Next morning. Early in the morning, Mr. Nooti led us from the south village to a village in the east of the lake, where we were introduced to a young man named Mr. Perutt.
“W-When I was exploring the forest in the east, I saw a glimpse of a brown object moving through the trees.”
“I see. Could you guide us to that place?”
“Sure.”
We didn’t know what was going to happen, so we proceeded with Mr. Perutt and me in the lead, using the paladin’s defense skill.
After walking through the forest for a while as we defeat the monsters…
“Here we are. I saw it here three days ago.”
Mr. Perutt stopped and told me that we had arrived at the point where he had seen the elf.
“Do you know which way they went?”
“He went to the east.”
“I see. We’ll look for the rest here. Can Mr. Perutt go home alone?”
“Of course. But more importantly, are you guys going to be okay?”
Mr. Perutt’s words made me turn my attention to Lydia…
“We’re fine. It’s a normal forest with no magic to impair your perception or sense of direction.”
No problem, she replied.
“…… You seem very confident about it, so maybe it’s okay, but I’ve never gone further than this point, okay?”
“It’s really okay. For the elves, the forest is like a garden.”
“Elf ……? You are?”
“Yes. These pointed ears are the best proof. I am an elf, you know?”
“Pointed Ears …… I see. I’ll leave you to it then.”
Mr. Perutt left in a hurry, so we decided to go east for now.
But …… from Mr. Perutt’s reaction just now, it seems that those ahead of us are not elves.
He seemed surprised when Lydia told him she was an elf.
“By the way, Mr. Alex. What are we looking for in this forest?”
“…… ah, I didn’t say in detail, but Mr. Perutt just now said that he saw a person in the forest. So I was wondering if there are any villages or towns.”
“I understand. As I told you earlier, the road back to the Lizardman village is perfect, so don’t worry.”
Even if it was not an elf, he should have seen a person, so we decided to continue our search…
“Master Alex! There’s a trap under your feet!”
Immediately after Tsubaki’s warning, I stepped out, and under my right foot was …… a pitfall!
“Nnnn! …… Phew. Thank goodness you’re not hurt, Darling.”
“Thank you, Yudit.”
“Ehehe. Then give me a kiss as a reward.”
“Sure, but you did so much yesterday …… ngf.”
“Yay, I got it! I just kissed Darling.”
I almost fell into a deep hole, but I was literally pulled up by Yudit, who flew in and saved me.
…… She kissed me with all her might in front of Moon, but it was too late for that, so I decided not to worry about it.
“Master Alex. Perhaps this is a trap to catch animals or monsters.”
“The lizardmen said they didn’t come this way, so that means there’s someone who set this trap.”
“Probably. There may be other traps, so I’ll take the lead from here.”
Tsubaki took over the lead and we proceeded eastward through the forest, but …… there were many traps anyway.
We proceeded further after Tsubaki discovers those traps and disables them, but…
“Hey! It’s you guys, right! The ones breaking our traps!”
A beast woman with big ears growing out of her head appeared.
I see. Mr. Perutt saw those big ears and thought she was an elf.
If he knew, you could tell at a glance that they were completely different, but if you only recognized the big ears as a characteristic of elves, well …… It’s not like we can blame him.
“Master Alex. Don’t tell me, what that lizardman saw is ……”
“Yeah, she must be it.”
As I and Tsubaki looked at the ears of the beastman in front of us…
“What is it!? You keep looking at my ears! Are rabbit ears that rare …… W-Wait! A man! A young man!”
“W-What!?”
“Fufufu …… How dare you break all of our traps and make it impossible for us to get food. I would have taken food from you, but if that man comes with me, I’ll let you off the hook!”
The beastman notices me and comes up to me, taking my hand.
“Master Alex …….”
“Wait. Perhaps they will take us to their village. I want to establish friendly relations and the fact that we disarmed the trap is true. Anyway, I’m going there.”
“Wait! I’m going too!”
In the end, we all decided to follow her, and after walking for a while, we saw a small house in the trees.
When we were let into the house, a little girl with rabbit ears served us tea.
“Welcome to the village of the Rabbit-eared tribe. Let me introduce myself once again, I am Pamela, the leader of this tribe!”
“I’m Alex. We live on the wall to the west of here.”
I apologized for disarming the trap that Pamela and the others had set to get food, and was about to have a talk to get some information about the area …… that’s what I thought, but I suddenly felt a strange sensation in my lower half.
W-Wait a minute. Don’t do anything weird to my clone at a time like this!