About an hour after parting ways with the slave merchants, the carriage arrived at the forest.
Normally, it would not have been surprising for the trip to take several more hours, but fortunately, the carriage Rei and his companions were riding in was so high-performance it put ordinary carriages to shame. More importantly, the horses pulling it had been specially trained since they were young.
While they were undoubtedly horses, they possessed enough strength to easily dispatch monsters on the level of Goblins.
With the carriage thus stopped, everyone disembarked for the time being.
The Dark Elf settlement conducted trade with a small number of traveling merchants, and some even came all the way from Gilm.
Naturally, the ground had been trampled firm over time, forming a road.
Elena's carriage could fit on the road, but they had stopped and dismounted because the three Dark Elves insisted on seeing and feeling the forest's current state for themselves.
"This is... I thought so when I saw it from afar, but it's considerably weakened, isn't it? And perhaps, as those men from earlier said, it's the presence of rampaging monsters."
Marina's expression was indescribable as she looked upon her homeland, which she was returning to for the first time in a hundred years.
She could hardly believe this was the place where she was born and raised.
"You're right. Even compared to when I went to pick up Marina-sama, the forest's vitality has decreased enough to be visible at a glance."
"Hmm, I wasn't here that long ago, so it doesn't seem particularly different to me."
Rei and the others watched from a distance as the three Dark Elves discussed among themselves.
"To my eyes, it looks like a rather lively forest, but..."
The others nodded at Elena's words.
It was likely because they did not know the forest's original state, but even looking at it now, it did not feel weak at all.
"If it's this weakened, I wonder what it would look like if the World Tree is healed. I'd kind of like to see it."
As Rei listened to Vihera's words and placed his hand on one of the forest's trees, it felt solid and sturdy. It yielded a firm response to the touch; there was no hollowness or rot that one might associate with disease.
As Rei was enjoying the texture of the tree, Marina, apparently satisfied, returned to his group with Odoban and Jusura in tow.
"I'm sorry, I ended up taking up some of your time. Well then, shall we get going? It will take a bit longer to reach the barrier of bewilderment, but once we're inside the forest, we never know when monsters might attack, so please be careful. ...Normally, we wouldn't need to worry about monsters, though."
As she murmured, Marina's gaze turned toward Set, who had already entered the forest and was running around with Ielo.
As she said, normally, almost no monsters would deliberately approach a Gryphon.
Before an A-Rank monster like a Gryphon, most monsters were nothing but prey.
Moreover, Set was not just any Gryphon, but one recognized as a Rare Species.
Rare Species were generally treated as one rank above their base monster, meaning Set was equivalent to an S-Rank monster in that sense.
...Of course, strictly speaking, Set was a monster created through Beast Magic, so monster ranks did not really apply.
In any case, thinking about it normally, with such a high-rank monster present, other monsters would not dare attack.
But according to the information from the slave merchants they had encountered on the way to the forest, the monsters inside had become ferocious.
If monsters that normally rarely fought among their own kind were now fighting regardless, then they might very well attack even a Gryphon.
Given that, when advancing through this forest, they could not simply rely entirely on Set's presence; everyone needed to stay vigilant of their surroundings.
"From here to where Marina lived... the place where the World Tree's barrier is, exactly how long will it take? If it's going to take a while, I think it'd be better for everyone to stay inside rather than splitting our forces in half."
Rei asked while checking the situation inside the forest. Marina thought for a moment before answering.
"Let's see. To the barrier of bewilderment... if we're traveling by carriage rather than on foot, I'd say about four or five hours. But... with this carriage, wouldn't we be fine even if monsters around here attacked? The speed is faster than a normal carriage, and I think it's better for everyone to ride in the carriage and rush through in one go rather than advancing while everyone stays on alert."
"You think so? Hmm... Elena, what do you think?"
"Me? Indeed, if we waste unnecessary time here, the likelihood of being attacked by monsters will only increase. In that case, I think it's better to travel through by carriage in one go. Fortunately, this carriage was made for me to ride in. It is not so weak as to be affected by attacks from ordinary monsters. Besides..."
Elena's gaze was directed not at the carriage, but at the horses pulling it.
"An ordinary monster would be trampled before it even had a chance to attack."
Compared to normal horses, the two horses were clearly worthy of being called giant horses.
If they were Low-Rank Monsters, they would undoubtedly be easily crushed under those hooves.
Hearing Elena's words, Rei thought for a moment, then nodded and spoke.
"Understood. Then let's go with Marina's plan. Besides, even if monsters show up, we have Set."
"Guruuu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a happy cry.
"Kyu! Kyuuuuu!"
Ielo, who had been riding on Set's back, cried out as if to say not to forget about itself.
Of course, Ielo's cry was more aptly described as adorable, and no one would likely think to rely on Ielo in combat.
In reality, Ielo possessed several convenient abilities for combat, but its appearance was far from anything that would suggest as much.
"Ielo, you're staying inside the carriage with me."
"Kyuu..."
At Elena's words, Ielo took off from Set's back with a disappointed cry.
From here on, they would be traveling at considerable speed, just as Marina had said.
Ielo could fly, but its speed was still no match for Set's.
Of course, even if Ielo got separated here, Elena did not think there were many beings that could harm it, given its high defensive power. Still, there were always exceptions and worst-case scenarios to consider.
Given that, she could not just leave Ielo outside the carriage.
"Guruu."
Set looked at Ielo with a slightly lonely cry.
For Set, Ielo was an important friend, and it would have preferred to stay together if possible.
"Come on, Set. You just have to protect Ielo, right? Okay?"
Patting the lonely Set once, Rei boarded the carriage.
The others boarded the carriage as well, with only Ara taking a seat on the driver's platform.
"Are you ready? Here we go!"
With Ara's voice, the carriage began to move.
At first, slowly... but the speed gradually increased.
The two horses pulling the carriage likely understood that this was a dangerous zone. It was not an all-out reckless sprint, but the speed was clearly faster than when they had been heading toward the forest.
This was not a properly maintained highway, but a road formed from years of being trampled firm.
Many people traveled by carriage here, and though it was not a welcome fact for the Dark Elves, slave merchants also passed through frequently, so the road naturally had enough width for a carriage.
But in the end, it was still nothing more than a trampled path.
Naturally, there were uneven patches, and if they ran at speed, the ride for those inside the carriage would be far from comfortable.
Moreover, if the horses pulling Rei and his companions' carriage went full speed, they would be even faster than a normal horse's sprint.
Given that, those inside the carriage should have been tossed up, down, left, and right...
"Hmm, this dried fruit is delicious. The sweetness is not too strong, and it has a moderate tartness."
"Really? It's just the leftovers of what I brought from the Dark Elf village... I'm glad you're pleased, Elena-sama."
Odoban smiled happily at Elena's words.
For Odoban, who loved looking at beautiful women, Elena's smile was so valuable that calling it supreme—even compared to Marina's or Vihera's—would not be an exaggeration.
So much so that she would gladly feed Elena her precious dried fruit if it meant seeing that smile.
"Still, this carriage is amazing. The scenery outside is rushing by at an incredible pace, yet I can't feel any shaking at all while sitting inside."
"Mm."
Byune, who had also been slowly savoring the dried fruit she received from Odoban, gave a brief response to Vihera's impressed murmur as she looked out the window.
Byune would normally try to eat as much fruit as possible, but this time she was not in such a hurry.
She liked sweet things, but she did not have the kind of personality where she felt she had to monopolize everything she was given.
She knew when to rush and when to take her time.
"Gururururuu!"
At Set's sudden cry, several people turned their gazes toward the window.
Outside, a strike from Set's front leg was destroying an Orc's head.
"Oh my, an Orc showed up, huh... Do your best, Set. Just annihilate all the Orcs."
Jusura's cheering voice echoed inside the carriage.
Her words were light, but the hatred dwelling in her eyes was strong.
It was a completely different side of Jusura than usual, but if one knew what the existence of an Orc meant to Dark Elves... no, to women, it was only natural.
Orcs, which reproduced using women of other races, were naturally despicable enemies to the Dark Elves, who were all beauties.
And the fact that Orcs were in this forest meant that their target was undoubtedly the Dark Elves.
Thinking of it that way, Rei could not bring himself to stop Jusura.
...Of course, the Dark Elves also ate the meat of Orcs they killed, so the animosity between them was likely mutual.
Orc meat was delicious despite its low rank, making it literally a tasty monster.
Watching Jusura, Rei suddenly felt disappointed that he could not retrieve the Orc meat.
(Set could probably bring back one or two Orc corpses... but there's no room for that, I suppose.)
Since the carriage was not shaking, it was hard to tell, but even as he was thinking about this leisurely, the two giant horses were pulling the carriage at considerable speed.
In fact, the scenery visible through the window was flying by in the blink of an eye.
(Still... still, if it's Set, maybe...)
Rei thought so, but he strongly suspected it was a lost cause.
"Orcs, huh... They are troublesome monsters. They cause no small amount of damage every year."
Perhaps because she felt something as a fellow woman, Elena muttered with a depressed sigh.
In the carriage, where everyone except Rei was a woman, all of them similarly agreed with Elena's words.
Even Byune was the same, nodding with her usually unchanging expression.
(Well, I suppose I'm not the only one, am I.)
Rei turned his gaze toward Ielo, who was nibbling on a nut a short distance away.
Perhaps sensing Rei's gaze, Ielo tilted its head and looked back, then flew over to him inside the carriage.
Landing on Rei's arm, it offered a nut as if asking, "Want to eat?"
"Kyu?"
"No, you can eat that. I'm fine for now."
When Rei told it this while stroking Ielo's slightly cool scales, it must have felt good, as it rubbed its body against Rei for more.
Seeing Ielo's behavior, the atmosphere of Elena and the others, who had been harboring unpleasant feelings toward the Orcs, softened as well.
The conversation shifted to topics unrelated to Orcs, and some time passed... until suddenly Marina, Odoban, and Jusura all stopped talking at once and turned their gazes outside the carriage.
Then, as if representing the three, Marina spoke.
"It seems we've arrived. ...Ara, could you stop the carriage for a moment?"
Those words meant that they had arrived at one of the most important places within the Dark Elves' forest... the location where the first of the World Tree's barriers was erected.