"The Last Defender of the Way" adventurer team, along with the twin lolis, trudged through a winding, muddy path, climbed over rolling hills, and navigated the wilderness using a map and compass.
EeDeChi and Barrett were the kind of people who could walk for miles without breaking a sweat. The platinum-level adventurer Sean also had great stamina. However, Stella, the delicate female cleric, was suffering. Her physical strength wasn't the best, and her basic-level flying magic couldn't be sustained for long due to her limited mana.
She had to rest many times along the way. Additionally, Barrett and Sean each carrying Ureirika and Kuuderika slowed them down considerably.
In Barrett's opinion, saving Ureirika and Kuuderika was already an act of immense kindness by the team leader. The next step should have been to either return them to their parents or send them to an orphanage.
Instead, they were listening to the wild stories of these two little brats, not searching for their parents but rather their possibly deceased sister. As a result, they were now trekking through the wilderness, burdened with these two deadweights.
But EeDeChi insisted on finding the twins' sister, a mage adventurer named Arche. She was convinced that Arche was still alive, only captured by Ainz to be part of his harem and imprisoned in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, unable to leave.
Barrett glanced at Stella, who was sitting on a rock, casting a blessing spell on herself. He shook his head and returned his focus to the parchment map in his hand.
The map was incomplete and the terrain wasn't well-drawn; otherwise, they would have chosen to travel by horseback.
The travel method and route were planned by the experienced adventurer Barrett, who hadn't considered that someone might not be able to keep up. After all, as a mithril-level adventurer, it had been a long time since he had teamed up with a silver-level adventurer like Stella.
EeDeChi, who had designated the travel destination, seemed entirely indifferent. She stood atop a small hill, still carrying her giant sword.
The autumn breeze gently lifted her short black hair as she gazed into the distance where the mountains met the gray sky, lost in thought.
At this time of year, in the southern region where the Empire and the Re-Estize Kingdom bordered, darkness fell very early. As soon as the sun set behind the mountains, night swiftly followed.
It was already afternoon, and the dim, lackluster sun hung low in the sky. Barrett and Sean conferred briefly and, with EeDeChi's agreement, decided to head to the nearest village marked on the map—Sheep Horn Village—for lodging and rest. Sean also seemed keen on buying a horse in Sheep Horn specifically for Stella to ride.
Whether there would be horses in Sheep Horn remained to be seen upon their arrival.
Traveling at night was not a good choice, as the risk of getting lost was higher, and camping in the wilderness could expose them to unknown dangers. Although EeDeChi boasted about not fearing any danger, Barrett knew that this orichalcum-level adventurer preferred a good night's sleep.
The group adjusted their direction slightly and walked towards the other side of the hills. Soon, they reached a valley where Sheep Horn Village, as indicated on the parchment map, was nestled.
From a distance, the small houses with red roofs and gray walls were scattered across the land. A narrow path wound through the village, and light green and dark yellow crops divided the ground into rectangular patches. Occasionally, farmers could be seen bending over, harvesting their crops. In the far-off low hills, a few sheep dotted the landscape, resembling floating white clouds.
The four adventurers, along with the twin sisters, walked briskly along the muddy path of Sheep Horn Village, curiously looking around.
This area was already the border of the Re-Estize Kingdom, but the village scenery was no different from that of the Baharuth Empire. The fields by the roadside were filled with corn, barley, and oats waiting to be harvested. Along the way, some farmers paused their work to stand and observe the newcomers, their eyes filled with curiosity but more so with deep caution.
"Does anyone else think something's off? Why aren't there any young men working in the fields?" Sean, who was adept at observation, noticed something amiss.
Indeed, as he expected, most of the people in the fields wielding hoes and sickles or herding cattle and sheep were women, children, and elderly with wrinkled faces. There were very few young men.
"Maybe they've gone to the city for work. I wonder what the farming policies are like in the Re-Estize Kingdom. Do they have any farmer-friendly measures?" EeDeChi, walking in front, mused aloud to himself.
"What?" The other three were a bit puzzled by their leader's words.
"Maybe they've all gone to join the army? I heard the Re-Estize Kingdom has a conscription system that drafts young men into the military," Sean speculated, sounding somewhat proud.
The Baharuth Empire valued quality over quantity, specializing in training professional cavalry. In contrast, the Re-Estize Kingdom relied on its conscription system to draft civilians each year, maintaining a large army to counter the Baharuth Empire. Naturally, as an Imperial citizen, Sean looked down on this system.
Barrett scanned the surroundings, meeting the unfriendly gazes of several peasant women. He lowered his head and said, "It is odd. From what I know, during the busy farming season, the conscripts of the Re-Estize Kingdom are usually sent home to help with the harvest and are only called back in the summer. So why are there so few young men here now?"
Barrett joked, "Could it be that this village has a plague that kills young men? Haha, have we walked into a village of widows?"
EeDeChi turned and glared at him. "Keep your thoughts to yourself. We don't accept morally corrupt people in our team!"
Barrett fell silent. In the past, when he teamed up with more carefree adventurers, this would have been a moment filled with hearty laughter. But now, cleric Stella certainly wouldn't laugh, and Sean, trying to maintain his image in front of Stella, wouldn't join in on the joke either.
Sean tried to smooth things over with a jest, "Let's hope not, or you and I, old man, might catch this disease since we're both young men." He winked at Barrett.
The sun slowly dipped behind the mountains, the golden edges of the sunset fading, making way for the encroaching darkness of night.
After a whole day of traveling, the four adventurers' legs were sore, and their stomachs were growling. They urgently needed a place to rest, a warm bowl of soup, and a dry, flat bed.