Forbidden Forest 1

With Clara's call, the group set off toward the Forbidden Forest.

As usual, Clara drove while Kenny kept watch and guided the way from the passenger seat. On the rear cargo platform, I used scanning magic, while Alex prepared for sudden attacks.

The cargo platform was also equipped with a roof and sleds to cross snowy terrain, and the load was distributed across several units to reduce the weight per platform.

As a result, it became longer vertically, resembling a snake.

The Forbidden Forest.

A legendary land passed down through the kingdom.

A land of permafrost, perpetually cold year-round. Even now, as summer approaches, snow continues to fall, and it is said to be home to legendary monsters.

It's an ideal place to flee to, but a harsh and unforgiving place to pursue someone into.

According to information obtained from the guild, Royal Army troops have returned and appear to be conducting surveys in the surrounding area.

They're definitely searching for Miss Lina.

We don't have much time.

Soon after, we enter a snowy region. The already low temperature drops even further, and the wind rushing through stings our skin.

"Ugh, it's so cold. When it's this cold, I can't move fast."

Even though it's similar to a car, the body is full of gaps. Cold air seeps in from all directions, and there's no heating system.

I'm dressed warmly, but it doesn't help much.

I activate my wind magic.

I refine the control further, shaping a membrane of wind that surrounds us.

"Oh, it's getting warmer somehow. That must be Tarou's doing."

It seems to have worked out well. We're surrounded only by air, blocking the wind from entering.

This alone makes it significantly warmer. Kenny and Alex activate their fire crystals, heating up the space within the wind barrier.

Though they're not particularly skilled with magic stones, warming a small space is no trouble for them.

We continued forward, managing to maintain our stamina.

Would Rinah be alright in such an environment?

The magic four-wheeler moved at a considerably slower pace than usual, navigating through deep snow and dense coniferous forests.

The forest seemed untouched by human hands—no paths had been cleared, and monstrous creatures were abundant.

The terrain made progress difficult.

Still, rushing wouldn't help—without choosing the right route, the tires would simply sink. Taking the time to pick a suitable path was faster than walking.

"Taro, I managed to enter the Forbidden Forest, but do you have any leads?"

"Yeah, we can't just flee to some random spot deep in this forest. While researching the past heroes' achievements, I found that whenever legendary monsters appeared, ruins or settlements always existed nearby."

It was barely scribbled in the corner of a book, barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

Whether or not Rina knows this fact is honestly a gamble.

Is the place we're heading to now also where that ruin was located?

"Yeah, the old map seemed to show something a bit further along... that thing we found before."

There was an unnatural stone formation in the forest.

It was apparently once an altar, but now it's just a pile of broken stones.

Get off the magical four-wheeler and search the surrounding area.

The area around the altar has been cleared of trees and made into a wider space, but there's no place to hide. The altar itself is completely ruined, leaving no spot where one could conceal themselves.

"Tarou, honestly... are we missing something?"

"Yeah... it doesn't seem like they're here. Let me search a bit more."

We split up to conduct a thorough search.

But snow blankets everything uniformly, offering no distinguishing features. We open the map to look for any notable landmarks.

There's nothing unusual ahead—just a steep cliff.

"If it were Alex, would he find the collapsed altar and then decide what to do next?"

"Our goal is escape. We need to find a place to hide. Somewhere other than here. How about that cliff ahead? There might be a hole somewhere."

"Where exactly?"

"I don't know. If we search from the edge, we might find it eventually."

I should never have asked that guy. He's basically just a musclehead.

What should I do? I'm completely out of ideas.

"Look, Taro!"

Clara had found something near the old altar.

It was the corpse of a subbeast.

"It looks like there was a battle here. But it happened quite a while ago. Maybe we can find something from here?"

All we've got is a corpse that's been there for ages and scattered magical stones used in combat.

When I picked up the fallen magic stones, I found a burned-out fire stone, worn to pieces from use, and a recovery stone that had been so overheated it had been discarded while still usable.

It seems to have been a pretty harsh situation.

"Hey, Taro, can't you figure out where they went just by checking the usage history of the magic stones?"

Clara says something incredibly unreasonable.

I've never done anything like that before.

I only realized this recently, after being able to sense the ambient magic energy around me—though it's not something you can feel intentionally. It's just randomly present.

It's like mist forming in the air.

Upon closer attention, I notice the magic energy here feels denser than in the city streets—almost like being submerged in water.

The more I think about it, the more Clara's gaze feels heavy. She's giving me that look—like she's silently demanding I do something.

Test it by sensing the magical energy around you.

The concentration of mana in the air was indeed extremely high. Honestly, I couldn't tell what was going on at all.

This seems impossible.

When I looked down, thinking this, I saw faint but discernible footprints left behind—several of them, clearly visible, as if someone had stepped on snow, yet not made by snow.

A footprint made of mana that has settled on a clean ground.

Everything in this world contains mana. Naturally, it exists even in the soil of the ground. This is a remote forest where humans and living beings are nearly nonexistent.

A footprint left behind doesn't fade easily. That is why it remains.

There were multiple footprints, stretching in one direction—toward the cliffside.