Rem still wasn't very good at explaining things, but he had improved compared to before, and Ayul and Juol were impressed.
"Where did you learn to speak so well? I hope you didn't use that skill to charm other women."
"Did you attend some sort of oratory academy on the continent?"
Encrid, while understanding their admiration, felt some resistance.
No matter how you looked at it, Rem wasn't exactly a good speaker.
Listening to him halfway through, Encrid thought if this guy had been a bard, he would've given everyone some disease called frustration.
"So, what is this Grime's Path? Well, there was this guy called Grime. And the path he walked... is Grime's path. And what that is... it's basically his life story. Got it so far?"
Of course, it wouldn't be an issue if the listeners were excellent, and Encrid, as always, was a good listener.
He focused and responded attentively.
This encouraged Rem to speak even more enthusiastically.
Encrid's strength was filtering out the redundant and unnecessary parts, keeping only the essential details.
He did just that.
There was a man named Grime, an old hero of the West, who had undertaken something similar to a pilgrimage.
If a pilgrimage was about visiting religiously significant places, what Grime did should be called a 'hunting journey' instead.
Because he traveled to places where there were only things worthy of killing, or things that had to be killed.
He walked his path like that, traveling the West and killing every monster, beast, or creature he encountered.
It was the life story of a hero obsessed with hunting, who used sorcery to manipulate shadows.
It was a tale set in a time that lay somewhere between myth and legend.
One story told of him killing a tree monster by setting it on fire with sorcery.
Another of how he found the weak spot of a monster with dozens of tentacles living in a lake and stabbed it to death.
And then there were tales like killing a bandit with an invisible hood.
Some of these stories didn't quite make sense, as old tales often didn't, being somewhat embellished folklore.
In connection to this, there used to be a coming-of-age ceremony in the West called 'Grime's Path'.
It was nothing more than a ritual where people would reenact part of the path Grime had walked.
"They wanted to try walking Grime's actual path."
Even though it was called a coming-of-age ceremony, following the real path of the hero Grime would be a suicide mission.
Sending a fifteen-year-old child alone on a monster-infested journey? That was unthinkable.
So instead, they walked a watered-down version of the journey, with less dangerous routes.
But what Rem was talking about now was the real Grime's Path. The actual route the hero had taken.
That didn't mean they were going to retrace the entire journey.
That would take years of wandering around.
Rem was talking about the last leg of the hero Grime's journey. And from what Encrid heard, it wasn't about honoring the hero.
"It's just that there's a lot of interesting stuff to see along the way."
It seemed like Rem wanted to show them something.
Encrid noticed Rem's heavy backpack. Juol and Ayul also carried equally heavy packs.
"You should have told me to pack."
"What pack? We've already prepared everything. This is just a little trip."
Ayul casually remarked.
Could you really call Grime's Path a simple excursion?
The Westerners listening blinked.
It sounded like a half-crazy idea, but for these people, it probably was just a trip.
There weren't any impossible, mythical monsters waiting for them like in the age of legends.
Thus, their journey began.
"Let's go."
"Yeah, let's."
There wasn't much to consider.
Encrid packed some spare clothes and the gifts he had received, and they set off.
"A month? Sounds good."
The beastwoman, who had been complaining about only bathing once every three days, welcomed the trip the most.
Now, there wouldn't be anyone nagging her to bathe often.
As always, Frog followed behind Encrid.
Encrid, Rem, Dunbachel, Luagarne, Ayul, and Juol. Six of them were traveling together.
"I'd like to come along, but I need to recover and deal with the Fortune-teller Tribe and the remaining cannibals. Don't feel too bad that I can't join you."
Geom Nares said this as they left.
It was a typical Western joke.
"Yeah, we'll really miss you."
Encrid replied with a deadpan, emotionless tone, causing Geom Nares to chuckle.
He was a man who enjoyed a good joke.
After wrapping up the conversation, Encrid casually gathered his weapons and joined the group.
"What about the eldest sorcerer?"
Encrid asked as they walked, and Rem casually replied.
"He's still groaning. Even a month might be too short for him to fully recover and prepare. Oh, and he asked me to thank you."
"It was nothing."
Encrid responded, still casual as ever.
Rem found Encrid to be a curious man.
His skills and willpower both far surpassed the ordinary.
What is extraordinariness? It is something beyond normal standards.
If someone asked Rem who was the most extraordinary and outstanding person he'd ever met, his answer would be clear.
"Let's go."
Rem slung his arm over Encrid's shoulder.
"Isn't that uncomfortable?"
"Look who's all grown up now?"
Encrid had always been taller.
It looked like it was a struggle for the smaller Rem to lift his hand with that heavy backpack on.
Encrid looked down, and Rem looked up.
"Let's have a spar later."
It was a welcome suggestion.
While they walked, Juol mentioned that they'd be living a nomadic lifestyle this year for various reasons.
Telling a small tribe that had lost its warriors to fend for itself was akin to telling them to die.
So they had decided to take responsibility and look after the people.
Though they were used to living a life of scarcity, the Apostle from the Sacred Cult of Demon Realm causing trouble on the continent this year might lead to more hunger.
That would be unfortunate.
So before leaving, Encrid had asked a few quick-footed Westerners to deliver letters to the merchants coming this way.
Again, it was nothing major.
One letter to the King and another to the Border Guard.
He wrote that due to various circumstances, he was in the West and asked if they could send any leftover bread.
Of course, if they did send bread, it would rot before it arrived, but both Krang and Krais were clever men and would handle things accordingly.
The rainy season was approaching the continent. In about half a month, it would also start raining near the Border Guard.
A cool breeze blew, rustling his hair and brushing against his cheeks.
Ayul walked alongside him, and Encrid casually asked,
"Rem said he was coming along."
"I know."
"Are you coming with him?"
"Why would I?"
Encrid had asked, wondering if she was following Rem, but both Rem and Ayul reacted similarly.
It was the kind of attitude that said,
"Why are you asking such an obvious question?"
"You're staying behind?"
"Of course."
Ayul, holding a long staff, tapped the ground lightly and added,
"I'm pregnant."
She said it as if it were nothing, but for a moment, even Encrid was at a loss for words before he managed to ask again.
"What?"
Then, a bunch of questions arose, but the first amusing thought that came to mind was this: Having a baby was one thing, but how could she know so soon?
"People who deal with sorcery are sensitive to new life growing inside them."
Apparently, the Westerners and sorcerers were like that.
And so, Rem had achieved yet another feat in a short time.
In the West, the concept of taking rest after conceiving didn't exist.
Women just continued doing their usual work until they got too heavy to move, and then they took more breaks.
Ayul would do the same.
She smiled brightly as she spoke, with the pure smile typical of Westerners.
"I'll work for the tribe, protect these people, and raise the child. I love this land, so I don't want to leave."
Ayul placed her hand on her belly. No matter what happened, she would protect her child. She was strong enough to do so.
It seemed as if her face glowed softly. At that moment, she looked particularly beautiful.
Not in a romantic way, but simply as a beautiful person.
"Will Rem be okay with leaving?"
"I'll miss him, but it's fine. It's not like he's leaving forever. He has to do what he wants. I don't need a man who's just going to stick around whining."
That was how she seemed.
Most men probably didn't have arms thicker than Ayul's.
In terms of physical fitness, she could put both Teresa and Dunbachel to shame.
She was broad-minded and understanding. No wonder Rem had fallen for her.
Rem, who had been listening intently, suddenly jumped in to ask,
"That's how it is. But why did you think I would stay here?"
Encrid thought Rem was as oblivious as Dunbachel when it came to matters like this.
"You have a child, a wife, the West… Isn't that reason enough to stay?"
Encrid quietly tried to calm him down, but Ayul had heard everything.
"You crazy man, so leaving is the normal thing to do?"
She let him go with a smile, but there was a playful insult hidden in her words.
Their journey began with lively chatter.
That wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Juol laughed softly at the sight and signaled for the velopters. The group of six had six velopters to accompany them.
The velopter assigned to Encrid had red scales in the shape of flames on its head, and its body had a general brownish tint.
Looking at it made Encrid think of Odd-Eye.
Whenever he rode on Odd-Eye's back, he would feel a kind of exhilaration.
Would there ever be a chance to charge into battle on his back again?
With various thoughts in mind, he mounted the velopter and set off.
There wasn't much difficulty in embarking on the journey.
"Help me!"
When a monster called a copycat appeared along the way,
"I'll handle this."
Juol stepped forward and chased it off with a few stones.
"If we kill it here, the smell of blood will attract other creatures."
The reason for chasing it away rather than killing it was clear.
They had a skilled hunter with them.
"It's a Ratman pack. I'll take care of it."
Whenever they encountered a group they couldn't avoid, Rem or someone else would step forward and swiftly deal with it.
Watching Rem charge in, splitting one creature's head open with his axe, and then immediately crushing another monster's skull with a powerful kick, one could almost feel sorry for the monsters.
"Let's move closer to the water today."
Most of the land was wasteland, but here and there were small lakes, and near the lakes, patches of grass could be found.
The Western roads were neither all grasslands nor all wasteland, but something in between.
The velopters grazed, drank water by the lakes, and even ate dried fish.
They ate just about anything, but they especially liked fish.
Grrrr.
When given food, they would rub their heads affectionately, and it was almost enough to make you grow attached to them.
Since their blood was cold, their scales felt pleasantly cool to the touch, though not cold enough to surprise you.
Night fell, and after they lit a campfire, Dunbachel, using her beastfolk hunting instincts, caught a rabbit and a mole.
"Impressive."
Juol, impressed, volunteered to cook. Hunting wasn't easy in the West, yet Dunbachel had done it effortlessly.
As Juol started cooking, Ayul took a step back.
"She's my wife, but don't forget to stop her if she ever says she'll cook."
Rem whispered as if confessing a deep secret. Ayul, too, didn't seem confident in her cooking skills, as she didn't offer to help.
Juol was a better cook than Rem. He found a water source, cleaned the rabbit and mole of their blood and organs, then prepared a stew.
The smell of the simmering stew stirred up their forgotten hunger.
The taste?
Rich and savory.
Especially the blend of salt and herbs that created such umami, it made everyone give a thumbs-up.
"It's not the best in the West, but I'm confident in my cooking."
It turned out Juol had been responsible for cooking during their communal nomadic life.
But since he was also good at fighting and hunting, he was often dragged into these outings.
Juol confessed that watching people eat his food was a lifelong pleasure.
"Then why did you come along this time?"
"I couldn't miss the chance to cook for the hero who saved the tribe."
His response was truly cheerful.
After dinner, Juol even took the lead in cleaning the dishes.
"You're all benefactors. I can't let you do the chores."
The journey was said to take about a month.
It seemed Juol intended to take care of all the chores during that time.
After such a satisfying meal, Encrid picked up his sword, intending to work off his full stomach, and found Rem standing across from him.
The wind blew.
The crumbling sandstone turned to dust, irritating their eyes.
Both Encrid and Rem squinted. Their natural reaction was to shield their eyes from the dust.
"Let's spar."
"Are you okay with getting beaten up in front of your wife?"
Rem chuckled.
He really did have a way with words.
"Actually, I've prepared something to make this more interesting."
This was the West, and Rem was a Westerner.
He still needed to retrieve his heirloom weapons and sorcery from the sanctuary, but there were ways around that.
He had already learned new techniques while fighting the Mad Immortal on the continent.
"Ayul."
And for the past few days, he had been practicing.
Though Ayul had hesitated at first, she realized it wasn't a problem and saw no side effects, so she was even considering studying it further.
In the meantime, Rem had taught the tribe members how to use the Heart of Great Strength technique.
You could call it a modified version.
Having watched Encrid use it, Rem had blended his own understanding into it.
Now, almost everyone in the West would be able to use this technique.
For now, though, Ayul was about to use her sorcery on Rem.
"Bear's Strength."
Ayul spoke, and with her words, an invisible force seemed to settle into Rem.
Encrid saw something flicker over Rem's shoulders.
What was that?
It looked similar to what had overlapped with Ayul's body when she fought.
Rem's gray eyes glimmered with a faint light.
Encrid adjusted his grip on Aker.
And then the axe came flying.
It was an attack similar to a Knight's powerful strike.
Encrid instinctively raised Aker horizontally to the ground. The axe's blade fell, and the two weapons met.
Clang!
A loud crash echoed.
The recoil forced Encrid's body back.
He let himself be pushed, sliding backward as his heels left long marks in the ground.
Rem, still in his axe-swinging posture, twisted his lips into a smile and said,
"How's that?"
What could be said?
Encrid smiled as well.
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