“Hup... There we go.”
The day after arriving in Vesparta with Porta’s party, I immediately made my way northeast of the city and dove into the Aflatta Mountain Range. The mountains were ridiculously huge and the range ridiculously long. Going either northwest or northeast from Vesparta led into the mountains. However, if Nidus was to be believed, Surena had gone northeast.
Regardless, the hypothetical search area was still vast, and the amount of it I could cover on my own was microscopic in comparison. Going only by the numbers, I was very unlikely to stumble across Surena.
I’d understood that from the very beginning, and those who knew what I was up to had surely thought the same thing. I did have a sound reason for thinking I might succeed, though that thread of hope was rather thin.
Nobody stepped foot into the Aflatta Mountain Range unless they had a very special reason. It was simply too dangerous, and there was nothing to gain from going there. Only extreme circumstances—like the annual culling of saberboars we had to do in Beaden—could compel people to do so.
So, if a black rank adventurer had charged into the mountains, there had to be some kind of human tracks left behind. Local hunters probably went into the mountains every now and then too—they likely left plenty of tracks near the foothills of the mountains. However, going any deeper would be dangerous even for those who knew how to fight. There was enough to hunt without having to go that far.
And thus, my plan was formed—I would climb the mountains while searching for tracks that were likely Surena’s. This was easier said than done, but with so few humans willing to go high up in the mountains, I figured that it actually wouldn’t be that hard to find human tracks.
As I examined the area around the base of the mountains, I noted that there were very few routes to choose from that could take me higher. Nobody started a mountain climb on treacherous animal trails or sheer cliffs, after all. Figuring out where to go after I was partway up would be the difficult part.
“Phew... I’ve gotta keep my eyes peeled more than usual...”
A tension ran through my body that was completely unrelated to any fatigue. Honestly, I was frustrated—it was annoying that I had the tacit understanding of multiple organizations and was allowed to make a move unofficially, but I also couldn’t get any of their support. That was largely why I’d given up on hiring a secondary guide.
Allucia had mentioned that the guild was putting together a search party, but I wasn’t going to wait for them to pick the right people and actually start searching. Besides, I certainly wouldn’t be a candidate for said search party—it wouldn’t make sense for the adventurer’s guild to rely on the Liberion Order’s special instructor for a search party.
Much like Allucia had told me, things would be different if the adventurer’s guild made an official appeal to the kingdom, it was approved, and the knights were commanded to act. That would naturally take a lot of time. Too much time. Given the current situation, that wait period would probably cost Surena’s life, which was why I’d hurried over to Vesparta.
As I crested a slight incline, I got myself all fired up. “I’ve gotta give it my all for Mewi’s sake too!”