Water Magician

Chapter 40: Return from the Uninhabited Land

The Wyvern attacks stopped at an altitude of around 3,000 meters.

Instead, it was the cold that assaulted them.

However, thanks to Abel’s cloak and Ryo’s robe, they reached the ridge without taking much damage and could finally see the land north of the mountains.

It was the fifth day since they hunted the first two Wyverns that they crossed the lowest ridge within the mountain range and could catch a glimpse of the northern land.

“We’ve somehow made it to the mountain ridge.”

“Yeah, maybe because it’s sunny, the view is good.”

As Abel said, the view was kind of spectacular.

A clear blue sky just by looking up a little.

If you lowered your gaze, a horizon where lush green earth and the clear blue sky intersected.

Within that view, he could see something moving to the right.

When Ryo looked over, a shirtless woman … was flying.

But her arms were wings.

And her legs appeared to be like an eagle or a hawk…

“Abel … a strange woman is approaching.”

“What?”

Ryo pointed to the right and Abel turned to it.

“That’s a harpy …”

Yes, it wasn’t a woman who was heading towards them, but a monster called a harpy.

That harpy was approaching with a flock…

“Ryo, let’s hurry down the northern slope.”

“Okay!”

The two began to descend in a hurry.

However, there was too much speed difference between a human going down a slope and a harpy flying in the sky.

They caught up quickly.

“<Ice Wall 2>”

Ryo created Ice Walls above their heads to prevent the harpies from catching them with their clawed feet.

“Abel, do harpies drop good magic stones?”

“Oh. They have ridiculous strength, fly in the air, and are terribly annoying, but they only drop garbage magic stones.”

“I see, I understand why Abel avoided fighting them.”

As a result of throwing fatigue and pacing out the window as they went down the slope, by the evening they were able to reach an altitude that the harpies could not follow.

“For the time being, do you want to rest around that tree?”

Even for the two with inexhaustible stamina, running without a break compounded with a continuous downward slope was considerably tiring.

“Well, we should be able to descend the mountain tomorrow … but which direction …”

“That’s right. Anyway, unless we go to a nearby town or village and check, we won’t know where we are.”

“Yeah, it will be great if we are in the Kingdom of Knightley but it could also be somewhere else entirely.”

“Not the Debuhi Empire!”

Ryo exclaimed with a very disgusted face.

“No, the Empire is further north of the Kingdom so that won’t be the case.”

When Abel replied with that, Ryo was relieved and drank a glass of water.

“I’m glad.”

“Why do you hate the Empire so much…?”

“Don’t get me wrong, Abel. I do not hate the Empire. What I hate is the 『Name of the Empire』!”

“O-oh, that’s right…”

The look Abel gave Ryo was the eyes of looking at a disappointing person.

“In any case, let’s head north once we descend the mountain tomorrow. Even if there are no towns or villages, there will be roads and we would arrive at either a town or village no matter which direction we take on the road.”

After deciding on a rough course of action the next day, the two took turns resting.

The next day.

Early in the morning, they went down the mountain.

They observed the horizon on the way down but there were no cities in the visible range.

Therefore, as they had decided, they would continue north until they reach a road. During that time, they didn’t meet any monsters at all.

“Abel, you look bored.”

“Well, that’s because I don’t see any monsters at all. It’s completely different from the other side of the mountain.”

“That’s normal. This is abnormal.”

“No, I think you got it reversed…”

Abel denied while shaking his head a little.

“Wyverns would attack at every step, it was possible to see Behi-chan in the distance, and if you are not careful, the Griffon will swoop down in front of you.”

“Sheesh, the other side of the mountain is truly not a land for human beings … I’m glad I survived and returned.”

“Abel, it’s an expedition until you get home. Don’t let your guard down yet.”

“O-oh … yes, an expedition … you consider that an expedition?”

Abel looked at the distant scenery.

Originally, it started when he infiltrated a smuggling ship.

It felt like it had been a long time since then … but actually, only about one month passed.

“Abel, is that a road?”

Abel was pulled back by Ryo’s voice.

Looking at it, there was certainly something that looked like a road.

During that time period, even the main roads of the central nations were not paved.

At best, the soil was hardened so that even a carriage could pass through.

Still, the existence of a road was proof that they were back in the realm of civilization.

“Yeah, without a doubt. That’s a road.”

There was an involuntary tremble in Abel’s voice.

It was the feeling that he had finally returned to human habitat.

“Now then, this road … right or left?”

“Left, let’s go west.”

By going down the mountain and touching the road running from east to west, Abel was able to guess what the mountain was called.

(That was probably the 『Devil’s Mountain』. In some locations, orcs and ogres live at the foot of the mountain. Even adventurers would not get close to it unless they had something significant to do. In other words, we scaled the Devil’s Mountain and returned … I’m really glad I survived.)

The people in the central nations called the series of mountains towering to the south, the 『Devil’s Mountain』.

It was said that no one had ever crossed it and ordinary residents would never approach it.

Even adventurers would not get close to it apart from when they had a request, and requests to the Devil’s Mountain tend to be left unpicked for a long time.

There were harpies or wyverns at the top of the mountain … it would be foolish to approach.

“By the way, Abel is a B-class adventurer, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Is there any merit in registering with the Adventurers Guild?”

Ryo decided to ask what he was pondering about.

If he was enjoying a slow life alone, he wouldn’t need any information about the Adventurers Guild, but now that he’s going to be in town, he needed to ask a little.

Adventurer Guilds were a classic for other world reincarnation after all.

Regardless of whether or not he would register, there was no loss in knowing more information.

“Well, if you belong to the Adventurers Guild, you are exempt from the entrance tax to the cities in the country. It’s a free pass to every city. Because the guild card acts as an identification card. Also, they buy magic stones and monster materials at relatively high prices. At least it is definitely more expensive than selling them in the city.”

“Hoho, that’s good.”

“In addition, the guild will keep any surplus gold you have.”

“Surplus gold?”

“Yeah. Money that you usually won’t spend. Well, when I just started as an adventurer, I felt that I took everything, but when I reached a certain rank, I started earning more as the reward money was greater. At that point, I had money that I couldn’t finish using. The guild can safe keep that. Isn’t it a hassle to go out with all your assets when you go out for requests?”

(It sounds like a bank? I’m a little surprised …)

“Can the deposited money be withdrawn in other cities?”

“You can withdraw from anywhere as long as it is a guild within the country.”

“That’s amazing.”

Ryo was honestly surprised.

The person who came up with that mechanism was probably a considerable genius.

Naturally, the money received from the adventurer would be invested by the guild in various fields.

There would not be a world where it ends with just depositing.

Whether it’s a bank or an insurance company, the number one reason to pool money is to act as an 『Investment Fund』.

Given that the Bank of Saint George, the oldest bank in Europe, was founded in 1148, it wasn’t strange that this 『Phi』 had something like a bank but…

“Abel said earlier that you can withdraw from any guild in the country, but is the Adventurers Guild an organization that belongs to the country in the first place? Isn’t it an independent organization that exists across many countries and is not controlled by the country?”

In many other world stories, guilds have branches all over the world and were often not under state control.

“Although it is an organization independent of the country, that is just a public stance, and in reality, every guild coexists with the country. This only pertains to what I know about, which is knowledge of the central nations so I don’t know if it is the same in other regions, but the guild card identity can be used anywhere in the central nations. Oh, and it seems that adventurers may be hired by the country as mercenaries during war. Especially in the Kingdom because there are many adventurers. I believe such a request was made by the country to the guild.”

“War … well, it’s cheaper than having knights fight.”

Ryo said, shrugging.

“Don’t make it sound so bad. It is a proper request so some adventurers choose not to participate. That aspect is up to the adventurer’s free will. However, there is no telling what would happen to the money deposited in the guild if the country is occupied … given that the occupying nation could forcibly take it … they would have no choice but to fight.”

“Tch, taking money as hostage … the guild, the country, and Abel are terrible!”

“Why am I lumped in too!?”

Abel was lumped in for no reason.