The selection of those heading to the Dwarf Kingdom was done without a hitch as well.
Five teams in all, led by his own son Rigul. Then there was me and
Come to think of it, was it really okay to leave the team captain duties to Rigul?
I was a little worried, but everyone else seemed perfectly fine with it.
Rigurd himself was brimming with energy like he'd gotten a new lease on life, so maybe I was just worrying too much.
Anyway, once I'd received my supplies, Ranga hoisted me onto his back.
Boin! I sank into his fur.
I used the surrounding fur to anchor myself in place. Time for Sticky Thread.
Not having limbs in situations like this was seriously inconvenient, but there was no choice but to work around it with my abilities.
I'd actually been secretly practicing thread manipulation.
Cutting enemies with thread! Now that would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?
I wasn't sure if I could pull it off, but there was plenty of time. I'd just have to keep at it, little by little.
My supplies consisted of money and food.
Three days' worth of food.
If the journey took longer than that, I was planning to forage on the way.
I could've brought food with a longer shelf life, but I wanted to avoid bulky supplies.
I mean, if I just swallowed everything, I could carry as much as I wanted...
But that would be spoiling them, which wouldn't be good.
It was precisely because I didn't need to eat that I could make this rational judgment, though.
As for money, I had seven silver coins and twenty-four copper coins.
That was, without question, not a lot.
I'd given up on high hopes.
The rest, I'd figure out once we arrived.
And with that, we set off!
Apparently, the Dwarf Kingdom was about a two-month walk by goblin feet.
The Ameld River, which flowed through the forest.
Follow it upstream and you'd reach the mountain range, apparently.
And in that mountain range lay the Dwarf Kingdom, our destination.
The Empire to the east, and several nations apparently dotted around Jura Forest.
The Canaat Mountain Range stood between them all.
As such, there were three trade routes.
One passed through the Great Forest of Jura.
Another was the treacherous mountain path that crossed the range.
And lastly, the sea route.
In theory, the route through the Great Forest of Jura was the shortest and safest, but for some reason, it wasn't used much.
Mostly, the treacherous mountain path was the main thoroughfare.
The sea route, on the other hand, was expensive and apparently carried the threat of sea monsters, making it the least traveled of all.
This time, we had no business with the Empire.
East through the forest would take us to the Empire, but we were heading north toward the Canaat Mountain Range.
There was no need to climb to the summit.
The Dwarf Kingdom had staked its territory at the foot of the Canaat Mountain Range, where the upper reaches of the Ameld River lay.
A magnificent city carved out of the natural caverns within the mountains.
That was the Dwarf Kingdom.
True to plan, we headed north along the Ameld River.
Traveling along the river, there was no risk of getting lost. Just to be safe, I was also keeping a mental map displayed in my head.
For a guide, I'd asked someone who'd once delivered a message to the Dwarf Kingdom.
He was running ahead of me, leading the way.
But man, these wolves — who had evolved into Storm Fang Wolves — were fast! And they weren't showing the slightest sign of fatigue either.
We'd been on the move for about three hours now without a single break, and they were still running at nearly eighty kilometers per hour.
There had been rough, rocky patches too, but they didn't care. Not only that — they ran in a way that prevented their riders from getting tired from the vibrations!
In a word, it was incredibly comfortable.
At this pace, we might not even need a full week.
Well, as long as we took it easy. I did want to prepare clothes and shelter as soon as possible, but rushing wouldn't help.
"Hey! Don't push yourselves too hard, okay!"
I called out to them.
For some reason, they sped up a little.
I'd been enjoying the sense of speed — faster than a motorcycle — and watching the scenery fly by for the past three hours, but I was starting to get a little bored.
At this speed, having a conversation would be nearly impossible, but I had Thought Communication!
Maybe we could enjoy this trip by chatting together in high spirits.
With that thought, I formed a thought network with everyone.
So, what should I ask about first?
"Hey, Rigul. Come to think of it, who named your brother?"
"Hah! Please, there's no need to be polite with me! As for my brother's name, a male demon who was passing through gave it to him."
"Oh? A demon came to a goblin village?"
"Yes, about ten years ago. When I was still a child... He stayed in the village for a few days and said my brother had potential."
"Huh. He must've been a pretty good brother."
"He was! He was a brother I was proud of. That demon
"They didn't take him away at the time?"
"No. My brother was still young, and he said he'd come back in a few years when my brother had grown stronger, and then he departed."
"I see, I see. Next time he comes around, he's in for quite a surprise!"
"Indeed! But now I serve under Lord Rimuru. Though the Demon Lord Army is honorable, I can no longer follow Gelmud!"
"The Demon Lord Army... So that's a real thing. And how are you so confident about it when you don't even know if they'd recruit you???"
"Well, it's less confidence and more certainty. My brother had evolved as a Named, but even he hadn't changed to this degree.
The grade of evolution is clearly on a different level. I never imagined I'd hear the Voice of the World in my lifetime!"
The hobgoblins who'd been listening in were nodding vigorously in agreement.
Was that so?
Naming them triggered evolution. But the degree of evolution varied depending on who did the naming...
Next time I had the chance, maybe I'd run an experiment to compare.
But still — the Demon Lord Army.
So it really did exist in this world!
Would a Demon Lord come attacking? And more importantly, whose side would I take when that happened???
Well, I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.
Fortunately, there seemed to be a "Hero" in this world too, and the common wisdom was that it was the Hero's job to deal with Demon Lords.
Whether the Hero was still alive after three hundred years was questionable, but... surely they'd reincarnated or something and were busily training away.
I'd make a mental note of it for now.
So, next topic...
"Hey, Ranga. That makes me your father's killer, doesn't it? Are you really okay with that?"
I asked the great black wolf who'd been so faithfully devoted to me.
"Honestly... yes, it weighs on my mind.
However, the outcome of battle is inevitable for monsters.
Regardless of the nature of the battle, victory makes one righteous — that is what I believe.
Defeat means nothing remains...
But... my lord not only pardoned us, but bestowed upon us our true names!
I feel nothing but gratitude — never hatred!"
"Hmm... If you ever want a rematch, I'll accept it any time."
"Hahaha. Since evolving, I've come to understand this even more clearly.
Had you fought seriously during our last battle, we would all be dead!
Had that happened, we would have perished without ever achieving the evolution that is our tribe's greatest aspiration.
Our loyalty belongs to our lord and ours alone!!!"
What was that supposed to mean...
Okay, sure, if I'd mimicked the Black Serpent, maybe I could've wiped them all out, but I wasn't about to take that kind of risk.
This guy was giving me way too much credit.
Well, it wasn't exactly a problem if he wanted to think that way...
"You've grown a lot too, you know."
"Hahaha! I'm honored!"
I casually agreed and nodded along.
Well, I had killed his father, after all. To say there was no grudge at all would be a lie.
If Ranga ever came for revenge, I'd happily oblige.
Until then, I'd need to make sure I'd gotten stronger.
After all, from the looks of it, he was already about as strong as the Black Serpent now...
And so, we chatted as we traveled.
Along the way, there were no monster attacks or any other incidents, and we made good progress.
We stopped for a thirty-minute break every three hours, and after fourteen hours of travel, we took a rest that included seven hours of sleep.
I suggested that maybe we were pushing it a bit too hard, but...
"It's fine! Thanks to the evolution, we don't tire as easily anymore!"
Rigul answered, and...
"Don't worry about us! While it's true we don't need to go without sleep like you do, we don't need much of it!
We also don't need to eat all that often, and we're perfectly fine even without food!"
Ranga chimed in as well.
Looking at everyone else, they were all brimming with enthusiasm.
At this rate, I was starting to look like the least motivated one, despite being the one who'd done the least.
Well, as long as everyone had the drive, I figured we'd keep going at this pace.
That meant twelve hours of running each day... these guys really had become tough.
At the end of the second day, while we were eating before bed...
"By the way,
I asked our guide, the goblin Gobta.
"Y-Yes!!! I think... I think we'll arrive tomorrow! The mountains already look really big!"
Being addressed by me, he'd probably panicked — half nervous, half excited.
He stumbled over his words so badly I wondered if he'd bitten his tongue.
Sure enough, now that he mentioned it, the mountains did look quite large.
We hadn't even been able to see them yesterday. Our speed was absolutely ridiculous.
Come to think of it...
"By the way, I've been wondering — why did you go all the way to the Dwarf Kingdom? Don't they come to trade sometimes?"
I asked.
When I'd asked Rigurd about the goblin kingdom, he'd mentioned there was a tribe of Kobold traders.
It seemed odd to go out of one's way to travel two months to the Dwarf Kingdom.
"Yes! The dwarves buy magical weapons and armor at high prices!"
"Well, they pay with tools and such... but they let the traders carry the goods for them, so it was really helpful!"
"And besides, none of the monsters around the village can use weapons or armor..."
I see.
So they occasionally went to sell equipment looted from adventurers.
No wonder I'd noticed there wasn't much decent equipment lying around.
The Kobolds couldn't tell good equipment from bad, so they'd gone directly to the dwarves.
Then again, anyone who got beaten by goblins would have been a newbie who got lost in the forest — a total rookie.
I doubted they'd been carrying anything impressive...
Even so, the dwarves were willing to trade tools for them... they might actually be a surprisingly kind race.
If things went well, we might be able to build a friendly relationship.
Actually, more than might — I really wanted things to go well and establish a good relationship!
And then.
Three full days had passed since we set out.
The grasslands spread at the foot of the Canaat Mountain Range.
A magnificent city carved out of the natural caverns within the mountains.
A natural fortress created by Mother Nature herself.
Armed Nation Dwargon.
We had arrived at the Dwarf Kingdom!
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The reason Ranga was so attached... was it a little lacking?