Chapter title:?Staying in the Field

「I’m sorry, Elt. If I think about it, you want to get to a place with humans as soon as possible, right?」

When we finished collecting the rainbow-colored carrots and left the place, Serena talked to me about it.

「No, there is a good chance that the rainbow carrots we got there will be useful for something. It wasn’t a waste of time.」

We left the village at an early hour, but it took us half a day to collect the rainbow carrots.

In the end, we didn’t get very far that day, and now we are preparing to camp out.

「They are delicious. After all, carrots should only be eaten raw.」

Next to her, Marie was happily eating carrots.

「Elt, can you bring out the pot?」

Serena asked, and I took out a pot from my inventory.

「Thank you. That’s a really useful ability.」

Serena is currently cooking a meal.

When she sets the pot down, she orders the spirits to pour out the water, and then starts the fire from below. After throwing in the vegetables, she took out the smoked meat and cut it with a knife.

「Normally I can’t carry around such tools, so I can only eat smoked meat that’s been preserved.」

While mixing the pot, Serena ordered the fire spirit to adjust the heat.

「No, thank God Serena’s here. Neither Marie nor I can cook.」

Even if we had the tools, cooking is not something that can be learned overnight.

If it had been a two-person trip, our meals would have consisted of smoked meat and water.

「Fufufu, thank you. I’m glad I came along when you said that.」

Serena smiled softly and looked at me. I was impressed by her eyes as they stared at me, shadowed by the flickering of the fire.

「I was wondering.. Rainbow carrots are normally a very expensive food that you have to search a very large area to find one, right? So why were there so many of them growing?」

It’s not that they can’t be found in the market at all, but it’s a rarity that can only be obtained by a team of specialized hunters looking for it with their own eyes. If there are places where they can be found in such large quantities, won’t the price fall?

「The reason for this is that rainbow carrots only grow at a low rate in places where a certain amount of magic power accumulates.」

Marie answers that question.

「I see, so the Lost Forest is a good place to accumulate magic power?」

「That’s also true. Monsters are creatures that have taken in bad magic and become vicious, and since the Lost Forest is thick with magic, the monsters that appear are powerful.」

「So you’re saying that this place is inaccessible to people and that’s why there are so many of them?」

「That’s right. If the area next to the rainbow carrots is a reservoir of magic power, then there is a low probability that the plant will divide and rainbow carrots will grow there as well.」

In other words, if you intentionally create a reservoir of magic power and plant it there, there is a possibility that it will increase?

「But even if that’s the case, there’s something strange about it....」

「What is it?」

Serena stopped cooking and posed a question to Marie.

「The northern valley was famous among us elves, and that place wasn’t far from there. From what I’ve heard, it takes quite a while to increase, right? I’m only 17 years old, so I haven’t lived that long, but the village chief and my brother have lived a long time, so it’s unnatural that they didn’t know about that place.」

She’s absolutely right. The Lost Forest is indeed a place where it is easy to lose your sense of direction, and if you were walking normally, you would lose your place. But how can a person who grew up in an Elven village not know about a place that is a bit far from their own living area?

「The answer is simple. There was a barrier to keep out anyone who tried to enter.」

「If that’s the case, how did we get in?」

If that were true, we wouldn’t have been able to get there.....

「That’s obvious, because it didn’t work on Marie or the Master. The barrier system that inhibits perception is effective against small fry, but it can’t distort the perception of the spirit king, Marie, or my master.」

「Small fry..?」

Serena’s cheeks twitched, though she took no offense to Marie’s words.

「The barrirers were double-layered, sucking the magic power of any intruders who entered and returning it to the ground.」

「Isn’t it tasteless to have such barriers?」

Phil and Yomi could be in it. That’s what I thought.....

「Don’t worry, Marie has broken the wards.」

「That’s a relief....」

Serena patted her chest and let out a breath.

「So, after all, if they put up the barrier, does that mean someone was in control of the place?」

Over a bowl of soup with vegetables and smoked meat, Serena reiterated what she had said earlier.

「I think so, don’t you?」

「Who would have done this and for what purpose?」

The trap that sucks the magic power of anyone who enters it shows its malicious intent.

「It is useless to worry about it. If they wanted to protect something, they should have prepared a barrier that Marie could not break.」

I thought, “Don’t be reckless against the Spirit King”. Marie replied as she drank the soup that Serena had made.

「Now, let’s go to bed and get ready for tomorrow.」

After cleaning up after dinner, all that was left was to sleep. We set up a tent with a cloth and lay down there.

I lay down first and Marie climbed on top of me.

「You’d better lie down too, Serena. It’s a little cramped, so you’ll be next to me, but please bear with me.」

Due to the size of the cloth, there is only enough room for two people. So, Marie is lying on top of me.

「It’s not a problem, because I’m the one who said I’d go with you. Besides................it’s nice to be next to Elt」

「Hm? What?」

I couldn’t hear the last part because she was whispering.

「I, it’s nothing!」

Serena’s ears turn red and she lays down next to me. And then she just turns around and.....

「This is kind of fun.」

She smiled when her eyes met mine.

「Then, Master, Marie will set the wards. If something comes near, Marie will know, and I want you to feel safe.」

Marie’s wind wards are useful, and when you’re inside, the temperature is kept at a comfortable level, so you don’t get cold without a blanket. In addition, she can sense when an enemy is approaching.

「Okay, thanks.」

I patted Marie’s hand, and....

「Ehehehehe, this is as easy as it gets.」

I fell asleep listening to Marie’s happy voice.

★

「What’s going on with.... now that the stupid.... wards have been broken!」

A few days later, someone visited the rainbow carrot colony.

「There’s no way humans could have gotten this deep into the forest.....」

The person walked deeper into the forest and found.........

「Hey! All the rainbow carrots are gone!」

The man’s eyes widened as he saw that all the rainbow carrots were gone.

「Did the plan to use the rainbow carrots to strengthen the army and bring down the country leak?　But, but....」

I’ve never received any reports from neighboring countries that humans have entered the Lost Forest.

「If we don’t, we’ll be purged by the.... Demon Lord....」

This operation was a plan that the Demon Lord had been preparing for years. The waves of the evil gods have recently ceased. I don’t know what happened, but the Demon Lord’s goal is to gain power while the Evil God is silent and reverse his position.

「The residue of this magic power is.... this guy took away the rainbow carrot?」

In any case, he’s carrying a lot of carrots, and I’ll catch up with him soon.

「You will pay for destroying the territory of this arc-demon.」

With glowing red eyes, the Arc Demon took off towards the south.....

TL: Big shotout to Midzuki for providing the illustrations!