Three days after we left Querres for the Lugen Valley, the big mountains finally came into view.
　There are two long, deep mountains in a row, with a wide river running between them.
　Both mountains are green at the foot of the mountain, but from the middle of the mountain, the vegetation disappears and the mountains become gray and rocky.
　I don't think they're a thousand meters high but they're still pretty big.

''Uhih ... this is another amazing place.''

It's a big mountain and river. There are big mountains and rivers.

'It's a bigger canyon than I thought it would be. I wonder if there's a Lupeslex in that rocky pile up there?

'I suppose so. I want you to stay on the first mountain you go to...

　I don't have much climbing experience, and I'm starting to get nervous about climbing that thing.
　Well, the beacon on the way back will make it a lot easier, I think. You can't be too careful on the way back, right?
　It's no wonder there aren't many adventurers who can go hunting, climbing a mountain like this and even hunting a demon.

　And the river that runs through the two mountains is also quite large. It's probably about 30 meters wide.
　It's fine to go to one side of the mountain as is, but if there's no Lupes Rex on this side of the mountain, we'll have to cross the river to get to the other side....
　In this case, it's going to be harder to climb the mountain than to defeat the monster.
　Moreover, it's a long and rocky part of the mountain, and it would be hard to find the mimicking Lupes Rex among them....

　Anyway, we arrived at our destination, so I contacted Sisha and the others who were waiting at home to come to the site.

'Haha, I heard it was a ravine, but I didn't know it was such a big place. It sounds fun to climb this mountain.''

'Huh ... the thought of climbing this mountain from now on makes me cringe.

　When I call for the girls, Sisha is looking at the mountain with a curious look on her face.
　Luna, on the other hand, is looking up at the mountain, sighing and wrinkling her brow, looking very uncomfortable.
　And now she begins to stare at my face, looking as if she wants to say something.

''Hmm?　What's going on, Luna?

'Heihachi, can't you just use Spatium to move to that rocky mountain with Papa?　Then you can call us at the beacon, right?

'Ooh, I hadn't thought of that idea. Let's give it a try.

　Well, if the Spatium can swap positions with visible objects, I might be able to move from here to the rocky hill at once.
　I took out the spatium and used the binoculars to check the rocky mountain in order to find a replacement target.
　There is nothing remarkable, but there are a number of rocks lying on top of the mountain, so I press the button to replace one of them, paying attention to it.

　But the spatium didn't respond.
　Strange?　I pressed the button again, but again, the rock and its position were not replaced.
　I tried another rock to see if that rock was a monster, but the result was the same.

　Huh?　If it's a visible target, can't they just replace it?

'Well no. I tried looking at some of the rocks and it didn't respond.

Is it too far away, or is the rock not enough of a target, sir?

No, the last time I tried, the stone worked, so maybe it's because it's too far away.

'You haven't even tried Spatium at all yet. Is there some kind of limitation?

　Hmmm, maybe the Spatium is like a beacon and has some sort of distance limit.
　When I tried it to find out how long it takes to reuse it or something, I was able to swap positions with the rocks, so it should be able to go with rocks too.
　I hadn't tried the distance, so I'll have to try next time to see how far I can go.
　I've given up on the idea that we can't travel in Spatium.........

''No, it's too early to give up. Let's throw my spear away and use it as a target.

No, no, no, it's impossible. It's probably because of the distance. And it's too far away to reach the spear itself, right?

Spunk. Spunk will get you there.

　The little girl who can't give up tells me not to give up yet.
　It's while gazing at me with hot, willful eyes that don't show the slightest hint of her usual depravity.
　To be so desperate to make it easy.............................there's no way I can manage it with my spunk!
　But no matter what I say, there's no stopping it.
　It's no use, let's just give it a try and see if it makes sense.

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do that. "Ah, yes, just do it.

Yeah, Heihachi is a very good guy.

Good luck with that, Luna!

I'm on it. All right, let's go.

　As Sisha cheered, Luna confidently took out her spear and once she stepped back, she ran forward with great vigor.
　She then kicked the ground and jumped up and threw her full strength towards the rocky mountain in the air.
　The crimson spear released from his hand goes towards the rocky mountain and flies in a straight line.
　However, the momentum gradually began to wane, and in the end, it stalled much before the rocky mountain and disappeared into the forest.
　 It's not a distance that can be managed with spunk.

"...Hmm...

You didn't get it, did you?

Well let's just walk like a normal person.

Mr. Luna!　Don't let it get you down!

I don't have the skills yet to...

Hey!　You have to stop that!

　I hurriedly stopped Luna as she started trying to reach me until she used her skills, holding up the Bladburg that came back with an automatic recovery.
　We're about to climb a mountain, and I don't want to be worn out by using my skills for nothing.
　As for me, I was in favor of using Spatium to climb it all at once, but it's impossible, so there's no choice.
　Luna looked dissatisfied with her mouth agape, but the spear didn't even reach her, so she reluctantly gave up.
　It's not even close to climbing the mountain yet, but it looks like we can finally start climbing towards the rocky mountain.

●

　After marking the direction of the rocky mountain in the map app, we entered the forest at the base of the rocky mountain.
　I lead the way through a pathless path with trees and grasses growing all over the place.
　I'm moving much faster as I have Estelle and Sisha cast support magic on all of us, but I'm still going to climb the mountain steadily while taking breaks to be careful.
　It's hard to walk in a mountain without a lot of human hands... If I didn't have a map app, I wouldn't even know which direction to go.

Phew, mountain climbing is so tiring after all...

That's right. I'm somewhat familiar with the bamboo forest, but it's a different story when you're climbing up the hill.

　We've been stepping into Alde Forest and the bamboo forest a lot lately, so we're all pretty familiar with the way we walk in these places.
　Still, it's a little different when you climb up, and even I'm starting to feel a little more tired.
　

''See, the foothold here is bad, so be careful!

Oh, thank you.

　I took Estelle's hand and made her go over the steps while supporting her back.
　As I said, she's gotten a lot tougher, but her footsteps are still a bit treacherous compared to Noor and the others.
　I'm sure the Norsemen are paying attention, but I'll have to keep a close eye on them too.

It's not like we're encountering any demons at all. Are they not in this part of the forest?

'Come to think of it, yes. And the map app isn't responding, either.

Good thing. It's hard just to climb the mountain. It's rather hard to move.

"Luna can learn a little from Esther...

　The only saving grace of this mountain climb so far is that I haven't encountered any demons in this part of the forest.
　Of course, there may be mimicking monsters, so I'm paying attention to that.
　Especially in the thick trees on the route, it is only after attacking them that I proceed.
　Even so, there are no demons that start to move, and I can't see any response from the demons in the map app either.
　Climbing this mountain seems to be our biggest enemy right now.

　For the next few hours, we were steadily choosing a place that seemed easy to pass through, aiming for the hillside, but....

"Hmm, I guess we'll have to go around this one.

　When we finally reached the halfway point, we hit a wall of rocks that looked like a 50-meter-high wall.

It looks like a tough climb. It will be easier if you go straight up, but...

I want to come around and go home.

We're almost there, we're almost there, so let's go for it!

　I looked to the left and right and this cliff goes on forever.
　I was going as straight as I could towards the rocky mountain, but it looks like I'm going to have to make a big detour here.
　But the rocky mountain seems to be right in front of me when I climb up here...do I manage to climb it?
　I think I could get there if I used wall shoes or something, but it's too high and a bit scary.
　

''In that case, leave it to me.

　Esther asks me to leave it to her as she pats herself on the chest.

'Oh, do you have a better idea!

'Yes, if you can't go straight ahead, just make a path for us to go on. I think we can make it this high.

...What?

　Aside from our bewilderment at not knowing what we were going to do, Esther began to take out her wand and yellow grimoire.

''I have to be a little more enthusiastic than usual...''

　Estelle is standing right in front of the cliffs with her eyes closed, holding her wand in both hands and concentrating as it is.
　I, what the hell is going on?

'....hmm!　Eeeeee!

　I'm sure you'll be able to see the difference.
　The part of the cliff where the wand had been placed on the cliff gradually began to be dented vertically from bottom to top.
　The lower part of the cliff stopped after a certain amount of time, but the upper part continued to be dented without stopping, and parts of the cliff that were vertical began to slant.
　In no time at all we had a gentle slope that led up to the top of the cliff.

Hmm. What do you think?　You can climb this one, right?

That's Esther. I knew I could count on you to be there for me in times of trouble.

'As usual, Esther-san's magic is outrageous.

Well, the magic is great we did it and it's easy.

That's going to keep us in line, isn't it?　You can count on Esther to be reliable!

'Hmmm, you could have given me more compliments.

　
　Hearing our words, she is smiling with a toothy grin.
　The fact that she has the time to properly climb up to this point and laugh, and even more importantly, help us out like this...................really dependable, Esther.
　We quickly proceeded up the slope she had created and we headed to our destination, the rocky mountain.