Chapter 204: The Forest Where Demon Beasts Swarm

Having departed from the town of Togai, we were heading towards the village of the other races where Sharaza-san lived without stopping the carriage.

“There are rooms inside the carriage…”

Opening the door installed at the rear of the carriage led not outside, but into the interior of a building.

Actually, I used spatial magic to make the inside of this carriage much larger than it looks, so the interior is basically a small lodging facility.

“Baths and a living room… is this really a carriage?”

“It’s basically a moving luxury inn.”

Just as Meguri-san said, a carriage that houses such structures within its internal space is called a Camping Horse Car.

It’s a hobbyist item for people who find traveling by airship or teleportation gate too dull, but surprisingly, it was an excellent item for adventurers and soldiers.

In lands without teleportation gates, or environments where teleportation magic couldn’t be used or airships couldn’t fly, a mobile facility that steadily traveled across the ground was conversely very useful.

“Ooh! This is great! I’m taking the corner room!”

Jairo-kun immediately scouted out a room and claimed it as his own.

“Ah, Jairo, no fair! Me too!”

Then, not wanting to miss out on good rooms, everyone else also began to pick out their own rooms.

“Everyone, you don’t need to panic so much. I made about 100 rooms for now.”

” ” ” ” “That’s too many!” ” ” ” “

Well, with these kinds of things, you end up helping people in trouble along the way and surprisingly find yourself needing more rooms.

At any rate, thanks to preparing in advance, we were able to proceed while resting comfortably without the need to camp out.

Since it’s a Golem, there’s no need to rest the horse, either.

◆

“Come to think of it, even though it’s a rare chance to visit his hometown, was it okay for Gordov-san not to come along?”

While opening the window on the driver’s seat side to check if Mofu-mofu hadn’t fallen off, I wondered if it would have been better to bring Gordov-san along too.

“No, it is impossible to traverse the current forest with the legs of a Dwarf. He probably considered the worst-case scenario and chose to stay behind so as not to become a hindrance to us.”

“Impossible to traverse?”

What does that mean? It’s true that Dwarves aren’t particularly fast on their feet, but their robust bodies shouldn’t have any problems walking through a forest.

“The current forest is overflowing with monsters far more than when he fled. To the point where entering and exiting the forest is impossible unless you have the speed and stealth skills to outrun and hide from those monsters.”

“Are there really that many monsters!?”

What does it mean that there are so many monsters that you have to be that careful?

“Could it be that the forest is just small?”

Jairo-kun, who seemingly thought the same thing, threw a bluntly straight question at Sharaza-san.

“No, the opposite. Rather, the forest is quite large. Large enough that a country of the human race could easily fit inside.”

A forest large enough that a country of us humans could easily fit inside, huh. If so, it must be a considerably large forest.

Even in my previous life, there were quite a few large forests where Elves lived.

To the point where we were told to check if Elves were around before hunting whenever we found a large forest.

“A forest large enough to fit an entire human country along this route? …Could that possibly be the Man-Eating Forest!?”

Hearing Sharaza-san’s explanation, Liliera-san raised a voice of surprise.

“Fumu, so it is called that by the human race.”

“Man-Eating Forest? What is that?”

It’s an unfamiliar name in my previous life’s memories, so perhaps it’s a land that newly appeared after I died?

“The Man-Eating Forest is also known by another name, the Forest of Fog, and it’s a forest designated as a semi-hazardous area by the Adventurer’s Guild.”

A semi-hazardous area, to think such a place existed!?

“It’s famous for always being shrouded in thick fog, and humans who enter the forest invariably get lost and end up exiting the forest in the blink of an eye, as if being chased out.”

“Heh, so that’s why it’s the Forest of Fog. But what about ‘Man-Eating Forest’?”

I wonder what it is. Is there something that messes with the sense of direction of those who enter?

“Word is that an adventurer wandering in the forest saw the shadow of an unbelievably large monster. In fact, there are rumors that some of the adventurers who entered the forest never came back.”

A giant monster in the fog, huh. It’s inappropriate at a time like this, but I’m getting kind of excited.

It reminds me of the story of the Unknowable Monster’s Cave from the adventures of Raigard the Great Swordsman.

In that story, Raigard and his party succeeded in reaching the lower levels of a certain labyrinth, but suddenly fell through a collapsed hole into a mysterious giant cave.

And as they wandered through the cave aiming for the surface, they encountered a terrifyingly giant monster there.

The impact they received from a massive body that couldn’t even be fully illuminated by torches or lights was tremendous. Raigard and the others kept their lights to an absolute minimum to avoid being found by the monster, wandering the giant cave while wearing down their nerves, until they finally succeeded in returning to the labyrinth.

Then, after preparing themselves, Raigard and the others tried to head to that cave one more time, but the large hole that had opened in the dungeon had completely vanished, and they were never able to go to the giant cave again.

Because of that, it’s said that this story might just be a fabrication, but it’s one of the most mysterious stories competing for first or second place among Raigard’s adventures, so it has many fans.

…Whoops, I got sidetracked.

“But what does a ‘semi-hazardous area’ mean? If there are that many dangerous monsters, I think it would be fine to designate it as a regular hazardous area.”

“Because you just get chased out no matter how many times you enter, and compared to other hazardous areas where you’re completely surrounded by enemies and constantly attacked, or areas that are filled with poison making entry itself difficult, the chances of coming back alive are fairly high, so it seems it’s designated as a semi-hazardous area.”

I see, it’s true that if the fog is thick, it’s hard for monsters to find humans too.

“But hey, if entry isn’t prohibited, wouldn’t a ton of adventurers come aiming to get rich quick? There must have been guys trying to make a name for themselves by defeating that huge monster, right?”

What Jairo-kun wants to say is reasonable.

Because among adventurers, there are people whose goal is to make a name for themselves by defeating strong monsters.

“Apparently, it’s incredibly difficult to search for materials because of the fog. An adventurer’s job isn’t just defeating monsters; harvesting and mining precious materials is also an important source of income, right? The risk of being ambushed by monsters is high due to the fog, and the profits are low compared to the danger, so people avoid it.”

I see, so adventurers don’t feel the merit of entering the forest even if they brave the danger, which means people don’t enter it even without designating it as a hazardous area.

For those who want to fight and make a name for themselves, rather than a monster that might not even be strong and whose encounter time is unknown, it’s much faster to search for famous monsters that provide normal earnings and an easy way to make a name.

“Umu, there is no mistake that this Man-Eating Forest is our forest. To begin with, the fog enveloping the forest is the effect of a Great Ritual performed by our ancestors.”

” ” ” ” ” “Great Ritual!?” ” ” ” ” “

Learning that the true identity of the fog enveloping the Man-Eating Forest was a ritual performed by Elves, we unintentionally raised our voices.

“That is right. Once, when our village was struck by a great calamity, the oldest Elf chiefs performed a ritual involving Great Spirits in exchange for their own lives.”

A Great Ritual that Elf elders performed by risking their lives!? I wonder what kind of amazing spirit magic it is!

“What kind of ritual was it?”

After asking, I realized there was normally no way they would teach us the details of such an amazing ritual, but surprisingly, Sharaza-san told us easily.

“Umu, its name is the Great Hex of Straying.”

“…Great Hex of Straying!?”

Eh!? The effect of the magic that the Elf elders risked their lives for is just to make the opponent get lost!?

“Hahahaha, I understand that feeling. Because we were also surprised when we first heard this story. However, that was exactly the magic our ancestors desired.”

And so, Sharaza-san told us why their ancestors risked their lives for a magic that merely made the opponent get lost.

“Apparently, the reason we migrated to our current village was to survive and escape from a certain terrifying existence. It is said that monster ravaged the entire world with tremendous strength, devouring everything, and possessed a terrifying tracking ability that would chase and find you no matter where you fled or hid.”

A monster so terrifying that Elves—no, other races—had to flee and live in hiding!?

What kind of terrifying monster is it!? It sounds just like the description of the White Calamity we found in that underground ruin…

“Our ancestors gave up, deciding it was impossible to defeat the terrifying monster, and decided to bet everything on not being found. That is the Great Hex of Straying. This hex manifested in the form of the fog enveloping the surroundings of the village. It deceives the eyes of all things, erases scents, and drowns out sounds. Through this Great Hex, the terrifying monster lost sight of us, and we finally regained our peace.”

” ” ” ” ” “Ooh.” ” ” ” ” “

We sent a round of applause to Sharaza-san, who proudly finished speaking of the great achievement accomplished by the Great Hex.

“Huh? But if that’s the case, how did you know monsters were targeting your village?”

Meguri-san, seemingly sensing a discrepancy in the story, posed a question.

“Umu, we were also late in noticing that. We were able to attain peace thanks to the Great Hex of Straying, but even so, it does not mean not a single monster comes. Since it only makes them get lost, there are times when they wander in by coincidence.”

That’s true. If it’s not a barrier to prevent intrusion, it’s possible for them to coincidentally wander in after getting lost.

“One day, a giant monster appeared in our village. We desperately repelled the monster trying to intrude into the village. After all, we had never dreamed that our village, which had been peaceful for so long thanks to the Great Hex, would be attacked.”

That kind of thing might be the adverse effect of peace continuing for too long.

“After that, because sporadic attacks by monsters continued to occur, we judged that something was happening in the forest and decided to investigate. But by that time, it had already become a situation that was too late.”

And so, after investigating the forest, Sharaza-san and the others realized that the forest was overflowing with monsters.

“And during the battles, it became clear that rather than the warriors who went out to intercept them, the monsters were prioritizing aiming for the fruit that grew on the Spirit Tree.”

They prioritize the Spirit Tree’s fruit over humans? That’s certainly a different reaction from normal monsters.

Even though monsters normally attack when they see people.

『Neigh!!』

Then, the Golem horse neighed to inform us of something.

“I wonder what’s wrong?”

Looking outside through the peephole, I could see a large forest spreading out right in front of us.

And I realized that this place was precisely our destination.

Because the inside of that forest was covered in a deep fog.

“Sharaza-san, it looks like we’ve just arrived.”

“Arrived? Did we arrive at some town?”

Prompting everyone, we got out of the carriage.

“Wha-!?”

” ” ” ” “Ooh!!” ” ” ” “

At the sheer size of the Man-Eating Forest, everyone unintentionally raised voices of surprise.

“Wow, what huge trees!”

Just as Jairo-kun said, the trees of the Man-Eating Forest were very large.

In reality, it’s rare for trees on the outer perimeter of a forest to remain untouched long enough to grow this much.

It’s probably because nearby residents don’t approach out of caution regarding the Great Hex of Straying and the monsters wandering in the fog.

“And the fog is incredible.”

This is also just as Mina-san said.

The inside of the forest is filled with thick fog, making the depths completely invisible.

This is certainly a sight befitting the name Forest of Fog.

“I-I cannot believe it. It has only been a few days since then… At what pace do you have to run to reach the forest…”

Well, I just had the Golem run through the night on a straight route.

“From here on, I’d like to ask you to guide us, Sharaza-san.”

After all, this is a forest under the Great Hex of Straying.

Even if I order the Golem horse to run straight, there’s a possibility we might end up going around in circles in the same place before we know it.

“A-Ah. Understood. Follow me.”

After storing the Golem horse, I followed behind Sharaza-san along with everyone else.

And the moment we entered the forest, the world turned completely white.

“Whoa, once you’re inside, you seriously can’t see what’s in front of you.”

Jairo-kun wasn’t the only one surprised.

The fog was so thick that if you held your hand out in front of you, your own arm would look blurry.

“Never leave my side. You will be led astray by the fog.”

” ” ” ” ” “Yes!” ” ” ” ” ” “

We concentrated and followed so as not to lose sight of Sharaza-san.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“I’m okay too!”

“I’m managing somehow.”

“Okay for now.”

“I-I’m also managing…!”

“Kyuu!”

Mofu-mofu, sitting on top of my head, raised its voice to say it was okay too.

“Hm? I feel like I just heard something… Follow me while staying alert to our surroundings!”

“Understood!”

Amazing. To think they can sensitively perceive the reactions of the surroundings in such thick fog.

I also activated detection magic to confirm everyone’s positions while searching for approaching monsters, but while I could manage to sense the presence of monsters nearby, I couldn’t sensitively perceive the presence of monsters further away like Sharaza-san could.

“We are lucky today. There are few presences of monsters. With this, we might be able to reach the village with minimal monster encounters.”

It seems we were lucky. And that’s probably also thanks to this fog.

“Hey, the Great Hex of Straying makes people and monsters who enter the forest get lost, right? Are we okay?”

Mina-san asked Sharaza-san if we would be able to make it through the forest safely.

“There is no need to worry about that. The Great Hex has no effect on us Elves, who are the descendants of the elders who contracted with the spirits. The Great Hex is strictly for leading intruders astray, after all. It does not lead those born in the village astray.”

Heh, what convenient magic. As expected of spirit magic.

“However, it seems those who chose to abandon the village and live outside, like Gordov, become susceptible to getting lost.”

I see, so the protection of the Great Hex disappears for people who have decided the outside world is their own world.

Then, I noticed that my detection magic was picking up a reaction of an approaching monster.

“Ah, Sharaza-san, a monster is approaching from over there.”

“What!? Alright, hide in the shade of the trees over there!”

“Yes!”

We immediately hid behind the nearby cover.

Then, without much delay, a giant monster passed by.

Due to the fog, we couldn’t see its exact form, but from the barely visible shape of its legs, it might resemble the monster that attacked the town of Togai.

“Alright, we managed to let it pass by successfully. Let’s move while we can.”

Paying the utmost attention, we avoided the monsters and advanced deeper into the forest.

Hmm, sneaking around enemies to head to a destination like this hasn’t happened since the time I was ordered on a mission to strike an enemy’s main camp in my previous life.

Hiding is a pain, but it’s easy not having to engage in unnecessary conflicts.

Fortunately, it seems the number of monsters is low today. Sharaza-san handles the monsters far away, and I was able to play the role of detecting approaching monsters with my low-precision detection magic.

At night, we layered barrier magic to avoid being found by monsters to the utmost limit before taking turns resting.

In this way, we continued walking through the forest for days.

“We are truly not encountering monsters this time. Moreover, the precision of Lord Rex‘s detection magic is also good. Being able to take cover before encountering a monster is wonderful.”

“No, it’s thanks to your guidance, Sharaza-san.”

After all, this Man-Eating Forest is large enough to completely engulf a human country. It’s exactly because you sense the flow of monsters in such a giant forest and choose safe routes for us that I can focus purely on avoiding stray monsters that Sharaza-san can’t cover.

“At this pace, we might be able to reach the village sometime today.”

It seemed we were progressing at an unexpectedly good pace, and Sharaza-san informed us in a good mood.

And so, a few minutes after we continued advancing while hiding in the forest.

It happened.

“What is it? I can hear a sound.”

The sound was coming from the direction we were heading.

As Sharaza-san strained their ears to figure out the source of the sound, their eyes suddenly widened and they appeared panicked.

“This is bad! My brethren are fighting monsters!”

“Eh!?”

It seems the sound was Sharaza-san’s comrades fighting monsters.

“Hurry! The village is near!”

“Understood!”

The panicked Sharaza-san moved at a quick pace. However, it seemed they hadn’t forgotten their role as a guide; even while showing panic, they were checking to ensure we were properly following along.

And after advancing a bit further, our field of vision suddenly opened up.

“Huh!? The fog!?”

We were surprised that the fog suddenly cleared, but we were even more surprised by the sight before our eyes.

After all, the place we arrived at was directly behind the monsters.

“That’s way too close!”

“Everyone, get back!”

We immediately distanced ourselves from the monsters and assessed the situation.

Upon checking our surroundings, we were first able to confirm the full forms of the giant monsters.

As expected, their appearance closely resembled the monster that attacked the town of Togai.

But the numbers were on a completely different level.

Aren’t there at least 50 monsters gathered here?

The monsters seemed to be launching attacks against a defensive wall that looked like a fort up ahead, and the Elves and Dwarves standing atop the wall were intercepting them.

However, their attacks didn’t look like they were being very effective.

What’s wrong? If they’re Elves, they should be able to use much higher-powered magic using spirit magic.

Moreover, the Dwarves’ weapons also seemed to have poor effectiveness.

“This is bad! At this rate, the gates will be breached!”

Shifting my gaze at Sharaza-san’s panicked voice, I saw the large doors of the fort currently on the verge of being destroyed.

“We’ll back them up!”

Yeah, this is no time to be spectating the Elves’ battle.

First, we scatter the enemies!

“Alright! We’re going too!”

“Wait! Don’t charge out alone! Meguri, back up Jairo-kun! Norb-kun, cast defensive magic on us! Mina, drop something flashy right in the middle of the swarming monsters with magic! It’s fine if you don’t defeat them in one hit. Just draw their attention over here!”

“Got it!”

While admonishing Jairo-kun, who had jumped out, Liliera-san began issuing instructions.

It seems I can leave Jairo-kun and the others to Liliera-san.

“In that case, I guess my opponents are the monsters aiming for that gate over there!”

“Wait, those monsters are…!!”

“TRI-BURST IMPACT!”

Sharaza-san was trying to say something, but it was drowned out by the explosive sound of my magic.

I wonder if it was something important?

While I was thinking about such things, the magic I fired scored a direct hit on the monsters.

Then, just like the monster that attacked the town of Togai, the monsters’ bodies easily burst apart.

Furthermore, the remaining two magic impacts shattered the bodies of the monsters nearby.

“What!?”

“As I thought, they’re fragile. Or maybe they just have a bad compatibility with impact-type magic that delivers shockwaves?”

I’d like to try out a lot of things, but right now is an emergency. Let’s prioritize annihilating the monsters first.

“Oraoraaaa! I’ll slice you cleanly in two!!”

Jairo-kun’s flaming magic sword cleaved through the monsters’ bodies, carapace and all.

And the monsters roasted by his magical flames gave off an appetizing smell.

“Hmm, what should we have for dinner tonight.”

Whoops, that’s no good. I have to focus on the battle.

“TRI-BURST IMPACT! IMPACT! IMPACT!!“

I prioritized aiming at the monsters closing in on the fort, but as expected, every single monster cracked open amusingly easily with impact-type magic.

And without much time passing, we succeeded in intercepting the monsters.

“Phew, that’s a relief. I thought their main force of monsters had attacked, but it’s good that they were surprisingly weak.”

These monsters were probably scouts.

At any rate, as a first encounter upon arriving at the village of the other races, it wasn’t too bad, was it?

With this, they’ll likely believe us when we say we’re adventurers brought in as reinforcements.

“We managed to drive them off somehow. Good thing the opponents weren’t their main force of monsters.”

When I said that, for some reason, Sharaza-san made an indescribable expression.

“No, well, you see…”

I wonder what it is. They’re being quite inarticulate.

“The thing is… the monsters just now are the main force of monsters attacking our village.”

“Eh?”

Those monsters are the main force that gave the robust Elf warriors a hard time!?

W-What on earth does that mean!?

Despite them clearly being weak monsters, being told by Sharaza-san that these monsters were the enemy’s main force left me bewildered with an indescribable, strange sensation.

However, I quickly realized the reason.

…Oh right. They did say the Man-Eating Forest had so many monsters that the Great Hex of Straying was becoming meaningless. Thinking about it that way, the Elf warriors must have been giving their all to thin out the monsters.

Sharaza-san said it too, after all. That it’s impossible to traverse the forest unless you’re someone who can flee without being found or caught by the monsters.

The ones protecting the village must surely be young apprentice warriors who don’t possess such skills.

“I see, so that’s what it was.”

Us humans can’t tell the ages of Elves, so we end up getting confused at times like this.

But that means the number of monsters is so large that the veteran Elf warriors have to dedicate themselves entirely to thinning them out.

Because they had to desperately protect the place where everyone returns without relying on anyone, in a situation where their dependable seniors were absent, those young apprentice warriors must have been feeling a considerable amount of mental pressure.

Then we have to cooperate!

“Sharaza-san, we will help with thinning out the monsters with everything we have too!”

“U-Umu. I am counting on you…”

In this way, we safely arrived at the Village of the Spirit Tree.