"Shouldn't we check with the mayor?　Or Margret for that matter?

"It's okay. We didn't see anything. That's supposed to be the only boundary to the village of Colon. It would be unforgivable for the chief or Margret to set up a boundary without informing us.



"Well then, Mr. Gargoyle, if you think you can break it, break it and run an errand for us."

I'll go as soon as I can. I'll be off as soon as I can.



　The gargoyle took off and quickly arrived at the location of the warding.

　It was hard to see from here because of its transparency, but there seemed to be some kind of wall.



　While I was watching what he was going to do, he went down into the forest and Mr. Gargoyle cast a wind spell. The source of the warding must have been there.

The fact that Mr. Gargoyle was able to erase it, even though it was so big, suggests that it might have been made with just a little bit of magical power.

　The crystal wards made by Margret would not have been able to be erased so easily.



Mr. Locke, what are you going to do after this?

"I'd like to let my friends play in the snowy mountains, but they're free to go outside the village, right?



"Yes, ...... it's fine."

"Well then, I'm going to go to the mountains for a while.



"Thanks to the dragon's magic, there aren't too many ferocious monsters around here, but be careful. I'm going to report the large amount of snow stones and talk to the village chief and the other members about the night festival. If you need anything else, please come to the chief's house.



"Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Lucky.

--Aiyo--.



　I left AND and walked for a while and then called Ciel.

　Ciel rubbed her body against my face the same way she did yesterday.

　It tickled me so much.



Ciel, can you show me where the people from Suiju went yesterday?　

　Ciel nodded, perching on my shoulder and pointing with his wings.



"Lucky, please."

　The place was further up the mountain than the cave where we had dug out the snow stone.

　It was easy to see that a lot of people had stepped on the fresh snow, but the footprints had disappeared along the way.



"Ciel, where do we go from here?"

　Ciel pointed toward the bushes with his feather.

　It seems that the footprints were magically erased.



----"Locke, you better be careful.

"Okay."



　He looked through the bushes and saw a door disguised in white snow.

"You mean they went in here?"

　Ciel nodded broadly.



　I got off my lucky and slowly approached the door and opened it, only to find it completely dark inside.

　Usually, they keep lights on, such as phototherapy moss or magic tools, but I guess they are trying not to be found.

　This confirms ...... that this village is connected to the magical Suiju.



------Rock, you should not go any further. There is a lot of magic in the mix. You can come from there, but there are traps all over the place if you try to go from here.



"Okay. Thanks Lucky."

　That's all the adventurerly research I have to do.



　What to do with this passage is up to the Adventurers' Guild or the government.

　I personally don't see anything wrong with a rural village with little income being connected to a country with which we have no diplomatic relations, but I can only report the danger of a country specializing in magic becoming our enemy at any moment...



　I wonder how ...... that toolmaker knew about the rumor that Mage Suiju had sent a messenger to this village.



　If they came this way, it's unlikely that they would share the information with the village.

　I'm done with this.



"Thank you, Ciel."

　Ciel rubs himself against my face again. He's a real sweetie.



--What are you going to do about it, Rock? ----

"I think I'll let Patra and the others play in the snow, since we don't need to check any more. Can we continue on to the summit?"



--Of course--.

　He jumps on Lucky and runs through the forest and up to the top of the mountain at a high speed.

　It had been a long time since I had ridden on a lucky, but I noticed that I could now afford to watch the scenery go by.　



　When we had met in the dungeon, I had not even had time to look around.

　Lucky was going up the steep slope.



　It's a bit too steep, isn't it?

　In no time at all, we were at the top of a mountain overlooking Suiju country.