Captain of the First Order of Knights of the Emperas Kingdom (3)

－From the Perspective of the Captain of the First Order of Knights－

I entered Totolos Town with the elite members of the First Order of Knights and Mizerost, the captain of the Fourth Order.

The villagers seemed a little frightened by our imposing presence.

I felt bad about it, but I wanted them to stay frightened.

That way, fewer of them would do anything foolish.

If anyone tried to make a move against me now, those around me would cut them down without mercy.

I left the selection of the men to Mizerost, but it seemed he had gathered people prepared to do what needed to be done.

He was probably thinking of what lay ahead, but I still wasn't used to this.

"Where are they?"

"It seems they've gone into the forest."

Into the forest?

I never imagined they'd be in the forest.

Living so close to the forest, weren't they afraid of it?

Or was there some other reason they had to be in the forest?

"What should we do?"

"Let's see. Who's in charge of this town?"

"Marquis Kyofuri. Apparently, Duke Gihald's younger sister is married to Marquis Kyofuri."

"Have we found out why Duke Gihald came here?"

"Duke Gihald ruled a town near the royal capital, but it seems he was driven out."

"Driven out?"

"Duke Gihald opposed the liberation of the slaves, but it seems that went against the townspeople's wishes. He was in the minority, so the townspeople and former slaves drove him out, and this was the only town he could flee to. Since he was close to the previous king, it seems none of the nobles offered him a helping hand, for fear of incurring the forest's wrath."

Did Duke Gihald know what had happened in the royal capital?

Even so, if he opposed the liberation of the slaves, did he have some sort of secret plan?

Or was he simply too foolish to understand reality?

The fact that he'd fled into the forest also bothered me.

Was he confident the forest's wrath wouldn't turn on him?

Considering he'd stolen fragments of the magic stones, he might try something with magic.

"Is Virtoa in the forest, too?"

"Yeah. I heard it from one of Gazy's associates, so there's no doubt. I was told they're tracking Virtoa."

"I see... I'll go into the forest, too."

"No! It's dangerous!"

"Captain, that's..."

The members of the First Order of Knights raised objections as well.

But I couldn't talk to them if I didn't go.

Besides, we couldn't afford to let things remain at a standstill.

We had to resolve this somehow, and quickly.

On our way here, I'd spotted several people who seemed to be spies.

They'd probably learned that the captain of the First Order of Knights was going to be the next king.

The spies had probably revealed themselves on purpose.

They would likely watch how the next king acted, then report back to their countries.

Would they become enemies or allies, keep watching... or attack us at once?

We didn't have time. If they thought we were slow to make decisions, they'd take advantage of it.

We couldn't let another country invade us now.

"You can see it, too, can't you? We don't have time."

"Spies... I never thought they'd show themselves."

"Shouldn't we capture them?"

"No. They're watching us for now, too. If we don't make a mistake, they'll take back the information we want them to."

"Understood."

"But make sure you keep track of where they are. We can't rule out the possibility that they'll make a move if we're at a disadvantage."

"Yes, sir."

We rode toward the forest.

As I stepped into the forest, I couldn't help wondering if something might happen.

Ever since the day the previous king died, the royal capital had no longer been attacked.

But our relationship with the forest hadn't improved.

I wanted to meet the Forest King and apologize, but how could I meet them?

As we neared the forest, I saw Gazy near the entrance.

I went straight over, and Gazy explained the situation.

It seemed certain that Virtoa had entered the forest, but Gazy had lost sight of them.

"I'm sorry."

"No, you've done enough. Thank you."

I entered the forest and looked around, then froze at how much it had changed.

"The forest has changed..."

"Amazing. What is this...?"

Mizerost seemed surprised, too.

I could see numerous rivers flowing between the trees.

I could feel an immense amount of magic from those rivers.

There were even trees and flowers I'd never seen before.

"Is this what the forest was like originally?"

Maybe it was.

The forest had probably regained its original power.

"Let's go."

I wanted to check each change one by one, but now wasn't the time.

First, I had to resolve the problem.

"Mizerost, Gazy, keep an eye on the area. There may be magic circles inscribed here."

"Understood."

"Yes, sir."

We pressed on through the forest, but I couldn't sense a single person nearby.

Something was wrong.

I stopped, sensing something out of place.

I checked my surroundings.

Something feels wrong.

"Fall back!"

We should retreat for now.

At my command, my subordinates hurried toward the forest's edge, but—

"Where are you going?"

Startled by a presence I hadn't sensed until then, I turned toward the voice.

Virtoa appeared from behind a tree.

I hadn't sensed their presence!

What was going on?

As everyone around me remained on guard, Virtoa seemed to approach us slowly, then threw whatever they were holding at us.

"Evacuate!"

It was too late.

The ground glowed, and the next instant, a magic circle appeared, trapping us inside.

To think there was someone on Virtoa's side capable of using magic this advanced...