The next week flew by.
“I never realized there was a place like this...” I said.
Sebas had taken us to the foothills of a mountain that was, to my surprise, not too far from the Forest of Gana where I’d spent my first three years in this world. I even remembered passing by this place when I was grinding quests to raise my guild rank.
Cursed energy had apparently taken its toll on the mountain—a patch near its summit was barren, where trees had rotted and crumbled...as if an expansive development project had broken ground. With the rest of the mountain covered in luscious trees unaffected by cursed energy, the bald patch stuck out painfully.
“Master Takebayashi, everyone is ready,” Eleonora called. I’d originally planned for her to hold down the fort in Gimul and perform secretarial duties, but I decided to have her tag along this time. Apparently, while she was being trained by Carme, he advised her to become accustomed to my behavior, since she had no problem learning the tasks involved in the job.
I made a mental note to bring Carme something for his dedication. “Thank you. Shall we?” I turned towards the voice and saw a group of people in hiking gear. Beside Eleonora stood Hudom, who’d be assisting me, Sebas, who’d been our guide so far, and Rosenberg, my warlock-tutor. A few paces away from them stood five adventurers: the female beastkin Cilia, Mizelia, Welanna, and Miya, as well as Jeff the lance master. I had asked them to survey the testing ground. I would have done it myself, but there were too many things on my plate. Eleonora had convinced me as much, so I decided to outsource a portion of the surveying.
Since I was working as the duke’s engineer, I had to find a crew who were not only capable but also trustworthy. These people more than fit the bill, and it was nice to have people I personally knew on the team. There were ten of us in all. Although I rarely worked with such a large team, I was sure this was going to be a blast.