Chương 72: No way out

The landslide had made an already chaotic situation much worse. Clearing the debris to reopen the main road would take days, meaning outside reinforcements wouldn't arrive anytime soon. For the next few days, if anything happened, we would be on our own. That was assuming Edgar's group actually made it to the neighboring city to call for help. If they had met with another accident, it would take even longer for news of our situation to reach the outside world. To be safe, we needed to send more messengers.

The problem was that if this weather continued, the two remaining paths were too dangerous to traverse. We had to wait for the rain to let up at least a little before sending anyone to scout. The real issue, however, was that this was only the beginning of the Wind Season. Why was there such a sudden, violent downpour? If you converted Averula's calendar to twelve months like on Earth, each season here lasted four months.

Awakening Day took place at the end of the Snow Season, and the first Day of Holy Vows after that marked the start of the Wind Season. Seasons could arrive early or late, but heavy rain this early in the Wind Season was truly bizarre. I had read in history books about past crusades against the Demon King, which claimed that weather often became erratic during his rise. I didn't find "blaming the Demon King" to be a very convincing explanation. Did he really have the power to change the weather?

And even if he did, why not just create a natural disaster to wipe out humanity instead of making it rain or snow just to suit his mood? Once I returned, I considered forcing Henry to write a memoir titled"The Hundred Times I Reincarnated to Defeat the Demon King (And Failed Miserably)." I would definitely be a hardcore fan, reading it until I'd memorized every word, no matter how terrible the writing style. Because of the heavy rain, the chef couldn't cook in our outdoor kitchen.

Instead, he brought bread, cheese, milk, and fruit for lunch. The death of the soldier had cast a somber pall over everyone. Nevertheless, there was some good news. Lealia reported that all the patients were improving. No one was in a long-term coma anymore, and they were all eating normally. I pulled up her status window. Her Reputation had risen to 115. Iris's current Reputation was 241. While there was still a significant gap, it had narrowed considerably. Her other stats had also progressed significantly.

It was a pity. After hearing Nathan's story, I had decided to give up on Edgar. Whether accidental or intentional, being able to easily abandon a comrade in a crisis was a massive red flag. Now, I was left with no more support-class candidates to choose from. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The rain poured for an entire day and night, only beginning to subside the following morning.

We decided to take advantage of the lull to scout the two remaining paths out of town. Two church soldiers took the left path; another soldier and I took the right. We all went on horseback. The path I took was barely wider than a trail—not even enough room for two horses to ride abreast. The grass growing in the middle suggested it wasn't frequently used. According to the locals, walking this way saved them half a time taking the main road but it also required twice the effort.

Staying alert, I constantly used my long-range vision to scan the surroundings. Thus, before we even arrived, I saw that the path ahead was blocked by fallen trees. However, something made me move closer to inspect them. I suspected these trees hadn't fallen due to a landslide, and I was right. In a landslide, trees would be uprooted, and the surrounding earth would be completely deformed. But here, the ground was only slightly cluttered, and most of the trees had been snapped mid-trunk.

The stretch of blocked road was nearly a hundred meters long; it would take a massive amount of manpower to clear it. Someone had intentionally cut these trees to block the road, and it had been done quite some time ago, not just yesterday. When the two of us returned to town, the other group arrived shortly after. One look at their faces told me exactly what had happened. We didn't speak until we reached the inn. Only after we had stabled the horses did we exchange words before going inside to inform the others.

"The road on your side was blocked too?" The two soldiers nodded, their expressions grim.

"Yes. Yours as well?" I replied, "Yeah. I think someone did this intentionally beforehand, but the townspeople rarely use those paths, so they didn't notice."

"So... should we tell the people in town?" I already had my own plan, but I said, "Let's go inside and discuss it with the Hero Candidates first. See what they think." Iris hadn't visited any patients this morning because she was out of mana. She was too worried about her own condition to maintain her "Holy Mother" act in front of others. She had used her last bit of mana to heal Nathan, so he was no longer in any danger and had been able to leave his bed for the common room.

Lealia had just returned from a round of follow-up visits. They were all waiting for news from the scouting team.

"I know everyone is hoping for good news, but the truth is that every road out of Grasiva is blocked," I said, getting straight to the point. Iris hadn't given up hope.

"That's impossible! Not even one person can get through?" I replied indifferently, "It's very dangerous. But if you want to try, feel free." Iris bit her lip and said nothing more. I looked outside; the rain was still falling steadily. If we kept waiting, there was no telling how long we'd be stuck. I made a firm decision.

"Tomorrow morning, whether the rain stops or not, I'm going back up the mountain. I want to find the source of the Miasma that poisoned the spring. Does anyone want to come with me?" Silence followed. Naturally, no one was enthusiastic about the idea. I had anticipated this reaction, so I simply shrugged.

"Then I'll go alone." With that, I went up to my room to check the climbing gear I had bought the other day, seeing what else I might need for a rainy trek. Medieval amenities didn't offer much, but I figured I could find a pair of boots with better grip. I also needed to replace my cloth tool bag with a waterproof leather one and carve a climbing staff. There was a knock at my door. I thought it was someone calling me for lunch, but the person standing outside was Nathan.

"I'm going up the mountain with you tomorrow," he said.