CH 11.1

The Rutus Mountain range was vast.

After crossing the foot of the mountain and entering the wooded area, I realized that bringing a guide was the best choice.

How could one find their way in such a complicated place?

If I only set out relying on my memory, I would have quickly lost my way back, let alone find the place where the mystery was hidden.

Finding the mystery seems to be more difficult that I thought.

After all, nothing was easy in this world.

After a short distraction, I took my eyes off the flowing valley water and got up.

“Keep going.”

“Yes, milord.”

Khan, who had been examining the surrounding land, moved in the lead again.

Asher and I followed suit.

Not to mention Asher. Khan wasn’t also at a low level, so they couldn’t tire of hiking like this, but I was different.

So, whenever I ran out of strength, I had no choice but to take a break like this, pretending to enjoy the surrounding scenery.

If they even saw him panting unsightly, the Lord’s authority would fall to the ground.

It would have been nice if this damn body was above average…

Still, I wasn’t the only one suffering, so I stopped complaining.

Khan, who was working hard as a guide, looked stiff even at a glance from earlier.

My existence was quite burdensome, but even that was much better than when we started.

I got it. He probably would have never imagined that in his life as an adventurer he would one day guide a Lord.

“How far into the mountains have we gone?”

I suddenly became curious and asked Khan.

I remember that some powerful monsters also inhabited the depths of Rutus Mountains.

“I’ve never been a to a deep place. There were many ferocious monsters, so it’s a dangerous place for me.”

“What monsters have you encountered?”

“The one I remember the most was a giant bear. But it’s not a normal bear. It’s because it had sharp spikes sticking all over its body.”

He meant Spike Bear.

As I asked about this and that, the tension seemed to have eased up, and Khan talked a lot. Originally, he had a talkative personality.

“And there’s also a crazy rumor going around lately. An adventurer said he saw an absurdly gigantic snake in the mountains to the north.”

Giant snake?

If it’s to the north, then it would be somewhere here.

“There was a time when that adventurer made a fuss about how no one would stop such a monster coming down to the city, that it would be a mess in no time, and that we would have to call the Overlord’s Castle for reinforcements when it happened.”

“What happened next?”

“First, the mayor listened and said that they would form an investigation team with the adventurer’s guild, but of course, most don’t believe it. According to the story, it’s a snake that’s much bigger than the city walls, but Rutus Mountains aren’t a demonic place. Would it make sense for that kind of monster to be here?”

A snake bigger than the walls of the fortress-like city of Jenix.

A list of snake-type monsters flashed through my head.

Among them, only one came to mind.

…Bellevagorah?

He’s not in a green mountain range like this, but a named boss that actually lived in the Devil’s Realm.

I wondered if I was just thinking too much and it was just a normal species of giant snake?

Do giant snakes even appear in the Rutus Mountains?

Well, in reality, only certain monsters appeared in certain areas.

Giant snakes lived in forest areas, so it wouldn’t be strange for it to appear here.

If it’s a full adult, its basic level would be at level 50, so it’s a sufficiently catastrophic monster by normal standards.

But even if we actually ran into it, it probably wouldn’t be a problem.

We had an even bigger on our side—Asher.

And the chance of us bumping into such a monster in this vast mountain range would probably be low…

Rustle.

Then the nearby bushes shook, and something appeared.

[Lv.22]

A wolf.

Its belly was larger than normal, and at the end of its long tail was something thick and pointed like a mace. Flail Wolf.

Khan put his hand on the hilt of his sword with a nervous face.

With its gaze fixed on this side, the wolf had turned its tail and let out a low cry before charging towards us.

A flash of blue light split it in half.

Scattered blood. The chunk of meat, neatly cut in two, rolled across the ground and scattered noisily.

I blinked and looked at the corpse, then moved my gaze to the side.

With an expressionless face, I could see Asher putting back the sword she had pulled out.

Khan, half stunned, looked back and forth between the half-cut corpse and Asher.

I pretended nothing was wrong.

“Let’s go.”

“Ah, yes…”

After all, there was no need to worry about monsters.

Because a strong escort was with them.