Chapter 73: Volume 6 - CH 69

A noise from downstairs jolted Satoru out of his dream world and back to reality.

He felt like he was having a dream that was very warm and nostalgic, but with a hint of loneliness. His mother died without holding Alice in her arms, his father committed suicide as if he was following her, and Alice. Satoru's brain panicked a little as he dreamed of a scene that was not real, where all three of them appeared at the same time.

He hadn't yet become aware of reality.

「Good morning, .......Oh my」

At the sound of Reine's voice, Satoru's consciousness returned vaguely to reality. He was already awake and changing his clothes. The figure of Rico on his right arm is gone, she seems to have already woken up and changed her clothes. On the other hand, he can feel something alive on his left arm...?

「Good mor ...... Ah!? N-no, this is」

Satoru was very shaken when he realized the reality. This is because Liz's appearance had become something of a mess. She had been wearing a smock when she had crawled in last night, but the smock had been thrown off by her bedside. But of course, Satoru had no memory of doing anything to Liz. His own lower body is also showing a dull reaction to his morning erection, but he hasn't taken it off, so there's nothing strange about it―but this situation is not good.

But Reine laughed lightly, "There is nothing to worry."

「I know, don't worry. She's not a good sleeper, is she?」

As Satoru stiffened, Reine smiled at Rico as if she was troubled. Rico also looks troubled. Even if she is a bad sleeper, taking off her smock is a bit much. She was wearing only a pair of underwear, and the feeling of her breasts pressed against Satoru's chest was more than enough for an elf with little flesh. Even Satoru couldn't hide his confusion. Fortunately, he was wearing a shirt and pants, so he was sure that he hadn't made a mistake.

「Liz, wake up. You're troubling Satoru-san」

Reine drags her feet and shakily tries to wake Liz up. Satoru was stiff and unable to move or rather, he couldn't move at all because if he reacted badly, she would see his morning erection. What was so sad that he had to show his morning erection to a woman who looked like his mother?

「Nnyuu~.....I want to sleep a little longer~~......」

With Satoru's left arm as a pillow, Liz is clinging to him - she seems to be completely sleep-deprived. She doesn't even try to open her eyes.

「Onyi-chan, don't go......」

Liz's voice sounded sleepy, and Rico had a complicated look on her face. Satoru said it was okay, but Rico still felt uncomfortable. She had mixed feelings about Liz's indulgence of Satoru. However, there was no way she could complain about it face to face.

When Liz showed no signs of waking up, Reine shrugged in trouble.

「It can't be helped. ...... My apologies, Satoru-san, but please take care of Liz a little longer.」

Is that okay!? Satoru almost panicked, but he couldn't move as his left arm was being used as a pillow to hold on to. When Reine put her foot on the ladder, Rico hurriedly approached her.

「Oh, I'll help you.」

「I can't have a guest helping me.」

「No, please don't worry about it.」

She may have gotten used to it in her daily life, but honestly speaking, it was not pleasant to see her climbing up and down the ladder with one of her legs in bad shape. Satoru thanked Rico for her thoughtfulness, since he was stuck. Rico smiled lightly and nodded in return.

Satoru just grateful that they let a complete stranger stay with them. It's not as if this small amount of help counts for anything.

『Fuwa......I'm going to have breakfast~』

Satoru replies in his mind to Minerva, who he hears in 【Telepathy】. The sound of Minerva's wings could be heard from the other side of the building. Rico turned around as if she remembered hearing the sound of wings.

「Oh right, Satoru, what should we do about Minerva?」

What should we do, after this? After this, they were supposed to go to the World Tree Village with Liz's guidance.

「What should we do? 【Mimicry】 or 【Shrinking】?」

If it's 【Shrinking】, he won't have to tell Liz that Minerva is a talking Flying Dragon―but Satoru has never applied 【Shrinking】, so it's a bit of a gamble, and 【Mimicry】 can be applied with equipment, but then he have to explain it to Liz. It's certainly not a good idea to let people know that Minerva understands human language.

「【Mimicry】 is easier to deal with if something goes wrong.」

「Yeah.」

【Mimicry】 is more reliable than 【Shrinking】, even if only consider the risk. The thought of being attacked while in a state of 【Shrinking】 is terrifying. And now that things have come to this, he doesn't want to keep secrets from Liz and Reine. He have a big secret that he's hiding Leia and Solor in the shadows.

They only talked briefly last night, but Liz is a bright girl. It won't be a problem if he reveal Minerva to her―Satoru believed this, though he was probably being biased.

Hmm? said a voice and Liz opened her eyes vaguely. She seemed to wake up at the sound of Rico talking. She looked around with unfocused eyes for a while, then looked up ― at Satoru's face.

「...... good morning」

At the sound of her sleepy voice, Satoru smiled bitterly and then gave a small shrug.

「Put your clothes on properly, Liz.」

When she was told that, she half-asleeply ran her hands over her shoulders, chest and hips. The only thing she wore was her underwear ― finally, she woke up.

「Hmm......? Awaa!」

She hurriedly jumped away from Satoru and Satoru handed the smock to Liz, who was looking for it. Satoru was not sexually aroused by Liz's resemblance to his sister - or rather, it was hard for him to be aroused by her. In the corner of his mind, he had a strong feeling that it was wrong.

「I-I-I, I'm sorry Onii-san!」

While rushing to put on a smock, Liz's face blushed bright red, Satoru, as if to say, "I don't care about that"

「Good morning, Liz.」

「Good morning.」

After breathing an obvious sigh of relief, Liz looked a little lonely. Noticing the change in her expression, Satoru did not mention anything in particular.

Satoru, Rico, and Liz ate breakfast and prepared for their journey. Reine has a bad leg, so she can't walk for long. She'll be staying here. Last night, Satoru had cast a spell on the hut, mainly 【Hardening】. It should be fine even if it is attacked by a bear or something. When he mentioned this to Reine, she was very grateful.

「Well then, Liz. Don't cause trouble to Satoru-san and Rico-san, okay?」

「Okay. I'm off then.」

「Be careful.」

Satoru gave a smiled bitterly, thinking that it was he who should be taken care of. It's hard to imagine a situation where Liz would cause trouble. He stroked Minerva's neck and humped her as usual.

「Let's see, where should we go first?」

Satoru asked Liz as he unfolded the map of the area that Sheryl had given him. The World Tree Village is said to be the center of the Dark Green Forest. Because of the effect of the 【Lost Forest】, the Dark Green Forest is quite large.

First of all, it took Liz a while to figure out where they were, but she gently pointed to a spot on the map.

「If we're going to the World Tree Village, it's at least 10 miles (13.5 km). It would take about two koku (8 hours) to reach the entrance.」

It doesn't seem to matter where you enter. Reine's house itself is around the Dark Green Forest, but this area seems to be out of the influence of the 【Lost Forest】. After confirming their current position and the location of the entrance Liz had mentioned, Satoru looked up at Minerva.

「Well then, let's ride the Minerva until we get close, it'll be a little tough with three of us, but we'll make it.」

The combination of Satoru, Rico, and Solou was a bit too much, but Liz was clearly smaller in size than Solor. Liz was one fist shorter than Rico, so it was possible to get by with Liz and Rico in the hollow at the base of Minerva's neck, with Satoru riding behind them.

「Eh....Is that okay?」

He can't see any atmosphere of fear from her. Only half expectation and a little bit of fear mixed in with the rest of the feelings. Satoru smiled at Liz.

「We can't talk about this unless the guide is on board, right?」

In response to Satoru's request, Minerva slumped down and placed Rico on Minerva's neck, followed by Liz in front of Rico. After handing the reins to Rico, Satoru straddled Minerva. It didn't help that her back was less comfortable than usual. He took the reins from Rico and said, "If it's 10 miles (13.5 km), we should be able to get there in one hour (40 minutes)".

(Minerva, be careful.)

『'kayy.』

Minerva, with an apparent "Guuoo", slowly stood up.

「Wow, wow, wow.」

She spreads her wings wide and begins to flap them slowly. Softly, her huge body floated to the surface. Satoru waved back at Reine, who was waving them off, and led Minerva to fly up into the sky. The flapping of the wings intensified, and Minerva barked a single word, 『Here we go―!』 and soared high into the sky.

「Woow ...... amazing ...... wow, aha, ahaha!」

Like Rico, it seems that when you ride on the back of a Flying Dragon for the first time, you can't help but have fun and laugh. Satoru had gotten used to it, but it was impossible to experience this kind of fun in his original world. It's like parasailing plus horseback riding.

「Err, where should we go?」

Rico, who was supporting Liz to keep her from falling, asked her carefully. By the way, Rico is being held from behind by Satoru. It's a small happiness.

Lizz, who had been enjoying her ride in the air with great joy, noticed and looked around. Even though she was floating high in the sky, all she could see was a deep forest. It was also very green. A Dark Green Forest, as the saying goes.

「Oh, let's see, ...... that way.」

Liz pointed her finger diagonally forward to the left, and Satoru sent a telepathic command. It was a deep forest, and the World Tree was said to be a very tall tree, but it cannot be seen from here. It seems that because it's in a special ward, you can't see the World Tree with the naked eye unless you go through the 【Lost Forest】. It seems that wandering around in the sky with Minerva won't help.

They continued flying for about one hour (40 minutes).

「Do you see those three cedar trees? It's around there.」

In the direction Liz pointed, there were indeed three trees a little taller than the others. There's no particular change in appearance, but the forest is definitely cut up a bit there, and there's enough room for Minerva to get down. Cautiously, Minerva swooped down to the open place.

There was no change in the surrounding trees. Ivy was spreading among the trees, the rocks were mossy, and the blue smell of the trees hit Satoru's nostrils.

Satoru get down first, lending a hand to get Liz down, and then give Rico a hand. Normally, Rico would get off by herself, but Satoru thought that if he only helped Liz and not Rico, she might sulk again. Satoru's decision was not wrong. Rico, clearly in a good mood, accepted the princess treatment and got off the Minerva.

It was only a short fly in the air, but it seemed to be fun enough for Liz. Even if the Flying Dragon and there are Flying Dragon Knights, there are few opportunities for ordinary people to ride on the back of a Flying Dragon in this world. It would be a memory that would last a lifetime.

He took off the reins and saddles, put them in his bag, and looked around.

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「Well. Then, let's tell Liz one of our secrets.」

「One of your secrets?」

Liz tilted her head curiously. Satoru shrugged .

「Of course, you have to keep it to yourself. ...... Can you keep it to yourself?」

「Onii-cha ...... Um, well, Onii-san I won't do anything that will get you and Rico in trouble. It's okay. I'll keep your secret.」

「All right. Then, Minerva. 【Mimicry.】

『Okaay!』

In response to Satoru's voice, Minerva used the 【Mimicry】 art granted to her equipment. The huge, indigo-skinned body shines faintly and becomes smaller and smaller, until it takes on the shape of a person.

「Eh......」

Minerva was in her usual big-breasted human form as she took in all of Liz's surprised glances. She shook her whole body to acclimate herself, and then received a change of clothes from Rico. Liz, who had been looking at her blanklyl for a while, rolled her eyes and let out a squeal of admiration.

「Woow......So it was a female Flying Dragon. No wonder it's so big.」

Female Flying Dragons are larger than the male ones. A female Flying Dragon, the lord of the herd, is not something a normal person would be able to see, but the art of 【Mimicry】 makes them human, depending on their original gender. Liz had enough knowledge to know that Minerva, who was now a woman, was originally a female flying dragon.

Usually, most of the Flying Dragons kept by people are male. There has never been a case of a female Flying Dragon being controlled. "It's a big secret," Satoru said to Liz, who was about to be convinced.

「But that's not all. Minerva can speak human language.」

「What?」

Liz looked at Satoru, then at Minerva. With the help of Rico, Minerva finally put on a dress, and smiled at Liz.

「I'm Minerva. Nice to meet you, Liz.」

「I-I-It's nice to meet you~. ...... Wow, you're so beautiful!」

At Liz's admiration, Minerva tilted her head in wonder. Minerva did not understand the aesthetic senses of humans and elves.

「Minerva, beautiful?」

「You're beautiful」

「Ehehehe~」

Minerva smiled, a little embarrassed. Even though Minera doesn't know what it feels like to be beautiful, Minerva certainly happy to receive compliments. Everyone compliments Minerva on Minerva human appearance. Danna-sama praises Minerva, so Minerva is happy―That's the extent of her feeling.

Liz held out a thin string to everyone. She took the lead, tied it around her waist, and then handed it to Satoru.

「Please don't ever untie this string.」

She seems to be tying everyone together with a single string. To be honest, Satoru was uncomfortable with Liz in the lead, but it was inevitable that the leader would be the one to guide the way. It's just a matter of making sure to protect her in case something happens.

『Don't worry, my Lord, Solor and I will take care of that, of course』

(Yeah, I'm counting on you.)

At Leia's voice from the shadows, Satoru gave a brief acknowledgement.

If it was just him, he would be able to stand much of an attack, no matter how much he was attacked, and Minerva would be able to withstand a lot. If Rico concentrates on evasion, she won't be attacked so much, and if there are some attacks, the magic in the ring will be able to repel them, but this is not the case with Liz. He has to leave that to Leia and Solor, who are lurking in his shadow.

He have complete trust in Leia. It would be best to leave everything, including how to use Solor, to her.

After making sure that everyone had tied the strings around their waists and that they were securely tied, Liz walked into the deep forest. Behind her were Satoru and Rico, with Minerva as the rear guard.

「Amazing, deep forest ......」

Rico looked around and admired.

Even taking into account the fact that it was in a forest, it was quite humid. It was just before the second koku of the day, so there should be a lot of sunlight, but there wasn't much sunlight in the dense forest. The density of the greenery was too dense.

In spite of the atmosphere, there were few signs of insects and no particular signs of beasts around. It wasn't dark, but there was a haze at times, making it difficult to see what was ahead. The density of the trees was thick, and the mossy bottom made it quite slippery. He guesses that's why Reine sprained her foot walking on this kind of path, but she couldn't say anything about it, so her foot got worse.

「I've never been to the World Tree area since I was kicked out. ......I don't have many good memories.」

「I'm sorry about that.」

「Don't mind it. I'm happy to help if I can help Onii-san.」

At the sound of Satoru's voice, Liz smiled as if to say, "Don't worry about it".

If there was anything to worry about, it was the fact that she was an outcast. Moreover, It's not a good idea to let humans near the World Tree, which is considered sacred and inviolable. I'm sure they won't suddenly attack us without asking questions, but the elves in that village might not respond favorably, Liz explained with a sad look on her face.

Reine is from the World Tree Village to begin with. Reine's first name, De Ruyes, means the village of Ruyes. Ruyes is the ancient elven language for the world tree. There are about 800 elves living in the village. All the elves living there, with the elders at the top, have the family name of Ruyes. However, Liz was not allowed to use that name. It is said that some people in the village were adamant that a half-elf should not be allowed to take the name of their sacred village. That's why Liz doesn't have a first name.

Rico also does not have a first name, but this comes from her upbringing. There are still quite a few ordinary humans who do not have family names. Satoru was a little annoyed that the elves were so narrow-minded that they would not allow Liz to use the name Ruyes, even though she was born and raised in the World Tree Village.

「We're entering the 【Lost Forest】.」

As soon as Liz said this, Satoru felt the atmosphere change to a heavy one. His vision was distorted, and he could not even see his own feet. The sunlight, which had barely penetrated earlier, was now almost non-existent, and in Satoru's mind, it was as if he was in a sludge that had no texture to it. He couldn't see his footing, so he was groping his way around.

「What is this? It's so strange. ......」

He heard Rico's voice twice. Perhaps she was seeing the same image as Satoru. She grabbed the hem of Satoru's clothes as he walked ahead of her, looking uneasy. Minerva seems to think it's strange, but she's busy taking care of the rear.

「This is the effect of the 【Lost Forest】. If the blood of the elves is clear, you can see the path properly.」

He can also hear Liz's voice twice. The only sounds that enter his ears are the footsteps and breaths of the other members. No other sounds came in. Satoru looked at his palms. Pulling it up to his chest, he could finally see his own palm. In terms of visibility, it was only a couple of centimeters. It was as if he was wandering deep in a foggy forest. Perhaps what lies ahead is not a World Tree Village, but a wax museum. I don't think so, though.

『Hooh......This is the first time for me to see this』

A slightly amused voice echoed in Satoru's mind. The conversation with the shadows seemed to sound normal, unlike the voices in his ears. Satoru asked Leia as he carefully followed Liz, using only his sense of sight as he could not rely on it.

(Just for the record, let me ask you. Is this a kind of spell that can be lifted?)

He have no intention of doing so. From the perspective of the elves who live around the world tree, the effect of this 【Lost Forest】 is probably to keep out outside enemies. If he destroy their defenses, they will resent him. However, depending on the conditions of the situation, that is also a possibility. Leia groaned at Satoru's thoughtful voice.

『For me it's impossible. Solor and my Lord may be possible. I think it would be difficult to do such a large-scale ritual magic.』

（Ritual magic?)

『Come to think of it, I've never explained it to my Lord. It is possible to share a single art with several magicians, though it is limited to only a few types of magic.』

Satoru stroked his chin, "Hmm".

There are many sorceries and magical techniques that he had seen so far, and some of them are indeed difficult for an individual to master. For example, the automatic recovery function of the walls and floors in the labyrinth. No matter how well the Ancient Magic Kingdoms were able to manipulate their magic, they would not be able to do so by half-heartedly putting magic power into items. If the magic was put into the labyrinth itself to affect it through a ritual, then it makes sense.

(......For example, let's say. You mean like how a few people like Rico can gather together to counter your art?」

『It's not as easy as it sounds. Everyone has to be able to use the art, and depending on the art, you may have to stay inside the magic circle you've drawn, which is basically inefficient. It is not an easy task to eliminate a powerful art. In the example my Lord gave earlier, if you wanted to remove a spell that the I had cast with a certain amount of magic power, you would need 30 Rico.』

Satoru groaned. This spell of the 【Lost Forest】 was probably placed by the ancient elves in their collective wisdom. It has been protected for several hundred to several thousand years. However, the spell itself is an elementary level of rijutsu, so it is not impossible to break the spell on this 【Lost Forest】 if you collect enough of them. It is also possible for one person to use a great deal of magic power to dispel the spell - if that is the case.

(......For example, the 【Otherworldly Summoning】 that summoned me...)

『That art is semi-ritual magic. It's a ritual performed by a single magician. It's not a ritual with multiple people. The origins of the art are different, and there is no core of the magic tower to pay for it. In the first place, it can't be used with only me as the magician.」

(Is that how it is?)

There are still many aspects of magic that Satoru does not understand.

(......But if you think about it, 【Otherworldly Summoning】 is not magic, it's sorcery)

『I've learned a lot about this from talking to Solor. Magic is not dependent on one's talent, but is categorized as the law of the world.』

(......Hmm? I'm not sure what that means.)

『It seems that magic is defined as a "law" by the entire world or country ....... For example, even if you are not very good at elemental magic like Rico, you can still use elemental magic under the name of God』

While being careful not to lose sight of the Liz in front of him, Satoru's small-capacity brain worked hard to verify Leia's words.

(Hmm, huh? What's that? Does that mean that the covenant in the name of God can only be used after making a contract with God?)

『That's the correct interpretation. And since there is no way to make a contract with God in this life, you can't use magic anymore, right? Also, I heard that magic is the only way to do things that are not based on a contract with God. 【Otherworldly Summoning】 and 【Transfer】, for example, are not magic, but sorcery, because they are not approved by God.』

（God's rules don't allow 【Otherworldly Summoning】 and 【Transfer】, so it was studied as a art, not a law.）

『Indeed. To add to that, God doesn't go so far as to punish people for violating the covenant. Maybe God just missed it as a form of evolution.』

Satoru slowly digests Leia's words and thinks about them. He realized that the origins of the world were different between this world and his original world. On the other hand, he also realized that the God must have had a lot of power. God was sharing the power through magic.

Even though people lost the means of making a contract with God, the power was still there as something that was shared, so even today, religions that worship God still exist and have a certain amount of power. The reason why no other religions are in vogue in this world is because there is an absolute form of a certain being who used to share God power in a visible form.

I wonder if the gods have consciousness――Thinking to that point, Satoru's attention was alerted to a slight change in the presence of Liz in front of him.

「We're almost out」

At the sound of Liz's double voice, Satoru pushed his thoughts away and regained his composure.

Once they passed through the 【Lost Forest】, they would be in the home of the elves.

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