Gagar, gongon, gagar, gongon.
“The ride isn’t bad.”
The moving elevator, while occasionally experiencing vibrations and sounds from the rail joints, was relatively smooth with little shaking, making for a pleasant ride. Moving at a gentle pace up the somewhat steep slope, Kent felt as though he were riding a slow cable car.
“During the season, this lift can get full, but it’s all ours right now.”
“Yeah.”
Since only Kent and Caro were on the elevator, it felt like their own private world.
“Chu!”
“Ah!”
“Took my chance!”
As Kent gazed at the slowly passing scenery, his lips were suddenly sealed. It was Caro’s lips. Because they were so visible from the outside, Caro’s kiss was hesitant and soft. However, seeing Caro’s happy expression, Kent felt a little bit of happiness himself.
“It looks like we’ll pass the elevator coming from the other side.”
“Ah, there’s the elevator coming down.”
Where Caro pointed, the tracks split into two, and beyond that, they could see the elevator coming from the mountaintop.
(This part works the same way as a cable car.)
Watching the ascending and descending elevators, which moved like a seesaw, Kent somehow understood the mechanism. In this way, there was no need to wind up a rope when ascending, as the descending elevator’s rope could be used to support it. This was the same mechanism as the cable cars in Kent’s previous world.
“There’s no one on the opposite elevator.”
“Seems so.”
There was no one on the opposing elevator. This was necessary for balance, so it had to be moved even when empty. After passing each other, the tracks merged back into one, and they continued towards the summit.
“We must be almost at the summit.”
“It would be tough to climb on foot, but this makes it easy, doesn’t it?”
Climbing the distance they had traveled by elevator on foot would have been difficult, but thanks to this convenient mode of transport, Kent and Caro reached the summit in just about fifteen minutes.
“Thank you for your ride. Please watch your step when disembarking.”
Upon arriving at the summit, a staff member opened the elevator door and spoke to them.
“Kent, let’s get off.”
“Right. Caro, here’s my hand.”
“Thank you, Kent.”
Kent got off the elevator first and held out his hand to help Caro disembark.
“It’s cold!”
“It certainly is. The temperature drops as you gain altitude, of course.”
They hadn’t felt it much in the elevator, but as soon as they stepped out, a cold wind hit them, making the chill more intense. Both were wearing decent winter attire, but they could clearly feel that the temperature was significantly lower than at the base.
“Thank you very much.”
Kent and Caro exited the wind-powered elevator building and began walking up a path that continued further up.
“So that’s the windmill that powers the wind-powered elevator.”
“Yes, for emergencies, there are actually two windmills, and it’s designed to run on the power of just one of them.”
Glancing back as they walked, they saw two giant windmills that had been out of sight until then. After observing them, they turned forward again and continued on.
“Kent, there’s an observation deck ahead where you can see the town of Tiol.”
“Oh, really? There’s a place like that?”
Caro said this and took Kent’s hand.
“We’re here. This is the observation deck.”
“Wow. From up here, our town looks like this.”
A little further on from where Kent and Caro walked, the area opened up and had been developed into an observation deck. In the distance, the town and castle of Tiol were clearly visible. Looking at the town where he lived from the mountaintop for the first time, Kent felt a little moved.
“Ah, that’s right.”
Kent took out his terminal and summoned something.
“Binoculars.”
“Kent, why are you speaking in such a hoarse voice?”
“Oh, just felt like it.”
He hadn’t particularly intended to, but Kent summoned binoculars from his terminal and, at that moment, said their name in a hoarse voice.
“You can see the town really well with these.”
“Thank you.”
Caro took the binoculars from Kent and peered through them.
“Uwah, I can see so well. My house is… there it is. I can see the art museum we went to yesterday too. From up here, it looked so close to my house. Um, I can see your house too, Kent.”
Kent, who wasn’t using binoculars, couldn’t see, but Caro, in an excited state, called out the names of things she saw.
“Heh heh. I got a little too excited. You try, too, Kent.”
“Thanks, Caro.”
Kent took the binoculars from Caro, put them to his eyes, and looked through them.
“I see. From this spot, you can clearly see the town, and you can get a bit of a view of the castle too.”
Looking through the binoculars, he could even make out the people in the town. The adjacent castle was also visible from this spot, although most of it was obscured by the rooftops of buildings. Even with binoculars, he could only see parts of the castle walls and a portion of the inner courtyard, with people’s movements not very discernible.
“With the binoculars Kent has, you can even see people, but with the naked eye, it’s not that clear. Actually, there’s a military building above this spot, and they’re always watching for any disturbances in the town and castle.”
“Is that so?”
After Caro’s explanation, Kent lowered the binoculars and looked behind him. Further up from the observation deck was a two-story hut, with the second floor being an open space supported only by pillars. On that second floor, two men dressed as soldiers were present. One of them looked towards Kent and Caro, and their eyes naturally met.
“Hello.”
Kent gave a slight nod to the soldier he made eye contact with. The soldier, with an awkward expression, averted his gaze.
“Kent, what are you doing?”
“I made eye contact with one of the soldiers on the second floor.”
“The people in that area are watching over the town and castle. We shouldn’t disturb them during their duty.”
Kent was lectured by Caro.
“You might feel their gaze, but they’re doing it for their job, so don’t worry about it. Oh, let’s sit on that bench.”
“Got it.”
Caro, telling Kent not to worry about the gaze from above, suggested they sit on a nearby bench.
“Kent, it’s nice to just relax and admire the scenery from the mountain like this.”
“It is. It feels like the hustle and bustle of daily life was a lie.”
Kent and Caro leaned against each other, leisurely enjoying the view from the mountaintop.
“Excuse me for interrupting, but would you mind for a moment?”
“Huh?”
Kent was enjoying his time alone with Caro when he was suddenly startled by a voice from behind.
“We’re having some time alone right now, what is it?”
Her private moment suddenly interrupted, Caro replied in a slightly displeased tone.
“I apologize for the intrusion, but one of our sentries reported something strange, and I’ve come to confirm it. May I speak with you briefly?”
The person who spoke to Kent and his companions was a soldier equipped with light military armor.
“A little is fine, I suppose.”
“Thank you.”
Kent had a slight reservation about his time with Caro being interrupted, but the male soldier appeared to be on duty rather than just trying to cause trouble, so he stood up to listen.
“Actually, about that strange device you’re holding, the one with two tubes… we received a report that you were looking towards the town with it. I’ve come to confirm what you were doing.”
“Did it perhaps look like suspicious behavior?”
Kent realized that his action of taking out the binoculars without noticing he was being watched from behind was interpreted by the observing soldier as suspicious behavior.
“You look like a couple on a date, but when you come here during a quiet period and use strange devices, we have to investigate. I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable when you came here to have fun.”
This soldier was deferential and spoke not in an overbearing manner, but with an expression of someone doing what was necessary for their duty.
“No, it’s understandable if it’s for your job. It’s just a tool to get a better view of the beautiful scenery from this mountain. Would you like to try it?”
“I don’t quite understand what you mean by ‘get a better view,’ but I’d be happy to try.”
“Please. Look through it from this side and look into the distance.”
Kent gave a brief explanation of how to use it and handed the binoculars to the soldier who had spoken to him.
“Wh-What is this! I can see people walking in the town!”
The soldier who received the binoculars did as Kent instructed, brought them to his eyes, and looked through them. He then exclaimed in surprise.
