I was able to ask the village chief about the forest spirits.
The next morning, I woke up early, so I decided to look around the forest a bit. The scenery, with the morning sun shining through despite the cold, felt purifying. The scent of the soil wafted from the ground, soaked with morning dew.
As I stepped on the frozen fallen leaves, they made a pleasant crunching sound. I felt as if I were all alone in this vast forest. Just then, I heard the clanking sound of chains coming from deeper within.
Peeking from behind a large tree, I saw the village chief alone, carrying tools for his work. It looked like something used to attach to and pull cut logs. His horse had a sturdy build and shoulder muscles that no other race possessed an equivalent for. Steam rose, mingling with the morning mist due to the temperature difference.
“G-good morning.”
“Oh, you’re up early. Impressive, impressive. I’m in the process of transporting the trees I cut. See over there.”
Already, several jobs seemed to be finished, with cut logs piled up. At that moment, a small-looking man from the Servitaurus race popped out. Wait, not small; he was about my height.
“This guy is my coworker. I can’t carry it all by myself.”
“Yo! Heh heh, I heard there was a traveler staying here yesterday, and it’s true.”
The young Servitaurus man carried a tool resembling a pickaxe on his shoulder. I wondered if he would also be pulling logs. He was certainly well-trained, though.
“Um, are you two going to pull it together?”
“Me? I won’t pull. No way, no way. Different, different. My job is to fix the logs from behind and follow along. It’s pretty important, you know? These guys are clumsy.”
So, they had power but needed agile support. Deer, being relatively small and adapted to mountainous terrain, would be perfect.
“If you want, you could try pulling too? Hahaha.”
“No, I’ll pass.”
I didn’t want to waste my stamina here.
“You’re selling these cut logs, right?”
“That’s right. That’s why we need the horses. We can’t leave this place ourselves.”
“Riight, we can’t afford to have our business partners destroyed!”
Everything besides this place was sized for us. How inconvenient. They probably process these logs to make them easier to use and ship them out to various places.
Well, I shouldn’t be spending my time observing the forestry here. I need to wake up my still-sleeping companions and get going. Naturally, everyone who was rudely awakened early in the morning was grumpy.
“You’re quite energetic, aren’t you?”
“Some people take a long time to get ready.”
Nina narrowed her eyes, still bare-faced, and huffed, turning her head away. I was pushed out of the room, as if they wanted me to leave quickly. In the meantime, I had to pack my luggage and prepare for departure.
As I was rummaging through my luggage, Owl, whom I had spoken to yesterday, quietly approached.
“Ah, good morning. Helping your father?”
“Well, yeah, kind of. Hey, do you have more of yesterday’s stuff?”
I see. No wonder he wouldn’t be up early to help his father. That looks like Nina’s magazine. If she knew I used it for something like this, she might dislocate my shoulder.
“Like I said, that belongs to one of my companions.”
“Please, then I’ll tell you information that my old man told me never to reveal.”
Wouldn’t that be problematic in itself? Well, I guess I should listen.
“Alright, tell me.”
“If you tell me, hand it over. The spring I mentioned yesterday really does exist. But no one knows the way there. However, there are races living in this forest that I’ve never even seen before.”
Hmm, from what he’s said so far, it seems like they are allowed to live in a part of this forest. And only at the very entrance. It’s as if the forest placed them there as guards. Just as the Bicorn deterred others from entering, few would try to confront these giants.
“And among them, there are these really tiny deer-like creatures. They live deeper in the forest than we do. Maybe if we meet them…”
Tiny deer? He’s talking about the Servitaurus. So, the one who came to help earlier lives there? Then I should go and ask him about it now.
“And as thanks…”
“Can’t be helped, wait a moment.”
Owl looked at me with an intensity that made it seem like he was about to drool. He’s at an age where even a dictionary would be entertaining.
“Ah! You were here. Father was looking for you.”
“Ugh, what a pain.”
Conveniently appearing was the village chief’s daughter, Menia.
“Hurry up and go to work!”
“No way, you go!”
“You slacked off like this yesterday too!”
Menia, as if not seeing me, approached Owl closely. Hey, you’ve forgotten about me. I was almost caught between the two of them. They started bickering loudly. I’ll take my leave for now.
“Ugh…”
It was a mistake to try and slip out from behind. I got caught between the butt of Menia, who had rotated her body, and the wall of the hut.
“Are you expecting me to do heavy lifting?”
“You have plenty of brute strength, so it’s fine, right?”
Menia, with blood rushing to her head, didn’t notice. The stiff, muscular butt of the horse pressed in forcefully. This isn’t the time to think it’s lucky to be caught between a girl’s derrière. I’ll die, my ribs will break.
“Ugh, e-excuse me.”
Tapping them lightly wouldn’t get the attention of these thick-skinned individuals. It couldn’t be helped. I poked them with my dagger.
“Ouch! Uh, uh, ah, sorry, am I squashed?”
“Hah! You greedy cow!”
“Shut up, you piece of trash!”
The two of them, yelling insults at each other in unison, went somewhere.
