"Are you heading to Rommon through the mountains?" Kase waved at the man who was shouting.

"If you want to come along, just gather at the North Gate tomorrow morning! We’ve already got over a dozen people!" the man shouted back from a distance before walking deeper into the camp to recruit more people.

"I guess those Giants just made the merchants give up on any fantasy of reopening the trade route," Colin said. "Then we’ll go with the group tomorrow."

"Definitely. With more people, we can watch each other’s backs," Kase laughed. "Guess our luck is finally turning, huh? That place, what was it, Rommon? It probably won’t have many Giants left. Bright, shiny Gold Coins are waiting for us!"

After eating some grilled fish, the group took turns standing watch and got some sleep.

Early the next morning, they packed their things and went to the North Gate to check it out.

A sizable caravan had indeed gathered there. There were fifteen horse-drawn carts, all fully loaded with goods, along with several dozen Adventurers.

"Who’s in charge here?" Colin asked.

A Dwarf dressed like a merchant, sporting a wheat-colored beard, walked over. "Who’s asking?"

"Someone who wants to join your party," Kase replied in a funny voice.

"I’m Habik Dangir," the Dwarf said. "Let’s cut the nonsense. If we keep talking like this, this conversation will go on forever."

With that, the Dwarf looked them over. "A human, a Half-Orc, and a Half-Demon... Your little crew isn’t half-bad. I bet even the wild dogs in the mountains won’t dare to snarl at us now. Alright then, you can travel with us!"

Colin then led Kase over to the carts.

’That Dwarf is a crafty one. He says he’s gathering people to travel together, but really, all the Adventurers going with him are just free guards.’

’But there was nothing to be done about it. Everyone wanted to get across, so he didn’t really need to spend money hiring guards anyway.’

The caravan set out around noon, after they had gathered several dozen people. They formed a long and imposing procession, which seemed to all but guarantee the safety of their journey.

The group followed the Torrent River east for a full day before taking a smaller trail toward the Roaring Mountain Range. After another two days of travel, they finally arrived at the foot of the mountains.

From a distance, the mountain range hadn’t seemed all that impressive.

But once they reached the foothills, the entire range stretched out before them. Facing the slopes, it felt like the mountains filled their entire field of vision, creating an almost suffocating sensation.

Kase, however, was unimpressed.

As he put it, "This is nothing. Wait until you see Yatas-Muuk—now that’ll make your eyes pop!"

Colin had no room to argue with that.

Yatas-Muuk was the Orcish term for the World’s Roof, which was supposedly the highest and largest mountain range in the world.

After buying enough supplies, the party followed the trail up into the mountains.

「Noon on the fourth day.」

Colin and the others followed the caravan as usual.

The road underfoot ran along a mountain ridge. The sides of the path were mostly bare of any large plants, covered instead with low shrubs and weeds growing between the cracks in the rocks.

Occasionally, they could even spot leopards hunting goats on the nearby slopes, which made for a novel sight.

"Rest!" "Rest!"

After following the ridge to the top of a small summit, the people at the front of the procession shouted the message back down the line.

Colin stopped and leaned against one of the carts to rest his feet.

"Are we headed over there?" Kase asked, pointing into the distance.

"That’s right. That’s the Endless Wilderness over there. The place I’m looking for is in that area, but we need to stop in Rommon to resupply and regroup first," Colin said, stretching his ankles.

From a distance, the area Kase pointed at was a stretch of land covered in withered, yellow meadows. The terrain was uneven, and what looked like ancient ruins and enormous boulders were scattered across the landscape, making for a desolate sight.

"How come that looks like the place we saw back near that Cultist village?" Kase said with a frown. "Besides, that place doesn’t give me a good feeling. Just looking at it, I can tell the Essence of Nature over there isn’t happy."

"That’s the one."

Colin took out his parchment, leafed through it, and continued, "That area is supposed to be the ruins from a war between the Ancient Empire and the Elf Kingdom."

"What’s the story with that?"

"You really should learn to read, Kase, my friend."

"Stop showing off and spit it out!" Kase grumbled, tugging on Colin’s arm.

"Fine, fine."

Colin looked at the parchment and read, "In ancient times, the entire world was ruled by Giant Dragons. Then, the Giants, created by the Father of Giants, established their own empire and challenged them. This sparked a bloody, thousand-year war that had no victor.

"In the process, the gods fell, and the humans who survived in the cracks between the powers established the Ancient Empire of Ora Kaim.

"The Elves also built their own civilization along the northern coast and began warring with Ora Kaim. But Ora Kaim was destroyed by an internal slave rebellion, and a few thousand years later, we arrive at our own time.

"That Endless Wilderness was one of the Elves’ war cities. It ended up like this after being bombarded by the Magic of the Ancient Empire."

"Then what about the Orcs? What happened to us Orcs?"

"The book doesn’t say anything about that."

"Then that book you’re reading isn’t very reliable, is it," Kase said, snorting indignantly.

Orelia tried to placate him. "Maybe the Orcs had built their own nation back then and just didn’t get involved in the affairs over here."

"Do you guys need any water?"

As the group was chatting, a man approached them holding a waterskin. He had a head of blond hair, wore gleaming Leather Armor, and seemed to wear a permanent, enthusiastic smile.

He was one of the friendlier members of the caravan; after all, not everyone was happy to associate with a small party that included a Half-Orc and a Tiefling.

"We’re alright, we still have some," Colin said with a slight nod. "Thanks, Finn."

"Well, enjoy the rest of your day." The man called Finn took his waterskin and continued toward the front of the line.

No one from the front called for them to move out, so Colin lowered his head and flipped through his parchment, planning to continue studying his notes on various monsters.

"GET DOWN!!!"

Suddenly, Kase’s shout rang out beside him.

A shadow suddenly fell over them. Looking up, Colin saw the Half-Orc had lifted his Insect Shell Shield to cover both their heads.

"What’s happen—"

As he spoke, Colin suddenly saw three dark shapes descending from the clouds not far away.

The shadows dove toward the caravan. They were some kind of creature with leathery wings, about the size of the Griffins he had seen at the welcome ceremony. Their build was similar, too, only they had no feathers and were instead covered in many Bone Spikes.

They swept over the caravan, extending their front claws.

Before anyone could react, they snatched up three unlucky souls, and with a flap of their wings, dove down the slope of the mountain, landing dozens of meters away.

In that instant, the three people who had been taken away only had time to leave behind three piercing screams.