February 18, 2019, Fatelis Year. 4:00 p.m.
I arrived in the unknown nation of Asrangari by ship after leaving the gourmet country of Dilibrash.
It was winter here, and snow was falling, so I put on my insulated coat before heading ashore.
After passing through immigration, I contacted Jacob and asked a local which direction the capital was.
That's when I found out I'd come to the wrong place.
"You're kidding, right? This is outer island. The capital's on the main island. How exactly am I supposed to point you there?"
So Aslangari was divided into outer islands and a main island.
Talk about bad luck.
I'd boarded a ship bound for the outer islands without realizing it.
I pulled out my map.
"Then could you show me where we are on this map?"
The man kindly pointed out our location.
"You're here. The capital is over here."
Asrangari's outer islands were located on the Elyea Continent, bordering Butnashso and the inland nation of Lacitlurahan.
The main island lay to the east—a long, narrow island separated by the sea.
I was currently on the southern side of the outer islands, while the capital was on the eastern side of the main island.
The distance between us was enormous.
"I see. Thank you."
I thanked the man.
He didn't respond at all.
He simply turned around and walked away.
Was he actually kind, or was he just rude?
Even the way he spoke sounded strangely arrogant.
...Was he a tsundere?
(No way.)
Being a tsundere is a privilege reserved for handsome men and beautiful women.
For ordinary people, it's just being contradictory and annoying.
Whatever.
Time to decide on my route to the capital.
Considering how ridiculously far away I was, riding my motorcycle would shorten the journey.
Sure, taking another ship would be faster and more convenient.
But I wanted to enjoy the scenery of Asrangari, so I decided against it.
Besides, Jacob hadn't told me they'd reached the capital yet.
Taking my time wouldn't hurt.
Decision made.
Just then, I noticed a utility pole.
The lights weren't on because it was still daytime, but the fact that electricity existed here was enough to catch my attention.
Leaving the coastal town behind, I started riding my motorcycle toward the capital.
An hour later...
I regretted my decision.
I finally understood how people in winter countries felt.
No matter how warm my coat was, it couldn't stop the freezing wind blowing at me from every direction.
On top of that, the roads were covered in snow, forcing me to drive carefully.
And winter scenery...
Honestly, it was pretty underwhelming.
Winter truly was the final stage of a plant's life cycle.
The trees had lost all their leaves, flowers had withered and disappeared beneath the snow, and only a handful of stubborn weeds remained standing.
Everything around me was nothing but endless white.
No colors.
Nothing impressive.
Filled with regret, I continued making my way carefully toward the capital.
"So cold..."
As darkness fell and night arrived, I found a safe spot in a forest and set up my travel house.
I cooked a large amount of food.
Not because it had become a habit.
I needed to embed new magic cores into my metal staff.
The magic core in my sword belonged in that sword.
Constantly swapping it between weapons was both a waste of time and unnecessarily limiting.
Besides, I had tens of thousands of thousand-year magic cores.
There was no reason to obsess over a single one.
Eventually, I found two magic cores from the 2020 year.
One was for my metal staff.
The other was for Lina's staff.
By ten o'clock that night, I had finished awakening the power of both magic cores.
After dinner and a shower, I sat on the couch and read a book about automobiles.
The next morning, I resumed my journey toward the capital.
Along the way, I passed several towns and villages.
I saw a village powered by wind turbines.
I also passed a dam that generated hydroelectric power.
Just before sunset, I encountered a pack of Horned Wolves.
I deliberately twisted the throttle wide open to scare them, turning it into a thrilling game of "you chase, I run."
Fortunately, monsters all had their own territories.
Before long, I'd ridden beyond theirs.
They stopped chasing me, and another day passed.
March 20, 12:06 p.m.
It was lunchtime, so I decided to stop at a nearby city to take a break.
I could already see its towering walls in the distance, but the road leading there was buried beneath snow that reached my knees.
There was no way my motorcycle could get through.
With a sigh, I parked it, stored it in my storage space, and decided to continue on foot.
"Was this road abandoned? Or did nobody bother clearing the snow? How lazy. Now a traveler like me has to do it for them. Tsk, tsk. These people really need to get their act together."
Grumbling to myself, I took out my magical lighter and a magical hair dryer.
I poured mana into the lighter with my left hand, creating a high-temperature flame that couldn't be blown out.
Then I channeled mana into the hair dryer with my right hand, heating the airflow even further.
Together, they became a makeshift flamethrower.
As I melted the snow along the road, I eventually reached the city gate.
But there wasn't a single guard in sight.
"Are they hibernating?"
Well, the gates were wide open.
I wasn't about to complain.
I walked right in.
The streets inside were just as buried in snow, and the entire city was eerily silent.
The only sound was the howling winter wind.
I kept walking.
No matter how far I went, I didn't see a single person.
In fact, I couldn't sense any living creatures at all.
Was this an abandoned city?
The buildings, however, were completely intact.
There were no vines crawling over the walls or any signs that nature had reclaimed the place.
It didn't look like it had been abandoned for very long.
I opened the door to one of the houses.
The table, chairs, cabinets, and every other piece of furniture were still in perfect condition.
Only a thin layer of dust had settled over everything.
From what I could tell, the people here had probably left only about a month ago.
But why?
Had the harvest failed?
Were there too many monsters nearby?
Were the local soldiers too weak to protect the city?
Or had the lord imposed unbearable taxes?
Even so, it was hard to imagine the entire population abandoning the city.
It was winter.
Traveling all the way to the next city would require an incredible amount of time and effort.
"How strange..."
In the end, I decided to continue on toward the next city.