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The next morning, I was starting to recover bit by bit, so I decided to once again step out and gather materials. However, this time it was the materials for the talisman.

“Wouldn’t a talisman be fine to make from wood?”
“Hmm, she said that materials have different affinities to magic circles, so we have to carefully select the materials.”
“Ohh, as expected of the Goddess, she knows a lot.”
“Well, she is the one who caused the resurgence of the magic tools, or something like that?”

The God of Destruction was infamous for breaking the World Tree that stood tall in the Central Continent, however, many other anecdotes mentioned that she had developed many indispensable magic tools as well.

From tools to regulate the room temperature to the tools to keep food cold and fresh, they were all said to have been developed by her. She was hard to trust due to the way she acted, but her knowledge was undoubtedly vast.

“I have never met that self-proclaimed Goddess…”
“Actually, you have met her too, Letina.”
“Have I? I have no such recollection.”
“Well, you were passed out at the time.”
“Does that even count as a meeting?”

Letina bent her head in wonder, but that was something from five years ago. Thinking about it, I’ve already known her for so long, huh?

Actually, didn’t she also show up during the hot spring trip and have a massage done right next to us?

However, Letina was also massaging Finia back then, and the God of Destruction was lying face down, so they didn’t meet face to face.

Cortina did greet her, but Letina was too focused on massaging Finia’s back. It couldn’t be helped if she didn’t remember her.

“So, what do we have to defeat this time?”

Cloud stepped forwards as if he was tired of listening to our inside talks. He sure was lively despite getting hanged upside down just yesterday. That’s youth for you, I suppose.

“We are supposed to get the fangs of a monster called Fang Wolf that lives in the mountain district.”
“Mountain district… Isn’t on this islet, right?”
“Yeah, so I will have Maxwell transport us there. As an exception.”

Fang Wolves, like the name suggested, had upper fangs developed to an enormous size. They only lived in the highest part of the mountain district, so we couldn’t find them here as we did with the Marble Spider.

That area made it necessary for us to go all the way north to the Northern Alliance territory, so it wasn’t a distance we could cover during winter vacation. As such, it couldn’t be helped so I asked Maxwell to send us there just this once.

“Well, it really can’t be helped.”
“Fang Wolves aren’t that strong individually, but they are still dangerous monsters, so the vanguards, Finia and Cloud, should be extra careful.”
“Understood! I will make myself useful this time.”
“You should try to relax instead, Finia.”

Given her state, she could end up getting her clothes ripped again. Fang Wolves had long fangs, so they could easily tear apart the clothes that she wore.

She of course wore leather armor on top, but it wasn’t certain whether that was truly enough. Our enemy had that much offensive ability.

“Also, since we are heading to the mountains, make sure to wear a scarf with Purify effect, and also don’t forget to bring clothes for the cold.”
“I am already prepared in that regard.”

Since it was already the winter season, we had heavy clothes prepared. As for the Purifying magic tools, those were items any Adventurer had to carry with them at all times. However, that logic did not apply to one of our members.

“Umm… I didn’t have money to buy one…”

For an orphan like him, magic tools were like flowers on a high peak. I already knew that he didn’t have one, so I had Maxwell bring a spare from his mansion.

“Here, you can use this.”
“O-Okay. I will borrow it.”
“Eh, you do not have to return it. I already made a new one recently.”
“Huh, but this costs a lot…”
“It is but a handy item for me. Rather than that, I would prefer if you focus on protecting my two students.”
“…Understood. I will accept it gratefully.”

He meekly nodded to Maxwell’s words. But do not forget, Cloud. This geezer has a bad hobby of instigating me and you to peek at girls only to get us busted and have a laugh.

Well, he was actually expecting a lot from Cloud.

Cloud had the “resilience” that I did not possess in my previous life. His toughness was high to the point you’d think it came from a Gift. If I used him as a tank, I could make full use of my own power.

Maxwell knew that too, which was why he was expecting things from him.

“Shall we depart then?”

Right as he said it, he had already finished constructing a magic circle. It was so fast that Finia, who had only just started learning about magic, failed to understand when he managed to draw it.

Next came the aria. He perfectly controlled his vast magic power, without excessively influencing the spell effect, manifesting it perfectly.

His ability was certainly on the level of art. This should have been a good lesson for Letina and Finia who were learning magic.

I was the first one to head through the manifested Portal Gate, confirming the safety on the other end. Following me was Michelle who had the biggest firepower among us, and Cloud who was in charge of the defense. This was to support me in case I got into a battle.

Following us were Finia and Letina, who were the most vulnerable of us. And of course, the spell user himself.

The scenery had instantly changed from the warm forests of Raum into a cold mountain district. There were few trees around and the cliff was laid bare. Its slope was quite big, with no places to hide either.

“Where… Have I seen this…”

It was a steep mountain that you could find anywhere. However, I had a recollection of this sight.

High elevation and dry atmosphere. Yet I could see dissolved rocks scattered here and there. They looked much like the rocks produced through the cooling of lava. But for that, the allocation was too unbalanced. It was as if they were scorched locally with high temperatures.

“Um, Lord Maxwell, where is this?”
“This? Well…”

Letina, who only heard we were going to the northern mountain district, asked about our whereabouts. Maxwell replied to her with an impish grin.

“We are at the northern edge of the old Tryad Kingdom, the Scion Mountain Range.”

This was the Mountain of Fate, the place where we had subjugated the Evil Dragon Colchis.