Chapter title:?The Rouse Plains

★

The outside of the tent was bustling with activity, and many adventurers and soldiers had gathered there.

「Alicia, are you alright?」

I thought I felt a tap on my shoulder, but it was Alice-sama looking at me with concern.

「I’m fine.」

Currently, a large number of adventurers and soldiers are waiting in the Rouse Plains before the Lost Forest.

As many as 200 people gathered, which is the second largest number of people gathered in this country’s history.

「There are a lot of adventurers outside right now, so please don’t show your face.」

A knight from the Kingdom of Erivan said so.

I should explain a few things about the commotion.

It all started when we visited the royal castle in Erivan.

We were visiting the country to make sure Elt was still alive, and a princess of a country is not allowed to take any liberties when visiting another country.

If something were to happen to her, it would be an international problem.

That’s why we told them that the purpose of our visit was to “investigate the Lost Forest”..

The people of the Erivan Kingdom looked at each other in surprise. The reason for this is that the Lost Forest has been acting strangely lately.

Even here in the Rouse Plains, there are strong monsters walking around that you don’t normally see, and there are signs of evil wafting from the forest.?1

That’s why the government couldn’t leave it alone, so they planned to investigate. That’s when we showed up and asked for the same kind of investigation, and so we’re looking into it.

It was a good opportunity for us, so Alice and I were allowed to accompany her on the investigation while keeping our matter a secret.

At first, they were reluctant to expose the royal family of another country to danger, but in the end they agreed, as if they wanted our information.

However, we were not allowed to go completely free, and a knight was assigned to protect us and wait for us in the tent.

「I know, I know. But if you have any results, please let us know.」

「Very well, miss.」

The knight said he was going to check outside and left.........

「Damn it! It’s so frustrating that we can’t investigate on our own.」

Lady Alice crossed her arms and expressed her dissatisfaction.

「You can’t blame them, it would have been nice to have at least some of the Kingsguard participate in the investigation.....」

We’ve sent half of the knights that have been guarding me up to this point to investigate.

「And you’re getting calmer.....」

I crossed my arms as I listened to Alice’s words, looking in the direction of the Lost Forest. And........

「Elt. I’ve finally reached your side.」

I muttered to myself.

★

「Hm?」

「What’s wrong, Elt?」

Serena tilted her head as I stopke up.

「No, I thought I heard someone call me...」

I thought I heard a voice that sounded strangely familiar..

「Not Marie-chan?」

「No, I don’t think it was her.」

It doesn’t make any sense.

「Rather, we’d better be quiet because the explanation is about to begin.」

I closed my mouth and looked forward to Serena’s words.

The adventurers stood at various places and looked forward, where our client, a knight of the country, was explaining the details of the job.

『I’d like to ask you adventurers to back up our knights.』

The knights wore armor with the country’s emblem engraved on it.

『We have recently been experiencing an unexplained exodus of monsters from the Lost Forest. The purpose of our mission is to exterminate the vicious monsters and investigate the cause. You are not only important people who live in this country, but also brave warriors. I want you to keep in mind that if this place is overtaken, the powerless townspeople and villagers will fall prey to the monsters.』

「Hey, what do you think is the cause?」

While I was listening to the knight, Serena spoke to me.

The reason why I accepted this request was because I didn’t think we were completely unrelated.

We had come out of the Lost Forest a while ago. I didn’t pay any attention to it at the time, but it’s possible that the forest experienced some changes.

「We don’t know that, that’s why we’re exploring.」

If that is the case, then I must take this request and make it clear.

I talked about this with Serena as I listened to the knight.