Following Felicia's declaration only silence permeated the room. Both Felicia and Crass (who was standing beside her) were waiting in silence to gauge Victor's reaction. They were both waiting to see how Victor would react to this ray of hope. They thought that Victor would either jump in joy or be obstinate saying something like 'Took you look enough '.

But to their suprise Victor was seemed perfectly calm.

'Well, doesn't this count as a big event?' Victor wondered. 

The reason that he was so calm was because he had partially predicted that this would happen. While he was making a mental bingo card, he figured that if this was a typical isekai, then soon something would happen that would change the course of his life in this world. And this counted as just that. 

Other than that, Victor wasn't the type to show his excitement and proclaim it out loud unless he actually succeeded. He thought that remaining calm in these type of situations was one of his defining traits.

'If they already know about me, then how come they are suprised by my reaction?' Victor wondered.

Felicia: "Umm.......... Victor?"

Victor: "Ah! Yes, yes...... that's very good........ So like what would be my role in this? Will I just be a bystander or do I have to take an active part. I would really prefer if it was the former."

In response, Felicia could only give a wry smile. After his initial tantrum, Victor had decided to be on good terms with the people of this mansion. These people were the only ones he had met this far on this world and the only people who were giving him shelter. If being on the other side of Victor's rage and hatred made them withdraw their kindness, it would become too problematic.

Felicia: "Unfortunately no. You would have to travel for quite a while to reach there. It might be dangerous. Even then........... it is only a possibility that it would work."

She trailed off at the end. It seemed that she did not want to deliver any bad news to Victor. But as for what she had stated, Victor had expected it. Life was never easy, after all. He was also not demotivated by her saying that this was not a guarantee. He was ready to gamble on it if required.

But still he had to ask.

Victor: "Danger? What kind of danger exactly? And it seems that we would have to travel somewhere. I assume we are not going to reach my world just by travelling."

'After all I do not remember a portal between world's back on Earth' Victor mused.

Felicia:" Ummm..... for the danger don't worry. I will make sure that nothing happens to you, bro-------. As for the place, Crass here will fill you up on it."

She gestured to Crass standing behind her seat. In response, he just gave a curt nod along with a "As you wish, My Lady."

But Victor right now was not focused on that. At the end there, it had seemed like Felicia was about to say something else than what she had said. Her speed also increased dramatically after that like she was hiding something.

'Seriously, these people are so bad at hiding things.' Victor thought 

Regardless, since he didn't hear that part clearly , he could do nothing about it right now. It's not like she would have told him even if he asked what she was about to say.

Moving on from that, Victor moved his gaze to Crass.

Crass:" Our destination for this journey would be the Rokua Twin Peaks in the north."

Victor raised his eyebrows after hearing an unfamiliar term.

Victor:" Rokua Twin Peaks?"

Crass:" Yes. Rokua is a village up north. Further than that you will find the Twin Peaks. What's special about these mountains is that once every decade, for one month, an interesting phenomenon occurs in those peaks."

Victor:" What kind of phenomenon?"

Crass:"For that one month, if someone is able to climb both the mountains and reach the peak, then a great spirit would appear."

Victor:" And how would this great spirit help me exactly?"

Crass:" By granting you a wish."

He said with a completely straight face.

Victor:" Huh!? What?"

'Seriously' Victor thought. 'Am I supposed to just accept this?'

Crass:" Using its powers, the spirit is able to grant wishes to those who complete the mountains' challenges. Though as the spirit is not omniscient, it cannot grant every wish. That's why we said that it may just be a possibility for you up return home."

It sounded appealing. To be granted a chance to go back home was everything to him right now. He was willing to take the chances, now matter how slim it was.

Victor:" So when will this 'phenomenan' start exactly?"

Crass:" Exactly a month from now. Reaching the twin peaks itself would take about half a month. So we have about two weeks to prepare."

'Well, so what are we waiting for?'

Victor:" I'm in."

Objective: To scale the twin peaks and get back home.

At the time Victor didn't know that this journey would change him completely.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The same night

Currently, Victor was sitting in his assigned room of the mansion reading a book. Surprisingly (or maybe not), the language in this world was just English. So he didn't really have any problems reading the books. Understanding them was a whole another thing though. As it turned out this world also had its own informal speech and slang which was completely different from Earth.

So even though he could read the books, understanding them was really hard. That's why right now he was reading a book titled 'Folklores and Fairytales for Children'. It was recommended by a maid to read  a lower level book to better understand the structure.

So browsing through the library, he landed on the one he was reading right now. While it still had some unfamiliar terms, they were easy to understand if one paid attention to the context. In addition, it also provided an opportunity to better know this world. Folklore can tell a lot about a place.

So far, there had not been anything interesting in the book. It was just a reskin of the same poems from back home. And the folklore seemed more like horror bed time stories to get children to sleep than anything else.

Just as he was about to close the book out of boredom, something caught his eye. A tale titled ' The Man who Conquered the Twin Peaks '.

It went something like this:

" On the northernmost point of the kingdom of Larsale lies the Rokua Twin Peaks. It stood unassuming, just another mountain which human would inevitably climb. But everyone who attempted to climb these mountains, never returned.

Quickly turning into an object of horror, people started to take action. Some tried to destroy it, through magic, through explosions, through fire but nothing that they did seem to work. 

Some motivated to distinguish themselves from the rest still decided to attempt climbing it. But all of them failed.

Well all............... except for one.

A man named Talhand appeared. Just like the rest of them, he was from a small village, hoping to gain fame by conquering the mountains. But unlike the rest, he pushed through. With his courage, power and wisdom,he toppled the mountain's obstacles one after the other.

Reaching the peak of one of the mountains, he still wasn't satisfied. Not until he had also climbed the second mountain and conquered the Twin Peaks. At the end of his courageous adventure, he recalled how a radiant light had engulfed him. Yet despite the intensity of the light he felt no pain or fear.

From the light came a being of pure sacredness. It's mere presence gave vitality to the surrounding areas. As a reward for conquering both the mountains, the being gave him three wishes.

For his first wish, Talhand wished for a reward to be given to anyone else who was able to complete the challenges of the Twin Peaks. But he also wished for an easy way through the mountains. As a compromise, every decade, there would be a month, when the being would descend upon the Twin Peaks and wait for another who would be able to reach the top.

What were Talhand's second and third wishes? Well that remains a mystery to this day."

' Well, now that was interesting ' Victor mused. 

Reading through the story Victor as genuinely interested. Partially because this wasn't fiction and this actually happened. Aside from that, since that mountain was the only hope he had right now, it would be beneficial for him to get as much information about it as possible.

For that just a children's book won't be enough while still informational, he could definitely tell how incomplete this felt. This retelling was probably an oversimplification of the event. The real story may have been much darker, but for a children's book the writers would have to tone it down a lot.

So, tommorow Victor would look for a better source of information and read through it.

Knock-knock

???:" Lord Victor, it's time for dinner."

Chapter 3: Ray of Hope

Phase 1: Introductions 

Arc 1: Climb