Great Mountain Range - 2: The Jaws of the Mountain
"Hoo. You've come more thoroughly prepared than I expected?"
"Hey, pal. Don't you think you're looking down on me a bit too much?"
The man's handsome face rubbed Hans the wrong way, but he was the client paying good money. Hans couldn't stop himself from grumbling.
"I won't deny that I'm trash, but heh heh. Ten years of experience in these parts isn't something you can just brush off."
"That's tr... True. In other cities you could probably build up quite a reputation, but it's rather unusual that you're still based here."
An unexpected voice cut into Hans's words. It belonged to a scarred woman who looked every bit the adventurer. She seemed to be in her late twenties. Younger than Hans, certainly, but clearly someone with real experience in the field. It wasn't uncommon for female magic users to marry into wealthy merchant families or households that carried magical bloodlines once they reached a certain age.
"You were an adventurer yourself, miss?"
"...Yes. I'm retired now, though."
"Well, at your age it's about time to settle down and get married."
"Tsk!"
"Hm?"
The sharp click of her tongue made Hans cautiously read the mood. Had he said something wrong? Were the two of them not involved after all? When he glanced at the man, he was simply smiling as if the whole thing amused him.
"Ahem. Well, I've lived here since I was young. Telling me to move somewhere else now would just feel suffocating."
Hans's gaze drifted past the ramparts to the massive mountain range beyond.
"I like it here. It's big, it's wide, and even a piece of trash like me can live freely."
"...Is that so? You seem quite fond of this city."
"Hahaha. Of course I am. Other territories will conscript adventurers the moment trouble starts or jack up the taxes. Franz is pretty free in that regard. Long live Franz."
"Hoo. True enough. Franz is a good domain."
The man nodded, looking oddly satisfied.
"On top of that, people don't stare at you funny for having magic power, the brothels are excellent, and you don't have to worry about catching anything. What do they call it again? Welfare? Yeah, that welfare system is nice."
"For adventurers, that's basically the minimum. Though I hear the tax rate is on the higher side here. What do you think about that?"
"Well, it is higher. I've heard it's more than other territories, but we get that much service in return. If you sort out your residency papers, you can even get deductions matching the taxes you've paid so far."
That was why so many adventurers who worked here ended up marrying and settling down. Most of the shop-owning couples in the city had probably followed that same path.
Before anyone realized it, the conversation between Hans and the man had flowed on. The way the man spoke suggested he was surprisingly ignorant of the world, or at least had some strange gaps in his knowledge. He really did seem like a rich kid. From his appearance he could have been the son of some noble house, yet Hans couldn't sense even a trace of magic power from him. The son of a wealthy merchant, then? Of course, it was possible he truly was from a noble family but had simply been unlucky enough to be born without magic. Even so, it wasn't rare for female adventurers who possessed magic power to enter such households as concubines.
From Hans's perspective the woman was strikingly beautiful. He couldn't tell exactly how strong her magic was, but from what he could sense it seemed weaker than his own. She must have already landed herself a good man.
Then, as if noticing Hans's gaze, the man suddenly turned his head. In that instant Hans thought he saw something flicker deep within those golden eyes. It felt like something that wanted to devour him whole. An inexplicable chill ran down his spine, and without thinking he started to take a step back.
-Grin.
"W-wait...! L-Leo!"
The man slid his hand onto the woman's shoulder and pulled her into his arms. Then he looked at Hans with that same smile, and everything Hans had been thinking vanished from his mind. What the hell was this idiot doing? In the middle of the street, no less...
"I wasn't looking at her with those thoughts..."
"Oh? Hahaha. I have quite the possessive streak, you see. As you can see, they're both beautiful, aren't they?"
This time he draped an arm around the silver-haired woman's shoulders as well. The short-haired woman blushed furiously and looked down, while the silver-haired one stared at the man like he was an idiot.
"I do think they're beautiful, but I don't have a taste for touching another man's woman..."
"Oh, a pure-love type. I like that. I especially like polygamy."
"Is this guy insane?"
Polygamy my ass. What a ridiculous bastard. Hans had cursed without meaning to, but when he saw the women around him sighing, he calmed down slightly. The natural way they spoke to each other informally, the fact that he kept magic users at his side... he really must be the son of some powerful family.
"So, client?"
"Call me Leo. It was Hans, right?"
"So......"
Hans's eyes darted around. The glares from the women watching from the side were anything but ordinary. They already seemed completely comfortable speaking to each other without honorifics...
Ahem.
"Lord Leo, then. The preparations are more or less complete, so I was thinking we should head up soon. Like I said, it could take anywhere from one day at the shortest to two days. Is that acceptable?"
"Of course. I've prepared that much at least."
The man—Leo—gestured toward the enormous pack on the silver-haired woman's back. It was so huge it didn't seem possible for a human to carry, but since she possessed magic power, Hans simply nodded.
"Good. Let's go. To the Yellow Hill."
Crossing the gates of the adventurer city of Tresle, the four of them set out.
"...I'm bored!"
"Hey, I'm working here."
Three hours after they began climbing the mountain. They had been ascending steadily the entire time—sometimes descending hills, pushing through forests, weaving between trees, and crossing open fields. It was a sight Hans knew like the back of his hand after ten years in this world. To the man called Leo, however, it seemed mind-numbingly dull.
"This place is ridiculously huge."
"Well, it is the Great Mountain Range."
"From the outside it just looked like a bunch of giant mountains. Why does it feel so vast once you're inside?"
"Who knows?"
Hans shook his head at Leo's question. It was something even a ten-year veteran adventurer like himself didn't understand, and the people who studied such matters had nothing to do with the likes of him.
"I told you. It's just annoying and tiring."
"I didn't expect this. Isn't it basically the same as regular hiking?"
At the entrance area of the Great Mountain Range, seeing Leo's fed-up expression in the middle of the vast field, Hans let out a small chuckle.
"That's because we deliberately chose the easier paths... paths."
"Oh, miss. You seem knowledgeable. Have you visited the Great Mountain Range often?"
"A few times, yes."
Just as the short-haired woman said, they had stuck to those safer routes.
"I don't know what you imagined, but this is what being an adventurer is really like. The idiots who charge into fights like it's some novel are the real morons."
"Really? How disappointing."
"Magic power isn't all-powerful, and this field is those monsters' backyard. Fighting here would be nothing but a loss. If you get injured, you'd have to withdraw without any profit at all."
"I see... Hm."
At Leo's bored tone, Hans simply shook his head. In the end, it was always like this. Romance was nothing but romance.
That aside, Hans scanned their surroundings.
"It's quieter than I expected."
The natural sounds that should have filled the air were missing. Or rather, they were present but far fewer than usual.
"Different from normal?"
Hans nodded at Leo's question.
"Even in the Great Mountain Range, there's what the scholars call... what was it again?"
"An ecosystem?"
"Something like that. I'm not sure, but the Great Mountain Range has one too. That's why the guild sometimes adjusts the requests they post."
But this time something felt off.
"In the last cycle the guild sent out a notice that the population of small animals should be increasing. The atmosphere was to refrain from hunting so the numbers could recover, but..."
At Hans's words, Leo looked around.
"They're not here. Not a single one..."
Leo's eyes sparkled.
"Ah, yes...!"
"......"
Do I really have to earn money like this?
Hans, caught in a moment of post-nut clarity, felt deeply skeptical about his own life. He tried to ignore the sounds coming from behind him, but eventually he couldn't stand it anymore and glanced back.
The two of them were pressed together. And not just pressed together...
"This is insane. This is the Great Mountain Range."
"Please don't mind it."
"...That's easy for you to say."
The silver-haired woman walking beside him simply stared straight ahead and continued in silence. Meanwhile, the two behind them were making a complete racket.
"N-no, ah, you can't...!"
"It's fine. No one's watching."
"Like that—ugh!"
You crazy bastards! I'm watching right here!
Leo had glued himself to the short-haired woman's side, one arm wrapped around her waist in an almost full embrace as they walked.
"...You have no magic power yet you walk around just fine."
"Ah... Yes. That's right. My body is truly healthy."
People unfamiliar with the area often felt crushed by the abundant magic power in the Great Mountain Range, yet here he was enjoying skinship with a woman while climbing without issue.
"...Anyway, it looks like we'll arrive earlier than expected. At this rate we might even make it back today."
"Hm. What is that?"
"What do you mean, that... Huh. What the hell is that?"
Something long and deeply gouged stretched across the ground. It looked like a scar left by some enormous shovel that had torn into the earth.
"That doesn't look natural."
It was a trace Hans had never seen before. He didn't come to this particular area often, but something like this should have generated at least some rumors.
"Lord Leo."
"Oh, we're here?"
Leo, who had been lagging behind, finally caught up at the silver-haired woman's call. The short-haired woman followed after him, face flushed bright red and breathing hard. She quickly straightened her slightly disheveled clothes, but her expression froze the moment she saw the mark carved into the ground.
"This trace was here."
"Wow. What is this? Hans, have you seen anything like it?"
"No, it's my first time too. This is dangerous."
Hans's face hardened. Discovering a brand-new trace in the Great Mountain Range? They were screwed.
"Run...!"
A giant mouth appeared above Hans's head.