Sofia and Kyarun began their training. The plan was to pass through Post Town by noon and arrive at Large Town by evening. So I thought she would only need instruction until then—

“Oh, come on! No, that’s not it! Why are you releasing magic power there?! Close it and control it!”

“I-I understand!”

Sofia struggled to control the ‘Bird Soar’ magic. At this rate, it seemed like it would be tough.

However, if she’s going to learn, Kyarun’s method is better… The method a magic-user named Richard taught her seems to significantly reduce the magic power required to maintain magic. Furthermore, its control is more stable compared to my method.

Sofia had previously mentioned that maintaining magic was difficult. Kyarun doesn’t have more magic power than Sofia, but she can still maintain it for a certain amount of time… So learning Kyarun’s method would be best, but for Sofia, it seems to be an unfamiliar way of handling magic, and she’s struggling.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

Ah, she failed to control it again. She suddenly did a somersault and was slammed to the ground on her back. A barrier was also set up, so she didn’t seem to be injured, but—

“Are you okay?”

Kyarun offers her hand. Sofia replies, “Thank you,” takes her hand, and stands up.

“I-I’m fine. Please continue.”

“…Understood.”

Kyarun replies and begins to speak to Sofia again.

If the method she teaches doesn’t work, they can just revert to the original way… While he’s thinking that, Sofia uses magic and begins to control it. Kyarun approaches her during this time.

“What’s wrong?”

“At this rate, I think it will take some time.”

“…How long do you think it will take to master?”

“Hmm, I wonder. For example, it took me three days to properly control it… Oh, I can still activate magic itself, even if it goes out of control, so I think it will be quick once you get the hang of it.”

It seems difficult to get the hang of it… Kyarun took three days. In that case—

“…Could you watch over me until we reach the Gnome Dwelling?”

“Sure.”

She readily agrees. I feel a bit bad for constantly asking for her cooperation. Kyarun herself has her own reasons for accompanying us, but… hmm, I guess I’ll pay for her lodging as a fee for teaching Sofia.

While I’m thinking that, Sofia fails again. On the other hand, the magic Kyarun activates while explaining is incredibly stable, to the point where I’m considering using her method.

…Once again, I wonder why this person named Richard taught Kyarun magic. It’s possible he stopped by the Fortress for some reason. However, he even used a rare item to teach magic to someone who had never used it before… No matter how I look at it, it’s strange.

Could it be a person who reincarnated like me…? But there’s one question about that too. According to the story, he only taught Kyarun magic at the Fortress. If he was a reincarnated human like me and was teaching magic to companion characters, it wouldn’t be strange for him to use items on Theol as well. But he didn’t… What is this all about?

…I won’t get to the bottom of this unless I meet this person named Richard. I don’t even know where he is, so maybe I should gather information.

Unexpected things keep happening… I thought, but it’s natural now that it’s the real world. Moreover, I even saved Sofia, who was supposed to die in the book. It wouldn’t be strange for something to change.

At that moment, my gaze suddenly shifted to the left. To the left of the highway—to the north—a forest stretched out, and beyond that was a very tall mountain.

This mountain and forest… I wondered if the beings here would also interfere with this real world, which is gradually differing from the game, and then I spoke to Sofia and the others.

“Sofia, Kyarun. That mountain—”

“I know. It’s Slated Mountain, the Sacred Mountain, right?”

Kyarun says. I nod, confirming she’s right, and gaze at its snow-capped peak.

There are many spirits on this continent, but among them, there are three beings with top-tier abilities—known as Spirit Gods. Phoenix Pheus, who governs fire and wind. Water King Azua, who governs water and darkness. The remaining one is Divine Wolf Garuku, who governs earth and light, and has the Slated Mountain and the forest at its base as its main dwelling.

These three do not get involved in the game. They maintain non-interference in the humans’ battles as guardians of the continent… I recall someone among the Five Great Demons mentioning in the game that they would target the Spirit Gods after destroying the humans. There was no direct mention, but perhaps the Demon Kings’ ultimate goal is them.

I somehow wonder if I could win if I fought them. I pride myself on having the ability to defeat even a Demon King without a barrier, but… since they are targeted as the ultimate goal after invading various parts of the continent, they must possess considerable power. In that case, their true strength is—

“I thought people couldn’t set foot there, if I remember correctly.”

Kyarun says. I give a small nod and tell Sofia as if to impress it upon her.

“It’s a place ruled by Divine Wolf Garuku… Garuku is a god-like being to the spirits… so humans also fear it and don’t trespass.”

The fact that the mountain is visible means the forest in front of it should also be an inviolable sanctuary… but the highway being in front suggests that human activity is gradually encroaching. I’m a little curious about that, but I don’t have time to investigate, so I decided not to worry about it.

“Hey, Ruon.”

At that moment, Kyarun calls out to me.

“We’ll be in town soon, right? I want to teach her all the control methods by noon, so could you go ahead?”

“Ahead?”

“I was hoping you could find a place that serves delicious food, you know?”

—The two of them are somewhat tired from training, but perhaps because they are near a sanctuary, there are almost no monsters related to the Demon Race. Even if they appear, they are weak enough for the two tired individuals to handle.

There should be monsters that obey the Spirit God in the forest, but I’ve heard in the past that they won’t attack unless you enter, so it should be fine to leave the two of them alone.

I look at Sofia. She seems tired from continuously using magic… I wonder if continuing this will hinder our journey.

While I’m thinking that, Sofia meets my gaze. Her eyes conveyed, “I’m fine.”

…She seems motivated, so I’ll leave it to her.

“Alright. Be careful not to get hurt.”

“Okay.”

And so, I headed to the Town alone.

We arrived at the next Town, and noon came. At first, we were all going to have lunch together, but in the end, I ate alone and waited near the Town entrance, but… they didn’t come.

I had a bad feeling… Just then, Kyarun finally arrived at the Town. However, Sofia wasn’t with her.

This is— I questioned her.

“What happened?”

“…Something terrible has happened.”

Her face was extremely serious… As I waited for her to speak, she uttered unexpected words.

“I’ve been able to control it better than before, so I decided to use Magic to get to the Town… but, on the way, the Magic went out of control and into the Sanctuary Forest…”

“What!?”

I involuntarily raised my voice.

“Sanctuary… you mean she entered the Forest that Garuku protects!?”

“Y-yes… It went out of control on the way and was swept up into the air by the Wind… and went straight towards the Sanctuary Forest…”

This is a disaster… I had been overconfident, thinking it would be fine since the Town was close. This is a blunder.

Since she doesn’t have a Familiar or anything attached, finding her would be… As I was thinking, Kyarun continued.

“I waited near the Forest at first, but she didn’t come back after a while. She was probably doing her best to maintain her Magic without it going out of control and couldn’t control her direction well. So she might have gone deep into the Forest… And, there’s also the possibility that her Magic Power ran out in the Forest…”

…This has become quite a troublesome situation. If Sofia were unable to move, it wouldn’t be strange for Lefin to come to the Town alone and report, but there’s nothing of the sort so far. Does that mean something bad happened in the Forest?

“I understand the situation. I’ll go look for her.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll manage. Tell me about the place and direction she was blown to. Also, there’s a chance Sofia might safely arrive in this Town, so Kyarun, wait here for a while. If she comes, tell Lefin, who has a contract with her, to call me back. As a Spirit, she should be able to find me.”

“Understood.”

—It would be great if I could track the Magic Power of the sword, Artifact, and such that Sofia has, but I haven’t analyzed Magic Power in detail, so it’s impossible… I’ll just have to search diligently.

If she entered the Forest, ran out of Magic Power, and got lost, that’s truly a case of being stranded. There are also Monsters. If she went deep inside, I need to hurry, but will I be able to find her?

While thinking, I reached into my pocket, took out a few silver coins, and handed them to Kyarun.

“If I’m not back here by evening, use these to get an inn and wait.”

“Understood. Be careful.”

“Alright.”

As I nodded, I activated my Magic and went back down the Highway.

I was anxious, but I never imagined such a situation… I thought, and I proceeded towards the Sanctuary.