Ossan Saikyō Chapter 14 Part 03
I ran down the passage and returned to the opening in the rocky mountain, then looked outside.
Spread out below was a desolate wasteland. The group of Devils from earlier was running across it in a long line.
Where are they headed...? I followed the direction of the group with my eyes and saw a black dot far in the distance.
The moment I saw it, a jolt ran down my spine. There was no mistaking it. It was a『Gate to Another World』.
The Devils rushed toward the『Gate to Another World』.
However, compared to the Devils, the『Gate to Another World』appeared to be only about 2 meters in diameter. Naturally, it wasn't large enough for the Devils, which were at least 5 meters wide even at their smallest.
Nevertheless, the Devils forcibly shoved themselves into the hole. Naturally, there was no way they could pass through, and they were crushed by their comrades charging in behind them, causing them to die one after another.
The dead Devils naturally turned into black particles, but something strange happened then. Those black particles were sucked into the『Gate to Another World』.
“Is the gate getting bigger...?”
In the end, nearly all of the Devils got crushed and disappeared. But as a result, the『Gate to Another World』appeared to have grown slightly larger.
In any case, the fact that the Gate was open was extremely important to me.
I climbed down the cliff and ran toward the『Gate to Another World』.
A few Devils remained around the Gate, but I crushed them without any trouble.
The『Gate to Another World』before me was an oval about 2 meters tall and a meter wide, and of course, it was more than large enough for me to pass through.
I took a piece of wood out of【Item Box】and pushed it in and out of the gate, but there didn't seem to be any problem.
I looked back at the rocky mountain from earlier. The Devil-birthing Contraption concerned me, but the most important thing for me was getting back to the original world.
There were several things I could speculate about regarding the『Gate to Another World』in front of me, but I could think about those later. At the very least, this wasn't the situation in which I should be investigating it.
I let out a sigh and stepped into the black hole, praying that it would lead back to the original world.
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The other side of the『Gate to Another World』appeared to be a forest.
Judging from the sunlight, it was probably around evening. The trees and grass around me looked familiar, so it seemed I had returned to the original world.
When I looked back, the『Gate to Another World』was still open at the same size. Presumably, if it were left alone, the hole would gradually expand until the Devils could emerge.
However, I had no way to close it right now. I tried hitting it with my mace, just in case, but it passed straight through without meeting any resistance.
From what I had seen earlier, it seemed there was still some time before it became large enough for a Devil to pass through, so for now, I had no choice but to leave it alone.
I would probably have to take measures once I reached a nearby town, but I didn't even know where I was at the moment.
Looking around, I seemed to be somewhere around the middle of a mountain.
When I looked down the slope, I could see a vast plain spreading out between the branches of the trees. A single line running through the fresh greenery looked like a fairly large highway.
With a relieved sigh, I started walking in that direction for the time being.
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After about an hour, I reached the foot of the mountain. After walking across the flatland for a while, I came upon a paved road.
The road seemed to run north and south. I wanted to ask for directions, but there was no one nearby. I hesitated over which way to go, but when I narrowed my eyes, I could see something resembling a fortified city to the north.
It appeared to be quite large, seemingly bigger than Balbadoza, the capital city of Count Lautrec's territory. However, none of the surrounding scenery looked familiar at all, so apparently this wasn't a city I had visited before.
For the time being, I headed that way. I wanted to reach a city first and foremost, so I started running. However, after running for a while, I noticed something slightly strange.
The fortified city ahead was quite large, and the road I was running along was correspondingly wide, yet there were remarkably few people or carriages traveling along it.
I had already run about 7-8 kilometers, but I had encountered fewer than 10 people, whether passing them or overtaking them. Traffic this light would have been unthinkable in the Kingdom of Vermilion.
I called out to a middle-aged man dressed like a traveler who was coming toward me from the direction of the fortified city.
“Excuse me, what is the name of that city?”
“Hah? That's Mekkela, the Capital of Mekalinan.”
The man looked annoyed, but he gave me the information I needed.
“Mekalinan? You mean the Kingdom of Mekalinan to the east of Orz?”
“There ain't any other country called Mekalinan on this continent. You look like an adventurer. You came all the way here without even knowing that?”
“Yes, well, there are some circumstances...”
I answered that way, but I was quite shocked internally. I never expected that the other side of the『Gate to Another World』would be near the capital of Mekalinan, a country surrounded by all sorts of complications.
“This might be none of my business, but don't go doing anything foolish in this country. You'll get arrested and made a slave in no time. Ah, now that I think about it, you're an adventurer, so I guess they won't make you a slave. Still, be careful.”
“Sure, I'll be careful.”
“And there's talk that this country is on the verge of war. I heard that myself and am leaving the capital. If you're an adventurer, you might want to get out of the country as soon as you can. Well, that's assuming you can get out of the country.”
“Is it difficult to leave the country?”
“Yeah. Like I said, everyone's on edge because of the coming war. And even if you go to the capital, don't expect to eat anything good. The nobles have a monopoly on food, so even in the capital, commoners can't get much decent food.”
“Is the situation really that bad? I understand. Thank you.”
I thanked the man and parted ways with him, then began running toward the fortified city once again, the capital of Mekalinan.
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E/N:
Hell no, for all we know, some supervillain is puppeteering the nobles and royals of this country! No thanks, I'd pass! Not our Ossan though!
Stay tuned!
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