Chapter 73

Two kilometers southeast of the capital Arsn in the magic nation of Air.

This is the location of the Starfall Hill.

After the dinner party hosted by Rusha and attended by Tasha Dur, I offered flowers at the last temple of Fal and left the capital. I walked through the forest in the deepening twilight. The gate guards had called out to me to stop when it got dark, but when I told them I was going to Starfall Hill, they laughed and sent me off. I got a thumbs up, but I couldn't help feeling that they had completely misunderstood. Was it just my imagination?

The talk about lovers that Camilla mentioned crossed my mind. It was just a mining trip, though.

...At least I won't have to go through that gate on the way back since I can use teleportation. I don't want to be pitied as "the man who was stood up" if I go through alone on the way back, even though there's no one to wait for in the first place. Or is it worse that there's no one to wait for in the first place? ...I shouldn't think about it.

The forest of Sar is maintained for timber, with trees spaced widely apart and their branches pruned, resulting in many tall, straight trees. However, the forest of Air, while maintained along the road, has trees growing closely together and branches at lower levels, making it appear dense and overgrown, especially at night.

Still, compared to Mount Nalun, the vegetation here seems to make it easier to walk through the forest, or perhaps it's because people often enter. This time, I plan to follow the road to Starfall Hill, but since there's little to gather along the road, I usually use animal trails when I'm alone.

The branches of the trees cover the sky, and the moonlight barely reaches through, yet there are no signs of monsters or animals. The only sounds on the road are the occasional fluttering and calls of birds active at night.

Air is protected by the barriers set up by the six temples surrounding the castle in the capital and the six temples in the cities spaced evenly apart. The former, due to the close distance between the temples, has a narrow range but is a powerful barrier that keeps away monsters suitable for protecting the castle and the capital. The latter, due to the greater distance between the temples, is weaker but covers a wide area of the country.

The barrier covering the country can be imagined as a net. It allows weak monsters to pass through but catches strong ones. It's not physically a net, so if weak monsters gather in a group and their presence becomes strong, they can also be caught.

Therefore, as you move away from the capital, there are still monsters in the country, and the barrier is not perfect and has been breached several times. This could be due to the attack of a powerful monster exceeding the barrier's strength or even the destruction of the barrier by humans.

Teleportation from the capital's temples is set up to the temples in each city of Air and the capitals of Jiares, Baron, and Fagat. Teleportation from the cities of Air is only available to those with the lord's or the temple's permission. Teleportation from the country is only available to adventurers registered with the guild and holding a C-rank or higher card.

Teleportation from the cities feels stricter, but to the east of Air, the Cambria Empire is separated by a small country. Fortunately, they are currently on friendly terms, but the legacy of past emperors' enthusiasm for territorial expansion and the desire for the towns along the road to receive money are factors.

Before that, the main reason is that the teleportation gates outside the capital Arsn are not said to be created by the gods but by humans, and they cannot withstand a large number of people teleporting.

So, I know that if any monsters appear around here near the capital, they will be weak. The gloomy atmosphere of the road is not good. Also, the words exchanged with the gatekeeper probably made me feel more aware of being single.

I regret not summoning White earlier. I could have cut through the forest, fought monsters, or enjoyed the shadows dancing in the moonlight, but the scenery of trees lining the road doesn't change whether I use night vision or not.

Just as my mood started to sink, my view suddenly opened up.

The sky was filled with stars.

This contrast is unfair.

I lost track of time gazing at the universe. The stars seemed to be falling, or perhaps I was being sucked into the universe?

Tracing a shooting star, I saw the hill that suddenly opened up in the forest. The gentle curve of the hill had white stones scattered here and there, resembling flocks of sheep.

Some of these stones, affected by the "Eye of Rusha," faintly glowed. I decided to finish my business first before enjoying the view and prepared my mining tools.

It must look surreal to see me chipping away at the stones that make the hill look like stars are falling. If any couples came here for their romantic purposes, they would probably be disappointed, but I hammered away mercilessly with my chisel and hammer.

This work is inefficient if your STR is low. Some say dexterity is involved, but it's a job that requires physical strength. "Tigal's Star Dust" seems to be rare, and I mostly get silver and iron ore.

My hand holding the chisel started to tingle, so I switched to a pickaxe. The pickaxe was easier to use, but the amount of ore I could get decreased compared to using the chisel. This might be because I couldn't do the fine work. The mining points should recover after some time, but the recovery time increases with the rank of the ore. I don't know when the mining points here will recover, and I don't want to be misunderstood by the gatekeeper if I visit frequently, so I switched back to the chisel and mined carefully. I think I can find out the recovery time on the bulletin board.

There are eleven mining points, and each point yields about 16 to 22 minerals. With the effect of the "Mineral Lover's Bracelet," which doubles the number of minerals, I usually get 8 to 11. "Silver" makes up ten, and "Tigal's Star Dust" is one, with "Iron Ore" being slightly more than "Silver." In the end, I only got nine "Tigal's Star Dust." With the "Eye of Rusha" and "Dul's Favor," rare items should be easier to find, but getting less than ten was unexpectedly tough. Still, I can give nine to the person I want to, so it's fine for now.

After finishing the mining, I set up a concealment array in the middle of Starfall Hill and had tea. I haven't detected any presence other than small animals since I started mining. The hill is known for romantic encounters, so there are probably few monsters, but I can't say for sure that none will come.

I lay down and gazed at the sky.

The yellow moon had already set, and a thin white moon hung in the sky. The sky was filled with stars and several shooting stars. In this world, it's almost morning, the short time when the stars are clearly visible after the bright light of the yellow moon has faded. In the real world, it's time to log out. I want to log out here, but my rational mind reminds me that I'll lose the "Tigal's Star Dust" I dug up if I die during logout. If there's a barrier, it might be safe to log out in the field, so I should seriously look into whether I can learn barriers in Air. I also need to find a mount.

I want to explore the dungeon in Baron and have many other things to do. But for now, I need to enjoy this scenery.