Chapter 43: Chapter 43 – Fairy tale forest

The trip north of Elystead turned out to be rather uneventful in the end, with Scarlett and the others making it to the small town of Temisbrook just a short while before the sun had started setting. There, Scarlett had found an inn where there was enough space for both the horse and the carriage before she led the group to the outskirts of the town. Temisbrook was situated right at the border of Temisbrook Woods, which was an old—almost ancient—forest with massive trees reaching well over fifty meters in height, and Scarlett doubted even a bear would've been able to wrap their arms around their trunks. Many of the trees also had an odd, hardened texture to them; the bark on them almost a pale grey color similar to that of stone.

Though the forest wasn't particularly large, it was dense. There wasn't much foliage growing between the trees, but you still couldn't see much further than a dozen or so meters into it. And with it growing darker every minute, the visibility was quickly dropping.

"It's been a while since I was here," Rosa commented as they left Tremisbrook behind and closed in on the forest.

"You have been here before?" Scarlett asked, looking at the musician.

"On occasion." Rosa held the hurdy-gurdy she was carrying in front of her for a moment, miming herself playing it. "Even the people in small towns like this need opportunities to relax once in a while. Who am I to deny them those chances?" She grinned. "Besides, there aren't many places quite as unique as this," she added, looking ahead at the trees.

"Why are they like that?" Fynn asked, visibly sniffing the air as he stared at the trees. "They look wrong."

"People say that it's because they've been turned into stone by the fairies inhabiting the forest, to prevent them from withering away," Shin said. "They're not actually stone, but there is said to be some credence to the view that the cause is fairies."

"Huh," Allyssa let out, tightening the bandolier around her chest and pulling her goggles out from beneath the cloak she was wearing. She pushed back some of her blonde locks as she put the leather goggles on the top of her head. "Are there really fairies here?"

"Oh, there are," Rosa answered. "I would avoid angering them if I were you."

"And how do I do that?"

"Excellent question!" Rosa looked toward Scarlett. "I'm guessing the boss-lady has some good ideas? The fairies usually don't like it when people traipse too far into their home."

Scarlett glanced back at her. "You speak as if you have experience on the matter."

"Let's just say that a younger—and oh so cute—version of me thought it would be a great idea to make some fairy pals." The woman grimaced. "And let's just say that younger me learned a few lessons about being careful with who you try and make friends with."

"...I see." Scarlett had heard many odd stories from the Rosa from 'Chronicle of Realms', but somehow she was still surprised by the woman. She definitely hadn't heard this one before, at least.

"Lesson number one: if the first thing a prospective friend does is try and stick you to the top of a tree, it might not be the best idea to try and befriend them with songs."

Allyssa blinked at the woman. "You actually did that?"

Rosa shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "I thought they'd be a captivating audience. And I wasn't wrong there. I just misjudged things a little."

Allyssa turned her head to Scarlett. "Are we going to have to fight with fairies? I haven't done that before, so I'm not sure what they're like."

Scarlett nodded her head. "It is likely that our mission will require you combating some fairies, yes. However, while I do not doubt your capabilities on the matter, I do not intend to waste time attempting to deal with this forest's inhabitants." In the game the fairies living in this forest were free XP, but here, they would just be an annoyance. She was already expecting it to take extra time just to find the place she was looking for, and she didn't want to add to that any more than necessary. "I already have taken measures to ensure they do not bother us, so there is nothing to worry about."

"Oh? And what are these 'measures'?" Rosa asked.

Scarlett stopped—only a couple dozen meters away from the forest now—and put her hand into the [Pouch of Holding] that hung at her waist. When she pulled her hand out she immediately saw Fynn's expression change into a scowl. She held her palm up to reveal a bronze bell with slits on its sides. She shook it around some and a strong smell wafted through the air.

"What is that?" Allyssa asked.

"Rosemary," Shin answered, looking closely at the bell.

Scarlett turned to him. "That is correct. It is a smell that will repel most fairies in this forest as long as we do not do something to further agitate them." She had made sure to have these prepared before she left for the capital, having contacted a store in Freybrook that had been able to get them made with surprising speed. And pretty inexpensively, at that. These would be enough to get through the forest without having to fight anything.

She handed the bell to Allyssa, who held it up to her nose to smell it. Scarlett then took out another three bells and gave them to the others—Fynn didn't seem to like the smell too much for some reason, but still accepted the bell—before taking out one more that she kept for herself. She had ten of these with her in total, just in case. She then took out a couple of lanterns, which she also handed out to the others, before she then entered the forest itself.

The first few minutes of moving between the large trees were slow, but there was nothing of note that happened. Occasionally, the light from the lanterns would pass over a branch or a small animal that looked like something else in the darkness, but that was all. After some more time passed, however, Fynn suddenly stopped.

"There's something following us," he said, looking off towards the side.

Allyssa turned the face of the lantern she was holding in that direction, but nothing showed in the light.

"It's hiding further away," Fynn said and took a step in that direction. Scarlett held up a hand to stop him.

"Ignore it. It will not come closer."

He looked at her, his tousled white hair blocking his eyes partly. After sniffing the air loudly a couple of times—he really didn't know the meaning of subterfuge—he blinked. "You're right."

He glanced down at the bell held in his hand.

"More of them are likely to emerge. Only inform us if it appears as if they are coming too close," Scarlett said. Then she pointed ahead in the direction they'd been walking and the others started moving forward again. They continued like that for at least thirty minutes, with Fynn not saying anything in that time, before they started seeing changes in their surroundings. The trees were starting to gradually become smaller the further they moved, and some of them almost looked like they had a slight purple sheen around them. After observing this change for some time, Scarlett eventually held her hand up and stopped the group where they stood.

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Allyssa walked up to one of the trees and leaned closer to the bark, inspecting the strange phenomena.

"There are over a dozen of them now," Fynn suddenly cut in. "They're coming closer."

"How do you know?" Allyssa asked, turning to him.

"They smell odd. Like the trees, but moving."

The girl stared at him. "...Okay."

Scarlett took out a new batch of bells and handed them out amongst the group. According to Fynn the beings closing in on them almost immediately moved further away.

Then she brought out a bouquet of ordinary flowers she'd arranged—they'd started to wither a bit from being in the pouch for a few days, but they'd still work as far as she was aware—and held them up in the air in front of her. It barely required any effort on her part to light them up with her pyrokinesis, after which she closely observed the flames. The smoke wafting off the flowers almost seemed to clump together as it rolled in a certain direction, deeper into the forest.

Rosa leaned close to the burning flowers, eyeing the strange smoke. "Now that's an odd sight."

Scarlett simply pointed in the direction the smoke moved. "We are nearing our goal," she said and started walking again. When the flowers were almost gone she simply took out another bouquet and repeated the process, continuing like that for a while until they finally reached a small clearing that was lit up by the moon that was now hanging high in the night sky. Flowers of all colors blanketed the clearing and at the center of it was a small lake of clear blue water. It was completely tranquil, not a ripple on its surface, to the point where the moon's reflection on it almost looked like the real deal.

Rosa let out a low whistle at the view, and the rest of the group seemed similarly impressed.

"Is this what we were looking for?" Shin asked, his eyes scanning the clearing and their surroundings.

"It is the entrance," Scarlett answered.

"Entrance? What entrance?" Allyssa had bent over to examine a flower that had petals that were a mix of blue and yellow but now looked up at Scarlett with a knitted forehead. "Don't tell me it's the lake."

Scarlett walked over to the center of the clearing, stopping at the lake's edge. "It is not," she said and bent down to put her hand into the water. For a moment she tried controlling it with her hydrokinesis, but nothing happened. She'd suspected that wouldn't work.

Rosa walked up beside her and also leaned down, collecting some of the water in her palms and bringing it up to her mouth.

"Oh, that's good," she said with a smile. "Not often you find water this refreshing."

Scarlett arched an eyebrow. She would have been careful with drinking water she didn't know the quality of beforehand, but apparently health concerns like that weren't on the woman's mind.

Shaking her head, Scarlett stood up and turned to the others. "From here on, things will become dangerous. If you have any further preparations to complete, then do so now."

At those words, Shin unclasped the polished metal shield he'd worn on his back and took a firm handle on his strange-shaped sword that was clasped to his side. He wore a set of grey armor along with a pale-blue short cloak that wrapped over one of his shoulders.

Beside him, Allyssa took out a small hand crossbow from beneath her own cloak and opened the cork to one of the bottles that hung on her bandolier. Bringing out a number of bolts from a pouch on her waist, the girl then proceeded to dip the tips of the projectiles into the bottle before attaching them to a small space on the side of her crossbow. Last of all, she pulled down the goggles on her head and gave a nod.

Compared to those two, Fynn just remained as he was, briefly glancing at the ring on his finger. He mainly fought with his fists and Scarlett knew that worked for him. But she would have to get him some real equipment that would work for him later on.

She glanced over at Rosa. The woman was simply looking over her instrument, not appearing particularly worried.

"I take it you are all ready then," Scarlett eventually said and turned around to look at the lake itself again. "Then we will begin."

She took out a coin made out of gold from a small pocket on her pants. It had a relief of the sun on one side, and of a man with a spiked crown on the other. This was a coin worth one hundred solars. She would have preferred to keep it, but this was the only way she knew of to do this.

Turning her eyes toward the reflection of the moon that was at the center of the lake, she paused for a moment. She frowned. This part might actually be a bit too hard for her.

She looked back at the others. "Come here, Fynn."

The young man walked up to her with a slightly perplexed expression, which turn into pure confusion when she handed the golden coin to him. "Throw this into the lake, where the moon is reflected."

He looked up at her, blinking. "But this is worth a lot."

"That may be so, but this is the only way." She pointed out into the water. "Throw it."

He hesitated for a second, glancing down at the coin, before taking a step forward. Moving his arm back behind his head, he then brought it forward in one smooth movement and released the coin in flight towards the lake's center. It struck the moon's reflection and immediately disappeared beneath the surface, leaving small ripples that spread out around it.

It was quiet for a short while.

Then a loud sound like a hundred disharmonized lutes spread out across the clearing. The water closest to them solidified as it formed into stairs that descended into a bright space where nothing could be seen. Scarlett temporarily looked back at the others, who all looked a bit surprised, then took the first step onto the water. Her foot didn't sink through it. She gestured for the others to follow, then she climbed down.

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