Book 5: Volume 2 Chapter 8, Acceleration

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

After finishing his work in the forest and returning to the village, Kousuke tilted his head at the unusual commotion.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Well, it’s different from usual, so maybe something’s going on.”

 

By ‘the usual,’ Shrein meant the commotion in honor of Kousuke. However, the current commotion in the village seemed different.

 

They continued walking, tilting their heads, and arrived at Shiomala’s mansion. Here, they said goodbye to the Elf who had guided them through the forest. After entering the mansion, Kousuke and his companions learned from Romana the cause of the village’s commotion.

 

“An adventurer?”

 

As he nibbled at his food, Kousuke turned his attention to Romana.

 

“Yes. It seems that the number of people invading the forest has been increasing over the past few days.”

 

“I see.”

 

Kousuke had expected them to take advantage of Yuta’s weakened barrier and expand the opening, but he did not expect it to happen so quickly.

 

“Well, it’s been quite a while since that incident, so if they’re acting in an organized manner, maybe they’re actually late?”

 

“Didn’t they say the military is on the move?”

 

Shrein had also heard from Kousuke and the others about what had happened in this village before. If the military was on the move, it wouldn’t be surprising if the government were leading discussions. But their movements were far too slow for that to be the case.

 

“I wonder if the military is officially acting. I feel like soldiers would definitely be coming, don’t you think?”

 

Kousuke looked at Romana for confirmation, but Romana shook her head, understanding what he meant.

 

“No. According to the patrolling Elves, they didn’t seem to be wearing any official military attire. And it’s odd for the military to just issue a warning and retreat.”

 

“That’s certainly odd.”

 

Soldiers representing their country would not retreat just because of a few Elves’ warnings. Not especially if they knew they could penetrate deep into the forest. But at least over the past few days, the patrolling Elves only had to issue warnings, and those they found retreated.

 

If they were soldiers, this would be unthinkable, but adventurers might retreat out of concern for their own lives, especially if they had managed to gather materials before the warning was issued.

 

“Did they happen to find some of the paths and come here to gather materials, or did they have some other purpose? It feels quite ominous.”

 

“That’s right. Kousuke’s intuition is often spot on in situations like these, so you’d better be careful, okay?”

 

Romana nodded solemnly at Shrein’s words, while Kousuke merely gave a wry smile. He had already gained so much experience of ‘his own intuition’ that denial was impossible even if he tried, so even Kousuke had no choice but to admit it.

 

Aside from the people invading the forest, Kousuke was also curious about the village’s reaction, so he asked about that as well.

 

“The village was noisy because intruders started coming? But I feel like there was something subtly different about the way you were reacting.”

 

“Oh, that. I think it’s probably related to what you’ve been doing these past few days, Kousuke.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Kousuke tilted his head, confused, but Shrein, sensing something in that subtle gesture, turned her gaze to Romana.

 

“Hmm. Did it accelerate?”

 

“Most likely.”

 

“That would be quite a challenge.”

 

Shrein nodded seriously in response to Romana’s answer. She was thinking of Kousuke. Kousuke sensed something unsettling about Shrein’s expression.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You’re still as sharp in strange places as ever, and really as dull as ever in others.”

 

“Ouch. Enough alright; just tell me already.”

 

After laughing at Kousuke’s reaction, Shrein explained the current village state.

 

“Okay, so the village was very excited when Kousuke and Collete arrived.”

 

“…Right?”

 

“But then, someone suddenly appeared, breaking through the barrier and invading the forest, even though the barrier was created by the World Tree, worshiped by the Elves.”

 

By this point, Kousuke understood what Shrein was trying to say.

 

“Ah… yeah. I’m starting to get it, but please continue.”

 

“I see. The Elves are suffering damage in a shocking way, and then Kousuke starts taking action to deal with it. So what’s going to happen?”

 

Kousuke sighed deeply as Shrein watched with amusement. He glanced over, and Romana nodded vigorously.

 

“You’re right, Lady Shrein.”

 

“I see… ahh…”

 

Kousuke writhed for a moment, holding his right hand to his face in response to Romana’s answer, but then sighed and looked resigned.

 

“Well, that’s fine. Anyway, be careful not to let them get too overconfident.”

 

As was the case with the World Tree’s barrier, excessive faith could put the village itself in danger. If Kousuke had not tried to take action in advance, the Elves might have truly panicked.

 

Romana, who had come to understand this firsthand after what had happened this time, nodded gravely at Kousuke’s words.

 

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Even knowing someone was invading the forest, Kousuke’s actions did not change. If anything had changed, it was that he was working at a slightly faster pace. However, that did not mean he was cutting corners.

 

The work he did outside the village included preparing a Magic Circle to cover the entire forest, but it mainly consisted of gathering materials from within the forest. The barrier in the forest was mainly the one Yuta had set up, and Kousuke’s creation this time was merely to support it.

 

Furthermore, the barrier Kousuke was creating required materials to maintain, so he needed to gather them from the forest where the Elves could continue collecting them. For this reason, he was gathering materials in Sewri Forest.

 

Kousuke would not be able to come to the village every time the barrier’s Magic Circle needed repair, so he intended to leave the repairs to someone with a certain level of knowledge, and that person was Shiomala.

 

Shiomala was currently studying hard under Yuta’s guidance on the Magic Circle for the barrier that Kousuke was creating. A major reason for this was that the place where they were creating the Magic Circle was at the foot of the World Tree, so Shiomala was the only one who could enter.

 

Kousuke and the others finished working outside the village after about a week, but after that they spent time teaching Shiomala about the barrier.

 

During that time, adventurers from outside the forest had naturally continued arriving, but it seemed they had no intention of fighting and only stayed back after the Elves’ warnings. However, it was only a matter of time, and adventurers gradually began venturing deeper into the forest.

 

The Elves were becoming increasingly murderous, to the point where it would not be surprising if they exploded at any moment.

 

However, the Elves knew that Kousuke was working behind the scenes, so they did not make any moves even when provoked by the adventurers.

 

However, perhaps the adventurers had anticipated this, as they continued venturing deeper into the forest despite the Elves’ daily warnings. The Elves had also decided on a limit beyond which they would not tolerate further intrusion.

 

Just as the adventurers were about to cross that line, Kousuke finally completed the Magic Circle to reinforce the barrier around Sewri Forest.