Chapter 28: Departure

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Approx. 11min reading time

“Let’s go!”

When Raguren says so we take the small path that leads to the foot of the cliff.

I slowly take the first step of my journey. I push the popobumu forward.

When I’m heading toward the foot of the cliff.

“Shuuuya onii-chaaaaaan!! Work hard, neee! I’ll get ‘strong’ tooooooo!!”

Refaa calls out to me. Raguren, in front of me, immediately reacts.

“Huahahahaha.:

He seems to have heard what Refaa said and is laughing loudly.

Raguren pulls the reins on the popobumu and turns around to talk to me.

“Really, that child…she seems to have been influenced by Shuya?”

“Uuuh, sorry…”

“No, it’s fine. Isn’t this what that child has decided? The expression of that child when she heard that Shuya was leaving…it affected the hearts of her parents. So I’d like to grant that child’s wish as much as possible.”

I nod too.

“Isn’t that right…”

One’s precious daughter…

“Shuya will understand too if he has a daughter…”

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Saying so Raguren turns back around and takes hold of the reins.

“A daughter…is impossible.”

My favorite person in the world, maybe a person I can love?

No, before that is the vampire system…

At which point, Raguren turns around and grins at me.

“Haha, how about it? How about my daughter in several years?”

“Eeh?”

“Hahaha, It’s a joke, just a joke. I won’t let you touch my daughter. I won’t recognize such a mysterious man!”

“Haha…”

What he said at the end there was kinda scary, it looks like Refaa will have some trouble in the future… Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

“The slope gets steeper from here. It’s better to do it in one go.”

Saying so Raguren grasps the reins and maintains the speed of the popobumu.

When the bottom is visible it suddenly becomes a steep downhill slope.

“Let’s go.”

I take hold of the reins and follow Raguren- the steep slope runs parallel to the rocky cliff face, it spins around the cliff going down.

It takes maybe an hour to reach the bottom?

Uo, narrow!

Coming into view is a mountainous area with an especially narrow and steep ridgeline.

This time it is uphill.

I grasp the popobumu’s reins and Raguren and I carefully make our way through the ridgeline.

There’s no option other than slowly guiding the popobumu one step at a time along the knife thin ridge line, making me break out in a cold sweat.

If it was just a person walking here then there wouldn’t be any trouble, but there’s no helping it.

Including all the bags the routes the popobumu can take are limited.

We are descending again.

After traveling perilous mountain paths with steep slopes going up and down we come to a scree slope with dangerous footing. (TL: A scree slope is a hill of loose fallen rocks at the base of a mountain or cliff. It’s a really dangerous area.)

The path declines for a while and spreads out.

It looks difficult for the popobumu to walk across and it is cautiously walking across the rocks.

Once we get past the loose footing it becomes a mountain paths with alpine plants growing everywhere.

They resemble flowers from earth-

There are white flowers that resemble meadowsweet, some pink flowers that look like what were called dianthus, although they’ll both have different names here.

After I pass through the area with all the blooming flowers the path turns into a steep downhill slope and it turns into a thickly forested area.

“There’s a waterfall in this area of the forest. I don’t think any monsters will show up but if they do would you like to hunt them?”

“Alright, is Raguren always hunting in this area?”

“That’s right. Heading down this path goes to the bottom of the waterfall and sometimes I pass through elf territory.”

“Further down?”

A waterfall. Imagining it from what he says…it must be a pretty tall waterfall.

“Even if I say below, it’s only a sudden cliff. Later, the path also meanders, well it will be easy if we cross the waterfall after this.”

“Got it.”

“Ni, Nya.”

For some reason Rollo also cries out in response to Raguren.

Surprised by Rollo’s behavior Raguren turns around with arched eyebrows to face Rollo.

“This, Divine Beast-sama. Are you feeling alright?”

“Nya!”

When Rollo says so she flares the nostrils of her small nose and shakes her tail back and forth.

She seems to be thinking 『Fun』 and 『Want to Play』

Seeing her triumphant face, I laugh a little.

“Oh, that’s good.”

Raguren nods and smiles to Rollo.

While having such an exchange we continue down the shallow slope on the popobumu with heavy steps.

When the descent ends we have entered a forested area.

Here trees are covering and obscuring the mountains.

But because Raguren is cutting through the branches and small trees with a hatchet-like weapon we’re easily able to advance.

And then, the sound of a rambling river reaches my ears.

Raguren turns his popobumu in the direction of the sound.

It seems we’re going in the direction of the river.

I follow him. The sound increases as the sound of the rambling river becomes stronger.

Oh, I can see it. The river is filled with rocks creating a powerful torrent.

Raguren quickly gets down from his popobumu and walks to the rocky place.

When he reaches the edge he stoops down and thrusts both of his thick arms into the rapid current. Cupping the water in his hands he lifts the water up and pours the cold looking water over his face.

He scoops up the water several times and washes his face before drinking the water with great relish.

The moment looks like a face-washing commercial.

Roughly plunging his water flask into the river, the flask is dipped in torrent and scooped up.

“-I’m pretty sure that this is mountain water. I recommend filling up your water flasks here.”

“Un. I’ll do that.”

Since I can create water I am fine.

However, it seems like a spring from fresh mountain water so I’ll take some.

Imitating Raguren, I dip my water flask into the torrent. Because the current is so strong the water flask almost gets washed downriver, but I endure it and fill up the flask.

I lift it out after confirming it is full.

“I’ve already refilled my water, I’ll go first.”

“Okay.”

I went south from the riverside.

“There’s a cliff and a big waterfall ahead. And the mountain path continues in a steep slope.”

“Got it.”

As Raguren said the rivers drops over a cliff and becomes a waterfall.

A long bridge is visible extending out diagonally over the side of the cliff.

We’ll walk across that?

The bridge has been set up between rocks so that is four logs tightened together.

Even though I can see that the bridge is sturdy I feel nervous inside because I’m looking down from the cliff at the top of the waterfall.

I’ll leave it to the popobumu. One step at a time, I advance across the logs.

The rapids turn into a waterfall and the water washes away at a terrifying speed.

-The *zaaaaaa* of the rushing water is intense.

An enormous amount of water flies off into the sky as mist.

Scary. The popobumu doesn’t care about my feelings and slowly advances across the log. The black cat is also on alert, unmoving.

*Shishi* stepping along the logs, creaking sounds shave away at my spirit.

Unintentionally I look down, I can see below.

-Uhiya.

A sound leaked out.

Raguren looks at me with harsh eyes.

I guess it can’t be helped…

When I get on the popobumu I’m honestly scared.

Looking down at the bottom of the waterfall, I can see a forest again after several hundred meters.

-It is hight, scary…

Water is flowing powerfully underneath the log.

Water being thrown up by the rocks is flying up in a spray making the area humid, moss is growing across the rocks and logs.

Because of the moss and moist air, I am worried the log I am walking across is slippery.

The popobumu’s feet are thick.

Because they’re thick I’m worried about its weight.

While holding onto his reins Raguren looks back several times, and perhaps understanding the look on my face, talks to me with a relaxed smile.

“…Be assured, the log is considerably strong.”

“Un. Still, because of this guy’s weight…”

Seeing me talking in a different tone than usual, Raguren smiles wider and talks to me. (TL: GG Raguren.)

“Haha, are you actually weak to high places?” (TL: Oh, nevermind.)

“There’s no special meaning behind it.”

Yeah, well, I am bluffing.

“Hora, you’re almost to the end of the log now.”

Oooh, I’m close.

“Good.”

Crossing over the bridge of logs safely, the steep embankments spreads out further.

The slope begins to meander.

Taking a tight hold of the reins the popobumu carefully steps forward.

The mountain path. Such an easy victory.

Speaking frankly, the waterfall from earlier was scary.

Before long, the winding mountain path changes into a gentle slope.

The slope gradually turns into a level mountain path.

Oh, finally.

The popobumu takes one last heavy step down the slope and steps onto the level ground.

Here is the bottom. (TL: Says here is bottommost, but that sounds lame.)

I turn my face up and look up at the path and the waterfall which falls all the way down from the top.

From the rapids at the top to the waterfall coming to the bottom I can see the water breaking off into a white mist and being blown away by the wind.

The sheet of spray looks like wings.

The updraft pulls the water off of the waterfall into a spray before it is caught again in a downdraft and descends.

Ma, the wind feels good. Is it anions? (TL:Something sciencey.)

N〜 I breath in. N〜fuu〜 Dis feels nice.

While I breath in the fresh air and then exhale for some reason the voice in my head has a Kyushu dialect.

Raguren is waiting for me quietly.

I enjoy the beautiful view and take advantage of the scenery.

The damp rock of the cliff face nearby, the trunks of trees and shrubs are growing across the whole cliff face.

A few streams of water are visible going across the rock face and trees, the water trickling down and creating a marsh.

The wet wind blowing from the waterfall becomes the nourishment for the surrounding plants.

Nevertheless, these big tree and shrubs…

I touch a tree trunk to the side with my hand.

It is a thick brown trunk. The large trunk of this tree is growing supported by the cliff.

It is to the extent that it makes the tree Shisho and I camped at before seem small.

Then, when I look across the cliff…

A small river forms its own branch and flows into the forest.

It feels like a gate into nature.

From here on is the real forest.

In the forest I can feel some presences.

I caught them with presence detection, there’s a deer on the other side of the river.

It is a flock of does following a buck.

Raguren must have noticed too since he turns his eyes to the deer.

“There are deer there. But, we’ll leave them for today.”

It is a face that seems to want to hunt. I ask such a Raguren a question.

“Do a lot of different animals appear here?”

“Ah, this area is full of game. There are also a lot of monster hunting?”

“Oh- it left when I talked.”

Raguren’s eyes are able to discern the location of the monster.

Several monkeys appear in the trees. The look like big baboons. They have conspicuous yellowish green hair growing down from their head.

Two big fangs are growing from the corners of their mouths.

There’s a lot of them…

*Ki, ki, gi, ga, they are crying out in excited monkey-like voices.

It’s a mountain ape. I can see several of them, and there should be more hiding in the trees…Looking at the circumstances we’ll be immediately attacked.”

After saying so, Raguren changes his weapon.

Putting away his machete he takes the big axe from his back.

“Are there any countermeasures?”

“Only aim for the ones that come and attack, it’s a brutal monster but since Shuya is here there shouldn’t be a problem. And then, as long as you pay attention to any projectiles they throw and the fangs in their mouths we should be able to win. After all it’s just a monkey type.”

“Understood.”

I take out the black spear from the back of the popobumu’s saddles and remove the cloth covering the tip. And then I hold the black spear out to the side in my right hand like a jousting knight.

Raguren kicks his popobumu with his foot to spur it on and runs ahead first.

Perhaps instigated by the movement dozens of mountain apes come out and gather around Raguren.

The mountain apes are one or two meters. Raguren swings his big axe around and easily buries it in an approaching monkey.

Where I am a monkey with a terrible look on its face attacks while exposing its fangs.

Rollo jumps out too.

I rush out while she counter attacks with a feeler bone sword to the monkey’s body.

As the bone sword instantly approaches the body of the monkey her body quickly shifts from the size of a cat into her black panther form.

She grabs hold of the monkey’s body with her claws.

Growling, Rollo utters a crying with the instinct of a beast.

She bites into the flesh of the monkey’s scruff while exposing her fangs. Her black fur covered in blood, she steps over the corpse of the monkey she killed- then jumps and attacks a different one.

Amazing…

She’s not completely a cat…she really is a divine beast.

“To!”

A monkey attacks me who is watching care freely.

The mouth of the monkey enlarges in preparation to bite me.

I naturally respond with my spear like a lance and stab out with the black spear reflexively.

The blade of my black spear pierces through the head of the monkey as easily as tofu.

In the moment I was distracted by Rollo’s fight I was still able to handle the black spear easily and cope with being on the back of the popobumu.

There’s a different monkey to my left and it jumps to bite me.

-Reacting immediately I pull out the wet black spear and wield the spear being aware of the tight space. I knock the monkey to its knees by hitting the right side of its head with the butt end.

Consecutively, I attack one attacking monkey, two monkeys, killing them smoothly.

With a foot I lightly clap the popobumu’s side with that timing, raising the speed up a notch.

Releasing the popobumu’s reins I free my left hand.

While tightening both of my thighs to hold onto the saddle, I turn my freed left hand out diagonally and extend chain. The chain goes out in a straight line- when it penetrates through the body of a monkey throwing itself from a tree it travels through its back, when the chain finally pierces the trunk of the tree it stops.

In one go, two are killed.

In an instant I dismiss the extended chain.

Still, there are a lot of monkeys.

The monkey come at me one after another.

Holding the black spear in my right hand I stab, swing, and beat at the monkeys, then using <thrusting> to attack a monkey.

Then I activate <Magic Thought Guidance Hand>- the distorted magic formed from mana pulls out the kukri sword, and I direct it behind me.

The kukri word intercepts the monkeys approaching me from behind.

In my first battle on top of popobumu my attacks all land and I am able to attack one after another.

The Magic Beast Riding skill.

I tried copying the jousting knights from the middle ages but the nature of the black spear is different, so I end up using the spear techniques I learned during my training.

Ma, it is natural. There are also no fittings for a lance to rest on for the spearmanship.

And thanks to the <Chain> from the permanent <Though Guidance Chain> skill I am able to move it at will.

Even while riding the popobumu I am able to accurately hit my targets

I discover that this mastered <chain> is important tactically. Not only will it be good for attack in the future, I will be able to use it for defense, feints, and surprise attacks. I think it has become more flexible, and everything regarding this <chain> may now be possible.

The possibilities are endless. Spiral power.

Do you want big sunglasses? (TL: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann reference.)

While thinking about such an anime, with a grin I continue try to use my chain freely.

I swing my black spear freely and continue attacking the monkeys that approach the popobumu one after another.

Raguren’s attacks must have succeeded as well since the number of mountain apes has decreased.

I do not if it is because the number if its companions has decreased, but a monkey that seems to be the chief of the mountain apes raises a strange cry different from the ones so far.

Is it a signal to retreat?

The group of monkeys separates from us in response to the sound.

I confirm the actions of the monkeys with Raguren.

Nodding to one another we ease up on our popobumus and come to a stop.

Checking around us I can hear a “Nn, Nyaa, Nyaa,” and covered in her prey’s blood, the black cat Rollo comes running to catch up with her whole body dyed in blood.

Seeing her figure Raguren’s eyebrows draw together in an expression of surprise. Like that he begins talking anxiously.

“-Divine Beast-sama, are you alright?”

“Nya-”

The divine beast, also known as the black cat Rollodinu answers lightly 『I’m fine, nya』 and like a dog- shakes her whole body flinging her prey’s blood in all directions.

“…Earlier, weren’t Rollodinu’s movement really amazing? It was just like a beast in pursuit of its game.”

“Ho…As expect of Divine Beast-sama.”

“Eh, she’s certainly a divine beast- she’s returned to her cat form now…”

Raguren also stares at the black cat in wonder.

“The mystery of Divine Beast-sama.”

“Yeah.”

After Raguren nods to my short reply he opens his mouth while looking around.

“-However, it’s a shame to leave behind these mountain ape corpses. Shuya, will you help me collect the hides? I want to collect enough for one popobumu.”

“Of course I’ll help, and while we’re at it we can pour the blood into this.”

I hold the water flask in my hand and shake it.

“Ooh, I see, that’s how it is. Then right away.”

Raguren gets down from his popobumu and taking out a knife begins to quickly remove the Mountain Ape hides.

I help with the skinning with a knife as well.

Working to strip this game, I think that my hands have become considerably experienced in this.

Judging by someone else’s standpoint they will see a look full of confidence.

I think I have become good even if I say so myself.

I don’t say “craftsman class” to Raguren.

After finishing, I pour the blood of the monkeys into a water skin.

These three water skins are all fool with blood and with water.

Blood is okay from a corpse, but the flavor declines.