LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 25 - A Village at the Foot of the Mountain
It was their second day after leaving Evian.
Their original destination was to pass through the northern forest after leaving Evian, exit the Lukasia Mountains, then go around the Republic of Marea, and cross the Insturia Mountains straight ahead. However, they soon had to modify their plan.
In Alec’s case, he was wearing steel greaves, and Kairoc, being a lizardman from the start, had thick scaly skin that wouldn’t get injured by ordinary things.
But Yona wasn’t like that.
The road, which was barely made to allow one cargo wagon to pass and was not maintained, seemed to have never been intended for people to walk on. For Yona walking on it, the gravel and stones poking at the soles of her leather shoes were quite a torment.
Because of this, they modified their route slightly, changing it to cross the Insturia Mountains through a somewhat less treacherous path by passing through the Republic of Marea and the Principality of Insturia.
“Let’s take a break.”
As they were crossing a hill, when the sun had passed a bit beyond its zenith.
As soon as Kairoc said to take a break, Yona plopped down on the bare ground.
And then, without anyone telling her to, she quickly took off her shoes.
“Ow, doesn’t that hurt?”
Alec reached out and examined Yona’s soles.
There were scars all over from being poked by gravel, with some severe areas reddish and seeping blood.
“Doesn’t it look painful?”
Yona frowned and opened her water bottle.
She took a sip of water from the bottle, then held another mouthful and spat it out on her feet with a “pweh—”.
“Why can’t healers self-heal, I wonder…”
Yona’s grumbling was quite sincere.
It was understandable because priests can self-heal, but healers can’t.
In many ways, healers get poor treatment.
“Hey, let me see. How long will it take to heal like this?”
Alec had picked up some grass from somewhere.
Ignoring Kairoc’s gaze watching with interest, Alec examined the grass bits.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m the son of an herbalist, remember? This is it.”
Before Yona could say anything, Alec put the grass in his mouth and chewed vigorously.
After chewing for a while, the grass turned into a pulp soaked in deep green juice, which Alec applied to Yona’s soles with a squelching sound without hesitation.
“Hey, isn’t that poisonous?”
“What poison? You think I haven’t seen my father’s wounds a time or two?”
“You could have just gotten healed by a healer.”
“…There were no healers in our village who would heal for free.”
Although healers aren’t treated as well as priests, they can still heal, so every village had a few running clinics as self-employed businesses.
Of course, healers vary, so those who are good at using divine power tend to earn well, but if not, it’s hard to even make ends meet. Evian was so saturated with healers running clinics that she never even thought of opening one.
“Oh, this is Agbanu grass, isn’t it? You found it well, Alec.”
“I told you, I’m an herbalist’s son.”
“It heals wounds well when applied, Yona. Whether you like it or not, Alec is the only one taking care of you.”
Yona didn’t bother to respond to that.
Her lips were pouting out about three inches, but she didn’t say anything in particular.
“Alright, let’s get going now. We need to enter the village before it gets late.”
Kairoc, who had been sitting, stood up, and Yona put her shoes back on.
“Want me to carry you?”
“I don’t need that. Just let me put my hand on your head. I’ll give you a heal.”
Alec smiled and bent his knee to offer his head, and Yona stroked Alec’s bald head.
It felt calming.
With each step, a stinging pain rose from the soles of her feet.
Although she had done many rough and dirty jobs during her adventurer life, roads this difficult were rare.
Because the Insturia Mountains are so treacherous, the Lukasia Mountains are often underestimated, but they are quite rough too, and even their outskirts were not to be taken lightly.
Walking that road with just leather shoes was no ordinary hardship.
“We’re almost there, can you see it?”
Kairoc stopped and pointed his finger towards the distant foot of the mountain.
At the foot of the mountains standing in a row as if arm in arm, log cabins gathered closely together, each with smoke rising from their chimneys.
The setting sun, chimneys with rising smoke, and log cabins.
The village, which seemed to have about thirty houses, was quietly nestled in a rather serene landscape.
“Let’s stay there tonight. By the looks of it…”
Kairoc put down the axe he was carrying with a thud and looked Yona up and down.
Yona, her fine face covered in sweat with hair sticking to it, looked quite distressed.
“Yona seems to be having a hard time walking too. If you knew you had a long journey ahead, you should have built up your stamina.”
Yona lowered her eyes, avoiding Kairoc’s gaze.
In terms of stamina, she had nothing to say.
“…Sorry.”
“Hey, I’ll take care of it. Why are you being so considerate? Come on, let’s go. We can rest when we get there, right?”
As Alec awkwardly smiled and intervened, Kairoc also grinned.
“Yeah, your stamina will probably increase as we walk. It’s fine, we have time to spare. Unlike you humans, that is.”
Yona forced a smile and started walking.
What Kairoc said wasn’t wrong.
It was Yona’s fault for not paying attention to her stamina even though she knew the journey to the community would be long.
Both Kairoc and Alec, now that they’ve actually set out, Yona realized after just two days that she was only causing trouble for them.
“Somehow the atmosphere seems a bit ominous.”
Kairoc sniffed the air and looked around as they entered the village entrance.
In his memory, this village was a place where most of the men were skilled hunters, leading prosperous lives by selling animal hides.
But now, the atmosphere was different.
The wooden fence surrounding the village, which was barely noticeable before entering, and the sharp wooden spears lined up on top of it.
And the excessive silence felt upon entering the village, along with the complete lack of vitality.
For a village of 30 households, it’s not a small size at all, but even at this hour, there were hardly any people walking around the village.
It’s just about the time when darkness is starting to fall, isn’t it?
At least, it should be the time when two or three people returning from hunting would be loudly chatting in a tavern, shouldn’t it?
There’s none of that at all.
Before that, there’s nothing that could be called a tavern in sight.
“Hey, aren’t you Kairoc?”
An orc with green skin and long molars poked his face out through a window.
They had been wandering around for a while since entering the village.
“It is Kairoc!”
“Isn’t it James?”
As soon as he realized it was Kairoc, the orc opened the door and grasped Kairoc’s hand firmly.
“Well, I thought you might have kicked the bucket since you haven’t been around for so long.”
“How could I die when you’re still alive? So, have you been well?”
“Yeah, I’ve been well. Are those behind you your companions?”
James, the orc, finally turned to look at Alec and Yona standing awkwardly behind Kairoc.
His eyes showed pure joy and curiosity, without any hostility.
Yona didn’t dislike that look.
“I’m Alec.”
“I’m Yona.”
“They’re friends traveling with me.”
“I see, I see. Come on in. You haven’t had dinner yet, have you?”
The log cabin they entered, welcomed by James, was quite neatly furnished.
An orc woman who seemed to be his wife and seven children were lined up, staring at the visit of these strangers.
“Oh my, Mr. Kairoc. It’s been a while.”
“Oh, sister-in-law. It’s been a long time indeed.”
“What sister-in-law, you rascal, you should call her older sister-in-law.”
“Older sister-in-law my foot.”
Kairoc, James, and James’ wife Miralen were already acquainted, so they quickly exchanged warm greetings.
Meanwhile, the children, not knowing who these strange visitors were, were peeking out from behind their mother, looking bewildered.
“The one you saw before should be the third one there, Clag. That boy is seven this year. Above him is Ralph, and above him is Ederon. Well, they all saw you when they were too young, so they probably don’t remember.”
Just as James said, laughing with a “Ha ha ha—”, the orc children didn’t seem to remember Kairoc.
Even though their father James was introducing them by name, they were still fidgeting and glancing at each other.
Then suddenly, the one who looked like the youngest orc ran over and tightly hugged Yona’s leg, clinging to her.
Because of this, Yona almost screamed as the child stepped on her foot.
How he managed to step right on the wounded part of her foot, she almost teared up for a moment.
But what fault is it of the child?
While cold sweat ran down her back, Yona still picked up the child in her arms.
“M-Mr. James, right? Your child is so healthy. I’m Yona. I’m a colleague traveling with Mr. Kairoc.”
“Welcome. And you are…”
As James’ wife looked towards Alec, he also bowed his head in greeting.
“Come on in, all of you. We’re about to have dinner too, so let’s eat together and chat. It’s fortunate that you came just now, I must say.”
The dinner was simple.
Clearly pre-made smoked meat, sliced appropriately.
A few loaves of rye bread baked at home, with very coarse grains.
And milk that smelled slightly fishy, probably milked this morning.
Even for a typical commoner’s dinner, there’s not much that could be called extravagant.
Yona picked up a loaf of rye bread and made a cut along it with a dull knife.
She opened the bread along the cut line, stuffed thinly sliced smoked meat inside,
Then added all sorts of fruits and spread a fruit jam-like substance that seemed to have been thoroughly fermented but with almost no sugar added. That made it somewhat edible.
“Cough.”
The coarse-grained rye bread needed to be chewed well before swallowing, but Yona, eating casually as usual, choked and coughed.
“Hey, hey, milk. Drink some milk.”
After drinking the milk from the cup Alec held to her mouth, she could finally breathe properly.
“You look good together. Are you a couple?”
Miralen’s mischievous question.
“Ah, no! We’re not! Absolutely not!”
“Oh, I see.”
Being an orc woman, she had no fangs, but Miralen smiled with a face that still retained that characteristic orc fierceness.
“Anyway, Kairoc. You came at a good time.”
“Seems like something’s happening in the village?”
Kairoc, who was eating only meat and jam while pushing aside the bread, nodded as if he had already expected it.
“The meat doesn’t taste like it used to. Yes, what’s going on?”
James put down his fork.
As if he had completely lost his appetite, James let out a long sigh.
“The beasts have gone mad. Completely mad.”