good food.

They had left Bondrin Village after subjugating the Salamander, passed through two villages of roughly the same size, and this was where they found themselves now.

The mountain ranges that had loomed to the north and south were, on the northern side, now a considerable distance away.

As for the southern side, the mountains were no longer visible.

As scenery went, it could no longer really be called the Corridor.

“But there’s nothing about this area in your knowledge, is there, Abel?”

“No. I don’t know it. To begin with, the small states east of the Federation change constantly.”

“Change?”

“They’re born, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) destroyed, merged, split apart.”

“How impermanent all things are...”

Ryo gave a small shake of his head at Abel’s explanation.

The party continued along the road for a while.

They had begun to see freight wagons, though not quite enough to call them caravans.

“There are more merchants besides us now. That’s something we didn’t see in the villages before.”

“It’s true we didn’t see that before, but we aren’t merchants.”

Abel corrected him with a sigh in his voice.

But he understood.

Anyone who looked behind the two of them and their two beloved horses might indeed recognize them as merchants.

Yes, what followed behind them were ice s... ten of them.

While crossing the wasteland called the Corridor, half had ended up in the party’s stomachs.

“The fact that we’re seeing freight wagons means we’ll probably reach a large town before we eat through all the food in the s.”

“Didn’t you originally say the food in the s was for Andalusia and Feiwan?”

“I-I did say that, but... we had no choice but to eat it too as an emergency measure. We had no choice!”

That was right. While crossing the Corridor, most of what they had passed through was wasteland where there had been no animals, let alone monsters.

The few villages they had stopped at were built around places where water welled up like oases, and they could barely produce enough food for the people living there.

So Ryo and Abel had touched the food inside the s...

“I said we should stop.”

“Yes, and you were the one who took the lead in eating it, Ryo. Saying it would be fine, it would be fine.”

“B-but it looks like we really are going to reach a town, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Good for us.”

Ryo looked exactly as if the word fuming should be floating over him, while Abel only shrugged.

It was afternoon by the time something strange... no, something imposing appeared before the party as they advanced along the road.

“Is that... a rocky hill?”

“Yes. There are watchtowers too... It’s a kind of fortress.”

What entered Ryo and Abel’s sight was a fortress-like town, with watchtowers and other structures built atop several rocky hills.

“The road seems to continue toward the lower part of the rocky hill... and I think I can see something like a gate.”

“Yes, there is one. There are people who look like guards too... Well, their clothes are all over the place, but they’re definitely there. Everything about this place seems different from the villages we’ve passed through.”

“A town with armed force...”

“What do we do? Enter the town as we are? Or avoid going in? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something smells suspicious.”

“Suspicious?”

“Yes.”

Abel nodded.

Even as they spoke, the party continued drawing closer to the rocky hills.

Watchtowers had been built near the tops, but holes had been dug partway up as well, and they could see people with bows watching the road.

There were also people carrying spears around the gate.

At Bondrin Village, the villagers had carried spear-like things made by shaving down the ends of wooden poles, but these were completely different...

“They’re carrying proper weapons.”

“Yes. And somehow, I feel like they’re on edge.”

“Do you? Isn’t that just what town surveillance is like?”

Ryo tilted his head at Abel’s words.

They were keeping watch so suspicious people would not enter the town.

It felt natural for them to be on edge...

“It doesn’t get like that unless relations with the surrounding area are tense. Most people come here for trade. That’s a good thing for the people of the town, and if the economy moves well, tax revenue increases too, which means the guards get paid properly. So they should be welcoming people, not standing around on edge.”

“Well, true.”

Abel’s explanation made sense, so Ryo nodded too.

“But I’d like to let Andalusia and the others sleep on proper straw bedding once in a while.”

“Yes...”

“So I want to stay at a proper, good inn.”

Ryo made his case out of concern for Andalusia.

Abel wanted to go along with that wish, but...

“But what are we going to do about money?”

“Huh?”

“What we have is money usable in the Eastern Countries, isn’t it?”

“Ah...”

Ryo was left speechless by Abel’s point.

Yes. This was no longer the Eastern Countries.

For a long time, there should not have been major trade with the Eastern Countries.

Which meant Eastern Countries money would probably be unusable.

“It can’t be helped. Abel will...”

“I’m not attacking evil merchants.”

“H-he beat me to it...”

Ryo grimaced.

But then Abel seemed to think of something.

“Merchants, huh... Well, I suppose there’s no choice.”

“So the righteous swordsman Abel will attack wicked merchants, and while he’s at it, seize the money they’ve saved...”

“No matter how you look at it, that’s illegal.”

“It isn’t for selfish gain. Powerful Abel is rising up for the sake of the oppressed people!”

“Which means all the money we seize will be handed over to the people, yes?”

“A-a portion would be needed as necessary expenses for our operating funds...”

Ryo’s excuse was a strained one.

Abel shook his head slightly.

While they were having that conversation, the party arrived beneath the rocky hills, at the gate.

“This is heavy security.”

“Their clothes really are all over the place, but their weapons, like spears and swords, are decent.”

“Somehow... they’re showing cards.”

“Merchant guild cards, probably.”

Ryo watched the guards’ inspection work, and Abel answered while looking at the cards the visitors were showing.

“I only have an adventurers’ guild card...”

“That’ll be fine. I’m counting on you.”

“...What? What about you, Abel?”

“Obviously I don’t have one. I retired from being an adventurer.”

Yes. Abel was a former A-rank adventurer.

“Please call yourself a Sixth-rank adventurer from the Eastern Countries.”

“I doubt that will work here...”

Yes. This was no longer the Eastern Countries.

“In other words, Abel, you’re the porter for me, a C-rank adventurer.”

“I have some complaints, but fine. I’ll accept that.”

“No, on second thought, Abel, you’re the hungry swordsman. You can endure anything if it means eating delicious food, can’t you?”

“If I’m the hungry swordsman, then you’re the gluttonous magician, Ryo.”

“The gluttonous magician... I’ve been given titles I rather like, such as the Silver Duke and Icefall, but... gluttonous is a little... Because if you say it another way, it means a greedy eater, doesn’t it?”

“Ryo the greedy eater. It suits you perfectly.”

“That doesn’t sound cool at all...”

Ryo grimaced and shook his head slightly.

After a while, their turn came.

“I am Ryo, a C-rank adventurer.”

Ryo said that and held out his adventurers’ guild card.

“An adventurer? Not a merchant?”

The man who seemed to be the captain of the guards accepted the guild card, looked at the line of s, and asked with suspicion.

“This is food for us and our horses. Is there some rule that adventurers can’t do business?”

“No. Anyone can trade. As long as you can prove your identity, there’s no problem even if you’re an adventurer.”

After answering Ryo’s question, the captain looked carefully at the guild card.

“Knightley Kingdom? Registered in Rune?”

“Yes. Um, is something wrong?”

“No. It’s just, when I hear Knightley, I think of the great western power. What is one of its adventurers doing out here on the eastern fringe?”

“Yes, several things happened... We’re on our way back to the kingdom now.”

“Hmm.”

The captain looked Ryo up and down.

Ryo wore his usual smile.

Yes, the one Abel called his people-charming smile.

After looking at Ryo, the captain shifted his gaze to the side.

Standing just behind Ryo at an angle was...

“And that man?”

“I’m the porter for C-rank adventurer Ryo.”

“Huh?”

Abel answered the question, and the captain asked back in a bewildered tone.

“...Porter?”

“Yes. A porter.”

Abel repeated the same answer to the captain’s second question.

It was not rare for an adventurer to form a party with a porter.

In fact, it could be called common for solo adventurers.

They hired porters to carry the meat and other parts of monsters they had subjugated.

But the man in front of him did not have the presence of an ordinary porter.

Still, the employer, the adventurer, had presented a guild card and would be taking full responsibility for everything concerning the porter. Since that was the case, the guard could not act unreasonably.

“Well, fine. You understand that the adventurer who hired him bears full responsibility for the porter’s actions, yes? If anything happens, C-rank adventurer Ryo, you’ll be the one responsible.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Then you may pass. Welcome to the fortress of Zarash.”

And so, the two men and two horses entered the fortress of Zarash.