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Chapter 8: Beware of the grass
After discarding the knife and others, Reggie seems to have lowered his vigilance towards me.
Because I am comfortable with it, as usual I am on the carriage, but Reggie comes and grabs me during break time.
With that he grabs my hand and takes me to where Alan and the knights are.
In the same way, just like everyone else poured me a cup of tea and forcibly makes me participate in the talks.
Reggie seems to be trying to make me interact more with everyone.
Alan and the knights also had an awkward look like what to talk about at first, but it seems that after around two days they became use to me.
I mainly talk about school, but they laugh at me because of my many failures.
And when Alan asked me questions on lessons, it became apparent that I didn’t study very seriously.
「You……were your grades okay before this?」
Alan was seriously worried.
But I am not good at studying……. I’m not really athletic either.
When I was adopted by the Earl and taught how to use a knife, the knife had carelessly slipped through my fingers, and inevitable made a cut and I was reprimand, and the failures does not end there.
After continuing training, that kind of thing gradually decreased.
Though that isn’t really extraordinary, it is normal.
In the first place, if my athletic ability was high like a cheat, instead of enduring hardship under my stepmother, I probably would have left the house already.
Maa, it was a dangerous story, so I did not say anything. After Reggie went through the trouble of staying silent, I have to keep myself from digging my own grave.
But without talking about the knife, the mediocrity of my athletic ability was quickly revealed.
By the way, in this world there are things called Devil Beast.
What would be called a wolf in the previous life, can create gusts of wind here.
Vultures, have the power to stop one’s movement for a moment with their fierce cry.
It is a fantasy setting after all.
Thinking back to the game, enemy forces would control wind wolves.
Due to its quickness, when ever it attacked『Dodge!』 subtitles would appear, while remembering back I grind my back teeth.
I had finally came across one at the kingdom with the church school, it is that kind of monster.
After passing through the grassland, because we were nearing a deep forest, the line of knights were alarmed about the surroundings.
But there was nothing with an animal-like appearance, since we are still in the grassland rather than the forest, it was probably fine not to be so tense.
I felt the waves of the grass swayed greatly.
I wonder if a strong wind blew, and looked outside from the back of the carriage,
「W-Wa-wa!」
I was surprised. Because over the grassland, sparks started scattering about.
Is it sparks or electricity?
Electricity ran over the grassland, and started scattering numerous sparks extensively here and there.
「Thundergrass!」
Someone shouts, I know the identity.
When a strong wind blows, grass that generates static electricity through each other’s friction…..an unpleasant animal? I heard that they seem to move by walking with the roots growing from their bulbs.
「Wah, looks like it is true. And here they come!」
The grass had lifted themselves with their roots, and had begun moving.
Furthermore static electricity crackle about them.
The wrinkles on the bulbs, somehow give a subtle appearance of an old man.
While I thought heedlessly in the carriage, I was relieved that the sparks seemed not to be flying, but I forgot about the horses connected.
A shrill neigh.
The horses started panicking while the carriage was connected, and the horse-drawn carriage shook and swayed left and right, I was thrown out from the hood in the back.
「It hurts…..hii!」
I fell on soft grass and thanks to the bulky pannier, it was over with just a bit of pain on the backside.
However, I immediately saw the bulbous grass with slithering roots as long as the arms slowly advancing towards me in front of my eyes.
I try to escape in a hurry, but I cannot stand up suddenly.
The creature moved on all fours in a strange manner, but the horse-drawn carriage was just in front of the nearby forest.
Suddenly a spark of static electricity strikes my arm.
「Ouch!」
I may have been burned. However, the fear had vanished from my head with that pain.
The feelings in my legs return, I escape quickly from the spot like a rabbit.
Near the rampaging horses, where Alan and some knights are trying to restrain them, a figure has a startled expression from seeing me run towards them alone.
「Eh! Did you fall!?」
Apparently they seem to have not notice that I fell.
「Anyway get back!」
Needless to be instructed by Captain Wentworth-san, I ran through there to the finally calmed horses, and I go to the side of Alan and Keith who are trying to prevent them from running away by pulling their reins.
Looking at me sitting while I was out of breath, the two of them also widen their eyes.
「Eh! Were you not on!?」
「I fell out……」
When I answered while breathing hard, Alan murmured「I thought it was unusually quiet……」
Am I usually very loud by any chance?
Anyway, by the time my breath returned, the knights seemed to have already driven away the thundergrass.
It is just grass after all. A strong swing from a wooden stick and it pretty much will faint.
Then throw it as far as possible and it is over.
Ah, but I now know why this area is just grasslands. When thundergrass inhabit, trees cannot grow easily. Because they would be physically burned.
Although I was relieved, along the highway there are still lingering sparks here and there. There were many numbers. It could even be called a giant outbreak.
「It would seem that the road cannot be used for a while」
Wentworth-san nodded to Reggie’s word, and came to the side of the carriage.
「But we cannot afford to wait until the thundergrass settles down」
Alan said that and also glanced towards me.
Is it possible that he is thinking that Earl Patorishiel may follow me who escaped, so we should hurry ahead.
When I think that he may be concerned, somehow my heart smiles. On top of hiring me who is not knowledgeable, he even assists me in escaping.
He is a good person. And I thought I’m sorry, I thought of the second best idea that came to mind.
「Ano, if you like I can just escape through this forest……」
If I can borrow food and a knife, I think that I should be fine as long as nothing extreme happens.
「You must be kidding?」
「Are you an idiot?」
「I cannot agree」
I received words of denial from three people.
「Even if you saw how to escape from thundergrass, I do not think you can do anything alone. Anyway, this is the forest where the Thorn Princess lives」
「Thorn Princess?」
To Wentworth-san’s words, I tilt my head. I feel like I heard it somewhere before, but I cannot remember it clearly.
Reggie then explains it to the confused me.
「There is a story about her being a former Princess of the Farudi royal family. But it is said that a magician with eternal life lives in this forest, and uses magic that manipulates thorns. She seems to be a man-hater, and the entrance ahead would be blocked somehow by thorns when one steps into the depths carelessly」
Former princess of Farudia……thorn magic…… man-hater.
I listen to those words and then suddenly remember.
「Ah……Shotacon Hime」
I mumbled unconsciously.
A support character that emerged in the game.
Only women can enter the forest, as long as you have female characters you can befriend her, then she will join the party as a reassuring magician comrade, she is a magician with the appearance of a little girl.
However, when the character setting data came out, because it was written『is a shotacon』at the end of the short description, my eyes toward this girl character changed.
――Oi, really a Shotacon?
It was with this that I found out the thorn princess is not actually a man-hater.
According to the creator’s side afterwards it was further revealed, she likes boys around the age of 12, and that her own appearance is also 12 years old as to not frighten them.
Thus, any men older than that is thrown out of the forest, and hence why it seems that only women can enter the forest.
Indeed it was uselessly deep character.
By the way it seems that she is not aggressive to women. So people from the neighboring towns and villages recognized it as the forest where only women can enter.
And there’s that. The settings may not apply perfectly to this world, so for all I know the Thorn Princess might not even come out from the depths of the forest.
「Shotacon?」
It was heard by Reggie who was nearby, but I cannot really explain it.
「Un, That’s right, I just thought that I had heard someone talk of such a princess before!」
Although it was a weak excuse, Reggie seemed convinced with that.
Perhaps because the word “Shotacon” is not in this world. Perhaps he thought he had misheard.
「But it is a princess that does not like men……is that it?」
That reminds me, this is treated as a demonic forest.
The Thorn Princess who spends her time in leisure alone for many years.
She keeps pets though. From wolves to wildcats to rats, slightly brutal animals.
And the feeding of pets is「There are many in the woods so hunt themー」so that’s why. Humans judged as a hindrance will be attacked.
Since men cannot enter, it is difficult to exterminate to some extent.
And at the edge of the forest where pets do not come much, women and children gather herbs, and it became known as a demonic forest.
Recalling various game settings, I thought it was impossible, then Alan says.
「Well, let’s go round the outer edge. Look, isn’t there a way?」
As he said, there are traces of wheel tracks on the outer edge. People who encountered thundergrass here probably thought the same thing, and went around the forest.
Because sunlight does not reach thundergrass in the shadows, it was quiet because they do not travel through there.
So everyone agreed with Alan’s plan.