Volume 16 Chapter 2 Channing Village Homecoming Part I
After finishing shopping in the border city of Lester, Al left the city and went to a secluded spot. There, he used the 'Fly' spell and floated gently into the air.
Normally, to get to his hometown of Channing Village, he would have to take a long detour through Milton city, Outis town, and Marlow town, which was about 150 kilometers (93 miles) away. Even for Al, who was quite fit, it would take 3 days to travel that distance.
However, now that he had learned the 'Fly' spell, he could fly straight south over the Sipree Mountains and probably arrive in about 2 hours.
'Isn't there a direct route from Channing Village without detours?'
Glee asked, but Al shook his head. He had asked his father the same question before. At that time, he was told it was difficult because they would have to pass through areas with many magic beasts.
Channing Village was located at the southernmost edge of a high mountainous area called the Sipree Mountains, and the fast-flowing Muriel River marked the boundary with the uncharted territory.
Last time, when he flew toward Channing Village, he noticed that the Muriel River seemed to originate from the deep forest where he had once searched for Raindrop.
From there, various rivers merged, increasing the water flow as it flowed west, changing direction to the north around the area where Channing Village was located.
If a road were to be built, they would have to deal with the Stone Hurling Bongo and Six-Legged Tigers in that deep forest.
In the evening, Al flew along the Muriel River and got closer to Channing Village.
Just before entering the village, he stopped flying, rearranged the large bag he had bought as a souvenir and the carcass of a boar he had hunted along the way onto the 'Carrier' spell disk, and entered the village.
"Oh, Sir Al, welcome back!"
Near the entrance of the village, Myron was repairing a fence. Although he had passed his position as a retainer to his son Neville, he was a seasoned warrior who had long served the Channing family.
"I'm back, Myron. How's your back doing?"
"Well, it's warmer today, so it's better."
"Don't overdo it."
"Oh, that's a big boar."
"Yeah, I hunted it along the way. I'll deliver the meat later."
"Oh, thank you very much."
As Al walked, he chatted with other villagers. From the looks on their faces, everything seemed peaceful, and there didn't seem to be any problems.
While Al was humming and working at the communal dismantling area next to the village's irrigation canal, his sister Mary ran in.
"Alll!"
She still had her usual loud voice.
"You came back early this time. But that's just right."
It had only been about a month since he last visited Channing Village. But what did she mean by "just right"?
"Can I ask you for a favor? After you left, I was thinking about a lot of things. Al, you can use the 'Fly' spell, right? I was wondering if you could do something about the Barbarians' settlement across the Muriel River."
The Muriel River is the boundary that separates the frontier area, where Al and Glee talked about, from the wild lands filled with Barbarians and magic beasts.
The Sipree Mountains strangely have fewer aquatic Barbarians and magic beasts like Lizardmen, and the river, which is nearly a hundred meters wide, acts as a natural barrier.
That said, it's not like there are no Barbarians or magic beasts that cross over. The goblins that attacked young Al and Ingrid were among them.
"If I cross the river and find the settlement, what will we do with it?"
"If you burn it down, we might be able to reduce the number of Barbarians coming over here."
Mary seems to be thinking of various ways to protect the village from Barbarians and magic beasts. Al felt a bit happy about her growth. However, would attacking the Barbarians' settlement really be effective?
Wouldn't the Barbarians, having lost their settlement, come rushing over the river in large numbers? Al decided to ask about that.
"I talked to Papa about it, but he didn't know. He said to discuss it when you come back, Al."
Grandpa Dean should have been able to fly too. Didn't he ever try?
"For now, let's finish the butchering and share the meat with everyone in the village. We can discuss it over dinner."
"Okay! I'll help with the butchering."
* * *
"This magic tool is a souvenir. Please use it freely."
When Al placed ten light magic tools, one cooking magic tool, and one water magic tool on the table, his father Nelson, mother Pamela, big brother Jasper, big sister Lucy, and little sister Mary all widened their eyes in surprise.
"Wow, this is a cooking magic tool, right? I saw it once in class when I went to school. I've always wanted to try it!"
The bister Lucy pointed at the flat rectangular magic tool, smiling brightly with her slightly chubby cheeks, similar to their father.
She is 19 and, like Al, went to middle school, but she couldn't adjust to life in the capital and returned to Channing Village to help with housework.
"The water magic tool is great. Fetching water is surprisingly tough."
Jasper said thoughtfully. He also has a chubby build like their father. Although he is the lord of the village and has vassals, the Channing family is poor and short on help, so even the lord's clan has to fetch water.
Before going to middle school, Al used to fetch water every morning.
"There are ten light magic tools? Can I take one with me?"
Mary said. She often walks in the forest as a hunter, just like Al. Having a light magic tool would definitely be convenient.
"Why not sell it... Is it really okay?"
Pamela, Al's mother, asked with a worried look. Al shook his head.
"If we have a magic tool for the stove and water, it would make things a lot easier. I know how hard it is to gather firewood and fetch water. Plus, I've found a lot of light magic tools. Since I can use the 'Light' spell, I don't need them. Magic tools for daily life can be pretty expensive to buy, but selling them doesn't seem to bring in much money. So, I thought it would be better to let someone use them well."
He paused, glancing at the table before adding, "It might be good for Mary to have some personally, but I'll leave the distribution to Dad. Also, there's a magic stone for this."
With that, Al placed a large cloth bag on the table.
"Did you find all of this?"
Nelson asked in surprise, and Al smiled brightly.
"I can't tell you where I found them, but don't worry, this isn't everything. I've found other things too, so feel free to use this as you like."
"Al is amazing..."
His older brother Jasper said quietly.
"Brother Jasper, you help father, and that's pretty tough, right? I'm just getting to do what I want, and this is extra stuff anyway."
Al answered while shaking his head.
"By the way, Mary said she wanted to check out the other side of the river. Have Father and Brother Jasper heard about that?"
At Al's question, Father Nelson and Jasper exchanged glances, looking a bit anxious. Mother Pamela looked surprised, as if she was hearing it for the first time.
"Well, if Al can fly in the sky with her safely..."
Nelson replied, and Pamela sighed in relief.
"I see. What about finding a settlement and burning it down?"
"If we can find the settlement, I want to try burning one down first and see how it goes. It would have to be a safe way to do it, though..."
Certainly, even if it was different from what Al was looking for, if the number of Barbarians across the river decreased little by little, it would improve the safety of places like Channing Village and the Sipree Mountains.
"Got it. But I was only planning to stay one night, so what should we do?"
"Is there a safe way to burn it down?"
Nelson asked, pressing for an answer.
"Yeah, I think I could use the 'Magic Tornado' spell from the sky..."
...
At Al's response, everyone looked at each other in shock. They couldn't think of a safe way to set fire to a village with goblins, and that was the biggest problem.
However, they could only nod in disbelief at Al's casual suggestion to launch a group attack magic from a distance.
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