The trees growing in the Treant Forest generally maintained a certain distance from one another.
Enough distance that Set, who was roughly three meters long, could walk around without difficulty.
But the place where Rei and his party were now advancing had clearly become something that could rightly be called a path.
Of course, it wasn't paved with stone or packed into a beaten dirt road.
Even so, no grass grew where they walked, and despite being in the middle of a forest, the ground — or more precisely, the strip they were walking on — had no protruding tree roots.
It had been carefully maintained so as not to impede their progress.
Anyone who looked at this and insisted it wasn't a path would have to be called quite the contrarian.
And it was the kind of path that made such a reaction understandable.
Currently, Rei and his party were advancing along it.
Given how blatantly obvious it was, the possibility of a trap had already faded from Rei's mind.
Naturally, he hadn't completely dropped his guard — he was ready to react instantly if anything happened.
"When it's this blatant, it starts to feel silly even being suspicious," Vihera muttered from the rear of the formation, sounding somewhat exasperated.
Rei agreed with the sentiment. He turned his gaze toward the trees flanking the path and replied.
"Usually, in situations like this, it turns out those trees were actually Treants."
Recalling the manga, novels, anime, and games he had consumed back in Japan — where a suspiciously placed statue would inevitably turn out to be a Golem — Rei surveyed the surrounding trees with that thought in mind.
"Hmm. Want me to test it out, then?"
Having caught Rei's words, Vihera drifted toward a nearby tree as she spoke.
She had maintained proper formation at first, but since nothing had happened since they entered the path, she was likely growing bored.
She touched the trunk and even scraped at it with the claws extending from her Hand Gauntlets — but nothing of any note happened.
"Oh, what a shame."
Without looking nearly as disappointed as her words suggested, Vihera returned to the group.
"Look... this is enemy territory. Be careful, alright?"
Rei trusted Vihera's skill, so his warning came out only half-serious.
If something did happen, he fully intended to rush in immediately. But even so, he wanted her to avoid reckless behavior in a situation where they had no idea what might occur.
Well, rather than calling this enemy territory, it'd be more accurate to say we're already inside the enemy's belly.
If something related to the Treant Forest likely lay ahead, then it was perfectly reasonable to think of this place — in the most literal sense — as being inside its stomach.
Vihera and Set surely understood that as well, so there was no need to say it aloud.
"Gruu."
Set rumbled, urging them forward. Rei and Vihera exchanged a nod — pressing on would clarify more than standing around talking — and resumed their advance.
They walked the path that some unknown entity had created for them. About ten minutes passed.
After walking that long...
"Finally, an exit."
Rei nodded at the sound of Vihera's voice from behind, threaded with a hint of complaint.
Naturally, if they had ridden Set at a run, they could have covered the distance in minutes.
But with scenery that practically screamed "trap," doing so would have been far too dangerous.
And it wasn't just Rei who felt that way — Vihera surely did too.
...After all that vigilance, the fact that no trap materialized right up to the exit made her frustration understandable.
Besides, even while we're walking here, the fighting is probably still going on at the Treant Forest's front line. I just hope the casualties over there aren't mounting.
What came to mind weren't the adventurers he had met on this quest, but the researchers.
Alchemists, magic researchers, scholars — they were a gathering of all manner of researchers, but without exception, every one of them possessed a powerful intellectual curiosity.
Then again, anyone who lacked that quality would never have volunteered for this investigation in the first place, so it was only natural.
But prioritizing intellectual curiosity over combat when battles were erupting right in front of them might have been the right call for a researcher — for the adventurers assigned as their escorts, however, it was nothing short of a nightmare.
Even while under guard, the researchers had been debating their respective theories about the Treant Forest.
If they had been doing so somewhere far from the forest, it wouldn't have been such a burden on the adventurers. But in reality, they were carrying on like that right beside an active battlefield.
It was enough to make any adventurer want to scream, "Give us a break."
And that fighting was still going on — even now, while Rei and his party walked this path.
I need to put an end to this as quickly as possible.
Gazing toward the exit, Rei steeled himself... and before long, they reached the far end of the path.
"This is..."
The one who murmured upon seeing the sight before them was, naturally, Rei — the first to lay eyes on it.
A vast clearing.
A space so expansive that, viewed from above, it would have been impossible to miss.
Grass carpeted the ground, silver under the moonlight. Had it been daytime, they would have beheld a view worthy of being called a green carpet.
Thick trees stood in a circle around the clearing like pillars, enclosing the space.
At its center, tree roots had woven together into something resembling a throne — and seated upon that throne of roots was a humanoid figure. No — an object, also fashioned from roots.
"Hey... what do you think that is?"
Vihera, still taking in the scene with wide eyes, murmured as she gazed at the throne and its root-made occupant.
"Not sure. But given how blatantly it seems to have been waiting for us, I'd say it's definitely connected to the Treant Forest."
Rei kept his eyes fixed on the root figure as he spoke.
Something had gone to the trouble of waiting for them this openly, which meant it likely intended to communicate.
At least, that was what he thought. But facing a humanoid form made of tree roots, Rei hesitated over what to do next.
Should he try speaking to it? Or should he destroy it in one fell swoop?
He wavered. But lingering here would only add to the burden on the adventurers still fighting. With that in mind, he stepped forward and opened his mouth.
"Can you understand me?"
He asked — but no response came from the root figure.
If it so much as shifted, he would at least know it could hear him. But when it didn't even stir, Rei was at a loss.
"...Could it be that that thing isn't a monster or anything of the sort? That it really is just a doll?"
"Who would build a doll out here?"
Even reaching this place would be a formidable challenge for an ordinary adventurer.
Outmaneuvering Rei and his party to get here first and set up this scene — that was no small feat.
On top of that, this clearing had definitely not existed while they were airborne.
Which meant that if someone had truly created it, they had done so during the time Rei and his party spent walking the path.
And that would mean they created the path, too.
Rei judged that to be next to impossible as he stared at the figure ahead.
If that were ruled out, then the scene before them must undoubtedly carry some meaning.
Even so — meaning or not — a figure that showed absolutely no response when spoken to was nothing short of eerie.
"It went to the trouble of making a chair — no, it's fairly large, so a throne? Preparing a throne and waiting for us... I don't think it's a stretch to assume it has some knowledge of humans."
"But there are Goblin Kings and Orc Kings and the like, aren't there? Couldn't the knowledge have come from that direction?"
"Ah... yeah, I suppose that's possible."
His confident words dismissed so easily, Rei looked away as if to cover his embarrassment and stroked Set.
Set rumbled as if asking what was wrong. Collecting himself, Rei spoke again.
"Anyway. Whether it's a Goblin, an Orc, or even an Ogre — whatever it is, my point was that it isn't some mindless thing lashing out on instinct. It has intelligence."
"I know that much. So what are you going to do?"
"Well, even if you ask me that..."
Rei sighed and regarded the throne and its root figure once more.
Given the effort that had gone into all of this, he couldn't believe it served no purpose.
But if asked what that purpose was, he had to admit he was at a loss.
Worst case, I could try destroying it... but doing that in this situation could seriously backfire.
If he carelessly destroyed it, there was no telling what might happen.
If that figure actually held the secret of the Treant Forest, and its destruction caused the forest to stop spreading — that would be the best possible outcome.
But the reverse was equally possible. The figure might be the very thing suppressing the forest's expansion, and destroying it could trigger an explosive spread at a pace far beyond anything they had seen.
"For now, I'll approach. Set, Vihera — stay ready to respond immediately, no matter what happens."
"Are you sure? You're leaving me behind?"
Vihera's words carried a note of dissatisfaction.
There might be a fight — so why was he leaving her behind?
"From the look of things, there's no telling what might happen. Besides, we can't rule out the possibility that these trees are Treants."
At Rei's words, Vihera turned her gaze to the trees ringing the edge of the clearing.
Most of the trees in the Treant Forest possessed a certain minimum size — a certain thickness.
But the ones growing here were thicker and larger still, even by comparison.
If these trees were Treants, they would without question be more powerful than any they had fought so far.
Vihera glanced around at their surroundings.
She had fought Treants in this forest herself. From experience, they hadn't felt like particularly formidable enemies — which was exactly why she had disengaged from them and moved on to fight the giant flowers instead.
But this is clearly an important place for the Treant Forest, too. If they're posting guards here, then the Treants would naturally be stronger than the ones out in the woods — stronger than the ones that appear at the outer edges, even. Right?
What crossed Vihera's mind in that moment was the difference between regular soldiers and the royal guard.
Even among soldiers, there are ordinary ones and elite ones.
By that same logic, these Treants might be the royal guard.
The reason the phrase "royal guard" surfaced at all was undoubtedly because something resembling a throne sat at the center.
Beyond that, the clearing itself gave an impression distinctly different from the rest of the Treant Forest they had traversed.
"Can't be helped, I suppose."
In the end, Vihera nodded at Rei's words and readied herself, prepared for anything at a moment's notice.
Set watched Rei with evident concern but gave a soft rumble of acceptance — if this was what Rei had decided, he would abide by it.
Seen off by those two — one person and one creature — Rei advanced toward the throne at the center and the figure seated upon it.
Naturally, he was ready to respond instantly if anything happened: Death Scythe in his right hand, Twilight Spear in his left. Fully prepared to counterattack.
Only the sound of grass crushing beneath his feet filled the silence.
At this distance, even Rei's ears could no longer catch the sounds of combat raging at the forest's outer edge.
...If one of the adventurers had been using explosions, perhaps the noise might have carried — but fortunately or unfortunately, no such person was among them.
No — Marina, who could wield Spirit Magic, could certainly have produced an explosion if she chose to.
She refrained because the Guild had placed high value on this forest.
Even so, if push came to shove, Marina would make that call.
With that thought, Rei pressed on... and at last arrived before the throne.
He studied the root figure intently.
It was larger than Rei, though not so large as to be three or four meters tall.
Facing the figure of woven roots, Rei maintained his stance — alert, ready for anything — and spoke.
"Can you understand me?"
The instant the words left his mouth, without a breath of wind, the figure's arm twitched.