The place I led Falce-san to was a cafe with a chic, sophisticated atmosphere. I had considered finding a wood-built cafe overflowing with nature, thinking it might suit an Elf, but then it occurred to me that she likely saw plenty of those back in Rigforresia. Instead, I settled on this brick-built shop.
...Well, to be perfectly honest, the fact that it was the closest establishment also played a significant role in the decision.
"My, my, what a lovely establishment. I’ve suspected this for some time, but you truly do have excellent taste. Your ability to pick such a tasteful place at a moment's notice speaks volumes about your high level of romantic experience points. I may be older than you in years, but in matters such as these, experience points are everything."
"Haha, thanks... But anyway, Falce-san. Why exactly did you end up in the Sinfonia Capital when you were supposed to be heading for the Hydra Kingdom? Did you have some other business here first?"
The fact that she had reached the Sinfonia Capital while ostensibly on her way to the Hydra Kingdom Founding Anniversary Festival was beyond a mere lack of direction; I was nearly struck speechless by the sheer absurdity of it. However, thinking back, she had mentioned handling other business before the festival. It was entirely possible she had come to the capital for that and simply lost her way afterward.
"No, that business was concluded quite close to home. Ah, I see I’ve given you the wrong impression. Since I am a shut-in by nature, the act of simply stepping outside is a rarity for me. I figured that since I was already out, I would head straight to the teleportation gate leading to the Hydra Kingdom and proceed from there, but..."
"That’s strange. If that was the plan, you wouldn't have needed to leave Rigforresia at all, right?"
It was different from the time of the Six Kings Festival. Unlike the transfer gates used to travel from the Human Realm to the Demon Realm, there were teleportation gates within Rigforresia specifically for travel within the Human Realm itself.
"Well, you see, my first task involved gathering a few medicinal herbs. Even though the spot was close to home, I left the city and headed into the forest to harvest them. Everything was going swimmingly until then..."
"And then you got lost in the woods and couldn't find your way back to Rigforresia?"
"Your powers of deduction are truly marvelous. Yes, precisely. There is no reason why someone like me, who can lose her way on a paved road, wouldn't get lost in a forest. I do hold the title 'Sage of the Forest,' but that refers to my proficiency with Nature Magic, not that I have an intimate knowledge of the actual woods. I usually buy my supplies at a shop, but since I was going to the Hydra Kingdom anyway, I thought I’d give my sedentary body a bit of a workout... and since I ended up moving far more than I’d ever intended, I suppose you could call it a success of sorts?"
"Isn't it a complete failure, then?"
She had supposedly intended to avoid leaving Rigforresia entirely, but on a whim, she had stepped outside and promptly become a missing person in the nearby woods. I remembered Noin-san telling me that Falce-san tends to lose all sense of reason when her research is involved. Apparently, the moment an idea strikes her or she spots something useful for her studies, she’ll wander off the path without a second thought, inevitably leading to her getting lost.
"...So, what happened after that?"
"I spent quite a long time escaping the forest, only to find I’d come out on the side opposite Rigforresia. I spotted a highway, but I knew that if I tried to go back into the forest to reach home, I would likely vanish again. Therefore, I concluded that walking along a well-maintained highway would eventually lead me to a different town where I could ask for directions or find a teleportation gate."
"...I have a few questions, but I follow the logic. Walking along a major highway should eventually lead to a large city."
"Indeed. And that is how I arrived... at a large city."
"Wait just a second. Do you realize how far the Sinfonia Capital is from Rigforresia? You would have passed dozens of major cities to get here!"
"No, it is a mystery even to me, but the first place I arrived at was the capital of the Kingdom of Sinfonia. Well, I do understand the catalyst. While walking along the highway, I happened to spot some materials that looked promising for my research, and in my haste to collect them, I simply veered off the road for a bit—a trivial occurrence, really."
"'Trivial'!? That is entirely the reason you're here, isn't it!?"
To veer off the path and somehow cross multiple mountain ranges to reach the capital while managing to bypass every single town in between... it was a terrifyingly skillful way to get lost. I finally understood why Noin-san suspected she was doing it on purpose.
Serious-senpai: "Even with her slow pace, that's a distance that would take Anima a considerable amount of time to cross even if she traveled without rest."