A Prayer for Rescue
Rombel spoke in a grave voice.
Dwarves have short legs and struggle with long-distance travel. They also dislike damp or hot places, especially with their bushy beards and stout bodies.
And right now, Rombel had been forced to trudge through exactly that kind of environment for far too long.
Worse, he had no idea how much farther they still had to go.
Any other dwarf would have simply flopped onto the ground and given up, and no one would have blamed them.
The only reason Rombel continued to walk in silence was one simple fear: that the chief god might be watching him, click his tongue in disapproval, and strike Rombel’s name from the list of next-generation god candidates.
But it was clear now that even Rombel had reached his limit.
Elbridge deliberately offered an optimistic opinion.
Just the day before yesterday, Rombel had laughed it off with his usual boisterous attitude. But in his opinion, their current situation was growing more serious by the hour.
The hard biscuits they had gotten from the village were nearly gone, after all.
Losing their guide and then getting lost themselves. To an outsider, they might look like complete fools.
But Elbridge’s party had their excuses.
While they weren’t familiar with the Great Forest, they were still reasonably experienced travelers. They knew how to navigate using the sun and stars, and they understood the methods for finding direction in a forest.
They had even continued walking in the exact direction Isalbius had indicated. Yet they still couldn’t escape the Great Forest.
Eventually, Rombel’s steps came to a halt.
Marcus’s expression grew serious.
It was a convincing argument, and their stomachs were growling at just the right moment.
The three of them prepared a meal and each fell into their own thoughts.
Elbridge glanced at Marcus. He had been hoping the God of the Fox Rain might offer some kind of answer.
But the God of the Fox Rain gave no oracle. Whether the deity was busy or simply had no way to help, they couldn’t tell.
Tonight’s dinner consisted of a few wild strawberries picked from bushes along the way, several bird eggs, and a handful of small fish Marcus had caught from a stream.
When Marcus lit a fire to grill the fish, thick smoke billowed up violently.
Marcus turned his head away from the smoke and grumbled.
Rombel’s eyes suddenly flashed as he listened.
Elbridge scolded him, but Rombel looked surprisingly serious.
Just as Rombel seemed about to spiral into increasingly deranged ranting, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield finally delivered an oracle after a long silence.
— Elbridge.
Elbridge quickly stopped Rombel before the dwarf’s crude language could offend the goddess’s ears.
You are being unusually polite today, Elbridge.
Elbridge secretly held high hopes. Perhaps the Goddess of the Rusty Shield was going to give them directions?
Elbridge. Not far from here, someone has offered a prayer to your goddess, begging for help.
Elbridge’s ears perked up immediately.
There were no believers of the Rusty Shield Order in the Great Forest.
But it was entirely possible for someone to pray to the Goddess of the Rusty Shield.
When people were truly desperate, they would grasp at any straw and pray to any god they could think of.
If, by chance, a god happened to listen to that prayer, they might receive divine assistance.
It was essentially a random rescue request.
And in Elbridge’s opinion, answering this particular request was very likely to help his own party as well.
Unlike the grumbling Rombel, Marcus immediately understood Elbridge’s intention.
Rombel fell into thought.
Although he had been complaining because the situation frustrated him, answering this rescue request was actually beneficial for Rombel as well.
His goal was ascension. And the first step toward ascension was catching the chief god’s eye.
If he wanted to leave a good impression on the chief god, he needed to get involved in as many significant events as possible. Just like the recent incident with the Flowing Water Order.
Rombel chewed on a slightly burnt piece of grilled fish, then stood up.
*
As Elbridge moved through the Great Forest, he offered a prayer to the goddess.
Just keep going in that direction, Elbridge.
Your goddess only heard a short prayer. But they definitely mentioned a stampede.
Elbridge was greatly shaken. Hadn’t the stampede already been resolved?
Marcus noticed Elbridge’s agitation.
Rombel hesitated.
Unlike Elbridge, who had borrowed the goddess’s power during the last stampede and somehow performed beyond expectations, Rombel had been completely helpless. A stampede was not something an individual could handle.
That was all Elbridge could say.
The goddess’s power was not infinite, and the most Elbridge could do was slightly delay a stampede.
Even so, the three of them moved quickly. The sooner they arrived, the fewer victims there would be. Even if they couldn’t stop the stampede itself, there was still a chance they could rescue people and escape.
And a short while later, Elbridge’s party came across a strange sight.
There stood a small village surrounded not by a proper wall but by a wooden palisade. It was tiny—large enough for perhaps only a few dozen residents.
And there were land boars. Far too many to count.
If the definition of a stampede was simply the density of land boars, then this was undoubtedly one.
Grunt.
However, the land boars were not frenzied. Their eyes were not rolled back, and they were not rampaging as if to trample everything in their path.
They were simply wandering around lazily as usual, occasionally letting out stupid grunts.
Moreover, the land boars couldn’t even climb over the sharp wooden palisade to enter the village.
Seeing this, Rombel suddenly became noticeably braver.
Elbridge’s party gently pushed aside the land boars blocking their path and approached the village.
When they reached the palisade, a woman’s voice called out from inside.
Elbridge and Marcus could carefully climb over the palisade, but Rombel was too short for it to be comfortable. So Elbridge simply tossed him over.
With Rombel’s surprisingly graceful landing leading the way, Elbridge and Marcus also entered the village.
The woman who had spoken to them was now staring at the trio.
She looked to be in her early thirties. Wearing a rather dirty apron, she looked every bit the typical village housewife.
The woman extended a hand as rough as any man’s and offered a handshake to Elbridge’s party.
Elbridge took her hand and answered.
The woman looked quite surprised.
The Goddess of the Rusty Shield never ignored praise.
That woman has rather excellent discernment, Elbridge. If the opportunity arises, inviting her to join the order would be a fine idea.
While Elbridge quietly offered his prayer, the woman introduced herself.
It was extremely rare for a woman to hold the position of village chief.
Noticing their reaction, Masa laughed heartily.
Even as they exchanged brief words, the constant grunting of the land boars never ceased.
Elbridge asked Masa,
Masa crossed her arms and lowered her voice.
Marcus asked her,
Elbridge’s party exchanged glances.
If the land boars had begun migrating this way after the previous stampede, the timing matched up perfectly.
As Masa spoke, she blinked her large eyes twice. Strangely enough, the gesture suited her.
There are people in this world who try to lighten the mood the more difficult the situation becomes.
Masa seemed to be one of them.
Masa thought carefully, then began listing every possibility that came to mind.
The chances that Masa’s guesses were correct were not high.
Extraordinary phenomena usually had extraordinary causes.
Besides, if her guesses were right, there was little Elbridge’s party could do about it.
That was when a thought occurred to Elbridge.
What if, after a stampede ends, the land boars naturally migrate in this direction?
According to Bireon, the last stampede had occurred roughly twenty or thirty years ago.
If it was natural for the boars to migrate here after a stampede, the villagers would surely remember it.
Both Elbridge and Rombel reacted rather lukewarmly. Elves lived in the northern part of the continent, not the south.
Even in the north, encountering elves was no easy feat. Elves were extremely reclusive and rarely left their settlements.
Therefore, the children claiming to have seen an elf was most likely a lie or a mistake.
There must be some other reason.
Elbridge asked again.
Masa rested her chin on her hand and said,
Elbridge decided it would be best to inspect the area around the village himself.