The outside of the tent was bustling with activity, and many adventurers and soldiers had gathered there.
ăAlicia, are you alright?ă
I thought I felt a tap on my shoulder, but it was Alice-sama looking at me with concern.
ăIâm fine.ă
Currently, a large number of adventurers and soldiers are waiting in the Rouse Plains before the Lost Forest.
As many as 200 people gathered, which is the second largest number of people gathered in this countryâs history.
ăThere are a lot of adventurers outside right now, so please donât show your face.ă
A knight from the Kingdom of Erivan said so.
I should explain a few things about the commotion.
It all started when we visited the royal castle in Erivan.
We were visiting the country to make sure Elt was still alive, and a princess of a country is not allowed to take any liberties when visiting another country.
If something were to happen to her, it would be an international problem.
Thatâs why we told them that the purpose of our visit was to âinvestigate the Lost ForestââŠ
The people of the Erivan Kingdom looked at each other in surprise. The reason for this is that the Lost Forest has been acting strangely lately.
Even here in the Rouse Plains, there are strong monsters walking around that you donât normally see, and there are signs of evil wafting from the forest. 1
Thatâs why the government couldnât leave it alone, so they planned to investigate. Thatâs when we showed up and asked for the same kind of investigation, and so weâre looking into it.
It was a good opportunity for us, so Alice and I were allowed to accompany her on the investigation while keeping our matter a secret.
At first, they were reluctant to expose the royal family of another country to danger, but in the end they agreed, as if they wanted our information.
However, we were not allowed to go completely free, and a knight was assigned to protect us and wait for us in the tent.
ăI know, I know. But if you have any results, please let us know.ă
ăVery well, miss.ă
The knight said he was going to check outside and leftâŠâŠâŠâŠ.
ăDamn it! Itâs so frustrating that we canât investigate on our own.ă
Lady Alice crossed her arms and expressed her dissatisfaction.
ăYou canât blame them, it would have been nice to have at least some of the Kingsguard participate in the investigationâŠâŠ.ă
Weâve sent half of the knights that have been guarding me up to this point to investigate.
ăAnd youâre getting calmerâŠâŠ.ă
I crossed my arms as I listened to Aliceâs words, looking in the direction of the Lost Forest. AndâŠâŠâŠâŠ
ăElt. Iâve finally reached your side.ă
I muttered to myself.
â
ăHm?ă
ăWhatâs wrong, Elt?ă
Serena tilted her head as I stopke up.
ăNo, I thought I heard someone call meâŠ.ă
I thought I heard a voice that sounded strangely familiarâŠ
ăNot Marie-chan?ă
ăNo, I donât think it was her.ă
It doesnât make any sense.
ăRather, weâd better be quiet because the explanation is about to begin.ă
I closed my mouth and looked forward to Serenaâs words.
The adventurers stood at various places and looked forward, where our client, a knight of the country, was explaining the details of the job.
ăIâd like to ask you adventurers to back up our knights.ă
The knights wore armor with the countryâs emblem engraved on it.
ăWe have recently been experiencing an unexplained exodus of monsters from the Lost Forest. The purpose of our mission is to exterminate the vicious monsters and investigate the cause. You are not only important people who live in this country, but also brave warriors. I want you to keep in mind that if this place is overtaken, the powerless townspeople and villagers will fall prey to the monsters.ă
ăHey, what do you think is the cause?ă
While I was listening to the knight, Serena spoke to me.
The reason why I accepted this request was because I didnât think we were completely unrelated.
We had come out of the Lost Forest a while ago. I didnât pay any attention to it at the time, but itâs possible that the forest experienced some changes.