Chapter 9

By discarding the knives and such, it seems Reggie has slightly lowered his guard towards me.

Since I am carefree, I continue to ride in the cart, but Reggie comes to check on me during breaks.

He even takes my hand and leads me to where Alan and the knights are.

He even pours tea into a cup for me like everyone else and forces me to join in the conversation.

It seems Reggie is trying to get me to interact with everyone.

At first, Alan and the knights had awkward expressions, unsure of how to talk to me, but by the second day, they seemed to have gotten used to my presence.

We mainly talk about school, and they laugh at my numerous failures.

Then, when Alan asks me a question about my studies, it becomes clear that I haven’t been studying seriously.

“Hey, are you sure your grades are okay?”

Alan genuinely seemed worried.

But I’m not good at studying... I’m not particularly good at sports either.

When I was taught how to use a knife at the earl’s house, I would accidentally drop the knife or get a cut and be scolded.

After continuing the training, such things no longer happened.

In short, I’m ordinary.

If I had high physical abilities and was a cheat, I probably would have run away from my stepmother’s house and managed somehow.

Though, I didn’t say that because it would be too dangerous. I shouldn’t dig my own grave when Reggie is keeping quiet for me.

However, even without talking about the knives, my average physical abilities were soon revealed.

In this world, there are creatures called magic beasts.

For example, wolves can create gusts of wind, and vultures can stop your movements with their cries.

It’s a fantasy world.

Thinking back, in the game, wind wolves were often used as a substitute for enemy soldiers.

Because they were so agile, the subtitles would say “Dodge!” and I would grind my teeth in frustration.

We finally left the territory where the church school was located and encountered one of these magic beasts.

After passing through a rocky grassland and entering a deep forest, the knights were on high alert.

However, because the creature didn’t have an animal-like appearance and came from the grassland rather than the forest, they weren’t fully prepared.

The grass seemed to ripple violently.

Thinking it was just a strong wind, I casually looked out from the back of the cart,

“W-What!?”

I was surprised because a part of the grassland was sparking.

It looked like electricity.

Purple lightning ran across the grass, scattering sparks over a wide area.

“It’s lightning grass!”

Someone shouted, and the identity became clear.

When a strong wind blows, the tips of the grass touch each other and generate static electricity... or are they animals? I heard they move by walking with roots that grow from their bulbs.

“No way, it’s really true. And it’s coming this way!”

The grass lifted its roots and moved closer, crackling with static electricity.

The wrinkles on the bulb part looked like an old man’s face, which was a bit unsettling.

I instinctively retreated into the cart, relieved that the sparks weren’t reaching me, but I forgot about the horses.

A high-pitched neigh.

The cart swayed violently as the horse, still connected to it, reared up, and I was thrown out from the back.

“Ouch...!”

I landed on the soft grass and, thanks to the bulky petticoat, only suffered a slight pain from sitting down hard.

However, I saw a grass plant with a bulb as long as my arm moving towards me, dragging its roots.

Panicking, I tried to escape, but I couldn’t stand up from the sudden shock.

I moved awkwardly on all fours, but the cart was far away, near the edge of the forest.

Suddenly, a spark of static electricity hit my arm.

“Ouch, ouch!”

I might have gotten burned. But the pain made the fear in my head disappear.

My legs straightened, and I fled the scene like a rabbit.

The knights, who were trying to control the horse and prevent the lightning grass from reaching Alan and the others, looked shocked at me running alone.

“What! You fell!?”

It seems they hadn’t even noticed I had fallen.

“Just go back!”

Without waiting for instructions from Wentworth, who seemed to be the leader, I ran and finally reached Alan and Keith, who were calming the horse and holding the reins to prevent it from running away.

They widened their eyes when they saw me sitting down, out of breath.

“What! You weren’t in the cart!?”

“I fell...”

I answered, panting, and Alan muttered, “No wonder it was so quiet...”

Was I that noisy?

Anyway, by the time my breathing calmed down, the knights had managed to drive away the lightning grass.

Since they were just grass, a full swing with a wooden stick would knock them out.

They would then throw them as far as possible to finish the job.

Ah, but now I understand why this area is a grassland. The lightning grass makes it difficult for trees to grow because they burn them.

Although relieved, I could still see sparks scattered along the road. There were a lot of them, suggesting a mass outbreak.

“It seems the road will be unusable for a while.”

Reggie’s words were echoed by Wentworth, who had come to the cart.

“But we can’t wait for the lightning grass to subside, can we?”

Alan said, glancing at me sideways.

Perhaps he was thinking that we should hurry because the Countess Patricielle might send someone to chase me.

Thinking about his concern, I felt a warm feeling in my heart. He had hired me, a stranger, and was even considering my escape.

He’s a good person. Feeling grateful, I suggested an alternative plan.

“Um, if it’s okay, I can go through the forest alone...”

If I could borrow some food and a knife, I thought I would be fine unless something extraordinary happened.

“Are you kidding?”

“Are you an idiot?”

“I can’t agree with that.”

I received three different forms of rejection.

“From the way you ran from the lightning grass, I don’t think you can handle it alone. Besides, this is the forest where the Princess of Thorns lives.”

“Princess of Thorns?”

Wentworth’s words made me tilt my head. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite remember.

Reggie then added,

“It’s a story about the ancestor of the Falzia royal family. A princess who uses thorn magic and has eternal life. She apparently hates men and blocks anyone who tries to enter the forest with thorns.”

Falzia’s former princess... thorn magic... hates men.

Hearing these words, I suddenly remembered.

“Oh... the lolicon princess.”

I muttered without thinking.

A helper character from the game.

The forest only allows women to enter, and if you have a female character who can persuade her, she joins as a powerful magician with a young appearance.

However, when the character’s background was revealed, it was written at the end that she was a lolicon, which changed how players viewed her.

“—Hey, a lolicon!?”

This revealed that the Princess of Thorns didn’t hate men.

Later, the creators revealed that she liked boys up to about 12 years old and kept her appearance at 12 to avoid scaring them.

She would throw out any men older than that, which is why only women could enter the forest.

It was a character with a surprisingly detailed backstory.

Incidentally, she is not aggressive towards women. Therefore, the nearby towns and villages only know it as a forest that only women can enter.

Of course, the people living in the same world can’t know the detailed backstory of the Princess of Thorns, who never leaves the forest.

“Lolicon?”

Reggie, who was nearby, heard and asked, but I couldn’t explain.

“No, I just thought I had heard about such a princess before!”

Though it was a strained excuse, Reggie accepted it.

Probably because the word “lolicon” doesn’t exist in this world, he thought I had misheard.

“But if it’s a forest where a princess who hates men lives... oh, I see.”

Then I remembered that this forest is considered a cursed forest.

The Princess of Thorns, who has been alone for a long time, keeps pets, including wolves, mountain cats, and mice.

She tells them to hunt in the forest for food. People who are seen as hindering the hunt are attacked.

Since men can’t enter, it’s difficult to control the pets.

Therefore, only women and children can gather things from the edges of the forest, making it a cursed forest.

Thinking about all the game settings, I was about to give up, but then Alan said,

“Then, let’s go around the edge. There’s a path, right?”

Indeed, there were wheel tracks on the edge of the forest. People who encountered lightning grass must have thought the same and passed through the edge of the forest.

The lightning grass doesn’t come near the shaded areas, so it was quiet.

So everyone agreed with Alan’s plan.