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After three days of practice,
Hector gives us permission to go to the west forest, which is relatively safe.
We entered the forest with
Hector, Guy, and Will.
I put on a leather hat and carried
a small backpack with a canteen and other supplies, and a dagger on my hip.
Basically, I was not going to fight, so I was only wearing it for the sake of being
a man of a knight’s house.
When it was time to leave, Dan
and Mel shouted that they were going with me, but their fathers, Hector and Guy,
drove them back and they were steadfast.
I made a mental note to follow
up with them tomorrow, and I left Castle Hill following the three adults.
After leaving Castle Hill, we
headed straight down south and continued on the road that runs along the south
side of West Hill. We crossed a bridge over the Finn River and then to the West
Forest.
We departed at 8:00 a.m. and
arrived at the forest in about 20 minutes.
The purpose of the three of us
today is to scout the West Forest.
They regularly look for traces
of monsters and try to find out if there are any dangerous monsters approaching
the village.
No dangerous monsters have
ever inhabited the West Forest, but animals as small as wolves often enter the
forest, so vigilance is essential.
We have been in the forest for
30 minutes. The undergrowth is tangled around my feet, making it very difficult
to walk.
The adults, who are about 180
centimeters tall, do not seem to have much difficulty, but for me, who am about
130 centimeters tall, it is quite a challenge.
Guy, who was leading the way,
took care of me and slowed down his pace considerably, but even so, it was hard
to be alert to my surroundings.
We meander through the forest
in a north-south direction, starting from the east side near the village, and
after an hour or so, I start to catch my breath.
Hector says, “Master Zack,
would you like to take a break?”
“Hah, hah, it’s my own
selfishness, don’t mind me. I’m just asking you to slow down, hah, hah, that’s
enough.” (Zack)
I say this with rough breathing,
so I am not convincing myself and the others.
Hector also gave a wry smile
and we took a short break.
Sitting on a nearby fallen
tree, I gulp water from my canteen and finally catch my breath.
Looking around, the fresh
green of May is dazzling, and the sunlight glints through the young
jade-colored leaves. All around me, the sounds of birdsong and insects echoed
in the air, and I could almost call it peace itself.
After a five-minute break, we
set off again.
Gradually, the forest deepens,
and large oak trees stand out among the vegetation. At the base of the oak
trees, mossy rocks are covered with grass with tiny flowers.
In my previous life, I longed to
travel and witness the beauty of nature such as the Shirakami Mountains and
Yakushima Island.
And here before my eyes is a
wilderness that rivals them. My heart was filled with emotion, but my excitement
was quickly dampened by Guy’s words.
“These are wolf tracks. A
pack of Forest Wolves… about twenty of them?” (Guy)
I involuntarily put my hand on
the dagger at my waist and looked around.
In front of me, Guy was
observing the tracks. Then he looks up and asks Hector for his opinion.
“I think they’re pretty
new, what do you think?” (Guy)
“I think it’s pretty new.
I’d say three days. Will, you should take a look.” (Hector)
Will, a former farmer, is inexperienced
in the forest, so he is guided by Hector and Guy, who are veterans.
I peered at the footprints
from Will’s side as if peering into the forest.
The footprints looked like a
dog’s, about ten centimeters long, but they were wider and larger than I had
expected.
I muttered unconsciously,
“How big is a Forest Wolf?” Guy, who had heard this, told me.
“At this paw size… it’s
about 70 centimeters tall at the head and about 1.3 meters from the head to the
base of the tail.” (Guy)
Guy explained, showing me the
size of the animal with his hands.
(Is it about the size of a
Siberian husky? Maybe a little bigger than that… Isn’t twenty heads pretty bad?)
(Zack)
When I was thinking about
that, Guy laughed and said,
“Well, it’s about two
times smaller than a Gray Wolf. If they are about twenty, there’s no problem
because we can defeat it with us squires alone.” (Guy)
(Is that so? There are only
six squires in our company, including these three Walt, Nicholas, and Enos. Can
each one of them handle three alone?) (Zack)
Hector laughed as if my
concern was evident on my face.
“Even the three of us can
take down this many. There is nothing to worry about.” (Hector)
I managed to loosen my
expression and nodded, “Okay.”
Guy took the lead and we
followed the trail, but the wolves’ tracks led directly into the North Forest.
“I will change our plans and
enter the North Forest. I don’t think there is any danger, but the forest will
be deeper than before, so if you get tired, just let me know anytime.”
I nodded to Hector and he followed
the wolves’ tracks again.
We
continued north through the forest for two hours but gave up the chase when we
entered Mount Schiehallion, a small mountain to the north.
“We’re behind the
mountain, so they must have just wandered off in search of food. It’s a little
early, but let’s have lunch here.” ()
We had lunch at a place where
a huge tree with a trunk diameter of over one meter had fallen.
The tree fell during a storm
three years ago, leaving a patch of sky in the deep forest. Under the bright
sun, I eat a sandwich of grilled salted pork sandwiched between bread baked by
Molly.
The fat from the pork spreads
in my mouth, adding flavor to the crusty bread.
Finally, he finishes off his
simple lunch with a baked pastry kneaded with honey.
I exhale and look up at the
sky to see a small bird, like a clouded sparrow, soaring through the air.
(It’s so peaceful. It is just
like a picnic with Mel and the others.) (Zack)
As I looked around thinking
this, I saw Hector holding up his bow.
I almost raised my voice, but
when I looked beyond his gaze, I saw a brown rabbit grazing about 30 meters
away.
Hector quietly aimed and
without warning fired an arrow.
The air shrieked a rustle, soon
followed by a thud and a mournful whine.
Will quickly approaches and
retrieves the rabbit.
Hector’s arrow had
successfully pierced the rabbit’s flank and it was already dead. Will
immediately begins draining the blood, and the rabbit’s brown fur turns red.
“Brilliant! A single shot
from that distance? That’s impressive.” (Zack)
Hector bows lightly in my
praise and shows me the rabbit Will has brought.
In my previous life, my father
hunted as a hobby. Well, it wasn’t so much a hobby as a way of going along with
an executive’s hobby, but I had followed him many times when I was in
elementary school, and I had seen him bleed pheasants and ducks many times. And
it was mine and my brother’s job to pick off the feathers of the birds we
caught, so I have no aversion to these things.
The rabbit is still a little lean,
but it’s a pretty big one and should be a good side dish for tomorrow.
(The heart and liver are good.
It’s a little smelly, but when you pour a sauce made from blood, red wine, and stock,
it goes perfectly with a dark red wine like Schiller…) (Zack)
I almost drooled and forced
myself to pull my consciousness away from the rabbit.
We head back to the woods to
the west, and at about 2:00 p.m., we head out to the road.
“We are going back today.
If you can move this much, you should be able to keep up with us, so I’ll
report that to Master Govan.” (Hector)
With Hector’s approval, we
headed back to the village in a buoyant mood.
On the way back to the
village, I spot a wood pigeon perched on a tree branch. I told the three of
them that I would shoot it down with magic, and Hector laughed and said,
“Go ahead, do your best.”
He seemed to think it was
impossible because the distance was more than 30 meters and the tree branches
would get in the way of a direct shot.
I took it as a challenge to me
and decided to aim with my specialty, the magic swallow-wing blade [Swallow
Cutter].
“O Wentus, God of Wind,
who commands all the winds in the world. Grant mine thy swallow-winged blade
that dances in the heavens, I offer the power of mine life to thee as payment. Come
forth! Swallow-winged blade, Swallow Cutter.” (Zack)
I still don’t like chuunibyou spells,
but if I don’t chant this, the amount of magic MP usage will change by about
double.
The transparent swallow I
released flew as if crawling on the ground, and at once turned to rise right
under the wood pigeon. The careless pigeon tried to fly away in a panic, but it
was decapitated by the spread wings of the Swallow Cutter and fell, spewing
blood.
Hector and the others stared
at the scene with stunned expressions.
“…Master Zack, what is
that magic you just did? Suddenly, the movement changed…” (Hector)
“Swallow Cutter, you know
like a swallow. They can move like them too. Guy, Sharon can use this spell too.”
(Zack)
When I said that, Guy was
stunned even more than Hector.
Later, while walking, I talked
to Guy and found out that he had heard from Liddy that Sharon could now use
magic, but he hadn’t heard exactly how much magic she could use, and at best she
can brighten a room or move the wind. It seems that he thought that she wouldn’t
even cause a problem.
I returned to the mansion
around 4:00 p.m. to participate in the evening training.
As expected, my legs were sore
from walking nearly 10 kilometers through the forest, but this was no reason to
take a break from training.
The next day, Mel and the
others were also allowed to go to the forest.
As I had hoped, the magic
demonstration had worked, and Sharon, who had no skill with a sword, was
allowed to accompany us.
(Sharon would not have been
able to go to the forest if I hadn’t done that. I felt sorry for her, and I
thought that if I showed a bit of flair, Hector and Guy would be convinced, but
I really got what I wanted…) (Zack)
A/N: Next will be the day of the Zack Quartet’s Forest debut.
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