Chapter 403 – The Enchanted Forest

Having completed our initial exploration of the Royal Castle and with Ramriya joining us as a companion… we all boarded the Sirius and decided to first observe the forest from the air as planned.

I would be piloting the airship. While steering, I needed to assess our surroundings and create a map.

The Sirius, made invisible by Light Magic, ascended. We advanced the airship in the same direction as the adventurers heading toward the forest, their figures visible below us.

The moment we crossed the outer wall and reached the forest—

“Theodore. Look at this.”

Claudia showed me a compass. The needle indicating direction was spinning wildly and incessantly.

“I expected this might happen… No wonder people get lost.”

If wandering aimlessly without knowing directions would still lead one to the outer edges, then perhaps there was no need to worry about escaping the forest. Even if you lost your bearings, you could simply walk along the forest’s perimeter to return to base.

Indeed, from above, we could see adventurers carrying supplies obtained in the forest back to base in this manner. Since the outer edges were grasslands, the temperature would be more bearable than walking through the desert, and with some skill, they could secure food and drinking water. The adventurers seemed to be making good use of the forest’s characteristics.

We continued flying over the forest. As expected, the canopy was dense, making it impossible to discern the forest’s interior from the air.

First, I decided we would traverse the forest directly, then circle the outer perimeter to create a scaled model showing how far the lush greenery extended, allowing us to grasp the general topography.

Without a compass, our sense of direction would likely be distorted, but if we used the position of the old capital visible on the crystal panel as a reference, we should be roughly on track.

As we proceeded, Grace asked,

“Hmm… Did you change the ship’s course?”

“No. We’re proceeding with the old capital as our guide, and I haven’t altered our direction… Huh?”

Hmm? Had I mistaken the direction of the old capital…? I slowed the Sirius’s speed to confirm the situation.

—Wait, no. Something feels off. We left the old capital and are heading straight through the forest… so we should be moving with the city at our backs.

Therefore, this positional relationship should be correct… probably. There’s no reason to be troubled by something so simple. Yet, I had this strange, unsettling feeling that something was wrong.

Looking around, everyone else also wore expressions of doubt and suspicion, as if something didn’t quite add up.

“…Marlene. The Blessing.”

At my words, Marlene nodded and made a gesture of prayer. She then layered on a mental defense Light Magic.

“Our direction shouldn’t be wrong. If this discomfort itself is an effect of the forest’s Barrier, then it makes sense.”

Perhaps because we took countermeasures, the earlier discomfort began to fade.

“Ah, this is certainly troublesome. The compass is useless. If even our senses are being distorted… inside the forest, we’d lose track of where we are, wouldn’t we?”

I nodded at Rosemary’s words.

Relying on intuition would likely be futile, and even attempting to proceed logically would result in our perceptions being misled and us being led out. The fact that we noticed immediately was probably because we were in the air, with a clear view and no risk of losing our position.

The Sirius’s speed and the number of people aboard also played a role.

The discomfort intensified abruptly, and with many people, differences in how each was affected by the Barrier became apparent, ironically highlighting the trick that was confusing our perceptions.

If we were inside the forest, advancing while exploring, we probably wouldn’t even realize what was happening.

How did that adventurer group manage to proceed deeper?

For example… by checking the stars’ positions to determine direction? In any case, unless you realize your perceptions are being deceived, you likely couldn’t head toward the forest’s center.

Even if you suspected you might be wrong, wandering through the forest without knowing where to go would undoubtedly make for an exploration with significant mental strain.

“What shall we do?”

Sheila asked.

“As planned. We’ll go straight through the forest for now, then fly along the outer perimeter. We’ll start by making a map.”

It just meant we had more to record on the map. This forest not only disrupts compasses but also has a perception-hindering Barrier spread throughout. By roughly investigating the Barrier’s range, we could narrow down the exploration area further. Ground exploration would come after that.

We circled the outer perimeter with the Sirius to examine the forest’s size and shape, creating a scaled model as a map.

Furthermore, by having one group defend against the perception hindrance with the Moon Goddess’s Blessing and another without, we shuttled back and forth over the forest to determine where the discomfort was felt and where it disappeared.

As a result—we were able to decide on a general exploration range.

“This should be about it.”

I said while looking at the three-dimensional model.

“Thank you for your hard work, Theodore-sama.”

“Mhm. Thank you.”

Drinking the tea Ashley brought me, I created an expanded model of the Barrier’s interior—the exploration area.

The Barrier’s range formed an ellipse… but since we partly relied on sensation to determine it, some margin of error was unavoidable.

From here, the plan was to divide the area confirmed to be inside the Barrier into several Blocks and explore them in sequence. By dividing into Blocks and checking them off, we could eliminate gaps and waste in the search area.

The Sirius would standby in the air near the center of the exploration Block. The Demon-Slaying Knight Order would standby at the four corners of the Block, so if anyone felt lost, they could emerge onto the treetops, confirm the Sirius’s position, and from the positional relationship between the Sirius and the knights, determine their approximate location.

“Then, shall we start from near the center of the ellipse?”

The exploration team would consist of the Party Members, Auria, and Princess Elharm, I suppose.

Those remaining on the ship would primarily serve as monitors. If the knights acting as reference points were attacked, they would send reinforcements or rescue… essentially acting as a forward base.

“My apologies, you all.”

As we descended, Auria spoke, and the branches and leaves parted on their own, creating a path for us to enter the forest. We plunged into the opened space and descended to the ground.

The thick air characteristic of forests. High humidity. The sounds of birds, insects, and animals echoed from somewhere. The vegetation and the forest’s appearance could be described as resembling a tropical rainforest.

…If we operated without countermeasures for long periods, just that would drain our Vitality. First, I’d create a Barrier with a wind field around the exploration team members to protect them from insects, snakes, leeches, etc., and maintain a comfortable temperature and humidity.

“Thank you very much.”

Princess Elharm expressed her gratitude.

“Not at all.”

While casting Magic on everyone, I surveyed the surroundings. There were many plants not seen in the north, like ferns and palm trees.

I saw brightly colored birds taking flight. The ecosystem seemed completely different from the desert outside.

This area should already be deep within the forest. Since it’s outside the adventurers’ exploration range, there were no signs of human intervention… but with Auria here, dense thickets parted for us. Combined with aerial movement, exploration should be relatively effortless.

“Alright—let’s go.”

I sent Balor, infused with Magical Power, to the treetops, moving him along with us to make the positional relationship between the ground team and aerial team clear.

“…There are many animals. They’re everywhere.”

Irmhild, who had been detecting temperature differences in the surroundings, spoke. In that case, Life Sense Magic might not be useful either. The monocle also felt overloaded with information due to the faint Magical Power covering the entire forest.

“Understood. Since it’d be difficult to grasp everything, just be wary of any movements that seem to approach us. However… we don’t know if the human figures from the rumors have body heat, scent, or sound, so don’t rely solely on detection abilities.”

“Roger.”

“Understood.”

“Oka~y.”

Sheila, Irmhild, and Seraphina nodded.

“Then, I shall also spread my contract Spirits to a distance where we can discern each other’s positions and proceed with the exploration.”

“Please do.”

“I asked the Spirits if they’d seen any suspicious structures, but lower Spirits have faint selves and are hard to get clear answers from. Don’t expect information from Spirits other than my contract ones.”

“Just having wide-range detection and the branches parting for us is plenty helpful.”

“Hmm. It gladdens me to hear you say that.”

Auria’s expression softened.

Well then… shall we begin exploring the jungle?