Just as we were told, we spent about half a day to reach the valley's entrance, as it is located half a day's walk from the capital. By the way, the time spent traveling was not on foot, but spent in a carriage.
If I had been to the valley once, it would have taken us an instant to get there… Unfortunately, it's my first time there, so that's not going to happen. Therefore, Owen-san arranged for a carriage to drop us off near the valley.
Certainly, walking that distance would have been difficult for Kaori. It's not for Yuti, Night, Akatsuki, and me, but I'm really grateful.
"Ugh… I've never ridden in a carriage before; it makes my bottom hurt so much…"
I've ridden it once, and I didn't feel the pain as much as Kaori did. This is probably because the difference between status values has a lot to do with it.
"Um… are you okay? Do you want to take a little break?"
Kaori shook her head as I asked her that. I had already planned to proceed according to Kaori's physical condition.
"No, it's fine! More importantly, let's go see the legendary dragon as soon as possible!"
I couldn't suppress a bitter smile as Kaori pointed to the valley with her eyes shining. What can I say? I didn't know that Kaori has a surprisingly strong sense of adventure until we travelled here.
She is not accustomed to the world, even on Earth, so she must be very interested in this kind of new experience. No, it's not just Kaori; I'm also curious about the legendary dragon.
However, I don't even know if it is friendly yet, so we should proceed with caution here.
"Advice. Kaori, stay close to Yuuya and me."
"Y-yes!"
"Night should look after Kaori too. And Akatsuki should… Well, yeah."
"Woof."
"Fugo?"
Night replied cheerfully, while Akatsuki stomped on the ground as if to say that he was offended. Because… well, I can't imagine Akatsuki fighting. I've never seen him fight before and…
"No, Akatsuki, if we get hurt, make sure you heal us well, okay?"
"Fugo? Buhi."
When I quickly followed up on that, Akatsuki seemed to say that it couldn't be helped and squealed proudly. He's cute.
Thus, we were ready to go and stepped into the valley.
＊＊＊
"──Yuuya. Monster. It's headed your way."
"Okay…!"
As Owen-san had described, monsters attacked us one after another a little while after entering the valley. It's also very different from the [Great Devil's Nest] where I usually fight. The monsters were all types I've never seen before.
The monsters I'm fighting now are the first of it's kind that I've seen in this valley; these drooling wolf-shaped monsters are called [Hungry Fang]s.
This monster doesn't have a lot of fur like Night, and is relatively slender, and attacks in packs. However, as Owen-san mentioned beforehand, they were as strong as Bloody Ogre when it came to fighting power, so I was able to deal with them calmly.
I finished defeating the Hungry Fang pack that was attacking me and took a deep breath.
"Phew… there seems to be no problem defeating them, but their vigor was frightening…"
"Affirmation. Hungry Fangs are always hungry, so their vigor while hunting their prey is incredible."
"I see… Or rather, the only item they dropped is a magic stone…"
The only thing left in the place where a Hungry Fang disappeared was a B-class magic stone. Considering that I got the armor I'm wearing now and other things from the Bloody Ogre, it's not entirely worthwhile to hunt it, even if it's the same rank.
"There's always a lot of items that dropped until now, so I feel so disappointed when I don't get them like now."
"Denial. There's always something wrong with Yuuya when it comes to dropped items."
"Eh?"
Is that right? Every time I defeat them, the enemy usually drops an item of some sort. No, I guess the rare drop items don't drop very often though. As I was picking up the magic stone and getting bored, Kaori, who was being protected by Night and Akatsuki, approached me.
"Thank you for your hard work. I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything to help you…"
"No, no, don't worry about it. We decided to have you be protected in the first place."
"Affirmative. Don't worry about it, Kaori. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses."
"Thank you very much."
Saying that, Kaori lowered her head. Even so… it's hard to believe that Yuti used the power of the "Evil" to attack us a few days ago while she showed such compassion towards Kaori. Well, Kaori also took care of Yuti on Earth, so I guess that's why she opened her heart.
Whatever the case, it's a good indication, considering how Yuti said she would kill humans.
"Now, it's been a little while since we entered the valley, shall we take a break and have a meal? It's an unfamiliar place, and I think it's best to take a break early."
"I agree. It's important to be careful."
"Yes, I think that sounds about right!"
Not only Yuti and Kaori, but also Night and Akatsuki responded to my words, so I once again activated my teleportation magic and was ready to return to the Sage-san's house when Yuti suddenly stopped me.
"Yuuya,"
"Hmm?"
"Suggestion. Let's have lunch here."
"Eh?"
"Reason. Eating in nature, very good. It's so nice here."
Just like Yuti said, as we enter the valley where the legendary dragon is said to sleep, which is surrounded by steep rocky mountains on both sides, the area around the valley part was blessed with nature. Filled with plants that I had never seen even in the [Great Devil's Nest], with a lot of humidity and moss due to the river flowing through the valley; it was such a place.
If we're talking about being in the midst of nature, the [Great Devil's Nest] is also sufficient. Still, it is certainly not possible to have a meal near a flowing river in the [Great Devil's Nest] like in this valley.
"Hmm… I wonder if it would be okay? You see, don't you think the smell of the food will attract the monsters?"
"Don't worry. We can handle them. If you're still unsure, I'll set up a barrier now."
"Eh?"
When I couldn't help but respond to Yuti's strange statement, Yuti was in a daze, as if she was looking into the distance.
And then…
"…I can see it."
"What did you see?"
Not responding to my words, Yuti immediately held up her bow and released a large number of arrows into the sky.
"Now, we'll be fine."
"What?!"
I couldn't understand the meaning of her actions since it made no sense, and I could only be confused. It's not just me, but Kaori and the others as well, each of them looking at each other, unable to ascertain what Yuti's intentions are.
Then Yuti noticed our confusion and explained.
"I can see the future."
"Huh?"
"Of course, it's not perfect. But it's highly accurate. So I just shot it beforehand so the arrow will strike the prey just as it is coming out, according to that prediction."
"….."
Kaori was speechless at Yuti's blunt words. That's right… Yuti was able to do such an outrageous thing. That's why she was able to predict that rebar would fall on the heads of the mother and her baby when we went shopping for clothes.
No, it's not all about predicting the future, what does she mean by shooting an arrow ahead of time to match that predicted future…
But when I think about it, I suddenly recall the time when I fought Yuti, I received such an inexplicable attack.
"When I fought Yuuya, I also used it──look!?"
"Eh?"
As Yuti turned her gaze to the forest bushes, Kaori and I followed her sight in that direction too, and suddenly a Hungry Fang, which we had just fought, came charging in from there, drooling.
"Whoa!"
Being caught off guard completely, I hurriedly tried to raise my weapon, but an arrow struck the Hungry Fang between its eyebrows, even though Yuti hadn't moved. Then, Hungry Fang turned into a particle of light and disappeared.
"This is the barrier."
It was seriously unreal. No, really, any existence that bears the "Holy" title is beyond common sense. No, it seems that Yuti isn't an official "Holy" but a disciple… but if this is done by a disciple, and that's even more extraordinary…
Once again, as I trembled at Yuti's extraordinary ability. Yuti looked at me casually.
"No worries. Now we can eat delicious food in this place. Yuuya, cook."
"…Yes."
In the meantime, thanks to Yuti, I start preparing the food without any trouble, so I activate my teleportation magic again and connect the distorted space to my house. Of course, all the cooking and such are done on Earth, so I would have to go back anyway. But I can handle that on my own.
"Now, what should I make."
For some reason, when I thought of food to eat outdoors, either barbecue or curry came to mind, so I decided to make curry this time.
When I finished making it quickly and returned to the valley again, Night and Akatsuki were rolling one of the large stones which were scattered around. When I looked closely at it, I saw that Kaori and the others had prepared a simple table and chairs using these stones.
"Thanks for the preparation."
"N-no! The cooking was left up to Yuuya-san after all. We should at least do this…"
Kaori smiled as she said that, and then she noticed the smell wafting from the pot in my hand.
"That smell is… curry!"
"Yeah. I don't know what to make, but when I think of food outdoors, curry comes to mind."
Well at the field trip the other day, I didn't expect to be tasked with cooking curry, and I also didn't think I would have to procure the ingredients as well.
"I agree. For a picnic, it would be sandwiches and onigiri (rice balls), but for a camping trip, it would be curry!"
"…Curious. I've never smelled anything like it. This smell, it makes me hungry…"
Yuti, who had never heard of curry, was curious about my pot and rubbed her belly as she described her thoughts. It's true; curry smells appetizing, doesn't it?
I'm hungry, too, so I quickly poured the curry onto the plates I brought with me and served it. Yuti looked more and more interested in the curry in front of her.
"The color, too, is strange. Can we really eat it?"
"Of course."
"…Hmm. It takes a little bit of courage. But it smells delicious…"
It's true that the color of curry, for those who don't know… well, it's a pretty challenging color. It's not a problem for us who are used to eating it. But when Kaori, Night, and Akatsuki began to eat, Yuti finally seemed to have made up her mind and took a bite.
"Huh!"
And as her eyes widened, she looked at Kaori and me with an excited look.
"This, this, this is delicious. It's so good."
"I-is that so? That's good to hear. And I'm glad you're eating it by yourself too."
"Hmm. I'm growing, after all."
"Yuuya-san, you are really good at cooking… it's very delicious!"
The curry was well-liked by the two of them, but let's just say all I did was cut up vegetables and stew them with a commercial Japanese curry powder… Well, I'm not making it with one kind of curry powder, but a mixture of two kinds of curry powder, so it might taste a little different. I didn't have that luxury before, but now that I've gotten money by converting things from the other world, I've expanded the scope of my cooking, or rather the things I can do.
"Waguwagu… Woof!"
"Fugo. Fugofugo."
Night and Akatsuki were also enjoying their curry, so it's a relief. As I watched everyone else eat, I brought my portion curry to my mouth and nodded once. Yes, it's delicious.
As we were each enjoying our curry in this manner, I suddenly realized something.
…It was so delicious that I had forgotten all about it, but the smell didn't attract monsters or anything, does it? Despite Yuti's barrier, it's still okay, right?
"Guooooooooooooooo!"
"""?"""
"Buhi!"
──The voice, or rather a roar of something that didn't seem to be from a monster, rang out. Then, just before the roar reached us, it seemed that some kind of light flooded out of Akatsuki as if the [Sanctuary] skill had been activated, but there was no time to check it.
That roar shook the surrounding trees and the ground, and caused the river's water to splash loudly. The mysterious roar made us drop the curry in our hands involuntarily, and we covered our ears, and held our heads up.
As we desperately endured the sound, the impact eventually subsided. We started to move, checking it out.
"What on earth was that noise?"
"Unknown. But it's unusual."
Even though I had my ears covered, I was still shaken up so much that my head was buzzing.
"Kaori, are you okay?"
"Y-yes… somehow… because, um, Akatsuki-san helped me…"
"Buhi."
As I thought, it looks like I wasn't mistaken about Akatsuki activating the [Sanctuary] skill. Yuti, Night, Akatsuki, and I can withstand it since we have some abilities, but Kaori is different. However, it seems that Akatsuki recognized that, and reduced the damage by applying the [Sanctuary] skill to Kaori.
"Thank you, Akatsuki. It was helpful."
"Buhibuhi."
Akatsuki nodded as if to say that it was obvious, but it actually helped Kaori. Besides, it's cute to see Akatsuki looking so high and mighty like that.
"Aaah… the curry we were eating was totally ruined, but the portion in the pot still looks like it's safe."
"Regret…"
In front of the curry that had fallen to the ground, Yuti muttered that in a sad voice.
"And what was that noise earlier? It's not a normal sound by any stretch of my imagination…"
At any rate, the ground and the trees were shaking – some of them couldn't withstand the impact of the roar, and there were even trees that were snapped off. It really helped that Akatsuki used [Sanctuary] on Kaori. If it weren't for the [Sanctuary] skill, Kaori would have been returned to Sage-san's house for sure.
Once everyone was confirmed safe for now, I had to think about the sound from earlier, but that's when Kaori opened her mouth.
"Well, that sound… that sounded like some kind of cry or… a roar to me."
"Roar?"
Roar, you said? Could it be…
I had a horrible feeling about it, and suddenly a floating sensation came over us.
"Huh?"
What's going on… the ground was shaking even more than before, and I noticed that, with each impact, we were floating off the ground. Just like me, whose face turns blue, Yuti also noticed something and muttered in dismay.
"This is unpredictable. I couldn't see it. Barrier, it doesn't do any good…"
It's an arrow that Yuti predicted the future and released before, but it doesn't help the situation that's happening now.
Because──.
"Yu-YuYuYu-Yu-Yuuya-san…"
"….."
I've already guessed everything, but I can't move now. Because as the approaching sounds and impacts got louder and louder, I couldn't stand properly.
"T-the dragon…!"
"Astonishing. This dragon looks exactly like the dragon from the old storybook…"
I turned around fearfully and saw in front of me a mouth shaped like the dinosaurs I've seen in movies and books.
"….."
"….."
The deep purple of the scales gave the dragon a fascinating air at our first encounter.. The appearance of the dragon, which had a somewhat sharp impression, was very majestic.
As I was about to be blown away by just his breath, my eyes met with the owner of that mouth.
I was interested in the dragon himself, but I couldn't do anything about it now that he appeared in front of me. And this is no ordinary dragon by any stretch of the imagination. Because the size of him is strange. He's big – too big.
He was as large as a skyscraper that's lying on the side. Because of his size, his body was completely hitting the rocks on both sides of the valley, but it might have forced its way to pass through since even that rocky hills had been scraped away and were crumbling.
Everything was outside of the ordinary.
Not only the size of him, but also the atmosphere; everything was overwhelming. Even Yuti, who is stronger than me, as well as Night and Akatsuki were stiff and unable to move.
And…
"Guuoooooooooooo!"
The dragon in front of me raised his head high in the heavens and once again let the roar that we heard earlier.
In the face of such a ridiculous situation, I had only one thought.
Yes, I'm going to die.
Because no matter what comes to mind, it's impossible. No, I originally hadn't planned on fighting, as Owen-san's request was only to investigate. But we ended up encountering him.
As my mind went blank and I couldn't let my voice out, I suddenly heard a voice different from the bellowing I heard earlier.
"Hey, you puny human over there!"