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Chapter 373: Rough Roads, and the Forest Course.

“We’re in the forest course right now, and in first place, we have Nia Vermouth’s [Red Cat]! Slightly behind, Rosetta & Monica’s [Silver Star], as well as Lapis’ [White Bird] are in hor pursuit-nya!”

And my [Brunhild] is chasing after the aforementioned Lapis-san right now.

I understood it well after driving for a bit, but this forest course is pretty harsh. The view ahead is blocked by trees, making it hard to grasp the situation in front.

“Uwoh!”

And not only that, the road also goes up and down all over the place, so if I ever accelerate a bit more than necessary, the entire vehicle would go airborne for a second.

At least we have a rough map for use since the course has already been revealed to us ahead of time. Pola, in the passenger seat besides me, held up a piece of paper towards my direction.

“So the course splits over here…”

When you’re somewhat into the forest course, it splits up into two courses.

Course A is shorter, but the road condition is worse, and it also has a lot of obstacles.

On the other hand, Course B takes a roundabout path but is comparatively easier to traverse.

The two courses, A and B, would merge back together later in the area.

Normally, you would worry about which course to take in this case, but for me the only possible option is Course B.

I mean, it’s the course made by those two, you know. I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of horrifying traps would be waiting in there. It’s best if I stay as far away as I can.

Also, I mentioned this before, but I don’t hold attachments towards getting high rankings in this race. I won’t ask for anything more than finishing the race safely.

“Oh! And now, we see the first place [Red Cat] going into Course A, while the current runner- up [Silver Star] goes into Course B-nya!”

Mu, so Rosetta’s group also chose Course B, huh. As expected of the girls who knew the professor for a long time. Nia went for Course A on the other hand… I feel like she didn’t think about anything while making that decision. It’s probably just because it’s closer, or something like that.

The [White Bird], which is in front of me, turned left. So it’s Course A for Lapis-san as well. Is it alright…

While worrying like that, I turned right at the junction and headed towards Course B.

After a while, the road extended out of the forest, and I was treated to a scenic seaside drive with great view.

The road is even and easy to drive on, and I can’t find any faults with the scenery. There’re some seagulls flying in the skies out at sea… Wait, those are dragons. Oh well.

This roundabout Course B doesn’t have any obstacles around the course itself, so I can also see Rosetta and Monica’s vehicle ahead. There’s quite the distance between us.

Even if it’s Course B, that doesn’t mean there will be absolutely no traps. Let’s proceed without any carelessness.

“The [Brunhild] headed into Course B! The [Steel Axe], which is right behind, went into Course A-nya! And of the last group, the [Strain] went towards B, the [Trihalan] went towards A, and finally the [Ferzen] also headed towards B-nya!”

Princess Berlietta went for B, while Crown Prince Rupheus went for A, huh. That’s somewhat surprising. It seemed like it would be the opposite for them judging by their personalities.

Since both the [Steel Axe] and the [Ferzen] looked like they have enough power to withstand any kind of horrible road conditions, it would’ve made sense for them to choose Course A;

however, the [Ferzen] went for B instead. Well, it did fall out of the course once earlier. Is he perhaps choosing the safer option due to that?

In Course A, we have the [Red Cat], the [White Bird], the [Steel Axe] and the [Trihalan].

In Course B, we have the [Silver Star], the [Brunhild], the [Strain] and the [Ferzen]. We split into two even halves, huh.

“Nyanya! A large river is in front of the Course A pack leader, the [Red Cat]! The [Red Cat] headed for the jumping platform right before it and—there it goes! Barely, it just barely made it-nya!”

Just barely… How wide is that river? Man, am I glad I went for Course B.

“Following that, the [White Bird] also makes the jump without problems! Oh, and now we have the [Steel Axe] accelerating towards the jumping platform as well-nya! A huge leap… And it landed! Oh, oh oh, the rear wheels are looking dangerous there-nya! It’s falling, it’s falling, it’s… It got back up! That was close-nya!”

The [Steel Axe] did look like a pretty heavy vehicle, after all. It’s amazing it even jumped in the first place.

Unlike Course A, over here on Course B, we have nothing but a long-stretching unpaved—but otherwise easy—road. It feels like one of those countryside roads between villages.

Oh, there’s an ether vehicle that’s rushing towards me with amazing momentum from behind. The [Strain] driven by Princess Berlietta, eh.

She’s coming in at quite the high speed. Since I’m not planning to fight for a high ranking, I’m not going to block her way or anything like that.

“I shall be going ahead!”

While raising dust clouds behind it, the [Strain] rushed away on the unpaved road.

After getting in front of me, the [Strain] didn’t loosen up in the slightest, and proceeded to chase after Rosetta and co.’s [Silver Star], which is further in front. Is she going to be alright, pushing her magic engine like that?

While it’s not like magic engines would overheat or anything, if the engine is made to run beyond its limits, the magic power flowing inside would become dull, and there’s the risk of the engine becoming stalled, or so I remember hearing.

While I was worrying about that, Nyantaro’s shocked voice flows over from the speaker.

“Oo-tto! Something suddenly started flying out from within the forests around Course A-nya! Those are… Pies-nya! Fresh cream pies are flying towards the participants, and the front- runner [Red Cat]’s driver, Nia, ate one square in the face-nya! While the [Red Cat] was forced to stop at the roadside due to that attack, the [White Bird] blasted past it while dodging the pies being thrown!”

To think it would be pies. I knew it, nothing good would come out of Course A. My condolences to Nia.

Apparently, afterwards the [Steel Axe] also passed Nia while she’s still reeling from the pie attack.

“And now, the [White Bird], first in its course, has returned to the main course from Course A- nya! Following it is the [Steel Axe], and then the pie-smeared [Red Cat]! And from the other side, the top two of Course B, the [Silver Star] and the [Strain] also approached the main course!”

While Course B was even easier to drive on than I had expected, it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a huge detour.

The first vehicle to make it back onto the main course is the [White Bird]. After that is the [Silver Star], then the [Steel Axe], the [Red Cat], the [Trihalan], the [Strain], the [Brunhild], and the [Ferzen]; in that order, the section with two split courses ended and we’re now back on one course.

Sigh. I was fourth before entering the split courses, but now I’m in seventh. Well, not only did I choose the longer Course B, I also didn’t even try to raise my pace at all, so it’s a natural result.

I rushed through the rough mountain roads while trying not to lose the [Strain] in front of me.

“Oops!”

As we got out of the forest again, a wide area with mud patches here and there greeted us. This is almost like a wetland, no, a rice paddy might be closer. Paths where one vehicle can pass through are spread out throughout the area like a spider’s nest or a maze.

Instead of the muddy field, I’m more concerned about the numerous merlion-like statues that are standing all around this area, though. I have a bad feeling about this…

In any case, let’s first proceed through while avoiding the mud patches. If the vehicle gets caught in one of those, it might sink too deeply to move.

As the other vehicles are also maneuvering through the field with caution, the distance between the participants shrunk. While I’m carefully turning the steering wheel here and there and trying to avoid the mud patches all over, I suddenly hear a loud sound of something blasting out.

“Buwawa!?”

“That hurtsssss!”

“Oo-tto, the [Silver Star] is suddenly attacked by a water jet-nya! What a horrifying trap-nya!”

A sudden jet of water from the mouth of one of the merlion statues mentioned earlier scored a direct hit on Rosetta and Monica’s [Silver Star]. The force behind the water jet, which almost made it seem like it’s coming out of a fire hose, pushed the [Silver Star] all the way into a mud patch on the ground.

“Fugyu!”

The [Silver Star] fell sideways due to the water jet, and Rosetta and Monica fell into the mud just like that. At the same time, the water jet stopped. Uwaa…

“Damn this professor-like harassment-de arimasu!”

“Bastard!”

While cursing the course designers, the mud-caked Rosetta and Monica somehow pushed the [Silver Star] upright and started moving it back towards the course.

During that time, the vehicles that were behind them drove past one after another. Of course, all of them paid close attention to any water jet attacks from the merlion statues.

The muddy [Silver Star] got back onto the course in front of me, and we finally got out of the rice paddy-like area.

After that, the course turned into a straight course on rough ground. The bumpy road surface stood as our next challenge. Or rather, I think this is already beyond the level of “rough ground”.

“Ugogogogogo…”

The road is so bumpy, I feel like I’m on one of those rodeo machines as I’m driving through. Pola, sitting besides me, is playing around as if it’s on a trampoline even though we’re technically just driving on a straight path. If our vehicle, which has its suspension changed, is shaking this much, then what about the vehicles that didn’t even change their suspensions…

“Are?”

Nia’s [Red Cat], which should’ve been ahead of me, was parked at the roadside. In the shadow of the vehicle, the figure of a pie-caked Nia crawling on the ground on all fours can be seen…

“Oueeeeeeee…”

…I’ll pretend I never saw that. Sheesh, that’s what you get for not going to the pit stop earlier. While feeling sorry for Nia, I drove past her.

“Oohhh, and here, the [Steel Axe], which has been showing off a powerful run, has finally overtaken the [White Bird] and came out on top-nya!”

Nu. The [Steel Axe], which has ignored the pit stop earlier like Nia, has conversely made it to the top, huh. I feel like this has more to do with the toughness of the driver than the difference in performance of the ether vehicles, though.

“Still, this, really shakes, quite hard!”

It’s like I’m driving on top of a washboard. By the time I got out of that hyper dirt road, I was also done in pretty hard, and it was taking all I have to keep Linze’s sandwich from flowing back up my throat.

“I feel horrible…”

There’s no way I can drive properly like this. As I was proceeding along the course at a slow pace, the [Ferzen] rushed past me from behind.

“Hahahahaha! Sovereign, you still lack training, eh?”

Zip it. I’m just a bit delicate… Upu. Or rather, this is the normal reaction for most people, ok!?

“Now, the eastern forest course is coming to an end soon-nya! The current first place is the [Steel Axe]! Following that is the [White Bird], the [Trihalan], the [Strain], the [Silver Star], the [Ferzen], the [Brunhild] and finally the [Red Cat]-nya!”

I still feel like the vehicle is shaking even though we’re supposed to be running on even ground now… While listening to the live coverage by Nyantaro, I somehow kept driving so as to keep up with the rest. When I sneaked a glance behind me, it seemed that Nia also finally got out of the demonic washboard road earlier.

“… It feels cold somehow.”

As we’re coming to the end of the forest course, I can feel a chill in the air. Is this from the next area, the snowfield course?

“And the [Steel Axe] is the first vehicle to clear the forest course! Following that, the [White Bird] also clears the course in second place-nya! The two of them headed straight towards the snowfield course! This is a dangerous area where almost all the roads are covered in ice-nya!”

The snowfield course is a course of ice. Without changing the tires, there would be no way anyone can drive properly on the roads there.

I passed through the forest course’s goal gate. Seventh place, huh.

As I entered the snowfield course, the roads are already being covered in a light layer of snow. While they’re magically-generated, it doesn’t change the fact that they make the road slippery. Not to mention, they’ve been stirred up by the previous vehicles, and turned into something like a layer of sherbet on the ground.

Just like at the forest course, a signboard pointing to the next pit stop showed up on the side of the road soon. Of course, I’m going in.

The coldness in the atmosphere disappeared like an illusion the moment I returned to the garage area. Well, that’s to be expected, I guess.

In front of the 5th and 6th garages, I once again spotted two people glaring at each other while laughing strangely.

“Ufufufufufu…”

“Hahahahahaha…”

Both the princess and the crown prince have pale faces even as they kept glaring at each other. It’s probably the effect from the demonic washboard road earlier.

After driving the [Brunhild] into my designated garage and asking the mini robots to exchange the tires, I also lied down flat on the spot. I have to get rid of even a bit of my carsickness…

“Sorry, Pola. Could you bring me some ice?”

I asked my partner, who’s fine even after all that trampoline-like action (well, I mean, there’s no way it’d get sick anyway), to bring some ice cubes from the freezer box at the back of the garage.

It’d have been so easy if I can use [Refresh], really. Magic is banned during the race, after all…

I threw the slightly-large piece of ice Pola brought me into my mouth. As I licked the ice for a while, the nausea from earlier started to fade gradually.

Carsickness results from the overreaction of the parasympathetic nerve. As such, if you lick a rather large piece of ice slowly and stimulate your sympathetic nerve that way, you can achieve a stabilizing effect on your parasympathetic nerve… Is what I saw on TV a long time ago, anyway.

While there’s apparently individual differences, I do feel somewhat refreshed now.

On a side note, this apparently works for hangovers as well. Drinking ice water to sober up is apparently something similar. Well, I’m underage, so I don’t know anything about that.

To stimulate the sympathetic nerve, apparently something spicy also works… Examples include nibbling on a piece of chilli, though I’d rather pass on that one.

As the tire exchange draws to a close, I put on a thick coldproof jacket. This should help against the chill in the next area.

After getting into the [Brunhild], which now sports spiked tires, I headed back towards the main course.

The six vehicles that were in front of me had also gotten back and stepped out towards the snowfield course. Hm, “stepped out” feels weird here. They are all driving cars, after all.

Before I realized, the course had completely become an ice-covered one. Apparently, pure ice has a decently high frictional index, so it’s still comparatively better. The worst time is apparently when water membranes form on the surface of the ice due to the latter melting halfway.

“-Tto!”

The tires slipped a bit, and I hurriedly corrected the steering wheel. Tch… It’s melting alright. Gotta be careful.

“The first place, [Steel Axe]! It’s blazing through the snowfield course as if it’s dry land-nya! Its front and back wheels are connected by tracks, and it’s proceeding forward while breaking apart the ice on the road-nya!”

We’re now on a long U-shaped curve; thanks to that, I can also see the first-place [Steel Axe].

Oi oi, having tracks attached, is it a tank or something… Hmm, might be close to a bulldozer though. Rather, is that even legal? I mean, I know the rules didn’t say anything about that, but still…

Since the dwarves had been working on the heavy construction-use Dverg, it’s not weird to think the professor or someone in Babylon taught them about tracks. I feel like they might actually make a Dverg with its lower half composed of a pair of tracks…

“However, possibly due to the increased weight, its speed is lower than before-nya! The second-place [White Bird] is catching up—it broke past! The [White Bird] managed to overtake the [Steel Axe]-nya! However, a large wall of ice stands in front of it!”

Blocks of ice are piled up like bricks to form a wall that blocked off the right half of the course. The wall is around a meter tall. And further in front, another identical-looking wall is blocking the left side of the course this time. The same pattern—walls blocking the left and right consecutively—repeats itself down the course.

In order to avoid the walls while proceeding on the course, one would have to make sharp zigzagging motions. It’s a considerably tough feat to achieve while driving on top of the slippery ice.

“Ku…”

While Lapis-san is navigating through the wall area with difficulty, the [Steel Axe] ignored that and directly plowed through the walls of ice as it barreled straight down the course.

“You think these weak walls can stop me!?”

Everyone lost their words while looking at the [Steel Axe], who’s breaking through the walls with a method that only it, with its armored body and caterpillar tracks, can accomplish.

Within moments, it took back first place, and cleared the ice wall area just like that. I have no idea if the dwarves are smart or stupid, looking at that…

While the method it took was kinda dumb, the pieces of the ice walls the [Steel Axe] smashed through fell onto the ground, and actually became obstacles for the vehicles behind it. If this was a calculated move, then he’s quite… Nah, not possible.

While dodging the broken blocks of ice on the course, the rest of us proceeded onwards.

While the smaller pieces can be ignored as they either pass under the car or get bounced aside, the larger pieces leave me no choice but to dodge them. Well, the [Ferzen] was pushing through everything with its large tires, though.

“Now then, after the ice wall area, we have the slope area-nya! It’s extra slippery here, so participants need to be careful-nya! Especially if you’re behind other vehicles; you would have to pay close attention in order to not get hit by the vehicle in front of you in case it slips and falls down-nya!”

The wide course is slowly sloping upwards. Since I can’t see the end of the slope, it probably turns into a downhill course somewhere.

If you slip once on this slope, you would fall all the way to the bottom, eh. I guess the best option would be to rush up after building some momentum?

While I was thinking about how to proceed as I looked at the frontrunner group, which had already started climbing the slope, several snowballs with diameters of around 2 meters suddenly appeared on top of the slope and started rolling down.

Uwaa.

- Pixel