Volume 3, Chapter 22 – The Plank Road of the Fanlin Mountains

Two days after departing from the town of Yianshui, the roads that carriages could travel—last seen at the farming village where we spent our first night—vanished entirely.

In their place, the path transformed into a steep, proper mountain trail.

This mountain range was known as the Fanlin Mountains, and our destination, the town of Chi Tien, lay on the other side.

At least, that was how it was supposed to be…

“Is this really a road used for trade?”

“The people at the inn said so, but this is more than I expected,” Chris-san replied.

“Indeed, it must be quite a hardship to conduct business using a path such as this,” Shizuku-dono added.

Since it was winter, the undergrowth had withered, but the footprints were clear and markers had been placed here and there to prevent travelers from getting lost. There was no doubt this was a road.

“Oh, travelers! Good day to you~”

“Good day.”

As we spoke, we passed a merchant caravan coming from the opposite direction. They were carrying massive loads on their backs, with even more piled onto donkeys.

Oh, wow. It really is being used as a trade route.

Since the path was narrow, we pulled over to the edge to let them pass.

“Much obliged~”

The merchants gave us a bright greeting and continued down the path we had just climbed.

After seeing them off, we resumed our ascent up the mountain trail.

“It really was a trade route.”

“My, what a surprise,” Shizuku-dono remarked.

Chris-san had an expression that said much the same. Amidst us, only Lu-chan was walking with a perfectly nonchalant face.

“Oh? Lu-chan, is a mountain path like this nothing to you?”

“Yes! I am an Elf, after all. We Elves feel a surge of energy when we’re in the forest, you know?”

“As expected of an Elf.”

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“Is it not the same for you, Onee-sama?”

“It isn’t like that for me. I can’t even see spirits, except for Riche.”

To be precise, if I look closely, I can vaguely tell that something might be there, but I wouldn’t say I can actually “see” them.

When I said that, Lu-chan stole a glance at Riche, who was sleeping peacefully on top of my head.

“I see. I suppose if you’re a reversion, your powers as an Elf would be significantly weakened…”

Lu-chan lowered her eyes sadly.

No, well, see, that’s where you’re wrong. I shouldn’t have even a single drop of Elf blood in me, after all.

“But it’s okay! I’m sure once Riche-chan becomes a Greater Spirit and Onee-sama undergoes an Existence Evolution, you’ll definitely be able to see them!”

“Eh? Oh, right. I suppose so. Thank you, Lu-chan.”

“You’re welcome!”

Lu-chan gave me her usual energetic smile.

＊＊＊＊

After walking along the mountain trail for a while longer, a truly outrageous sight suddenly appeared before our eyes.

“Um, are we sure this is the right way? How in the world did that donkey pass through here?”

Stretching out before us was a sheer cliff. Bolted onto the face of that cliff were wooden planks about 80cm wide, forming a path. It was what one would call a cliffside walkway.

Naturally, there was no such thing as a safety railing.

How far was it to the bottom of the valley? It might have been several hundred meters.

“O-Onee-sama, are we really going across this?”

Even Lu-chan was recoiling at the sight.

However, the guide signs clearly pointed toward this path as the way to Chi Tien.

“Well, it seems everyone is scared, so I’ll go first.”

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I can turn into a cute white bat. Even if these planks are rotten and I fall, I should be able to avoid dying, at the very least.

“What?! If Fiene-sama is going, then I shall go first!”

“No, I shall go,” Shizuku-dono insisted.

“Eh? Then I’ll—”

For a moment, I thought about telling Lu-chan, “After you, after you,” but I stopped myself. I had a feeling she was the type of character who would just end up crying.

“In that case, let us leave it to Lumia.”

“Lumia-dono, we’re counting on you.”

“Ehhh?!”

“”Eh?””

Lu-chan was on the verge of tears after being hit with the classic setup.

“There, there, Lu-chan. It’ll be okay, so let’s go together, alright?”

“Onee-samaaa!”

Lu-chan threw herself at me and hugged me. I patted her head soothingly.

“And you two? It’s mean to tease Lu-chan like that.”

“”Eh?””

“Eh?”

——Wait, they were being serious?!

And so, we began crossing this terrifying cliffside walkway.

It seemed that people really did use it fairly often; the wood didn’t appear rotten, and I could see signs of repairs here and there.

The way it creaked and groaned beneath our feet was a bit scary, but once I got used to it, it was no big deal.

“The view is actually quite nice.”

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I called out to Lu-chan, who was walking behind me.

“O-Onee-sama… I don’t have the luxury to look.”

Lu-chan was walking while hugging the cliff wall as tightly as possible. The two walking behind her also seemed to be moving with considerably more caution than usual.

“You don’t have to be so scared. I’m walking on it, so it’s safe, right?”

“T-That may be true, but…”

Shizuku-dono, walking at the very rear, muttered a quiet monologue to herself.

“It’s rather hard to hear that from someone as light as you.”

“Ah, exactly,” Chris-san agreed.

Ah, right. I forgot. Compared to those two, I have a small and delicate build, and on top of that, all my luggage is in Storage, so I’m carrying nothing.

I’m also not wearing armor like Chris-san.

While we were having that trivial exchange, the cliffside walkway ended, and we returned to solid ground.

Was it about 200 meters long?

I wondered if I was the only one who felt it was surprisingly short.

I sat down on a nearby rock and waited for the other three while practicing my Enchanting to kill time. This daily accumulation of effort is essential for improving my Skill Level.

“Onee-samaaa, you’re too fast~”

Having finished the crossing, Lu-chan spoke to me in a completely drained voice.

“Well, I wasn’t scared, you see.”

“Wha—why not?”

“Because I can fly for a little while.”

“Ehhh?!”

“Oh? Did I not mention that?”

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“I didn’t hear anything about that! That’s cheating! Onee-sama, please teach me that technique too!”

“I don’t think you can do it, Lu-chan. You’re a pure Elf, after all.”

“Ah, I guess so… I bet Onee-sama’s ancestors had some other special Race mixed in besides High Elves. Hmph.”

She began muttering to herself about how she’d never heard of a Half-Elf being able to fly.

“Fiene-sama, sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Our apologies for the delay.”

“No, no. I’m just glad you two didn’t fall. With a valley this deep, it would be a pain to rescue someone.”

“Fiene-sama, from this height… No, never mind. Come, let us hurry onward.”

Hmm? I had an image of Chris-san just casually climbing back up if she fell.

Wait, but if I think about it normally, you’d definitely die if you fell from here.

Huh, why did I think that?

As I thought that, I was suddenly overcome by a strange, vague feeling of unease.

Driven by that unease, I took Chris-san’s hand and spoke.

“Fiene-sama?”

“Come, let’s keep moving.”

After that, more cliffside walkways appeared one after another. But perhaps because they had crossed similar paths so many times, the three of them gradually grew used to it. By the end, they were walking along them just as easily as they would a normal road.

And after three nights of camping in the wilderness, we finally arrived at a small mountain village.

Author Note

For those who couldn’t quite understand why the three besides Fiene were so terrified, try searching for images of a “cliffside walkway”.

Translator Note

I tried that last time, and honestly, it actually looked normal to me. I kept thinking, “This should be safe since it’s a public route, right?”