Kousuke, who had finished his work in the forest and returned to the village, tilted his head at an unusual commotion.
“What could it be?”
“Who knows? It’s different from the usual, so something might have happened,” Shurein said. Shurein’s mentioning of “the usual” referred to the commotion celebrating Kousuke.
However, the current clamor in the village gave a different impression.
As he walked onward, tilting his head, he arrived at Shiomara’s mansion. This was where he bid farewell to the elves who had guided him through the forest. After entering the mansion, Kousuke and the others learned the cause of the village’s commotion from Romana.
“Adventurers?” Kousuke asked, turning his gaze to Romana as he nibbled on his meal.
“Yes. It seems the number of people invading the forest has been increasing for the past few days.”
“I see.” Kousuke had anticipated that they would take advantage of the weakened barrier created by Yutta and expand the breach, but he hadn’t expected it to happen this quickly.
“No, quite some time has passed since that incident. If they were organized, it’s actually a bit late, isn’t it?”
“Weren’t we told before that the army was involved?” Shurein had also heard about the events that had previously occurred in this village from Kousuke and others. If the army was involved, it wouldn’t be strange for discussions to be proceeding under the country’s leadership. However, their movements were too slow for that.
“What do you think? If the army were officially involved, I’d expect actual soldiers to show up, wouldn’t you?” Kousuke turned his gaze to Romana to confirm, but Romana, sensing his meaning, shook her head.
“No. According to the patrols, they didn’t appear to be wearing official military attire. Also, the fact that they withdrew so readily after a warning is strange for soldiers.”
“That is indeed strange.” Soldiers bearing the weight of their country would not withdraw at the mere warning of a few elves. Especially if they knew they could penetrate deeper into the forest. However, at least in the past few days, the patrolling elves had issued warnings, and those found had retreated. If they were soldiers, this would be unthinkable, but for adventurers, it’s possible they value their lives and retreat. Especially if they had already managed to gather materials before being warned.
“Are they just stumbling upon the path and coming to gather materials, or do they have some other objective? It feels unsettling.”
“Indeed. Kousuke’s intuition is usually correct in these situations, so it’s best to be careful,” Shurein said. Romana nodded solemnly at Shurein’s words, while Kousuke could only offer a bitter smile. He had accumulated enough experience to be unable to deny it.
Regardless of the intruders in the forest, Kousuke was also concerned about the village’s reaction, so he inquired about that as well.
“Was the village commotion because of the intruders? I felt like the gazes were slightly different.”
“Ah, that. That’s likely related to Kousuke-sama’s arrival here in the past few days, I think.”
“Huh?” Kousuke tilted his head, not understanding, but Shurein, sensing something from his subtle expression, turned his gaze to Romana.
“Hmm. Did it accelerate?”
“Undoubtedly.”
“That’s a troublesome matter, indeed,” Shurein nodded with a serious expression at Romana’s answer. That answer was meant for Kousuke’s benefit. Seeing Shurein’s unidentifiable expression, Kousuke felt an ominous atmosphere.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re sharp in the strangest places, as always. Though you’re still dull in others,” Shurein said, laughing at Kousuke’s reaction for a moment before explaining the current state of the village.
“Listen. Originally, the arrival of Kousuke and Colette had invigorated this village.”
“…Indeed.”
“Amidst that, people started appearing who breached the forest, taking advantage of a gap in the barrier. This is despite the barrier being created by the World Tree, which the elves revere.” By the time Shurein finished, Kousuke began to understand what she was trying to say.
“Ah… yes. I think I get it, but please continue.”
“Truly? For the elves, at a point where they are taking damage, if news spreads that Kousuke has begun working to counter it, well, what do you think will happen?” Shurein asked with an amused expression. Kousuke let out a loud sigh. Glancing at Shurein, Kousuke saw Romana nod vigorously.
“What Shurein-dono says is correct.”
“As I thought.” Romana’s answer caused Kousuke to writhe for a moment, holding his face with his right hand, but eventually, he sighed and adopted a dejected expression.
“Well, that’s alright. Anyway, please be careful not to let them become overconfident.” Just as with the World Tree’s barrier, excessive faith could, if things went wrong, endanger the village itself. Had Kousuke not attempted to take countermeasures beforehand, the elves might have fallen into a state of panic. Romana, who had deeply understood this during the current incident, nodded gravely at Kousuke’s words.
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Regardless of the intruders in the forest, Kousuke’s actions remained the same. If anything had changed, it was perhaps that he was working at a slightly faster pace. However, this did not mean he was cutting corners. The work done outside the village included preparations for the magical circle that would cover the entire forest, but it primarily consisted of gathering materials from within the forest. The barrier within the forest was mainly maintained by Yutta’s creation, and what Kousuke was making was merely supplementary. Furthermore, Kousuke’s barrier required materials for its maintenance, so he had to gather them within the forest where the elves could collect them. For these reasons, he was conducting his collection in the Seuri Forest. Since it wasn’t guaranteed that Kousuke could return to the village every time the barrier’s magical circle needed repairs, he intended to leave the repairs to someone with a certain level of knowledge. That person, of course, was Shiomara. Shiomara was currently diligently studying the barrier’s magical circle that Kousuke was trying to create, under Yutta’s guidance. A significant reason for this was that the location where the magical circle was being made was at the foot of the World Tree, and Shiomara was the only one who could enter that area.
Kousuke and his group finished their fieldwork outside the village in about a week, after which Kousuke spent time teaching Shiomara about the barrier. During that time, adventurers from outside the forest naturally appeared, but they seemed to retreat upon the elves’ warnings, as if they had no intention of conflict. However, it felt like only a matter of time before they would begin to penetrate deeper into the forest. As a result, the elves became increasingly agitated, reaching a point where an outburst seemed imminent. However, the elves knew that Kousuke was working behind the scenes, so they did not attack even when provoked by the adventurers. Conversely, the adventurers seemed to anticipate this, repeatedly encroaching further into the forest despite daily warnings from the elves. The elves had, in principle, set a limit beyond which they would not take action, and just as the adventurers were about to cross that line, Kousuke finally completed the magical circle to reinforce the barrier of the Seuri Forest.
Everything accelerated in many ways lol
Kousuke also read the situation and tried to complete it as soon as possible, which resulted in this. By the way, although it may seem like a long time to Kousuke, it took time to sow various seeds for the magical circle within the forest. It is intended to reinforce the barrier originally established by Yutta.
