During the crossing of the great forest with Altia, the Phantom beasts who live in the forest occasionally appear before us and ask me to stroke them.

There are various Phantom territories in the forest area, which can be called the middle layer from such a second to a third settlement.

The Phantom Beasts who felt my presence with a huge amount of magic come looking for magic just like the Phantom Beasts in the [Vain Wilderness], so I will stroke your forehead and neck and send you magic.

"You're cute. But we have to go. I'm sorry."

"I can't. I don't want you to take the witch."

Teto is convincing the Phantom Beasts to suck on my robe to pull me into the territory of the Phantom Beasts because of their magical desire.

"Chise, please be careful. This area is crazy about direction by jamming magic, so if you get lost, you'll be in trouble."

If the Phantom Beasts accidentally pull me into the back of the forest, I will rush to Ultia's side in a hurry, thinking that I will be in distress without any land exploration around here.

As he walked through the woods, Ultia explained the types of sabotage magic.

The fog is used as a catalyst to create a sense of direction, and magic is used everywhere in the forest.

Stone, totem poles and other installations attract magic to nature and draw attention away from the territory of the Phantom Beasts.

Sometimes they are watching by spirits.

You're doing it on a huge scale.

"It's amazing to protect this vast forest."

"I wish I could say that I'm proud of the sabotage magic... but I still need magic to activate these magic, and it's difficult to make up for all the vast forest."

As a result, a small number of intruders enter the forest and rarely succeed in poaching or grabbing people, so the villains who dream of dirty grabbing gold in search of Phantom Beast materials and elf slaves will never stop.

Then you walk through the great forest to avoid being bewitched by sabotage magic.

In the back of the big forest, rivers, fallen trees, ridges, and rocks block the way, and along the way, you go places that are not veterinary roads.

I wondered if it really suited me here, but if I went through those obstacles with flying magic, it took me about a week from the middle settlement to the deep settlement.

"Finally, it's a fantastic village that feels like an elf"

In the deep elf settlements, because the magic of the world trees was too strong to cut open the land, they lived in dwellings that had magically deformed large trees into cavities.

"Everyone who comes here for the first time reacts like that."

If you put magic into your eyes, spirits fly around everywhere and look like a very sparkling world.

The large, straight trees are equipped with doors and small round windows, and the tiny, truly wooden house is built.

The sound of water flowing from somewhere, the pleasant wind shakes the leaves of the trees that became the dwellings of the trees, and the light comes down from the gap.

Then, I feel that the magic concentration is even stronger because the world tree is very close.

"This is what humans call a town. Branches and leaves that fall from the world's trees are once gathered in this town and sent outside. But no matter how steep the journey to the world tree, there are people who tread on it to poach and grab people."

In this way, Altia looks up at the world tree, which is so tall that she thinks it will penetrate from the gap of the trees to the visible sky.

"Today, I'm staying overnight before heading to the capital of Ertal Forest Country."

I was excited to discover that I would reach an elf country where I had not actively interacted with the outside world for more than 2,000 years, while enjoying the house of the elf's own tree.

And the next day--

"From here on out, there is even more powerful jamming magic. Also, if you take a short detour, it's a monster habitat, so please follow me."

"Okay. But what's the point of seeing a world tree from here, sabotage magic?

Disruptive magic and the realm of monsters... I know we're going to a pretty dangerous zone.

But as soon as I looked up, I leaned my neck to wonder if there was a landmark world tree.

"That's right... But is the world tree that Chise is looking at really a real world tree?

I was surprised to be asked, but I noticed that I was incapable of discerning it.

"Deep down, far more spirits than the middle layers are struggling to protect the world's trees. For example, if the light spirits turn slightly to the right, or if the dark spirits hide the world tree..."

I can't get there, huh?

If the water spirits wrap the forest in thick fog, the distant landmarks will be unknown, and if the earth spirits disturb the magic, magic like "Earth Sonar" will also be interrupted.

Perhaps detection methods such as Magic Sensing will also be significantly less accurate.

You can feel the power of the elves with the power of nature on their side in their hearts.

Well, shall we go again?

I think I need to tighten my mind a little bit more, but I put my strength into the wand I hold in my hand, and with Teto, I go deeper into the big forest.

"This is a pretty tough environment."

"Witch, are you okay?

If you enter the forest quickly, the fog will pick you up and follow Artia with Teto.

Environments that are difficult to sense magic and have poor vision have never experienced boulders.

We are accustomed to mountain walking, but nature slows us down, and our mouth count decreases to silence.

He heartily chases Arthur in front of him and looks back to see Tete walking behind him.

"Is Teto okay? Are you following me?... Tet!? Ultia, Teto's gone."

There was no Teto before looking back, and he turned to the front to speak to Altia, and there was no Altia.

"Eh... ah..."

Without the two people I thought were there, I was confused for a moment without knowing what had happened.

Certainly, there were two figures, and the accuracy fell, but there must have been a reaction between them in [Magic Sensing], but I wonder if they were pursuing false magic through the interference of spirits.

Immediately afterwards, there was a reaction to magic sensing, and the sound of something rapidly hitting the reflectively expanded boundary, aggressively kicked the ground and fled into the air with flying magic.

"― Multi-barrier ! Monster Raid!? At a time like this - Wind Pressure!

There was a tiger monster, Saber Tiger, over 10 metres long with sharp, long teeth and claws, when a strong wind struck the surrounding area to wipe out the fog.

Although it is a monster equivalent to B rank as a whole, it is estimated to reach A rank twice as large as usual due to the abundant magical environment of the world tree.

In a strange place and with little preliminary knowledge, you can't help but turn around in battle.

"I really don't like the situation!

However, even under unfavourable circumstances, my long experience as a magician and adventurer has grown me compared to the five relative necks of Hydra and Death Size Mantis.

"I'll do it! Haaa! -" Wind Cutter "!

In order to clean up the materials and reduce the damage to the surroundings as usual, the magic of the wind blade was released, but it was easily avoided.

However, an overwhelming burst of magic captures Saber Tiger's body and scratches one leg.

I used a lot of magic to defeat a monster equivalent to B rank, but if that wasn't enough, I instantly understood it, adjusted the amount of magic I could put into it, and the shooting of the wind blade hit the opponent again.

Sabre Tiger dodges and intercepts two or three, but without missing the moment when one of his wounded legs slows down, the blast of wind blades captures the torso and severs it.

"Usually, Teto stopped me, so I consumed more magic than I thought. Now, should we find the tetes, or should we admit that we've been in distress and not move much..."

Looking vaguely at the body of the defeated Saber Tiger, he once again felt a sense of killing and turned around, and a new Saber Tiger was ready to kill him.

It also appeared in a flock of five.

The smell of Saber Tiger's blood, which was defeated by many other monsters, gathered and turned excited.

"... I'm separated from Tete and Ultia, attacked by monsters, and in a situation I don't really understand! This is a confirmed distress!

As frustrating as I was, I left the scene with the magic of flying, spitting ill in the middle of a territorial struggle between monsters.

She proceeded to sew between the trees in the woods without knowing the direction and used the magic of the Clean to remove the smell of blood.

And when he exhaled, he finally did not know where he was now or how to return, and decided to find the nearby fountain, and set a boundary there, and wait for the arrival of the Tetes.