The Canobis Mountains.
　It is the largest mountain range on the continent, located in the center of the Robles continent.

　With the exception of the Ermenian Empire and the island nation of Albarn, which is located in the southeastern part of the continent, each country is surrounded by this mountain range.
　Not to mention the rugged terrain, the fact that it is one of the major reasons why people have always refused to settle in the area, not to mention the fact that it is one of the demonic regions inhabited by many dangerous monsters.
　Nowadays, no country is foolish enough to think of turning this land into a territory.
　As a result, it has become a natural border that is too monstrous to be called a buffer zone - a natural barrier to human traffic.

"Do we really need to walk all the way through this kind of land on foot?

　I guess it's not that I'm dissatisfied, I'm not.
　It was purely Nere's question.

　Right now Aldis and the others were advancing north along the foothills of the Canobis Mountains.
　The foothills of the mountain range are not a place that people would normally set foot in, as this is a land of ferocious demons.
　The only people who would come to such a place would be daredevil mercenaries or blinded by greed.

It's a good thing that Marida says so meaningfully, so something must be going on. Well, apart from that, the foot of the mountain range is certainly a good place to live in peace and quiet.

　Even for the people of the church, it would be painful to find a hideout in this wide mountain range.
　No matter how much they consider Ardis to be a divine enemy, it is unthinkable that they would hunt the entire mountain range, which is larger than the land of the Kingdom of Naglas and the Union of City States.
　It would be like sending a huge number of believers to the land of death by whisking them away.

''The only problem is that going to town is more troublesome than ever before.

　Even though the Kosus Forest was a demonic environment, it was less than a day's walk away from the royal capital and the town of Tria.
　It's not too far from the outer edge of the forest that Aldis and the others lived in, so it was convenient, but it was also one of the reasons why the existence of a place to live was known to the other side.

　However, living in this area would bring one more complication.

My Lord.

'Oh. Again. ....... That's a lot.

　To Nere's words of caution, Ardis replied with a disgusted expression.
　This is because a large amount of magic power was caught in the magic exploration.

　Since entering the Canobis Mountains, Ardis and his friends have been attacked by demons many times.
　The frequency of these attacks is worthy of the name of the demon world, and there have been two or three attacks within an hour.

　Indeed, this would make even the most skilled mercenaries hesitate to enter the mountain range.
　Moreover, the attackers weren't just weak demons like beasts or dispersers.
　There are demons everywhere that can single-handedly toy with an army.

''Two ...... bodies ......, are they fighting each other?''

　It seems that the two demons are checking each other out in the sky a bit far from where Aldis and the others are.

"They may be fighting over their prey.

Maybe that's our prey, or maybe it's us?

Well, there's no denying the possibility.

　One of them was a demon that Aldis knew.
　Its upper body was covered in feathers, and it had a head reminiscent of a bird of prey, with horns like a buffalo.
　The lower half of its body had four thick, horse-leg-like legs, and apart from that, it had two arms with sharp claws.
　It was a grinder.

　The other one was a demon that Aldis had never seen before.
　Its arthropod-like appearance gave it an overall impression of thinness, and the bulge that looked like a tail was probably its abdomen.
　The unbalanced size of the head has horrifying eyes that glare at the surroundings.
　A pair of wings sprouting from the neck of the mantis was extremely busy moving and holding it in the air.

''It's the Yomihon-Ronkou!

What about it?

　Aldis had heard of them too.
　Like the Grinder, they were known as dangerous demons that even skilled mercenaries could only be prepared to be wiped out if they encountered them.
　In the meantime, the two demons began to fight in earnest.

''QUEEN!''

　The grinder's surroundings distorted.

　A wind comparable to the advanced magic of the St. Glor Elimate Blade struck the Yellow Water Vulture.
　Several wounds were carved into the old bamboo-colored body and the body of the yellow water violet mantis wavered.

　But if the other side is dangerous, the other side is also extremely dangerous.
　As soon as the courageous courageous courageous mantis regained its footing, it sprayed something from between the two eyes at the grinder.

　The wings of the grinder, which were properly bathed in it, turned white in an instant.
　Apparently it was a low temperature liquid.

　The flapping of the grinder's wings slows down and it falls unsteadily toward the ground.
　It doesn't seem to be injured deep enough to take a life, but I guess it can't continue to fight when its wings are no longer moving satisfactorily.
　Eventually, when they were out of sight, the yellow water vortices that had gained victor status turned their attention towards Aldis and the others.

''Apparently, what Nere said was right on target.

　It was likely that Aldis and the others seemed to be affordable prey to Yellow Spring Mantis.
　It came straight at us as if gliding from above.

　Aldis opened the gate and drew a few swords and pointed one of them at the front of the Yellow Water Violet.
　The Yellow Water Violet is agile enough to avoid the flying sword as it cuts through the air, despite the fact that it is gliding.

　But Ardis's arrows aren't merely curved and flying.
　It is a part of sword magic, a handless sword technique controlled by magic power.

　The flying sword that passed through the Yellow Water Vaporizer flew back in a solitary fashion and was thrust into its abdomen from behind.
　The old bamboo-colored body moved significantly.

　Three flying swords attacked the yellow water violet mantis from the front and sides.
　They probably didn't even understand what had happened.
　The head is cut off and separated from the body with a horrible look at Ardis and the others.

　As it was, the yellow water vest fell to the ground as it glided through the air.

I'm not sure how many times I've been attacked like this.

　It's a good thing that you're a good friend of mine.
　It's the most convenient place in terms of being off-limits to people, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to create a new place to live if you can't relax.

The option to live around here is .......

"Then, my Lord, will we cross the mountain range and head north soon?

Yes. ......

　I don't know what Marida's intentions were, but as expected, Aldis had figured out that it would be difficult to live in this place.

'I'm going to look up and check the direction. Give me a moment.

I'll go see if I can find out.

That's okay. It's not a big deal.

　After refusing Rona's suggestion, Aldis floats his body into the sky as it is.

　Only Charu, who is not used to seeing that scene among the group, turns to Ardis with a complicated expression.
　It was only a few days ago that he rolled his eyes at seeing Aldis floating in the air for the first time.
　No wonder he couldn't get used to the insane sight.

　Floating himself in the sky above, Aldis looked around in a circle.
　To his left, the mountains rise above the forest limit, revealing the ground, and all other directions are covered by a deep forest.
　If they were higher, they might be able to see the city of the City-State Alliance in the background.

''Hm?　What is it?

　The trees in the forest, which seemed to go on forever, Ardis found that they were unnaturally cut off at one point.
　As for the distance, it would be about half a day to walk in this direction without changing direction.

'I don't see it clearly, ......, is it a building or that one?'

　Although it was indeed only a blur, I could see what appeared to be a man-made building shape in the open land.

　When I went downstairs and quickly reported it to him, he said, "You're not losing sleep, are you? Rona climbed up to see for herself, saying bitterly, "It's true.

It's true. I did see a number of buildings that looked like houses. Maybe they're just ruins.

　Rona, who has better eyesight than Aldis, could see clearly.
　She said that as soon as she came down.

'Huh?　I'm sure the country never rose around here: ......

'There's a town?　Yes, I want to go, I want to go!

'Did you hear me right, Filia?　Rona says it might be abandoned.

......

　The four women responded in different ways.

''I've never heard of a human settlement at the foot of a mountain range, but until I see it with my own eyes, it's hard to say.

　Deep in the depths of the demon world, where even top-notch mercenaries would not easily set foot, someone who might be living in hiding just like Aldis and the others.
　Indeed, even if it was now an uninhabited ruin as Rona had said, it was still an intriguing presence.

　Since it was the direction they were heading anyway, Aldis and the others decided to stop by that open space.



'Hey Al,'

What?

I feel like the demon attacks haven't popped up since then.

That being said, I suppose: ......

　It's been several hours since we started walking towards the open area.
　As if it was a lie that they were attacked frequently at first, the number of attacks from dangerous demons decreased as they got closer to their destination, and now there were no demons, or even ferocious carnivores in sight.
　Just when Ardis was thinking about whether it was time to check the destination from the sky again, a human-sized being with weak magical power was caught in the magical power probe.

''Al.''

I know. You have very weak magic, but are you human?

'But isn't that too weak?　You're on the level of a novice mercenary, aren't you?

　Just as Rona said, the magic power that Ardis sensed was only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary person.
　This would be like a new mercenary trained in combat at best.
　It's hard to believe that they are capable of surviving in a land inhabited by such a powerful demon.

　It may be mysterious, but it doesn't feel dangerous, and Ardis and the others will continue on without avoiding it.
　When the distance between the two was close enough, a surprising human voice came from above the trees.

''Huh?　Messenger (Mitsuka-sama)!