Chapter 247 247 Explaining Their Presence



The maps of the day's reported events came out not long after, and Wolfe noticed that there was a large Coven force headed toward the Forest, possibly on the reports of their flying scouts, who wouldn't have missed a giant Fae Forest appearing in the middle of nowhere overnight.

The witches at the Den also hadn't reported it in with their regular reports, only what they had learned about the enemy movements, which would be incredibly suspicious to the Covens, who had no way of knowing that they weren't concerned about the Forest because they were the ones that created it.

"I need a team to come with me and meet the witches near the edge of the forest. They're definitely coming here, and it will be our first chance to make diplomatic relations now that we have a proper city built and a population that isn't intending to head home." Wolfe informed the witches in the room.

"How about you bring the war council? Well, what passes for one? With Ella, the Reaper, Priya, Colonel Ming, and Alice, you will have lots of firepower and representation from the officers of two different Covens. Especially the Colonel, who is really well respected." One of the witches suggested.

Wolfe thought it was amusing that the Reaper got a personal mention as an independent member, along with Ella, but that was three Rank Two witches, plus the Colonel, so they should at least get some respect from the military column.

Priya nodded in agreement. "That works, and we can explore the Forest a little to see how the monsters are adapting. It will be a new experience for them, but if they have stopped being so aggressive, then I think that it will be safe for a lot more of the scouts to wander around and learn the new paths."

It would take a while on foot, even with the armour active, to increase their running speed, so Wolfe led the way to the motorcycles.

"Who doesn't know how to ride?" he asked cautiously.

Only one hand went up, Alice.

"Alright, get on behind me and hold on. Just lean the way that I lean, and you will be fine. We will keep our armour up the entire time. But speaking of which, I should make new amulets that match the forest better than the old snow ones."

The witches laughed, and the Colonel brought out four new coins. "This should do. The Reaper will get it by extension when Ella activates hers, and I'm sure you've mastered your own by now."

Wolfe nodded and brought back his Demon Lord suit, complete with horns and a thin black aura. "Now, what are you thinking? Forest Elves, Woods Witches, or maybe something wilderness Rangers?"

"Let's go with Garden Witches. You know, long robes, pointy hats, friendly-looking sorts." The Colonel suggested.

They were the Witchiest of friendly Witch stereotypes from the movies, so Wolfe knew them very well, and it only took a few seconds to create an outfit that matched the green and brown of the woods, complete with multiple hanging pouches at the waist that could be opened to store stuff inside and lots of interior pockets.

Priya smirked and collected a few potions from the storage room. She used a piece of leather rope to tie one onto the belt of her armour and passed the others around.

"There, that's what we needed. Nothing like a nice, glowing, healing potion to complete the look."

"Alright, let's ride. We will have to start offering riding courses soon or maybe learning spells that will let us get around the woods faster. I can use a few wind magic spells for very fast running, and I can add them to amulets for the scouts, but they take a lot out of you unless you use another spell for endurance." Wolfe agreed.

He mounted the bike just outside the door, with Alice climbing up behind him, and led the way through the paths in the woods. He had a good idea where he was going, and the flow of mana through the forest, which was visible to his enhanced senses, made it impossible to get truly lost. The City had more than anywhere else, so it was like a beacon in his mental imagery that would lead him home from anywhere in the Forest.

Despite what felt like a breakneck pace through the woods, it still took them well over an hour to get to the edge of the forest, where they were expecting the column of witches to arrive sometime soon.

They dismounted, and Colonel Ming opened up her backpack to bring out some skewers of fresh root vegetables, then created a fire pit and some benches with earth magic before lighting a small fire.

That was how the column of Myrrh Coven witches found them, seated around a fire, waiting on veggie kebabs to roast and telling stories of the battle against the monster tide.

"Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to see you all this morning, so soon after I have retired." Colonel Ming greeted them when she saw that it was a column from her home nation of Myrrh.

"Colonel Ming? What are you doing out here? We were sent to investigate reports of a magical forest appearing on the border and assess it for threat level." The leader of the column announced as soon as she saw who was speaking.

The leader hopped off her horse and walked up with a smile while the rest of the column hung back, waiting on orders.

"We came out to meet you when we got reports that you were coming. We thought it was more polite than letting you get lost in the woods. That is a proper Fae Forest behind us, created using a level of raw power that not even the entire Myrrh Coven Council could bring to bear.

It hides our new village, and it is slowly calming the monsters and repairing the damage that all of the broken spells have done to the Frozen Wastes." The Colonel explained.

The convoy leader did a double take, and realized that there were multiple Rank Two witches here, then cast a dubious glance at Wolfe, who smiled back and gave her a little wave.

"Yes, he's in on it. He's the center of every strange thing that has been happening within this end of the Wastes this winter. Everything from the missing Army to the Snow Demon and the heavily armed mutant villages is his doing. We could say that this forest is as well since it was his idea, but the Faerie that led the spell really went overboard once she had the chance to create a more suitable environment for herself." The Colonel laughed.

"I should sit. It seems like there is a lot that we need to go over."