Chapter Eighty-eight: Cross the Continent’s Rough Paths
Even after cleaning up the used dishes and distributing the rewards for resolving this series of incidents, the furrow between Mr. Ville’s brows doesn’t disappear. In fact, I have a feeling it is deepening by the minute. Is it just my imagination? Still, as the party leader, he knew better than anyone that he couldn’t avoid discussing our destination and route. Perhaps that’s why he finally opened his mouth, as if shaking something off, after downing his barley tea in one go.
“Our next destination is the capital, Schulbrand. That’s where the person we need to meet is.”
“Oh, so it comes to that after all.”
“The capital means crossing the mountains, huh… We’re fortunate to have you, Rin!”
Mr. Ville muttered these words while still looking like he was chewing on bitter bugs. Mr. Xenon and Mr. Ed nodded emphatically. Do these two somewhat grasp the situation?
Still, I heard something about crossing mountains, which sounds pretty challenging. I wonder how difficult the mountain path is. Judging by how Mr. Ed looked around the car and sighed with relief, I guess it would be quite tough on foot? Is it a winding road with five hairpin turns or a switchback-level steep mountain pass that would require a train to use reverse? Either way, we’ll have to rely on my trusty Campy!
…But as the driver, while the condition of the mountain road is important, there’s something else I’m more concerned about…
“By the way, how many days would it take to walk from here to this Schulbrand?”
“About two weeks, I’d say… Rin, how long do you think it would take using this vehicle?”
“Well, let me think for a moment…!”
I need to know the rough total distance of the journey to make a driving plan, even if it’s just an estimate! The distance from Rhielle Lake to the town of Ellarge I drove recently took 3 days on foot and 4 hours by car… So this is about five times that distance… Let’s see, let’s see… If we think about it the same way as last time, assuming walking at 4 km/h for 8 hours a day for 14 days… that’s 448 kilometers… Quite a long distance indeed!
Now, if we consider driving that in the Camping Car…
“Ah… Without considering breaks and road conditions, we could theoretically arrive in one day.”
“One day!? From here to the capital!?”
“Well, considering meal breaks and such, maybe two days… If the weather is rough and the roads are bad, four or five days might be more reasonable…”
“…That’s… plenty fast… Rin, don’t push yourself…”
The party leader, who probably knows the route from this town to the capital best, let out a cry that almost sounded like a scream—the journey time had been shortened far beyond what Mr. Ville had anticipated.
It’s true that theoretically if I could maintain a driving pace of 30-40 km/h, we could cover the distance in about 11-15 hours… but I think this operation plan is a bit too reckless. We’ll need time to eat meals and rest our bodies along the way, and I can’t rule out the possibility of monster attacks. Also, if this is the road connecting the only port town to the capital, it’s probably part of that "Large Highway". That means there will likely be many travelers and caravans, and I’ll probably have to drive alongside the road. If that’s the case, the road conditions might be poor, so it’s questionable whether I can maintain a good pace. Moreover, if the mountain weather turns nasty, even the Large Highway might be difficult to drive on… Taking all that into account, I tried to give an estimated schedule that factored in meals, sleep, and rest breaks… but even Ms. Aria looked at me with pity and patted my head as if to comfort me… what’s that about?
“At this time of year, the weather shouldn’t be too bad, but if you’re worried, there’s also a roundabout route we could take.”
“A roundabout route? Is there such a path?”
“Ah, you mean the route that goes around Melnoa Volcano, right? The road there is certainly flatter, but wouldn’t it take about five extra days?”
Oh! New place names are popping up one after another! But I have no idea where any of these places are, Mom!
Noticing my bewilderment at these completely unfamiliar place names, Mr. Ville drew several circles on the table with his fingertip, explaining the basic relative positions of each location.
Based on this, I understood that the town of Ellarge where we are now is at the easternmost edge of the continent, and our destination, the capital Schulbrand, is at the westernmost edge… In other words, we’re making a big move from one end to the other, and we have to cross mountains in between… It’s going to be quite a challenging journey.
Also, Melnoa Volcano, which was mentioned earlier, is a volcano located further north of Rhielle Lake, and the town at its foot is known as a blacksmithing town. This route is also mountainous, but the elevation and gradient aren’t as severe… However, it’s a longer way around, so it inevitably takes more time.
“…Well, with the Camping Car, we could theoretically make it around the volcano in one full day, and even with breaks, it would still be about 2-3 days.”
“…Ugh… I never imagined this vehicle would be such a fast means of travel…!”
“This is just a super optimistic estimate assuming good road conditions and no accidents… It might take longer, you know?”
Mr. Ville’s shoulders slumped as he was confronted with the reality that even with an additional five days’ walking distance added, we could theoretically complete the journey in 20 hours at 30 km/h.
The power of science… well, the Camping Car is not just science but also magic, but anyway… the tools of civilization are amazing!
That being said, this schedule is based on an optimistic prediction assuming everything goes smoothly… If something unexpected happens, it could take even longer, so please don’t be so discouraged…
“In any case, we’ll be stopping by the Guild again, right? We could ask about the road conditions then and decide. Well, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, though.”
“I’ve heard the monsters on the mountain roads have been quiet lately!”
“I hope we don’t get asked to take on another quest when we go to the Guild, but surely there won’t be any more, right? More importantly, it’s been ages since we had a break, so let’s hurry and make plans!”
“Mm! Looking forward to the break!”
While Mr. Ville was completely deflated, everyone else was getting excited about how to spend their brief leisure time.
…I mean, it’s fine to make leisure plans, but am I the only one who feels like we’re raising a lot of red flags for emergency missions…? Swallowing the words "Why is everyone raising flags?", I continued to pat Mr. Ville’s back along with Gomamiso.
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