228: Long time no travel. Shouldn’t get boring, right?

The dowsing needle turned slowly.

Leifan muttered, watching it.

"Direction’s narrowing a bit. Definitely east of the kingdom. If I compare it to the map the king lent us, it’s probably just past the volcanic zone."

"Volcanic zone? Seriously?"

Leifan squinted at the map.

"Looks like it. Might not be able to get through without crossing some rugged terrain."

I leaned in to look at the map too. The sense of trouble was sharp, clear.

"Looks rough. No way around it… wait, hold on."

If the coastline’s pushing into the mountains, eroding them, stretching out like that—couldn’t we just sail over the sea instead?

"Can’t we use a boat from the sea?"

Leifan shook his head.

"Deep water means dens for big aquatic monsters."

Nobuna frowned at that.

"It's dangerous. Land-bound monsters are nothing if you can pull them ashore, but on a boat? No way to handle them."

I had a few questions, so I asked.

"Isn’t the water shallow if we stay right along the coast?"

Nobuna gave me that look—like she was dealing with a stubborn child.

"From the map, the sea side is all sheer cliffs stretching for miles. Probably really rough. Currents are messy, and waves keep crashing straight into the cliffs."

She really can read that much from a map.

"Sure, the map makes it look straight, but in reality, it's jagged—like a saw blade. Trying to sail along that? You're asking for trouble."

I only know the sea from Mizuho, so I thought I could make it—but apparently not.

“Since the sea folk say so, no ship routes, then.”

“That’s good. Even in shallow water, you can’t let your guard down. And this terrain? Cliffs plunge straight into the ocean depths, so there’s barely any shallow spots until you’ve passed through the volcanic zone.”

Hard to picture, but the coastline’s twisted like mountain paths—winding left and right—and the water’s deep, with complicated currents and high waves.

And the danger’s not just from nature.

“Can’t fight sea monsters from a ship, can you?”

Nobuna responds to my grumble.

“Oh, sea monsters don’t just attack people on sight. That’s only land monsters.”

I’ve never heard that before.

“Really?”

"Yeah. But if you go into a monster’s territory by ship, you still get targeted in the end."

"Huh? Is there really a difference between land and sea?"

Monsters—well, they all just go nuts and attack people on sight, no matter what. Except for a few smart ones. So I was a little surprised.

"Wait, but when I first went to Mizuho, the squid were going wild, weren’t they?"

"Stuff that comes near land shows up now and then. If sea monsters attacked people the second they noticed them, Mizuho would’ve been wiped out ages ago."

"Right. But do sea monsters ever stampede?"

"Nope. Land monsters do that sometimes. Sea monsters don’t."

"Seriously?"

What’s the real difference between sea and land monsters?

Jabir, who’d been quiet until now, seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"An intriguing subject, isn't it? Might we even be able to study the ferocity of monsters?"

That's a study I'd be interested in too.

Maybe there's some kind of bait that calms monsters only in the sea. If such a thing exists, I’d want to research it—but the problems are too many.

"Research is fine, but how exactly do you plan to study sea monsters? How do you even get close?"

"Ah, well. I have an excellent student right here."

He gives me that look—eyes up, a faint, pleading tilt to his head. I’d probably dive into the sea with a death wish if he asked.

I could do it right now! Just drink the breath-water and jump in!

...I’ve got the spirit for it. But not today.

"I’d love to join you when I’m free, but I think I’ll be busy for a while after this journey..."

"That’s about right. You’d probably just toss it to some other student and call it a day."

Nah. Gotta finish my own homework, not hand it off to someone else.

"I’ll help out eventually. First, let’s get this current job done."

"Hmm. I’m looking forward to studying Yggdrasil-Soma too."

Chatting like that, we pressed on toward the volcanic region.

It took a while to get through the vast forest, but thanks to Persia and Nobuna leading the combat team, we’d made it through without any real danger since then.

We’d been pushing through dense trees, but the gaps between them started widening, and the vegetation changed.

Evie poked at an unfamiliar plant.

"Looks like the scenery’s changed a lot."

Didn’t even look like she was talking to anyone, but Jitarou grinned and answered right away.

"Rocks are piling up. Feels like wasteland now."

Not exactly wasteland, but there were definitely more rocks underfoot. Persia, guarding the carriage, scanned the surroundings, eyes sharp.

"Visibility’s better now. No need to sweat over monster ambushes."

No ambushes, not even a slip-up after the first mistake. Everyone’d been too careful. Yeah, that’s probably why.

All that tension, all that strain, just to keep it from happening.

We went a little further. The view opened up more. In the distance, something like a volcano came into sight.

Smoke rose from it now and then.

Wait. We gotta go there?

This road’s shaping up to be a real beast.

Just thinking that, Camille and Jitarou in front suddenly stopped.

"See that narrow road over there."

"Looks like we can see a caravan of packhorses too."

I use "Far Sight" to confirm. Sure enough, there it was—a road that looked naturally formed, and a procession moving along it.

Seemed like a pretty large caravan.

No idea why such a big one would be out here in the middle of nowhere. But someone around here might know.

"Let's go ask them a few questions. Might get a sense of what's going on in the area."

"Sounds good."

We move cautiously toward the caravan, keeping our guard up.

"Hope there's a cute girl in there!"

"Cut the crap and pay attention!"

There was a vibe like Camille was being targeted, but hey—someone’s listening!

Jitarou’s never gonna get a girl because he’s got no self-control.

I’m trying to reel back the tension that just shot off into the horizon, and keep moving forward.

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