Chapter 448: The Southernmost Point
The wind is howling around me.
ー So yeah, I’m on the Dragon Continent right now. I feel a lot more relaxed now that I managed to go past that terrifying jungle, so I kept pushing forward through the plains, and now I find myself in a landscape filled with rocky plateaus with layers of reddish brown and whitish rock.
The wind is so strong it feels like it could blow me away, but the view is amazing. This area seems to be packed with wind spirits. The further south I go, the more I run into howling wind spirits, insane wind spirits, and even screaming wind spirits. What a line up it is. And yeah, there’s a lot of them.
And dragons. Come to think of it, didn’t the dragons have a contract not to proactively harm wind spirits and humans, or something like that? Their bonds to the wind spirits run deep, so maybe that’s why the wind is so strong here?
I’m currently hiding because I’m pretty sure I don’t fall under that “don’t attack humans” contract since I wandered into their territory. Better stay out of sight.
Man, dragons are huge! There are giant fowls and some massive rhino-like creatures about the size of a small truck around here, but the dragon is on another level. Those ginormous creatures were out here catching and devouring those giant birds and rhinos like it’s nothing.
I was wondering what dragons ate, but yeah, turns out they’re carnivores. Some might be herbivores, depending on the type, I guess. Still, how to put this, the visual impact of watching a predator the size of a house eat up close is something else. Kinda gave me the chills.
There aren’t many flying dragons around here. Most of them are wingless, with rough, rocky exteriors that blend in with the surrounding rocks.
『~♪』
The spirit that’s helping me is distracting them.
The spirits here can’t communicate with words; their voices are more like the sounds you get when hitting several high-pitch notes on the xylophone at the same time.
I took my gaze off the dragon eating its meal and turned to the spirit ーit looked like a flat stone spinning around, advancing and retreating bit by bit. Curious, I peeked around the rocks and spotted another swaggering dragon.
This second one was dark brown, almost black, unlike the dragon busy gobbling its food.
The spirits around here are a bit different from living closer to the city. The earth spirits literally look like pieces of soil ーthe shape is weird, but it’s kinda flat, much like how earth is. Moss spirits resemble moss, rock spirits look like actual rocks. For some reason, they really blend into the landscape.
It’s like they take on the shape of whatever object it is that they represent, I guess. I’ve also noticed that only a few of them have mixed attributes ー maybe the spirits around were older ones still holding on to their ancient forms.
Although they can’t communicate in human tongue, they can respond to simple requests such as “I want to hide” and “please help me recover my energy”. That’s why I’m stealthily observing the dragons. My takeaway so far? They’re ginormous! Ah, and I’m in awe, they’re just living creatures, like anything else.
The flying dragons I saw back on the island must be somewhere here, so my plan is to slowly look for them. I hadn’t spotted any dragon-shaped spirits so far, contrary to my expectations.
For now, I’ll check out the overall terrain then go home. The map now shows the southern tip of this long, narrow continent. There’s a mountain range along the western coast, and since it’s closer, I head east — only to find a desert.
The ground is reddish and dry, not exactly sandy but covered in clumps of soil the same color as the rocky mountains I saw earlier. The wind is whipping hard here too, blowing dust right into my clothes. Time to retreat!
And so, on to the west side. It’s like a fjord! You know, those rugged coastlines with steep cliffs. There are patches of ice clinging to the indentations in the cliffs.
Between these jagged, sword-like mountain ridges, one side is all ice and snow, and the other is desert! It really feels like the end of the world here. The landscape here is so extreme!
At the southernmost point, I spotted something that looked like penguins. They’re quite huge, standing taller than me. As soon as they notice me, they all puff out their chests, trying to intimidate me. I guess I should’ve been more worried that they might attack, but honestly, they were kind of cute.
◇ ◆ ◇
「That’s what I did today. 」
「Nah, there’s a lot of things I wanna point out, you know? 」
Retze stared at me with half-lidded eyes.
I went to the rental house around dinner-time to ask what’s going on now with Retze and the others’ matters, then I also shared how my day went.
Although the incident had been wrapped up, there were still loose ends that they needed to deal wth, so I can only meet them in the morning or at night; they’re busy during the day.
Even if the quests and commissions were difficult, it would usually end after the compensation and rewards had been handed out. However, because the guilds themselves were involved, those folks feel a bit bad about it and had been running around in a bit of panic.
As for the two missies, they’ve become popular after being labeled as “beloved of spirits”, and with the “noble blood coursing through their veins”, some suitable nobles asked for their hand in marriage and wanted to make them ladies of some territory ー but those two simply want to return to city, apparently.
Nobody dared to go against their will, though, because after the fire fiasco, folks were afraid that the spirits would get angry again if they were pushed too hard.What the two girls want will be prioritized, in the end.
It doesn’t seem like things will turn for the worse, so I’m feeling a bit relieved. By the way, I stopped by Ash’s place this morning and we had breakfast together. It’s not exactly like I wanted to check up on her; I just kinda wanted to see her face.
I also went to the rental house for the same reason ー it’s not just because I’m super concerned about the details, but I simply wanted to see them all in person.
「Your tone sounds like you did something absolutely normal, kinda like telling us that you went to the butcher to get some meat. But it’s not normal, okay? 」
「I’m kinda getting used to it by now. This is such a scene from Jean’s daily life, right? 」
Retze continued reminding me. Dean chimed in while munching on the meat that I brought.
「Yeah, I get it, I’m mostly used to it now, but the way he casually brings this stuff up in front of other people still gets on my nerves. 」
「You’re too overprotective, man. 」
Dean replied to Retze, who looked a bit embarrassed.
「Dragons are so romantic! 」
Chris beamed.
「Oh please, don’t get used to it, okay? It’s weirder getting used to it, alright? 」
Hauron was muttering something.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
I Got Transferred in the Middle of a Mountain
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 hours
Thank you. 🖖