Chapter 67
Chapter 67
On the seventh day after leaving Belheim, we arrived at a village at the entrance of the Ervrin Mountain Range.
I’m tired.
Even if I had slept enough, traveling on horseback for a week drained an enormous amount of stamina. My lower back and hips throbbed as if they had been beaten.
I wish I could just lie in bed for two days and do absolutely nothing.
Mulling over the impossible wish, I climbed down from the horse. Perhaps because it was at the mountain entrance, the village was shrouded in fog.
“Finally here.”
When the shady man appeared out of the mist, I blinked my eyes wide.
Judging by how no one else looked surprised, it seemed they had expected him to come.
“Is that man coming with us to the Elf Forest as well?”
When I asked, Calix Krauvel let out a short sigh.
“Didn’t I tell you?”
No, you didn’t, you jerk.
“The interior of the Ervrin Mountain Range is excessively rich in mana,” Miron explained kindly, stepping in. “If an ordinary person enters, they may become intoxicated by mana and experience abnormal symptoms like hallucinations or auditory illusions.”
“I see.”
“To prevent that, a mage has to periodically draw out the mana accumulating in the body. That’s why he was called.”
“I understand.”
To think he didn’t mention something this important beforehand.
As expected, he was a man who had nothing going for him except his face.
I glared sideways at Calix Krauvel, who was talking with Anthony Greg.
“Still, I didn’t expect Raellion to come personally.”
At Miron’s words, I looked back at the man.
“I asked the Magic Tower to send someone reasonably competent among their mages.”
Come to think of it, that man had said he was the Tower Master.
He was extraordinary in a completely different way from what I had imagined.
“It’s a friend’s matter, so of course I should come personally. Besides, I’ve been wanting to visit the elf village again after so long.”
The shady man—Raellion—had already walked up to us and spoke with a bright smile.
“Everyone doing well?”
“Of course. Nothing’s changed since the last time you came.”
“That’s good to hear. Ah, speaking of the elf village, now I want to eat the apple pie Shasha used to make.”
“If you ask, she’ll make it right away. Shasha likes you too.”
Listening to them talk, it seemed Raellion had visited the elf village before.
The book said elves disliked humans and never allowed them into their village unless it was a very special case.
Maybe that wasn’t entirely true.
Or perhaps that man was simply an exception.
“Calix, aren’t you glad I came?”
Raellion spoke cheerfully, but Calix Krauvel’s reply was blunt.
“Not really.”
As if used to that reaction, Raellion shrugged and turned to me.
“Hello. Long time no see.”
“Hello, Tower Master.”
If he was the Tower Master, he must have had a family name, but I didn’t know it. Calling him “Raellion” felt too familiar, so I chose the safest title.
“‘Tower Master’? That feels so distant.”
We were distant to begin with.
“Just call me Rael. I’ll call you Aileen.”
“No. How could I dare call the Tower Master by name?”
The moment I drew the line, Raellion wrinkled the bridge of his nose.
“It’s fine. Call me Rael.”
“I’m fine as I am.”
“I’m fine too.”
“I’m even more fine.”
When I refused to back down to the end, Raellion shook his head.
“You really are someone who works under Calix. You act exactly like him.”
Ah. That felt like the greatest insult I had ever heard in my life.
The next morning, after spending a night in the village at the mountain entrance, we set out again.
“Wait a moment.”
Before climbing the mountain, Miron took a long rope out of his bag and tied it around his waist.
Then he connected it in order to Calix Krauvel, to me, to Anthony Greg, and finally to Raellion.
We looked like a string of fish threaded onto a rope.
“Why are we tying ourselves together?”
“The fog in the Ervrin Mountain Range is so dense you can barely see the person in front of you. We might lose our way, so we tie ourselves together beforehand.”
How dense could the fog be to require this kind of preparation?
I wondered, but the question was answered soon after we began climbing.
The fog surrounded us so thickly that I couldn’t even see my own feet, let alone Calix Krauvel walking right in front of me.
It made me feel as though I had been left completely alone in the depths of the mountains.
Uneasy, I gripped the rope tightly.
After walking for some time—
“Ugh.”
Anthony Greg, who had been following behind me, let out a groan and collapsed.
As I lost my balance and staggered, Calix Krauvel grabbed my arm.
“Th-thank you.”
He stared at my face for a moment, then walked past me toward Anthony Greg.
“...Sir Greg.”
He called several times, but Anthony Greg simply clawed at the dirt while breathing roughly. His face looked pale, and his eyes were unfocused.
“He’s intoxicated with mana.”
Miron checked Anthony Greg’s condition and then gestured to Raellion.
“Finally my turn.”
Raellion grinned and grabbed Anthony Greg’s shoulder while murmuring something.
Then something like a red haze seeped out of Anthony Greg’s body and was absorbed into Raellion.
“Tastes awful.”
After absorbing it all, Raellion muttered in dissatisfaction.
Color returned to Anthony Greg’s pale face, and his eyes regained clarity.
“Why am I sitting on the ground?”
Anthony Greg stood up, looking confused, as if he had no idea what had happened.
“You were intoxicated by mana. I removed it all, so you should be fine now.”
“Thank you, Tower Master.”
Anthony Greg bowed deeply.
Raellion, smiling proudly, turned to me.
“Aileen, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“Really? That’s strange.”
Raellion tilted his head slightly with one hand on his cheek.
“A normal person should start showing symptoms by this point. How are you still perfectly fine?”
The way Raellion looked at me resembled a child who had just discovered an interesting toy.
Cold sweat ran down my spine.
Since there was no way an inn would exist in a forest like this, we had no choice but to camp outdoors.
Because it was a dangerous place where beasts or monsters could appear at any time, the four men—everyone except me—decided to take turns standing guard.
“Shouldn’t I take a watch too?”
Even if I couldn’t fight, I was confident I could wake people up.
“Aileen will have plenty of nights without sleep ahead, so rest well tonight.”
Miron said with a gentle smile, uttering something terrifying.
How much are they planning to overwork me?
Although it scared me, it seemed wiser to follow his advice, so I obediently stepped back.
I lay down on a makeshift bed made by spreading leaves on the ground and covering them with a blanket.
Because I was so exhausted, I fell asleep quickly—but the uncomfortable ground woke me after only a short while.
Even when I tried to sleep again, I couldn’t.
After tossing and turning for a long time, I finally sat up.
“Why are you awake already?”
Calix Krauvel asked from where he sat by the campfire.
“I can’t sleep.”
“You should sleep well. We have a long walk tomorrow.”
“I’ll sit for a bit and then go back to sleep.”
My back already hurt, and lying on the hard ground had made it worse.
I sat directly across from him. The warmth of the fire loosened the stiffness in my body.
“How long until your watch ends?”
Calix Krauvel checked his pocket watch before answering.
“About an hour left.”
“The next watch is Miron’s, right?”
“Yes. More importantly, are you ignoring what I said again?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I told you there’s nothing good about getting close to elves.”
Oh, that.
“We’re not close.”
“You call him by name so warmly and say you’re not?”
Calix Krauvel scoffed and tossed a branch into the fire.
“Then why are you going to the elf village, Lord?”
I casually asked the question I had been curious about for a long time, but he didn’t answer.
So he really didn’t intend to tell me.
“...There’s something I want to ask the god.”
Just when I decided not to press further, Calix Krauvel spoke.
“I’m going to ask the god why this damned nightmare keeps repeating without ever ending.”