Chapter 132
The vast grasslands stretched on without end.
Strictly speaking, though, that did not mean the terrain never changed.
For example, there were gently rolling hills, as well as rivers that were not particularly wide but surprisingly deep.
Naturally, terrain like that required different precautions from traveling across an endless stretch of grassland.
Hills were often the territory of halflings, so whenever I approached one, I kept an eye out for signs claiming it as theirs.
Because halflings were a short-statured race, they disliked being looked down upon from horseback, so I quickly dismounted whenever I encountered them.
To cross a river, I first had to correctly identify a section where the current was gentle and the riverbed shallow, and so on.
Still, apparently halflings were kind and good-natured people, as long as one respected their unique values.
I had heard many stories of humans who got lost in the grasslands and were rescued by halflings.
But unlike halflings, there were also races living in these grasslands that would harm anyone who encountered them, no matter how careful that person was.
Far more dangerous than the hills were places one must not approach in these grasslands—places where the grass and plants had been flattened into unnaturally perfect circles.
Or places where astonishingly huge mushrooms stood at evenly spaced intervals in a circle.
These were called fairy circles, or fairy rings, and were proof that fairies lived nearby.
In fact, apparently not even the people of the grasslands knew what sort of lives fairies led.
But they knew very well that anyone who carelessly approached a fairy circle would be unable to return.
Another danger was that livestock, including horses, would approach fairy circles as if drawn to them in a daze.
Or, if one traveled through the grasslands when morning haze or fog hung over them, one would find oneself drawn into a fairy circle.
'One thing about fairies is that, by casting aside individuality and becoming one, their deaths lose all meaning.'
Apparently, the entire group, or even the entire species, acted as a single organism guided by a collective consciousness.
They were timid and cautious, yet cruel and deeply malicious.
Fairies lured people into places advantageous to themselves, then tormented them to death as a form of mischief.
Yet they could be kind to those they took a liking to, even living alongside them.
But even then, they did not send that person home; they shut them away and played with them, treasuring them all the while.
Just as a child puts a treasured possession away in a toy box.
Since fairies had only tiny bodies and knew that they were weak, they sometimes kidnapped children of other races, incorporated them into their collective consciousness, and raised them as warriors to protect the group.
Taken together, they truly were vile vermin.
Still, as I had said earlier, fairies were timid and cautious, so they probably would not bother me.
Come to think of it, this may or may not be true, but fairy silver—the metal used to test for magical talent—was apparently something fairies hated.
If that was true, it was rather interesting.
I wondered whether fairy silver's ability to draw out magical power was fatal to the small fairies, or whether it harmed their ability to form a collective consciousness.
The horse continued east, ever eastward.
Sometimes stopping to graze, we traveled slowly for several months—more than half a year.
The horse I had received from the Barm tribe was intelligent and even-tempered.
The horse's name was Sire.
Sire had been born while I was living with the Barm. I had helped care for Sire, so the horse had grown quite attached to me.
We could not remain together forever.
A horse's lifespan was even shorter than a human's, and depending on the route I took—for example, if I had to travel by a small boat—I might eventually have to part with Sire.
But until that day came, I intended to rely on Sire and cherish the horse as much as I could.
The sky over the grasslands was deep blue, and the grass-covered earth was a vivid green.
As I swayed in the saddle on my journey, the sunlight was warm and the breeze cool and pleasant, making me very sleepy.
My horsemanship was not good enough for me to sleep without falling off, though, so I could not actually sleep; I simply continued forward in a daze.
If I kept heading east like this, I would eventually leave the grasslands and enter the territory of the Huanggu Empire.
After gathering all sorts of information, I learned that the Huanggu Empire was broadly divided into five provinces.
First, in the east of the Huanggu Empire lay Azure Sea Province, whose eastern side bordered the sea.
Next was Red Mountain Province in the south. It also bordered the sea to the south, but much of the province was covered in rugged mountains, apparently making it impossible to build ports.
To the west lay White River Province, where several great rivers and their tributaries ran through the province like veins.
To the north lay Black Snow Province, where rain and wind mixed with volcanic ash, and where black snow was said to fall in winter.
Each province had a provincial king who governed it, while the emperor in central Huanggu Province held the four provincial kings under his authority; that was how the Huanggu Empire was organized.
The people living in each province also had their own distinctive traits. For example, Snakefolk, a race with snake-like lower bodies, lived in Red Mountain Province and apparently had dealings with a dwarven kingdom near the province.
Snakefolk and dwarves both loved alcohol, so apparently they got along very well.
The first place I would reach after leaving the great grasslands was White River Province.
When I heard of a land with rivers running through it in every direction, I thought of the cluster of small nations in the central region, but I wondered what White River Province was really like.
Hearing about something and seeing it with one's own eyes often gave completely different impressions.
As I continued east, I could feel the presence of water growing gradually stronger.
As I pondered what awaited me ahead, I lightly patted Sire's neck.