At any rate, we can't start without going to check out the Arkwright Bridge, which is reported to have collapsed.

　We got into the ready carriage and started again, and when we continued on for a while, Garnett opened his mouth in an abhorrent manner.

'Shucks, you're a brave man or ...... the Falcon hasn't made a good impression on me at all.
He's not the only one who's brave. There are dozens of them all over the continent, so there are some honest ones out there.

　The man who once cut me off at the bottom of the A-ranked dungeon "The Thousand Year Corridor of the Abyss", was defeated by the Demon King Gandalf, was remade into a dragon man, and turned against humanity, even if only temporarily, is the Falcon the Hero.

　It is disrespectful to the other brave men and women to regard him as a typical example of a brave man.

　The brave men are recognized by the palace for their abilities, and their role is to defeat demons and demonkind that are a threat to humanity.

　Defeating the demons that have escaped from the dungeon is part of the job, and the brave man who was reported in the newspaper earlier was properly fulfilling his role.

'I mean, what are you, not me, going to do with your roots in the Falcon?
It's not that I'm bitter about it, but ...... it's kind of annoying, you know? It would be different if it wasn't for you, though: ......
Thanks, but I think I've got it all figured out. But I think I've got it all sorted out, so you don't have to worry about it too much.

　In other words, I didn't feel bad about it because it meant that I was considered that important, but I'm sorry to make you uncomfortable for this reason.

　With my impressions that cannot be expressed in one word, I was rocked by the carriage to the Arkwright Bridge.

　When we were moving to the royal capital, there were many carriages and travelers coming and going smoothly, but now, countless people were stranded on the shores of the great river (on the banks).

This is terrible. There's not a trace of the bridge!

　I got out of the carriage with Garnett and we walked through the crowd to observe the current situation from the riverside.

'White wolf, do you think you can fix this?
I'll be there in a minute.

　I put my hand on the river water and let the magic of 【Analysis】 flow into the riverbed.

　I can't find any wreckage of the bridge in the area I was able to figure out.
　If there was any wreckage left at the bottom, I might have been able to [repair] it with all my strength, but there's nothing I can do about it with this.

It's no use. There's no way to [restore] it if there's no wreckage.
"Shit, anyway, the guy who seems to know what's going on can go to ...... and say, 'Whoa, how about that guy?

　At the riverside, a group of people who seemed to be knights were organizing the crowd.

　As expected, they don't wear armor, but their clothes and behavior are clearly those of knights, and even from a distance they can be identified as such.

''Excuse me. I'd like to ask you a few questions.''
Hmm?　Yeah, it's been a bit messy.

　According to what the knight told me, the Arkwright Bridge was largely made of wood for the majority of its structure, so most of the wreckage destroyed by the Sea Serpent had been washed downstream.

　Since the structure was made of wood, it was decided to rebuild it with stone, but the actual work will not begin until a little later.

　Currently, the stranded travelers are being transported by ferry, but due to the size of the boat, it is not possible to transport the carriages.

　We were told that the only way to get across the river was to leave the carriage behind and switch to a shared carriage on the other side.

'By the way, where is the brave man who defeated the Sea Serpent?　Also, I don't see a dead Sea Serpent in sight.
''The corpse of the demonic beast was quickly cleaned up by the Adventurer's Guild. Brave Ezell's group left immediately, and I wonder where they are now.

　Ezell the Brave - a name I've never heard of.
　Maybe he's a brave man who hasn't been certified by the royal palace for a short period of time.

　Since I was able to hear approximately what I wanted to know, I decided to meet up with Garnett once and ask for his opinion.

''A ride-along carriage? What do you think?
I don't like it much. It's just too slow, isn't it? It's the same as taking the long way.

　Garnett doesn't seem to be keen on using a riding carriage.

　The speed at which the carriage travels depends on the number of horses tethered to it and the size of the body of the carriage.

　The simple fact is that the more horses and lighter the load, the faster the carriage can move.

　In that respect, the conditions for a horse-drawn carriage are not good.

　If you have a lot of people on board, the 'load' will inevitably be heavier, and under these circumstances, you'll be trying to get as many people on board as possible at once, so you can't expect to move as fast as you can.

It's inevitable. Let's just send a letter to Green Hollow saying that we'll be later than planned, and then we'll figure out a circuitous route.
A letter?　...... Yeah, if you ask me, there are couriers all over the place. So they're here to make a buck.

　Of the crowds crowded on both banks of the great river, about ten percent of the crowds seemed to be transporters, not travelers.

　Ferryboats, boarding wagons, and baggage carriers.

　As if adventurers are flocking to the newly found dungeon, various vendors are gathering to avoid missing the sudden earning opportunity created by the Sea Serpent's rampage.

　If I had been able to [repair] the bridge, I might have been pleased by the travelers, but I might have been deeply resented by those contractors.

''Then let's get back to the carriage.

　We turned back to Garnett and the carriage, where he and the coachman decided to plan a detour route.

''Well, ...... we have two suggestions for a detour for now,''

　The driver unrolls a map and explains to us the different possible routes.

'The first is the route across the bridge on the road upstream. The first one is to cross the bridge on the upstream road, which passes near several towns, so it's easy to replenish your supply, but you'll have to take a reasonable detour.

　A quick glance at the map shows that very clearly.

　Compared to the road that was originally planned to be taken, which was close to a straight line, the route was greatly distorted due to stopping at multiple towns, and from what I can see, it's more about convenience along the way than the shortest route.

'The other route is a detour along a lake downstream, which is extremely large. This is an extremely large lake. It's said to take at least two days to complete a circuit by horse-drawn carriage, so it takes longer, if not longer, than the former route.
What's better than switching to a stagecoach?
I'd prefer to bypass the lake. More importantly, a horse-drawn carriage is not the best environment for it.

　As he is used to traveling long distances by carriage, his opinion was quite helpful.

　Under these conditions, the best route is to bypass the lake--

Also, the area around the lake is a scenic place. There's also the mysterious White Wolf Forest nearby, so you might want to take this opportunity to stop by.

　--Correction, I knew I shouldn't do that.
　Oh yes, I've been completely distracted by the size of the lake, but this lake has this one.

Let's start from the upper road. It's really deserted around the lake, so we need to be careful what happens if something happens to us.
No!　This way, it's settled!

　Garnett covered me from behind, putting an arm around my shoulders, and smiled a big smile.

　The meaning of the smile is palpable without saying it.

　It's the color of pure joy, with no malicious intent or desire to embarrass you.

'I've always wanted to visit your hometown. Hey, isn't that nice?
...... Well, you can't keep sending me a single message forever, can you?

　There's no reason why you can't go home.
　It's not that there's any inconvenience in seeing your relatives.

　It's simply that there was the awkwardness of leaving my hometown saying I wanted to be an adventurer, but fifteen years passed without achieving great success.

　The rest is in addition to that, the drastic changes in the environment since I came to Green Hollow have been so tremendous that it was hard to report on it in any way.

　But I can't continue to lose touch with them for a long time to come.

　I've always felt that I had to tell him about the knighthood and my relationship with Garnett as soon as possible.

　If I put it off for some reason, like mental preparation or something, I'm sure I'll keep putting it off forever.

'I have to inform my parents and siblings about what happened with you too. You can't just report this after the fact, as expected.
Oh, you, hey, ......!　It's not that I didn't think about that story ......, though. ......

　It's a good thing that you're able to get the most out of this article.

　...... I knew it was a concern for Garnett's situation.