Chapter 287: Clue? Trap? (Patreon)

"Then I'll wait for your triumphant return out here," Schwenk said, waving farewell to the group.

"Heh. Still as brisk and efficient as ever," he murmured, watching Nanoda lead the monks into the forest.

Übel's face was full of reluctance. "Old man, why won't Lady Nanoda take me with her? Just because I'm a kid? I want to go on an adventure with Lady Nanoda too!"

Seeing that Übel looked ready to charge after them, Schwenk swept a hand across the Scripture in his grip. A cage as tall as an adult, glowing with golden light, was pulled free from the pages and dropped with a clang, settling over Übel's head.

"Don't get in my way!"

Übel had invented her own magic — one that could sever anything!

A cage was no exception to that.

Schwenk's face went pale with shock as he watched the holy light cage get sliced apart with ease.

That cage was sturdier than most Defensive Magic. This little troublemaker, Nanoda's grand-disciple no less, was clearly no ordinary person.

"Have you forgotten your promise to your Grand-Master? What if she decides never to take you out again because you broke your word? Have you considered — what if the monsters in the forest turn out to be strong, and you end up being a burden, causing Lady Nanoda to get hurt because of you?"

Schwenk switched tactics, and the mention of her Grand-Master was enough to make Übel stop in her tracks. "But..."

"You're still a child. If I were the one facing this kind of danger, I wouldn't bring you along either — the risk is too great. Nanoda may seem cold on the surface, but she actually looks out for people more than you'd think. Back when we first met, I spent all my time calling her a bastard."

Suddenly Übel thought of a delightful idea. "Then, old man, you'll have to keep me entertained with stories about you and Grand-Master."

"Ahaha, sure, sure."

The girl's straightforward simplicity softened something in Schwenk's chest.

"Aren't you worried about Lady Nanoda?"

"I can't imagine a version of things where she fails."

Schwenk shook his head and began telling Übel a story — dressing up the tale of how he'd once been captured by bandits and fallen into Nanoda's hands in humiliation, turning it instead into a tale of divine favor and deliverance from hardship.

—————

"What an unpleasant feeling."

Lois felt his Mana Perception scramble again, a wave of nausea rising in him.

"How strange. The Heavenly Eye shows nothing but trees. Not a single living thing in these woods — no animals, no magic beasts, nothing. Just trees."

The nun's face was etched with confusion.

"Hmph!" The burly man was still flexing his muscles, showing off as usual.

Nanoda had originally objected to moving as a group.

Acting alone was far more efficient.

If something unexpected happened, she couldn't guarantee she'd be able to protect everyone in time.

But the party now consisted of a vanguard, an information specialist, a healer, a Mage, and Nanoda herself — a well-rounded, near-perfect formation, with every member at a first-rate level of skill.

"Indeed, my Mana Perception isn't giving any clear direction. I can't trace the flow of Mana through the air, or find any gaps in its distribution."

Nanoda realized they'd lost their bearings in the forest. All they could do was keep pushing forward through the more open stretches between the trees.

This world had no compasses — they could only rely on rough estimates from the map to determine direction.

"Everyone, stay close together as we move."

Under Nanoda's direction, the five of them slowly advanced into the forest, each facing a different direction, so their combined field of view could cover all sides at once.

There was no telling when some monster might come bursting out of a dark corner of the woods in an ambush.

In truth, Nanoda had another, faster way to flush out any monsters — she could simply use Severance Magic to level the entire forest.

But that would waste a great deal of Mana and utterly destroy the ecosystem around the city. And there was no telling how many monsters were lurking in these woods — if they lost their shelter and fled toward the city in a panic, the situation could spiral out of control.

More importantly, the one-armed monk had found traces left behind by the earlier scouting party.

"There are scratch marks on that tree over there — and there, and there too. They line up to mark out a path."

"Most likely man-made. Probably left by the scouts," Lois said, running his fingers over the marks in the bark as he offered his deduction. He tried to sense any trace of Mana in the marks, but his Mana Perception remained a tangled mess.

"So that means the people who entered the forest before might still be alive? Trapped in here for some reason?" The nun's expression brightened, as if she'd glimpsed a ray of hope.

"Things don't look good. I think this is a trap. Like I said before, the Heavenly Eye isn't picking up any living creatures, right? Unless the Heavenly Eye is malfunctioning the same way my Mana Perception is."

Nanoda signaled for everyone to halt.

"The Heavenly Eye shows only trees? Not even a water source?"

Facing Nanoda's question, the nun nodded. She'd already swept the area with the Heavenly Eye more than a dozen times, and each scan showed the same thing — nothing but trees. The five of them were the only living, moving things in this whole forest.

Could the Heavenly Eye really be malfunctioning? Was there some monster capable of interfering with magic granted by the New God itself?

"This is too strange. No water source, no living creatures, no supplies to be found anywhere. Even with what the scouting party carried out with them, it would be difficult for ten people to survive a whole week in this forest."

Lois simply shut off his Mana Perception outright — its chaotic readings were only muddling his own judgment.

"And besides, if there are marks leading back out, why didn't the scouting party follow them home once their supplies ran low?"

Nanoda seized on the key point, then gently tossed the broken horn in her hand.

"Let's confirm something. On our way in, I left some marks of my own."

She'd been the one clearing the path at the front of the group, and along the way, she'd used the broken horn — imbued with Severance Magic — to carve marks into the ground.

"Those scratches on the ground!" The nun noticed the crisscross marks etched into the earth.

"It seems the monsters in these woods are remarkably patient. There's still time to turn back, if anyone wants to."

Nanoda was now more convinced than ever that something lurking in the forest possessed real intelligence — and was deliberately luring people into its hunting ground.

Yet not a single person hesitated.

"Even if it's a trap, we still have to press on. The longer they stay missing, the greater the danger they're in. Besides, Lady Nanoda is here with us."

"Lois, I'm not all-powerful."

Nanoda drew a deep breath. "From here on, everyone stay sharp. You'll need to look out for yourselves."

"Understood!" the four of them said in unison.