CH 75

“We’ll have to call the others.”

And so Kaider hurried off to call them.

“What is it? Chiharu and Maki.”

“So, it was dangerous after all!”

Aeris and Edwy looked very worried. Grudo was yawning.

Chiharu and Maki shook their heads. Then they made everyone sit down before Chiharu repeated what she had just said to the others.

“The gazers said that they came over the mountains and not the sea.”

“What! Lowland is connected by a river. So that means they came through the mountains near Highland…”

Edwy said with surprise.

“Yes, while they are low, there are mountains near the border of Highland. Chiharu, do you know which area they came from exactly?”

“I don’t know. They just said that they crossed several mountains and were tired.”

Chiharu said as she shook her head.

“This is the border. Maybe it was near the mountains of Lowland.”

Nyran said with a scowl.

“Did they just come out of a cave? Or is there a new dungeon…”

“Surely not. That’s impossible.”

Grudo said. He was no longer yawning.

“Calm down. Yes, there are occasionally monsters in the tunnels under the sea. That just means there are a few monsters in the underground caves. If not, we would have seen more up until now.”

“That’s true, but…many things have been happening recently that never happened before. In any case, each country must share information and we must be cautious.”

Everyone nodded at Edwy’s words. However, Grudo tended to see things more optimistically.

“We’ll tell you if something happens again. Sorry, to call you all here.”

Chiharu said. And so they all retired for the night.

“Maki-chan.”

“Yes. I got the impression of mountains as well. But I don’t know where they were.”

“If we were back home, we’d recognize the place immediately if it was on TV.”

“Really…”

They no longer thought much about turning gazers into stone. What was troubling them was that they didn’t know what was normal and what wasn’t for people in this world.

“Maybe we should have described the mountains to them.”

“But they weren’t particularly unique.”

It could not be helped. The only thing they could do now was to make sure they weren’t too tired the next morning. And so Maki and Chiharu got into bed.

They took it easy the next morning, and spent three hours traveling, including lunch, and then arrived at Bakka. This was where the Lowland castle was located. Now the mountains that would have seemed close to the east in Midland were far away. There were more flatlands here. But there were also some hills and trees that were green and beautiful.

“There are rice fields.”

“Oh, so you recognize them? I thought you would.”

Nyran said a little teasingly. While it was too early to harvest, the green ears of rice spread out before them. Perhaps they were using the flatlands as is, because they weren’t organized into neat squares. But otherwise, the scene was full of nostalgia for them.

“They’re slowly increasing the amount that they produce.”

Whether he was in the dwarf castle or out adventuring, Nyran always seemed to know about the country.

“I’m sure it will increase even more if you two help spread some delicious dishes.”

“I hope so.”

Nyran had been piloting the airship in the morning, so he seemed a little tired.

“I don’t know how you manage to make the airship tilt to the side when it’s made so that it won’t, no matter what the birdfolk do.”

Those were Aeris’s words. While Nyran was usually good at anything, he did not like piloting airships. It was rare to see him scratch his head in puzzlement.

“I don’t like flying with birdfolk either.”

“Neither do I.”

Kaider agreed. If Orne and Puel were there, they would have said that would rather carry Maki and Chiharu as well. There was a trick to flying with birdfolk. You had to relax your body and let them control you. This was not something the two warriors liked to do.

As their leisurely journey was coming close to an end, Maki and Chiharu stuck their noses to the window and enjoyed the view. More and more houses could be seen as they approached Bakka.

“The buildings are all white!”

“But the roofs are orange. It’s so pretty!”

In Tram, the castle had been on slightly elevated ground. And it was the same for the castle in Bakka.

“So many cottages.”

Chiharu said. Nyran answered.

“Cottages? I don’t know what you mean. But as there are many relatives, the castle itself is like a small town.”

As Nyran said, there were large mansions on both sides of the castle. It was very odd.

The town square was just outside of the castle gates, and the rest of the town spread out from there. There was also an inlet with a small port and a few sailboats and fishing boats were currently docked there. And a white, sandy beach spread out on both sides of the inlet.

“It’s like a southern island.”

“Blue seas, white beaches, white sails and houses with orange roofs. And then there’s the castle. It really is pretty.”

“Yes. Bakka really is beautiful when seen from the sky.”

Nyran agreed as he looked out the window. Just then, the birdfolk changed directions and flew towards the beach.

“Where are we going to land?”

“Between the inlet and the beach.”

“So they’ve gone on ahead. To the beach.”

“They usually follow the airship until the end.”

Aeris cocked his head to the side as he controlled the airship. The airship slowly descended.

“Woah, the waves look pretty wild. The water turns white when they crash.”

“Really? Well, the wind seems calm. Hmm? There is someone on the beach. Van!”

“What is it, uncle?”

“Look at the beach for me.”

Elves had good eyes.

“The beach? Well, the waves look rough. Hmm. Yes, and there are people there too. Almost like they are watching the sea for something. Hmm?”

“What is it?”

Aeris sounded suspicious. 

“Is it…merfolk?”

“Merfolk?”

“Merfolk?”

“Merfolk?”