Ara stopped the carriage, and everyone dismounted.
Everyone except the three Dark Elves felt one thing upon stepping out: doubt.
"Hey, Marina. Is the World Tree's barrier really here? From where I'm standing, it doesn't look like there's anything at all."
Vihera asked while scanning the surroundings. Marina... then Odoban and Jusura smiled faintly and each nodded. As if to speak for the three of them, Marina opened her mouth.
"I thought so. Even though it's called the World Tree's barrier, it's designed so you can't tell it's there. If people knew the barrier existed, someone would naturally try to break through it, right? But the first barrier shifts the sense of direction of anyone who wanders in without them realizing it, guiding them back into the forest."
"...The first? That means there are other barriers?"
"Yes. If you pass through this barrier and continue a bit further, there's a physical barrier... a wall barrier. ...But even the bewilderment effect has dropped considerably compared to what I remember."
Marina wore a slightly sorrowful expression, but eventually closed her eyes, concentrated her magic, and spoke.
"Please, let us through."
The effect those few words produced was unmistakable.
Not a visible change. But something had definitely shifted.
"Is this the World Tree's barrier?"
At Vihera's murmured words of astonishment, Odoban nodded with a proud smile.
"That's right. This is the World Tree's barrier. ...Though, just as Marina-sama said, it's lost much of its power compared to before."
Odoban's words implicitly conveyed just how troublesome the World Tree's illness was. Vihera turned her gaze toward their direction of travel.
What lay ahead was a deep forest.
From within that forest, the presence of countless creatures moving about could be sensed.
"Come, let's go. From here on, fewer monsters will appear than before, so we won't need to go as fast."
Marina urged them forward, and everyone other than Set was about to climb back into the carriage when...
"Kyu!"
Ielo, who had been cradled in Elena's arms, let out a short cry, flapped its wings, and landed on Set's back.
"Kyu?"
Is this okay? Ielo tilted its small head and looked to Elena for confirmation. Its owner thought for a moment, then turned her gaze toward Marina.
"You said that from here on, monsters won't appear as frequently as before... but at what speed do you plan to proceed with the carriage?"
"Let's see..."
The two horses pulling the carriage didn't appear to be out of breath yet. However, they had been running at considerable speed to get here, and though it wasn't visible from the outside, they were undoubtedly fatigued.
If that was the case, there was no need to force them to run here.
"I think it'll be fine to proceed at a normal pace. But what I want you to be careful about is that there are still monsters inside this bewilderment barrier. The bewilderment barrier doesn't work on monsters that aren't particularly intelligent, and those that act purely on instinct aren't affected by it at all."
"...I see. But it is an indisputable fact that there are fewer monsters here than outside the barrier?"
"Yes. ...Right, you two?"
Marina glanced at Odoban and Jusura, just in case.
As far as Marina knew, that was true, but given the World Tree's current weakened state, things might be somewhat different. Fortunately, both of them nodded in response.
"That part is the same as before. Though, even monsters with a certain level of intelligence have been slipping through more often. Bandits too."
"Which is how I got caught too... I thought it would be fine like always."
At Jusura's words—spoken as if in regret, yet with a tone that made it hard to take seriously—smiles naturally crept onto everyone's faces.
"Come, let's hurry. We want to treat the World Tree as quickly as possible."
Urged by Marina, Ielo ended up staying on Set's back as they set off, and everyone else boarded the carriage.
"Then, we're departing. We just need to go straight down this road, correct?"
At Ara's words from the driver's seat, the three Dark Elves including Marina each nodded.
Compared to the road before the bewilderment barrier, the path had clearly deteriorated.
That likely indicated that not many people could enter the bewilderment barrier.
Of course, a rough road had absolutely no effect on Elena's carriage.
The carriage proceeded down the path at a slower pace than when entering the bewilderment barrier.
There was none of the urgency that had been present just moments before.
If anything, the atmosphere was closer to a leisurely picnic, and Rei and the others gazed out the windows, enjoying the scenery.
Even Marina and the others, who were worried about the World Tree, had shifted their mood and were reminiscing about old times.
Amid the conversation, Marina suddenly spoke up.
"Come to think of it, Grandfather... I wonder if the Elder is still doing well."
"Oh, he's as vigorous as ever. When he sent me to go to Marina-sama, he was swinging his cane around, shouting at me to hurry up..."
"I get hit with that cane a lot too..."
"...For a Dark Elf Elder, he certainly sounds remarkably energetic. Normally, when you hear 'Elder,' you imagine a much more subdued person."
Elena, apparently intrigued by the mention of the Dark Elf Elder, interjected.
At her words, the three Dark Elves must have pictured their Elder being subdued. They nearly burst out laughing on reflex but managed to hold it in.
"If that Elder were subdued, there'd be no energetic people left in the entire world."
"...Is he really that bad?"
Rei, also curious about what kind of person the Elder was, joined the conversation.
Byune seemed equally interested, staring intently with her usual unchanging expression.
"That's right. For example... there was a time when a young girl from our clan was kidnapped by slave merchants. We noticed early enough to pursue them before they left the forest, but... just as we were about to set out, the Elder came back bringing the girl with him."
"Well, for someone called the Dark Elf Elder, I'd expect him to be highly skilled in magic, so that much wouldn't be surprising..."
"You think so?"
At Elena's words, Marina smiled and said that.
As if certain that Elena would be surprised once she heard what came next.
"...Am I wrong?"
"It's not that you're wrong. It's just... when the Elder came back, his cane, his face, and his body were all stained with blood."
"Hm? In other words... you mean he beat them to death with his cane, rather than using magic or a bow?"
When it came to the Elf-kin, the majority were generally skilled with bows and magic.
It wasn't that none engaged in close combat, but Elf-kin tended not to have particularly high physical strength, though individual variations existed.
Because of that, among the Elf-kin who primarily fought in close combat, many chose light, speed-oriented weapons like rapiers.
So when told that the Elder of the Dark Elves—a branch of the Elf-kin—had returned with his cane and face covered in blood, the listeners were naturally astonished.
At Elena's hesitantly posed question, Marina said nothing and simply nodded.
Then, as if she had been waiting for that exact timing, Ara, seated at the driver's position, shouted.
"Enemy!"
A sharp, brief call conveying only the necessary information.
But the party's response was swift.
Each reached for their weapons, and their gazes gathered on Marina, who was most familiar with the situation here and who also knew the extent of Rei and the others' power as adventurers.
"The fact that it's inside the bewilderment barrier means it could reach our settlement. Normally, we could just leave it alone, but with the World Tree weakened as it is now, I don't want to place any extra burden on the barrier. ...Let's intercept it."
As she said that, her voice must have carried through the open door to Ara. The carriage gradually slowed.
"Understood. Set!"
"Guruuu!"
Despite being called from inside the carriage, Set let out a threatening roar.
To the enemy, such a roar from Set would be nothing but trouble.
But when Set was on their side, that roar became a rallying cry.
The carriage hadn't fully stopped yet, but the passengers leapt out through the door one after another.
The first to jump out was, naturally, Rei.
Mindful of the carriage door, Rei leapt out empty-handed, performing the acrobatic feat of landing on the ground, recovering his balance, and drawing Death Scythe from the Misty Ring all in one fluid motion.
Slinging his partner in a different sense than Set over his shoulder, he surveyed the area... and immediately caught sight of a monster that could only be described as a giant bird of prey.
What set it apart from an ordinary bird of prey was its four wings—two on each side—but aside from the wings, it broadly resembled a hawk or eagle.
...Of course, with its wings spread, its wingspan reached nearly seven meters, and its beak and the talons on its feet were razor-sharp to match its size.
"Tch, of all things, a bird-type monster—an Aerowing. Flying Slash!"
The Flying Slash—a slashing projectile unleashed from Death Scythe's blade—was fired at the bird-type monster, the C-Rank monster Aerowing, which had been about to attack the carriage.
But the Aerowing manipulated its distinctive four wings to execute a sharp midair turn, evading the Flying Slash.
"Rei, don't use attacks that might miss!"
Marina shouted in a voice so unusually desperate that it might have been the first time anyone had heard her like that. Rei reflexively started to retort, but immediately recalled that they were inside the bewilderment barrier... inside the barrier erected by the World Tree.
In other words, if he used a magic-based attack here and it missed, it would fly off in some unpredictable direction and strike the barrier.
That would place an even greater load on the World Tree, and given its already weakened state, it would certainly deal significant damage.
What Rei had unleashed was publicly passed off as Wind Magic, but it was actually a skill created through Beast Magic.
Whether it was magic or a skill, there was no difference—both used magical power to activate.
"Since we're inside the bewilderment barrier, the damage would be less than missing an attack inside the wall barrier, but still, considering your magical power, Rei, don't do anything reckless!"
While shouting, Marina released the bowstring she had drawn and loosed an arrow.
The arrow flew at a speed that seemed to slice through the wind, but this too was evaded by the Aerowing nimbly maneuvering its four wings...
"Shaaaa!"
Despite being a bird, the Aerowing let out a cry of pain that sounded almost serpentine.
The cause of that cry was likely the blade slicing through its leg.
The source of the blade was Elena, wielding the whip-sword Mirage.
She had swung Mirage in its whip form and struck the Aerowing, but...
"It deserves its four wings, I suppose. I intended to sever one of them."
Holding Mirage, now returned to its longsword form, Elena fixed a sharp gaze on the Aerowing.
As a C-Rank monster, the Aerowing was a reasonably powerful creature, but this time it had simply attacked the wrong party.
There were multiple people present who individually possessed enough combat power to defeat C-Rank monsters—even those ranked among the upper tier of C-Rank that would normally require a full C-Rank party to take down.
Yet the Aerowing didn't flee...
(So this is the negative effect on the World Tree that Marina mentioned.)
Having been warned that attacks using skills with Death Scythe would be problematic if they missed, Rei took out a single spear from the Misty Ring, swapping it in for Death Scythe.
Reasoning that non-magical attacks should be fine, he held the spear ready and was about to throw it when the Aerowing beat its wings violently.
Simultaneously, several blades of wind were unleashed.
They were like miniature versions of Rei's Flying Slash.
"As if I'd let you!"
With those words, Vihera, who had extended magic claws from her gauntlets, stepped in front of Rei.
The claws she swung swiftly sliced through every single wind blade in return.
As a close-combat fighter, Vihera lacked ranged attacks, but intercepting incoming ranged attacks was an entirely different matter.
And the instant the wind blades ceased...
"Vihera!"
"Yes!"
Understanding Rei's intent from that brief exchange alone, she moved clear of his line of fire.
At the same time, Rei's tremendous arm strength launched the spear at a speed that seemed to cleave through the air itself...
"Shaaaaaaaaa!"
The Aerowing let out another reptilian cry and tried to evade using its four wings, but the thrown spear would not allow it, piercing straight through one of its wings.
"Gururururu!"
Against the Aerowing, which had lost its balance in midair from the spear strike, Set unleashed a descending blow from his front leg as he dropped from a higher position... unleashing the Power Crush skill... blasting its head apart and sending the body tumbling down to the ground below.