Immediately after heading to the Floating Island, Kousuke heard Eiru’s story.
From that story, it was understood that there were three areas on the Floating Island that could not be invaded.
Then, Eiru, who had heard his story from Kousuke, made a certain proposal to Kousuke.
“Are you sure it’s okay to make the Floating Island our base?”
“Of course. Recently, more of us have become able to ride Hiryu. If Kousuke-sama is going to hide his presence, it would be perfect as a diversion.”
Eiru’s proposal was to use the Floating Island as a base and travel within the continent using Hiryu.
Even if they took off from the Floating Island using Hiryu, they could use the excuse that it was one of the Winged Race, making it a perfect diversion.
For Kousuke, it was an invaluable and greatly appreciated offer.
However, Kousuke hesitated, wondering if he could really rely on the Winged Race to such an extent, but in the end, he decided to accept their offer.
Seeing Kousuke’s hesitation, Eiru’s anxious face, as if he had said something he shouldn’t have, was the deciding factor.
“Ah~, if that’s how it is, I might as well accept your help?”
When Kousuke replied like that, Eiru’s face visibly relaxed.
“Thank you.”
Seeing Eiru bow his head in thanks, Kousuke thought it was strange that the one receiving the help was bowing his head.
Watching the two of them, Floria, Silvia, and Mitsuki, who had accompanied them, were smiling, but Kousuke pretended not to see them.
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Having secured the Floating Island as a base, Kousuke immediately began investigating the first forest.
That said, except for Colette, Kousuke and the others were not particularly knowledgeable about trees.
Provisionally, Colette had told them that if the Divine Tree truly existed, they would know immediately, but there was still some anxiety.
After all, searching for just one tree in a vast forest was bound to be difficult for those unfamiliar with forests.
The reason they hadn’t brought Colette was, as expected, due to the concerns about the children.
Kousuke and his party, who had decided to investigate on their own first, attempted to enter the forest by Hiryu.
However, as expected, it was not that easy.
“Hmm. It seems it’s no good after all. We’ll have to land somewhere appropriate nearby and enter on foot.”
“Indeed.”
Kousuke and Floria immediately made that decision, conversing via Divine Power Telepathy.
There was no point in continuing to fly aimlessly through the air when they knew they couldn’t enter.
Fortunately, they found a place where the Hiryu could land without having to fly too far.
Upon landing there, Kousuke patted Kou and said,
“I think monsters might appear and be a nuisance, so it’s okay for you to fly in the sky.”
“Gyaoo!”
“If I call you, come back as quickly as possible.”
“Gyaoo!”
Kou responded clearly to Kousuke’s words.
While he wasn’t sure if they understood each other’s words, Kousuke nodded in relief, as Kou had never failed to do as he was told before.
As Kousuke and the others disembarked, the Hiryu immediately flew off in the direction of the Floating Island.
With the speed of Hiryu, it wouldn’t take long to reach the current location of the Floating Island, so they assumed they had returned.
Alternatively, they might have gone hunting for something substantial.
Since there was no way to confirm, Kousuke and the others began walking towards their objective forest without much concern.
Several tens of minutes after they started walking towards their destination, Mitsuki finally spoke up.
“It should be around here, shouldn’t it?”
Mitsuki’s words finally made Kousuke realize that they had approached the no-entry zone.
Even after living in another world for a long time, the intuitive senses developed through everyday life had not changed from before.
The same could be said for Floria, who had lived in a castle, and only Silvia, who had lived as an adventurer, possessed some degree of such a sense.
Therefore, it was Mitsuki who possessed this kind of intuition.
Kousuke, called out by Mitsuki, stopped there for a moment and looked around.
“……Hmm? I don’t sense anything like a barrier…”
Considering that the Floating Island and Hiryu could not enter, there was undoubtedly something obstructing their invasion.
If there were a barrier, Kousuke would have been able to tell, but at first glance, he couldn’t believe there was anything of the sort.
“Is it like an elven forest?”
Silvia asked, recalling that Kousuke had said something similar when he visited an elven forest in the past.
The elven forest had a natural barrier created by the arrangement of trees, in addition to a magical barrier created by the World Tree.
Kousuke tilted his head and replied to the question.
“If it were just that, I don’t think the Floating Island and Hiryu would be unable to enter.”
If it were simply disorienting them through the arrangement of nature, the Floating Island and Hiryu wouldn’t be physically prevented from entering from the outside (the sky).
Kousuke’s thinking was that if physical invasion was being obstructed, it was normal for there to be a magical barrier.
Saying this, Kousuke started walking, thinking it was pointless to ponder further here.
Mitsuki hurriedly followed.
It was Mitsuki’s role to stay at a distance where she could immediately respond if something happened to Kousuke.
Silvia and Floria followed behind, a little further away, watching them as if it were natural.
Normally, the correct approach is not to lead the way yourself, but that didn’t concern Kousuke.
It was also typical behavior, so no one commented.
Kousuke continued to walk deeper into the forest but soon found himself tilting his head again.
“We should already be inside the barrier, shouldn’t we?”
“…That should be the case…”
Mitsuki also tilted her head and replied to Kousuke’s question.
The reason both of them were tilting their heads was that they had entered a place where the Floating Island and Hiryu should not be able to invade from the sky, yet they could proceed without any issues on foot.
When the expected thing is not there, the feeling of “why” comes before the feeling of disappointment.
“Hmm… Is it that we’re supposed to get here on foot?”
Floria, who was following behind, said with a wry smile to Kousuke, who was frowning in confusion.
“Well, well. Isn’t it good that we entered without any trouble?”
“That’s right. It’s good that you’ve saved yourselves unnecessary trouble.”
Silvia added, following Floria’s lead.
Kousuke gave a wry smile to the two of them and shook his head left and right once.
“No, that’s true, but considering that the Hiryu can’t enter, there absolutely has to be something. If we can’t find it…”
“Is there a possibility that something is hidden later?”
Floria, who had been following behind, asked, and Kousuke nodded in return.
“Are they trying to prevent detection from the sky, or are they also dealing with ground intrusions? In any case, we still can’t let our guard down.”
When Kousuke said that, Floria and Silvia also nodded.
Originally, both of them had intended to do so.
Their previous statements were simply the result of calmly assessing the current situation.
Kousuke understood that as well, so he hurried onward, intending to proceed.
