About an hour had passed since Kousuke decided to proceed into the barrier.
During that time, Kousuke and the others had been advancing smoothly through the forest, but then the situation changed.
As expected, it was Colette, who was familiar with the forest, who noticed it first.
“—They’re here.”
With that single word, Kousuke and the others understood what Colette meant.
The elves, who should be living in this forest, had noticed Kousuke and the others entering the barrier and were coming to meet them.
Kousuke stopped where they were and asked Colette, “I’ll ask just in case, but do you know their purpose?”
“Well, it’s probably to monitor or warn us… I don’t think they’ll shoot arrows at us out of the blue.”
“Ah, I see. If that happens, let’s just run.”
Even if it was just a warning, if they were to shoot arrows at someone they had just met, it would be best to assume that they absolutely did not want anyone to infiltrate their village. Even if it was a misunderstanding, Kousuke had no intention of entering the village if they were treated that way.
The others agreed with Kousuke, who had decided to retreat immediately if attacked. They also knew that there was an Elf village in this forest, so they had no intention of forcing their way in if they were not welcomed. This decision had already been made in their previous discussion, so Kousuke’s opinion was perfectly reasonable.
As Kousuke and the others stopped and talked briefly, the elves Colette had spotted were steadily closing the distance. They had approached close enough to see each other, and Kousuke could see several elves, presumably residents of the village, with their hands on their bows.
Meanwhile, Kousuke and the others continued walking into the depths of the forest as if nothing had happened. They were pretending not to have noticed the elves yet, just in case. However, with Colette there, it wasn’t very effective, but it was easier to deal with than just letting them approach without doing anything.
Under a tense atmosphere, they had long since entered the range of the bows and were close enough that their voices could reach each other if they shouted. At that point, an elf who had approached them spoke, holding a bow.
“Stop right there! What are you doing here!”
Although the elf had a bow raised, Kousuke and the others remained as usual. At this distance, they could easily deflect an arrow with fairies or magic (holy magic). The elf probably thought they could surely finish them off, but for Kousuke and the others, it was also a distance from which they could easily escape.
Following the words of the elf with the bow, Kousuke stopped and signaled to Colette. He thought it would be best to leave it to Colette, who was also an elf. Of course, Colette knew this would happen, so she nodded once and stepped forward. Her hands were slightly raised, palms facing the elves, to show that she was not holding anything.
Whether it was due to this gesture or not, the elves did not immediately shoot their arrows. Relieved, Colette began to speak in a louder voice.
“We’ve come seeking the World Tree! We don’t intend to do anything to your village!”
Upon hearing Colette’s answer, the elves began to whisper among themselves. Colette’s words, stating that they had business with the World Tree, were unexpected for them as well. Since Colette was an elf, it was not surprising that she knew about the World Tree, but they didn’t know what she intended to do with it.
Colette understood their confusion, so she didn’t do or say anything extra. As if sensing her intent, another elf from the village spoke, carried by the wind.
“If you are also an elf, you should be able to use this skill, right? —What do you intend to do after finding the World Tree?”
“We don’t intend to do anything unusual. If we can obtain it, we just want to take a branch and plant it.”
“Plant it? The World Tree?”
Perhaps Colette’s answer was too unexpected, for the elf’s voice betrayed surprise. Colette, understanding how they felt, deliberately put on a serious face and nodded.
“Yes. You have a sacred tree here, don’t you? So I thought there might be a World Tree as well. We don’t intend to cause any unnecessary trouble for your village.”
The term “sacred tree” referred to the World Tree among the elves.
In response to Colette’s words, the male elf immediately replied, “Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of a World Tree in this forest. And it’s not just me; none of my companions have either.”
“I see. Then it’s fine. We have no further business in this forest, so we’ll be heading back.”
As Colette declared this so easily, the elves became a little flustered.
“…Is that true? You’re not just saying that to trick us into leaving, are you?”
To the one who said that, Colette shrugged and replied, “We have no such intentions… although I’d like to say that, you probably won’t believe us, will you? In that case, you can stay right where you are and watch us leave.”
Doing so would mean turning their backs to the elves with drawn bows, but Colette said it anyway. Of course, her words contained the confidence that they would not be harmed by such a thing.
Kousuke and the others had completely left the communication to Colette and had not spoken a single word until now. Even if they were to return now, they had no problem with it since they knew there was no World Tree. As the male elf looked at Kousuke and the others, he replied, “—Fine. If you even slightly show any sign of turning back, I will shoot this arrow immediately.”
“We won’t do that.”
Knowing that further conversation would be futile, Colette simply replied and turned to leave. There was no point in staying any longer, as it would only provoke the elves.
Following Colette’s words, Kousuke and the others began to retrace their steps without looking back. The elves kept their promise and did not shoot any arrows.
“I’m sorry. It ended up this way.”
Colette apologized as they walked. Kousuke lightly waved his right hand.
“Don’t worry about it. They were quite stubborn, so I thought it was better not to provoke them further.”
Sylvia and Floria nodded as Kousuke spoke.
No one present opposed Colette’s decision. The elves had shown their rejection so clearly. As Colette had said, it had been a sufficiently valuable outcome just to know there was no World Tree. Of course, there was a possibility that they were lying, but if they started thinking about that, there would be no end to it.
If they had wanted to, Kousuke could have asked Esena to contact the World Tree that created this barrier, but Kousuke did not choose that method. Colette’s words about not wanting to unnecessarily disturb the village were genuine. In any case, Kousuke and the others left the barrier without any further incidents and summoned Kou and the others to return to the floating island.
It was the rejection pattern in the Elf forest.
