Chapter 69

"From what I've heard, the 'something' in the Forest of No Return made some kind of promise with Al in the past. By making that promise, a benefit arose between 'something' and Al. But at this stage, that promise has been severed, or is about to be severed. That's why it came to inform Al in a dream to come and renew the promise. That's how it feels."

"Uh-huh."

"Al was born and raised in the capital, right? This is the first time he's come to Fullvathar."

"Yeah, that's right. I thought maybe it had something to do with my past life, but the memories of the personality that lived in my past life are gone."

"No, at first, I had the memories of an adult male who was a working professional. But they gradually faded and I forgot them. What remains strongly are only things like events from 21st century Japan and general knowledge that anyone could know."

"I can't remember what kind of person my past life was, what they did, what they thought, what kind of life they led, or how they died. So, did that existence make some kind of promise with my past life? If not, then..."

"Maybe it's a case of mistaken identity?"

"Mistaken identity?"

"For example, one of my ancestors."

"Is that why you're reading this history book?"

"Yeah, I thought there might be some clue."

"If that's the case... It would be faster to investigate why the Marcosian family became the managers of the Forest of No Return. Have you heard anything from the head of the family about that?"

"No, I haven't. But I've heard some strange stories."

"Strange stories?"

"The Marcosian family accepts any bloodline. There are no taboos regarding marriage, such as not marrying commoners or foreigners. However, there is a family rule that the blood of the Marcosian family must not be mixed with the royal family."

After hearing my story, Nebel said with a troubled look on his face.

"Does that have something to do with the thing that appeared in Al's dream?"

"Do you think so?"

"I can't think of anything else. So, it seems that a member of the Marcosian family, one of Al's ancestors, is the key."

There are very few historical records about the first generation.

It is said that a dragon, accompanied by many magical beasts, came from a land far beyond the Forest of No Return and wreaked havoc in the land of the Lave Kingdom. The one who suppressed it was one of the subjects of the king who founded the kingdom, the first head of the Marcosian family.

After that, the Marcosian family settled in Fullvathar, adjacent to the Forest of No Return, and became the managers of the forest to prevent the magical beasts from ravaging the Lave Kingdom. This is the story of the first generation.

While this story is not entirely a lie, I believe it contains some embellishments and local legends to avoid causing inconvenience to the Lave Kingdom.

The historical records of the Marcosian family were started by the fifth generation, who wanted to leave a record of his family. The oldest records of the first to fourth generations were also written by the fifth generation.

It seems that the reason the fifth generation wanted to leave a record was due to the relationship with the Forest of No Return.

According to this history book, there were frequent disputes over the management of the Forest of No Return, with neighboring territories claiming it as their own or the royal family claiming it as a direct domain.

Of course, Fullvathar did not willingly cull dangerous magical beasts. When they were asked to completely prevent magical beasts from appearing in Fullvathar, and the management rights were transferred, the magical beasts began to flow to the party that obtained the management rights instead of Fullvathar. When the royal family tried to clear the forest, they were devoured by the magical beasts. When the Marcosian family tried to withdraw from managing the Forest of No Return, numerous magical beast disasters occurred.

There was even a worst-case scenario where a neighboring territory that claimed the management of the Forest of No Return failed to cull the magical beasts, and the forest encroached, making the area uninhabitable. In the end, that territory was absorbed by Fullvathar, and the encroached area was reclaimed and restored.

Looking at it this way, it seems that when the surrounding areas obtained the management rights of the Forest of No Return, they eventually returned to Fullvathar, or rather, the Marcosian family, due to the influence of non-human entities.

After this happened multiple times, the leaders of the Lave Kingdom realized that they could not handle it themselves. To prevent such disputes in the future, they documented the damage and, with the king's approval, made a decision that the management of the Forest of No Return would not be moved from the Marcosian family, leading to the current situation.

I think the connection between the Marcosian family and the Forest of No Return is the covenant mentioned by 'something.' Otherwise, it would be strange for uncontrollable magical beast disasters to occur as soon as the management was taken away from the Marcosian family.

It feels like the answer is here.

While I was pondering, Nebel, who was looking at the family tree next to me, made a curious sound.

"Al's name is the same as the first head of the family."

"Huh?"

Nebel pointed to the top of the family tree.

The name of the founder of the Marcosian family.

There, the name 'Albert Wilgaren Marcosian' was written.

Albert is my name. And Wilgaren is the name of my grandfather's younger brother.

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