CH 15

Dropped Into Another World V2C15

Chapter 15 – Emperors Kingdom’s 1st Knight Order Commander (3)

-– Emperors Kingdom’s 1st Knight Order Commander’s POV-

I entered the City of Totros with the elite 1st knight order and the 4th knight order commander Mizerost.

The locals seem to be frightened a little which made the atmosphere a bit somber.

My apologies but please be frightened more.

If you do, less people will play around.

If you do something reckless now, we will not hesitate to cut you down.

I left the selection of people to Mizerost and he only picked those who are determined.

He probably anticipated that we might cut down civilians. I don’t really want to get to that point but we will do it if we have to.

「Do you know where they went?」

「They seem to have gone into the forest.」

Into the forest?

I never thought they would dare go there.

Since they’re near the forest, they don’t think of it as a fearsome place?

Or is there any reason why they should be in the forest?

「What are we going to do?」

「Who’s the lord of this place?」

「Marquis Kyofrey. I heard that Duke Gihard’s sister was Marquis Kyofrey’s wife.」

「Have you found out why Duke Gihard came here?」

「Duke Gihard is ruling a place near the royal capital but he was kicked out.」

「He was kicked out?」

「Duke Gihard expressed his opposition to the liberation of the slaves but it seems like the people he rules had the opposite idea. The duke, who was in the minority, was driven out by the citizens and the former slaves and this city is the only place he can escape to. Since he was close to the previous king, it seems that none of the nobles offered him a helping hand fearing that he would incur the wrath of the forest.」

Does Duke Gihard know what was going on in the royal capital?

If he does, that means he has some secret plan to blatantly oppose the liberation of the slaves, right?

Or is he simply too stupid to understand reality?

I’m also curious by the fact that they chose to run away into the forest.

Are they confident that they wouldn’t incur the wrath of the forest?

Considering that they stole a piece of the magic stone, perhaps they’ll come up with something using magic.

「Has Virtua’s group entered the forest too?」

「Yeah, Gaji told me that. I heard they are currently tracking him.」

「Okay….let’s go to the forest too.」

「No, no, that’s dangerous!」

「Commander, that is…」

The members of the 1st knight also voiced their opposition.

However, we can’t afford to not go.

And we can’t afford to be in a stalemate either.

We need to resolve this quickly.

By the time we got here, we saw several people who seemed to be spies.

They probably got the information that the 1st knight order commander was going to be the next king.

The spies probably appeared on purpose.

They would like to see what the next king will do and report back to their country.

Is he a potential friend, or enemy? Will they wait and see….or attack immediately?

We have no time to waste. If they think I’m too slow in making decisions, they’ll take advantage of us.

We can’t afford to be invaded by another country right now.

「They are blatantly looking at you. It looks like we really don’t have much time.」

「Those spies….I didn’t even think they’ll show up like that.」

「Should we get them?」

「No, just let them watch. If we don’t fail, they’ll bring back the information we want them to get.」

「Alright.」

「However, make sure you know where they are. We don’t want them to do something when we were at a disadvantage.」

「Okay.」

We rode our horses towards the forest.

As soon as we set food in the forest, I felt anxious that something might happen.

Since the day the previous king died, the royal capital has not been attacked anymore.

However, our relationship with the forest has not improved.

I’d like to meet the kings of the forest and apologize but how can I meet them?

As we approached the forest, I saw Gaji near the entrance.

He immediately ran over to me and explained the current situation.

He said that he was sure the Virtua had entered the forest but he had lost sight of him.

「I’m sorry.」

「No, you have done enough. Thank you.」

We entered the forest and looked around but I froze at how much it had changed.

「The forest is changing…」

「Amazing. What’s this….」

Mizerost seems to be surprised too.

You can see a lot of rivers flowing between trees.

I feel a huge magical power coming from the river.

Moreover, there are trees and flowers that I have never seen before.

「Is this the true form of the forest?」

I think so.

The forest must have regained its original power.

「Let’s go.」

I want to see the changes one by one but now is not the time.

First of all, we have a problem to solve.

「Mizerost and Gaji, keep your eye around. There might be magic circles drawn into the ground.」

「Affirmative」

「Yeah」

We continue to push through the forest but I don’t feel a single sign of human presence.

Something is wrong.

I felt uncomfortable and stopped.

I checked around.

I have a bad feeling.

「Get back!」

It is better to turn back at this point.

At my order, my men hurriedly tried to head out of the forest.

「Where are you going?」

I was surprised by a presence I hadn’t felt earlier. I turned around and checked where the voice was coming from.

I was surprised to see Virtua appearing from behind a tree.

I didn’t feel his presence!

What does this mean?

Everyone became more alert as Vitua slowly approached us and threw what he had in his hand at us.

「Evacuate!」

It was too late.

The next moment, the ground where we were lit up and a magic circle appeared. We were trapped.

I don’t think there’s someone from Virtua’s side that can use this advance magic.