第１５７５堀：山登り (Part1)
Chapter 1575: Mountain Ascent
Mountain Ascent
Side: Yuki
*Pyo-roro-ro...*
I looked up at the sound of a bird’s cry to see a clear sky dotted with just the right amount of clouds. It was a pleasant day.
"It’d be nice if I could take a nap in weather like this."
"Why not just sleep, then?"
"Would you like a lap pillow?"
Deryu and Riel, sitting across from me, responded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I don't mean I want to sleep on the bus. I mean, you know, napping on the grass in a park."
"Ah."
"I see. That does sound lovely, doesn't it?"
"Though, we don't have any neatly manicured lawns here. You’d just end up with bugs or monsters crawling all over you."
"As Deryu-sama says. It’s dirty, and if you’re going to sleep, you should really make use of us instead. Besides, we’re currently heading toward the tomb where the treasure is hidden; stopping for a nap hardly seems feasible."
Yeah, Deryu and Riel were quick to point out the unpleasant reality.
That’s right—we had finished our preparations and were already en route to the tomb containing the treasure.
With Rurua and the others remaining at the church, I felt confident that we could handle whatever might happen. On top of that, the area had been turned into a dungeon, allowing for an immediate retreat to Weed if necessary. If that wasn't enough to handle the situation, then nothing would be.
Once we secured the treasure—or rather, once we crushed those dark guild bastards—the matter would be settled.
Everything was going according to plan.
Actually, things were moving even faster than I’d anticipated. The support operations through the church had gone surprisingly well. Given that we were operating in the lawless ruins of the old Vinosia royal capital, I had expected much more friction. That was all thanks to the hard work of Sister Kunoshia and her team. Honestly, Lilishe really is excellent when it comes to these kinds of things.
But putting that aside, back to the nap talk.
"Sigh. Even if it is work, it’s a shame to be heading into a cave—a dungeon—on such a beautiful day."
"Ah, I see what you mean. Well, I understand the sentiment, but it is work, after all."
"Let’s do our best to finish quickly. Though, aren't General Steve and the others already moving?"
"Yeah. We’ve finished preparing to blockade the entrances we discovered, and they’re scheduled to storm the enemy base an hour before we arrive."
Just as Riel said, it wasn't as if we were going to charge in and hack our way through the enemy ourselves. If our strategy played out correctly, we would simply be heading into a location that Steve and Kirika’s units had already suppressed. Still, since I was the only one who could make the final call on what to do if things went sideways, there was no doubt I’d be entering the site eventually.
"Estimated arrival time is 11:00. That means the operation starts at 10:00."
"Right. It’s 9:30 now, so the operation begins in thirty minutes."
"Is it... surprisingly far? We could see the location from the royal capital, couldn't we?"
"Distance-wise, it’s not much. But it’s halfway up a mountain. And there’s no road."
"No road?"
Riel tilted her head.
"To be specific, in about twenty minutes, the path will become too rough for the bus to continue."
"Ah."
She understood what I was getting at.
"So, we’ll be walking from there?"
"Exactly. Well, for members like us, running at our level would get us there in an instant, but there’s no reason to rush. Besides, since people have stopped coming and going, the path is overgrown. Walking it slowly also avoids alerting the enemy to our presence by moving too directly."
"I see. Still, walking through overgrown grass... do we have bug repellent?"
"I brought some. I’d prefer to use magic to drive them off, but there are areas where magic is restricted."
I pulled a can of bug spray—the kind common in Japan—out of my item box.
"If you spray this on yourself, it’ll keep the bugs away. Well, I’m not sure about monsters, but... hmm? Didn't I hear something about it being effective?"
I tilted my head, looking at the spray in my hand after saying that.
"Eh? Bug repellent works on monsters?"
"Yes, I’ve heard stories of Aslin and Firia using it."
"That’s right. I think it was when Firia and the others went to play in the mountain fields? Apparently, there were both bug repellent and insecticide sprays."
I had brought the bug spray to deal with mosquitoes, but there were reports that it had been effective against the bees, spiders, and centipedes that were placed in the training grounds. And keep in mind, those monsters were five to ten times the size of normal insects—you can imagine how much of a threat they were.
Naturally, they were a nightmare for adventurers. They were tough, fast, and strong. While they were weak to fire, burning them often meant the materials were destroyed, leaving nothing to collect. In that sense, they were enemies you really didn't want to deal with.
But the insecticide spray that Aslin and the others had prepared for their experiments worked wonders on insect-type monsters, killing them with ease.
"Insecticide works on insect monsters? There are many monsters that carry poison, aren't there?"
"There are, but it seems they had no resistance to the insecticide."
"Ah, yes, I remember a report from Zargis about that. He said the insecticide was, quite literally, a weapon of mass destruction against insects. Because it acts as a precise nerve toxin, size doesn't matter. If anything, the larger they are, the more they inhale, and since they can't dodge it, it’s a guaranteed kill."
That’s right. According to Zargis, while a small insect might only ingest a little, a large one couldn't avoid the gas, leading to an overwhelming dosage. If you sprayed it around them, there was no way to escape. And since many insects are accustomed to their own natural poisons, they tend to ignore them—but this insecticide, designed specifically for them, killed them in an instant. It made sense. I doubt they ever expected a poison specifically tailored to their own biology.
"Wow, that’s amazing."
"It really is. Chemistry is something else."
"Eh? Are you surprised, Yuki-sama?"
"Well, I don't know everything, after all."
"Indeed. That is why you have us. You should do your best too, Riel."
"Yes."
As we chatted in high spirits, the bus came to a halt, signaling that it was time to proceed on foot. Just as I had predicted, what lay before us was a dense forest and overgrown grass.
The road... had it even existed in the first place?
I could barely make out a faint animal trail, perhaps left by a person or a beast passing through long ago.
"...Hmm, if you ask me, this isn't a path an army could pass through."
"Well, it’s certainly not suited for a march, that’s for sure."
Agil and Light said as they looked out at the scene before us.
Indeed, they were absolutely right.