The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 48: What Lies Beyond the Mountain

Episode 48: What Lies Beyond the Mountain 

Good food makes for lively conversation, even without alcohol. It seemed they were refraining from drinking until their mission was complete. 

“So, you came here to investigate on a request from the Adventurers’ Guild?” 

“Yeah. They had already figured out that a group of Ogres was likely the cause. That’s when they assigned the job to us, a Platinum Rank adventurer party.” 

Ardan explained why they were here. Apparently, news of the attack on Geper Village had reached the Adventurers’ Guild in the royal capital. 

Which made sense. We probably should have checked with the guild ourselves and gathered more information beforehand. 

“So then, why are you two here? Did you take on a request from the guild?” 

“Well….” 

“Pudding.” 

“Huh?” “What?” 

Jill and Elise spoke in unison, their faces utterly baffled. 

“Ah, so the eggs used in that pudding were being transported from here?” 

“You know about this, Ardan!?” 

“Ardan!? What the hell are you talking about!?” 

It seemed Ardan understood what I meant. Judging by Jill and Elise’s reactions, he must have been eating out alone without telling them. 

“Well, there’s this dessert called pudding. They couldn’t make it anymore because they ran out of eggs. So, I came here to find out why.” 

“Huh?” “What?” 

Jill and Elise were still lost, while Ardan nodded knowingly. It seemed only he fully grasped the situation. 

“You guys are seriously free-spirited, huh?” 

“I hate to admit it, but I have to agree.” 

The two looked at me in disbelief. Yeah, maybe coming all the way here just for pudding was a bit too carefree. But I always thought that was what being an adventurer was about. 

“So, what do you plan to do now? We know the cause, and we’ve taken care of it. But rebuilding the village will take time.” 

“That’s true. But we still don’t know the root cause.” 

Lilia crossed her arms and spoke. It drew everyone’s attention. They looked at her with curiosity, wondering what she was getting at. I had a feeling I knew what she was about to say. 

“We need to figure out why the Ogres came to this village in the first place. If we don’t, another monster might attack next.” 

“The reason why the Ogres came here…….. Huh, I hadn’t thought about that.” 

Ardan began to ponder. 

The Adventurers’ Guild’s request was likely just to confirm the village’s condition and eliminate the Ogres. Meanwhile, we had been acting on our own agenda. Which led us to gather more varied information. 

“Before the Ogre attack, this village had never been targeted by monsters. So we think the Ogres came from beyond that mountain.” 

I looked out the window at the moonlit silhouette of the mountain. It wasn’t particularly tall. But it stretched out long and wide, like a dark wall. 

“Beyond the mountain, huh? That area also belongs to the Marquis of Buchanan, doesn’t it?” 

“Um, yeah, looks like it. There’s a forest beyond the mountain, which is connected to the Elven Forest. But since there’s another route to the Elven Forest, nobody really crosses this mountain.” 

Elise pulled out a map to confirm. A map like this was really handy at times like these. Since I could use Auto-Mapping, I rarely needed paper maps. After all, we could always get an accurate map once we reached a location. 

“Is that forest in a magic-infused land?” 

“Seems like it. But for some reason, this mountain itself isn’t considered a danger zone.” 

“Think there’s a strong monster lurking there?” 

“Nope.” 

“Not a chance.” 

Elise and Ardan immediately shot down Jill’s idea. It seemed Jill was eager for a strong opponent. He was practically battle-crazed. Maybe he just had too much energy to burn. But the other two were firmly against entertaining the thought.

“Come to think of it, you three are from the same town, right? Isn’t it amazing that three people strong enough to become Platinum Rank adventurers all came from the same place at the same time?” 

“Ah, that.”  “Yeah, about that…” 

Ardan and Elise gave wry smiles. There seemed to be more to the story. As Lilia and I tilted our heads in confusion, Jill spoke up. 

“The village we came from is called ‘Hero Village’.” 

“Wait, Hero Village?” 

I couldn’t help but raise my voice at Jill’s unexpected statement. Hero Village—just the name sounded incredible. I had never heard of such a place existing in the Fortune Kingdom. 

“Yeah, Hero Village. It was founded by the heroes who defeated the great Demon King long ago.” 

“Seriously?” 

I wasn’t doubting Jill, but I looked to Ardan for confirmation. I had read about such things in books. But I never thought the great Demon King had actually existed, let alone that heroes had defeated him. 

“Apparently, it’s true. And from time to time, people like Jill, overflowing with power, are born there and end up leaving the village.” 

“…That just sounds like they’re being kicked out for being a nuisance.” 

“You could put it that way.” 

Ardan grimaced at Lilia’s comment. He and Elise were probably both strong inheritors of that hero lineage. When someone is born with extraordinary abilities, society tends to see them as outsiders. Maybe that was just their fate. 

“So all three of you were treated as troublemakers and forced to leave?” 

“That’s not it.” 

“Huh?” 

Lilia tilted her head in confusion. Wait, wasn’t it because they were too powerful that the three of them got kicked out together? 

“We left because we couldn’t trust Jill to be on his own. Who knows what kind of chaos he would cause? So we decided to go with him.” 

“That’s right. We’re basically Jill’s babysitters.” 

“Oh, come on! You two were also struggling to control your own power! Don’t just blame me and act like you had nothing to do with it!” 

They really were a trio of similar people. No wonder their teamwork was so good—they had probably shared the same kind of experiences back in the village. 

“So, what about you two? You’re probably not normal either, right?” 

Ardan turned the question on us. Well, since I had asked them about their past, it wouldn’t be fair to dodge the question. As long as I didn’t go into too much detail, it should be fine. 

“I was born into a noble family. But I’ve officially cut ties with them. My father tried to kill me, so I ran away.” 

“I see. That kind of thing happens a lot among nobles. Personally, I think you’re pretty capable, Fel. Ah… so that’s why…” 

“Yeah, exactly.” 

It seemed like they understood my situation now. No one pressed the topic further. 

The only sound left was the crackling of the campfire. 

“Alright, let’s get some rest for tomorrow. We’ll be climbing the mountain.” 

“Huh? You’re planning to climb it?” 

“Of course. Are you just going to leave everything to Fel and the little one?” 

“Well…” 

Elise glanced at me uncertainly. Originally, my plan was to just fly over and take a quick look. But a proper investigation might not be a bad idea either. 

“What do you think, Fel, Lilia? Want to come along and investigate why the Ogres came this way?” 

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” 

“Sounds good to me. The more perspectives we have, the better chance we have of figuring out the cause.” 

Lilia agreed as well. Maybe she was being considerate of me. I really appreciated that about her. 

“Alright then, let’s set up a watch rotation.” 

“No need, Ardan. I’ll set up a barrier magic that sounds an alarm if anything besides us approaches. Plus, Fel already put up multiple layers of Barriers around us, right? If anything gets through all of them, the breaking sounds alone will wake us up.” 

Lilia’s explanation left even Ardan shaking his head in disbelief. 

“I see. What an absurdly powerful mage we have here.” 

“Oh, Fel’s not a mage. He’s a Sage.” 

Elise corrected him. Hearing that, Ardan looked up at the sky and sighed. 

“Ah… the fools who abandoned Fel are truly out of luck.”