Chapter 406 – To the Town of the Accused

She appeared to be in her mid-twenties? Tall and slender, holding a long khakkhara.

“B-but, Lady Forset…”

Marceska tried to say something with the flustered look of a child caught misbehaving, but the woman called Forset shook her head.

“Are you suggesting we take advantage of the fact that our opponent no longer intends to harm Sion and continue fighting?”

“That’s… not it. Sion is precious to me too.”

Sigritta bowed her head at Forset’s words. The Ink Beasts were returning to Sigritta’s book. The pages flipped rapidly on their own as the beasts swarmed back inside.

“…Um, I’ll return Sion to you.”

“Thank you. It seems you held back to avoid injuring her. And I apologize. This happened due to our inadequate supervision.”

Forset bowed her head after receiving Sion.

“No. We had an agreement that you would listen if we won… and it didn’t seem like they intended to harm anyone either.”

When I glanced at everyone, they nodded too. Probably meaning no one was injured.

“Besides, I can understand their concerns to some extent.”

If the condemned were connected to demons, or if they were reclusive demons themselves, depending on the circumstances, they could become targets of persecution. If Sion and the others respected the forest’s condemned, it was understandable that they would act to protect them.

At my words, Forset closed her eyes and seemed to be contemplating the situation, but eventually shook her head quietly.

“Even so, it was wrong. If those who have business with us wish to hear our circumstances, we should be the ones to explain… and I never asked these children to fight or protect us. I understand what they were trying to do, but…”

Saying this, Forset removed Sion’s hood and gently stroked her hair.

“Nn… Lady For… set…? Ah!”

Sion opened her eyes slightly, then seemed to understand the situation and moved away from Forset.

“Sion. You’ve lost. Do you understand the situation?”

“…Yes.”

The three of them—Sion and the others—stood before Forset with their shoulders hunched like children caught misbehaving.

“Then properly apologize to them. You’ve been rude to our guests.”

“Yes…”

The three lined up, each removing their hoods and bowing.

Like Sion, neither Sigritta nor Marceska had any particularly unusual features in their appearance. Their faces were well-proportioned but relatively ordinary, giving the impression of innocent children.

Not just their appearance but their inner selves seemed childlike too, and Forset’s treatment of Sion and the others suggested the same.

At least regarding Forset, her care for the three of them came through in her words and attitude.

“Um… I’m sorry for attacking suddenly.”

“…Sorry.”

“Sorry…”

They each offered their apologies.

“Understood. I accept your apologies.”

When I responded, Forset bowed once more. Then she raised her head and looked at Sion and the others.

“Your methods were wrong… but thank you. I’m happy that you were worried about us.”

Forset crouched down and hugged all three of them together as she spoke.

“…Sorry.”

Being hugged by Forset, Sion and the others buried their faces and apologized to her one after another.

Whether they were relieved to hear Forset say that, or happy that she understood their feelings—the three of them let out small sobs while Forset continued stroking their hair.

When I glanced around, everyone else was smiling at the scene too.

Eventually… after waiting for the three to calm down, Princess Elham spoke up.

“Pleased to meet you. I am the second princess of the Kingdom of Baharzad, Elham Baharzad. My mother is Sherity, a survivor of the Nahalbia royal family.”

“The Nahalbia royal family…”

Forset showed a slightly surprised expression at Princess Elham’s words, then closed her eyes.

“We’ve come from Verdgar and Silvatoria. It seems the person responsible for the incident thirty years ago is leading demons and secretly working to revive the demon lord sealed beneath the royal capital of Verdgar.”

“Is that… so? That was… such a thing…”

Forset furrowed her brow and shook her head. Eventually opening her eyes, she said:

“It’s a long story. Let me guide you to our town. I’d like to talk there comfortably, if that’s alright?”

“Um, we have other companions too.”

“The ones riding the dragon in the sky?”

“Yes. Our ship is also floating in the sky, though invisible now.”

Forset’s eyes widened at this, but after a moment’s thought, she nodded.

“Understood. Those people would worry if they couldn’t see you, so I’ll leave contacting them and bringing them along to you. That would put you more at ease too.”

“Thank you.”

So Forset… has the authority to make such decisions.

From her manner of speaking, it seems Forset and the others’ backgrounds are somewhat different from Sion and her group… Well, I suppose we’ll hear about that soon too.

I should use the communication device to inform Elliot and the others about what happened.

“Ah, and one more thing.”

Saying this, Forset smiled at me.

“Earlier, you referred to them as ‘they,’ but they’re girls. All three of them are girls.”

…I see. I glanced over to look at Sion and the others.

“Both of you, I’m sorry. For dragging you into this…”

Sion still didn’t seem to have recovered, but Marceska showed a bright smile, and Sigritta shook her head.

“We each decided to do this ourselves…”

“Yeah. So Sion, you don’t need to apologize to us.”

“…Thank you.”

Sion smiled awkwardly.

“Well… I didn’t think we’d use this many. That might be troublesome from now on.”

While saying this, Sigritta opened the book she was holding.

“…Ah. We used quite a lot, huh.”

Marceska peered into Sigritta’s book as she spoke. Blank page, animal drawing, blank page, blank page… It had become like a misprinted book.

“I’ll have to draw more again…”

Sigritta checked the blank pages, then closed the book between both hands.

…So it’s a technique or ability that materializes and controls drawings she made herself? Given that winged horse she summoned at the end, she might have other hidden cards too.

Well, regarding the three of them, they seem relatively okay.

And then… after Princess Stephania and Princess Adriana, Old Sigmund and the others, and the Demon-Slaying Knight Order came down from the ship upon receiving our message and we finished introductions, we decided to move.

Following Forset and the others who were leading, we soon arrived before a large tree. Not too far from the earlier spring.

…It’s a tree with a thicker trunk than others, but at first glance, it still seems within the normal range.

However, when carefully observed with a monocle, it’s wrapped in strange magical power. Probably concealed with magic like what was used at Nahalbia’s royal castle.

When Forset struck the ground with her khakkhara, part of the trunk distorted and a large hollow opened.

“Shall we go?”

Forset and the others proceeded into the hollow. We followed behind into the hollow and headed downward as if descending a spiral staircase.

At the bottom, we emerged into a narrow passage. There was a small room to the side for guards to wait, and the man there looked surprised upon seeing us, half-rising from his seat, but Forset stopped him with her hand.

“They’re my guests. Be sure not to be rude.”

“Y-yes, Lady Forset.”

Forset nodded and continued forward. After proceeding quite far down the passage—suddenly, our view opened up.

“An underground town…”

“Another… amazing place we’ve come to…”

When Claudia and Grace spoke, Marlene also widened her eyes and nodded repeatedly. Not to mention Rosemary and Sheila, Princess Stephania and Old Sigmund, even Auria who should be accustomed to seeing various things showed the same reaction.

I understand why everyone is surprised. Just when we thought we’d passed through a tree hollow, a vast underground space spread out before us.

It was a place that could only be called an underground town. They had excavated this enormous space, properly secured flat ground, and built a town upon it.

Where we are now is a corner of the town’s outer perimeter—meaning, near the ceiling by the wall. A narrow path leads from this high place down to the town.

…It’s a place with a good view. There seem to be buildings ranging from large structures that could be either temples or castles to small houses like common dwellings. Compared to towns outside, it’s not quite large enough to be called a city, but… it’s spacious enough to live in. Here and there stand massive pillars that seem to support the ceiling.

Soft light showers the town from crystals growing on the ceiling… and around the town spreads what appears to be an underground lake.

And from the underground lake, columns of water rise upward in reverse flow… creating an insane sight as they pour into the ceiling. Since I can also see proper waterfalls pouring from the outer walls into the underground lake, they must be using underground water sources.

…At the very least, this entire town isn’t a normal structure. Not just because of the barrier outside, but advanced magic seems to be used everywhere.

Anyway, by supplying groundwater to the forest above like that and growing plants, they’re visually reinforcing the people-repelling barrier.

“Welcome to Halvaronis.”

Forset said. So that’s the town’s name.

Proceeding straight down the main street—we advanced toward the blue tower-like building towering at the center of Halvaronis.