Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 5

by Hiro Ainana

  That evening, we butchered the wild boar and shared some of the meat with the villagers, then parked the horse-drawn carriage in the village square to spend the night.

  As soon as he found out I was a noble, the village chief offered to let us stay in his home; I didn’t want to trouble him with so many guests, so I politely declined.

  Two days after our stay at the village, seven total after leaving the Muno capital, we arrived at Bolehart City.

  The self-governed area was a blank spot on the Ougoch Duchy map, so I used my “Search Entire Map” skill for the first time in a long while to gain information about it.

  A dwarf city might call to mind an underground society, but according to my newfound information, at least half of them lived aboveground normally in a fortress city. The other half, more in line with my imagination, lived in the mines connected to the city.

  At only twelve miles in diameter, including several mountains, the dwarf territory wasn’t very large.

  There was one city and several villages within the Bolehart dominion. The city’s population was about 60 percent dwarves, 20 percent ratfolk, 10 percent rabbitfolk, and the last 10 percent were mostly humans and miscellaneous demi-humans.

  Unlike the other cities I’d seen so far, there were hardly any slaves or serfs.

  The only slaves who showed up in my map search were owned by merchants visiting from outside the city. The traders were all humanfolk or weaselfolk, mostly the former.

  The only fairyfolk besides the dwarves were a handful of gnomes and spriggans; there were no elves at all. Maybe the old fantasy trope of enmity between elves and dwarves was true?

  Absentmindedly, I filtered my map search.

  When I searched by level, there were a little more than ten people who had reached at least level 40. They were all dwarves. The highest level was an elderly dwarf called Dohal, who was level 51.

  Dwarves overall averaged at level 7 or so, so these people were probably exceptions.

  I also checked to be sure that there were no demons, reincarnations, or anything of the sort. Like in the Ougoch Duchy, I found none.

  As a bonus, there were no members of the demon lord–worshipping Wings of Freedom, either. We should be able to sightsee normally here for once.

  As I was checking the map, the landscape around us changed. The number of tall trees decreased, while there were more bushes and reddish-brown thickets.

  “Mine pollution, perhaps?” Arisa murmured as she looked out the window.

  “You think so? I’ve never been close to a mine before, so I have no idea.”

  I had been sightseeing in an abandoned mine before, but I’d never visited one that was still in use.

  Instead, Mia answered Arisa’s question.

  “Mrrrr? Spirits.” She made an X over her mouth with her fingers.

  “It’s because of spirits, you mean?”

  “No. No spirits.”

  “They’re withering because there are no spirits, then?”

  “Mm.” Mia nodded, satisfied.

  Well, that’s fantasy logic if I’ve ever heard it.

  “Mana shortage,” the elf added, and Arisa nodded rapidly.

  With her sage expression still on her face, she turned toward me. “…Master, explain?”

  I gave a light chop to Arisa’s forehead before obliging.

  “As I understand, spirits convey mana to everything in the natural world. I don’t know what effect it has on plants, but I think there’s an adverse effect if they don’t get enough.”

  I’d obtained this information from Trazayuya’s journals in the Cradle incident.

  According to the documents, mana affected not only living and non-living things but also phenomena. This probably included natural phenomena like wind currents and temperature changes.

  “Huh. Have you ever seen a spirit, master?”

  Arisa’s question drew to mind the youthful image of a dryad.

  “Well, we’ve seen a dryad, remember? She was a tree sprite, so that makes her a spirit, right?”

  “No.” Mia shook her head.

  “So…not a spirit?”

  “Mm.” She nodded.

  I didn’t really understand the difference, but Mia was a kind of fairyfolk and all. She would know better than I would.

  I’d probably have to get an adult elf to explain it to me when we brought Mia to Bolenan Forest.

  Shelving that line of thought for now, I answered Arisa’s original question. “Well, if dryads aren’t spirits, then I guess I’ve never seen one. You probably need a skill like Mia’s ‘Spirit Vision’ to see them.”

  Arisa nodded, then twisted around toward Mia.

  “Mia, what do spirits look like?”

  “Pretty.”

  “Well, that’s not much to go on.”

  “Mrrrr.” Mia scrunched up her eyebrows and thought a moment. “Glowy pearls. Fluffy. Nice.”

  Her usual one- or two-word statements didn’t suffice this time, so she strung together a longer explanation for once.

  “Hmm! I’d like to see one for myself, then.”

  “Me too.”

  Arisa murmured enviously, and I nodded in agreement.

  I’d certainly like to meet a graceful undine or a free-spirited sylph sometime. Preferably of the sexy mature-woman variety.

  “Mrrrr.”

  “You’re drooling, master!”

  Without thinking, I automatically pressed a hand to my face at Arisa’s words, causing her to exclaim, “I knew it!” and cling to me to prevent me from “cheating.” Mia began doing the same.

  “Cheeeater?”

  “Cheetah, sir!”

  Tama and Pochi had been dozing off until the fuss woke them up, and they started imitating Arisa and Mia, first hugging and then climbing all over me.

  I patted the young girls’ heads in a vague attempt at reassurance. All the noise made Lulu poke her head in through the door to the coachman’s box. “Looks like you’re all getting along swimmingly,” she remarked with a giggle.

  “Master, there’s a great deal of smoke up ahead.”

  Just then, Liza, who’d brought her horse close to the carriage, reported to me with some anxiety.

  The map didn’t show me anything out of the ordinary going on in Bolehart City.

  “Don’t worry. It’s just fumes from smelting iron.”

  “I-is that so? I apologize for disturbing you.”

  I assured Liza not to worry about it, put the children back in their seats, and headed up to the coachman’s stand.

  After a while, the trees thinned out, and we entered into a wasteland of stones and bare soil.

  Beyond this wasteland, I could see a fortress city that appeared to be carved into a gray mountain, belching white smoke from an array of chimneys.

  Similar hazy streams billowed out from several openings in the side of the mountain.

  Though we arrived in the afternoon, there was a long line waiting for entry at the gates of Bolehart City.

  We stopped our carriage at the back and waited for our turn.

  “Looks like there are maybe twenty carts in front of us? We might be waiting quite a while.”

  “Seems that way.”

  Arisa clambered over me in the coachman’s stand to size up the line.

  Looking closely, I noticed that many of the carts had the same canopy design. We must have arrived right after some merchant party.

  Sensing someone behind me, I turned to see Pochi and Tama enviously staring at Arisa. With little else to do, I let them ride piggyback on my shoulders, one at a time.

  Before long, I felt a tug on my sleeve. Mia was waiting for her turn, too.

  “Next.”

  Unlike Tama and Pochi, Mia was wearing a skirt, so I lifted her by the waist instead.

  “Not fair.”

  She must have wanted to ride on my shoulders, too.

  “It’s only because of your skirt. If you were wearing shorts, I’d put you on my shoulders, too.” />
  “Mrrrr.”

  Mia puffed out her cheeks and went inside the carriage just to change clothes, so I held true to my word and gave her a piggyback ride.

  “Tama, Pochi, stand at the back of the carriage and keep watch for thieves.”

  Bringing her horse up alongside the carriage, Liza gave instructions to Tama and Pochi, who were staring around wide-eyed from the coachman’s seat.

  “Aye-aye, siiir!”

  “Roger, sir!”

  With a sharp salute, Tama and Pochi hopped down from the coachman’s stand and rushed to the back of the carriage.

  Once her instructions were fulfilled, Liza turned toward me.

  “Master, it appears that weasels visit this town. They are a cunning tribe, so please be careful.”

  “All right, got it. Thanks, Liza.”

  If I remember correctly, the weaselfolk are the race that destroyed Liza’s village.

  “Nana.”

  After climbing down from my shoulders, Mia beckoned to Nana.

  “Ride.”

  “Master, I will transfer horse operation duties to Mia, I report. Permission to do so?”

  “Sure. Don’t go too far, though, all right?”

  “Mm.”

  Mia hopped in front of Nana and took the reins, turning the horse toward the front gate. She probably wanted to check the situation at the front of the line.

  As Mia and Nana left, they passed a group of approaching peddlers.

  “Mister, won’t ya buy some potatoes? They’re right tasty.”

  A woman with an unusual dialect selling boiled potatoes was the first to arrive. One potato cost one copper. This was three times the price that my “Estimation” skill suggested.

  “Mister, ferget them potatoes. I got chicken skewers here. They use lots o’ rock salt from Bole’art! Only three coppers apiece.”

  “Master, don’tcha want some real meat? These whole-roasted toads’ll fill ya right up. Nice an’ chewy.”

  Maybe I was just being prejudiced, but the weaselfolk sounded shady to me.

  The smell wasn’t bad, but the appearance of the toad put off my appetite, so I declined.

  Seeing this from the back of the carriage, Tama and Pochi looked a little disappointed, but we’d just eaten lunch a little while earlier. Eating too much is bad for your health, you know.

  As we waited our turn, more peddlers, including more weaselfolk, ratfolk, and rabbitfolk children, accosted us, selling things like sandals and rope. However, we didn’t need any of it, so I just checked their prices with “Estimation” and didn’t buy anything.

  After a while, Nana and Mia came back with a purchase they’d made near the front.

  Both of them were wearing flower crowns atop their heads. As a bonus, Mia had something sticking out of her mouth.

  “Satou.”

  Mia took out the long, stemlike object from her mouth and offered the end to me, so I gave it a taste.

  …It was sweet. Sweet and somehow nostalgic.

  It brought back childhood memories of picking azaleas from the side of the road and sucking up the nectar.

  Unlike the sugarcane-y taste of the thorn licorice pulp that I often gave the kids as a snack, this stem had a gentle sweetness like the nectar of a flower.

  “Ah!”

  “That was an indirect kiss, wasn’t it?! That’s it, I’m going next!”

  Lulu gave a small exclamation of reproach from my side and Arisa a much louder one from behind me.

  Indirect kisses? Come on, we’re not in junior high— Wait, I guess Lulu is around that age.

  Arisa extended her arm, but Mia snatched the stem before the lilac-haired girl could reach it. Sticking it back in her mouth, Mia held up two fingers in a victory sign.

  Arisa muttered darkly behind me. I wished Mia would stop provoking her. Even Lulu was looking a little teary-eyed.

  Luckily, a weaselfolk child came by just then to sell stems like the one Mia was chewing on, so I bought enough for everyone and distributed them.

  They wanted me to put the stems in my mouth first for whatever reason, but I decided to just go along with the strange request.

  “Ach, coachman! Does this carriage belong to a noble or what?”

  “Or is it a merchant? Hey, coachman!”

  I heard gruff voices shouting, but I didn’t see anyone.

  “Right here, coachman.”

  “That’s right. Down here, y’see.”

  I lowered my gaze and found two short and stout dwarves, only a little more than four feet tall.

  They were wearing gleaming black iron helmets and chain mail, carrying not axes but short spears.

  Underneath their triangular helmets, I saw beady eyes, hooked noses, and long beards down to their stomachs. This was indeed the kind of dwarf I often saw in games.

  I used “Poker Face” to mask my welling excitement and got down from the carriage to answer their questions.

  “Nice to meet you, Sir Dwarves. I am Satou Pendragon, a hereditary knight of Muno Barony.”

  When I used my “Etiquette” skill to politely introduce myself, the dwarves hurriedly struck their fists against their chests and straightened up.

  “S-so terribly sorry. We di’n’ realize ye were a noble, ach…”

  “Mighty strange noble at that, to be sittin’ on the coachman’s stand, y’see.”

  I found their manner of speaking to be rather strange, but I remained polite as I asked, “So, what business did you have with me?”

  “We came to say that if ye be a noble, ye needn’t wait in line, ach.”

  “Yes, nobles don’t need to wait in line, y’see.”

  With that, the dwarves led us past the line and into the city.

  As it happened, nobles could get preferential treatment in any city, not just Bolehart. This even included the lowest title of hereditary knight, like me.

  Even inside, they only checked my identity, making no effort to examine my companions. They took a quick glance inside the carriage—no searches or entrance tax.

  Seemed to me that a sneaky noble would have no trouble smuggling.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Pendragon. I’ve received the letter from Viscount Lottel. Is the brave lady doing well?”

  “Yes, she’s ruling with great enthusiasm. And please feel free to call me Satou, if you’d like.”

  I was visiting the city hall to chat with the mayor, Mr. Dorial.

  The other children were relaxing in a separate room, except for Arisa, who was beside me. Miss Nina had asked her to take care of something.

  She almost sounded like a different person as she addressed Mr. Dorial.

  “If it pleases you, Master Dorial, we would like to formally request your gracious acceptance of exchange students from the Muno territory to study abroad here, as is written in that letter.”

  “Hmm. Viscount Lottel did look out for me when I was studying abroad in the old capital, so I’m sure we can accept a few exchange students each year.”

  Mr. Dorial opened the letter as he answered. I’d learned the lord of this dominion was his father, Mr. Dohal, not Mr. Dorial himself, so I had to wonder if he could really make promises like that.

  Perhaps sensing my trepidation, Mr. Dorial went on.

  “Worry not. My father entrusts me with all but the most important matters.”

  Oh, good. There was nothing to worry about, then. Personally, the possibility of leaked information seemed pretty important to me, but maybe their stance was along the lines of “If you want to steal our technology, go ahead and try”?

  “The letter states that you might be interested in blacksmithing and such, Mr. Satou. Would you like to visit the public workshops and refining facilities?”

  “Yes, please!”

  Wow, what a godsend.

  Deep in my heart, I showered Miss Nina with gratitude. I would have to write her a thank-you letter later.

  “This is the biggest blast furnace in the city.”

 
Before me was a building with a ceiling height of about sixty feet.

  The only people here were Mr. Dorial, a female dwarf who was acting as his secretary, and me. The female dwarf, named Jojorie, was Mr. Dorial’s daughter.

  Instead of the cutesy little girls who often represent female dwarves in recent games, she was basically just a beardless version of a male dwarf.

  Meanwhile, Arisa had gone off to the commercial district of the city. She declared that she was going to look for a merchant to deliver the response to Muno City.

  Jojorie opened the heavy-looking door, releasing a blast of hot air.

  The inside of the building was a single large room, like a mill or a factory, with a great number of men hard at work. They seemed to be shoveling black lumps into the hole at the center.

  “That there is the top of the furnace.”

  …The top?

  I was doubtful at first, but checking the map resolved my confusion.

  The main body of the blast furnace was in the basement of this building, and the black lumps the men were tossing in appeared to be fuel and iron ore.

  “Does it use coal?”

  “The fuel is transmuted from monster cores and coal to create something called ‘refined monster coal.’ It’s got more heating power than ordinary coal, and using monster cores for the fuel is more cost-efficient than running a magic furnace.”

  As I listened to Jojorie’s explanation, I searched through Trazayuya’s documents and found the recipe for this special fuel. It might be more prevalent than I expected.

  “It’s too hot in here. Let’s do our explanations elsewhere.”

  Mr. Dorial urged us over to an observation area, where the heat was a little milder. According to Mr. Dorial, an insulation spell protected it.

  From here, I could fully visualize the blast furnace.

  The room was cut in half down the middle, and the far side served as a sort of well that went about two hundred feet underground.

  On the lower floor, a large group of shirtless dwarves and beastfolk was hard at work.

  Occasionally, red-hot metal would flow out of the furnace, illuminating the dark underground section.

  “This is quite a facility you have here.”